Wizard: Starting from the Skill Tree-Chapter 503: Supplication

Below, in the area where the nest once stood, there is nothing left but a massive, blackened pit with an edge that gleams like glass, as if scorched by a celestial branding iron.

Within hundreds of meters around the pit, all fungal blankets, insects, and building remnants have vanished, leaving only a scorched, lifeless plain. The air is filled with the charred smell of burnt materials and the distinctive scent of soil after intense heat exposure.

The Duke gazed calmly at his handiwork, without a trace of pride on his face.

He knew that this was merely a temporary delay.

But as long as he could buy more time and weaken the Insect Race’s strength, it was worth it.

This was merely the elimination of a nascent nest shape. The origin of these insects has yet to be found, likely hidden somewhere in a secluded corner of Bessume County.

The Duke floated in mid-air, surveying the surroundings, noticing that there were still many Void Insects active and heading this way.

He decided not to linger here further, knowing that as long as the main nest was unresolved, the insects would be endless.

Currently, even the location of the Void Insect’s main nest is unknown, and finding it would take a significant amount of time.

Even if he found it, it would be challenging to resolve the nest thoroughly on his own.

The Duke did not possess the power of Wizard Herbert, who could face a fully developed nest alone.

From the current situation in Bessume County, it was evident that the nest here was definitely more formidable than the one spotted in the forest before.

After a Void Insect Race’s main nest is established, they continually collect various resources to feed back to the nest, making it stronger.

According to current knowledge, the stronger the nest becomes, the stronger the types of troops it can hatch.

Moreover, as the nest strengthens, its connection with the true body of the Void Insect’s main nest will also stabilize.

When it reaches a certain point, it can directly transmit powerful Void Insects from the main body to the Wizard Plane.

However, this transmission process consumes energy and resources and demands high strength from the nest.

Currently, nests can be roughly categorized into Level 0, Level 1, Level 2, etc., which reflects the life level of the strongest troop it can hatch.

For instance, the nascent nest that the Duke just destroyed was actually a Level 0 nest, only capable of hatching the simplest Level 0 life forms.

The nest in the Maple Hill County forest was close to a Level 2 nest, able to hatch a large number of Level 1 insects.

Given more time, even that Level 1 nest could advance to a Level 2 nest, posing a greater challenge.

After seeing the situation in Bessume County, the Duke could basically conclude that the source here has likely already become a Level 2 nest.

The troubling aspect of the Void Insects is that while they devour surrounding resources to grow and advance, new nests are also continually born.

Just like the nascent nest in Stone Shield Castle, there are still many similar Level 0 nests scattered across various locations.

This is a form of survival wisdom for the Void Insect Race, even if one nest is eradicated, many others will remain.

The entire Void Insect Race spreads and grows like a virus; once invaded, it becomes difficult to completely cleanse it.

As long as one nest remains uncleared, it can reignite and spread again.

The Duke took one last look at the now leveled Stone Shield Castle and returned to the back of the Storm Dragon Eagle to head back to Maple Hill County, where he needed to make some preparations in advance.

Currently, it seems unlikely that they can contain the spread of the Void Insect Race by themselves. What can be done is to strengthen the defensive forces in Maple Hill County as much as possible.

That place is the hometown of him and Vivian, and unless as a last resort, he does not want it to be erased by the Void Insect Race.

For the Duke, he has a retreat route.

If it truly becomes unavoidable, he can take Vivian and some key people from Earl Hardy directly away.

The Storm Dragon Eagle has the capability to carry hundreds of people away with ease.

More importantly, he also possesses the Light God Court and the Coordinates Earring.

If any particularly urgent situation arises, he can also take trustworthy people like Vivian directly into the Light God Court, and he himself can escape using the Coordinates Earring.

This is the worst-case scenario; the Duke hopes that he won’t be forced to this step.

Before that, he will try his best to protect Maple Hill County.

The Storm Dragon Eagle is swift, arriving above Maple Hill County in less than half an hour.

The Storm Dragon Eagle landed on the training ground of Fengqiu City, causing the surrounding alert soldiers to turn heads at the gust of wind.

The Duke lightly leapt off the dragon eagle’s back, followed closely by Tom, who clumsily climbed down, still feeling a sense of unreality upon stepping on solid ground.

He glanced at Tom, planning to assign him to Earl Hardy’s command, as someone with some knightly aptitude was considered a talent here.

Before he could speak, Tom knelt down with determination, kowtowing directly: "My lord! Tom... Tom wishes to follow you!"

"Follow me?" The Duke was somewhat surprised, his face expressionless, "I’m afraid your aptitude may not suffice."

His words were straightforward and direct; someone like Tom, with only some knightly aptitude, was not qualified to follow him, let alone become his servant.

Tom seemed to have anticipated this response but continued to kowtow and plead fervently.

Since witnessing the Duke’s godlike power, a hope for revenge had been ignited in his heart, and he too wanted to master such power to destroy those damned insects completely.

The Duke could feel Tom’s determination and, after some thought, conducted a mental probe, discovering that Tom’s spiritual power seemed decent, suggesting he might have some wizard aptitude.

He then took out a device for detecting spiritual power. Originally not used for testing wizard aptitude, it was merely an auxiliary experimental tool, but it could also detect wizard potential.

The Duke handed over the disk, saying, "Hold this in your hand."

Tom, who was still kowtowing, lifted his head to look at the strange metal disk in the Duke’s hand. Although he didn’t know what it was for, he followed the Duke’s instructions without hesitation.

Tom solemnly took the metal disk with both hands and tightly grasped it, intending to await the next instruction, but the Duke retrieved it once more.

"Spiritual power 9 points, fourth-level wizard aptitude," the Duke observed the data on the disk and stated.

He hadn’t expected that this young man before him actually had wizard potential. Although not high, it was still quite good compared to the average wizard apprentice.