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Chapter 77: Promotion (2)

Translator: Leo Editor: DarkGem/Frappe

With a serious face, Angele held the bottle in one hand and the glass pliers in the other. He carefully removed the stopper from the bottle, barely escaping the onslaught of smoke coming out of it.

Slowly, the green smoke amassed itself in the air, forming into a hazy outline of a woman's face. A pungent odor replaced the fleeting fragrance of flowers that pervaded the air. Angele had his brows furrowed as he pointed at the woman's forehead with his finger.

The woman opened her mouth slowly as soon as Angele's finger made contact with her forehead, and then a black beetle crawled out of it. On the back of the beetle was a white crying face about the size of a nail. Angele grabbed this insect and quickly threw it into the large beaker nearby.

*Waah*

Suddenly, Angele heard wailing sounds from the blue liquid, actually originating from the black beetle. Its screams sounded like an infant crying from agonizing pain. As this continued to occur, the beetle was melting inside the beaker while the blue liquid continually dissolved it.

Angele furrowed his brows. When he further increased the temperature, the light of the fire dyed his face red. The noise produced by the beetle gradually grew fainter and disappeared after several seconds.

The blue liquid inside the beaker finally started to boil. The green smoke slowly returned to the bottle and the outline of a woman's face dissipated at the same time. Angele kept his sight on the beaker as he poured the rest of the potion into it. Upon contact, the green substance mixed the blue liquid that had become darker and turned completely black after several seconds.

Angele stirred the solution with a glass rod. He was satisfied with the result. He didn't care if the beaker was still hot, taking it and drinking all of its contents. Angele put down the beaker, not feeling any change.

'Your condition is currently unstable.'

'Mentality is increasing… being influenced by radiation energy…��

'Unknown radiation energy is damaging your body. Emergency plan activated, releasing energy particles for defense.'

'Special radiation energy expelled, 45% of total energy particles consumed, attempting to extract discharged radiation energy... Attempt unsuccessful.' Angele was reading the event log recorded by Zero after he drank the potion. He checked the hologram of his body to see the changes.

He could see the dark energy particles flowing through his body, damaging all the organs it passed. The emergency measure Angele set was enabled. The energy stored in his body forced the dark energy out, but the dark energy was fast, still leaving traces inside Angele's body.

'A portion of the dark energy is still inside my body. That is a problem,' Angele thought.

'Zero, show me my condition.' Angele felt cold, and his body was aching.

'Body tissues are 5% damaged. Leftover dark energy is influencing the growth of your Mentality. Your gene strands are unstable, some already breaking. Use more energy particles to force the remaining dark energy out?'

'No!' Angele's face was stern as he looked at the growing Mentality value.

'6.4

6.5

6.6

6.7

6.8

6.9…'

Suddenly, the value rose from 6.9 to 10, and it was still increasing.

'10.1

10.2

10.3…'

'Warning! 14% of your body tissue is damaged. It will become fatal once it exceeds 30%. Please take action.' Zero's mechanical voice echoed within Angele's mind.

'20% damaged.' As Angele focused on the percentage value, he began to sweat.

Angele wanted the number to rise again since it was his best chance. The first jump increased his Mentality from 7 to 10 units. It was probably the best result he could get from drinking the Black Lead Potion, but he wanted to wait for the second jump.

Theoretically speaking, the Black Lead Potion could increase one's Mentality dramatically, but people who had taken one couldn't handle the side effects.

'Based on my calculations, the second jump has better results than the first one! I have to take this opportunity…' Angele was nervous. He no longer felt any pain from his body that had gone paralyzed, and he could barely stay conscious.

'25% damaged. Increased Mentality to 10.5.'

'28% damaged. Increased Mentality to 10.8.'

'29% damaged.'

At this point, Angele could no longer handle it, 'Cleanse my body of the remaining dark energy!'

'Releasing all the stored energy particles. Cleansing has begun.' Right before Zero released the energy particles, the value of Angele's Mentality jumped once again, from 10.8 to 15. Angele, who saw this change, felt relieved before he closed his eyes and fell to the ground.

Angele laid on the ground motionlessly. Suddenly, a horrifying scene ensued as his body began to spasm violently, his muscles started to cramp, and his skin turned red; his eyes had long rolled back into his head.

Looking closely, black specks of light covered by red and green light were coming out of Angele's body. The light particles vanished in the air after leaving his skin.

'Finally, I succeeded.' Angele was still suffering, but he was feeling excited about the results.

All of a sudden, the temperature of the room dropped to the extent that Angele felt cold.

*Kata-kata*

Angele heard light footsteps coming toward him.

Only after exerting great effort did Angele somehow turned his head toward the source of the sound. He witnessed a group of zombified monsters approaching him. They surrounded Angele — some were enemies Angele had long slain before while some were bizarre creatures he had never seen before.

There was nothing Angele could do. After all, he was still in a paralyzed state. He could only lay there as he watched the zombies closing in. The one closest to him was already rotten in a way that Angele could barely recognize its face. It was releasing a disgusting stench, even dripping with a slimy fluid of some kind. Black beetles were crawling out of its right arm.

