Wizard: Start with Biological Transformation to Grind Experience
Chapter 172 - 011: The Real Jungle

Chapter 172: 011: The Real Jungle

The man appeared to be in his thirties, pale and gaunt, with faint blue veins visible beneath his skin. His sunken black eye sockets flickered with an eerie green light.

He wore a black robe embroidered with ancient runes, decorated with silver skull patterns. In his hand was a slender Magic Wand, its tip adorned with a skull, inside which dark green flames burned fiercely.

"Woo—woo—" Strange sounds echoed, like the shrill screams of ghosts.

Phantoms, transparent and illusory, swirled around the man, weaving through the air. He seemed like the mythical Ferryman on the River Styx, escorting Dead Souls to their final reincarnation.

Eyes met briefly. Lynch and the man stared at each other across the distance.

"Whoosh—whoosh!"

A fierce wind howled. The Soul Fire burning in the skulls flared violently. The Dead Spirits shifted their attention collectively onto Lynch.

After a tense standoff...

Lynch withdrew his gaze and decisively conceded defeat.

Pakla grabbed him and flew off into the distance.

The man smirked faintly, his gaze tinged with disdain and mockery. He did not pursue them, instead retreating deeper into the army formation, escorted by his Necromancy Army.

Not long after, Lynch landed in a distant forest.

"Whew—"

He exhaled deeply.

They hadn’t exchanged blows, but just locking eyes from afar brought an overwhelming sense of oppression, nearly suffocating him.

"No chance at all..."

The terrifying strength of Necromancers lay in their command over Undead Servants.

Although creating these servants in the initial stages was immensely laborious—requiring constant grave robbery, material gathering, one-by-one domination and refinement—demanding great mental and physical investment, the payoff was undeniable.

Once a Necromancy Army was successfully assembled, the Necromancer’s reign of terror commenced.

From then on, opposing them was not merely fighting against a lonely Necromancer but confronting an utterly loyal, death-defying, fearsome army.

Such battles ceased to be mere skirmishes and became wars instead.

Winning such a war required either overwhelmingly superior power or an equally large army—neither of which was feasible at the moment.

"Time to think of alternative solutions..."

Lynch avoided fights he couldn’t win. As enticing as the Shadow Swamp’s spell system was, his own survival ultimately outweighed that allure.

With this in mind, Lynch completely abandoned the idea.

He then retrieved a piece of Magic Paper from his Space Ring and documented the detailed events that had unfolded here.

At the end of the letter, he requested reinforcements from the Tower. If he couldn’t handle it himself, perhaps external aid could be arranged. Though Diego was formidable, the arrival of one or two Official-Level Wizards would reduce him to mere cannon fodder.

"Flutter-flutter!"

Folding the completed letter into a paper crane, the crane flapped its wings and flew toward the Tower at great speed.

With the Tower’s assigned mission wrapped up, Lynch now had time for himself.

He planned to visit the Wizard Market as per his original itinerary.

"Rustle—rustle..."

Just then, faint rustling noises emerged, and the shrubs ahead shook slightly.

"Whoosh—whoosh—whoosh!" Suddenly, sharp whistling roared as more than a dozen slender, fiery arrows shot out from the bushes, speeding straight at Lynch like a sudden downpour.

A High-level Apprentice Magic: Fire Rain Burst.

Each individual arrow dealt damage exceeding 20 degrees. With so many attacking simultaneously, a direct hit would likely reduce him to nothing but ashes.

At the critical moment, Lynch’s figure flickered, allowing the fiery arrows to pass through his body harmlessly and embed themselves into the distant forest behind him. With a loud "boom," a fiery inferno consumed an entire stretch of woods.

Lynch raised an eyebrow and looked forward.

From within the bushes emerged a figure—appearing in his thirties, with a notable flame emblem on his forehead. He was the one who had fled from the earlier battle against Diego among the four High-level Apprentices.

Lynch frowned. "Give me a reason?"

The man licked his lips. "You seem wealthy enough to compensate me for my losses."

Fine.

Just as Avery had said, the Wizard World was not entirely orderly and peaceful; he simply happened to live in a relatively stable region.

In truth, this world was like a savage forest teeming with predators—a realm of slaughter, bloodshed, and violence.

