Wizard: Starting from the Skill Tree

Chapter 847: Chapter 766: Vera

Duke stepped into the passage, his footsteps echoing off the stone walls, mixing with the distant sound of the wind.

The passage was long, and murals could occasionally be seen on the stone walls on either side.

The style of the murals was very primitive, with bold lines and single colors, but the content was clear—people fighting, kneeling, sacrificing, dying.

Duke didn’t have time to look closely; he could feel the life energy at the end of the passage moving, as if patrolling.

He slowed his pace, as streams of sand silently flowed out around him, forming a thin curtain of sand at his side.

The passage widened, and a light appeared ahead, not the light from Crystal Stones, but something warmer and softer, like torches.

Duke moved slowly along the wall.

As he turned the last corner, he saw something.

It was humanoid, but not completely.

It was wrapped in layers of cloth strips, the strips yellowed and blackened, the edges frayed, revealing the shriveled skin beneath.

The thing’s eyes were empty, just two black holes, yet it looked in Duke’s direction.

Its fingers were long, the nails fallen off, revealing white bones beneath, standing in the center of the passage, blocking the way.

Mummy.

Duke’s Spiritual Power reached out, sensing its energy, Level 1.

Not strong, but not weak either, belonging to an ordinary Level 1 Undead Element demon.

It didn’t attack immediately, just stood there, its hollow eye sockets staring at Duke, as if waiting for something.

Duke didn’t wait.

He raised his hand, a stream of sand flowed from his sleeve, transforming into a sharp Sand Blade, slashing toward the mummy’s neck.

The mummy reacted quickly, dodging sideways, and the Sand Blade grazed its shoulder, severing several cloth strips.

It opened its mouth in a silent howl, lunging at Duke.

The mummy wasn’t fast, but it was strong, each step causing the ground to tremble.

Duke didn’t retreat, more sand streams flowed out, condensing into a sand shield in front of him.

The mummy’s fist struck the sand shield, but the sand shield didn’t move, while its fist rebounded, splitting dry skin with fine lines.

Duke raised his hand, the sand stream transformed into several sand spears, stabbing at the mummy from different angles.

It dodged two, the third pierced its shoulder, the fourth pinned its thigh.

It struggled to pull out the sand spear, but more sand streams flowed up, wrapping its entire body.

After a few breaths, the mummy stopped struggling.

The sand stream dispersed, leaving only a pile of torn cloth strips and gray-white bone shards on the ground.

Duke withdrew the sand stream, walked past the remains, and continued forward.

The passage twisted ahead, the coarse murals on the stone walls gradually sparse, replaced by rows of orderly niches.

The niches were empty, only dust and cobwebs, occasionally broken shards of pottery coated in dim glaze under the bluish flames.

Duke slowed his pace, his Spiritual Power probing forward.

There was a faint light at the end of the passage, not the light of a lampstand, but a softer and warmer glow, like gemstones glowing.

Along the way, he encountered several more mummies.

Some lunged from niches, some broke through the floor stones, some hung upside down from the ceiling like dried bats.

Their strength varied, some close to Level 2, others not even reaching Level 1.

Duke wasted no time, the sand streams transformed into sharp Sand Blades, shredding them to pieces as they lunged.

The low-level ones didn’t even have time to react, being slammed against the wall by sand streams, bones shattered, cloth strips scattered.

As he passed the remains, his footsteps didn’t pause.

At the end of the passage was a stone door.

The stone door wasn’t large, only as tall as two people, with no decoration on its surface, just a shallow groove, like a handhold for pushing and pulling.

Duke pushed it, unmoving.

He increased his strength, sand streams flowed from his palm, seeped into the door seam, and pushed open the stone door from inside.

The heavy friction sound echoed in the passage, like something awakening from slumber.

The room behind the door was small, about twenty paces square.

The walls were carved with orderly niches extending from the floor to the ceiling, each niche containing a gemstone the size of a fist.

The gemstones varied in color, crimson, sea blue, emerald green, amber, violet, and more.

In the blue flame’s glow, they refracted rainbow halos.

The entire room filled with these lights, like immersed in the underwater of colored glass.

Duke stood at the door, his Spiritual Power expanded, confirming no lurking dangers, and recognized what the gemstones were.

Magic Gemstones.

Not ordinary crystals, but natural stones imbued with pure Elemental Energy, usable directly as Casting Materials or embedded in refining Witchcraft Artifacts.

High-quality magic gemstones could even serve as the core of some advanced Witch Arrays.

He entered the room, took a crimson gemstone from the nearest niche, held it in his palm.

Warm energy seeped from the gemstone, flowing into his body along the skin, it was Fire Attribute, highly pure.

He stored the gemstone in the Space Ring, began emptying the niches.

Crimson, sea blue, emerald green, amber, violet, each imbued with corresponding elemental energy, all of high quality.

Duke acted quickly but cautiously, wary of damaging the fragile crystals.