Wizard: My skills can be upgraded indefinitely.

The days passed by.

The members of the Withered Council seem to have disappeared, and there's been no news from Robert either.

Ian calmed himself down and spent his days practicing physical training, meditation, and witchcraft.

He squeezed out nearly half of his time to immerse himself in the central library of the tower.

With his access to the core permissions of the potion system, he was able to access a large amount of high-level information.

These are all advanced topics related to energy compression, gravitational fields, spatial interference, and the stability of rune structures.

Most of these materials are obscure and difficult to understand, filled with complex formulas and abstract model deductions.

Ian devoured the books one by one, filling three thick notebooks with notes.

He wants to improve the Collapse Starburst.

The existing model is too crude, with low energy compression efficiency, uncontrollable explosion range, and excessively long casting animation.

Facing a top-tier, experienced opponent, this weakness is fatal.

He drew the new model structure on paper.

The core idea is to draw on the incomplete records about "gravity traps" found in certain abyssal runes.

Combining the cutting-edge research of the Order-side wizards on "energy field collapse", an extremely miniature and unstable gravitational field generator is nested within the wizarding model.

This gravitational field will not last; it will only be activated the instant the spell is cast, lasting for less than 0.1 seconds.

But in that fraction of a second, it will pull, collapse, and squeeze the magic power compressed within the sorcery model itself, as well as the free energy in the surrounding small area, inward at a terrifying speed, until it reaches a certain critical point... and then it will explode.

The challenge lies in striking a balance.

The gravity is too weak, so the effect is not good.

The gravity is too strong; the model might explode before it's even launched.

Or it could directly cause small-scale spatial disorder, with the outcome unknown.

The nested rune structure must be extremely precise with a very low tolerance for error, and requires an almost supernatural control over the flow of energy.

Ian worked out the calculations on the draft paper tens of thousands of times, rejecting more than a dozen plans.

During two laboratory simulations, the model structure became unstable, nearly triggering a small-scale explosion.

Fortunately, he reacted quickly and withstood the attack using the Crystal Energy Barrier.

However, the laboratory's protective array was triggered twice, attracting questioning from the guarding wizard.

"We were doing some energy structure testing, and there was a small mishap," Ian explained without changing his expression.

The wizard on duty looked at the charred experimental table and the new cracks in the wall, then at Ian's calm face.

Her lips twitched, but she didn't say anything more, only reminding him to be careful.

Ian nodded, closed the door, and continued.

Failure, adjustment, another failure, another adjustment...

Time passed day by day.

News came from Kenner that the Purple Iris Merchant Guild had not reappeared, the Nightingale Bar was operating as usual, and the Red Sparrow acted as if nothing had happened.

News about Ian Marcus also disappeared from the underground black market, as if the attack that night was just an illusion.

But Ian knew it wasn't true.

The members of the Withered Council didn't leave; they just hid even deeper.

They are like venomous snakes lurking in the shadows, patiently waiting for the moment their prey relaxes its guard.

He couldn't let his guard down, but fortunately, his body-refining technique was progressing rapidly.

With the continuous supply of Tier 1 Blood Essence, the proficiency of [Furnace Tempering Technique] skyrocketed.

Four hundred...five hundred...six hundred...

The moment Ian's proficiency surpassed 800 and reached the "proficient" level, a muffled roar came from within his body.

The sound cannot be heard by the ears because it comes from deep within the body.

It was like breaking some kind of shackles, or like a heavy door suddenly being flung open.

The jade-like luster on the skin's surface has completely subsided and is no longer visible.

But the skin's resilience has reached an astonishing level.

Ian drew the witchcraft dagger he carried with him and slashed his arm hard, leaving only a faint white mark without even breaking the skin.

He increased the pressure, the blade rubbing against his skin, producing a teeth-grinding "squeak" sound.

It can still only cut through the skin, not penetrate deep into the muscle.

His strength surged even more, and without using any witchcraft, he smashed a punch into the iron stake used to test witchcraft with his bare body.

Boom!

With a dull thud, a solid iron stake, half a person's height, was slammed in, leaving a clear fist-shaped indentation.

The depth exceeds three inches, and the metal at the edges is twisted and deformed.

The force of the recoil was transmitted, but Ian's arm only swayed slightly, and he was completely unharmed.

"That's about it," he muttered to himself, looking at his fist.

His physical strength is already on par with a first-tier body-refining wizard, and may even be stronger in some aspects.

After all, his body-refining technique was a secret technique passed down in the Crimson Royal Court.

It also incorporates the purified essence of extraordinary biological bloodlines, making its foundation far more solid than that of ordinary body-refining wizards.

Next came the reformation of witchcraft.

After countless failures and adjustments, the new model for the Collapse Starburst has finally reached the final verification stage.

In the center of the alchemy room, Ian stood solemnly.

He closed his eyes and let his mind sink into his sea of ​​consciousness.

In my consciousness, an extremely complex and precise three-dimensional structure, composed of hundreds of tiny nested runes, slowly emerged.

It resembles a multifaceted gray crystal, or a miniature and unstable model of a galaxy.

At its core lies a point of utter darkness, a simulated miniature gravitational field node.

Ian began to infuse his mental energy.

hum...

The structure was illuminated, and the runes lit up one by one with a grayish-white light.

Energy surges, converges, and compresses along the pre-designed path...

