"Your Excellency! We are Wizards from Red Maple City! The two behind us are Priests of the Winter Frost Church! Please, help us!"

  The elderly man leading the group shouted frantically.

  The other two Wizards, a young man and a young woman, cast spells at the Winter Frost Priests chasing them, attempting to hinder their pursuit.

  By this time, the two masked men in black robes had also noticed Pierce's group.

  The information fed back by the Eyes of Winter caused their expressions to change slightly.

  A Rank 1 Crystalline Phase Wizard!

  And twenty Clay Golems!

  The two masked men exchanged a glance and, without hesitation, halted their pursuit, turned around, and began to leave.

  However, Pierce couldn't possibly let them escape.

  Two Winter Frost Priests meant at least two Eyes of Winter badges, which equated to roughly half a Faith Crystal. He wouldn't pass up loot that had delivered itself right to his doorstep.

  With a faint smile, Pierce flicked his fingers. Over a dozen Scorching Rays shot out like arrows toward the two masked men, the extreme heat leaving distorted trails in the void.

  The two masked men were forced to stop and defend themselves.

  But just as they blocked the Scorching Rays, one of them saw a flash before his eyes. A fist wreathed in blazing lightning was already hurtling toward his face.

  Bang!

  All the divine defensive spells on his body instantly shattered. The masked man's head exploded like a watermelon. Before the blood and brain matter could even spray outward, it was vaporized into mist by the intense heat.

  The headless corpse stiffened for a moment before plummeting to the ground like a meteor.

  "What kind of spell is this?!"

  The other masked man turned deathly pale. Without hesitation, he crushed an object in his hand. Instantly, an ice crystal shaped like a lotus flower condensed in the void behind him.

  An eerie fluctuation emanated from the ice crystal.

  In that instant, Pierce acutely sensed a familiar anomaly.

  He attempted to cast a spell, and just as he suspected, he couldn't.

  "A Lesser Globe of Invulnerability?"

  "No, wait... a similar divine spell?"

  A flash of astonishment crossed Pierce's eyes.

  The Winter Frost Church had actually mastered this kind of divine spell?!

  This was disastrous!

  If this divine spell became widespread, the tide of the war between Wizards and Turins would change drastically in an instant.

  The Turins would undoubtedly be able to completely overwhelm Wizards in head-on battles!

  But why hadn't any of the Winter Frost Priests he encountered before ever used this spell?

  Numerous thoughts flashed through Pierce's mind in a fraction of a second.

  However, despite his shock, his hands didn't slow down. He made a grasping motion, and a lightning spear condensed out of thin air in his palm. He casually threw it, and with a sizzle, it pierced straight through the masked man's chest.

  The latter's eyes widened. Carrying an expression of sheer disbelief and bewilderment, he fell to the ground, dead.

  Not far away, the three Wizards who witnessed this scene froze in place, their faces filled with shock.

  When the masked man had condensed the lotus ice crystal, the three had wanted to warn Pierce. Who could have expected that he would kill the masked man with a backhand strike before they could even speak?

  The casual ease with which he acted, as if merely crushing an ant, deeply shocked the three of them.

  Could the person before them be a Rank 2 Wizard?

  While they were still in a daze, Sophia and Payne had already nimbly jumped off the golems' shoulders and consciously ran over to loot the corpses.

  Pierce then walked over to the three Wizards.

  The three jolted awake as if from a dream. Before Pierce could even ask, the elderly man took the initiative to say, "Thank you for lending a helping hand, Lord. My name is Zoltan, and these two are my companions, Maeve and Ulric. May I know your name, Lord?"

  "Pierce."

  Hearing this name, Zoltan and the others were stunned again, followed closely by a look of sudden realization.

  So it was the genius Wizard who had single-handedly conquered the Mithril resource point.

  Rumor had it that he had killed a Rank 4 Priest and that, despite only being a Rank 1 Wizard, he actually possessed combat strength comparable to a Rank 2 Wizard. Now it seemed the rumors were indeed true.

  Although the two Winter Frost Priests from just now were only Rank 2 Priests, their combat strength was no weaker than a Rank 1 Crystalline Phase Wizard. Yet, under Pierce's hands, they couldn't even withstand a single encounter. Even a Rank 2 Wizard couldn't have done it much faster.

  "So it is Lord Pierce!" Zoltan's tone grew even more respectful.

  Maeve and Ulric also revealed slightly ingratiating expressions.

  After all, Pierce's reputation was simply too resounding. He was now universally recognized as the strongest individual below the Rank 2 Wizard level in Red Maple City.

  No one else but Pierce could kill opponents above their own rank.

  Pierce waved his hand and asked, "What was the deal with those two just now? They didn't look like ordinary Winter Frost Priests."

  Zoltan glanced at the Clay Golems and the dwarf slaves not far away, instantly realizing that Pierce must have been at the resource point this whole time and hadn't heard about the recent changes in Red Maple City. He quickly began to explain.

  "Those two are Combat Priests of the Winter Frost Church's Witch-Hunter Force."