Angele exerted a lot of effort to move, but all he could do was turn his head. Ultimately, those creatures reached him. They bit Angele's neck hard with their sharp teeth, and blood cascaded out of his wounds. Angele never felt any pain. He only observed them as they devoured him. With his body torn apart and his bones piled atop his head, Angele watched this entire process with unabating clarity.

Fear pressed against Angele like cushion over his mouth and nose, barely able to breathe. He couldn't comprehend what was happening.

*Chi*

Everything disappeared after a slight noise sounded out. It was as though nothing had happened. The room became warm and peaceful again.

Only after half an hour did Angele recover finally from the fear he felt.

'Finally... it's over,' Angele thought.

Everything had just been an illusion. Angele was still in one piece, and he started to feel his limbs again.

Angele remained still on the ground lying down. He tried to move his arms. After he successfully touched his face, he felt relieved. It meant the side effects of the potion was gone.

��The Black Lead Potion must have some secrets to it. It can't be as simple as what the book mentioned. This potion is cursed and filled with hatred. It may even contain souls.' Angele still felt horrified upon thinking of what had just transpired.

'Zero, search the database and get me all the information related to the concoction of Black Lead Potion,' Angele asked.

'Searching... finished. Data is incomplete.' Zero finished its job immediately.

'Black Lead Potion's fake formula: Sivia Bird, Soul Eater Beetle, Heart of the Alice Tree, Lead Solution.'

'Fake?' Angele wasn't surprised.

'So, does it contain something strange? Show me the real formula.'

Zero started to show the data before Angele's eyes:

'Real formula: 18-year-old female, pregnant for five months. Soul Eater Beetles and various unknown materials.'

'Possible concoction procedure: First, make the pregnant female die in fear and preserve her body. Second, inject the Black Lead solution into her womb and melt the fetus. Third, extract the melted fetus and turn it into a solution. The obtained solution can be used to concoct 5 Black Lead Potions. Actual procedure unknown but likely to be nearly identical.'

"What the...!" Angele started vomiting upon learning the truth.

When Angele realized he had drunk a solution concocted from a dead fetus, his abdominal wall muscles had begun to contract violently.

"I swear! I'll make sure the formula is real... HUUUURGGEHH…" Angele kneeled on the ground and continued vomiting.

Chapter 78: The Hunt (1)

Translator: Leo Editor: DarkGem/Frappe

After the congealed contents of his stomach emerged onto the ground, Angele almost collapsed. He stood up slowly and sat on the chair. The puke on the ground made the whole shop smell bad.

Angele rested for a while, then found the tools to clean up the ground. He dumped all the mess into the garbage bin and mopped the ground several times. He then threw the garbage bin to the waste collection place on the street.

"I'm a rank 3 apprentice now." Angele sat down again, feeling much better after finishing cleaning the shop.

'Zero, record the mentality cost of the spells I cast,' Angele said.

'Recording…'

Everything turned blue in Angele's view for a second, then returned to normal right after.

'Start the regular experimenting mode.'

Regular experimenting mode was a mode designed by Angele. He could monitor all the data related to his experiment under this mode while the blue indicators would stay hidden to avoid blocking his sight.

"First, the Hand of Exhaustion."

From his pouch, Angele took out a finger-sized bottle which was filled with white powder.

Angele removed the stopper, poured some powder onto his palm, and put the bottle back into his pouch. He clasped his hands together and rubbed them once. It sounded like he was rubbing glass shards between his palms.

Angele stayed calm and started to chant the incantation. It kept on coming out of his mouth in a weird tone. Slowly, his hands' color started to turn from white to a darker color, and after several seconds, they became red like blood.

Angele stopped casting the spell and started to carefully observe the changes that had happened to his hands. His skin had turned red, and his nails were shining, but he had to look closely to see the red shiny dots on the edges of his nails.

Angele was staring at the data showed in front of his eyes. He was reading the temperature, hardness, radiation, spectrum, duration, and various other properties of the spell. Most of the numbers were stable, but some were changing rapidly.

Angele compared the data to the ones from previous experiments, finding that the power of the spell had generally increased, and he had spent less time channeling the spell.

'Zero, I have enough mentality to improve level 0 spells, right?' Angele asked.

'Requirements are met. Mentality 15.0. One level 0 spell can be improved.'

'Can you improve the Hand of Exhaustion? It's better if I can skip the spell powder.'

'Improvement plan for Hand of Exhaustion created… Expected results after the improvement:

The Hand of Exhaustion (Improved) – Spell level 0

Cost: 1.5 mentality points. 1.5 mana points.

Effect: Strike the enemies with negative energy and exhaust them.

Effective distance: Direct contact.

Casting Time: 3 seconds. Spell fails if interrupted.

Weaknesses: Enemies with high Stamina can resist the exhaustion effect.

Improvements: Spell can be casted without spell powder. Casting time will be reduced by one second.

Information acquired from: Fundamentals of Spells, Fundamentals of Negative Energy, Casting and Channeling, Touch of Solomon - Explanations on all the Level 0 Direct Contacting Spells.

