Wizard: Starts with Advanced Meditation

Hughes stared at the wounds torn open on Reber's body by the impact of the Shattered Realm. The robes on Reber's chest and other parts of his body were torn into rags, and the flesh beneath was dented, but not a single drop of blood was seeping out.

The most serious injury was to his right eye socket, where a gruesome gash had split open, and tiny bone fragments were falling out one after another.

Unfortunately, Hughes' understanding of the Shattering Impact was insufficient. These wounds were not fatal, and the flame in his right eye socket was not affected, still hovering vigorously in his eye socket.

Having been tricked by Hughes, a second-rate wizard apprentice, and having lost his precious wizarding tools, Reber has almost lost his mind. The will of the undead creature is affecting his reason as a wizard.

If a seasoned wizard wants to become undead, the first thing to address is the problem of undead creatures affecting his sanity.

However, Reber was too hasty in his preparations and did not have enough materials when he was modifying himself. If he is not dealt with in time, he will soon completely lose his mind.

Reber noticed the changes in himself and knew he had to deal with Hughes as soon as possible. Necromantic energy surged around him, and stark white bones pierced through his flesh, growing rapidly along his body and enveloping Reber completely.

"Whoosh—"

Reber swung his arms to the side, and two bone spurs, each a meter long, suddenly protruded from the back of his hands, their tips gleaming with a ghastly white light.

Reber decided to engage Hughes in close combat. He knew very well that his opponent was not a body-refining wizard, and his own body, which had been modified by necromancy, was no longer what it used to be: not only had his physique been greatly enhanced, but his body was also tireless because it was driven by necromancy energy.

He charged at Hughes, who immediately threw out the Blazing Ointment. Reber did not dodge or evade, letting the Blazing Ointment explode on his bone armor. Shattered white bone flew everywhere, but the gaps were visibly regenerating under the stimulation of necromantic energy.

Without pausing, Reber quickly rushed in front of Hughes.

"Whoosh—Bang!"

The bone spur pierced straight into Hughes's heart, and the angle of the impact shattered the moment it touched him, but fortunately, the bone spur was deflected slightly.

The bone spur grazed Hughes' right shoulder, and before Hughes could catch his breath, a smooth, sharp blade suddenly sprouted from the edge of the bone spur and swept sharply to the left with a whooshing sound.

"Whoosh—"

Hughes reacted with lightning speed, quickly ducking and crouching low. The bone blade grazed his head, shaving off a strand of gray hair. Just then, Reber spun around, delivering a powerful kick.

"Bang—Crack!"

His foot slammed into Hughes' chest with a heavy thud. Hughes' short-range protective shield shattered, and he was instantly struck as if by a heavy hammer, flying backward like a kite with a broken string.

"Cough cough... spit it out."

Hughes clutched his chest and struggled to his feet, blood gushing from the corner of his mouth. He could clearly feel the excruciating pain in his lungs; each breath felt like being crushed by a blunt object, making it extremely difficult, and even his breath carried a heavy, bloody stench.

Before Hughes could even pull out the healing potion, Reber pounced again like an arrow released from a bow. He hurriedly lunged to the side, barely avoiding the fatal blow.

"Whoosh—"

Reber's bone blade swung through the air, striking the scorched earth with a sharp, whistling sound, instantly carving a deep crack in the ground, sending shards of stone and black soil flying.

Reber turned around again, and the other bone spike transformed into a bone blade. With both blades in his hands, he charged forward again in front of Hughes, slashing with both arms like a storm.

"Swish—swish—swish swish!"

The sound of blades cutting through the air was continuous, and Hughes could only try his best to dodge. In the life-and-death struggle, he could vaguely feel that the knight-level power barrier in his body was showing signs of loosening.

But he had no time to think about it, because Hughes discovered that Reber's magic power was running low. The guy's necromancy body hadn't fully adapted and couldn't absorb magic power smoothly at all.

What sustains him in this fight is merely the large amount of magic power he retained from his time as a veteran third-class wizard apprentice, which is one of the reasons why the opponent has chosen close combat.

"Swish—splash, swish—splash"

Hughes focused all his energy on defense, constantly conjuring ice shields in front of him to block, but these were just ice shields made by simply manipulating elements, and their defensive power was far inferior to that of witchcraft. The bone blade easily shattered them with a single strike.

"Soon!"

Hughes roared inwardly, clenching his teeth to suppress the metallic taste that was about to well up in his throat.

Each dodge caused Hughes excruciating pain in his lung wound. He stared intently at Reber's slashing bone blade, trying his best to block it. He could feel that the opponent's movements had slowed down slightly, and the fluctuations of necromantic energy were becoming weaker and weaker.

However, Hughes's plan was not simply to wear down Reber. The two fought fiercely, and Hughes sustained many new wounds, his robes soaked with blood. Just as Reber's gleaming bone blade was about to slash at his neck...

"boom--"

A blazing beam of light suddenly struck, hitting Reber squarely in the chest. With a hiss, the beam pierced through his body, sending charred bone fragments and shattered pieces of flesh flying everywhere.

Reber's movements suddenly froze, the bone blade hovering in mid-air, only half an inch away from Hughes's neck. In the distance, Heleto sat slumped on the ground, holding a scroll in his hand, the sorcery runes on it now gone.

Hughes was trying to buy time for Heleto to be treated. Reber, having hastily turned his body into an undead, was gradually becoming mentally dull and forgetting about the seriously injured Heleto beside him.

Reber staggered and swayed, the flames in his eyes dimming. He stiffly lowered his head, staring in disbelief at the charred hole in his chest. His necromancy-like body had long lost normal blood circulation and could no longer bleed.

Reber turned to look at Heleto in the distance. He had completely forgotten that the man was still alive. Necromancy had ultimately affected his sanity, and now, he couldn't even retain his human form until his death...

"Bang—"

A crisp cracking sound rang out, and Reber fell to the ground. Taking advantage of the moment of hesitation, Hughes raised his hand and slammed the Shattering Impact hard into Reber's skull.

Reber was on the verge of death. His already damaged right eye socket shattered completely, extinguishing the flame within. In his remaining left eye socket, the faint light flickered a few times like a candle in the wind, and would soon be extinguished completely.

Reber stared in disbelief at the two second-class wizard apprentices before him. He couldn't believe he'd been defeated by them. Seeing that Hughes was about to finish him off, he hurriedly said:

"Wait! Wait a minute! Do you want to know who hired us?! I..."

"boom--"

Without further ado, Hughes used the Shattering Impact to completely shatter his skull, extinguishing the last remaining flame—the third-class wizard apprentice Reber Cortane was utterly extinguished from his last glimmer of life.