Wizard: Starts with Advanced Meditation

"..."

As soon as he finished speaking, the room fell into complete silence.

Hughes stared at the spot where Iluya had left, lost in thought.

Considering Valerius's identity as a vampire, he couldn't help but speculate about Barossa, who was in league with him.

"Could it be... that Barossa is also a vampire?!"

He muttered to himself, a look of surprise and uncertainty on his face.

"Either he is a blood witch, or he is being controlled by Valerius."

Although the Golden Crown's detection methods against vampires were very sophisticated, considering that Valerius had been able to infiltrate the Soya Valen family for so many years, he thought the first guess was also a possibility.

He was certain that the vampires had mastered the means to disguise themselves as normal people, and the level of disguise was far superior to the detection methods of the Golden Crown.

Thinking of this, Hughes felt a chill run down his spine.

Valerius of the Soyavaren family, Imos disguised as a wandering apprentice, and the mysterious vampire (Bevic) who has taken over Sotadia's body...

The string of names flashed through his mind, each one like a hidden nail that had quietly driven into his heart.

Only now did he realize something was amiss.

Unbeknownst to him, he had already come into contact with so many vampires.

Valerius held a high position but possessed the most rebellious bloodline, while Imos disguised himself as a wandering apprentice, as if to lie in wait for his opportunity in the shadows of the continent.

As for the mysterious vampire who was resurrected from Sotadia's body, even his purpose remains elusive.

These three vampires, with their vastly different identities, seemed to have come to this continent with the same goal in mind, quietly laying their plans.

Even more terrifying is the question of how many vampire wizards are still lurking in this vast continent of Maransel!

Hughes suddenly realized that the vampires of today were no longer the scattered individuals scattered by the wizards; they had long since regrouped and were carrying out a premeditated infiltration!

"The entire Maranthir will be plunged into the war of yesteryear!"

Instantly, Cyrus's warning from years ago echoed in his mind once more.

At first, he wasn't completely indifferent; he just felt that everything was still far off and he had enough time to prepare.

But it wasn't until he learned of Valerius's existence and what the other was plotting that Hughes truly realized—all of this was about to happen.

Furthermore, since the vampires are preparing for war, it means that they have already made ample preparations in secret!

Although it was unclear what they were relying on, Hughes was certain that by then, the entire Maranthel would be plunged into chaos, and the wizards and vampires would experience a war even more devastating than before!

Maranthel cannot fall apart... at least not until he figures out a way to get to the Wizarding Dimension.

So now, he no longer has the option to stay out of it all.

Once war breaks out, he, as a wizard from the Oren plane, is destined to step onto the battlefield.

Thinking of this, Hughes's eyes gradually hardened.

Since there is no way to avoid it, we can only seize the time now and improve our strength and enrich our means before the war breaks out.

At the same time, considering that he had been in the Tower of Ten Thousand Edges for some time, Hughes couldn't help but wonder about the so-called method of entering the Wizarding Dimension.

He had originally thought the academy would inform everyone about the route to the wizarding world.

But now it seems that even official authorities like the academy have no intention of informing them.

Moreover, neither apprentices nor full-fledged wizards, nor members of the Fourth Ring Family or non-family members, seem to have ever mentioned a way to travel to the Wizarding Plane, nor have they ever intended to participate in it.

Everyone seemed to be focused only on what was in front of them, ignoring the existence of higher planes, or even deliberately avoiding it.

Then he recalled what he had learned from Moore: that only families with five rings were qualified to enter the wizarding plane.

A chilling thought suddenly occurred to him:

Perhaps this path to the Wizarding Realm has never been open to anyone outside the Five Rings Family since some time ago, and those who have been excluded seem to have long accepted this situation.

"Perhaps... we could go to the Coral Oath and ask Wakka..."

……

The following day, Hughes and Elena practiced ice elemental magic inside the spire.

A chilling aura instantly exploded between the two of them, and even ice crystals spread wildly across the ground and in mid-air.

"Whoosh—Bang!!"

"Snap!! Snap snap!!"

However, despite the impressive scale of the magical clash, the ice that struck the two did not cause them any harm.

These were merely the simplest level zero sorcery, amplified only through the "Eternal Frozen Crystal Core" method, which barely caused some damage to the shields in front of the two.

Suddenly, an ice hockey puck shot straight at Hughes.

"call out--!"

Immediately afterwards, Elena spoke:

"I have investigated the matter you entrusted to me. Hector and Barossa do indeed know each other."

"Bang—!"

Upon hearing this, Hughes was taken aback for a moment, then detonated the incoming ice ball from a distance, and said in a deep voice:

"What is their relationship?"

Seeing his tense expression, Elena temporarily stopped her spellcasting and whispered:

"We weren't very close, but we got to know each other after Barossa entered the Tower of Ten Thousand Edges, and—in fact, it was Barossa who recommended that Hector become your rival."

"Click—"

Upon hearing this, Hughes paused slightly.

The next second, an extremely fast ice blade came flying straight at them, ending the battle.

"Whoosh—!!"

"..."

"Thank you very much for your investigation, Wizard Elena."

……

On the way to the abandoned coast, Hughes kept recalling the information provided by Elena.

To be honest, this was quite unexpected for him.

He had only used Hector as an excuse to ask Irene to investigate Barossa's background.

Unexpectedly, they learned about the relationship between Hector and Barossa.

He had been wondering why his opponent was Hector, who was a year older than him, but now it seemed that all of this was secretly arranged by Barossa!

"So, Barossa had my eye on me from the very beginning."

Thinking of this, Hughes's eyes darkened slightly.

There's no need to investigate Barossa's background anymore, since he already knows the general situation from Iluya.

But now, the mystery he had just stumbled upon from Elena has plunged him into another mystery.

Barossa—why did you target me from the very beginning?