87: Chapter 87 xxoo and gaze

Then, after a round of intensive battering by him, the Petrified Minotaur was completely exhausted, collapsed entirely, and turned into a puddle of mud.

And as pairs of Petrified Monsters turned into dust, streams of memory fragments fell into Ross's mind.

Ross continuously adjusted his positioning, keeping the surrounding Petrified Monsters to two or three pairs at a time. And as the Petrified Monsters died one by one and turned into powder, Ross's growing magical knowledge and understanding of Spells continuously improved.

The original maze guards turned into rubble under Ross's attacks, scattering as dust and leaving behind only the original owner's memories and some magic crystals.

"Under the condition of using the Ghoul Body, coupled with the coordination of the Hand of Vines, in terms of my Physical Body, I almost possess the level of a warrior of the same tier. This gives me plenty of mobility and opportunities for high output."

Ross thought, "Coupled with the fifty percent increase in Mental Energy fed back by the Physical Body, plus the blessing of the Elemental Body, overall, my magic output can also reach the level of an advanced Wizard Apprentice and above. Currently, my combat level and actual combat effectiveness have almost reached the limit of some Wizard Apprentices."

"Continuing to maintain this combat rhythm can not only train my combat ability but also farm a large number of memory fragments."

Ross carefully recalled these memory fragments in his mind. Although these memories came from the echo of an Official Wizard and were forcefully beaten out of the stone statues by Ross, specific operations and how to apply them still required him to comprehend and understand them on his own.

These memory fragments could only accelerate his own understanding of magic and Spells.

However, in just this brief moment, Ross had gained a lot of awareness and understanding of some level-zero cantrips. Just like the previously understood Petrification Curse, which as a 1st-ring Spell required reaching an Official Wizard to use, this did not mean a Wizard Apprentice could not learn it at all.

On the contrary, just like the Demon Vine Curse being a 1st-ring Spell, it could be split into many 0-ring Spells, among which the Hand of Vines was one of them.

This meant that Ross, possessing the Petrification Curse, could rely on his understanding of magic and Spells to inversely deduce 0-ring Spells usable during the Wizard Apprentice stage. He could also name them Petrification Curse or Petrified Gaze, etc. Ross could name these specific Spell Model names himself.

Furthermore, as Ross rapidly absorbed many memory fragments, he found that he could not only deduce them inversely but also combine them.

"Just as a 1st-ring Spell can be split into multiple level-zero Spells, in essence, I can also assemble and combine multiple 0-ring Spells into a 1st-ring Spell. The reason why 0-ring Spells during the Wizard Apprentice stage can enhance one's Mental Energy is also because, as a component of the 1st-ring Spell, they possess a certain high-level feedback."

"Therefore, in the Wizard World, the more 0-ring Spells one learns, the greater the understanding of 1st-ring Spells one will have, so the more 0-ring Spells one can learn, the better. By analogy, high-level Spell Models are likely composed of many lower-level Spells."

Ross suddenly came to a realization at this moment. "Not only that, I'm afraid the entire deduction and evolution of Spells were also intentionally designed by the Wizard World, allowing wizards to deepen their understanding of magic and wizards while studying Spell Models, and reducing the difficulty of directly learning high-level Spells."

"Moreover, I can perceive that 1st-ring Spells also seem to have differences, but the memory fragments I have obtained are still too few, and my understanding of some magical knowledge is still insufficient. However, I can faintly sense that a 1st-ring Spell is not a simple Spell."

While thinking, Ross also rapidly fought against the incoming Petrified Monsters. These monsters did not fear life or death and were naturally constantly attracted by the aftermath of his combat.

"Boom, boom, clang."

Ross used his iron-hard fists to punch straight through the heads of these stone statues. Instantly, under the impact of the iron fists and the chaotic magic power rampaging through their bodies, the stone statues' bodies became covered in cracks before turning into powder.

"It seems that as these stone statues die, the strength of the remaining Petrified Monsters is also continuously growing, as if gathering the magic power in the maze into the remaining stone statues. Once these strengthened stone statues grow a fraction stronger, the memory fragments dropped after they die and turn to powder also increase proportionately."

In the process of continuous fighting and collecting memory fragments, nearly half of these stone statues had been cleared out.

At this point, even though Ross was made of iron, he felt a hint of exhaustion.

The unusual strengthening of these Petrified Monsters was likely a mechanism of this maze's Secret Realm. If it were merely strong explosive power, one might be able to defeat these monsters, but as each Petrified Monster was enhanced, Wizard Apprentices with insufficient stamina would likely stall at a certain stage and no longer gain any rewards from this Secret Realm.

Ross looked at the already sparse Petrified Monsters without a trace of timidity; instead, he grew even more excited. "Even if I fall in the Secret Realm, at worst, I'll just be expelled from it. Before that, naturally, I still have to do my utmost to extract the resources of this Secret Realm as thoroughly as possible."

He looked at the group of Petrified Monsters around him and activated a trait of the Ghoul Body to devour their remains. Although it was a bit unseemly, the effect was extremely noticeable. Ross felt his physical strength recovering rapidly, and even fresh magic power continuously welled up within him.

Amidst the continuous release of Magic Flame and the impact relying on the Ghoul Body, streams of memory fragments were once again transmitted into Ross's mind.

"After these Petrified Monsters die, they transmit their magic power and strength to the remaining Petrified Monsters. However, at the very instant of power transmission, these Petrified Monsters will experience a momentary pause. Their bodies will stagnate for a second and become somewhat fragile due to the influx of a large amount of magic power."

"By seizing that instantaneous pause, I can save a lot of combat consumption and easily kill these Petrified Monsters."

At the edge of the Secret Realm, the old man who originally guarded the Secret Realm appeared here, observing Ross's movements.

At this moment, his black robe and pale hair stood out strikingly at the edge of the Secret Realm, and a sharp glint flashed in his eyes. "I didn't expect this Wizard Apprentice to have such strong combat capability, nor did I expect that fellow Old Wizard Pulang could cultivate such an outstanding Disciple. Looking at his skillful Hand of Vines, its application in combat is probably even more impressive than its cultivation."

"It's rare to see a Wizard Apprentice with such strong combat talent."