Wizard: My skills can be upgraded indefinitely.

late at night.

In the underground laboratory at 12 Golden Oak Street, only a crystal wall lamp was lit.

A dim, yellowish light enveloped a corner of the lab table, like a small, isolated island in the deep sea.

Ian sat in the center of the island, his fingertips entwined with thin strands of pale golden energy.

At the end of the thin thread, two blood essences floated in mid-air.

The one on the left, as dark as ink with fine shadow patterns flowing across its surface, is the complete blood essence of a second-tier Shadow Leopard.

The drop on the right is slightly lighter, a bluish-gray, with fine, swirling wind patterns inside.

This is the previously purified blood essence of the Gale Falcon, mixed with a small amount of other wind-type blood essence.

"The final step."

Ian muttered to himself, a faint silver glint flashing deep in his pupils.

[Original Blood Source Tracing] is operating at full capacity.

The pale golden spiritual threads, as if alive, burrowed into the two drops of blood essence, beginning to trace, purify, and fuse...

The air in the laboratory gradually became heavy.

Within the Shadow Blood Essence, a faint phantom of a leopard crouching in the darkness could be seen.

The wind-elemental blood essence creates tiny vortexes of airflow.

"It's a pity... it's not the blood essence of the Shadow Nighthawk, but it's enough."

Gaga had previously absorbed a fragment of Eternal Shadow, and the path to becoming a second-tier transcendent being was now clear.

The main function of these two blood essences is actually to replenish the second-tier shadow energy.

Ian's fingertips twitched slightly, and the two blood essences began to melt, slowly approaching and merging...

The process lasted for a full two hours.

As the last impurity was stripped away and swallowed, the two blood essences had completely fused into a single drop of dark silver liquid.

Inside the liquid, shadows and wind energy blended like water, and deep within, the outline of outstretched wings slowly rose and fell.

"It's done."

Ian exhaled, beads of sweat forming on his forehead.

Maintaining the [Original Blood Source Tracing] process to refine second-tier blood essence for an extended period of time consumes an astonishing amount of mental energy.

He picked up a specially made crystal tube and carefully injected the fused blood essence.

The tube walls were icy to the touch, but the liquid inside emanated a warm, gentle energy fluctuation.

A slight weight came from my shoulder.

Gaga woke up at some point, her little eyes staring intently at the crystal tube, making soft gurgling sounds in her throat.

"Ian... this..."

Its tiny claws gripped Ian's collar, the shadows and patterns beneath its feathers gleaming faintly.

"Here you go." Ian handed the crystal tube to it.

"After swallowing it, you might sleep for a long time."

Gaa nodded vigorously, spread its wings, and solemnly took the crystal tube with its claws.

Their movements were extremely careful, as if they were cradling the entire world in their hands.

It tilted its head back, aimed the tube at its small mouth, and the dark silver liquid slowly flowed into its throat.

The next second... Gaga shuddered.

Its wings suddenly spread open, and its feathers stood on end!

Dark silver energy erupted from its body, transforming into a thick, inky black mist that instantly enveloped the entire experimental table.

In the mist, the shadow patterns wriggled, extended, and intertwined like living things...

Ga Ga's heterochromatic eyes began to dilate, and countless overlapping shadows were reflected deep within them.

Its body swayed and then it slumped softly onto the lab table.

The little paws were still tightly gripping the empty crystal tube.

"Ian..."

Within the soul connection, intermittent, crackling waves of consciousness emanated, accompanied by a chilling tremor.

"It's so cold..."

"So many shadows... moving..."

Ian reached out and gently placed his palm on its back.

Mental energy, like a gentle tide, slowly flowed in along the soul connection.

"Go to sleep," he said softly.

"I will protect you."

Gaa's breathing gradually became steady, but the black mist around his body grew thicker and thicker.

As the mist swirled, fine silver patterns began to seep through the gaps in the feathers.

The patterns and shadows intertwined and intertwined...

Ultimately, they merged into a completely new, deep, dark silver luster, like the night sky.

Seeing this, Ian felt relieved, withdrew his hand, and closed his eyes slightly.

Within the sea of ​​consciousness, the crystallized core slowly rotated and spread out.

His 20.5% progress in elementalization made his perception extremely sharp.

In the workshop's front hall, old Finn's even breathing could be heard.

