Lord Francois Sends His Greetings

Lord Francois Sends His Greetings

"Master this technique, and apprentices will be unstoppable—wizardhood within reach!"

Ronan used a small knife to carve the contents of the first half of Ascetic Body Forging onto the back of the bedboard. At the end, he even left behind a dashing signature: "Ronan Damien."

"I wonder if the next wizard to live in this room will discover the secret manual I left behind..."

Ronan thought to himself with a hint of anticipation.

It was not entirely out of malicious amusement.

What he had left behind was genuinely useful to low-level wizard apprentices.

Any wizard who ended up living in the Treehouse Area probably would not have much better aptitude than he did.

They might also suffer from energy erosion, and Ascetic Body Forging could solve that problem quite well. Ronan had personally tested its effectiveness.

Although the training process was a bit damn awful, it did benefit the growth of Spiritual Power.

The exceptionally strong physique brought by Ascetic Body Forging was a considerable advantage among low-level wizard apprentices.

If used properly, it might even offer a chance to rise above the ranks of low-level apprentices.

"Still, isn't it a little inappropriate to carve a body-forging technique beneath a maxim about 'the soul's immortality'?"

"Ah, no, this is perfect instead.

Only those who can disregard worldly prejudice will have a chance of grasping the path to success I left behind."

Ronan blew the wood shavings off the knife with a satisfied expression, then put it away again.

He walked out of the treehouse, shut the door, and lightly landed in the snow below.

Ronan dug beneath the fourth oak tree to the left of the treehouse for a while before finally finding the belongings he had left behind—

Twelve protective runes and more than twenty Low-Level Magic Stones, carefully wrapped in a piece of black cloth and completely intact.

As Ronan counted over the possessions he had once "treasured as his life," a wave of emotion rose in his heart.

This wealth meant nothing to him now, but having the chance to reclaim it still gave him the joy and satisfaction of recovering something lost.

Just as he put the items into his Storage Waist Pouch, Ronan's expression shifted. He swiftly rose to his feet and looked in a certain direction.

"Whoosh—"

A figure emerged from the bushes, brushing away the thin layer of snow on his head as he muttered to Ronan, "I knew there was something strange about you. So you came here to retrieve your things."

The thin man in a grayish-white Wizard Robe suddenly noticed Ronan's empty hands. Then, as if he had thought of something, immense delight immediately appeared on his face. He quickly shouted behind him, "Storage Waist Pouch! Lord Francois! This guy has a Storage Waist Pouch... He's a big catch! A big catch!"

Before his words had even faded, another figure stepped out from behind the bushes.

This man wore a dark robe trimmed with gold, held a black staff, and had an exquisite silver brow ornament on his face. His black hair draped over his shoulders, his lips were pressed tightly together, and his entire bearing radiated authority and power.

The Thin Male Wizard moved closer to the Black-Haired Man and whispered a few words into his ear.

The latter gave a soft snort. The Thin Male Wizard immediately turned around with a smile and loudly said to Ronan, "Lord Francois says that you are to leave behind everything you just dug up from under the tree, as well as your Storage Waist Pouch and all your magical tools!"

Ronan looked at the two men before him, his brow gradually furrowing.

He saw it now. He had run into wizards who robbed travelers.

He had no idea when they had set their sights on him, but they seemed to have followed him all the way here.

The Thin Male Wizard who spoke was nothing much, merely an ordinary Level Three Wizard Apprentice. But the wizard he called "Lord Francois" appeared to be a High-Level Wizard Apprentice.

As Ronan considered this, the Thin Male Wizard started shouting again. "Are you deaf, kid?!

If you don't obediently do as you're told, then prepare to face Lord Francois's wrath!"

As if to confirm his words, the Black-Haired Man beside him gave a cold snort, and a powerful wave of Spiritual Power burst from his body.

A powerful aura like sunlight slightly distorted the air, shaking the snow from the surrounding trees and grass in a constant flutter... "Level Nine Apprentice, a Qi Transformation Wizard?!"

Ronan's heart jolted, and his expression turned icy.

Just as he was about to attack, a thunderous roar suddenly exploded beside his ears!

"Roar!"

The terrifying sound waves shattered countless patches of snow as a massive figure suddenly leaped into the clearing.

Thick limbs, a body covered in dark-red scales, and two serpent-like heads—one large, one small. Accompanied by waves of foul, scorching breath, a savage and violent aura instantly blanketed the entire area.

"A h-high-level magical beast?!"

At the sight of the enormous creature that had suddenly appeared, the Thin Male Wizard let out a voice warped by terror. With a thump, he collapsed onto the snow on his backside.

The Black-Haired Man beside him was equally pale, stumbling backward in fright.

But before the two could recover from their overwhelming shock and despair, they felt an indescribably terrifying aura rise from the other side.

They instinctively turned their heads, and their expressions instantly froze.

The young wizard they had just been threatening and extorting was now enveloped by countless intertwined streams of mysterious aura.

The snow in a wide circle around his feet melted away, while the gale lifted the hem of his robe, revealing the tall, slender figure beneath.

His long hair whipped in the wind. An unspeakably terrifying force field formed, distorting the light before finally condensing into three mysterious, profound black points at his fingertips. "You still dared to come back and find me?!"

The low, icy voice rose with the cold wind. Ronan pointed coldly, and three pure-black points of light swept forward in silence, carrying the momentum of a world-destroying flood.

The Two-Headed Magic Lizard, which had made its imposing entrance, immediately showed fear and hesitation in its eyes. Without a sound, it turned and flew backward.

Yet it was still grazed by that transparent, invisible torrent force field.

There was no sound of impact. The massive magic lizard's tail and lower body instantly turned into an exploding cloud of blood mist, while the grass, trees, sand, stones, and soil beneath it rapidly crumbled and dissolved. A shrill scream rang out across the field. Most of the black shadow shot forward like lightning and vanished in the blink of an eye, leaving behind only a gruesome, mangled mess and a huge deep pit that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. Ronan's flying hair and raised robes slowly settled as he stared coldly in the direction the Two-Headed Magic Lizard had fled.

It was the very Two-Headed Magic Lizard he had driven off before. He had not expected it to hold such a grudge. The moment it caught his scent in the forest again, it had immediately come seeking revenge.

And after only a few months apart, the creature's strength seemed to have risen sharply. Not only had its body grown larger once more, but its second head had begun to grow in as well, placing it among the ranks of high-level zero-rank magical beasts.

"With injuries that severe, it probably can't get far."

Ronan did not hurry after it. He casually took out a bottle of potion from his waist pouch, opened it, and drank it down. Only after feeling his Spiritual Power rapidly recover did he slowly turn his gaze toward the other two people in the clearing.

When they saw Ronan look their way, the two bandit wizards, already scared witless, visibly shuddered. They looked at Ronan as though they had seen something horrific, their eyes filled with nothing but utter shock and terror.

The Black-Haired Man, a High-Level Wizard Apprentice, stared at Ronan with a tense face, his lips moving rapidly.

Ronan's expression chilled. He had thought the man was secretly chanting a spell.

But in the next second, the Thin Male Wizard's trembling voice rang out.

"F-Francois says... he offers you his most sincere greetings. Good morning, esteemed sir!"