Wizard: Starting from the Skill Tree

Duke’s fire-elementalized body resembled a reverse crimson meteor in the magma, tearing through the cracks in the rock layers opened by the shockwave, passing through the vast underground cavity, and rapidly ascending along the path he had come.

The depth continued to decrease, and the temperature of the surrounding magma was gradually dropping, but Duke’s Spiritual Power was nearing its critical point.

Maintaining a fire-elementalized state while traversing tens of kilometers underground, especially in such turbulent and chaotic energy at this moment, was not necessarily safe even when in a fire-elementalized form.

The closer he got to the surface, the more cracks were left by the explosions of the Heart of Molten Fire, making the geological structure all the more unstable. In some areas, the energy was extremely violent and completely chaotic, forcing him to make repeated detours.

He estimated that he had ascended most of the distance, just a few kilometers away from the surface; the surrounding magma had started to become sparse, interspersed with fragments of rock layers.

In just a moment, he would be able to escape from this fiery purgatory and return to the surface.

Just then, a scorching energy burst out from the side of the rock wall without any warning.

In the instant before the attack arrived, Duke’s perception caught the danger, and his fire-elementalized body suddenly moved sideways. The crimson flame spear grazed his shoulder, shattering a piece of basalt behind him.

The shattered rocks tumbled down in the magma, while Duke steadied himself, sweeping his Spiritual Power in the direction of the attack’s origin.

In the depths of a crack in the rock wall, a figure was struggling to crawl out.

It was a Heart of Molten Fire Spirit. Its size was larger than the Flame Warriors Duke had seen before but smaller than a normal Magma Giant, somewhere in between. Its dark red scale armor had mostly shattered, and there was a massive crack in its chest, deep enough to see the elemental core slowly pulsing.

Its left arm was already broken, and several pieces of scale armor had fallen off its right arm, exposing the muscle tissue beneath with magma still flowing through it.

Half of its head armor was shattered, revealing a half-burnt, disfigured face and a single burning eye.

This was a Level 3 Heart of Molten Fire Spirit, likely a minor leader, swept into the depths during the recent explosion of the Heart of Molten Fire by the shockwave.

Duke could immediately tell that it was on the brink of death, with the chest crack deep enough to reveal the core, such an injury for an Elemental Life was equivalent to a fatal wound; it was only barely moving due to the formidable Life Force of a Level 3 Life.

But a dying tiger is still a tiger, a Level 3 Life is still a Level 3 Life; even if it is barely alive, the gap in level remains.

The Heart of Molten Fire Spirit’s single eye locked onto Duke, its pupil burning with a mix of pain, rage, and madness.

A dying warrior, in the final moments of life, saw an intruder, a Level 2 Mage, an enemy who had slaughtered numerous fellow kin.

Its throat emitted a hoarse roar, the remaining right arm lifted suddenly, and a dark red fireball the size of a fist condensed in its palm.

The color of the fireball was deeper than any flame Duke had ever seen; it was the result of the Level 3 Heart of Molten Fire Spirit compressing all its remaining Flame Rule Power into it.

This attack’s power was more than enough to destroy an ordinary Level 2 Life.

Duke didn’t hesitate, he began analyzing the opponent’s state the moment he sensed the attack.

The advantage now is that the opponent has only enough power for one strike, the disadvantage is this strike is a dying blow from a Level 3 Life, and even with a Level 3 Body, he couldn’t take it head-on.

Speed and Spiritual Power perception were his greatest advantages; the Free Energy Particles in this environment, nearly liquefied in their fire element, were resources he could draw upon.

His means to threaten a Level 3 Life were extremely limited.

Conventional Magic was hardly effective against a Level 3, not to mention physical attacks.

But he had a trump card, perfectly suited for this environment, and for this opponent, that was the Soul Flame.

Soul Flame was a Level 2 Forbidden Magic from the Plane of Abyss.

Duke chose it from the Forbidden Magic in the Six-Ring Tower Library, valuing its traits of burning only Spiritual Power and soul, not flammable materials or wood.

Against Elemental Lives with a robust body but relatively weak Spiritual Power, this method directly attacking the Spiritual Sea was the most effective counter.

Once the Soul Flame clings, it spreads along the Spiritual Power’s pathways, burning the Spiritual Sea until nothing remains.

More importantly, it could strengthen itself by absorbing Free Energy Particles with a Fire Attribute.

And Duke was in a molten layer completely disturbed by the explosion of the Heart of Molten Fire, with a concentration and activity of fire elemental particles far beyond normal.

Using Soul Flame here would provide extra power enhancement.

Duke extended his right hand, palm facing up.

The black mark in his Spiritual Sea trembled slightly under his will, then split open a seam.

A wisp of black flame surged from the mark, flowing along his Spiritual Power pathways into his right arm, eventually manifesting in his palm.

The flame was black, about the size of a fist, suspended about three inches above his palm.

Without temperature or light, that black flame didn’t illuminate anything; instead, it seemed to absorb all surrounding light.

It burned quietly in Duke’s palm, completely following his commands, but the flame’s edges occasionally extended tiny tendrils towards the surrounding air, like a leashed hound sniffing the nearby scent, brimming with hostility towards all Spiritual Power fluctuations.

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