Wizard: Starts with Advanced Meditation

In an instant, the torrent of ice elemental energy released by Hughes easily overwhelmed the same attack coming from the opposite side.

—Click, click

Two streams of ice with different magical powers pressed against each other, and a piercing cracking sound came from where they met.

Fortunately, a blurry barrier had risen around the two of them; otherwise, the burst of cold air would have swept through the entire space, and it also served as a shield.

Immediately afterwards, the elements that Elena activated were completely swallowed up by Hughes, and she was defeated once again.

"It's happening again..."

Irene frowned slightly, but what she cared about was not the outcome of the battle, but rather that the transition between the three states was still very unnatural.

Hughes watched this unfold and flicked his finger forward lightly.

"call out--"

The next second, a tiny ice shard was ejected and slowly rotated in mid-air. It sometimes solidified and sometimes vaporized, switching between the three states as smoothly as breathing.

As Elena watched this scene, her crimson pupils contracted slightly.

"Your mental energy... doesn't seem to be consistently attached to every single ice element particle."

Hughes glanced at her.

"Your mental focus... seems to be constantly 'distracted'."

—It's like it's always been maintaining something else.

Upon hearing this, Irene's eyes flickered slightly, but she did not answer. Instead, she changed the subject:

"Phew... My father recently sent word... that someone has spotted the trail of those wasteland hunters in eastern Maranthelle."

"Wilderness...hunter?"

Hughes certainly knew the word, after all, he had lived in Corera for more than ten years.

The Wasteland Hunters are an alliance of orcs and magical beasts who roam the outskirts of the continent year-round, their whereabouts uncertain.

Of course, to be more precise, those monsters were all controlled by orcs.

This alliance is notorious because they periodically raid wizard towns on the outskirts of the continent, often every few years, with no discernible pattern.

It is said that Corella suffered two invasions in the past century.

He had also heard his father mention that those orcs rode terrifying war beasts that could easily crush the houses in the outer city with a single kick.

Lord Ross, being a level two wizard, naturally tried to resist, but unfortunately, the alliance's invasions were unpredictable and were protected by a powerful level two wizard.

In addition, their attacks are very fast, and they will withdraw in less than a day. Cities that cannot afford teleportation arrays will not be able to wait for reinforcements.

Thus, they roamed Maranse for nearly two hundred years.

"So...they'll be attacking eastern Maranseur soon?"

Hughes frowned. If that were the case, then Corella, as the first city in eastern Maranthel, would inevitably become their target.

"That's right... Ross will probably come to the Tower of Trials again to issue a mission, asking us to come back and provide support."

Irene nodded.

"In fact, in recent years, the city lords have begun to make preparations. This opportunity to issue a commission to the Myriad Peaks Tower was something they worked together to secure."

The Wasteland Hunters were already a major headache for many cities on the outskirts of Maransel.

Moreover, the opposing forces have grown stronger day by day, and there are even faint signs of a second level two wizard emerging, which is why the various forces have finally united.

"Take some time to inform your sister Nora. The academy will most likely send us too, so let her prepare in advance."

For these kinds of missions, apart from the required second-level wizards, the candidates for official wizards are mostly selected from those who come from the outskirts of Maransel.

After all, only they can be considered to have a sense of belonging and a corresponding obligation.

With that in mind, Hughes agreed.

Come to think of it, he and Nora haven't seen each other much during this time.

Firstly, after his promotion, he became busy with various long-term experiments and dealing with some unexpected events he had experienced. Secondly, Nora was also recently trying to break through to the level of a formal wizard.

It's worth mentioning that last year, under the joint "encouragement" of Nora and Lily, she barely managed to become an extreme apprentice.

Therefore, Hughes wasn't too worried about her promotion, since it was a natural progression.

"..."

Shortly after speaking with Elena, Hughes left the Melison Spire and flew to his dormitory.

As he flew over the area around the Koya Spire, he stopped and took a look.

"Oh, is part of it already built?"

Several months have now passed since the last explosion at the Koya Spire.

So far, part of the spire has been rebuilt, and he estimates that the base and the first floor are almost finished.

The elves from the Chelka family, despite the serious deaths they suffered, still chose to remain at the Spire of Ten Thousand Peaks to exchange ideas, including the group led by Kelintel.

As for Digpegi and Lapris, they have already been discharged from the hospital and have been in contact with him.

Unfortunately, according to recent news from Digpei, the Tree Whisperer's communication mark has remained silent for the past few months.

However, he assured himself that after this exchange was over, he would try to find out if there were any other Tree Whisperers in the Oren plane.

Thus, these are the changes that have taken place at the Wanling Spire in the past few months.

"..."

"Buzz—"

After returning to his dormitory, Hughes first teleported himself to the residence he had bought in Wiesholm, but then a flash of silver light transported him to the vicinity of the underwater ruins.

This was a teleportation point he deliberately placed near the Coral Oath stronghold for the sake of convenience in the future.

Then, with the help of Utuzik's water-walking technique, he swam straight into the underwater ruins.

"Splash—"

Upon arriving in the hall, Hughes glanced at the spot where Vaka usually sat, only to find it empty.

"Good evening, Wizard Ike..."

So he asked a mermaid sorcerer sitting by the door.

Have you seen Waka? Where did he go?

"Good evening, Hughes... You mean Waka...?"

Ike recalled for a moment, then pointed to one of the passages.

"He just went that way, I think it was to his lab, you know—he hasn't been feeling well lately."

Upon hearing this, Hughes nodded and then walked toward the passage.

He actually knew something about Vaka's physical condition, after all, the other party had asked him to concoct some potions that were beneficial to merfolk a few weeks ago.

According to the other party, it seems to be a strange illness that occurs every once in a while.

However, they did not provide any further explanation regarding the cause of the illness.