Wizard: Starting from Escape from the Thorn Garden

Stepping once again into Master Liria's Potions Sanctuary, filled with the strange fragrance of herbs, Chen Lin's feelings were completely different from before.

There was less cautious probing and more gratitude and anticipation for the mentor.

Instead of working at her workbench, Liria stood in front of a display case made of pure crystal.

Under the soft light inside the cabinet, an item floated quietly. It was not the dazzling and ornate magical artifact one might imagine, but rather a rather simple and even somewhat unremarkable object.

It is a ring.

The material is neither wood nor gold, presenting a deep and restrained dark gray color. The surface is covered with extremely fine, naturally formed thorn-like patterns, and a faint, almost invisible dark golden halo flows deep within the patterns.

The ring has a simple and smooth design, without any gemstone inlays, except for a tiny, closed flower bud-like protrusion in the center of the ring face.

"You've come." Liria turned around, her silver-grey eyes falling on Chen Lin, carefully examining his complexion.

"You're recovering faster than expected. It seems your body is much stronger than it appears."

"Thank you for your concern and the medicine, Master." Chen Lin bowed respectfully. "Your disciple is now out of danger."

Liria nodded slightly, her gaze shifting to the crystal case: "I told you, if you make it into the top 20, I'll give you a surprise. This is it."

With a light tap of her fingertip, the crystal cabinet door slid open silently.

The dark gray thorn ring slowly floated out and hovered in front of Chen Lin.

"It's called 'Shadowthorn Ring'," Liria said, her voice unusually gentle.

"It was a piece of 'Shadowwood' core and a few strands of 'Void Golden Thorns' roots that I obtained when I was exploring an ancient elven ruin in my early years."

It was created after years of painstaking effort, combining the essence of a wisp of aerial root from an ancient tree that protects the barrier with my understanding of space and life energy.

It is not an offensive or defensive magical artifact, but rather focuses on... movement and stealth.

Chen Lin's heart raced instantly! Movement and concealment! This was precisely his biggest weakness!

Liria continued, her tone tinged with a researcher's smugness:

"The core material, 'Shadowwood,' gives it the ability to blend into shadows and distort light;

The roots of the Void Golden Thorn provide the ability to traverse short-distance spatial gaps and a faint perception of spatial fluctuations.

The essence of the aerial roots that protect the ancient tree acts as a harmonizing agent, ensuring its energy stability and affinity with the life energy environment, thus reducing energy fluctuations during use.

She pointed to the tiny, bud-shaped protrusion on the ring face:

"This is the energy core and control node. After being activated by injecting mental energy, it mainly operates in two modes:"

Thorn Speed ​​Mode: When activated, the ring releases extremely subtle, almost invisible energy thorn vines that wrap around and cover the user's feet and calves.

These energy thorns are not physical entities, but they can instantly stimulate the user's leg nerves and muscles, greatly enhancing explosive power and short-distance sprint speed. When the user moves, they automatically guide the surrounding light to produce a slight refraction and distortion, creating a visual afterimage effect that interferes with locking.

At the same time, when the energy thorns touch the ground, they absorb some of the reaction force and use the properties of the Void Golden Thorns to glide slightly in space, reducing air resistance and making the movement smoother and faster, landing silently.

This mode consumes little energy, and its duration depends on the user's mental strength.

Shadowvine Protection Mode: When fully activated, the ring releases denser energy thorn vines that instantly cover the user's entire body, forming an extremely thin "Shadowvine Armor" composed of distorted light and faint spatial fluctuations.

This armor lacks physical defense, but it can activate powerful optical concealment, drastically distorting light and making the user's figure extremely blurry, almost transparent, and highly integrated with the colors of the environment.

It works exceptionally well in shaded, jungle, or areas with complex lighting conditions.

It also has the ability to conceal a faint aura. The energy thorn vines can absorb and disrupt the heat, smell and faint energy fluctuations emitted by the user, reducing the probability of being locked on by energy detection and mental perception.

These are the main abilities, and there are also two minor additional abilities.

Spatial Refraction Interference: Utilizing the properties of Void Golden Thorns, an extremely weak and constantly changing spatial refraction field is formed on the surface of the armor, which can interfere with targeted spell lock-on and mental scans.

Passive Thorn Counterattack: If there is a physical attack, such as touching or grabbing, that attempts to penetrate the Shadow Vine Armor, the energy thorns will burst forth instantly, creating a weak but powerful mental sting and spatial disorientation that will disrupt the opponent, giving the user time to react.

The Shadow Vine Protection Mode consumes a huge amount of energy and cannot be sustained for long. Depending on the user's mental strength, it can usually only be maintained for a few minutes. When fully activated, it will produce brief spatial ripples that may be detected by skilled spatial wizards or detection arrays.

It's a life-saving trump card in critical moments, not a conventional means of concealment.

Liria paused, looked at Chen Lin, her eyes deep:

"Your fighting style, defense, and control have reached the pinnacle of a Level 4 Apprentice. The combination of vine binding and neurotoxin is even more ferocious and difficult to defend against."

But speed and stealth remain your weaknesses.

This Shadow Thorn Ring allows you to transform into thorns in the shadows when needed, striking instantly like a poisonous stinger or disappearing into the shadows like a ghostly vine.

It won't make you invincible, but it can greatly compensate for your weaknesses, increasing your survival and adaptability in the complex environment of the Trial Tower.

Chen Lin stared at the ancient and mysterious ring before him, feeling the profound space and shadow energy contained within it, his heart pounding wildly!

This is exactly what he has been dreaming of!

Liria's "surprise" was far more valuable than he had imagined!

This is not just a magical artifact, but also a huge affirmation of his potential, will, and previous efforts!