In the courtyard, the night wind rustled through the leaves of the old golden oak tree.

Further away, the heavy footsteps of patrolling guards could be heard at the end of the street.

And... three extremely faint whooshing sounds came from outside the workshop walls.

The sound was extremely soft, like a feather falling to the ground.

But to Ian, it was as clear as a drumbeat.

He slowly opened his eyes, and a glint of silver light quietly flickered deep within his pupils.

"It's finally here."

He lightly flicked the crystal wall lamp in front of the lab bench with his fingertips.

The lights suddenly dimmed by 30%.

The dim, yellowish light contracted, completely enveloping the lab table in shadow.

Ian did not get up, nor did he even turn around.

With both hands resting flat on his knees, his fingertips unconsciously tapped against them.

The rhythm was steady, like counting down some kind of countdown.

In the courtyard.

Three dark figures slid down the wall and landed silently.

The leader was tall and thin, dressed in pure black night clothes, with a mask covering most of his face, revealing only a pair of cold eyes.

Level 2, early-stage wizard.

The two people behind him were slightly shorter, their movements were even lighter, and their breaths were almost perfectly concealed.

Peak Level 1.

The three exchanged a glance.

The tall, thin assassin raised his hand and made a gesture of "spread out and surround".

The other two nodded, and with a flicker of their bodies, they transformed into two afterimages and rushed toward the sides of the workshop.

The tall, thin assassin walked slowly toward the center of the courtyard.

Next, turn to the metal door leading to the underground laboratory.

He walked very quietly.

A thin film of air is naturally generated the moment the sole of the shoe comes into contact with the stone surface.

This is a stealth technique specifically designed to counter vibration-sensing magic arrays.

He stopped in front of the metal door, reached his right hand to his waist, and drew a dark purple short blade about thirty centimeters long.

The blade was covered with twisted runes, which gleamed eerily in the night.

"With this demon-slaying blade, protective magic arrays and force field spells can be broken with ease."

He pressed his left hand against the door panel, and a pale gray magical power surged from his palm.

Magic, like the finest tentacles, seeped into the cracks of the door and began to decipher the locking runes within.

Three seconds later, a slight "click" sound came from inside the door.

The lock opened, and a cold glint flashed in the tall, thin assassin's eyes.

The door was pushed gently, and the metal hinges groaned softly as the gap in the door slowly widened.

A dim, yellowish light spilled out from inside the door, cutting a small fan shape on the ground.

He turned sideways, preparing to slip in... right at that moment.

"Buzz..."

A deep rumble came from beneath my feet.

On the courtyard floor, twelve dark yellow rune stones lit up simultaneously!

The light intertwined like chains, instantly outlining a complex magic circle with a diameter of ten meters.

The tall, thin assassin's pupils suddenly contracted.

My body felt like it was enveloped in an invisible swamp, and every muscle felt heavy and sluggish.

Even breathing became extremely difficult.

"Earth vein... Imprisonment array?"

He let out a hoarse growl, his eyes filled with disbelief.

The way this magic array is set up is not a conventional defensive formation at all.

Instead, it is a variant specifically designed to target those who are hiding, using the energy of the earth's veins to create a "gravitational field shift".

"Oh no, we've fallen for their trap!"

In the laboratory, Ian still did not get up.

He didn't even glance back at the commotion outside the door.

He simply raised his right hand and lightly tapped his index finger in the air.

A silvery-gray halo appeared on my fingertips.

The halo spun and expanded, instantly splitting into three silver-gray spheres the size of walnuts.

The surface of the sphere is covered with fine star trail patterns, and inside there are faint shadows of stars being born and dying.

He flicked his fingertips lightly.

Whoosh!

Three collapsing spheres shot out silently, passed through the crack in the door, and hovered precisely three inches in front of the three people outside the door.

The distance control score was impeccable.

The tall, thin assassin was completely stiff.

He sensed the terrifying gravitational pull emanating from the small ball between his eyebrows.

Like an invisible hand, it gently squeezed his brain.

If he had moved just an inch further, his head would have exploded like a ripe watermelon.

The situation is even worse for the other two peak-level assassins.

The two had already knelt on the ground, their hands gripping the ground tightly, their knuckles making a soft cracking sound from the force.

His forehead veins bulged, and his eyes were bloodshot.

