Wizard: Starts with Advanced Meditation

"Gurgle gurgle—"

Suddenly, the Cold Cave Worm King opened its mouthful of mandibles layer by layer, each of its sharp teeth like a blade forged from ice, gleaming with a chilling white light.

Across from him, Hughes's eyes suddenly narrowed.

It was only because a strange feeling suddenly rose in his heart—the same familiar feeling that had sent chills down his spine when he faced the gaping maw of the "corpse giant".

Almost instinctively, his mind raced through the various characteristics of the Cold Cave Worm King and the preparatory actions for its various attack methods.

——！

The next moment, Hughes' eyes widened suddenly, and he turned around and shouted:

"It's about to unleash a sonic attack!!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he reached out and created a slow space in front of him.

— Buzzing

In an instant, several layers of fine spatial ripples spread out in front of him.

At almost the same moment, the Cold Cave Worm King's layers of mouthparts began to wriggle and contract.

The next second, as the mouth opened again, a piercing scream erupted from that abyss-like maw.

"Eee—ee—ee—!!!"

This was the unique cry of the Cold Cave Worm, but to everyone's ears, it sounded like a series of death warrants.

"Boom—!!"

In an instant, the entire passage began to shake violently, the rock walls cracked again, and rubble continued to fall from above.

A sound wave, almost solidified, swept across everyone present in an instant.

"Buzz! Buzz!!"

The sound waves collided with the sluggish space, and the layers of ripples twisted and vibrated wildly in an instant, emitting a sharp, teeth-grinding sound.

"Buzz..."

Thanks to the stagnant effect of the slow space on space, the originally fierce sound waves were weakened layer by layer in a short while and eventually disappeared without a trace.

The others were not as lucky as Hughes. Although they also reacted, they could only hastily cast a defensive spell.

Only Gwenth reacted the fastest; she summoned a strange plant that actually "swallowed" the sound waves in front of her.

"Bang—!"

But soon, the plant couldn't hold on any longer and exploded on the spot, splashing green sap everywhere, but it did temporarily avert the crisis.

As for the others? Their simple defensive spells were instantly shattered by the sound waves, and most of them survived only thanks to the life-saving magical artifacts they carried.

"What do we do next?"

As Jaeiro watched the Cold Cave Worm King's mouthparts begin to wriggle again, he knew without a doubt that it was preparing to unleash another sonic attack.

"Hold on for another five minutes..."

Just then, Digpegi's words brought a glimmer of hope. A halo of light flowed around him, and he suddenly began to communicate with the rock again.

"Lord Clotilde has not perished; he is on his way here and should take about three minutes."

Upon hearing this, everyone's tense hearts suddenly relaxed, and the hope for survival rekindled in their eyes, which were on the verge of despair.

"Ee-ee-ee!!!"

Soon, that unique hissing sound rang out again, followed by the terrifying invisible sound waves.

"Boom—!!"

The passage shook again, much more violently than before, and the cracks in the rock wall were widened, even revealing the passage next door.

Unfortunately, the group no longer had a chance to escape to this place. The sealed passage trapped them, leaving them only to face the impact of the sound waves.

Fortunately, having learned from the previous experience, the group did not slack off at all and immediately activated the defensive magic again.

This time, with time to react, they naturally used a defensive spell specifically designed to resist sonic attacks.

What remains is a clash between forces of strength.

"Buzz, buzz—!"

In an instant, the two collided with a deafening roar. The sonic waves emitted by the level-two magical beast instantly shattered all the witchcraft present, but were also completely neutralized by the complex level-one witchcraft.

Only two minutes left...

"Great! If we can hold out for the next wave of attacks, Lord Clotilde should be here soon."

"Looking at the Cold Cave Worm King's mouthparts wriggling again," Bilim said excitedly.

The Cold Cave Worm King clearly didn't take them seriously, intending only to slowly wear them down for amusement.

Little did it know that the being that posed a threat to its life was rapidly approaching.

However, before everyone could catch their breath...

"Eee—ee—ee—!!!"

Without warning, the terrifying screech rang out again, and the sound waves instantly swept over the unprepared crowd.

"Pfft—Ah!"

Caught off guard, the group's protective gear was shattered before they could even cast their defensive spells, and Bilim collapsed on the spot.

— Buzzing

Hughes heard a faint ringing in his ears and felt a little dizzy.

Fortunately, he had previously covered himself with a short-range protective film, so he did not suffer much actual damage.

Clearly, the Cold Cave Worm King's sound waves didn't need to be charged up at all; they could already be released continuously.

From beginning to end, it was just toying with this group of weak, formal wizards!

One minute left...

But the Cold Cave Worm King had already started wriggling its mouthparts again, and a faint hissing sound rang out once more.

At this critical moment, Digpaggi suddenly shouted:

"The Giant of the Rock!"

As soon as he finished speaking, his body suddenly stiffened, and a mouthful of blood mist suddenly spurted from his mouth.

Fortunately, the sorcery runes had been completed, and a surge of "life force" quietly flowed into the ground.

"Boom!! Boom!!"

The passage shook again, but this time it wasn't caused by sound waves; it was the earth itself that was shaking.

"Click-clack!! Click-clack!!"

Immediately, huge chunks of rock flew out of the ground and rapidly gathered in front of the Cold Cave Worm King, forming a towering rock giant in the blink of an eye.

This is the Rock Giant, a powerful earth elemental life form that lives in the earth elemental plane [Ers], and is comparable to the Storm Giant.

Its majestic body, made of giant rocks, is covered with faint, earthy yellow patterns.

That power comes from the earth, giving its body a mountain-like solidity and an unshakeable defensive capability.

"Eee—Eee—Eee!!!"

The next moment, the sound waves struck again, but this time they were all blocked by the giant rock spirit that stood in front of everyone.

"Buzz—thump!!!"

The sound waves slammed into its rocky body, causing the yellowish-brown veins to flash instantly, and fine cracks to immediately appear on the hard stone surface.

—It was blocked.

"Thump—! Thump—! Thump—!"

The next moment, the giant rock spirit took off with its pillar-like legs and ran straight toward the Cold Cave Worm King.