Wizard: I devour the stars with swarms of insects.

As the cross-shaped arrows came hurtling towards it, the sleeping giant armored anteater seemed to instinctively sense the danger and subconsciously shifted its body.

And then, *thud*—!

The cross-shaped arrow missed its mark, grazing the mouth of the giant armored anteater before embedding itself firmly in the soil ahead.

The fletching at the tip of the arrow was still trembling slightly.

Startled awake by the sound of arrows, the anteater suddenly opened its eyes, shook its head, and stood up from the muddy water, its heavy body kicking up a lot of mud.

Soon, after raising his eyes, he saw two shield-wielding swordsmen not far ahead, standing ready and approaching him.

And in the treetops nearby, there was someone with a bow and arrow, clearly the same guy who had just attacked him.

And then, roar—!

An angry glint appeared in the giant armored anteater's eyes, and it let out a low roar.

With its limbs pushing off the ground, splashing mud and water, it roared over like a chariot, the ground trembling under its stomping.

"Raise your shields! Hold the line!"

Wayne commanded.

So, two shield-bearing knights guarded the group, diagonally embedding their heavy oak shields into the ground.

Then lean forward, pressing your shoulders against the back of the shield.

Then, bang—!

A dull thud resounded.

The giant armored anteater's shoulder slammed heavily against the two overlapping shields.

The immense impact caused the two strong shield guards to grunt and stagger back nearly half a meter.

The arm holding the shield was so numb from the vibration that it almost slipped from my grasp.

Missing its first attack, the giant armored anteater shook its head, its eyes filled with even more rage. It suddenly raised its upper body, opened its mandibles, and its long tongue, like a sharp arrow, swept out.

With a sharp whooshing sound, it shot towards the face of the shield guard on the left.

And it was so fast that only a blur could be seen.

At that moment, Wayne, who had been preparing for a long time, had a glint in his eyes and began to perform a sorcery trick.

Then several strands of transparent [Spirit Binding Threads], thinner than a hair and almost invisible, sprang from his fingertips.

It is wrapped around the end of the anteater's tongue.

As a result, the long tongue's movement visibly paused, and its speed and force decreased and deviated.

It was this sudden obstruction that caused the left-side shield guard to narrowly turn his head.

The sticky tongue brushed against the edge of the helmet and struck the tree trunk behind it.

Then, with a "plop!" it pierced nearly half a foot deep, sending wood chips flying, and creating a hole in the tree trunk.

The shield-wielding knight guard next to him, who had just dodged the attack and was practically halfway to his death, was deathly pale and looked terrified.

Almost, just a hair's breadth away... If it weren't for Lord Wayne's timely intervention to help me dodge the attack.

Otherwise, the hole wouldn't be in the tree trunk next to it now, but in my own head...

"Attack the joints!"

Wayne said in a deep voice, maintaining the [Spirit Binding Silk] in his hand to interfere with the long tongue.

Seizing the opportunity, the spearman knight guards in the group roared and thrust their spears fiercely into the joints of the anteater's forelimbs, which were exposed as it raised its upper body.

Pfft—!

The spearhead pierced the skin, and a bright green blood flowed from the wound.

However, due to the giant armored anteater's tough defenses, the wound could not penetrate deep and only damaged the surface.

The anteater, in pain, abruptly retracted its forelimbs, deflecting the spear, and roared angrily, its triangular eyes suddenly snapping back.

His eyes were fixed on the spearman who had just wounded him, his gaze filled with brutality and rage.

It raised its body, ready to pounce.

Isabel, who had been lurking on the flanks like a cheetah in ambush, seized the moment when the anteater, distracted by a stab wound to its forelimb, shifted its attack target and exposed its vulnerability.

They were immediately mobilized.

He stomped his ankle hard on the ground, and the rotting leaves and soil beneath his feet exploded into a small crater.

With astonishing burst speed, it drew an arc, avoiding the anteater's frontal claws and teeth, and in the blink of an eye, it cut into its side front position.

"Awooo—!"

The anteater seemed to sense the danger, turned its head, and attempted to strike with its other forepaw.

However, Isabel's attack was too fast; she had already closed in on it.

The modified witchcraft fruit flies implanted in her body provided a surge of power the moment Isabel activated her breathing technique, creating an energy pulse effect.

As she sidestepped the vicious wind swirling from the anteater's claws, Isabel gripped the hilt of her sword tightly in her right hand and drew it from its sheath.

A sharp, cold glint flashed and disappeared in an instant.

The next second, clang—!

The sharp sound of a blade piercing flesh echoed as it penetrated the soft flesh of the anteater's throat, which was stretched open below its long snout as the anteater raised its head.

It also pierced the entire throat.

And this... is the most vulnerable and softest part of the giant armored anteater's entire body.

"Awooo—!!!"

The piercing screams shook the mist in the forest.

The giant armored anteater's massive body convulsed violently, its head shaking and twisting wildly as it tried to shake off the source of the damage.

Dark green blood gushed continuously from the wound on its jaw and from its throat.

The instant she landed her blow, Isabel released the hilt of her sword and used the recoil to retreat swiftly, avoiding the range of her opponent's frantic struggle.

His face was covered in a fine layer of cold sweat from the sudden outburst and tension, but his eyes were bright.

The strength of a fully grown giant armored anteater is equivalent to that of a mid-level knight.

Furthermore, it is protected by a hard stratum corneum all over its body, and it also has an extremely sharp tongue that attacks at a very fast speed.

In a real battle, his strength was in no way inferior to that of a high-ranking knight, but now he was killed by his own attack.

As expected... Lord Wayne's modifications to his sorcery back then truly greatly enhanced his own strength.

