Wizard: Starting from the Skill Tree-Chapter 542: Aura

The imprint was too vague to decipher any specific information, leaving only a desolate, ancient feeling that caused Duke’s Spiritual Power to momentarily pause.

This spiritual power fluctuation imprint was likely left by a powerful Sea Race strong figure or perhaps originated from some extraordinarily strong deep-sea Demon.

After sensing this imprint, Duke did not pursue it further to avoid bringing trouble upon himself.

Because at this level, strong figures have extremely sensitive perceptions, and rashly probing might alert them, thus courting disaster.

Such actions do not count as prying, but they may still slightly offend strong figures of this level.

If the other party has a bad temper, it would be like digging a pit for oneself.

Duke quickly filtered out this information, not daring to continue probing, and then continued browsing other information.

He then locked onto a faint thread of imprint with specific pheromones.

The Magic Model’s reverse deduction sketched a very simplified dynamic scene in his consciousness: A few smaller-sized, stealthy Void Insect Race scouting units slipped through a trench hundreds of meters outside the courtyard silently like phantoms.

Their carapace’s friction with the water flow generated specific frequency fluctuations, and the pheromones they emitted for communication and marking paths were faithfully recorded by the current.

This imprint was from about three to five days ago, a time before the war against the mother nest colony had begun.

From this scene, it could be seen that the mother nest colony was indeed aware of the Blade Ridge Camp’s existence and was also conducting reconnaissance in secret.

However, because their mother nest’s location could not move, they had no way to flee and could only stay in that place.

Duke continued sensing for about fifteen minutes before actively stopping the magic.

Opening his eyes, a hint of fatigue flashed through them, but there was more excitement and contemplation.

"It succeeded, Water Flow Shadow is indeed effective." He thought, recalling all the scenes he had just perceived.

This magic was not omnipotent. It didn’t provide a clear real-time picture but rather a fuzzy scenario simulation and energy spectrum reconstructed from information imprints.

The longer the time elapsed, the more blurred the information, and the less accurate the reconstructed scenes, with geometric growth in Spiritual Power consumption.

Moreover, if the water flow was violently disturbed, such as by large-scale battles or submarine earthquakes, many imprints would be covered or disrupted.

But even so, this magic was still extremely valuable.

"Able to track the past activity paths of certain presences in the current area, investigate whether specific areas had energy conflicts, even perceive traces left by hidden and unknown presences..." Duke pondered.

He took out parchment to record the results of his first official spell test, including the specific scenes sensed, time estimates, Spiritual Power consumption rate, and evaluations of perception clarity and accuracy.

"Further testing is required on trace precision for different time spans and types of information. Meanwhile, attempts should be made to narrow scope for more precise directional tracing..." Duke recorded while planning his next test steps.

At the same time, a new branch grew on the Skill Tree in his mind.

[Water Flow Shadow: LV1 (1/30)]

Although the Water Flow Shadow magic had no attack capability and wasn’t a defensive magic, seemingly without strong energy fluctuations,

in fact, this magic placed a significant burden on Spiritual Power, only consuming Spiritual Power and not Magic Power.

Even with Duke’s current Spiritual Power, using it was somewhat burdensome.

Especially if deeply delving into hidden information within the water flow, it imposed an even greater burden on Spiritual Power.

Duke understood why this was so, because Water Flow Shadow involved immense calculation and deduction processes, making extremely high demands on personal Spiritual Power.

If an ordinary Wizard Apprentice used this magic, they might instantly experience a mental shutdown and faint directly.

In the following days, Duke continuously tested and perfected his Water Flow Shadow.

He no longer engaged in extensive generic perception but began attempting to trace in a targeted and precise manner.

He would choose a specific ocean current path to track the information it carried over the past few days or even tens of days, or designate a small area to deeply explore the historical imprints deposited there.

This process was akin to sifting carefully on the sands of time, searching for those still gleaming shells after being washed by the waves.

Duke didn’t just stay in Blade Ridge Camp to conduct tests but chose places with different ocean current paths.

Because these places had more active currents carrying various information, making them more suitable for testing.

On this day, Duke chose a relatively secluded spot, far from Blade Ridge Camp, at the edge of an undersea canyon for testing.

Here, the water flow was complex with lurking undercurrents, theoretically making it easier to retain some unusual imprints.

Duke activated Water Flow Shadow, with his Spiritual Power extending into the deep, rushing water flow below like delicate tendrils.

After filtering out common imprints from recent Sea Race patrols and ordinary marine life activities, he concentrated on the more abnormal energy remnants.

Most information remained chaotic, being weak movements of the seabed crust, mineral radiation, or periodic energy pulses emitted by some deep-sea plants.

However, just as he was about to end this investigation, a subtle yet uniquely rhythmic energy fluctuation imprint, like a faint glowworm in the darkness, caught his attention.

This imprint wasn’t the remnant of intense energy bursts, but more like an afterglow from a sustained, gentle, and stable energy field, exuding pure and vibrant vitality, starkly contrasting the chilling and oppressive surrounding deep-sea environment.

The imprint was very ancient, seeming to have drifted in seawater for countless years, so faint that it almost blended with background radiation. If not for Duke’s keen perception of Water Elemental Energy Particles, coupled with the precise filtering of the Water Flow Shadow magic, it would’ve been impossible to discover it.

Feeling a stir in his heart, Duke immediately concentrated all his mind, guiding the magic model of Water Flow Shadow, and exerted all efforts to trace the source of this special energy imprint.

His Spiritual Power pursued traces like a hunting dog, tracing along the ocean current, through dark canyons, and across silent sea ridges.

Eventually, all clues pointed towards an apparently unremarkable area deep within the canyon, covered with thick sediment and luminescent moss.

This was an extremely deep undersea canyon, like an abyss on land.

And the source of that imprint lay at the bottom of this abyss.