Wizard: Starting from the Skill Tree

A deep, bone-revealing slash ran from his forehead to his chin on his left eye, his eyeball was beyond saving, and his entire left face was frozen into a dark red ice shell, but his right eye was still moving.

He hobbled to Horn’s side, dragging a leg with a broken bone, using his left hand to clutch an ice column pried from the ice wall as a crutch, dragging a corpse with his right hand, a collector rookie’s corpse.

Ivan gently laid the corpse on the ice surface, then knelt down on one knee, using his still-functioning hand to close the corpse’s eyes.

"No longer breathing." Ivan’s voice was as hoarse as sandpaper scraping against his throat.

Then noises came from another direction, a slender figure emerged from behind an ice column; it was Ella, the healer, the witch who had been organizing the first aid box before departure.

Her left arm dangled limply by her side, twisting unnaturally below the elbow, broken.

But she used her remaining hand to brace against the ice wall, inching toward Horn, squatting down without a word, and started unwrapping the ice casing on his right calf, attempting to treat the wound.

Her lips were purple from the cold, her fingers uncontrollably trembling, but her movements unwrapping the bandages were precise and steady, a tear slipping silently from her eye corner, freezing into a thin line of ice along her cheek.

Horn used his still-functional right hand to hold her hand, shook his head, indicating he didn’t need it.

Three people, a team of a dozen, only three remained.

Horn wanted to stand up; the wound on his right calf started oozing blood again after Ella unwrapped the ice, but the leg could still bear weight.

Ivan used the ice column as a crutch and stood relatively steadily.

Ella had one broken hand, but her legs were intact.

Horn glanced down at the constant temperature sealing box in his right palm; the bandage had frozen into a deep brown, and the silver-white casing of the box was splattered with freeze-dried blood spots, but he could feel the contents were still inside.

Eternal Ice, the original ice crystal that had never melted since the Frost Plane’s inception.

The collecting process itself wasn’t too perilous; they found an original ice vein at the deepest part of the millennia-old ice layer. The seasoned collector spent twelve hours methodically peeling away the ice shell covering the Eternal Ice, so slowly that Horn felt a toothache just watching, but the veteran was as steady as a rock, never once letting his fingers tremble.

The finally extracted Eternal Ice was only the size of a fingernail, with no signs of artificial polishing on the surface, but in the spiritual power’s perception, the small ice crystal’s interior was slowly flowing with the purest form of ice rules prototype, the rarest and most valuable native form of such material.

When they sealed it into the constant temperature sealing box, everyone exhaled a long sigh of relief; the rookie collector couldn’t help but cheer, claiming this loot could brag for years once taken back.

Then that creature appeared.

Horn didn’t want to recall the battle process; it was not an enemy that could be overcome with tactics and cooperation.

A Level 4 Frost Giant Beast, lurking deep within the ice, so massive that its breath alone could stir up a minor energy storm in the ice layers.

The wizard array master’s defense array shattered moments after the beast’s first strike, and two combat mages, who attracted its attention head-on for ten seconds, were frozen into ice sculptures and then shattered by a single swipe.

The seasoned collector ran in the opposite direction with the constant temperature sealing box, handed the box to Horn, and then turned back to rescue the rookies, but never returned.

Horn’s last memory was clutching the constant temperature sealing box tightly in his right hand, dragging Ivan with his left toward the rift direction, behind them the Frost Giant Beast crashing ice columns with thunderous roars, each sound getting nearer, then a deafening crash.

Ella detonated all her magical potions she carried, using the shockwave to collapse the ice ceiling, temporarily burying the Frost Giant Beast under the falling ice, giving them the last chance to squeeze into the rift and escape death.

He looked back at the rift’s direction; deep within the crevice, the low murmur of the ice layers’ movement still emanated.

The Level 4 Frost Giant Beast was still there, couldn’t stay here too long.

Horn tucked the constant temperature sealing box into his arms with his left hand, confirming no sign of looseness, then braced one hand on Ivan’s shoulder, using the other hand to rip a piece from his robe’s hem, stuffing it into Ella’s hand for support.

The three of them limped toward the ice layer’s surface, following the markings carved on the ice wall on their way in, crossing the despairingly long ice stairs between the millennia-old ice layers and the upper ice cap. As they passed through the defense magic array at the Frost Plane’s outpost perimeter, Horn managed to hand over the constant temperature sealing box to the outpost’s material transfer officer.

The moment the transfer officer saw the three blood-soaked individuals stumbling from the ice fields’ direction, he jumped up in shock, turned and screamed at the communication tower’s direction: "Medic! Get a medic!"

Horn staggered to steady himself against the table, pushing the blood-soaked constant temperature sealing box forward, muttering hoarsely, "Please, verify the goods," then slid slowly down to sit on the floor, back against the table leg, closing his eyes.

...

The guest room in Zone 7’s dormitory at the Six-Ring Tower wasn’t large, but it offered privacy.

All four walls were inscribed with standard soundproof runes; outside the window was the never-dimming silver-blue sky above the Central Islands, casting a light that diluted the warm yellow glow of the magic lamp on the table.

Duke sat on a chair by the window, holding a fingernail-sized crystal, observing it carefully against the light.

Eternal Ice, smaller than Duke expected, yet not lacking in weight.

Not physical weight, but a weight of energy.

The instant his fingertip touched the crystal’s surface, a very slight chill seeped through his skin, a more fundamental, piercing power from the ice rules prototype, directly affecting the layer of spiritual power.

The crystal’s interior wasn’t completely transparent; under the light, one could see numerous intricate, almost invisible lines, like auroras frozen in amber, each line flowing at an extremely slow pace, retaining the complete activity of its internal structure despite leaving the millennia-old ice layer’s original environment.

This indicated that this piece of Eternal Ice was of extremely high quality, in its native form, undamaged by external forces, the collection method was impeccable.

Duke returned the Eternal Ice to the soft velvet pad on the table, looking up at the person sitting across.

Harrison dressed formally today, wearing a dark gray commerce association suit, a Giant Rock Commerce Association badge pinned to the collar; his hair combed neater than usual, even his beard meticulously trimmed.

But no matter how well-groomed, it couldn’t hide the persistent heaviness between his brows.

His posture was as usual, hands folded on his knees, a familiar practiced smile on his face, but his eyes held a faint shadow, as if something had weighed heavily on him in recent days, though he was unwilling to reveal it before Duke.

However, judging from his demeanor, Harrison himself was unharmed, still displaying that crisp, old-fashioned merchant style, moving lightly as he entered, shaking hands firmly with Duke.

"The item is remarkable." Duke said, his gaze moving from Harrison’s face back to the Eternal Ice. "Quality better than I expected, a native form, complete internal structure, no stress cracks; it must not have been easy to acquire."

Harrison chuckled, waving his hand, his voice carrying the familiar, cheerful tone of an old-school merchant: "It took some effort, the Frost Plane, you know, the bottom of the millennia-old ice layer is incredibly cold, you have to peel the ice shell layer by layer during collection, no rush.

But the team we hired is experienced, with Horn leading it in the Frost Plane for nearly twenty years, no major mishaps. In the end, the result is good—the item has been delivered to you intact, so I am relieved."

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!