Chapter 58: Crisis (1)
Translator: Leo Editor: DarkGem/Frappe
“We can’t just dawdle here and wait. We need to help Khedira kill that woman. The Green Spirit is one of the best familiars in the Northland Alliance. Since she controls the spirit, she must be someone special,” Marylin finally stood up as she said with a worried expression.
“You can go. We’ll stay here,” one of the male wizard apprentices said. He absolutely didn’t want to return to that place.
“You clearly don’t understand! If Khedira dies, we won’t escape that woman’s attack!” Marylin yelled.
“But if we go, we’ll end up becoming a pile of ash!” the male wizard apprentice answered.
“Khedira told us to leave because there’s nothing we can do to help. Even if we go back, the situation won’t change. I suggest we go back to the entrance and inform Khedira’s knights of what happened,” Griffia said with a calm demeanor.
“Yea! I agree with that,” the male wizard apprentice said.
Angele never spoke, only standing there while listening to their exchange.
“Well, let’s go to the entrance then,” Marylin said. She began returning from the path whence they originally came while the rest of their group followed. In just a short span of time, they reached the entrance. What met their sights was the darkness that had begun covering the surroundings. The metal blockades were still there, however, none of the knights that were supposedly guarding the area was there. Even traces of battle were non-existent.
“Where are they?” Marylin asked. She had an enchanted item and was the strongest here; therefore, no one questioned her leadership in the group. They sought for clues around the entrance, yet they never found anything of use.
Suddenly, a bird began hooting from somewhere. The wizard apprentices searched for the origin, only to see a snow-white owl standing on a stone edge of the mountain. With its narrow eyes, it was merely overseeing them. However, to the group, it felt as though it wasn’t the owl that was watching them. A strange sensation surfaced within Angele as he looked at the owl. Without making anyone notice, he immediately took a black-feathered arrow from his quiver. He nocked the arrow on the bow and pulled the bowstring.
“White owl,” This reminded Marylin of something, and she yelled in panic, “Northland Alliance! It’s the wizards from Northland Alliance!”
“Harryus!” With a face that had already begun to pale, she cast a spell toward the owl with her wand. Marylin chanted, and a speck of green light appeared on the tip of her wand. A slime-like, green substance separated from the tip and became a fist-sized green sphere. She waved her wand; the ball shot toward the owl, thus creating a green arc in the air as it flew.
Angele aimed right at the owl and loosened the bowstring, successfully launching the arrow. A silver dagger was thrown right toward it by someone at the exact moment Angele shot an arrow. The owl flapped its wings and began ascending. A small tornado suddenly appeared beside it, blocking and even pushing away the arrow and the dagger that successfully made their trajectories miss their target. Even the slime-like green sphere had been affected, causing it to fall onto a piece of stone beside the owl. At the place where the sphere landed, Angele could see green steam coming out of it.
The owl hooted and flew into the valley before it turned at a corner and disappeared.
“We have to go!” Griffia yelled, gasping for air. It seemed that the dagger was hers to begin with.
“Retreat to the school,” Angele said in a grave tone.
“The guards here had already been killed. There’s nothing we can do even if we stay,” he continued. Apart from Marylin, who still wanted to say something, everyone else agreed with Angele’s suggestion.
“We don’t give a damn whether you love Khedira or not, just don’t get us killed!” Griffia yelled. Marylin, whose face was pale, held her wand tightly in her hand. She bit her lips but ultimately didn’t say anything.
“Come on, let’s go. We already got detected by that owl. If we don’t leave now, we’ll all die. Angele decided not to waste time in other things, quickly taking out the map and finding the path back to their school. He began heading back to the school with others. No one bothered with Marylin anymore as she stood in place, unmoving.
They walked for a long time but didn’t see Marylin catching up to them. It seemed that she went back into the valley by herself. A large forest lied in between the valley and the school. If the wizards decided to chase them, their group wouldn’t be able to escape. However, not even a person pursued them, and instead let them leave.
It was nighttime. Everyone eased up a bit after making sure no one was tailing them. Originally, ten people were initially alive and kicking in their group, but now, only five remained. A campfire was lit; the light of the fire dyed Angele face red as he was reading the map beside it. He was trying to pinpoint their current location based on their initial route chosen. Others were also reading their maps.
