Wizard: Starting from the Skill Tree

Players in the Oracle Plane still perceive this place not as a real world but merely as an incredibly finished, detail-rich game world.

So for them, selling some information about the game’s organization for a bit of real-world currency is simply a fantastic deal.

The Shadow Council would never dream that the Blessed Ones they recruited are sitting comfortably in the real world, sipping drinks and bargaining on forums using their confidential intelligence as chips to earn extra cash.

In this world, the binding of the Life Stone, Soul Contract, and harsh rules that dictate self-destruction upon exposure hold no power over the players.

Selling intelligence about the organization is merely earning quick money in a game, a task the players undertake without any psychological burden.

Duke placed the report on the table and looked at Robert.

"Select a few trustworthy players, position them near the main paths and chokepoints around the Shadow Rift. They don’t need to approach the valley or actively intercept anyone, just observe the surroundings. If members of the Shadow Council enter or exit the valley, or if unidentified personnel are active nearby, note their numbers, direction, and general characteristics, and report directly to me. We don’t need large numbers, just pick the most reliable ones."

He paused and added, "We don’t need an army this time; those players are only responsible for lookout on the outskirts. I’ll personally investigate the valley interior. Facing a Level 3 Great Mage, sending more low-level players would only alert them."

...

The bottom of the Shadow Rift never sees sunlight all year.

The steep obsidian rock walls tower into the clouds, letting in only a sliver of gray daylight at noon, like a sword hanging overhead.

The valley floor is filled with a heavy scent of sulfur mixed with cold, damp rock; the air is as thick as if stirred by some unseen force, with each breath weighed down by a heavy resistance.

Shadow Energy is so dense here it almost takes on a liquid form, flowing slowly along the cracks in the rock walls. Occasionally, wisps escape, twisting into constantly changing shapes of black mist in the air, only to be swallowed again by the denser shadows.

Dominic stood at the deepest part of the valley in a natural rock cave, hands behind his back, staring at the slowly forming Magic Array before him.

He appeared to be a man past fifty, thin, with high cheekbones; his graying hair was neatly combed back, secured by a dark silver hairpiece at the back.

His eyes were slightly sunken, with shadows beneath his cheekbones as if carved by a blade; yet those eyes — gray-green, burning quietly like cold flames in the deep-set sockets — showed no sign of age.

Several shadow torches embedded in the rock walls emitted a faint greenish glow, casting his elongated shadow on the uneven walls, swaying slightly with the torchlight, like another living creature.

The Magic Array occupied most of the cave’s floor.

It was a massive rune array of six concentric circles, each ring densely engraved with shadow runes, connected by extremely fine flows of shadow energy, glowing with a cold dark purple fluorescence in the darkness.

The core of the array was a giant shadow stone crystal mined from deep underground, reaching half human height, its surface shimmering with a liquid shadow-like luster, with each glow stirring silent ripples of energy within the crystal.

Dozens of robed priests were kneeling around the periphery of the array, inching along to trace the convergence runes of the outer circle using shadow stone powder and magic metal solution.

Their movements were mechanical yet devout, silently mouthing prayers, with sweat trickling down their foreheads and gleaming oilily in the light of the shadow torches.

Dominic’s gaze shifted from the core of the array to the priests tracing the runes, his mouth twitching slightly.

It wasn’t an expression of satisfaction or dissatisfaction, but rather a bitterness that comes from having suppressed for too long and finally seeing the end.

These priests were already the Shadow Council’s last batch of core members capable of drawing high-level runes.

Since Julius’s death, the council has been severely weakened, compounded by recent holdouts being stripped away by the joint patrols of the Three Great Sects and the Light Sect, mining areas cleared, monasteries searched, even the most hidden liaison stations in the north mountain pass being sold out.

After years of disappearance, that Child of Light suddenly returned, displaying strength far beyond anyone’s expectations.

Augustus, the Fire Sect’s Great Mage at Level 3 Middle Stage, couldn’t withstand even ten minutes before him.

They evaluated all options, finding no more than a ten percent chance of victory in direct confrontation; to continue lurking would only result in being gradually squeezed with no retreat possible.

Ultimately, Dominic could only report the changes in the Oracle Plane’s situation to the entity they worshipped.

The response came faster than expected, an will descending directly into his consciousness, cold and vast, carrying the unique decay and stillness of a deity.

The directive was brief: prepare the descent ritual.

The location must be chosen where shadow energy concentration is high enough, materials prepared according to the list, the array drawn based on the given blueprints, without any deviation.

Thus, they chose the Shadow Rift.

This rift is one of the regions with the densest shadow energy concentration on the northeastern border of the Rising Sun District, with the valley floor having shadow energy concentrations several times that of the outside, making it the ideal site for the descent ritual.

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