Wizard: My skills can be upgraded indefinitely.

Chapter 106 The Mysterious Cleaner

Ian's atomized mental energy surged forth, with [Burning Ray] and [Secondary Frost Ray] flashing alternately.

As thin as a hair, with a restrained color, yet moving with lightning speed, it precisely targets and kills all monsters within its field of vision.

As soon as the Corrupted Claw Demon peeked out from the crevice in the rock, a charred hole appeared between its eyebrows.

The night stalker moved through the shadows, only to be struck by a flash of gray light, followed by a scorching ray that pierced his heart.

The remaining monsters tried to scatter and escape, but several beams of ice and fire spread out like a net, slowing them down and igniting them simultaneously.

Gaga is like a true ghostly death god.

It doesn't attack directly; it always uses [Ominous Eye] first.

A flash of gray light appeared in their left eye, and a night stalker that was preparing to ambush them suddenly froze. In their perception, their companion had suddenly transformed into a ferocious human wizard, raising his staff!

"Hiss!" The Nightwalkers instinctively began to tear at each other, their bone claws piercing into the bodies of their own kind.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Gaga's figure flickered continuously in the shadows.

【Shadow Leap】It ignores the terrain and instantly appears behind the monster, its claws, gleaming with a dark blue light, easily tearing through scales and severing bones.

When it encounters a large number of monsters, it flaps its wings and unleashes dozens of condensed wind blades, creating a small-scale storm that shreds the monsters into pieces.

Ian's movements were concise, efficient, and ruthless.

[Earth Vein Resonance] grants him near-infinite stamina, making his physical strength sufficient to withstand sporadic attacks, while his fully vaporized mental power provides terrifying continuous spellcasting ability.

Wherever it passed, monsters fell like grass.

He quickly extracted the abyss crystals and casually collected the valuable materials from the corpse. The whole process was smooth and efficient, taking no more than ten breaths.

Then they quickly move on to find the next batch of prey.

Time passed amidst bloodshed and slaughter, and a week had gone by in the blink of an eye.

The temporary defensive line of the sixth cleaning team in the western district advanced about twenty miles outward, but the process became unusually strange starting on the third day.

"Captain, something's wrong," an apprentice in charge of reconnaissance hurriedly reported, his face full of confusion.

"The stalactite forest on the east side, which was occupied by at least fifty lesser demons and nightwalkers yesterday, and a first-tier poison claw nightwalker today—is all gone."

Kalem frowned: "Was it wiped out by other teams?"

"No, there are no signs of a large-scale magical clash at the scene. It's as if they were all quickly wiped out by something."

All the corpses were clustered in a small area, their wounds mostly penetrating or lacerious; all the abyssal crystals had been removed.

Similar reports came one after another.

The rift valley to the north, the underground riverbed to the south, and the mushroom jungle to the west—areas originally marked as being frequented by monsters—were all cleared out in a very short time.

All that remained at the scene was a mess.

The charred burn marks intertwined with the frost-frozen remains, the rock walls were covered with fine cut lines, and occasionally fragments of corpses torn apart by immense force could be seen.

What alarmed Kelham even more was that, deep within a secluded cave, they discovered the corpse of a mid-tier Tier 1 "Rock Armor Worm".

This monster has extremely strong defenses, can move freely underground, and its spewed acid is enough to corrode most energy shields.

But it died swiftly, its head pierced precisely at the same point by three rays, its hard rock armor torn apart like paper, and the abyssal crystal inside its body removed.

"This technique—"

Kelham crouched beside the corpse of the Rock Armor Worm, his fingertips tracing the smooth, penetrating wound, his scarred face displaying a complex mix of emotions.

"This is not something an apprentice could do. For ray-type witchcraft to achieve this level of penetration, it must be at least the work of a first-level wizard, and the control over energy must be terrifyingly precise."

He stood up, surveyed the battlefield scars of ice and fire around him, his eyes deep and thoughtful.

"There was no sign of any companions assisting; all the monsters were quickly picked off—was it a lone wizard? But why would a professional wizard be out in the outer clearing area stealing monsters?"

Rhodes toyed with the blood-red dice, a playful smile curving his lips.

