Wizard: My skills can be upgraded indefinitely.

Chapter 104 Cleaning

With everyone's combined efforts, the defensive line was quickly and roughly set up.

Earth-type wizard apprentices used [Rock Shaping] and [Earth Spike Array] to create a circular defensive position around an area with a diameter of about 300 meters.

Runemasters were busy inside and outside the low wall, their fingertips flowing with various colored light as they engraved warning runes, anti-stealth runes, and energy interference runes onto the rock surface.

The blacksmiths took out parts from their dimensional bags and quickly assembled three roughly constructed rune cannons. The cannon bodies were engraved with fiery red patterns, and the gun barrels were as thick as bowls. It took two apprentices working together to turn the base.

A tense and oppressive atmosphere filled the air.

No one spoke, only heavy breathing, the crisp sound of metal clashing, and the faint hum of runes activating.

Ian stopped in a secluded corner of the position near the rock wall. It was dimly lit, far from the crowd, and offered a good view of most of the area. He took a dusty gray tent out of his dimensional bag and skillfully set it up and secured it.

"Phew, at least I can finally catch my breath."

Gaga popped out of the special pocket and landed on Ian's shoulder, its dark blue feathers gleaming under the fluorescent moss.

It tilted its head, its heterochromatic eyes, one gray and one blue, sweeping over the busy crowd in the distance, and lowered its voice in its mind.

"That fight was really frustrating. Ugh—I could have just leaped over with a shadow and torn that monster's throat open."

"I know," Ian replied mentally as he checked the insulation runes on the tent, "but it's not the time yet."

He lifted the curtain and went inside, setting up a simple soundproof barrier.

"Hehe, you are now my strongest trump card. Shadow Leap, Ominous Eye, Wind Blade Manipulation—these abilities combined are almost impossible for ordinary Tier 1 monsters to withstand."

But precisely because of this, it cannot be easily exposed.

Gaga jumped onto the makeshift bed, preening its feathers, and blinked its little eyes: "Afraid of being watched? Gaga."

"Hmm." Ian sat down cross-legged, took out his water pouch, and took a sip.

The war against the demons is said to be a wizarding alliance fighting against underground monsters, but the human heart is more treacherous than the monsters themselves.

If people find out that a high-ranking apprentice possesses familiars and abilities capable of threatening a full-fledged wizard, countless troubles will come knocking.

He looked at Gaga, his eyes serious: "So, from now on, unless it's a life-or-death situation, or you're absolutely certain the surroundings are safe, don't show yourself. But—"

When clearing out monsters on the perimeter by yourself, just make sure there are no other people nearby.

"At that time, you will be in charge of guarding the surroundings. As long as there are no witnesses, we can go all out."

"Understood! Gaa!" Gaa puffed out her little chest, her eyes flashing with excitement.

"Being a shadow assassin is my specialty! I can spot even a bug flying by!"

Ian rubbed its head, a slight smile playing on his lips: "Get some rest. You'll be busy from now on."

Over the next few days, the sixth cleaning team of the West District began to gradually expand the cleaning area outward from the temporary defense line.

The process was far more difficult than expected.

The monsters in the underground world don't just charge blindly; they also know how to sneak, ambush, and even cooperate in simple ways.

Every expansion outward comes at a price.

"Left side cliff! There's a Tier 1 Night Stalker!" an apprentice hissed a warning.

Several wind blades and fireballs whistled past, but only struck the rock wall, sending up rubble.

The poisonous claw night stalker moved through the shadows like a ghost, easily dodging most of the attacks.

Instead of attacking, they let out sharp hissing sounds that faintly mimicked the screams of human apprentices.

"Help—help me—"

A young apprentice was momentarily dazed and subconsciously took half a step toward the sound.

It's this half-step!

The purple shadow pounced out silently! Bone claws tore through the air, bringing with them a foul stench.

"Wake up!" Kelham roared, unleashing a mental shockwave.

The young apprentice suddenly awoke with a start and hurriedly retreated, but his left shoulder had already been slashed open with two deep, bone-revealing cuts, which quickly turned black and festered.

"Form ranks! Don't scatter!" Kelham conjured a blazing white spear in his hand, but dared not throw it easily.

The Nightcrawler was too fast and too close to the apprentices, making it easy for him to accidentally injure them.

The five apprentices stood back to back in a circular formation, with layers of energy shields stacked on top of each other.

The night stalkers circled around, not launching a direct attack, but instead uttering irritating whispers, their voices interspersed with broken words of the common language: "Pain—hunger—kill—"

The shield of a slightly weaker apprentice flickered.

In an instant, the purple shadow closed in! Bone claws probed into the gaps in the shield like venomous snakes!

"Ahhhhhh!" With a scream, the apprentice's neck was ripped open, and blood splattered everywhere.

The circular formation collapsed instantly. The night walkers were not greedy; after their successful attack, they immediately retreated and disappeared back into the shadows, waiting for the next opening.

Elsewhere, more than twenty apprentices were besieging a lone lava scale beast. They dared not approach it and could only whittle it down from a distance.

Fireballs, ice spikes, and acid balls bombarded the scales, leaving scorch marks, but they were not fatal.

The scaled beast flew into a rage, spewing out a torrent of molten metal. An apprentice who couldn't dodge in time was instantly engulfed in flames, turning into a screaming fireball as he rolled to the ground.

"Use ice-type! Suppress its lava!" someone shouted.

Two ice-type apprentices gritted their teeth and stepped forward, unleashing their full power with [Frost Nova]. A wave of cold swept through, finally freezing the lava on the scaled beast's body temporarily.

The others seized the opportunity to concentrate their fire on its vulnerable eyes and mouth.

However, before dying, the scaled beast swung its tail violently, its thick tail sweeping across like a battering ram!

"Be careful!"

An apprentice was hit head-on, his sternum shattered, and he flew more than ten meters like a tattered sack, screaming in agony.

It took a full quarter of an hour, and both men were severely injured, to finally grind the scaled beast to death.

A loathsome creature charged into the defensive line, one of its seven or eight arms still wearing the cuff of a novice's robe with a silver ring.

On that giant face, stitched together from the faces of different corpses, a murky tear suddenly streamed from one of its eyes, and its lips moved, uttering a muffled plea: "No—don't—kill—."

A female apprentice paused in her movements.

The next second, the Abomination swung its other three arms at the same time, slashing at the enemy with a knife, sword, and bone blade from three angles!

laugh!laugh!laugh!

The female apprentice was dismembered, and even in death, a fleeting look of pity and astonishment remained in her eyes.

The loathing grabbed her severed limbs and skillfully "stitched" them onto his own body, the black flesh buds surging from within him coiling and merging around her like living things.

It let out a satisfied purr, and its breath seemed to grow stronger.

"These monsters—they're evolving! They're learning!"

Calem's face turned ashen as he severed the weeping head of the Abomination with a single stroke.

Battles were taking place almost every moment, pushing the apprentices to their limits. Their magic and mental energy were rapidly depleted, and the number of casualties was slowly but steadily increasing.

Over the three days, Ian performed adequately, neither outstanding nor lagging behind.

During this time, he would briefly leave the team's line of sight while performing tasks such as "reconnoitering the surrounding demon nests" and "clearing the scattered demons on the flanks". On the third day, after confirming that there were no other apprentices around and no one was spying on him within his mental perception range, he gave Gaga on his shoulder a look.

"Gah, safe! No signs of life within a two-mile radius!"

Gaa's senses are fully engaged, and its affinity for shadows makes it exceptionally sensitive to lurking life.

Inside the cave, Ian took out two treasured potions.