Wizard Bloodline

"Is it you again?!" The blond youth, Velen, immediately recognized the young man accompanying Beyonce as the same Seventh Ring wizard she had tried to recruit on the airship.

"Have you been following us?" Velen's brow furrowed, his tone naturally cold.

"I just happened to run into him nearby, so I brought him in," Beyonce quickly explained, seeing the hostility in Velen's words. "Aren't we short on strength?"

At that moment, a silver-robed wizard approached Velen and whispered something quickly in his ear.

Velen's eyes flickered, and after a few breaths, his expression calmed.

"Then let him follow us for now."

He turned away, and with Velen's change in attitude, Beyonce introduced the newcomer to the group.

"His name is Ronan, from the Seventh Ring."

Ronan took a moment to assess the group of Ring wizards before him.

All of them wore robes with core member insignias, and each was a late first-level wizard. Even the weakest among them had mental power fluctuations more than twice Ronan's.

According to Beyonce, who had brought him in, they were all from the Second Ring.

Benigo was right; the rankings of the Seven Ring Cities were based on power.

These Second Ring wizards clearly had a higher overall quality than those of the Seventh Ring, not just in power but also in the seasoned combat aura they carried.

From their earlier discussions, it seemed they had entered the "Damp Jungle" with a clear goal: the Brain-Eating Flower.

And they weren't the only ones with such intentions.

"Informed, with goals and plans, elite teamwork..." Ronan mused inwardly. Ordinary Ring wizards had little chance against such organized groups; it was no wonder the Seventh Ring wizard had advised against his solo venture into the "Damp Jungle."

After agreeing to Ronan's inclusion, the blond youth Velen turned away, not sparing him another glance. Half of the group turned their attention away after sensing his mid-first-level power, and the rest lost interest when they heard he was from the Seventh Ring.

Ronan didn't mind.

Following the tracks of the wizard who had stepped through luminous moss, he had reached this point but hadn't yet pinpointed the Brain-Eating Flower's location. However, he had sensed more than ten late first-level wizard auras.

While he was confident in his ability to challenge peers, charging blindly into an unknown situation would be foolish. Especially with the potential threat from Travis lurking in the shadows.

For now, he decided to stick with the Second Ring group, assessing the situation before making any moves.

"Let's find Barbus and his group."

After a brief discussion, Velen made the decision, leading the group in a specific direction.

Ronan followed closely, with Beyonce, the only female wizard in the group, showing unexpected kindness. With an air of innocence about her, she occasionally turned back to warn Ronan of potential pitfalls.

As they progressed, Ronan noticed the stench of decay growing stronger, and the ground became littered with animal carcasses, some freshly killed with their heads missing.

"Swish—"

At one point, Ronan felt the earth tremble slightly, and intense energy particle fluctuations came from ahead. The group halted, and Beyonce whispered, "We've arrived."

"Buzz—crack!"

Ronan looked up, his gaze reflecting the outline of a massive rune formation.

Inside the thick light wall of the formation, countless dark purple vines furiously attacked the inner walls.

Their movements tore through the air with sharp, ear-piercing sounds, leaving only blurred afterimages, followed by large ripples on the crystal wall of the rune formation.

Ronan immediately thought of Laura.

Unlike Laura's spell vines, these were covered in tentacle-like suckers, thinner and more agile.

At the center of the vine cluster was the "petite" main body, resembling a sunflower with silver stems and leaves, and a circular deep purple flower head lined with tiny spikes. The center of the flower head looked like a human brain with a menacing mouth.

"It's the Brain-Eating Flower, no doubt," Ronan confirmed, recalling Benigo's description and taking a deep breath.

Though a rare potion ingredient, the Brain-Eating Flower was also classified as a beast, a plant-type beast.

And a powerful first-level beast at that, feeding on the brains of other beasts.

This flower had reached maturity, its brain-like core constantly emitting an enticing aroma, and while ferocious, it was helpless under the suppression of the elite Ring wizards.

Near the rune formation, two groups of Ring wizards were gathered.

They paid little attention to the frenzied Brain-Eating Flower, focusing mainly on each other.

The arrival of Ronan's group drew the attention of the two parties.

Velen, leading the group, approached the two factions, and representatives from each stepped forward.

The three engaged in a hushed discussion, casting a sound-blocking spell to keep their conversation private.

"What are my chances if I act now?" Ronan stood among the group, watching the Brain-Eating Flower and calculating his chances of success.

To acquire the flower, he first needed to break the formation.

Judging by its resilience against the late first-level Brain-Eating Flower's attacks, its defense likely approached or reached second-level strength.

The second step was plucking the flower, likely while under attack.

The third step was escaping quickly.

For Ronan, the first two steps weren't overly challenging; the difficulty lay in escaping unscathed from a coordinated attack by the elite Ring wizards once he had the flower.

Counting the three factions present, there were about thirty late first-level wizards combined.

Even if he moved swiftly, the first two steps would take several seconds, enough time for a late first-level wizard to cast a spell.

In other words, deciding to act now meant preparing to "bathe" in thirty first-level spells.

"Let's wait and see how they handle this," Ronan exhaled, suppressing his impulse.

