Two months later, autumn deepens once more. The dense primeval forest begins to cloak itself in a tapestry of colors, with trees donning golden robes. Tall pines and oaks cast dappled shadows in the warm sunlight, and the forest floor is a mosaic of fallen leaves, crunchy underfoot, releasing a faint scent of earth and decaying foliage.
In a secluded glen surrounded by streams, sunlight filters through the treetops, illuminating moss-covered stones and damp roots. The gently flowing stream resembles a series of glistening mirrors. A young man in a robe sits quietly by the stream, eyes closed, his presence seemingly merging with the serene, harmonious surroundings, exuding a subtle yet vigorous life force.
As a yellow-green leaf drifts down, lightly landing on the water and sending ripples across the surface, the young man slowly opens his eyes.
In that instant, an invisible breeze stirs, lifting the hem of his robe from the ground, and an indescribable clarity emanates from him, making the air around him appear even more transparent, as though washed clean.
"Exhale—Inhale—"
Ronan takes a gentle breath, the sound akin to a breeze rustling through the forest, steady and filled with a particular rhythm. The surrounding trees seem to sway in response, shedding more leaves.
"Another autumn has come."
Gazing at the golden leaves floating on the stream before him, Ronan feels a tinge of nostalgia.
He recalls last autumn, when he was in the treehouse district outside Hoddam, preparing for the impending invasion from the Black Witch Land. In the blink of an eye, he is nearly eighteen.
In the mundane world, this is an age where one might inherit a family title.
"Perhaps it's time to visit home?"
The thought briefly flits through Ronan's mind.
Quickly, the seasonal melancholy is smoothed away, and Ronan opens his character panel to quietly review.
[Name: Ronan Damien]
[Age: 17]
[Talents: Non-Attribute Affinity, Immaculate Body (Active), Lake of No Thoughts (Active)]
[Strength: Second-Level Official Wizard (35%)]
[Skills: Basic Meditation Technique—Clear Mind State (Master 612/1600)
Energy Missile—Particle Stream (Master 523/1600)
Empowered Weapon—Power of Breaking (Master 302/1600)
Ice Ball Technique—Desperate Ice Seal (Master 503/1600)
Frost Ray—Ice Vein (Master 500/1600)
Ice Blade Technique—Extreme Cold Weapon (Master 501/1600)
Ascetic Body Training—Ancient Power (Master 526/1600)
Small Blizzard (Proficient 102/400)
Ice Armor (Proficient 23/400)
Voice of Cold (Proficient 65/400)
Ice Spear (Expert)]
Over nearly two months of relentless practice, Ronan has devoted almost all his energy to mastering ice spells.
Aside from bringing all three learned tier-two ice spells to proficiency, the skills [Desperate Ice Seal], [Ice Vein], and [Extreme Cold Weapon], which have evolved into extraordinary domains, have all reached a stage of domain resonance!
It's not just due to the fusion of the ancient Frost Hydra bloodline; advancing to a second-level wizard, especially reaching mid-second-level, has enhanced his soul power, making his mastery journey in the master-level realm much smoother.
Reflecting on his first-level days, especially before taking "Murphyra's Kiss," achieving master-level felt nearly insurmountable.
"According to ancient wizard texts, in the ancient, or even more distant primordial times, the world continent was unbroken, and the energy particles in heaven and earth were incredibly abundant. Everyone was like a dragon, casting spells inherently with domain effects."
Ronan's eyes gleamed with thought. "Today's wizards perceiving extraordinary domains, the so-called first, second, and third domain resonance, is merely reaching the starting point of ancient wizardry. Truly matching ancient wizard geniuses requires surpassing the extraordinary realm."
Presumably, it would be the level above "master proficiency."
With the character panel, Ronan believes he can one day touch that realm—it's just a matter of time.
The power of the cold domain, constructed through the resonance of three domains and anchored, naturally "transformed fundamentally." However, what truly astonished Ronan, the caster, was the effect after the fusion of these three domains into a single resonance. That force...
"Inherits the Ancient!"
Ronan stretched a hand into the sunlight above, slowly clenching his fingers. An inexplicable, terrifying aura flowed from between his fingers, as if freezing that shaft of autumn light in his palm.
"Exhale—"
Dispelling the aura, Ronan exhaled a breath of turbid air and stood up from the rock.
Treading the void, he ascended into the sky, his robes billowing as he flew swiftly in a chosen direction.
In his consciousness space, a second mental power crystal had formed, about a tenth the size of the first.
Within the crystal, the transformed [Double Mirror Light] rune lay like a pattern sealed in crystal, exuding a complex, profound aura.
The space energy seed left by the silver staff had surplus; after solidifying both the [Tundra Frozen Ground] and [Double Mirror Light] runes, it began to "nurture" the final [Silverization] rune.
The [Silverization] rune, under the continuous nourishment of space energy, also began to exhibit subtle, indescribable changes.
However, due to differing attributes, this process of fusion and transformation was extremely slow. To date, Ronan hasn't noticed any tangible difference, nor can he predict the changes once the [Silverization] rune fully integrates with the space attribute.
Over these two months, Ronan has poured all his efforts into preparing for the upcoming competition among the geniuses of the six major wizarding forces.
He has made every conceivable improvement within a short time. How far he can advance in the competition will depend on the strength of the opponents he encounters.
Entering the microcosm of the secret space, Ronan found Bennigo standing before the Holy Blood Tree, "interacting" with it.
Approaching, he saw a fist-sized blood spore fall from one of the Holy Blood Tree's branches, which Bennigo promptly caught.
Recently, Bennigo began using the Holy Blood Tree for small-scale blood purification experiments, laying groundwork for his plan to resurrect his wife and accumulating experience for Ronan's future blood purification.
"What beast's blood is that?"
