The three sharp clangs of metal nearly merged into a piercing screech. Ryan's face showed no trace of concern, only a hint of disdain. Since they had come looking for death, he would grant it to them.

  Magic energy surged around Ryan."What if I were above Fourth-tier Journeyman Mage? How would you deal with that?"

  Before he finished, Ryan suddenly raised his hand and hurled his longsword in Derrick's direction.

  The sword whistled through the air, plummeting with deadly force into the ground. The flames along the blade still flickered, forcing Derrick to step back two paces in fear.

  The three from Void Spire's eyes lit up with excitement. No weapons? Was this kid insane? Without magical weapon support, how could he hope to counter our attacks?

  The next second, Ryan closed the distance, attacking bare-handed.

  The moment his fist collided with one of the enchanted daggers, there was no sound of bone cracking as expected. Instead, sparks erupted from the dagger's edge, and a fine crack appeared!

  "Damn it!" The Voidmaster's face darkened.

  He had not expected Ryan's physical strength to be so formidable. Hastily, he pulled a crimson-glowing potion from his magic pouch.

  This was a forbidden concoction, capable of forcibly raising magical rank for a short time at the cost of burning one's own magic origin.

  He twisted the cap off and drank it in one gulp. Within seconds, his magical energy surged threefold, elevating his rank to Fourth-tier Journeyman Mage.

  "Drinking potions in front of me, are you out of your mind?" Ryan appeared instantly behind him, one hand gripping his head.

  A cruel smile curled on Ryan's lips, fingertips gathering magical energy."Since you want to die, I'll give you a proper send-off."

  A muffled explosion echoed as the Voidmaster's head instantly shattered in Ryan's palm, blood and brain matter splattering everywhere.

  Luckily, Ryan had prepared a magical barrier in front of him, preventing the filth from touching his body.

  The remaining two saw this gruesome scene and, terrified, did not linger. They turned and sprinted toward the forest, their only thought: escape!

  "You dare provoke me?" Ryan's figure flashed as he gave chase.

  He knew the nature of the Void Spire too well. This group might be connected to other magical factions. If these two escaped, it would only bring more trouble later.

  Start with the small fry, then the big ones. Ryan had no intention of inviting unnecessary complications.

  Within minutes, Ryan caught up to them, gripping their heads with both hands.

  He did not immediately crush them but held them in the air and asked,"How did you find me?"

  They clenched their teeth, saying nothing. They knew that being in Ryan's hands meant certain death. There was no point in revealing anything now.

  It would be true foolishness to relay information to the enemy just before dying.

  "Not going to speak?" Ryan's lips curled into a savage grin as he intentionally released a faint wave of mental magic."Then I'll use the Soul Searching Spell myself!"

  In reality, this was just intimidation. At his current magical rank, using the Soul Searching Spell would consume immense mental energy. He had no intention of wasting it on these two trash unless absolutely necessary.

  One of them sneered,"You, this brat, dare to talk about Soul Searching? We've yet to see a Journeyman Mage forcibly use it on someone of equal rank!"

  Ryan chuckled in annoyance. He concentrated an invisible suction force in his right palm, aiming it at one of the heads.

  The person locked by the force instantly rolled his eyes back, foam spilling from his mouth. His body convulsed uncontrollably, face twisted in agony.

  Though Ryan had not truly cast the Soul Searching Spell, he used mental magic to stimulate the nerves in his brain, simulating the extreme pain of the spell.

  "I'll talk! I'll tell everything!" The other one trembled at the sight.

  He had seen the aftermath of Soul Searching in Void Spire victims left as mindless shells. Better to confess quickly than endure such torment.

  "Speak up!" Ryan immediately withdrew his mental magic. He had no intention of wasting precious magical energy on these two worthless fools.

  "We slaughtered the whole frontier town. After searching, only a few people escaped."

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  "The ones who fled, we hunted down and killed. Only you two survived, and one woman ran the farthest."

  He had not expected Void Spire to use such brutal carpet-search tactics, massacring an entire town to hunt them.

  Ryan flexed his fingertips slightly; magical energy seeped from his palm into their bodies and instantly crippled their magical cores.

  "If you like killing, then I will let you taste it." Ryan released his grip and let one of them collapse to the ground.

  The man who had just been tormented by the mental magic convulsed as Ryan crouched and clamped a hand around his ankle, knuckles cracking audibly.

  Crisp sounds of bone snapping rang through the trees, followed by a piercing scream.

  The man who had been dazed by the psychic assault suddenly snapped awake in agony, his body convulsing and cold sweat streaming down his face.

  Ryan took the Soulweaver's Pendant from his storage and hung it around the man's neck, then wrapped his hand around the man's throat.

  This time it was the throat bone that shattered. But under the Soulweaver's Pendant's effect, death itself became a luxury the man could not reach.

  The pain of his crushed throat left him unable to make a sound; he could only tremble violently as his eyes bulged with pure terror and pain.

  The other man watching this went ice cold. He finally understood that Ryan did not intend to kill them outright but to torment them slowly.

  He grit his teeth and bit down hard on his own tongue. Tongue-biting suicide became his only escape.

  "You at least have some backbone," Ryan said as he looked at the corpse on the ground, blood foaming at the mouth, with no trace of pity."But compared to my methods, biting your tongue is at least a quick death."