Angele had a satisfied look on his face. 'How long will it take to improve the spell? Can you improve the spell again after the first improvement is done? Also, can you turn it into a ranged spell?'

'Based on the current information in the database, it is impossible to improve it again. The improvement will take 152 hours, and it will cost 14.2 mentality points.'

Angele was not disappointed; he was satisfied with the results of the first improvement. He had learnt the Hand of Exhaustion because he wanted to strike before the enemy could react. Though the casting time was long, and he would not be able to use it against a prepared opponent, it was still a good spell in terms of its effect's duration and power. It would take effect the moment Angele touched an enemy with his hands.

He had tried it on a Single Horn Bull, and the bull lost its ability to fight right after Angele touched its body. The bull's Stamina was about 3 or 4, but it could not resist the exhaustion. The Hand of Exhaustion was one of the most useful low-level spells he could get.

'I need to acquire more knowledge before I can ask the chip to improve the spell again. I probably need more books about the fundamentals of the spells,' Angele thought.

Once the opponent was exhausted by the spell, the exhaustion would last for about an hour, but it was possible for the enemy to remove the negative energy while still being exhausted.

Angele clapped his hands, and some red mist appeared in the air, then disappeared after Angele's hands turned back to their normal color.

'Now I can learn as many level 0 spells as I want. However, I need to figure out how I want to use them, otherwise, the spells may even slow down my speed. Wasting mentality points during a fight will never be a good idea.'

Angele knew what he needed to do.

"I need to focus on one specific type of spells!"

Angele made up his mind.

'The spells I learnt were all from the negative energy category, but the energy particles I can store in my body are Air and Fire. I barely stored any negative energy particles, and that's the problem. I should've bought some Air and Fire spells when I was still in the school. I'm sure I could enhance those spells while casting them,' he thought.

'The school is in chaos right now, so it's impossible for me to buy basic spells there. What should I do?'

Angele scrunched his eyebrows, trying to figure out a way to buy more spells. He finally reached rank 3, but he needed more resources. When he was at the school, he did not have enough magic stones to buy everything he wanted.

'Master Adolf was an apprentice, and he lived as a professor in the Marua Harbour. It's totally possible that there are people like him living in the Ramsoda Empire, so I just need to find them and exchange resources with them. That could solve my spell model problem.' Angele kept thinking. 'Also, there must be books like the Wizard's book that I have. I should try and find some. For now, I will make my Mentality more stable, and improve the Hand of Exhaustion.'

The next thing Angele wanted to know was how the increase of Mentality changed him.

In order to calculate the casting time of a spell, Angele needed to create the model and stop right before casting the spell. After he reached rank 3, he could cast spells much faster than before. Previously, he needed three seconds to cast the Stun Spell, but now he only needed two. Angele could store spells on his chip so the improvement on casting speed was not significant.

However, the next point was important.

Angele could cast more spells during fights with higher Mentality, and the spells became more powerful than before. The reason was simple, if one considered Mentality as Strength. A man with higher Strength would be able to strike harder with the same weapon compared to a man with an average Strength, that way, a Wizard with higher Mentality would be able to cast a more powerful spell.

Also, Angele increased his Mentality to 15, and it met the Mentality requirement of becoming a Wizard. It was something Angele hadn't expected the potion to be able to do.

Being promoted to Wizard was not just about how high the apprentice's Mentality was, he would also need the help from outside. Angele's Mentality was 15, and it was probably the limit for human beings. If he wanted to increase it again, he would need to break the limit. Wizards did research and found out that they could combine certain materials to produce a new substance that could help apprentices break the Mentality limit.

The apprentices that successfully broke the limit could become Wizards, and the substance that helped them break through it was named the Water of Asu. The word 'Asu' meant breaking the limit.

The Water of Asu was one requirement for an apprentice to become a Wizard, while the other one was to obtain as much knowledge as possible. The apprentice needed to know how to handle the various situations that could happen during the breaking of the limit.

Also, obtaining more knowledge would help Angele to learn to solidify the mentality models.

Angele raised his hands and touched his palms. He felt his whole body was in his control, and he could react to things much quicker.

'Water of Asu, solid mentality models, those two requirements are a pain… I can buy the Water of Asu from any large Wizard organization, but I need to choose a spell structure and use my mentality to solidify the model. After I acquire the solid mentality model, I will be able to make it my Talent Spell. It's better if I can make a solid defensive mentality model, otherwise, it won't be too helpful during fights.'

Angele had a lot of problems to worry about. He needed more basic spells, and he also needed a good defensive spell that suited his fighting style. He would be weaker than other Wizards if he chose the wrong defensive spell.

The reason why Wizards were so strong was the defensive Talent Spell they had. A Wizard always had a force field blocking attacks for him, and since it is a Talent Spell, he did not need to cast it. It was like a passive defensive skill. Some Wizards tried to harden their skin to prevent basic physical attacks, something apprentices could not do. Also, the Talent Spell barely cost a Wizard any mentality, and some Wizards could keep the force field around themselves permanently.