Survival of the fittest was the sole and supreme rule here!

"Snap!"

Lynch wasted no words and snapped his fingers.

With a "whoosh," a black-bound book appeared out of thin air. Its pages fluttered before settling on an illustration of a monstrous, corpulent figure with a horrifying mouth.

From the book erupted two streaks of black lightning, striking the ground ahead. As the dust dissipated, the illustrated grotesque came to life, materializing where the bolts had landed.

Meanwhile, the man lunged toward Lynch, launching another attack.

With a wave of his Magic Wand, a myriad of Flame Elements rose, forming a massive fiery serpent tens of meters long. The man pointed at Lynch, sending the Flame Giant Python lunging toward him with jaws open wide.

Another High-level Apprentice Magic: Flame Giant Python.

The serpent was about to strike Lynch, but at the last second, with a sudden "whoosh," the corpulent monstrosity appeared in front of him.

From its body erupted countless black tendrils, coiling around the incoming fire serpent. The mighty fire serpent began to shrink visibly.

The tendrils featured numerous tiny mouths—devouring the Flame Giant Python piece by piece.

The man gasped in shock. "What?!"

Before he could understand, Barton, the grotesque figure, opened its gaping maw, spitting forth the consumed Flame Giant Python directly at the man.

"What kind of monster is this?!"

The man panicked and hurriedly activated his Defense Shield—a gravel-textured, earth-toned Element Barrier.

A High-level Apprentice Defense Magic: Gravel Barrier.

The enormous fire serpent collided with the barrier with a thunderous "boom." The barrier trembled but managed to hold against the serpent.

Before the man could catch his breath, the corpulent monstrosity abruptly appeared at his side. Its fearsome mouth expanded to an inconceivable width, unleashing dense rows of jagged teeth as it engulfed both the man and his barrier.

"Crack!"

A crisp sound echoed as the barrier—normally rated at nearly 30-degree defense—shattered like a brittle eggshell.

In the next instant, the gruesome mouth devoured the man’s upper torso entirely.

The man’s face turned deathly pale, reality hitting him hard. "No!"

"Thud!"

With a sickening sound, nothing remained above the man’s waist, save for a clear row of bite marks. Devoid of balance, his remaining body slumped to the ground, spilling blood and flesh into the dirt.

Over the past decade, Lynch hadn’t ceased modifying Barton or Frankenstein, investing unimaginable quantities of rare materials and resources.

Under such relentless enhancement, Barton had reached a level of sheer terror.

Attributes: Strength 52.3, Agility 56.8, Constitution 53.6.

Exceeding 50 in all three dimensions—this was the hallmark of a Great Knight. In terms of physical capabilities alone, Barton had already achieved bona fide Great Knight-level strength.

Yet, his body’s physical prowess wasn’t even his most terrifying feature—the true horrors lay in his mouth, stomach, and cellular structure.

His mouth merged cells of the Star-devouring Rat and the Sawtooth Demon’s fangs, further modified by Lynch to enhance swallowing and biting capabilities.

His stomach lining, previously derived from the Gluttonous Flower’s acid sac, had been replaced with Void Beast stomach cells, effectively transforming his stomach into a Space Pocket.

His skin now integrated cells from the Abyssal creature Yimonda.

This unique lifeform absorbed Elemental Energy and released it later, allowing Lynch to engineer it to absorb and reflect incoming spells.

The rare Yimonda cells were extracted by Lynch from Adam during his venture into the Abyss—one of his prized discoveries.

With these capabilities, Barton was practically invincible below Wizard Level. Standard High-level Apprentice spells were laughable before him—if he could get close enough, there was virtually nothing he couldn’t devour.

"Gulp—gulp—"

Barton’s mouth twitched as it spat out a Space Pocket and a Short Magic Wand—the possessions of the man he had just devoured.

Lynch walked over, picked them up, and inspected them briefly before storing them away.

He cast one last glance at the butchered remains of the man’s body.

It was dusk, the sunset glowing red like flowing blood, illuminating the scene with brutal vividness.

This was the reality of the world.

In this lawless forest, everyone was simultaneously a Hunter and potential prey.

"Pitiful fool."

"Pitiful world."

Shaking his head, Lynch turned and walked away.