Bloodline of the Wizard

The sky was tinged with a remnant of rosy afterglow, like blood, as the dying sunlight fell on the grey-white town square.

Echoes of eulogies for souls returning to Peaceful Village rose and fell, as hurried footsteps of passersby created an atmosphere of sorrow and gloom.

Another group entered the square.

They came from the direction of the forest, haggard in appearance, with their Wizard Robes torn and dirty, stained more or less with blood, as if they had just endured a life-and-death battle.

Upon setting foot in the square, each person's face showed a look of immense relief, the expression of having survived a calamity.

They embraced each other, emotions running high, some even shedding tears.

Passing Wizards cast curious or indifferent glances, thinking to themselves that this was probably just another group of poor souls who had luckily escaped from the clutches of the evil Black Robed Wizards.

After the excitement, the Wizards started to gravitate towards one direction.

They gathered in front of a tall figure in their midst, offering up Magic Stones and then solemnly bent down to kiss the hem of his Grey Robe.

This was a sign of the highest gratitude and respect among Wizards, rarely used outside of formal occasions.

Yet now, many Wizards collectively bestowed it upon one person, and none of them found the action inappropriate, which was truly astonishing.

"I spent fifteen Magic Stones on a proper Magic Robe..."

After the last Wizard had left, Ronan looked at the part of his robe hem clearly wet with saliva, and the corner of his eye twitched uncontrollably.

Considering the whole bag of Magic Stones... he held back.

Looking up at the blood-red setting sun, Hoddam Academy shrouded in white fog appeared like a quietly hibernating behemoth, giving Ronan a surreal feeling as if he was in another world.

"Thank goodness I'm still alive..."

He muttered softly, coming back to his senses, and turned to look at Old Wells, Vinicia, Cheryl, and Wizard Barry and his son, who had yet to leave.

It was certain that Old Wells and the others would follow him, but as for Barry and his son...

"My uncle has been assisting a particular Official Wizard at the Academy and he owns property in town... As much as I don't want to, I have no choice but to seek his aid this time..."

Wizard Barry explained the situation reluctantly, leaving an address for the others and expressing his sincere gratitude to Ronan again, then hurried off with his son Shaun.

Once Barry and his son were sent off, Old Wells and the others inquired about Ronan's next destination.

Now, he had seemingly replaced Old Wells as the pillar of their little group.

"Let's find a place to stay first... We'll try to contact Andre and the others tomorrow.

If all goes well, they should have already arrived in town..."

Ronan rubbed his temple with his hand, his face unable to conceal his fatigue.

At this moment, with people coming and going in the Hoddam Wizarding Land, the atmosphere filled with tension and repression, he only wished for a soft and comfortable bed to lie down and have a good sleep.

...

Night fell.

In a Wizard Inn within the town's residential area.

In a modest room, the windows were shut tight, and a few sluggish moths tiredly bumped into the old, glowing crystal wall lamp again and again.

"Splash—"

Ronan rose bare-skinned from the bathtub, casually pulled over a towel, and stepped with his bare feet onto the cold wooden floor.

"Whew—"

After drying off, Ronan exhaled and walked with damp hair to a silver full-length mirror in a corner of the room.

The youth reflected in the mirror was slender and tall, handsome and virile, bursting with the vibrance of a rising morning sun.

Only the stray strands of grey-white amongst his chestnut hair inadvertently revealed a maturity and mysterious air uncommon for his age.

"Is this an aftereffect..."

Gently playing with the hair at his forehead, Ronan frowned slightly, then began examining other parts of his body.

Everything was fine.

Except for the slash on the inner side of his left thigh, which he had inflicted on himself with a dagger, and some minor cuts on his cheeks and backs of his hands, which were consequences of the battle's aftermath, there were no other injuries.

Because he had used medicine, these wounds had already scabbed over and now felt slightly itchy.

After inspecting his body, Ronan then put on his clothes and sat at the table in the middle of the room to reflect on the perilous battle that had taken place during the day.

The Advanced Apprentice-level Black Robed Wizard possessed strong spiritual cultivation, fluent spell casting, superior equipment, and rich combat experience. Even among those of the same level, he was undoubtedly a formidable opponent.

That he could survive the encounter and ultimately turn the tables to kill the adversary,

was due, besides the considerable gap in strength levels that led the opponent to inevitably underestimate him, most importantly to…

The Master Level Energy Missile's mighty shock and awe!

At this thought, Ronan couldn't help but open his character panel.

[Name: Ronan Damien]

[Age: 16]

[Talent: No Attribute Affinity]

[Strength: Level 5 Wizard Apprentice (11%)]

[Skills: Basic Meditation Technique (Expert 219/800)

Energy Missile—Particle Torrent (Master 1/1600)

Charging Weapon (Mastery 344/400)

Rune engraving—Clean (Proficiency 177/200), Shining (Proficiency 27/200), Protection (entry-level 13/100)

Ascetic Body Refinement (Mastery 105/400)

Basic Swordsmanship (Mastery 395/400)

Fireball Technique (entry-level 10/100)

Ice Ball Skill (entry-level 20/100)

Detection Skill (Proficiency 8/200)]

Master Level Energy Missile!

During the successive fierce battles with the Black Robed Wizard as well as Magic Beasts, Ronan, when planning his last-ditch escape, unknowingly maxed out the final point of proficiency of the Expert Level Energy Missile, breaking through to the Master realm.

The Energy Missile, upon advancing to the Master level in proficiency, underwent a transformation that was nothing short of earth-shattering in both its form and strength of the spell. In addition, the original skill name now included a suffix named [Particle Torrent].

"Particle Torrent..."

Ronan quietly recited these four words while looking at his panel.

Recalling the scene when he cast the Master Level Energy Missile, which exhausted all of his spiritual power in one breath and harnessed a vast amount of Free Energy Particles to form black particles, indeed when launched, it gave a sense of an overwhelming torrent crushing and annihilating everything in its path with terrifying force.

Thinking back on it, it still sent chills down his spine.

Just newly advanced to Master Level, with only 1 point in proficiency, yet he crossed several minor levels in one fell swoop, instantly killing an Advanced Wizard Apprentice with formidable power!

Such might, could it not be comparable to the First Rank Magic that only Official Wizards are practiced enough to cast?!

"After advancing to Master Level proficiency, the Energy Missile seems to have completely transformed into a different spell..."

Ronan couldn't help but recall the mutterings of the Black Robed man before his death.

One word he mentioned left a deep impression on him.

It seemed to be something like...

Magic Domain?!

"Tap-tap-tap..."

Ronan's fingers gently tapped on the wooden table. Amid the crisp, rhythmic sounds, he finally remembered the full name of that term.

"Transcendent.. Magic Domain!"