'I wonder how's the situation in the school.' Angele started to miss the life in the school. 'After the war, the school might call us apprentices back since it's not the first time that they get invaded by the Northland Wizards. It's happened several times in the history of the school.'

He took the gray robe out of the wardrobe and turned it over; there was a black cross sign on the back of it. This black cross sign would shine when the school wanted to call all the apprentices back. This was one of the reasons why the school let all the apprentices leave—the president could order them back whenever he wanted to.

'I hope they can solve the problem quickly.' Angele knew there was nothing he could do. 'But I heard it's very hard to break the limit. I just reached rank 3 and I should take my time to prepare.'

Chapter 79: The Hunt (2)

Translator: Leo Editor: DarkGem/Frappe

One month later.

In the library of the Lennon City Lord's castle.

The marble tiled floor was smooth, colorful, and had a brown circle pattern on it. All the small circles were inside a large red circle. There were more than ten bookshelves in the room, and yellow oil lamps were glowing gently on the walls. A young man in a white suit was standing next to one of the shelves reading a thick book carefully.

The young man had an average-looking face, and his skin was a bit pale. His short brown hair barely covered his ears, and he looked just like any other noble playboy, though the suit he was wearing did not cover his muscular body.

That young man was Angele, who looked wild but gentle.

He had gotten the permission to enter the lord's library and read the books the lord had collected. It was to try and find more books like the Wizard's book he had.

"Ugh…" Angele sighed and closed the book. "This one isn't made by a Wizard, either."

Angele was disappointed, and he put down the last book he had wanted to check.

*Creak*

Someone opened the door.

"Master Angele, have you found anything useful to you?"

A man with a pretty face walked into the room. It was Tinos, and he was still wearing a black leather suit, his short blonde hair combed to one side.

Angele could still not believe that Tinos was male. He couldn't imagine how attractive the man would be if he tried to wear some female clothing. Angele thought for a second and carefully returned the book back to its place on the shelf. He then turned back and smiled.

"Mr. Tinos, what brings you here? Although there are plenty of books here, I failed to find the ones I wanted," Angele said.

Tinos closed the door and slowly walked towards Angele with a red leather whip in his hands.

"Master Angele, you've changed your hairstyle? Last time I saw you, you still had long hair, and I think you looked great with it," Tinos noted, his words focused on some irrelevant things first. "My scout has reported that he found a Glowing Beast in the forest around the Lennon City. It had attacked several teams of merchants and also injured a number of hunters. My father and my brother are going to hunt it down, I am wondering if you are interested?"

"Glowing Beast?" Angele lowered his head and started to think.

The Glowing Beast's name came from its appearance—the beast was blue and its skin was always glowing. Based on the description found in the books, an adult Glowing Beast was three meters tall and three to four meters long. It was about the size of a below-average Asian Elephant. The beast was very special to Wizards and their apprentices due to the value of its heart. Both Wizards and their apprentices could easily make it into a basic enchanted item.

Wizards or their apprentices could use the enchanted item to cast Glowing Fire Strikes, and the cooldown of the item was one day. The Glowing Beast's skin could also be made into high-quality leather armor suits. The beast was relatively easy to find on this land.

"Well, I've never seen a Glowing Beast in real life, so I will join them." Angele nodded.

"They will be leaving this afternoon. I will let them know you are interested right away." Tinos smiled, turned back, and quickly left the room.

Recently, Tinos had begun to try and find all the reasons he could to spend time with Angele, and Angele knew Tinos wanted him to joins his side. Angele was not so sure about the reason but Tinos and Harland did not like each other, and Tinos was a bit nervous after learning that Harland was building a friendship with Angele.

However, Angele liked Harland more because he was much stronger than Tinos.

'Glowing Beast…' Angele was happy. 'If I can take its heart, I will be able to make a basic enchanted item.'

**************************

Outside the west forest.

A team of mounted soldiers in white plate armor suits left the city through the west city gate. That gate was not as busy as the main one, and there were not as many people around there.

There were about twenty people in the team, and the leader was a handsome young man riding a white horse. The blonde man's body looked balanced and strong, his skin smooth like a marble sculpture's. He was leading the team, and two men were following after him on black horses. The man on the left was wearing a black hunting suit and the man on the right had a pretty face.

Following the three, there were four fully geared knights and about ten mounted soldiers in white plate armor suits. The team was heading to the last location the Glowing beast had appeared at.

The leading Knight was Harland Reed, and Angele and Tinos were following right after him. The fully geared knights were knight-level warriors, and the soldiers in white plate armor suits were some of the best in the lord's army.

Harland kept checking the surroundings while slowly advancing. He saw the washbasin sized footprints on the grassland around the bridge, and he also saw some blood stains on the grasses.

"Last night, that Glowing Beast went to the west city gate and attacked several pedestrians. That's why you did not see many people around the gate. The footprints are easy to find, and the only thing we need to do is follow the trail," Harland said in a deep voice. "The Glowing Beast's skin is very hard, and I brought the best short iron spears I could find this time. After initiating with the spears, the four Knights need to step forward and try to block its attacks. The rest of you can act freely depending on the situation, and I will prevent it from escaping to the side.

