"Mr. Aubrey, I surrender!"
Tuck raised his hands, one of which was even clutching the necromancer finger bone that he had just acquired for the hefty sum of 3 Magic Gold.
3 Magic Gold, an amount that could get the attention of "Mr. Aubrey," the necromancer, must be a fortune, right?
As Tuck rolled about, the wave of skeletons that made clanging noises with their collisions came to a halt at his feet.
In the Necromancer Tower.
Aubrey's brow furrowed slightly.
It was not the opponent's surrender that made him stop.
It was the accent.
It was a very authentic local accent, one that could not be cultivated without over a decade of living there.
And as far as he knew, the talented individual from the Evil God Organization had only arrived a month or two ago and couldn't possibly have adapted so thoroughly to the local ways.
"A mistake? A local?"
Aubrey's withered fingers tapped lightly on the balcony railing.
"Besides, surrendering when overpowered is indeed a tradition of the locals here in Ramore."
The skeletal wave quickly converged into a massive cheekbone suspended at the top of the cave.
"What is your name."
"Tuck," replied Tuck truthfully.
"Local?"
"Yes."
Tuck nodded.
"Why did you come here."
"To avoid being hunted down by the members of the Evil God Organization outside. Those brazen Evil God Organization members, they even directly capture wizards in the Underground Nest District. I live there, and I had no choice but to hide here."
"I have inadvertently desecrated your skeleton warriors, please forgive me, Mr. Aubrey."
The giant skeletal face glanced over the finger bone in Tuck's hand and fell into deep thought.
"Does he really think I'm here to trouble him over that trivial skeleton?"
Aubrey was somewhat amused and exasperated.
During the exchange, he used the power of insight of the Necromancer Tower.
Aubrey had preliminarily confirmed that this young wizard was just an ordinary one.
Not one of the Dark Sun Believers who had adopted the Dark Sun faith, creating a distorted sequence in the ecological system.
"Living in the Underground Nest District?"
"Shouldn't talented kids be recruited to the High Tower Area by now?"
"It seems... the entire recruitment system needs some restructuring."
"What is your talent?"
The skeletal face of Aubrey inquired.
Tuck's heart skipped a beat, sensing something was afoot.
"C-grade 32% 'Precision.'"
Tuck responded "truthfully."
"Hmm, come here!"
Rustle rustle...
The skeletons dispersed, revealing a pathway.
Tuck took a deep breath, calmed his mind, and walked through slowly.
Even though Tuck's goal after becoming a first-level wizard was to enter the High Tower,
to learn the witchcraft within the tower, gain access to more rare materials, and perhaps even obtain the rare "Steam Core" within the Steam Tower and upgrade to become a Steam Wizard,
he never expected.
That he would encounter the Necromancer from the Steam Tower in such a way.
......
Passing through the lengthy Bone Corridor.
A vast Undead Tower built from black undead bones emerged before Tuck in an expansive underground space.
And around the Undead Tower, bones piled up like mountains.
The conduits of death constructed a dark undead ecological system around the Undead Tower as its hub.
Those bones were all potential skeleton warriors.
"I heard that when the Kobolds Army from the Underground City attacks, and if the underground defenses can't hold, they would ask for help from the necromancer lord."
"So it is true that Mr. Aubrey, the necromancer, has stashed an entire Undead Legion here!"
Tuck mused silently as he arrived at the base of the Undead Tower.
"Creak... aaah..."
The doors of the Undead Tower, which seemed to have not been opened in many years, slowly opened.
A middle-aged man in his forties appeared before Tuck, garbed in a black Wizard's Robe and donning a wide-brimmed Wizard hat, with a somewhat gaunt but very pale face.
Tuck was well-acquainted with the several figures in charge of the Ramore Tower City-State.
After all, the stability of Ramore City-State in the Ashen Land owed much to these great personages.
"I have seen Mr. Aubrey!"
Tuck removed his grey hood and bowed respectfully.
Along the way, Tuck had already recovered to a calm and composed state.
Mr. Aubrey looked the "Apprentice Wizard" up and down.
32% Precision at C Grade, not too high, not too low.
Mr. Aubrey didn't care too much.
What he cared about was this sixteen-year-old, Level 9 Apprentice Wizard, who faced a Level 18 Silver Bone Skeleton with a calm and collected demeanor, as well as his skillful and exquisite handling of witchcraft.
The same witchcraft.
In the hands of some wizards, it's as ugly as a bear tightly bound up. You'd think that's the absolute worst it could get, but those fellows always manage to outdo themselves in lowering the bar.
In the hands of others, however...
Witchcraft is like art, always blooming with unimaginable splendor.
In Mr. Aubrey's view, this young wizard had the potential of the latter.
In recent years.
The Ashen Land had become increasingly restless, the Evil God Organization stirring.
He had even heard that recently, someone had uncovered the Sealed Gate of Demon King's Tomb beneath Ramore Tower City-State.
Have those damned Tomb Robbers become so rampant nowadays?
Mr. Aubrey was contemplating nurturing a protege.
Although the apprentices currently under his command were quite satisfactory.
Even a few Necromancer trainees who had left his guidance had made some name for themselves out there.
But that didn't stop him from wanting to put eggs in multiple baskets.
"How's your [Precision]?" Necromancer "Mr. Aubrey" asked.
His voice was slightly rough and dry, as if he hadn't spoken in a long time.
"My [Precision] is quite accurate!" Tuck said.
But that alone couldn't fully showcase the impressiveness of his [Precision].
So, Tuck charged magic in his right hand for the "Bullet Tentacles" spell, while picking up a hand bone with his left hand.
He threw the hand bone into the sky with force.
The charged Bullet Tentacles in his right hand fired in burst mode.
"Bang... Bang... Bang..."
Under the burst shots of Tuck's Bullet Tentacles, the hand bone danced rhythmically in the air.
A trace of astonishment appeared on Mr. Aubrey's face.
Bullet Tentacles was a spell that simulated the use of a musket.
It demanded high proficiency in shooting skills.
A normal wizard learning Bullet Tentacles would be doing well just to hit the target.
But this young wizard, not only displayed exceptional mastery in the Bullet Tentacles spell, managing to perfectly control its charging and release...
He also possessed near-artistic precision.
In fact, Tuck was only showing a very small part of his [Precision] ability at the moment.
Soon, the bullets were spent, and the hand bone fell.
With a "clang,"
the hand bone landed back in its original place.
This made Mr. Aubrey take another two looks at Tuck.
"32% Precision shouldn't be able to achieve this effect," Mr. Aubrey said.
"Yes, Mr. Aubrey,"
Tuck nodded.
"But even before awakening my Transcendent Talent, I naturally possessed an extraordinary level of accuracy and keen intuition in this aspect."
"My father always said that in the future, I would surely become a hunter with outstanding talent."
"However, in the end, I chose the path of the wizard."
Mr. Aubrey pondered for a moment.
"Some kind of... ability etched deep inside the genes, not yet manifested in the [Precision] sequence?"
"Or perhaps, a hidden talent?"
A smile crept onto his face as these thoughts crossed his mind.
What it was didn't matter anymore.
What mattered was that the boy was talented.
He already had an extraordinary temperament, and on top of that, he was incredibly talented.
Moreover, he was a fish that slipped through the net in the local Underground Nest District.
"It's simply..."
"A gift from nature!" Mr. Aubrey thought to himself.