  Witch-Hunter Force?

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  Pierce was slightly taken aback. What kind of force is this? I've never heard of the Winter Frost Church having such a unit.

  "The Witch-Hunter Force is an army the Winter Frost Church established very recently, specifically tasked with dealing with Wizards," Zoltan said with a sorrowful expression. "They have mastered a divine spell similar to the Lesser Globe of Invulnerability, which counters Wizards heavily. Lately, they've been moving all over the battlefield, specifically hunting down isolated or small groups of Free Wizards. Many Wizards from Red Maple City have died by their hands."

  Pierce raised an eyebrow. No wonder they were called the Witch-Hunter Force; it was an army built solely to counter Wizards.

  How interesting. The Silverlight Legion had a Wizard-Hunter Force (to hunt traitors), and now the Winter Frost Church had concocted a Witch-Hunter Force. The targeting couldn't be more obvious.

  "Isn't Red Maple City doing anything about this?" Pierce asked.

  "Not exactly," Zoltan replied. "The Silverlight Legion dispatched their Wizard-Hunter Force to specifically snipe the Combat Priests of the Witch-Hunter Force. But those guys refuse to engage the Wizard-Hunter Force head-on; they just turn and run the moment they see them."

  "The Wizard-Hunter Force couldn't do anything about it, so they eventually changed their approach and started hunting down Turin patrol chariots on the battlefield as retaliation."

  "But this has made things miserable for us Free Wizards," Zoltan smiled bitterly.

  Without the Wizard-Hunter Force keeping them in check, the Witch-Hunter Force became even more brazen in hunting down Free Wizards.

  If they lost their lives, what use would it be even if the Wizard-Hunter Force killed countless Turins to avenge them?

  Because of this, Free Wizards hadn't dared to leave the city without forming large groups recently.

  Pierce understood. He hadn't expected the battlefield situation to undergo new changes after only a few months away.

  "Would you all like to travel together?" Pierce gestured toward his procession.

  Hearing this, Zoltan's trio was overjoyed.

  They had originally wanted to travel back with Pierce to avoid encountering the Witch-Hunter Force again on the way, but they hadn't known how to ask. Since Pierce had extended the invitation himself, they naturally agreed without hesitation.

  On the way, Pierce asked a few more questions about the Witch-Hunter Force.

  According to Zoltan, the majority of the Combat Priests in the Witch-Hunter Force were Rank 2 and Rank 3 Priests, with only a very small number of Rank 4 Priests.

  However, because their bizarre divine spell countered Rank 1 Wizards so heavily, many Wizards were completely powerless against them.

  As he spoke of this, Zoltan couldn't help but steal a glance at Pierce.

  Even now, he was still confused about the method Pierce had used to kill the Combat Priests earlier.

  A spell?

  No, probably not.

  The effect of that bizarre divine spell rivaled the Lesser Globe of Invulnerability. Once cast, spells below the 4th-Circle could not be released.

  And while Pierce was incredibly strong, he was ultimately still a Rank 1 Wizard. Logically, he should only be able to master 3rd-Circle spells at most.

  A Magic Tool?

  That was a possibility.

  Zoltan would never have guessed that Pierce had used Elemental Runes.

  After all, in the understanding of ordinary Wizards, Elemental Runes were at best slightly stronger than pure energy particle manipulation. They couldn't even compare to inscribed spells, let alone unleash the kind of power they had just witnessed.

  For the rest of the journey, the group encountered no Turin ambushes and successfully returned to Red Maple City.

  Upon entering Red Maple City, Zoltan's trio simultaneously let out a sigh of relief.

  Being hunted by the Witch-Hunter Force was a truly agonizing experience. The three of them secretly resolved not to leave the city again until the issue with the Witch-Hunter Force was resolved.

  Pierce didn't care about their thoughts. After bidding them farewell, he headed straight for the nearest slave market.

  There were dedicated slave markets in Red Maple City that offered paid slave management services for Wizards. Pierce chose to leave the Hill Dwarves there.

  If he didn't acquire a new mining vein that required these Hill Dwarves soon, they would eventually be resold to the slave market.

  As for the golems and puppets, Pierce stored them all in his spatial ring.

  These puppet lifeforms could be stored within a dimensional space—provided it was large enough.

  If it hadn't been for needing to escort the Hill Dwarf slaves to the mining area earlier, Pierce would have brought all the Clay Golems and Stone Puppets with him from the start, saving himself an extra trip.

  Leaving the slave market, Pierce headed to the Mission Hall, where he handed over half of the mined Mithril.

  —Bound by their oaths, no Wizard dared to falsify matters concerning this; the price was simply too high.

  After four months of mining, Pierce's share amounted to a little over nine kilograms of Mithril.

  After some thought, Pierce decided to keep the Mithril.

  After all, he had no idea how much Mithril would be required when he eventually optimized the Alchemical Body.