"Who sent you here to die? Why do you look down on me like that?"

A calm sound came from the laboratory.

The sound was very soft, yet it reached the ears of the three people clearly.

The tall, thin assassin gritted his teeth, making a gurgling sound in his throat.

His mood changed from relaxed to desperate in an instant.

Is this a potion master from a remote island? How can he possess such bizarre and powerful witchcraft?

"You...you're not a Level 2 early stage cultivator?!"

He reached with difficulty with his left hand to his waist, where a cursed talisman was hidden.

After detonation, all life within a 50-meter radius will be corrupted by the curse, their flesh and blood rotting away.

This is his last trump card, and also the "cleanup procedure" that must be performed after the mission fails.

The instant your finger touches the rune.

The collapsing sphere in front of the forehead suddenly tripled in gravity!

"Ugh..."

The tall, thin assassin grunted, his left hand frozen in mid-air, unable to move an inch.

I can't even tremble my fingertips.

The other two fared even worse.

The kneeling position turned into a prone position, and the entire face was pressed firmly to the ground by the gravitational field, with a slight cracking sound coming from the nasal bone.

Fresh blood seeped from his nostrils and the corners of his mouth, spreading out in dark red patterns on the stone slab.

Why bother?

A soft sigh came from the laboratory, as if someone was regretting something.

Ian finally stood up and turned to look at the door.

The dim light shone from behind him, casting a long shadow in front of him.

The shadows stretched into the courtyard, completely enveloping the three assassins.

He raised his right hand, his five fingers slowly making a loose fist.

The movements were slow and gentle.

It's like holding a fragile flower.

Outside.

The three collapsing spheres contracted inwards simultaneously, instantly tightening the gravitational field to its limit!

The tall, thin assassin's pupils were dilated to the limit.

The last thing he saw was the heads of his two companions, like lumps of clay being crushed by an invisible hand.

Skull, brain matter, eyeballs, teeth...

All tissues were compressed, collapsed, and ultimately turned into a pinch of fine ash within a fraction of a second.

Fine ash drifted from the severed neck, mingling with the night wind.

However, both of their bodies were completely unharmed!

They even maintained a prone position.

The cut on the neck was as smooth as a mirror, with not a drop of blood flowing out.

All blood and tissue fluid were completely decomposed at the moment of gravitational collapse.

The tall, thin assassin was terrified and wanted to scream.

"No... I'm a level two Crystallization Wizard, with hundreds of years left to live... How can I die here?"

But the sound got stuck in his throat, turning into a strange gurgling sound.

Then, he felt his head begin to deform.

It felt like ten thousand needles were piercing my brain from all directions, stirring, squeezing, and crushing it...

Before his consciousness went completely dark, he heard the last sound.

"Cleaning up the trash is such a hassle."

……

Silence returned to the courtyard.

Only the night wind blew by, carrying away those three clumps of fine ash.

On the ground, two headless corpses lay silently, their severed necks eerily smooth.

The tall, thin assassin's body knelt on the spot, his head also gone, leaving only a bald neck.

Ian walked out of the laboratory and into the courtyard.

Moonlight shone on him, making the edges of his black robe gleam with a faint silver light.

He crouched down and gently hooked his fingertips around the waists of the three corpses.

Three tokens slipped out of his pocket and landed in his palm.

The token is dark gold in color, with the Just family's time-marked emblem embossed on the front.

The number is engraved on the back.

Ian held up the token and examined it closely in the moonlight.

The numbering sequence is very old, belonging to the "dark" organization worshipped within the family.

His fingertips traced the edge of the number. I sensed a very subtle fluctuation of magical power.

The fluctuation frequency is very special, like some kind of "cancellation mark".

"The sequence has already been cancelled."

Ian muttered to himself, a cold glint in his eyes.

Someone exploited a loophole in the family's access control to mobilize assassins who should have been "dead" or "retired."

In this way, even if the mission fails, the source cannot be traced.

Because these people no longer exist in the family records.

"They acted quickly and were really willing to do it; level two wizards aren't exactly common."

Even if one of them dies, the other person will feel heartbroken for a long time.

He put the token away and stood up.

My gaze fell on the half-dead old golden oak tree in the corner of the courtyard.

There are several very shallow scratches on the surface of the tree trunk.