Ronan watched as Bennigo sliced a small cross in the spore with a knife and surprisingly attempted to inject it into himself, prompting Ronan's surprise.
"It's mine."
Bennigo closed his eyes, feeling the process of blood infusion, occasionally pausing to jot down notes.
"How does it feel?"
Once the blood spore was fully injected, Ronan couldn't help but ask Bennigo.
"I conducted a detailed analysis of my bloodline, then preselected a direction with the Holy Blood Tree before purification. So far..."
Bennigo assessed, saying, "The effect is promising. The purified bloodline is more active than my original, and my soul's decline seems to have halted somewhat."
"What direction did you choose?"
"Gray Elves."
"You have elven blood too?"
Ronan blinked, recalling Kirstie mentioning he also had traces of moonlight elf blood.
Bennigo being a gray elf—was this some peculiar kinship?
Bennigo glanced at him, shaking his head, "Is that strange? Don't you know that long ago, elves were the most favored mates among humans? For those of us without significant wizard backgrounds, having a bit of elven blood isn't uncommon."
Ronan pursed his lips, opting for silence.
After documenting all the experimental data, Bennigo noticed Ronan's idle demeanor and casually asked, "Judging by the time, the genius competition you mentioned should be starting soon, right? You're not training hard, yet you have time to wander here..."
"It's about to begin; I just came to say goodbye."
Ronan said, retrieving a glowing communication stone from his space ring, reading it briefly, then announcing, "The ship to pick me up has arrived. Well, old Bennie, I'm off."
Bennigo's mouth twitched slightly at Ronan's odd nickname, raising his pipe in farewell.
Ronan bade farewell to the Holy Blood Tree, then strode out of the microcosm, flew westward for several miles, and halted.
After about fifteen minutes, a seven-meter-long, four-meter-high silver-white spell airship appeared in his view.
Ronan squinted, heading towards the airship.
Before he reached it, two figures emerged from the vessel—a tall, slender youth on the left, ordinary-looking but with rare, sharp lapis lazuli eyes, and a similarly youthful, somewhat handsome yet mature man on the right.
They were Clemens and Derby, who had accompanied Ronan to explore the Mirror Court's second battlefield.
The upcoming genius competition, jointly held by the six forces, allowed over fifty members of sufficient strength to spectate.
The Silver Ring hadn't mandated a collective departure; Clemens and Derby were eligible to spectate, so Ronan decided to accompany them.
"Damien!"
The trio exchanged greetings, boarded the airship, and Clemens spoke, "It will take about a day to reach the Goblin Plains from here, and the competition starts in three days, so we have plenty of time."
Ronan nodded, and they settled in the airship, discussing the significant events during Ronan's two months of intense practice.
Clemens, aware of Ronan representing the Silver Ring in the competition, had gathered some information for him, mostly internal to the Silver Ring, with scant details on the other five forces.
"Apart from their top figures, we couldn't determine the other potential participants, so this is all we could gather."
Clemens turned to the page on Molten Lake, pointing at the name "Ignatius," solemnly advising Ronan, "He's the top wizard of Molten Lake's current generation; you defeated his younger brother Igor in the second battlefield. Though rumored to have a poor relationship, they share a family bloodline. Be cautious if you encounter him."
Ronan nodded, recalling Igor's face during his bloodline awakening.
As he perused the document, his gaze lingered on the "Black Swamp" page, his eyes brightening slightly.
"Do you know this person?"
Ronan pointed to the name "Angle Leo" on the parchment, asking Clemens and Derby.
It was the first time he learned Angle's full name, with sparse details listed, only noting "early stage third-level."
Third-level...
He remembered Angle being late second-level during their last encounter. Had he advanced so quickly?
"This person is mysterious, a rapidly rising genius from Black Swamp in recent years, rarely acting but achieving brilliant results each time."
Clemens pondered, "The most astounding instance was during his second level, defeating a renowned third-level wizard genius from Black Swamp."
"Damien, do you know him?"
Derby, noticing Ronan's interest in Angle, couldn't resist asking.
Ronan shook his head, offering no further explanation.
After skimming through the document, Clemens and Derby discussed the Mirror Court exploration.
About a month ago, the third battlefield exploration concluded, and Lanny and others from the Seventh Ring returned, many severely injured, and some perished.
Tragically, the deceased wizard was Travis, who had once clashed with Ronan.
Reportedly, the exploration team in the third battlefield accidentally triggered a restriction, releasing a large group of ancient spatial and mirror spell golems, possessing terrifying combat power, causing significant casualties across all factions.
The third battlefield served as the ancient wizard's magical plant and potion garden, so having guardians was expected. This outcome was anticipated by all factions, and the third battlefield's yield was indeed substantial.
In contrast, the first and second battlefields seemed much safer, with no reported deaths.
Ronan was momentarily startled by this news, feeling a sense of disorientation.
His battle with Travis seemed like yesterday, yet now Travis had perished in the secret realm.
The wizard's path was indeed arduous, even for second-level wizards, the talents of the Third Ring.
Tomorrow and accidents—no one knew which would arrive first.
The silver-white airship glided smoothly through the clouds, descending gently, revealing a vast plain before Ronan.
Nearby were plots of golden wheat fields, with signs of village life.
It was harvest season, and Ronan even spotted a boy chewing on a wheat stalk, staring blankly as their airship passed overhead.
Further ahead lay the desolate no-man's land.
Wild beasts and magical creatures could be seen running and resting on the uneven plain, dotted with mounds and large crater outlines.
Ronan stood on the airship deck, letting the wind billow his robes as he calmly surveyed the ground below.
"Goblin Plains once truly had goblins..."
Clemens joined him, hands on the metal railing, speaking.
Translators note: Angle Leo is Anglair