Bang!
On the empty ground, Graystone was heavily thrown to the ground. He struggled to his feet, rubbing his sore arm.
What kind of monster was this lizard-man?
In their world, there were also lizard-men, but those were merely wandering bandits without civilization or a complete heritage. They were just a bunch of thieves who liked to ambush travelers or merchants in the wild.
But this lizard-man in front of him was entirely different from any he had encountered before.
Graystone, one of the strongest in his clan, had successfully become a dwarf heavy knight. Not just one lizard-man, even an entire squad of them, he could crush without hesitation.
Yet, his iron fist, which could shatter stones, felt like it was hitting an impossibly hard piece of steel when it struck this lizard-man. His calloused fists ached terribly from the impact.
Lauren narrowed his eyes, staring intently at Graystone.
In their previous clash, he hadn’t held the upper hand in terms of strength. However, his defense was far superior, and the claws his master had modified could easily tear through flesh.
Graystone stood up, his thick arms clenched into fists that he slammed heavily onto the ground.
Crack, crack~
The earth split open, and clumps of dirt mixed with rocks defied gravity, forming two thick arm shields that wrapped around his forearms.
Magic—Earth Arm Shields.
Graystone let out a low growl, a silver-gray glow flashing across his body.
A faint gray layer covered his skin and hair.
Magic—Stone Skin.
With the addition of two magic enhancements, Graystone charged at Lauren once more.
The more he fought, the more alarmed he became. Even with his magic defenses, he still couldn’t match the lizard-man in resilience.
Graystone could sense no magic fluctuations from his opponent. This meant Lauren was fighting him purely with his physical strength.
Graystone stepped back half a step, admitting, “I lost.”
For him, failing to win was a loss. Graystone accepted it without hesitation; in this battle, a draw and a defeat were the same because there was no victory.
Lauren nodded silently.
Turning around, he saw Wizard Dragon standing at the entrance of the laboratory, his deep, penetrating gaze fixed on Lynn.
Lynn’s movement halted, and in the silence, he could feel his heartbeat quickening. The laboratory was within Dragon’s wizard tower, and Dragon was a seasoned wizard who had spent countless years as a first-level wizard. He had even transformed himself into a lich.
Lynn had heard about Wizard Dragon. It was said that if Dragon hadn’t dedicated himself to a particular experiment, he might have become a second-level wizard long ago.
Dragon’s decision to expend vast resources for the sake of a loved one could not be said to be right or wrong. For wizards, the merit of a decision lay in its alignment with their inner convictions, regardless of the outcome.
“Your experiment is over,” Dragon said slowly.
“Go to the room outside and choose a source material you desire,” he continued, raising his hand to point toward the hallway.
Lynn stood still for a moment before decisively leaving the room.
In the hallway outside, he found a table laden with various source materials. At a glance, there were about a dozen items, all core materials for constructing a wizard tower. Although none were particularly valuable, they were essential for building a first-level wizard tower.
Lynn’s gaze fell upon one of the source materials.
“This one will do,” Lynn muttered to himself in the empty hall.
He picked up the source material and stored it in his spatial ring. Glancing at the closed doors of the wizard tower, he found a sofa in the hall and sat down to wait.
After a while, he heard footsteps coming from the hallway behind him.
Abraham, looking somewhat pale, emerged from the room, followed by Wizard Dragon. Abraham casually picked up an item from the table.
“I have some matters to attend to, so I’ll be out later. You go ahead,” Abraham said to Lynn.
Leaving Dragon’s wizard tower, Lynn stepped into the cold outside air.
A bitter smile crossed his face as he recalled the moment he noticed several rune errors in the magic array. The symbols on the array had a peculiar alignment—an inversion effect.
If the array was like a conduit, the symbols altered it from channeling the wizard’s mental energy outward to drawing external mental energy inward.
Lynn had a habit of scrutinizing magic arrays and had some knowledge on runes, which allowed him to spot the problem. But when he tried to warn Abraham, it was already too late.
Dragon had appeared at the laboratory door and effectively ordered him out. If Lynn hadn’t noticed the mistake, it might have been him instead of Abraham facing the consequences, given his superior aptitude.
As Lynn walked towards the landing point, he pulled his wizard robe tighter around him. The shadow plane was unusually cold that day.
——