"Is this the power of wizards? Even a slight revelation is an immense blessing for ordinary people..."

Isabel's beautiful lake-green eyes sparkled brightly.

Gazing at Lord Wayne's retreating figure ahead, his eyes gleamed, as if he were deep in thought.

Next, the giant armored anteater, having lost most of its fighting strength and suffered a severe throat injury, quickly became powerless in its struggles.

Finally, with a mournful cry, it collapsed to the ground.

It stirred up a cloud of dust and fallen leaves.

Now that the giant armored anteater has finally been dealt with, Wayne drew the sword of a knight guard from the side and walked toward the corpse of the giant armored anteater.

Furthermore, to prevent the creature from coming back to life, Wayne had previously slashed at the giant armored anteater's corpse a few times with his longsword.

Several bloody holes were pierced in the soft area of ​​the abdomen.

Seeing that the giant armored anteater still didn't react, Wayne felt relieved and stepped forward.

Insert a longsword into its mouthparts, cut and sever the giant armored anteater's tongue from its throat, and pull it out.

Then, grabbing the wet tongue, curl it up.

He took out a bottle containing a "preservative active liquid" from his bag.

The tongue was carefully sealed and preserved in a solution bottle.

Now, one of the key materials for the "Thorn Tongue" sorcery trick—the tongue of a giant armored anteater—has been collected.

Wayne looked satisfied. He then led his team deeper into the Black Forest to collect more experimental materials.

......

Over the next month, Wayne, along with Isabel and several knights, gradually made his way to her.

In the Black Forest, we successively collected the remaining materials, and all of them have been collected.

As for alchemy potions: Iron element potion.

Wayne then went to the Wizard Market in the Black Forest City and bought a bottle from a wizard apprentice who majored in alchemy for 5 magic stones.

......

Now, in his room, Wayne looked at the various materials laid out on the table in front of him.

"All the necessary materials have been prepared in advance. The only thing left to do is to wait quietly for my mental strength to reach a value of 5.0 or higher..."

Wayne thought to himself.

So, Wayne took out a Soul Reaper incense stick from the drawer next to him and lit it.

I sat on the bed and began to meditate.

Visualize five black spheres in your mind, then activate the [Honeycomb] network, and use the remaining four fruit flies to each control one black sphere.

Begin by following the instructions of the Five-Ball Suspension Pivot Meditation Method, and begin to circle and rotate around a void point.

Thanks to the meditation practice I've been doing recently, I now find it much easier to control the five black spheres as they rotate.

His movements became increasingly skilled and effortless.

The black sphere revolving around the center gradually increased its speed, just like a planet rotating in the universe.

Through this process, Wayne's mental strength was continuously enhanced.

Soon, half an hour had passed.

Wayne slowly opened his eyes; his meditation task for the day was complete.

Wayne activated the [Hive] intelligent assistant and saw that his mental strength had now reached 2.7.

Compared to a little over a month ago, it has increased by almost double.

At that moment, suddenly, thump thump thump~~~

There was a knock on the door. Wayne got up, straightened his clothes, and opened the door.

In the hallway outside the wooden door of the room, Wayne saw a... well, let's just call it a canine creature?

Its body is covered in brown hair, and its limbs are narrow, resembling some kind of elongated cone.

I don't know what kind of animal's limb joints were used to piece it together.

The original location of the eye sockets was occupied by two large, hairless, bulging compound eye structures, resembling the eyes of a fly.

Just now, when it was knocking on the door, it seemed to have used one of its narrow, slender forelimbs to knock on the door.

Now, seeing Wayne open the door, a deep, gurgling sound, a mixture of airflow and fluid circulation, came from the mouth of this strange dog, and it spoke in a muffled voice.

"Hello, I am Lord Morse's new servant, Snoopy."

"Lord Morse asked me to inform you that tomorrow afternoon, he will be teaching a biology course in classroom 302 of Building 4 of the 'White Elephant Tower' in the Black Forest City. Don't forget to attend."

"Okay, tell Professor Morse that I understand."

Wayne nodded.

Then, the strange dog turned and left.

As Wayne turned around, he saw a strange, fleshy tentacle extending from its anus.

At its end is a scarlet eyeball, curiously surveying its surroundings.

When he met Wayne's gaze, his pupils suddenly shrank to the size of pinpoints, then slowly relaxed.

Finally, it disappeared around the corner of the corridor as the strange body moved.

Now, watching the strange canine's departing figure, Wayne raised an eyebrow slightly.

However, I wasn't particularly surprised.

Because he had become somewhat accustomed to these strange, somewhat indescribable modified creatures.

Morse's mentor is skilled in bioengineering.

In his laboratory, there are also many strange and eerie modified creatures.

I even did it once while cleaning my mentor Morse's laboratory.

In a certain culture tank, a bloody, indescribable mass of minced meat was seen.

As you approach, you'll hear calls of "Father" and other similar names, followed by cries of "Father, come back!"

The scene was truly shocking.

"White Elephant Tower Teaching Building, Room 302."

Wayne's expression flickered.

This was the first time I had ever encountered a lecture from my mentor, Morse, since joining the Natural Symbiosis Wizard Tower.

Because of the niche nature of bio-modification magic, Morse's instructor doesn't usually teach many classes.

On weekdays, I either stay in the lab doing experiments.

Or they might go somewhere and collect experimental materials, capturing birds, leopards, or other creatures.

It is a rule of the wizarding organization of the Black Forest City that formal wizards teach wizarding apprentices.

Every certified wizard must meet a certain number of teaching hours each month, otherwise their related benefits will be reduced.

I also had the opportunity to listen to Morse's lecture for the first time.

So, Wayne tidied up his room, preparing his notebooks, quills, and other study materials in advance.