"Perhaps it's some madman who likes to work alone, or—a spy sent by another faction to clear out the area in advance?"

Kelly wiped her cane and calmly analyzed, "Whoever it is, they have no intention of conflicting with us. In the end, they helped us clear away a lot of trouble."

"But he also took all the credit and materials."

An apprentice with scars on his face couldn't help but mutter, his voice full of envy and resentment.

"We fought tooth and nail, only managing to kill a few dozen a day, and so many people died—while they just strolled around and wiped out all the monsters."

These words expressed the sentiments of many apprentices.

Looking at their new wounds, remembering their fallen comrades, and comparing them to the efficiency of the "mysterious cleaner," they felt a surge of powerlessness and envy.

Callum glanced at the apprentice and said coldly, "If you're so capable, why don't you go for a walk and clear away the monsters? If you don't have the ability, then shut up."

The apprentice immediately lowered his head and dared not speak again.

"Pass down the order: increase vigilance, but do not actively search for this 'scavenger'."

Now that someone has cleared the surrounding area, let's hurry up and strengthen our defenses and explore the depths of the demon's lair.

"yes!"

The order was given, and the team continued to move forward slowly amidst tension and doubt.

Meanwhile, in a secluded cave several miles away, Ian was counting the spoils in his dimensional bag.

Inside the leather bag, a thick layer of abyssal crystals, each the size of a grain of rice, had accumulated, roughly estimated to be no less than five hundred.

In addition, there are four slightly larger, darker crystals, which come from first-tier monsters.

The color of the jade plaque has become a bit deeper.

I've collected quite a few materials, and although most of them aren't very valuable, they add up and can be exchanged for a lot of magic stones.

Gaga squatted on a stalactite nearby, its little paws digging into a roasted dried swamp fish, eating it with great relish.

"Wow, these past few days have been so much fun killing! It's so much better than being stuck in the team!"

Ian put the last crystal into the bag, tied the bag tightly, and smiled slightly.

"This is just the beginning. The deeper you go, the stronger the monsters become, and the greater the merit you gain."

He looked calmly at the eternal darkness outside the cave. "However—we need to be more careful. Kelham is already suspicious. Next time we need to clean further away, and we need to make sure the traces are cleaned up even more thoroughly."

"Don't worry, with me here, no one can get close." Gaga swallowed the dried fish and proudly flapped its wings.

"But Ian, when are we going to catch a bigger fish? I mean—a stronger monster? It's getting a bit boring killing these lesser demons and nightwalkers all the time, huh?"

Ian smiled, stood up, and packed up the tent.

"Soon. Once we figure out the distribution patterns of monsters in this area, we'll go find those big fish."

He dusted off the corner of his robe and looked toward the defensive line.

"Now, go back and 'play' the role of an ordinary senior apprentice."

A dark blue shadow flashed and landed back in his chest, hiding itself.

Meanwhile, within the defensive camp, discussions about the "mysterious cleaners" were quietly spreading during the apprentices' breaks.

"Have you heard? That stone forest to the east, which had over thirty demons yesterday, is completely empty today!"

"It's not just the east side, the rift valley to the north is the same—I saw Shadow Eaters wandering around when I scouted yesterday, but today there's just a puddle of slime left."

"Do you think—could it be that official wizards from other war zones are coming to steal the credits?"

"No way. Why would a proper wizard bother with these small fry? Besides, their methods are too clean; they're all targeted kills, not even using area-of-effect spells."

"Could it be... some kind of subterranean creature that specifically hunts monsters?"

"Impossible! Subterranean creatures only devour each other; they wouldn't extract abyssal crystals!"

Amid the murmurs, someone whispered, "I heard—Captain Callum personally went to check the scene and found the corpse of a Rock Armor Worm, killed in one hit."

A collective gasp of astonishment filled the air.

Rock Armor Worms are tough nuts to crack, even for a formal wizard!

"A fatal blow—what kind of skill would that require?"

"Why should something like this help us clean up the perimeter?"

No one can provide the answer.

Only Ian, amidst the awe and speculation of the others, silently walked back to his tent.

His gray robe was stained with deliberately left-uncleaned dust and bloodstains, and his face bore just the right amount of fatigue.