  The snapping of bones continued in the forest, one after another.

  Before long, the man hung by the Soulweaver's Pendant went limp. Ryan had crushed nearly every bone in his body; he lay on the ground like a boneless creature, twitching weakly.

  The Soulweaver's Pendant kept his life tethered, preventing him even from passing out. He had to remain conscious to endure every inch of breaking bone.

  "All right, you can die now." Ryan stood and drove his boot into the man's skull.

  The head exploded like a smashed watermelon, blood splattering onto the grass.

  Ryan raised his hand and cast a purification spell. The cleansing light swept across his shoe and instantly removed all the filth.

  He bent, plucked the Soulweaver's Pendant from the corpse's neck, and tossed it into his storage.

  There was no denying that this Soulweaver's Pendant was astonishingly effective, whether used to torment enemies or to preserve an ally's life.

  Derrick's hands trembled constantly; he stood frozen as if petrified.

  He stared at the scene with wide eyes, his mind reduced to a single thought: what kind of monster had he sworn to as a mentor?

  "Mentor, you… you…" Derrick stammered, his voice shaking and panicked.

  Ryan dusted off his clothes, stepped to the other corpse without looking back, and said,"What am I? Derrick, remember this lesson I taught you today."

  "When dealing with enemies, you must use harsher measures. Mercy only lets them turn and drag you and those you care about into hell."

  A compressed beam of magic shot from Ryan's fingertip, striking the last corpse's skull with precision. With a bang the skull exploded into fragments, blood and brain matter splattering onto the grass.

  Ryan withdrew his hand, turned, and looked sternly at the still trembling Derrick:"Remember this. From now on, if you provoke an enemy and have the chance to kill them, you must completely destroy their magic core and their brain."

  He paused, his tone growing even colder,"Especially when facing gifted mages. They often hide lifesaving magical items or secret arts. In those cases you must not only smash their skulls and pulverize their hearts. Only by doing so can you ensure there is no possible way for them to be resurrected."

  "Got it!" Derrick nodded repeatedly; his back was already soaked with cold sweat.

  He felt that staying with his mentor was more dangerous than facing high-tier beasts. If he ever accidentally crossed his mentor, under such methods he might never find peace in death.

  No, he must be the most obedient apprentice and never anger this mentor.

  Ryan nodded in satisfaction, bent down, and searched the three bodies. Their belongings were reclaimed by the Grimoire.

  The haul from this search exceeded expectations the recovered items converted to over seven thousand Magic Origin Value.

  Added to what he had previously, his total now reached 10,580 Origin Value.

  "Didn't expect those three to be loaded." Ryan smiled slightly. Even the three enchanted weapons they carried were bronze-grade lower-tier magic gear.

  ...

  Over the next thirty days the two of them moved between plains and forests.

  For Derrick, the journey felt like brutal training; Ryan made him fight beasts far stronger than himself every day, leaving him scarred constantly.

  Thirty days flew by, and when a magnificent city finally came into view, Derrick couldn't help but exclaim.

  "Mentor, this place is gorgeous!" He widened his eyes at the city gate and forgot all the aches on his body.

  Ryan was a little surprised too the city was even more splendid than he had imagined. The walls were built from stone mixed with gold ore, giving off a soft golden sheen in the sunlight: majestic yet not glaring.

  The gate was made of millennia-old oak, its surface carved with complex defensive magic arrays; against the golden walls it looked noble and elegant.

  People streamed in and out of the gate, mostly merchants.

  Ryan scanned the crowd and even spotted several Journeyman Mages.

  As he observed, his pupils suddenly constricted beneath the gate stood a poised figure, draped in a faint aura of ice magic: Evelyn?

  Ryan instinctively ducked down behind Derrick.

  He had deliberately avoided routes where he might run into Evelyn for the past thirty days, hoping for a few safe days, but fate had other plans.

  If fate were a numerical value, theirs would probably be higher than the tallest tower in the world.

  Derrick was baffled by his mentor's sudden move. Seeing Ryan shrink behind him, he asked in confusion,"Mentor, what's wrong? Who are you hiding from?"

  He followed Ryan's gaze and immediately noticed the woman at the gate: graceful posture, outstanding temperament.

  "Mentor, she looks so beautiful even from the back!" Derrick couldn't help pointing at Evelyn, his voice rising a bit.

  "Don't point!" Ryan quickly clamped his hand over Derrick's, lowering his voice."I have a bit of history with her. Block me, don't let her see us."

  "You know her?" Derrick's eyes went wide.

  "Don't ask questions, just move!" Ryan pulled Derrick along, trying to slip into the city from the other side of the gate while Evelyn wasn't looking.

  But Derrick stood frozen, eyes sparkling as he said,"Mentor, this is a great chance! Such a beautiful woman go chase her and marry her, make her your wife!"

  After the last few days of Ryan's devilish training, Derrick thought a wife could maybe rein him in.

  "You're so afraid of her, you must care about her! If you had a wife, you wouldn't keep staring at me training all the time, wouldn't that be great?"

  Ryan's temple vein twitched with irritation. He rapped Derrick on the head:"Mind your business! If we don't leave now and she finds us, neither of us will have a good time!"