"What about me? Brother? I am a Knight too? Where's the order for me?" Tinos asked.

"Tinos, you stay with Master Angele. Although people like Master Angele are very strong, they need time to prepare their spells, and you need to make sure the beast does not get anywhere close to him."

Harland was not expecting Tinos to contribute to the team, so he asked him to stay with Angele, knowing that Angele would be able to protect him.

"Thanks in advance for your help, Mr. Tinos." Angele smiled.

"I've slain several Glowing Beasts during the war. They're not scary, but we still need to be careful with its Flame Breath." Harland patted the tower shield that was hanging on his saddle. The tower shield looked luxurious with the 'sunflower and white bird' emblem engraved in the middle of it.

Angele kept smiling, he looked gentle and harmless. He tied his crossguard sword to his waist, no longer nervous while staying around a Grand Knight after having reached rank 3. Last time Zero had said that Angele had less than 50% chance to win a fight against Harland, but this time it had increased to 70%. Angele felt that he was much stronger than before based on the numbers.

Harland waved his right hand, and one of the Knights moved towards him right away. They started to talk about how they should handle the various types of attacks from the Glowing Beast.

Tinos was also talking with another Knight, but they were speaking in a language that Angele could not understand, and it made Angele feel a bit uncomfortable.

The team entered the forest and followed the large footprints on the ground.

Angele followed behind Harland, who was still talking to a Knight called Anthony. Angele heard some of the things they were talking about: they were planning on training the mounted soldiers later, and they were trying to eliminate all the possible threats within the territory.

No one seemed nervous about hunting the Glowing Beast. The two other Knights behind Angele were talking about the new clubs that had opened up in the city recently.

"Master Angele!" Tinos finished his conversation with the Knight and turned back. "My Knight just told me that a ship full of rare goods just arrived at the Ricky Dock this morning, and they are auctioning some of the herbs tomorrow. I was wondering if you would be interested."

"An auction, huh?" Angele thought for a second. "Will there be something like the Dragon Scale Flower?"

"I am afraid not…" Tinos had a bitter smile on his face. "The Dragon Scale Flower is so rare that only people like you would have access to it. However, I heard the legendary body armor, Sun of the Tribe, would be auctioned tomorrow."

"The Sun of the Tribe? How is that even possible?" Angele was surprised, "That was the armor suit worn by the legendary Duke Stagger Plat."

"It's not the original for sure. It's a replica," Tinos explained. "The genuine suit would not come to a city like Lennon. Merchants would bring it to the capital if they somehow got their hands on it. But there will be some rare goods from the Merfolk and several Water Fairy slaves on the auction. I'm sure you will find something you like."

Tinos smiled, and he was blushing a bit. With his purple lips, Angele found him a bit coquettish.

'Do those Water Fairies look more pretty than you?' Angele really wanted to ask.

But he decided not to ask a disrespectful question like that, and it would sound very weird anyway.

Tinos did not notice what Angele was thinking.

"Last time I asked Sir Henry of the Ricky Merchant Association to bring me some special skin care products, and I heard those were the favorites of the Merfolk Princesses. I hope my order arrived with the ship this time. My skin is very dry recently," Tinos continued, and he sounded distressed.

Angele decided not to comment on that. He did not want to question his own sexual orientation.

"Also, Viscount Sparks from Loran City sent me some well-crafted weapons last month, some of them sharp and pretty. After we finish the Glowing Beast off, you can come by my castle and take several of them if you want. I haven't gotten the chance to send you a gift since we met, while I heard my brother gifted you some Night Honeycombs, and I think I need to prepare something, too," Tinos said.

"Thank you for your kindness, but I like my sword," Angele declined the offer. "We're very close to the Glowing Beast so we need to stay alerted now."

Tinos was going to say something else, but he stopped after hearing Angele's words. "Sure, we can discuss it later."

The team arrived at the logging area, the place looking empty without all the trees. There were countless tree stumps on the ground.

It was afternoon, the sunlight had weakened, and the area was extremely quiet.

"This is one of Lennon City's official logging areas, and the sawmill is not too far from here. It was the first location that was attacked by the Glowing Beast," Harland said loudly. "The city's major source of income is the export of lumber, thus, even if we fail to kill the beast, we still need to make sure it doesn't stay in our territory. Workers fear it, and if they don't log, our financial situation will get worse."

Harland's voice was loud and clear. Several birds were scared by his voice and flew away.

"Understood!" all the soldiers yelled out.

"It's getting close!"

Harland held his silver axe tight.

Chapter 80: The Hunt (3)

Translator: Leo Editor: DarkGem/Frappe

The sun was setting, and the team stopped advancing under the dimming light. Soldiers got off their horses and equipped themselves with the heavy weapons and shields they brought here. They then tied their horses beside a tree.

Angele let one of the soldiers take care of his black horse and then walked straight toward the logging area to check the surroundings. He saw red flowers growing beside the bushes between the tree stumps. The place was misty and the visibility around was a bit poor.

