Wizard: My skills can be upgraded indefinitely.

Late that night, he rested in a sheltered cave, intermittently engaging in shallow meditation and vigilance.

In a half-dream, half-awake state, he suddenly "heard" a regular "thump-thump" sound coming from deep within the cave, as if someone was gently tapping the stone wall.

He also heard a low murmur, in a language he couldn't understand at all, yet it carried an ancient and desolate quality.

The sound entered his ears with a strange magic, making him drowsy, as if his consciousness was about to fly out of his body and drift into the depths.

[The Eye of Vigilance] Nothing was seen; the cave was filled with ordinary rocks, but the sounds and the attraction were undeniably real.

Ian felt his consciousness blurring again. Just then, the panel seemed to detect the abnormality in his mental state, and the will runes in his mental sea vibrated in unison.

A cool sensation, much clearer than before, swept through my mind, instantly dispelling the drowsiness and shutting out the eerie sound.

Ian sat bolt upright in shock, drenched in cold sweat. He immediately rushed out of the cave and fled away without looking back.

The thumping sound disappeared after he left the cave, as if it had never happened, but the trepidation of his will being pulled lingered for a long time.

"The panel... has never disappointed me! It can even withstand this kind of mental attack!"

Ian felt both fortunate and apprehensive. He was fortunate to have such a powerful trump card, as the strangeness of this area far exceeded his expectations, and it had repeatedly triggered the passive reactions of the control panel.

"I remember the initial warning from the panel was in the library of Shadowmoon Tower..."

To this day, he still doesn't know what's hidden in the embassy in the tower. He asked Malena, but she seemed to have never heard of such a thing.

In the days that followed, Ian became even more cautious, almost to the point of being extremely nervous.

He avoided all unusual terrain, water bodies, and plants, and dared not stare for long at anything reflective, nor look at brightly colored flowers, grasses, and trees.

Those inexplicable whispers, hallucinations, and strange voices still appeared from time to time, disturbing his mind and draining his energy.

He felt less like he was traversing mountains and more like he was walking through a vast, hazy, and malevolent dream.

Every step was taken with utmost care, not only to guard against attacks from real, demonized beasts, but also to resist the omnipresent, invisible, and intangible spiritual erosion.

Exhaustion is like a maggot clinging to the bone, not only physically but also mentally.

He dared not stop, his physical condition was still slowly deteriorating, and he could only continue to move forward toward that seemingly unattainable goal.

At noon that day, he climbed over a steep slope covered with sharp rocks, and the scenery in front of him suddenly changed. He slowly stopped.

It was a relatively open basin, but the scenery there was extremely bizarre.

In the basin, countless blood-net-like plants grow, some reaching tens of meters in height, as if magnified countless times.

There were no branches or trunks, only trees as thick as houses, with a huge canopy at the top covered with a dense network of blood-red branches.

The blood web is not a physical entity, but a constantly flowing and changing crimson halo, within which occasionally flash some indescribable twisted patterns.

Ian only glanced at it before feeling dizzy and nauseous.

The entire basin is not still; it pulsates slightly at an extremely slow pace, like breathing.

With each pulse, the halo shifts once, simultaneously emitting an invisible spiritual fluctuation that sweeps across the entire basin.

Ian was merely standing at the edge of the basin when the invisible wave swept over him, instantly feeling nauseous and disoriented, fragmented and absurd images flashing through his mind:

Eerie guests, a rotting feast, twisted dances, silent screams...

"Absolutely do not go in!"

He immediately began moving laterally along the edge of the basin, trying to go around it.

However, the basin was much larger than he had expected.

Even the edges were not safe, as some small, dark purple-black fungi suddenly emerged from the cracks in the rocks, spewing out clouds of pale purple spores.

Ian was able to retreat in time thanks to the early warning from [Eye of Vigilance], narrowly avoiding the spray area.

He witnessed several startled birds accidentally getting a few spores on them, which immediately twisted and twitched in the air, fell down, and were quickly covered and "digested" by the mycelium.

His chill deepened, and he activated the [Eye of Vigilance] to its maximum, ready to unleash [Secondary Frost Ray] at any moment.

The detour was slow and agonizing; he had to constantly resist the mental interference coming from the center of the basin and also be wary of the spore clouds that appeared from time to time beneath his feet.

Fortunately, his instant-cast shield played a significant role; the "Reorganize" effect quickly peeled away the contaminated parts, preventing the corrosion from spreading.

Just as Ian was about to completely bypass the basin, a sudden change occurred!

In the center of the basin, all the tree trunks melted and writhed like wax, then rapidly rose, combined, and outlined...

In just a few breaths, a terrifying giant face formed in the sky above the basin.

It has no facial features, only a constantly engulfing purple vortex that takes over its entire face!

"Ah..." A silent cry rippled through the air.

As the ripples swept across, Ian was struck dumb, nearly collapsing to his knees, blood trickling from the corners of his eyes.

Even more terrifying, a scarlet human face mark had appeared in his mind at some unknown time!

The moment the mark appeared, the panel vibrated like never before.

Buzz...!

The face shattered instantly, turning into a wisp of smoke and disappearing without a trace.

Suppressing his fear, Ian managed to get up and hurriedly fled the basin.

Dozens of meters away, a faint sigh of disappointment seemed to be heard, dissipating in the nauseating sweet and fishy smell.

Ian's back was soaked with cold sweat, but he dared not stop for a moment.

He would rather spend more time and energy completely changing his route than turn back.

Having recovered somewhat from his injuries, he began climbing towards another treacherous mountain ridge.

……

Many days have passed since that terrifying and eerie basin.

Ian had no idea how many steep ridges he had traversed, how many desolate canyons he had crossed, or how many times he had escaped from eerie whispers and hallucinations by relying on panel warnings and a masochistic willpower.

His robes were already tattered and barely covered his body, which was covered with many new scars.

The meditation potions were long gone, along with the few healing and antidotes that had been prepared initially.

His food came entirely from identifying, gathering, and hunting small magical beasts, and he drank carefully collected and magically treated stream water.

He lost a lot of weight, and his face became angular due to long-term malnutrition and stress, with stubble growing on his chin.

But his eyes grew sharper, like a blade honed countless times, calm, weary, vigilant... and a lingering gloom.

Every day, he felt as if he were being placed on an invisible millstone, his energy, physical strength, and even willpower being slowly ground down.

Although it wasn't explicitly displayed on the panel, Ian could clearly sense that his "status" was slowly declining.

It's as if the mountain range itself is a giant, life-devouring trap.

He felt he was reaching his limit and even doubted countless times that this was a dead end.

Change is happening quietly!