Ancient Wizards: A Little Progress Every Day

"Um?!"

In the sky, the expression of the indifferent, purple-haired middle-aged man suddenly changed.

In his perception, the trace of the target's aura that he had finally managed to catch suddenly disappeared without any reason.

The middle-aged man with purple hair frowned slightly as he continued to manipulate the power of magic, "plowing" the vast town of Greg again and again like a farmer plowing the land.

Throughout this time, desperate wizards let out painful howls, and some even rushed towards him recklessly, but he didn't even lift an eyelid. Beneath him, innocent lives died tragically in despair.

"Is it really gone?"

The middle-aged man with purple hair frowned more and more, and with some reluctance, he moved his lips and began to chant a short incantation.

The next moment, a patch of evil flames, the color of white bones, appeared out of thin air and crashed down on the ruins of Greg Town.

"Boom—"

The pale white magical bone fire turned the entire town of Greg into a sea of ​​flames.

The fire burned for three days and three nights, and the once prosperous Greg was completely destroyed, with no living beings left behind.

The middle-aged man with purple hair searched repeatedly, then took one last deep look down before turning and leaving.

As day turned to night, the remaining pale bone embers burned silently on the plain.

The ruins of Greg's town were also burned to ashes, leaving only a large, sunken, blackened mound of earth.

When the last wisp of bone fire died out, the cold consciousness that had been hovering over the entire town of Greg finally gave up and indifferently retreated.

Another three days have passed.

A merchant fleet consisting of magical airships arrived at this place. Upon seeing the tragedy in this region from afar, and sensing the terrifying magical power remaining on the land and the thick, almost impenetrable resentment of the dead, the members of the merchant fleet fell silent and quietly detoured away.

I don't know how much time passed.

A heavy rain fell.

Thick, dark clouds flashed with lightning and thunder, as torrential rain relentlessly washed over everything below.

Rainwater mixed with the scorched earth, forming muddy streams. At this moment, a patch of moistened soil suddenly bulged upwards, as if a bulge had appeared on the ground.

The bulge grew larger and larger until it finally exploded with a loud "bang".

A gaunt figure quietly rose from the soil.

More than 70% of its flesh and blood were burned away, revealing large areas of charred bones. Half of its facial bones were completely exposed, and only one bloodshot eye was still shining with a faint azure light.

"Click-clack—"

The charred corpse, as if crawling out of a burning grave, struggled to its feet, slowly spreading its arms to reveal the petite figure of a young girl in its embrace.

Wet from the rain, her long, rosy hair cascaded down like a waterfall, seemingly becoming the only bright spot in the world at that moment.

The girl stood under the protection of the charred corpse, watching streams of black metallic liquid flow from the charred corpse in front of her, like pus from a festering wound.

She let the cold raindrops pelt her face, tilting her head back and staring blankly at the man's face, which was so disfigured that it was almost unrecognizable.

Suddenly, two streams of water silently slid down her cheeks.

The girl seemed to realize something, and closed her eyes in pain, uttering sad murmurs.

Jennifer.

Hearing the girl's mournful cry, the charred corpse, whose body was slowly growing tiny pink buds, emitted a hoarse and piercing sound.

"Did the Fifth Ring Witch beside you also die for you in the same way?"

"Ahem!"

After saying only a few words, the "charred corpse" began to cough violently, coughing up charred fragments.

After a short while, he seemed to feel better and finally managed to move his body slowly.

"Let's go."

"I never imagined that the pain I'm suffering cannot be shared with you."

"But it's good this way, I was almost worried you were going to be in so much pain you'd die."

"The Fourth Ring Road, the Revitalization Association—I will get these back one by one sooner or later."

Accompanied by someone's weak and feeble murmurs, two figures, one tall and one short, supporting each other, slowly and unsteadily disappeared from the area in the heavy rain.

----------------

Seven days later.

In a port in the south, a large, light-colored ship, its bulky shape resembling a giant, fat-bellied sea fish, slowly rose into the air amidst the shimmering light of rune arrays, heading towards the vast ocean.

On the deck, several teenagers, both young and old, looked at the increasingly distant dock in silence. Suddenly, one of them began to sob softly.

"I don't want to go back like this!"

"Accept your fate, Harry. This is not our world. We are too incompetent. Even if we spend decades here, we will never have the chance to truly step through that door."

"We've tried everything we could in the past two years. What we've learned is enough for us to gain a certain status in our respective family kingdoms when we go back. The best is yet to come, guys!"

"Yes, it's time to wake up from some unrealistic dreams."

The teenagers comforted and encouraged each other on the deck, and soon emerged from their sadness and disappointment, laughing and chatting as they ran together toward the cabin.

Their conversations had shifted from anything related to wizards to titles, lands, food, and women.

These young men, dressed in the simplest wizard robes and emanating spiritual energy fluctuations no higher than those of a third-level apprentice, were unaware that on the highest deck of the ship, a tall figure wearing a metal mask and shrouded in a black robe was quietly watching them.

"Tap, tap~"

A light, crisp footstep sounded, and a slender, petite figure walked up to the man in black robes.

Gently lifting the veil covering her head, the exquisitely beautiful, elfin girl casually tossed her head, revealing her long, beautiful, and smooth hair, as smooth as red silk.

The girl wrinkled her nose at the strong herbal scent emanating from the black-robed man beside her, then glanced at the boys below and said calmly, "What, are you thinking of yourself back then?"

"Yes."

A deep, hoarse voice emanated from beneath the black robe, as if the vocal cords had been singed.

Beneath the silver metal mask, a pair of deep blue, jewel-like eyes, so unlike the voice, fell upon the girl. The voice calmly said, "Don't you feel anything? Every wizard starts as an apprentice."

"Oh..."

The girl chuckled, glancing disdainfully at the black-robed man beside her, and replied with a touch of arrogance, "Don't lump me in with people like you. I became a full-fledged wizard the moment I finished my first meditation."

"..."

The man in black robes seemed taken aback by the girl's words, and remained silent for a moment before turning his head to look at the distant sea.

The girl smiled triumphantly, humming a tune softly, and turned to walk towards the cabin with light and smug steps.

"Don't bother me if there's nothing wrong!"

She left with a single sentence and vanished in the blink of an eye.

Watching the girl's departing figure, Dago couldn't help but mutter to himself.

"It seems like everything is moving in a positive direction."

Suddenly, as if aggravating some injury, he reached out and clutched his chest, coughing violently.

The silver metal mask slipped off and fell onto the deck with a thud, revealing a terrifying face that was slowly healing from severe burns.

To escape the pursuit of the fourth-circle wizards of the Restoration Society, Dago was seriously injured this time.