Wizard: My skills can be upgraded indefinitely.

Chapter 102 Conflict

"I was the one who seriously injured him first! I was the one who finished him off!" A burly male apprentice glared at the skinny young apprentice opposite him.

"Your acid only corroded its surface! It was my ice pick that pierced its heart!"

The skinny apprentice, not to be outdone, gripped his staff tightly.

Between the two lay the corpse of a larger lesser demon, clearly stronger than an ordinary lesser demon.

"According to the rules, the one who lands the final blow gets the crystal first." The burly apprentice stepped forward, his aura pressing down on them.

"But my contribution is greater!" The skinny apprentice took a half step back, but refused to back down.

The other apprentices watched coldly, no one intervening. In places like this, conflicts over spoils were all too common.

Ian withdrew his gaze and continued extracting the crystals of the lesser demons he had killed.

He killed eleven creatures and quickly collected eleven abyssal crystals the size of rice grains. He put them in a small leather bag and stored them in his gray dimensional bag.

But as he walked toward the last demon, the one closest to where the two were arguing, the burly apprentice suddenly turned around and his gaze fell on Ian.

"Hey, you." The burly apprentice pointed at the lesser demon at Ian's feet.

"This place was just affected by my area-of-effect magic; I was partly affected."

Ian paused, then slowly looked up.

The burly apprentice was nearly 1.9 meters tall, with bulging muscles, clearly following the path of physical enhancement, and his aura was considered strong among advanced apprentices.

Seeing that Ian was behaving "mediocrely" and was all alone, he decided to take advantage of the situation.

Several apprentices around looked over, each with a different expression.

Ian paused for a second, then calmly said, "I killed him on my own; it has nothing to do with you."

The voice was not loud, but it was clear and distinct.

The burly apprentice squinted: "Kid, what did you say?"

“I said,” Ian stood up, his eyes beneath the gray hood looking at the other man, “this is my spoils.”

The atmosphere became tense again.

The skinny apprentice seized the opportunity to extract the crystal of the controversial lesser demon, then stepped aside, adopting a spectator's stance.

The burly apprentice's face twitched as he strode toward Ian.

His muscles bulged slightly, and his skin had a faint metallic sheen, a result of some kind of skin-enhancing magic.

"I'll say it again, I have a share of this spoils."

Ian didn't speak, but his right hand hung naturally at his side, with a faint icy blue light flowing from his fingertips.

He didn't want to cause trouble, but he was also well aware that in this underground world of demon hunting, any act of showing weakness among equals was a dangerous one.

Once you back down once, there will be a second and a third time, and you will eventually become a soft target that anyone can trample on.

That's enough.

A cold voice rang out.

Kelham had approached without anyone noticing, his scarred face expressionless.

"Want to fight amongst yourselves? Fine, after we clear this area, I'll give you a place to live or die. But right now—" His gaze swept over the two men like a knife, "Anyone who causes trouble again, I'll throw them deep into the cave."

The burly apprentice's expression changed, he glared at Ian, and finally retreated dejectedly.

Callum looked at Ian, his gaze deep: "Your name is Ian?"

"Yes, Captain."

"Well done," Calem said casually, turning and leaving. "Continue to rest. Next round of defense in three minutes."

Ian nodded slightly, then crouched down and extracted the last crystal.

In his mind, a cawing voice rang out: "Caw, that big guy holds a grudge against you. I can feel his killing intent."

"Let him be." Ian put the crystal away. "I'll find a chance to ambush him later."

He just didn't want to be too flashy, but that didn't mean he was weak.

With his current strength, even a formal wizard would try to kill him secretly if they harbored murderous intent towards him.

He looked into the depths of the cave, where even heavier footsteps were approaching from afar.

The second wave is coming.

This time, however, its aura was significantly stronger than that of the Corrupted Claw Demon.

No sooner had Kelham’s warning fallen than the darkness deep within the cave began to surge like boiling water.

Boom!Boom!Boom!

No longer the chaotic, dragging footsteps of the Rotten Claw Demon, but heavy, orderly, and with a certain unsettling rhythm, each step causing the ground to tremble slightly.

