Wizard: My skills can be upgraded indefinitely.

Chapter 110 Settling Down

He put down the stone slab and asked again, "Where can I obtain a purification rune array? The kind used for cultivation?"

The witch then glanced at him, a slight twitch at the corner of her mouth.

"The Alchemy and Rune Guild office is located in the western workshop area. But kid, I advise you not to get your hopes up too high; that thing isn't for apprentices."

Ian nodded and turned to leave.

The office of the Alchemy and Rune Association is a three-story stone building. Most of the people who enter and leave have a calm and collected aura, and are at least apprentices who have touched the threshold of the first rank. Occasionally, formal wizards come and go.

Ian walked into the lobby on the first floor, where many samples of rune arrays were displayed, with brief descriptions and prices next to them.

He quickly found his target: a first-order rune array plate called the "Source Annihilation Array".

The principle behind this formation is to treat pollution as structurally flawed energy or matter, and ingeniously construct a high-energy reaction field to forcibly decompose it into the most basic and harmless magical particles.

Price: 1000 merit points, or equivalent rare materials.

Behind the counter stood an elderly apprentice with gray hair and crystal glasses, who noticed Ian stopping to watch.

"Young man, you've got your eye on this? To tell you the truth, this array is alright on the ground, but here, at best it'll keep you from going crazy while cultivating, and as for efficiency—it's better than nothing."

If you really want to cultivate in peace, you'll need to at least buy a top-tier Tier 1 array plate, or rent a cultivation room with a Tier 2 purification array in the core area.

He paused for a moment, then said, "As long as you have enough merit, I have everything you need."

Ian thanked him and turned to leave.

After leaving the office, I noticed several apprentices selecting materials talking quietly by the counter.

"I was lucky this time during the cleanup; I caught an injured Nightstalker, and I've finally accumulated 150 merit points."

"I'm only thirty-eight, I still need two points before I can exchange for that calming potion."

"I heard that in Vice-Captain Snyder's squad, one guy got incredibly lucky and managed to kill a heavily wounded Lava Scale Beast, instantly racking up over 300 merit points. Tsk tsk—"

"Three hundred? That's top-tier among apprentices, right? Probably in the top twenty here?"

"Perhaps, but compared to those formal wizards, they are still far behind—"

Ian didn't stop walking; he pulled up his hood and calmly merged into the crowd.

He felt that time was of the essence; his residence required merit, the purification array required merit, cultivation required merit—everything required merit.

His cultivation level stagnated at 91.6% after he entered the underground.

The violent and chaotic magic here cannot be absorbed directly. Forcing cultivation here will only pollute the mind and even provoke the whispers of the will of the abyss.

He needs a safe place to settle down where he can purify his energy, and he also needs to raise his strength to the level of a first-level wizard as soon as possible.

Only those who are officially recognized as wizards can gain more resources and respect on this brutal front line.

Ian walked toward the spontaneously formed market at the edge of the square, his gaze sweeping over each stall.

He needs to solve his accommodation problem first, and then plan how to efficiently gain merit.

Between the outer and central areas, he set his sights on a relatively secluded stone house nestled against a rock wall.

Although it is located on the edge of the central area, it is quiet and there seems to be a natural crevice behind the rock wall, which may be suitable for some hidden arrangements.

Monthly rent is thirty merit points.

He went to the garrison management office, paid his merits, and received the rune key to the stone house.

The key felt slightly cool to the touch, with simple identification and access control symbols engraved inside.

Following the directions, Ian arrived at the stone house numbered "Zhong-74".

The stone house is about ten square meters in size and is simply furnished with only a bed, a table, and a chair. The walls are inlaid with lighting crystals that emit a stable white light, as well as a faint soundproof barrier that ripples.

He checked it over and confirmed that there were no hidden spying runes before releasing Gaga.

"Gah, this is a bit better than the tent, but it's still so oppressive." The quack landed on the table and shook its feathers.

"Let's settle down here for now." Ian took out the clump of memory gold and placed it in his palm.

The mental energy slowly seeped in, guiding the soft metal to deform and extend according to the inner armor structure conceived in the mind.

Silver-gray metal flowed like a living thing, gradually covering his chest, abdomen, back, shoulders, and arms, forming a very thin and fitting prototype of armor, slightly thicker in the key areas.

The whole process was extremely simple; it was mainly his abnormal mental strength that came into play.

After completing the final step, he had a thought, and the soft gold returned to its original shape, which he then put into his bag.

"Next, it's time to earn merit points."

Ian walked to the table and spread out a rough piece of parchment, which was a simple map of the surrounding area that he had just bought at the market.

He focused his light on areas he had previously seen on several mission screens.

"Poisonous Mist Rift", "Worm Mud Swamp", "Shadowweaver Activity Area" —

While it's not advisable to reveal all your cards, you can improve efficiency appropriately.

With the help of Gaga's Shadow Detection and Ominous Eyes, he can accurately hunt down lone or small groups of Tier 1 monsters, avoiding large-scale battles and the attention of others.

"First, accept a reconnaissance mission to find out the situation in the Poison Fog Rift. And while you're at it—see if there are any unexpected discoveries."

He put away the map, activated the simple warning runes on the stone house, and turned to leave.

The mission lobby remained noisy.

Ian walked to the light screen, found the mission to scout the Poison Mist Rift, and placed his hand on the corresponding rune on the light screen.

The jade tablet felt slightly warm, and mission information flowed in:

[Accepted successfully. Three-day time limit. Upon completion, present the recorded video or token at the lobby for settlement.]

Ian put away the jade pendant, pulled his hood down, and headed towards the base's exit.

As he passed through the square, he glimpsed Hawke squatting in a corner, helping a dwarf polish parts in exchange for a few magic stones.

Hawke noticed the gaze, looked up, met Ian's eyes, forced a smile, and then lowered his head again.

Ian withdrew his gaze, stepped out of the pale golden barrier door, and his figure gradually disappeared into the darkness.

He followed the map and headed toward the Poison Fog Rift.

Gaga hid in a specially made pocket on his chest, leaving only a trace of his senses to be projected outwards.

Throughout the journey, he habitually maintained the operation of the [Eye of Vigilance], with an invisible energy eyeball following him twenty meters above his head, its vision penetrating the darkness and scanning the front and flanks.

Although the effectiveness of the warning is greatly reduced in this chaotic underground environment with distorted light.

But Ian had already gotten into the habit of using it as a way to gain experience.

【Vigilant Eye: Break Limit Once (1582/1600) (Break Limit Trait: 1. Stealth)】

This intermediate-level sorcery is just one step away from breaking through its limits again.

The surrounding environment gradually changed from relatively regular rock strata to rugged and broken terrain, and a strange, sweet and spicy smell began to permeate the air, which was a sign of the miasma unique to the Poison Fog Rift Valley.

The fluorescent moss on the rock face also became sparse, and the light became even dimmer.

Just as Ian was estimating that he was still about three miles from the entrance to the rift valley, his chest pocket twitched slightly.

"Gah, there are people ahead, about five. Their energy fluctuations are quite strong, and they're all at the advanced apprentice level—the bastards of the Crimson Court!"

A cawing sound rang in its consciousness, and due to Ian's indoctrination, it also began to loathe the Crimson Royal Court.

Ian's eyes suddenly turned cold.

Crimson Royal Court.