It was sultry, and the smell of blood mixed with the fragrance of grass was floating in the air. The Knights and the soldiers were trying to find traces of the beast in the bushes. Angele could hear something howling in the forest from a distance.

"Damn Ghost Birds, they're really making some disgusting noises!" a soldier said in a light tone as he walked passed Angele.

"But they're tasty." Another soldier laughed.

"How about we catch some for dinner after we finish the beast off?"

"Let's take care of the beast first," a knight said, walking over. "You can catch as many as you want when we start the group training. Stay alert for now."

The soldiers around got noisy after hearing what the Knight said, some even clapping their hands while laughing.

"Stop. We are on a mission." Harland waved his right hand.

Angele was walking around the tree stumps alone. He sensed the presence of something dangerous, and he thought the place was way too quiet. They were deep in the forest, but he did not hear any insects making noise.

He looked at Harland and saw a serious look on the Grand Knight's face. The man held his axe tight and was checking the surroundings with his eyebrows scrunched. He knew that something was wrong as well.

Harland walked towards Angele and whispered, "I don't think it's a Glowing Beast." He was still looking at the trees that were not cut down yet, wanting to make sure he was prepared for the oncoming threat.

" "You're right." Angele nodded. "Glowing Beasts are not cunning, they will come for us once they know we are here, but this one hid itself well."

Harland nodded. He was wielding a large axe and a tower shield. Before he could respond, someone suddenly yelled, "I found it! It's here! … AH!"

*Bang*

A man was hit by something, and he was blown away by the impact. He screamed and died within seconds.

"Watch out!" Harland yelled and rushed towards the soldier that just got killed. Several other soldiers also quickly ran to the body. There was a basketball-sized hole on the dead soldier's chest. It looked like the man was hit by something with extremely high temperature because there not a single drop of blood could be seen on the grass around him. The man's wound was clearly burned closed.

"Goddamn! It's Aurens…" A soldier who knew the man tried not to stare at the body.

"His chest piece didn't do shit." Another soldier sighed.

"Damn! It's the Glowing Elephant! Not Glowing Beast!" Harland had seen a similar wound before, and his expression changed. "Everyone, rally to me!"

The soldiers and Knights heard Harland yelling, and they quickly started to move towards his location. The situation was intense. No one was talking, and they all looked serious.

"Jack, Belem!"

Two strong Knights stepped forward after hearing Harland's order.

"You guys go check that bush. Raise your shields and don't go too fast. Glowing Elephants are very strong. I just want you two to confirm its location, don't do anything stupid.��� Harland pointed at the bush that Aurens was attacked at.

"Affirmative!"

The two started to walk slowly towards the bush.

Angele and Tinos were at the end of the formation.

Although there were two knights protecting Tinos, he was nervous, and he was holding his sword so tight that his knuckles turned white.

Angele scrunched his eyebrows, listening carefully. 'Zero, do you know anything about the Glowing Elephant?'

'Glowing Elephant: a mutant. Its size is about the same as the Glowing Beast's, but it is much faster. The Glowing Elephant prefers to attack its prey with its sharp tusks. You can make low-level enchanted items with its heart,' Zero answered quickly.

'Faster than the Glowing Beast?' Angele drew his sword, trying to figure out a plan.

"Master Angele, please go to the top of that small hill with Tinos. We will take care of it," Harland spoke in a deep voice.

Tinos gritted his teeth. "Master Angele, let's go. My brother can handle it, and there is nothing we can do here."

Angele wanted to stay, but he did not have enough information about the Glowing Elephant, and Zero only showed him some common knowledge about it. It seemed that Harland had experience of fighting one in the past, and he wanted Angele to make sure Tinos did not get hurt. It also meant that Harland wasn't sure if he could protect his brother during the battle.

They had seen how Aurens died at the logging site, and how the plate armor had done nothing for him. The Glowing Elephant had to have some exceptional strength to able to do something like that.

"All right, let's go."

Angele nodded, and they started to retreat with the two Knights by their side. They were heading to the top of a small hill not too far away; the Glowing Elephant was huge, and it would not be able to climb up a hill like that.

They could also survey the battlefield from the top of the hill.

The four looked down and saw another dead soldier. He was also penetrated by the Glowing Elephant's tusks. Angele heard Harland shout out a loud battle cry, and then the man rushed into the bush with two Knights covering the sides. There were many things going on, and the sounds made by the weapons were intense.

The visibility down there was still bad.

Angele suddenly heard the loud trumpet from the Glowing Elephant. Right after that, a shining red elephant stomped into the logging site, and the trees on its way were easily knocked down by it. The elephant was about four meters tall, five meters long, and it looked more like a mammoth than an elephant. Its hair was red, and its tusks were long and sharp.

The elephant looked really strange with its glowing red hair, like the light was coming from inside its body, and it was almost translucent. The Glowing Elephant trumpeted again and grabbed a tree with its long trunk. It wielded the tree like a weapon, trying to hit the soldiers with it.

