In a forest clearing outside Nightfall Town.
An invisible Eye of Vigilance floated high above, its pupil darting around, monitoring the area.
Ten days had passed since Ian had struck a deal with Kenna and his group. 'They should be on their way back by now with the Rock Bear blood I need.'
A few days ago, he had quietly celebrated his seventeenth birthday.
[Name: Ian Marcus]
[Age: 17]
[Realm: Middle Level Wizard Apprentice (4%)]
[Talent: Moderate Light Attribute Affinity]
[Skills: Star Moon Low Level Meditation Method: Skilled (177/400)
Wizard's Hand: Mastery (27/400)
Secondary Frost Freeze Beam: Mastery (399/400)
Eye of Vigilance: Skilled (12/400)
Awakening Potion: Mastery (2/400)
Basic Magic Potion Recognition: Mastery (36/400)]
The effect of the Awakening Potion had weakened further, greatly reducing the tempering speed of his Spiritual Power.
In ten days, his Realm had only increased by 4%.
Of the two new Witchcrafts he had learned, Eye of Vigilance was the easiest to practice. A single cast lasted for an hour and consumed very little Spiritual Power.
As long as the Witchcraft was active, it would provide him with a continuous stream of Skill Level points.
During this time, he had also secretly sold two Rings, earning a total of 180 Magic Stones, and had immediately bought a private, Runic Constant Temperature Box.
The Skill Level for his Awakening Potion had also grown rapidly during this period, reaching a new level.
He had now accumulated over 100 Potions at home.
What reassured him the most was his Secondary Frost Freeze Beam. It was just one point away from Perfection again, and he himself had lost count of how many times he had cast the Witchcraft.
He had a faint premonition that this breakthrough would bring a massive change.
"One last time!" Ian completed the casting gesture and incantation in the blink of an eye.
"Glacies!"
A dark blue, ice-cold ray shot out instantly.
[Secondary Frost Freeze Beam Skill Level +1]
The panel blurred for a moment before becoming clear again.
[Secondary Frost Freeze Beam: Limit-Breaking 1st Time (0/800) (Limit-Breaking Effect: 1. Twin)]
BOOM! Ian's consciousness trembled violently.
In the Void of his mind, next to the Will Rune, two identical, pale blue Runes materialized, emanating a frigid aura.
Certain fine details of the blue Runes were still blurry and indistinct.
"Seeing" them, Ian had a flash of insight.
'Incompletely formed Ice Runes!'
The moment Ian's Spiritual Power approached them, a bone-chilling cold welled up from the depths of his heart, but fortunately, it caused him no harm.
The two nascent Runes were much smaller than the Will Rune and nestled close to each other.
They flickered, seeming to resonate with the Will Rune beside them.
'How did this happen?'
Ian was inexperienced and had never heard of a Witchcraft breakthrough causing such a phenomenon.
'Is this unique to me because I have the panel, or is it a feature that all Wizards develop after practicing a Witchcraft to a high enough level?'
With a gentle nudge of his will, he carefully touched the pale blue Runes.
A stream of information flowed into him, and he understood why two Runes had been generated.
Normally, if a Wizard had the ability to advance a Witchcraft beyond Mastery, they would indeed generate a corresponding Rune.
But he had the miraculous Limit-Breaking panel!
From now on, all his Witchcrafts and Skills would undergo a massive transformation after Limit-Breaking!
'It seems the first Limit-Breaking Effect for all my beam-type Witchcrafts might be Twin, but I could be wrong.'
Moreover, after forming the Runes, he could actually cast the Witchcraft instantaneously!
Before, he had needed gestures and incantations; no matter how fast he recited them, he couldn't skip those steps.
Now that the Ice Runes had formed in his mind, he no longer needed them.
'Let's test its power!'
The moment the thought formed, the two pale blue Runes in his mind flashed.
Instantly, two icicle-like rays appeared before Ian's eyes.
With a slight pull of his Spiritual Power, the two rays—SWOOSH—carved an arc as they flew out.
"BANG! BANG!" They struck two tree trunks forty meters to his right.
Wood splinters flew everywhere, only to be instantly frozen by the frigid air.
'Two rays... with Spiritual Guidance, I can attack two targets. They can even curve slightly, and their power hasn't diminished at all!'
This situation was reminiscent of dual-casting from the movies and TV shows of his past life.
Ian's delight was beyond words!
He felt that the Spiritual Power consumption from the cast just now was a bit high, but it was acceptable.
He could still cast the dual rays at this power level a dozen more times.
This was because the Ice Runes greatly reduced the Spiritual Power consumption.
'Twin!'
Ever since the panel had activated, he had sensed that his path as a Wizard would be vastly different from others.
'Perhaps this is the true meaning of Limit-Breaking.'
The first time was Twin. In the future, there would be even more powerful effects.
Limit-Breaking wasn't just about the power of the Witchcraft; it had deeper dimensions.
With this Witchcraft upgrade, his Attack Power should now be considered top-tier among Middle Level Apprentices.
However, his shortcomings were still obvious. He didn't have a single Shield Witchcraft, which made him feel much less secure.
'I should ask my other colleagues at the shop if they have any leads.'
There was a Magic Potion Alchemist named Clayton whom Ian had interacted with a few times and felt was approachable.
The man had a decent reputation in the shop; he was even-tempered and could talk to anyone.
Ian had heard that besides Clayton himself, his family had several other High Level Wizard Apprentices, making their overall strength considerable.
As for Kenna's group, he didn't have high hopes.
They were a struggling lot themselves and would have a hard time accessing more high-end information.
'The spots on my body are gradually increasing now, too.'
The continuous Erosion of Magic Power on his body had made him hesitant to cultivate at full speed for the past few days, slowing his progress considerably.
Although he felt his progress was slow, it was only relative. Apprentices with the same aptitude definitely couldn't match his cultivation speed.
At his current rate, even if it slowed down, he would only need about two years to be promoted to High Level Apprentice.
...
"I can tell by the looks on your faces that your hunt was successful."
Ian invited Kenna and his group into the room and first handed over the Potions he owed them.
Then, Robert took out a large glass container that gave off faint wisps of cold air. It was the very Rock Bear blood Ian had been longing for.
"I kept the blood's activity preserved as you requested, but this is all that was left in the end."
Ian took it carefully, very satisfied to see that the bottle was still more than half full.
"This is enough for the initial phase. Once I'm more familiar with it, I'll have to trouble you to keep collecting more."
Ian estimated the market price and paid each of them a reward of 30 Magic Stones.
They not only needed Meditation Potions but also a large amount of Magic Stones to study.
Ian knew this price was a bit inflated, but he didn't care about such a small amount of money now.
The reason was simple: Ian's production costs were so low as to be almost nonexistent. He could easily cover his expenses by just reselling a few.
Kenna and the others were more than satisfied with this price.
Previously, after paying for their studies, they could only afford to use three or four Potions for cultivation each month—and that was with their team being relatively strong.
This was the state of cultivation for all Mid-Low Level Apprentices in the entire High Tower; the competition for resources was incredibly fierce.
Now, after collaborating with Ian just once, each of them already had more than five Potions in hand.