One of the male wizard apprentices poured something like black seeds around the campfire.
“We should be around 10 days away from the school. I think we need to take night shifts to guard the camp in case wizards come after us,” Griffia said with a low voice.
“It’s not a revenge mission anymore since Northland Alliance itself is involved. We must return to the school and report this,” one of the female wizard apprentices said.
“It seems like no one’s tailing us, but they probably did it on purpose. They want us to send a message to our school. Otherwise, they wouldn’t let us go,” she continued. Angele and the other male wizard apprentice didn’t speak upon hearing this.
“I poured some Flash Seeds around. If intruders breach within the 100-meter radius, it will explode and warn us.” A male wizard apprentice sat down by the campfire, and said. He had been the one pouring those seeds.
“Thank you, Orio.” Griffia nodded.
“There’s still a long way to go. We need to make sure we have enough food and water,” she continued.
“Yea. There’s a small town ahead, but we have to hunt before we reach that place,” Orio said.
“It’s not a big deal. I used to hunt a lot when I was still with my family,” the male wizard apprentice said. They stopped thinking about the wizards and started talking about other matters. Angele only sat there and listened, not even joining the conversation. He was busy checking the data the chip recorded from today’s events, and he was arranging his personal data in order.
Today, he was able to take a glimpse at the true prowess of a wizard. He thought that he wouldn’t have the power to contend against a wizard given his current abilities. The chip could increase his chances of survival, but it wouldn’t help in fighting against familiars like the Green Spirit.
The fights between wizards all lied in their spells. If Khedira hadn’t broken the illusion, their whole group would’ve been completely decimated. Because of that, Angele finally saw the gap between a wizard and a wizard apprentice.
‘I need to start constructing mentality models. With that, I’ll at least be able to protect myself,’ Angele thought.
‘Zero, simulate the process of constructing spell models,’ he ordered.
‘Mission created. Known spell models: 1. The Hand of Exhaustion. 2. The Stun Spell. Please choose,’ Zero reported. Angele stood up and walked toward a nearby large tree. He sat down by the tree, causing others to think he was pondering over something. His line of sight remained at the direction of his fellow wizard apprentices, but he was actually communicating with the chip.
‘I’ll go with the Stun Spell,’ Angele thought. He hadn’t done anything else recently beside regular meditation. Anything related to the construction of spell models was left untouched. Before he could touch upon that subject, he had initially learned the complete fundamental knowledge necessary for the spell models. The courses for these fundamental subjects had been bought by him and stored on the chip. When Angele was traveling, most of his time was spent on revising and perfecting all the stored knowledge, and he tried his utmost to learn everything.
Constructing the spell models required a lot of mentality. Once he failed in the process, the consumed mentality would be lost. Therefore, Angele had decided to be patient in delving into the construction of spell models. He thought the chip and his skills in archery would help him survive this mission, yet never did he expect to face such strong enemies.
After seeing the battle between wizards, he began to realize how necessary it was to know a spell in order to counter other spells hostile to him. He completely comprehended the knowledge necessary for the two spells in his possession when their group reached the valley after fleeing. Angele had decided not to wait after they escaped. He wanted to at least be able to use one spell first. Also, he was very close to being promoted to stage 3; he looked forward to becoming a wizard in the future.
‘Simulation initiated. 2 points of mentality will be consumed. Duration: 30 minutes.’ Zero’s mechanical voice echoed within Angele’s mind.
He leaned against the tree and pulled up his collar in order to cover his neck. The forest had long been wrapped in darkness. The strange noises created by insects could be heard.
Angele opened his eyes and focused his sight on the grass. He started to see some thin blue lines forming various magic arrays right in front of his eyes. There were waves that only wizards could detect surrounding him, becoming stronger. However, the other wizard apprentices were unable to notice such changes. The magic arrays disappeared after half an hour’s time had passed. Angele blinked his eyes after exerting such effort, so he felt relieved.
‘Simulation completed. 2 points of mentality has been consumed. The model of Stun Spell has been constructed successfully. Every time you cast it, 1 point of mana and mentality will be consumed,’ Zero reported. Angele had named the elemental particles in his body as mana, the energy wizards needed in casting spells.
‘Check my current condition,’ Angele ordered.