*BAM*

A Knight tried to block the attack with his greatsword, but he was not able to handle the elephant's force and was pushed back. The Knight hit a tree and stopped, his face pale.

Harlan roared like a lion and jumped forward. He then hit one of the elephant's feet, hard. The elephant had just finished attacking with the tree and failed to defend. Right away, blood spurted from the wound. Harland raised his tower shield and quickly backed off.

"Throw the spears!" he yelled while retreating.

The soldiers around started to throw the short spears toward the elephant. The spears hit the elephant's skin but dealt almost no damage. The skin was extremely hard, and normal attacks would not do anything to it.

The Glowing Elephant trumpeted in anger, and Angele felt the ground shaking.

*Boom*

The elephant rushed towards Harland and hit his shield. He was knocked back several meters, and the centre of his tower shield was dented.

The soldiers did not stop throwing the spears, but most of them just dropped to the ground after hitting the elephant's skin, not even scratching it.

"Damn!" Harland turned his head back and yelled, ��Jack! You do it!"

The Knight named Jack nodded and grabbed a short spear. He aimed at the elephant and threw the spear towards it at full speed.

The short spear howled through the air, accurately hitting the right side of the elephant's body, and the spearhead finally cut the skin open. But there was barely any blood leaking from the wound because the elephant somehow moved its muscles to pressure the cut. It then rushed to the right and five soldiers were blown away. Even elite soldiers could not deal with the elephant's strength.

The elephant then swung its tusks, and two of the soldiers failed to dodge the attack, getting skewered.

*Sizzle*

It sounded like their bodies were being roasted. The elephant swung its tusks again, and the dead soldiers were thrown back to the ground. Their chests were penetrated, but there was no blood coming out of the wounds.

"Don't get hit by its tusks, they're ablaze!" Harland yelled. "Knights, follow me! Others back off!"

Harland inhaled once, and it looked like his body was coated with white light.

"For victory!"

Harland's angry battle cry echoed through the forest. He raised his tower shield and charged forward. His strength was so strong that the ground started to shake, and his footsteps sounded like thunder. He was approaching the Glowing Elephant at full speed.

Chapter 81: The Hunt (4)

Translator: Leo Editor: DarkGem/Frappe

It seemed like the huge creature had figured out who the real threat was to him. The Glowing Elephant turned back and lowered its head. It then aimed at Harland with its tusks and charged toward him.

"HA!"

Harland roared and struck the elephant with his tower shield.

*BOOM*

The loud sound of collision made everyone's ears ache.

Harland's tower shield was almost broken, and it had barely blocked the elephant's tusks. The Grand Knight's left arm was bent at a strange angle, the elephant's attack probably having broken his bone. However, the injury did not stop him from striking the elephant's stomach with his axe.

Harland and the elephant were both struggling. The Glowing Elephant was in deep pain. It raised its head and roared. A translucent green fireball suddenly appeared between its tusks.

The fireball was growing bigger and bigger, quickly expanding to the size of a basketball. The elephant swung its head and threw the fireball toward Harland. Harland stayed calm and stepped back immediately after seeing the elephant's actions. He tried his best to raise the tower shield in the air and hide his whole body behind the shield by leaning toward the right.

The fireball hit Harland's tower shield, and the green flame splashed everywhere. Some of it dropped onto the grass, and a lot of smoke spread into the air.

Angele, Tinos, and the two Knights were still surveying the battleground from the top of the hill. The battleground was lighted up by the elephant's green fireball attack. Although the visibility was still bad, Angele could see the green light dots through the smoke.

"My brother will be fine," Tinos said with mixed feelings.

Angele looked at him but did not say a word.

'Zero, did you collect enough data to calculate the elephant's statuses?' Angele asked. He was more than five meters away from the elephant, so Zero would not be able to directly obtain the creature's data. It had to collect relative information and do the analysis.

'Estimated Results:

Glowing Elephant: Strength larger than 8. Agility larger than 4. Stamina larger than 15. Mentality larger than 7. Talent Skill: Blazing Tusks (Damage Increased), Glowing Strike (By draining energy from the heart, it can make fireballs).'

Angele read the information, and he was surprised by how high the elephant's attributes were. He was also impressed by Harland's ability to fight. Angele wondered what he could become if he could break his gene limit, however, there was no way for him to do it, and he would never become a Grand Knight.

At the moment, Harland was still fighting with the Glowing Elephant, and the other two Knights were supporting him from the sides. They had slashed at the elephant several times with their swords, but most of the time, they were just dodging its attacks.

Three soldiers failed to dodge another green fireball thrown by the elephant, and they were burnt to death in seconds. The situation was getting worse.

"You two! Go help them," Tinos ordered, turning his head back.

The two Knights looked at each other, hesitating. "Mr. Tinos, our skills are not based on strength, I'm afraid we won't be able to provide any support…"

"It doesn't matter, just distract the elephant," Tinos said in a serious tone. "Just go."

"Roger that."

They drew their swords and ran down the hill.

Angele noticed the swords in the Knights' hands were slim and would do no damage to a creature with such high defense. Their Agility was definitely high, so they needed lighter weapons to unleash the full potential of their skills. The order they had received was probably just to protect Tinos.