Upon reaching a certain critical point, Ian separated an extremely tiny wisp of his spirit, triggering the most dangerous gravitational field node at the core.

Click.

A sound like gears meshing rang out from my consciousness.

The moment the node was activated, an invisible and terrifying suction force was generated out of nowhere!

Inside the model, there was magic compressed to its limit, as well as free energy forcibly pulled into a fifty-meter radius around Ian.

Under the influence of this sudden gravitational pull, it collapsed frantically towards the core of darkness!

Compress! Compress it again!

The volume shrank dramatically, while the density skyrocketed!

Ian felt as if his mind was being gripped by an invisible hand, and was also affected by the gravitational field, causing a slight sluggishness.

But he was prepared and maintained a stable output of mental energy.

One-hundredth of a second later, the gravitational field node will collapse on its own because it cannot withstand the excessive load.

And just before it collapsed.

The energy sphere, compressed to its limit, was brought to its theoretically most unstable state by Ian's precise control using the new model.

The collapse... has reached its limit.

So, what's next...?

Ian opened his eyes, his right hand outstretched, palm facing up.

A small, unremarkable gray ball, about the size of a marble, appeared out of thin air an inch above his palm.

The surface of the small ball is completely dull, gray in color, and looks unremarkable.

But the moment it appeared, the light in the alchemy room seemed to distort for a moment.

The air became viscous, and the papers on the table moved on their own, drifting slightly towards the ball.

The ball itself rotates slowly and silently, and with each rotation, it gives the illusion that the space is slightly collapsing.

Ian looked at it intently.

There was no explosion.

Because it's not time for it to explode yet.

The key to the success of the new model, besides its terrifying compression efficiency, lies in its "controllability".

He can temporarily maintain this extremely unstable state after the energy sphere collapses to its limit.

Until... he decided to release him.

This means he can use this thing as a "grenade".

First, knead it out, hold it in your hand, and then throw it out when you have the chance.

You can also preset trigger conditions, such as collision trigger or mental trigger.

As for the duration, he can currently only maintain it for a maximum of fifteen seconds.

If it continues any longer, the violent energy inside the energy sphere will break through his mental constraints and explode on its own.

But fifteen seconds is enough.

Ian entered the witchcraft practice room, and with a thought, he withdrew his mental support.

The gray ball vanished instantly and reappeared fifty meters ahead.

There was no explosion, but rather... annihilation.

At its location, the air suddenly bulged inward.

A brief, visible vacuum collapse, about the size of a fist, was formed.

Immediately afterwards, an unimaginably violent burst of energy erupted from that "point"!

There was no fire, no loud noise.

Only a suddenly expanding, twisted mass of grayish-white energy instantly filled an area with a diameter of twenty meters.

Inside the energy cluster, the light was completely distorted, and the scene was blurred.

The air was completely ionized, emitting a crackling sound of electricity and a low hum of space being torn apart.

Everything within the area—the stone slabs on the ground, the runic patterns, the magical adamantine target, even the dust in the air…

The moment it came into contact with the energy cluster, it silently turned into the finest dust, without even emitting a wisp of smoke.

One second later, the energy cluster dissipated.

In the center of the practice room, a hemispherical depression appeared, ten meters in diameter, with smooth, mirror-like edges and a depth of over three meters.

The inner wall of the depression has a glassy luster after being burned at high temperature, and is still emitting wisps of blue smoke.

A peculiar odor permeated the air, a mixture of ozone and the smell of burning metal.

Ian stood there, looking at the destruction he had caused, and slowly exhaled.

On the panel, the proficiency in [Collapse Starburst] was like a flood breaking through a dam, rapidly increasing.

Collapse Starburst Proficiency +50

Collapse Starburst Proficiency +50

Collapse Starburst Proficiency +100

Collapse Starburst Proficiency +200

……

Finally, the numbers stopped.

【Collapse Starburst: Control (0/3200)】

In a crazy attempt, combining some of his knowledge and ideas from his previous life, he successfully improved the model in a revolutionary way.

This allows this level of witchcraft to skip directly from "beginner" to "proficient" and reach the "mastery" level!

Moreover, due to the complete overhaul of the model and the significant leap in proficiency.

Its actual power has surpassed that of the Frost Ray, making it his strongest attack method.

It has probably already rivaled, or even surpassed, the scope of a first-tier peak sorcery.

"Let's call it... 'Gravity Collapse Sphere'."

Ian whispered the name.

The unassuming gray sphere contains a destructive power that chills even wizards of the same rank.

"Now, I'm almost ready."

The attacks include the instantaneous [Frost Ray] and the nearly instantaneous [Gravity Collapse Ball] (the ball takes less than a second to cast).

Concealment and reconnaissance, with the stealth skill that has the [Mimicry] effect after breaking the limit, and the support skill Vigilance Eye that has the [Concealment] and [True Sight] effects after breaking the limit twice.

For defense, there are instantaneous [Crystal Energy Barrier] and floating crystal guardians.

And his own powerful body, comparable to that of a first-tier body-refining wizard.

Mental protection is provided by the [Soul Devouring] special effect.

There's also Gaga, a first-tier extraordinary familiar, and various potions that he's refined and accumulated over the years.

Everything is ready.

All that's missing is a sufficiently large bait...

Lure out the two venomous snakes hiding in the shadows.