After a while, the sound-blocking spell was removed, and Velen returned, expressionless.

The Second Ring wizards immediately surrounded him. Ronan started to approach but felt a strong repelling force and wisely remained where he was.

"So, Velen, what did they say?" a wizard inquired as Velen joined the group.

"They want to settle it through duels," Velen replied calmly. "Each side sends eight people for pairwise duels. The side with the most victories wins the Brain-Eating Flower."

"Eight people..."

The wizards began counting their numbers.

"With the Seventh Ring guy Beyonce brought back, that makes eight for us."

"Yes," Velen nodded, "They set the duel number at eight to accommodate us."

"Is that really accommodating?"

Some wizards looked displeased, glancing at the boy excluded from their group, "With him, we're sure to lose one match."

One wizard frowned, "If we hadn't let him in, our chances would be better..."

Beyonce felt the blame in their words and stood up to defend herself, "No one could have predicted this format."

"No matter the format, he is..."

"Enough!" Velen's low voice silenced the complaints.

He gave Beyonce a reassuring look, "Beyonce meant well for everyone."

Velen paused, glancing at the distant boy, "Let's see if we can arrange for the Seventh Ring kid to face Barbus or the Third Ring's leader."

"They'll likely use the same tactic against you."

"Do you have a better idea?"

The dissenters fell silent, and the group quieted down.

Velen scanned his group, announcing, "Alright, everyone, prepare yourselves. Every battle is crucial."

The wizards nodded in agreement.

"So, have you decided on the plan?" Ronan casually asked Beyonce, who was somewhat friendly to him.

Beyonce forced a smile, "They want to decide the flower's ownership through duels. You'll represent us too. If we win, you'll get a share."

Duels?... Ronan was slightly taken aback, surprised by the decision.

But on reflection, among Ring members, maintaining competition without hostility made sense.

Seeing his expression, Beyonce thought he was worried about fighting and reassured him, "Don't worry. If you feel outmatched, just concede. It's not shameful."

Ronan nodded, remaining silent.

Beside the rune formation trapping the Brain-Eating Flower, a large clearing was created.

Ronan learned that the other two factions vying with Velen's group were from the First and Third Rings.

Both groups had more members than theirs, giving them more flexibility in choosing duel participants.

Ronan understood why Velen's group seemed colder after discussions; they probably viewed him as a liability.

As he pondered, the first duel began, unrelated to them.

The duelists were from the First and Third Rings.

Both male wizards, late first-level, one specializing in metal and fire, the other in metal and ice.

They clashed immediately, activating sigils. Their battles involved silver flames and frigid metal spheres, sending waves of heat and cold across the field.

Ronan focused on the Third Ring wizard, also an ice specialist, but more "orthodox" than Ronan.

His metal medium was ice-based, and besides the [Silverization] sigil, his other two sigils aligned with ice.

One seemed to be [Elemental Ring], but Ronan couldn't identify the other, though it created a small "blizzard" with each move, a powerful effect given [Blizzard] was a second-level spell.

The duel lasted a while, ending with the Third Ring wizard's victory.

Despite the close match, both wizards left the field quickly, consuming recovery potions, clearly exhausted.

The second match involved the First Ring against Ronan's group.

The First Ring sent a tall, fair-skinned girl with a ponytail, looking young and slightly nervous.

"Holgen, you go," Velen instructed, and a rugged bald man stepped forward.

Holgen's mental power was intense and mysterious, second only to Velen in their group.

Clearly, Velen intended to secure this win decisively.

"Obsidian Hand!"

Holgen immediately activated [Silverization], his metal medium forming a massive silver hand, semi-real and semi-illusionary, pressing down on the ponytailed wizard.

[Obsidian Hand] is a strong first-level metal spell, summoning a semi-illusory black energy hand to strike.

Holgen had mastered this spell, summoning a massive hand with energy far exceeding a typical first-level spell.

"Boom! Sizzle—"

The ponytailed wizard soared, chanting rapidly and casting bright lightning, barely countering the silver hand with her unique metal medium. But Holgen followed with more [Obsidian Hands], smaller and weaker without the metal medium, yet overwhelming in number.

The Second Ring wizards watched confidently; they knew Holgen's prowess. As a pure metal wizard with three soul sigils enhancing metal spells, once Holgen gained momentum, the outcome was decided.

Holgen's mastery of [Obsidian Hand] left little chance for the ponytailed wizard. Even if she countered the first assault, Holgen would unleash more.

Yet, as the ponytailed wizard neared defeat—

She gritted her teeth, producing a gleaming mirror tool.

Her face paled instantly, her aura weakening.

But an unprecedented energy surge erupted, the mirror blindingly bright, unleashing a scarlet firestorm with traces of domain aura.

Holgen's energy hands were incinerated instantly, the fiery torrent shocking the Second and Third Ring wizards.

"A second-level magic tool?!"

Someone exclaimed in disbelief.

Ronan's eyes narrowed, hands clenching beneath his robes.

But it wasn't the second-level tool that surprised him.

Instead—

The mirror in the wizard's hand bore a pattern strikingly similar to the fragmentary mirror tool he possessed, capable of replicating others' auras.

Almost... identical!

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