"What?"
Horton was stunned for a moment, then immediately felt a surge of delight.
If they were at the same level, there would be no help at all in opening the ruins. This was exactly what he needed.
"Next, I'll increase the force bit by bit. I won't hurt you," Horton said seriously.
"Mm."
Ian took a deep breath and focused.
It was rare to have an Official Wizard help test the limits of a body-tempering technique.
Yet as Horton increased the power of his Wizardry, his expression grew increasingly solemn.
Although he had little talent for body-tempering Wizardry, he had practiced it as a First-Ring Wizard for more than a decade.
So while his proficiency was not particularly high, it could still be considered fairly decent.
Above proficient, at least.
But now, he felt that Ian had surpassed him by far too much.
"At the same level, with the same rune condensation, I'm twice the norm, but Ian is three times the norm—an entire extra fold more than me?"
After finishing the test, Horton arrived at an answer that was somewhat hard to believe.
This was a little too outrageous.
They were practicing the same thing, so why was the gap so enormous?
"With your current defense, an ordinary peak Wizard Apprentice would probably need four or five Wizardry spells to hit you squarely before they could possibly break through it!"
Horton grinned.
This was body-tempering Wizardry, after all.
By the time four or five spells landed on Ian, he would already be right in their face. What would be the point of breaking his defense then?
With Ian's current physical strength, even an ordinary high-grade Zero-Ring defensive Wizardry spell would probably be dealt with in a single punch.
The Imprint Body Tempering Method did not merely train physical