"All hands on alert! It's a big one!" Kelham's voice suddenly rose, his scarred face tensing.

Rhodes stopped playing with the blood-red dice, the eerie smile on his lips vanished, and his eyes became sharp as an eagle's.

Kelly's hands were already on the two staffs at her waist, and the surface of the metal staffs was flashing blue light rapidly.

Ian's pupils contracted slightly, and he unleashed his full mental power, piercing through the dim light and chaotic energy field to vaguely "see" the outline of the newcomer.

Those were five monsters, far larger than inferior demons.

"Lava Scale Beast, Stitched Abomination, Shadow Eater, and two Tier 1 Poison Claw Nightwalkers —"

Kelham's voice was heavy with suppressed emotion. "They're all Tier 1 monsters! Damn it, the size of this monster lair was misjudged!"

Before the words were even finished, the five demons had already rushed out of the cave!

"roar!"

The Lava Scale Beast let out a deafening roar, the sound waves carrying the scorching sulfurous aura that swept over the area. The apprentices in the front row were stunned and their protective energy shields fluctuated violently.

"Attack! Focus fire!" Kelham roared, clapping his hands together, and three thick crystal shields instantly materialized in front of him, forming a triangular shape to block the front of the defensive line.

Rhodes tossed the crimson die high into the air, where it spun rapidly, displaying six pained faces that flashed alternately before finally settling on "madness".

"The pain is spreading," Rhodes whispered.

The dice exploded, turning into a pale red mist that quickly enveloped the Lava Scale Beast and the Stitched Abomination at the forefront.

The lava-scaled beast suddenly froze, the lava liquid in the gaps of its scales churning violently. It let out a painful roar and frantically shook its head.

The countless arms of the Stitched Abomination began to swing wildly and uncontrollably, with some even bending backward and attacking its own torso!

Kelly raised both staffs simultaneously, tapping the ground with them. The ground suddenly bulged, and dozens of thorny vines burst forth, wrapping around the Shadow Eater and the Venom Claw Nightstalker.

The metal staff pointed to the sky, and a blinding bolt of lightning struck down, hitting a Venomous Claw Nightstalker precisely.

boom!

The lightning exploded, and the Poison Claw Nightstalker was charred black and sent flying backward. But after landing, it rolled and stood up again. Its charred marks were quickly covered by new dark purple skin, showing its extremely strong regenerative ability!

However, the crisis has only just begun.

"Watch out! They're about to charge!" Kelham shouted.

The Lava Scale Beast withstood Rhode's painful mist, lowered its head and charged forward, its thick tail sweeping across!

boom! boom! boom!

With the three crystal shields shattering one after another, Kelham grunted and took a half step back, but his hands quickly formed a seal, and a blazing white flame spear condensed in his palms and was thrown out fiercely!

The flaming spear pierced the lava scale beast's shoulder, blasting open a large hole. Lava-like blood splattered out, and the scale beast roared in pain, its charge slowing slightly.

But the Stitching Abomination had already taken advantage of the chaos to break into the left flank of the defense!

Its seven or eight arms swung wildly, turning rusty swords and bone blades into a storm of death.

"Stop it!" On the left wing, a middle-aged apprentice from the Rhodes squad gritted his teeth and stepped forward, supporting a large force field wall with his hands.

scoff!

The force field wall shattered after holding out for a second under the chaotic blades of the stitched abomination. The middle-aged apprentice was pierced through the chest by a bone blade and collapsed without even letting out a scream.

"No!" A female apprentice beside her cried out in fury, and several ice spikes shot out, but only left shallow white marks on the abomination's body.

With a vengeance, the arm that was piercing through the corpse swung violently, hurling the body at the female apprentice like a rag doll, while simultaneously slashing horizontally with the other arm holding a knife!

The female apprentice hurriedly dodged, but was a fraction too slow.

A flash of light, and an arm was severed at the shoulder!

Blood gushed out, and the female apprentice screamed as she collapsed to the ground.

The left flank of the defense was instantly breached!

Almost simultaneously, the right side also became critical.