Wizard: Starts with Advanced Meditation

After leaving Lapris, Hughes originally wanted to go back and test Nister, but his communication crystal suddenly made a strange noise.

"Buzz! Buzz!..."

"Oh? Iluya?"

Hughes frowned slightly. This voice was specially made by him, and its sound meant that Iluya had sent a message.

But just as he was about to reach out, a voice suddenly interrupted him.

"Lord Hughes."

Upon hearing the unfamiliar voice behind him, Houston immediately stopped what he was doing.

He immediately turned around and found only an ordinary-looking man standing behind him.

The other person was expressionless, and it was not difficult to judge from the faint fluctuations of mental energy emanating from him that he was only a third-class wizard apprentice.

"Is there something you need?"

Hughes said coldly, while silently turning off the constantly ringing communication crystal.

"It's like this, my Tower Master wishes to speak with Lord Hughes."

As he spoke, the wizard apprentice stepped aside slightly, making way for the path behind him.

"This way, Lord Hughes, it's my pleasure to show you the way."

Faced with this sudden invitation, Hughes naturally did not move, but instead frowned and said:

"Your Tower Master? Who is that? Which Tower of Knowledge does he manage?"

But when he asked the question, the other person did not answer. Instead, he walked quickly toward him, but then stopped at an appropriate distance.

The next moment, his right hand, which was hanging by his side, moved quietly and began to make gestures in the air.

"This is……!"

As Hughes watched the other person slowly gesturing, his pupils suddenly contracted, and his heart churned with turmoil.

The apprentice before him had used his finger to trace a universal word: blood.

Upon seeing this scene, Hughes' first reaction was that it was related to vampires, and then he thought of the throat-cutting tavern he had visited before.

"...Could it be that the academy discovered it? Or perhaps it's someone from the Golden Ring Crown?"

Hughes thought to himself.

(I used "—" for my original thoughts and subtle sounds (like sounds coming from behind a wall or in the water), but I think "…" sounds more natural.)

But the next second, he rejected the idea.

After all, if the academy really found out, the person who would come to take him away would probably not be an ordinary apprentice.

However, since the other party seemed to know that he had some connection with the vampires, he had to be wary of it.

Thinking of this, Hughes still had some doubts, but after looking at the flow of people around him, he nodded and said:

"Alright, let's go then."

Then, the two walked through the sparse crowd and slowly left the place.

"..."

Soon after, the apprentice led Hughes to a tower of knowledge.

"We've arrived, Lord Hughes."

Upon hearing this, Hughes looked up and discovered that the surface of the spire was somewhat different, displaying a faint blood-red hue.

Upon closer inspection, he discovered that the reason was that blood was flowing inside the crystal of the tower, just like a large piece of congealed blood scab.

"Biomodification? Vampires?... "

Just by looking at the spire, Hughes deduced the general direction of the research being conducted, and at the same time, he made some connections to it.

Thinking of this, his eyes narrowed slightly.

"Da, da..."

Meanwhile, the apprentice leading the way had arrived at the spire's entrance.

He then raised his hand and gently tapped several crystals covered in blood-red patterns.

"Thump. Thump."

The next moment, the crystal door slowly disappeared, revealing a spacious corridor behind it.

"Please come in, Lord Hughes. The Tower Master is already waiting at the top of the spire."

After saying that, the apprentice stood still at the entrance, not moving an inch.

Upon seeing this, Hughes immediately realized that the other party was clearly being controlled.

"What I had to face... has finally come."

He glanced at the seemingly endless corridor ahead, his eyes darkened, and then he strode forward.

"Buzz... Boom..."

The next second, the instant he stepped into the tower, the crystal door that had just disappeared reappeared out of thin air, sealing off the entrance to the outside world.

"Huh? The space... is sealed off?!"

As the spire closed, Hughes, who had just stepped into the corridor, immediately noticed the abnormality.

In just a moment, he lost contact with all the teleportation points in the outside world.

This also means that the entire interior space of the spire was sealed off and isolated in an instant.

At this moment, neither Flash nor Teleport, any means of displacement through space, have become completely ineffective.

"Such a strong sealing force is clearly not meant to block ordinary teleportation spells."

Hughes muttered to himself, his face growing increasingly grim.

"It seems... they were the ones who set up the teleportation trap."

He had kept the existence anchored in the rift well hidden. Apart from Hott, who was still in the Abandoned Land, he had dealt with everyone else who had seen him use this teleportation magic.

Apart from the Black Ring assassin who had recently escaped from him.

But right now, it seems he has no choice but to keep moving forward.

With that in mind, he took a step forward and continued walking down the dimly lit corridor.

"..."

However, as Hughes walked, he suddenly reached out and gently rubbed the wall beside him with his fingertips.

His fingertips pressed lightly against the wall, moving slowly with his steps, making a soft "rustling" sound.

The wall felt cold to the touch and had a slippery feel, but Hughes wasn't doing this to determine the wall's material.

Several strands of solidified spiritual energy quietly emerged from his consciousness and gradually adhered to the wall along his palms and fingertips.

In this way, strands of spiritual energy gradually seeped into the interior of the wall, and then quickly spread outward until they touched the barrier that sealed the space.

Clearly, he was using his mental power to probe the spatial barrier that sealed off the entire spire, in order to find its weaknesses.

Without a doubt, this is the only way out he can currently afford to leave himself.

After all, theoretically speaking, even if the surrounding space is sealed off, as long as his world-shattering impact is strong enough, he can break through this spatial barrier and then teleport away.

"..."

Soon after, Hughes walked through the corridor and entered a large hall.

But this was clearly not the top of the spire, yet he suddenly stopped in his tracks.

"clatter……"

In the center of the hall stood a figure, clearly waiting for him.

"It really was you guys..."

As Hughes gazed at the incredibly familiar figure before him, his tone gradually turned cold.

"Barossa Corradis".