Wizard: Starting from the Skill Tree

If this ability is used on humans, this direct infusion of Life Force can instantly pull a severely injured and dying teammate back from the brink of death. It can also forcibly sustain others’ vitality, buying time for subsequent healing.

Then the Duke withdrew his fingers; among the edges of the flower bushes, there were some wild grasses already beginning to wither, their leaves yellowed and curled, their stalks drooping powerlessly to the ground.

The Duke merely glanced at them before depriving them of their Life Force with a thought.

Within an extremely brief moment, those few wild grasses turned from yellow to gray, collapsing soundlessly like sand sculptures drained of all moisture, scattering into a small handful of fine powder into the soil.

The Life Rules can deprive Life Force, and this deprivation is almost overwhelming against those far weaker than him.

The Duke doesn’t need to employ Magic; a single thought suffices to harvest all the Life Force of his opponent.

For opponents of the same level, such deprivation may not be directly lethal, but it can at least cause ongoing vitality decay, weakening the enemy further during battle.

For those far inferior in power, the very act of Life Force deprivation is a silent, undefendable lethal method.

The Duke retrieved his finger, slowly withdrew his Spiritual Power from the Rule Branches of Life, and exhaled a long breath.

The Life Rules are currently only at Level 3 Initial Stage, with limited total Life Force that can be mobilized and controlled. However, the capacity of these abilities will continue to expand as the mastery of the Rules improves.

He now has an extra card to play to save his life in critical moments.

The Duke stood up from beside the Spring of Life, took one last look at the World Tree Seedling stretching two tender leaves in the center of the spring, and then exited the Light God Court.

The night wind on the wilderness still carried the unique dryness and coolness of the Elderlands. Sparse bushes gently swayed under the moonlight, with occasional cries of unknown night birds echoing from afar.

He stood on an exposed rocky platform between the hills, not rushing to move, but instead repeatedly extrapolated the thought that had sprouted in the Divine Court in his mind a few times.

Seven-Color Divine Light.

From four colors to six colors, he spent a great deal of time repeatedly practicing fusion techniques, and each addition of a Rule increased the repulsion exponentially.

When six Rules operated simultaneously within the same Magic framework, he had to use Spiritual Power as a lever to forcibly compress the six Rule veins at the intersecting nodes, which, if done carelessly, would result in an explosion losing control.

And the Life Rules are Advanced Rules; their essence is far more abstract, more fundamental than the Six Elemental Rules.

To forcibly integrate such a Rule into the fusion framework of the Six-Color Divine Light is akin to adding a weight completely different from others onto an already delicately balanced Balance Scale.

The Duke’s current Life Rules have only just reached Level 3 Initial Stage, and for Life Rules at this level, the mobilization is still not smooth, making pressing it into the fusion node of the Six-Color Divine Light nearly an impossible task.

At least it requires waiting until the Life Rules reach Tier Three High Stage, with mastery of the Life Rules reaching a sufficiently skilled level, to qualify for attempting that step.

Before then, forced fusion would only cause the Six-Color Divine Light to collapse from within.

The Duke temporarily suppressed this thought and then transformed into a nearly imperceptible breeze, sweeping towards the direction of Stone Crown City.

He planned to first go to Stone Crown City to check the situation in the city, then proceed as an adventurer to another territory’s city nearby.

With the identity badge of the Adventurer’s Guild, his actions in the Osseron Kingdom would have a legitimate identity, preventing him from being treated as a suspicious outsider at every place he visits, unlike before.

As his figure swept across the night sky above Stone Crown City, he couldn’t help but slow down.

Stone Crown City was already completely different from when he left a few days ago.

The city walls were densely filled with fully armed soldiers, all city gates closed, drawbridges hoisted high.

Behind the crenels on the city walls, there were large pots set up every few steps, the contents dark and oily, with the firewood beneath crackling softly, ready to pour boiling oil down at any moment.

Archers were arranged in dense formations between the crenels, the arrows in their quivers reflecting a cold glint under the torchlight.

The Duke looked towards the direction outside the city, only to see a red ribbon of fire composed of torches slowly advancing towards Stone Crown City from the plains afar.

It was a sizable army, with rough estimates of at least tens of thousands, although their formation wasn’t as neat as the Earl’s regular army, their numbers were enough to compensate for the lack of discipline.

Banners stood erect at the front of the troops, embroidered with the scarlet sun-wheel pattern seen on the group of assassins encountered on the streets that day.

The Red Radiance Revolutionary Army’s forces had already completed encircling Stone Crown City from multiple directions, with the vanguard camping about an arrow’s distance from the city walls, while the logistics convoy behind continued to emerge from the distant mountain road without pause.

The Duke floated in the high sky, observed silently for a moment, and then withdrew his gaze.

After the Earl’s death, Stone Crown City was leaderless, with dozens of children still squabbling over inheritance rights in secret. Now, the Rebel Army had taken advantage of the situation, and the city’s fate likely won’t be good.

But none of this had anything to do with him. Whether the Rebel Army was here to liberate the civilians or to rob opportunistically, it was equally unrelated to him.