Wizard: Starts with Advanced Meditation

Led by Vinunieki, the two quickly passed through the barriers and flew into the castle.

The two or three then switched to walking, slowly making their way through the magnificent, retro castle.

The castle was clearly a magical building, filled with magical devices made of mithril, crystal and other materials, and even the walls were covered with intricate runes.

Of course, compared to the most orthodox enchanted building of wizards—the Wizard Tower—this castle inevitably lacks some functionality.

"Our Heruno family was one of the first families to follow the Vomiri family in exploring the Oren plane, and this castle was built at that time."

Surprisingly, Vinunegi seemed unaware of the purpose of Hughes and his companions' visit, and even introduced the castle to them along the way.

"It can be said that... this castle is one of the oldest buildings in the entire Oren plane."

"..."

Soon, after Hughes and his companions had traversed a long corridor and climbed one spiral staircase after another, they finally stopped in front of a magnificent gate.

Several guards stood in front of the gate, all dressed in gray and red robes, with the leader being an old wizard who had reached the level of a full-bodied wizard.

"Lord Vinuneki."

Upon seeing the newcomer, the old wizard immediately stepped forward and said respectfully:

"The teleportation array is ready and can be activated immediately."

Upon hearing this, Vinunegi nodded, then turned around and looked at Hughes and the others.

"Our chieftain does not live in the castle or the wizard's tower. He lives in the volcano year-round, and the only passage is the teleportation array inside."

As soon as he finished speaking, the two guards activated the thick gate through some special means.

"Click—"

The next moment, the door slowly opened, and Hughes and the others stepped inside.

In the dimly lit hall, the brightest spot was the rune array set up in the very center.

Those intricate, fiery red runes, intertwined and entangled with magical patterns, outlined a gigantic...

A bright ring array.

Around the ring stood several wizards, each with a different style, but all dressed as rune masters.

They were each responsible for a part of the array ring, and were continuously injecting precise magical power into it.

At this moment, the runemaster closest to them suddenly spoke up:

"Please, both of you, stand up here quickly."

Upon hearing this, Hughes immediately strode forward and stepped into the rune array.

Barossa, however, remained standing in place, showing no intention of moving forward.

"I won't go. I don't think it's appropriate for me to overhear your conversation."

After saying that, he went to a corner of the hall to avoid interfering with the operation of the teleportation array.

His arrival was merely to introduce Hughes to the patriarch of the Heruno family and to use Valerius's connections to intimidate him.

"Buzz—!"

The next moment, the surrounding rune masters increased the infusion of magic power, and the rune array burst forth with a dazzling light, enveloping Hughes on the array.

"Buzz! Buzz buzz buzz!!! Whoosh—!"

Immediately afterwards, accompanied by a violent tremor of spatial energy, he vanished from his spot.

"..."

Hughes felt a series of spatial shocks coming at him, even though the castle and the volcano were not far apart, these shocks were unusually violent.

Not only that, but an incredibly hot aura also followed, scorching his skin.

"Buzz—!"

Finally, with a burst of bright light suddenly appearing before his eyes, he was teleported to his destination, and the scene before his eyes changed abruptly.

"Thump—"

This is a platform suspended inside the volcano, with bubbling lava below, seemingly about to erupt, and the crater above shrouded in thick black smoke.

Hughes looked up and saw a tall figure sitting in the center of the platform.

His physique was robust and muscular, almost as tall as Nystrife's. He was not wearing any armor on his upper body, and his crimson skin was fully exposed.

And this man is none other than the current patriarch of the Heruno family—"The Volcano Butcher" Datan Heruno.

"You've arrived."

Before Hughes and the others could get close, Datan spoke first.

His eyes remained closed, his muscular chest rising and falling slightly, and a blazing orange-red light emanated from his left chest.

"Don't come any closer, or even you will be instantly incinerated by the heat field I release."

"clatter."

Upon hearing this, Hughes immediately stopped in his tracks.

Immediately, his eyes narrowed, and with his mental perception, he was shocked to discover that Datan in front of him was radiating thick heat outward from himself.

These invisible heat gases are far stronger than the heat field released by Niester.

In any area enveloped by heat, the concentration of fire element is hundreds of times higher than outside, and the temperature is even more terrifying than the churning magma below!

"Then I'll speak from here, Lord Datan."

Outside the platform, Hughes first performed a wizard's salute, and then slowly began to speak.

"First of all, I am deeply sorry for the fall of Zoroark and the others, but I had no choice at the time due to the circumstances."

"Boom!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the magma below suddenly churned violently, emitting a series of booming sounds.

"Four official wizards, including one who has reached the full capacity of the pool."

On the other side, Datan spoke calmly, his tone revealing neither joy nor anger.

"Not to mention, two of them are core members of my Heruno family."

As he spoke, the force field that had just been concentrated in the center suddenly expanded rapidly, sweeping across the edge of the platform and enveloping Hughes.

"Sizzle... sizzle..."

The next moment, scalding white steam rose from his body, and the domineering element contained within completely ignored the protection of the witchcraft, continuously burning his skin.

"Waaah..."

Hughes gritted his teeth, his magic pool swirling rapidly in his consciousness, a constant stream of ice elements emanating from his body, desperately resisting the erosion of the heat.

The other party clearly stopped, otherwise he probably would have simply vanished.

"Such a huge loss, if it weren't for Barossa's sudden introduction, I would never have met you."

At this moment, Datan slowly opened his eyes, revealing a pair of eerie eyes covered with flame-like patterns.

"So, you might as well just say it..."

He looked at Hughes, the flame-like patterns in his eyes flickering slightly.

"What reason do I have to let you go?"

On the other side, the heat seemed to solidify, pressing down heavily from above.

Hughes' body suddenly sank, and the icy aura emanating from him abruptly disintegrated, turning into wisps of steam.

"Lord Datan..."

He slowly reached out and took out a crystal ball from his storage bag.