Wizard: My skills can be upgraded indefinitely.

Chapter 101 First Battle

"Line up! Stay alert!"

Calem's voice brought everyone back to reality.

He stood at the front of the line, his scars appearing even more grotesque against the glowing moss.

"This is the entrance to the Twelfth Demon Nest on the west side of Ironspine Canyon."

He pointed to a huge cave on the left, twenty meters high, with jagged rocks along its edges, as if it had been gnawed by some giant beast.

"Our mission is to clear out all active subterranean creatures in this area, destroy the demon's lair, and establish a temporary defensive line."

"Assign defensive positions now." Kelham quickly issued the order. "Rhodes, you take twenty men and take charge of the left flank rock wall area."

Kelly, you lead twenty men to the right flank. The rest of you stay with me and guard the main entrance.

Remember, don't be reckless; focus on defense and counterattacks. First, figure out the attack patterns of these monsters.

Ian was assigned to the Callum group, positioned slightly to the right of the front line.

He quickly took his position, spreading out in a fan shape with the other five senior apprentices, about ten meters apart from each other.

This distance allows for mutual support without accidentally harming teammates under area-of-effect spells.

"Ugh, this place feels so uncomfortable—"

Gaga complained in her mind, "The shadow energy is very active, but the other elements are all so dirty."

"Hide well and don't come out," Ian whispered, his eyes fixed on the dark cave ahead.

It won't take long.

Thump—thump—thump—

Heavy footsteps echoed from the depths of the cave, accompanied by heavy breathing and the sound of wet, slimy liquid being dragged along.

coming.

The first creature to rush out of the cave was a humanoid being.

They are about two meters tall, with huge heads, hunched backs, and their facial features are twisted and squeezed together. Their mouths are split to the roots of their ears, and their mouths are full of sharp teeth dripping with foul-smelling saliva.

The arm ends in a sickle-like bone blade with a ghostly green edge, clearly indicating it is highly poisonous.

"Rotten Claw Imps, one of the most common cannon fodder underground," Kelham's voice rang out calmly.

"Their strength is roughly equivalent to that of an intermediate to advanced apprentice, but their numbers are usually large. Be careful of their bone blades and venom, and also, don't let them get close; these guys like to self-destruct before they die."

Before the words were even finished, the first batch of more than a dozen Rotten Claw Demons roared and charged out of the cave!

Their eyes glowed crimson in the dim light, devoid of reason, driven only by a pure desire to kill and devour.

Upon spotting the human group, it immediately let out a piercing shriek, pounced on all fours at an astonishing speed!

"attack!"

Kelham gave the order.

call out!call out!call out!

On the left, Rhodes' group of apprentices took the lead, unleashing more than a dozen fireballs, ice spikes, and wind blades that crashed into the group of lesser demons.

Boom! Pfft!

More than a dozen lesser demons were blasted to pieces by the fireball, their dark green blood and bits of flesh flying everywhere.

Then, even more inferior demons rushed over!

From where Ian was, three lesser demons were roaring and charging towards him.

A female apprentice beside him turned pale, but still gritted her teeth and chanted the incantation.

A semi-transparent force field wall appeared, struggling to block the way directly in front.

boom!

The demon at the forefront slammed into the force field wall, its bone blades slicing through it and creating ripples on the surface of the force field.

"Help me!" the female apprentice cried out urgently, her force field wall trembling violently.

Ian did not use his signature instant beam magic.

He pretended to chant incantations quickly, tracing runes with his hands in front of him—a standard prelude to most apprentices performing witchcraft.

In fact, the spiritual energy that had been vaporized in the sea of ​​consciousness had already quietly begun to surge.

"Burning rays".

He silently chanted in his mind, but deliberately controlled the power and speed, and the orange-red ray he shot out seemed to take shape after a brief chant.

laugh!

A ray the thickness of a thumb struck the left shoulder of the lesser demon, burning a charred hole in it.

The demon let out a miserable howl, its movements slowed slightly, but it did not fall down immediately.

"Not powerful enough! Let's try again!"

Another male apprentice shouted, releasing several balls of acid that struck the imp in the middle, corroding it and sending up plumes of white smoke.

Ian "cooperated" and "chanted" again, firing another ray that this time hit the lesser demon's knee.

The lesser demon staggered and fell to his knees, whereupon the female apprentice seized the opportunity to slice off his head with a strengthened wind blade.

Battles broke out at various points along the defensive line.

The Rotting Claw Imps are not particularly strong, but their frenzy and sheer numbers make up for their lack of quality.

Moreover, as Kelham said, these monsters don't care about life or death. Once they are seriously injured, they will desperately rush towards the nearest apprentice.

Then—bang!

Before collapsing, a lesser demon with its legs severed suddenly swelled up, a filthy red light emanating from beneath its skin, and then exploded!

Dark green chunks of flesh and venom splattered everywhere, covering an area of ​​ten meters in radius.

An apprentice who couldn't dodge in time was splashed, and the energy shield protecting him immediately emitted a "sizzling" corrosive sound, his face turning blue instantly.

"Purification potion! Quick!" someone shouted.

Throughout the battle, Ian maintained a calm and observant demeanor, deliberately keeping his performance at an "above average" level.

Occasionally, an "mistake" causes an attack to miss, or a difficult fight against a demon's counterattack.

In fact, he relied on his completely atomized mental power to cast spells with extremely fast speed and precise control, making it extremely easy.

laugh!

Another ray pierced through the eye socket of a lesser demon and exited from the back of its head. The lesser demon convulsed and collapsed to the ground.

Ian silently counted in his mind, the seventh one.

The jade pendant trembled slightly in his arms, as if it recorded something.

The battle lasted for about fifteen minutes.

When the last Rotclaw Imp was chopped to a crisp by Kelly, hundreds of twisted corpses piled up near the cave entrance.

Dark green blood soaked into the rocks, and the air was filled with a strong stench of blood and burnt flesh.

"First wave over. Rest in place, treat wounds, and collect Abyss Crystals."

Calem ordered, "Move quickly, the next wave won't be long."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, but no one dared to completely relax.

Several injured apprentices quickly took antidotes and healing potions, while the others began to approach the corpses of the monsters they had killed.

Ian walked toward the few lesser demons he had killed.

As he approached, he noticed a detail: as the jade tablet drew nearer, the frenzied and restless aura of the demon corpses dissipated, and something that had sustained their existence was drawn away by the jade tablet.

Ian crouched down and placed his hand on the forehead of a lesser demon corpse.

"The secret method for extracting abyssal crystals — it's very simple."

He recalled the short incantation that all participants learned before entering the underground; it was a minor secret technique that advanced apprentices could quickly master.

The mental energy pierced deep into the skull of the inferior demon's corpse like a fine needle, and in a location similar to the "pineal gland," it touched a tiny, cold crystalline nucleus.

"凝".

Ian silently recited the secret incantation, his mental energy enveloping the crystal core, and gently pulled it out.

boo.

A dark gray crystal, the size of a grain of rice, emerged from the lesser demon's brow, its surface bearing fine spiral patterns, and fell into Ian's palm.

"This is the crystallization of the abyss."

It feels cool to the touch, and there is a faint, extremely weak, and chaotic flow of energy inside.

According to the pre-battle explanation, this crystal is a "contaminated core" that condenses inside the bodies of subterranean creatures after they have been corrupted by the power of the abyss, and it is also a certificate for exchanging merits.

Just as Ian was about to extract the second one, a dispute arose from the side.