Chapter 10

Sun Ran previously hunted at the edge of the forest. In less than half an hour, he had already left the forest.

The forest gave way to a vast plain with an excellent view. Looking far into the distance, he could see a city built on a hill beyond several small towns. According to the map provided by the boss, that was Baiyun City, which was only about twenty kilometers away in a straight line.

They were there to follow a hero, and time was precious. The boss certainly wouldn't have placed their location too far from Baiyun City. At this pace, they could reach the destination within half a day.

At this moment, thick black smoke was rising over Baiyun City, very noticeable. A large bird-like creature was circling in the sky above the city, spewing fire. It was undoubtedly the strongest creature in this world of dragons.

Sun Ran had expected the dragon to be attacking Baiyun City, as it was surely targeting the hero Charles. He wasn't in a hurry; he couldn't get there in time anyway, and being anxious wouldn't help.

If the hero were so easily killed, the mission would eventually fail, and it would be better to withdraw early.

Sun Ran observed the situation in Baiyun City for a while, then lowered his head and continued on his way. After walking for a short while, he noticed the sky darkening. Looking up, he saw a large amount of dark clouds gathering centered around Baiyun City, quickly spreading over dozens of miles, covering the entire wasteland.

Thunder rumbled in the dark clouds, and purple-black lightning, like snakes, darted back and forth, exuding a destructive aura.

This was a common lightning-based divine punishment, very effective in an agrarian world with low productivity, but not so much in a technological era. In the technological world, most high-rise buildings were equipped with lightning rods, so lightning strikes only produced a stunning sound and light effect without any practical impact.

To counter lightning rods, some worlds had even developed more flexible ball lightning, but it still couldn't fully compensate for the weakness of electrical attacks.

Sun Ran watched the dragon still circling in the sky and silently mourned its fate. This guy was definitely doomed.

Sure enough, after a while, the dragon fell, but it wasn't killed by lightning; it was slain by a person.

This must have been the work of the hero Charles. Not bad, worthy of a Bronze Maintainer.

Sun Ran retracted his gaze and was about to continue on his way when he suddenly stopped in his tracks. The dragon had gone to kill the hero, and the assassin targeting him had also arrived.

A person in a black robe emerged from behind a large rock, revealing only half of his body, quietly watching Sun Ran.

The black-robed person held a black wooden staff, with a translucent light ball enveloped in a pale purple flame at the tip, looking very mysterious.

He looked at Sun Ran, and a deep voice came out: "Choose, will you kill yourself, or shall I kick you out?"

His tone was quite arrogant.

Sun Ran smiled. It had been a long time since anyone had spoken to him like that. He asked, "Are you a necromancer?"

The Mage Guild had many branches. For example, Sun Ran's frost spells belonged to the destructive attribute, and his current identity was a Destruction Mage, emphasizing the direct offensive power of spells. Necromancers, on the other hand, liked to manipulate corpses and control the undead to fight for them.

"Looks like you don't want to leave on your own. In the spirit of our shared profession as mages, I'll kindly send you on your way."

The necromancer didn't waste words. He waved his black wooden staff, and a pale purple light flashed. In response to the spell, various skeletons began to crawl out of the ground, whether they were beasts or adventurers who had fallen asleep here, forming a dense crowd, numbering nearly a hundred.

This was the necromancer's signature skill, a first-level spell: Summon Skeleton Army.

As he cast the spell, he hid behind the large rock, not giving Sun Ran a chance to attack.

These skeletons, upon emerging, looked around with their glowing blue eyes and immediately spotted Sun Ran. Without hesitation, they charged towards him.

Among these skeletons, some wielded rusty knives for close combat, while others drew bows and shot bone arrows from the rear, forming a well-trained army.

As the necromancer summoned the skeletons, Sun Ran made gestures with both hands, forming a grip. In his palms, two white ice balls appeared, emitting a cold aura.

His feet didn't idle either, starting to draw frost runes on the ground. He had no choice; the AI had only given him two spells.

"Zero-level Ice Spike? First-level Frost Rune?" The necromancer, hiding behind the rock, cautiously peeked out and laughed. His spells weren't cast directly through his body but through the black wooden staff in his hand.

His body was at zero level, capable of only zero-level spells, but his staff was at the second level, allowing him to break through the limitations of his frail body and cast second-level spells, making him a second-level necromancer.

His opponent had only one frost rune that could be triggered outside the body, barely qualifying as a first-level mage. In comparison, he had a significant advantage.

Sun Ran knew this and smiled nonchalantly. "I only know a few minor spells. Let's see how your skeletons fare today."

As he spoke, ice spikes continuously formed from the white ice balls in his hands and shot out, shattering the fragile skeletons.

There were many skeletons, but their bodies were very fragile. An ordinary person could smash them with a wooden stick, let alone using spells.

Sun Ran fired ice spikes at a high frequency, constantly moving to avoid the bone arrows from the skeleton archers. The nearly hundred skeletons couldn't even get close to him, let alone harm him.

As the number of skeleton warriors dwindled, the necromancer's laughter echoed from behind the rock. "You have some skills; your spell control is quite good."

Even with zero-level spells, being able to cast so many in one breath and maintain a steady casting frequency without showing any signs of fatigue demonstrated strong data control ability.

If the opponent had enough credit points to buy higher-level spells, the outcome of today's battle would be uncertain.

"Despair, for my war god has arrived!" The necromancer shouted madly.

The next moment, a strong purple light shone from behind the rock, and a moment later, a giant figure stood up, a giant!

The giant was a second-level creature, standing over three meters tall, with immense strength, thick skin, and natural anti-magic runes on its body, making it highly resistant to destructive spells, and thus a nemesis to Destruction Mages.

This giant was not a skeletal undead but a corpse with some remaining vitality, now resurrected by the necromancer's spells, possessing at least 70-80% of its former combat strength.

"Go, my war god!" The necromancer shouted excitedly to the giant beside him.

This giant was his trump card. In this world, as long as he deployed it, he was invincible.

When the giant appeared, Sun Ran's expression turned serious.

If he could use his full strength without restrictions, he could deal with this giant in seconds. However, with only two spells, it was a bit challenging, and he would have to rely on his spellcasting skills.

Meanwhile, in the divine palace, everyone was watching.

"Director, should we help and give Sun Ran a higher clearance?" the monitor asked.

An apprentice maintainer had only first-level clearance, and facing a second-level giant was an unfair fight.

"Wait a bit longer; I want to see the limits of this young mage's abilities," Chen Hansheng shook his head and refused.

The higher the clearance, the more data resources one could mobilize in a given time, allowing the use of higher-level spells, but the requirements for data control ability were also higher.

Improving data control ability required rigorous training, and mastering new spells took time; it couldn't be achieved overnight.

This Sun Ran didn't have new spells, and his data control ability might not have reached the level required for second-level clearance. Giving this apprentice maintainer a higher clearance might not be useful.

Of course, if Sun Ran demonstrated sufficient spell data control ability and showed enough value, Chen Hansheng wouldn't mind helping him gain higher clearance and proving that he had the capabilities of a full maintainer.