"Mentor..." Chen Lin's voice was filled with barely suppressed excitement.

"This ring... is far too precious! Disciple..."

"Take it."

Liria interrupted him, lightly tapping her fingertips, and the Shadow Thorn Ring slowly floated down into Chen Lin's palm.

It feels slightly cool to the touch, with a strange resilience, as if it has a slight pulse of life.

"It has been sitting idle in my house for many years. Rather than letting it gather dust, I should hand it over to someone who can make good use of its value."

Remember, power is just a tool; how it is used is up to the user.

The Trial Tower is fraught with danger; use it wisely to return alive.

"Yes! Your disciple will remember your teachings!"

Chen Lin solemnly accepted the ring with both hands and bowed deeply.

He could feel a subtle resonance between the power contained in the ring and his own Seed of Origin, Moon Shadow Essence, and even the Bloodthirsty Vine.

Liria waved her hand: "Go back and familiarize yourself with it. I'll find you again before the Trial Tower opens. Go on."

Chen Lin bowed again, his heart filled with indescribable emotions, and left the Temple of Magic Potions.

Back in the secret room of the Green Vine Workshop, Chen Lin couldn't wait to study the Shadow Thorn Ring.

He sat cross-legged and put the ring on his right index finger so he could activate it at any time.

The mental energy slowly probed into the core of the ring.

hum!

A cool yet dynamic energy flowed back through the spiritual force.

The thorn patterns on the ring's surface seemed to come alive, with a subtle, dark golden halo swirling around them.

The Seed of Origin was operating at full power, beginning to analyze the internal structure and energy circuits of the ring.

[Item: Ring of Shadowthorns (High-level Apprentice-grade Magical Artifact)]

[Materials: Shadowcloak Wood Core (Primary Concealment), Void Golden Thorn Roots (Primary Spatial Glide/Disruption), Guardian Ancient Tree Aerial Root Essence (Harmony/Stabilization)]

[Energy Circuit: Complex (Shadow, Space, Life)]

Core Functions:

Mode 1: Thorn Sprint (Move/Disrupt)

Effects: Increases burst speed by 50-80%, creates visual afterimage interference, reduces drag when gliding in a small space, and lands silently.

Consumption: Low (Continuously consumes mental energy)

Limitations: It puts a certain strain on the leg muscles and nerves, and prolonged use can easily lead to fatigue.

Mode 2: Shadow Vine Protection (Powerful Concealment/Disruption)

Effects: Strong optical concealment, faint aura concealment, spatial refraction interference and locking, passive thorn counterattack (mental/spatial interference).

Consumption: Huge (burst consumption, short duration)

Limitations: Generates weak spatial ripples; less effective for high-precision space exploration or powerful mental scanning.

[Compatibility: Symbiotic relationship with the host's Moonshadow and a slight resonance with the Bloodthirsty Vine can enhance the smoothness of stealth effects and the strength of counter-attack interference.]

[Status: Unbound (Core needs to be imprinted with spiritual power and essence blood)]

"Bind!" Chen Lin said without hesitation.

He cut his fingertip, forcing out a drop of blood to drip onto the bud-like protrusion on the ring face, while simultaneously injecting a surge of pure spiritual energy into it!

Om-!

The ring shone brightly!

The dark gray thorn patterns instantly lit up, and a dark gold halo flowed, spreading like blood vessels!

As his essence and spiritual energy were rapidly absorbed, Chen Lin felt a close and mysterious connection established between himself and the ring, as if it had become a part of his body.

The flower bud on the ring face opened slightly, emitting a clearer energy fluctuation.

Binding complete!

A sharp glint flashed in Chen Lin's eyes. A thought struck him, and he attempted to activate the "Thorn Swiftness" mode!

hum!

A surge of icy energy instantly flowed from the ring, spreading down the arm to the legs!

He looked down and saw that his feet and calves were covered with an extremely fine, almost transparent layer of dark golden energy thorn vines!

These vines are not physical entities, yet they bring a strange sense of lightness and power!

Chen Lin exerted force with his feet!

Whoosh!

His body shot out like an arrow released from a bow!

The speed is far greater than ever before!

Even more remarkably, he left a faint, distorted afterimage along his path!

Upon landing, I felt the recoil from the ground being cleverly absorbed and transformed, making my steps light and silent!

He moved and changed direction at high speed around the secret room, feeling more agile and swift than ever before, and the air resistance was much less!

"So fast!" Chen Lin was overjoyed!

This speed increase is at least 70% of his normal level!

Moreover, the afterimage effect is significant and can definitely confuse the opponent in actual combat!

Next, he tried to activate the "Shadow Vine Shelter" mode!

hum!

This time, the consumption was obviously enormous!

His mental energy poured out like a floodgate opening!

His entire body was instantly covered by a denser layer of dark gray energy thorns that distorted light and spatial fluctuations!

His figure suddenly became blurred and transparent in the secret room, almost blending into the shadows of the walls!

Its aura also became unpredictable!

Even more remarkably, when he tried to use his mental powers to sense himself, he found that locking onto the target became extremely difficult, as if the target was constantly "flickering" and shifting!

He maintained it for only 30 seconds before feeling that nearly one-tenth of his mental energy had been depleted!

The mode was immediately deactivated.

The instant he was released, a faint spatial ripple spread out from him; though extremely subtle, it was undeniably present.

"As expected... it consumed a lot of energy, and it had weaknesses. But... it's enough!"

Chen Lin clenched his fist, feeling the ring's cool yet resilient touch.

This "Shadow Thorn Ring" will become another key trump card for him in the Southern Trial, besides the Spirit Pivot Seed!

After a period of rest, I've reaped the rewards and am pleasantly surprised by what I've acquired.

Next, it's time for the final sprint towards that ultimate trial!