The marks were fresh, unintentionally left by the three assassins when they infiltrated the area.

The style of the markings… Ian squinted.

"How come...it sounds like a code often used by Edwin's 'Thunderhawk Guard'?"

Looks like he's a good-for-nothing too, the first to lose his composure.

Ian turned and walked back to the laboratory, the metal door slowly closing behind him, completely shutting out the bloody stench from the courtyard.

This move has somewhat validated the results of the past period.

"The results... are pretty good."

After all, it was his innate sorcery that had advanced him to level two, and it had been enhanced by the Seed of Stars, so its power was no less than that of a typical late-stage level two sorcery.

On the lab table, Gaga remained fast asleep.

The black mist surrounding him had become so thick that it was impossible to disperse, resembling a writhing, living shadow.

As the mist swirls, the changes in the feathers underneath are occasionally revealed.

The feathers, which were originally pure black, now had a dark silver sheen at the edges.

The shadow and silver patterns blend seamlessly, outlining a complex, star-like pattern.

The most striking feature is the center of its back.

There, two slender silver lines slowly extend, eventually converging at the base of the tail feathers.

At the point of convergence, a tiny, rotating phantom star faintly appears.

Ian reached out and gently placed his palm on Gaga's back.

Spiritual power permeates the soul connection.

On the other end of the connection, a deep, ocean-like fluctuation of consciousness emanated.

The fluctuations are calm, but deep within lies some ancient and cold power that is awakening.

It looked like something was hatching.

"Ian..."

A final, blurry consciousness came through the connection, much clearer than before.

"wait for me……"

As soon as he finished speaking, the black mist around Gaga suddenly receded!

All the mist receded back into the body like a tide, and the dark silver patterns on the feathers lit up at the same time.

The light flickered three times and then slowly went out.

Then, everything returned to calm.

His breathing became extremely long, with the intervals between the rise and fall of his chest lasting up to thirty seconds.

It's like entering a deep metamorphosis or hibernation.

Ian withdrew his hand, a slight smile playing on his lips.

"I'm waiting for you."

He turned and walked to the other side of the lab table, opening the metal box containing the remnants of the star crystal.

Inside the box, all thirty-seven crystals had turned into grayish-white pebbles.

The energy was completely drained.

"20.5%...that's far from enough."

Ian closed the lid of the box and looked out the laboratory window.

The night was deep.

In the heart of East City, the crystal ball atop the Timemark Tower still shines, illuminating a large part of the city's night sky.

It also illuminated those eyes that were stirring in the shadows.

"The crackdown... has escalated."

He muttered to himself, his fingertips unconsciously tapping the edge of the lab bench.

The rhythm was steady, yet carried a certain cold cadence.

Ian closed his eyes and returned to meditation.

Within the sea of ​​consciousness, the crystallized core slowly rotated.

The star trail patterns on the surface are even clearer than last night.

……

In the workshop's front hall, old Finn was startled awake from a light sleep.

He sat up, his cloudy eyes looking towards the courtyard.

"Just now... I think I heard a sound?"

It was very light, very brief, like something being crushed.

He put on his coat, picked up his pipe, and walked out of the front hall with a hunched back.

The courtyard was deserted, and the moonlight shone on the stone slabs, giving them a cool, clear glow.

The shadow cast by the old golden oak tree swayed slightly in the night breeze.

Business as usual.

But old Finn's nose twitched twice.

There was a very faint, rusty smell in the air, almost undetectable in the night breeze.

He stood silently for a few seconds, then turned and walked back to the front hall.

He stood silently for a few seconds, then turned and walked back to the front hall.

As I closed the door, I lightly pressed my finger against the door frame.

There was a fresh scratch there, very shallow, but with horribly neat edges.

It felt like being instantly severed by something extremely sharp.

Old Finn withdrew his hand and slowly exhaled a breath of stale air.

Smoke rose in the dim light, obscuring the solemnity in his eyes.

"When did this happen...? It seems I really am getting old."

He muttered to himself, sat back down on the low stool behind the counter, and picked up the yellowed potion notebook in his hands.

But this time, he didn't open it.

I just sat quietly, listening to the faint sound of the wind coming from the depths of the night.

Like waiting for something.

Perhaps, we should wait for dawn.

Perhaps... we'll have to wait for the next storm.