  Having completed the mission handover, Pierce walked into the Exchange and bought three Magic Stones, twenty grams of Arcane Dust, and an Energy-Absorbing Motherstone all at once.

  The Energy-Absorbing Motherstone was only the size of a fist. It looked somewhat like obsidian, but its texture was incredibly rough.

  Holding it in his palm, he could clearly feel the Energy-Absorbing Motherstone continuously absorbing his mental energy. This was the origin of its name.

  Omniscient Eye, assuming I use one Energy-Absorbing Motherstone, calculate the success rate of me condensing the second Spirit Crystal.

  [43.89%]

  "Less than half?"

  Pierce shook his head slightly, not particularly surprised.

  After all, the second Spirit Crystal he was condensing would still be a thirty-two-sided polyhedron; the difficulty far exceeded that of an ordinary Wizard.

  It was entirely within his expectations that he would need more than one Energy-Absorbing Motherstone.

  "What if I use two Energy-Absorbing Motherstones?"

  [77.41%]

  "Three?"

  [99.25%]

  "Four?"

  [99.31%]

  "Three and four are basically the same."

  Pierce pondered for a few seconds and quickly made a decision, exchanging for two more Energy-Absorbing Motherstones.

  Based on the Omniscient Eye's calculations, a success rate just over 99% was likely the absolute limit.

  Therefore, using three Energy-Absorbing Motherstones was sufficient.

  "Fortunately, failing to condense the second Spirit Crystal carries no risks. At worst, it's just a waste of materials."

  After purchasing everything, Pierce only had a little over 3,000 Merit Points left.

  "Money flows like water, and so do Merit Points."

  Pierce shook his head and left the Exchange.

  Returning to the stone house, Pierce told Sophia and Payne to rest, while he used his Arcane Mark to send letters to Jared and Anton, respectively.

  These were the only two groups of people he was familiar with in Red Maple City.

  Before long, both of them replied.

  After reading the letters, Pierce left the stone house.

  Half an hour later, he arrived at a tavern and spotted Anton in a corner, whom he hadn't seen in a long time.

  Fiona and Cedric were there as well.

  After exchanging pleasantries, Anton got straight to the point and said, "Regarding the Enchanter you mentioned in your letter, I do know one."

  Pierce's spirits lifted, and he adopted a listening posture.

  "His name is Garrick. He is a Tier 3 Enchanter and a Rank 2 Wizard himself. He's quite famous in Red Maple City, and many Wizards have purchased Magic Tools from him."

  "However, his asking prices have always been exorbitant. If you're looking to buy Magic Tools, I suggest you'd be better off using Merit Points to buy them from the Exchange."

  Pierce hadn't mentioned his reason for seeking an Enchanter in the letter, so Anton assumed he wanted to buy Magic Tools and kindly offered his advice.

  Pierce didn't commit either way, instead asking, "How is the quality of the Magic Tools Garrick produces?"

  "Top-notch. Definitely better than the standard goods at the Exchange," Anton replied without hesitation. "Otherwise, with prices that high, he would've lost all his customers long ago."

  Pierce nodded, feeling reassured.

  He wasn't afraid of high prices, as long as the quality was guaranteed.

  This was true for Magic Tools, and it was true for knowledge as well.

  His only fear was that the knowledge regarding Alchemical Etchings in Garrick's possession might not be comprehensive enough.

  As for the exorbitant price... at worst, he'd just attack a few more fortifications and earn more Merit Points.

  "Thank you," Pierce said.

  Anton waved his hand and laughed. "You helped us rescue Cedric back then, and we still haven't repaid you. A little piece of information is nothing."

  Pierce smiled, didn't stand on ceremony any further, had a drink with the three of them, and then took his leave.

  Now that he had Garrick's address, Pierce decided there was no time like the present. He would pay him a visit today.

  He was no longer consuming Sprouts of the Holy Spirit, meaning he didn't have to expend mental power purging the Power of Faith. The sooner he optimized the Alchemical Etchings, the sooner he could use his mental power to accelerate the process, preventing any waste.

  However, not long after leaving the tavern, a familiar figure suddenly flashed across Pierce's vision.

  He subconsciously turned his head and found that it was Ian.

  Ian currently looked to be in a frantic hurry, an unconcealable anxiety and worry etched across his brow.

  Pierce's expression shifted. He quickened his pace, caught up, and called out to Ian.

  "Ian."

  Hearing the voice, Ian turned around and instantly froze.

  "Lord... Pierce."

  Pierce looked him up and down. He could tell Ian had just been through a fierce battle; there were still numerous bloodstains on his clothes.

  The fact that he hadn't even cleaned off stains that could be removed with a simple spell showed just how chaotic his state of mind was right now.

  "What happened?" Pierce asked in a low voice, a bad premonition faintly rising in his heart.

  Ian hesitated for a moment before saying, "Yuna is severely injured. I just bought some healing potions from the Exchange and am rushing to deliver them to her."

  Pierce's expression changed slightly. Without another word, he grabbed Ian and pulled him forward.

  "Walk and talk. What exactly happened?"