Only Angele and Tinos were standing on the top of the hill after the Knights left.

Angele thought Tinos and Harland hated each other when he first time met them, but now Angele realized that they were just expressing their love in a strange way. Tinos admired Harland, and he was sometimes jealous of what Harland could do, but he still wanted to help his brother when Harland was in trouble.

Tinos was just childish. He wanted to become stronger and better than his brother one day, but at the same time, he was still relying on Harland a lot. He admired Harland and regarded him as his role model. Tinos always hid his feelings when he was with Harland, and he did not want others to know how he thought about his brother.

"Don't worry, the elephant is dying," Angele said, trying to comfort Tinos.

"Is it?" Tinos looked relieved. "Wait, I'm not worried about him!" he then yelled after realizing what Angele was implying.

Angele did not respond. He just smiled.

"Why are you smiling?" Tinos stared at Angele. "I can't let him die because my father will be sad if he's killed by the Glowing Elephant!"

"I know, I know." Angele nodded, knowing that Tinos was just shy.

"You… Whatever!" Tinos decided not to explain any further.

Angele quietly put his crossguard sword back into the sheath.

"The fight is almost over. The Glowing Elephant is losing a great amount of blood, and it's dying," Angele said with a light tone.

Tinos immediately looked at the battlefield after hearing Angele' words.

The Glowing Elephant's attacks were no longer as powerful as before. The loss of blood was making it weaker and weaker. It tried to fight back, but it could no longer hit Harland or the Knights. The elephant tried to use Glowing Strike again but did not have enough power to create the fireball.

Angele started to think about the information he had recently collected about Tinos.

Tinos's father was Lord Alford, and his mother was a daughter of a Duke. She left home due to an argument with her parents and got married to Lord Alford, but later she went back to the Duke's territory. Now, she had great power in the country, and the army was also in her control.

Harland once told Angele that his father, Lord Alford, actually feared Tinos' mother due to various reasons. The woman would do anything to acquire the things she wanted, and she was not satisfied with what she already had. She loved Tinos a lot, but for some reason, she left her son with Alford.

Tinos never respected Alford and never cared if the man liked what he was doing. Before Angele had visited them, Tinos had once found out that Alford had affairs with two women in the city and slain them right in front of Harland's mother. Harland's mother had never known about Alford's affairs prior to this. She left her husband and went to live with Harland after what Tinos did, never coming back to Lennon City.

Alford begged Harland to stay with him to no avail, and that was the reason why Angele thought the relationship between the father and the sons was strange when he first time visited the castle.

*BOOM*

The Glowing Elephant fell to the ground.

Angele's expression suddenly changed. He stopped thinking due to the noise he just heard.

"Wait! Another one! One more Glowing Elephant is coming for us!"

He suddenly turned his head back and saw the crying Glowing Elephant that was charging toward Harland.

Tinos did not understand what Angele was talking about. He quickly turned back and looked in the direction Angele was staring at. His face turned pale after seeing the other Glowing Elephant. Harland and the rest of the team had just finished their battle, and they did not expect another one to come for them. They were injured and tired. Although Harland was strong, he would not be able to block the charge from an angry Glowing Elephant at this moment.

"But…" Tinos wanted to say something, but he saw Angele quickly running down the hill and disappearing into the bushes. He gritted his teeth, drew his sword, and followed Angele down.

********************

Angele had no expression on his face. He lowered his body, moving quickly through the bushes.

Leaves kept dropping down on Angele's head, twisting in the air due to Angele's extreme moving speed. He could sense the danger in front of him and see the giant shadow of the elephant.

Angele's eyes started to shine. He put his hand on the handle of his sword.

'Approaching the target…'

'Show me the plan.'

'Target locked: Glowing Elephant. Analyzing… Plan confirmed…'

'Battle mode: On.'

Various types of blue holograms appeared in Angele's sight, and a lot of information was displayed beside the objects he saw.

Angele drew his sword and increased his speed again. He was so fast that his body blurred.

He rushed out of the bush and passed the Glowing Elephant. He easily cut open its skin, making it wince in pain.

*Trumpet*

The Glowing Elephant stopped and roared. Its eyes turned bloody red, and it turned around right away, starting to chase Angele.

Chapter 82: The Chase (1)

Translator: Leo Editor: DarkGem/Frappe

Angele kept running, and the elephant kept on following him. Countless trees were knocked by the huge elephant on the way. It tried to throw stones and trees at Angele with its trunk, but Angele easily dodged all the projectiles.

He kept running, no longer sure how far he was from his original position.

The Glowing Elephant's wound had begun to heal. There was still some blood coming out of the cut, but it did not impact the elephant's ability to run.

Angele knew the elephant's Stamina was 15 but still thought its healing ability was impressive. He looked at the edge of his blade while running, noticing that it was already cracked after that one hit he had made.

Angele was still using the silver crossguard sword he had obtained from Dice, and he liked it a lot. He felt a bit sad that the blade was cracked by the elephant's skin.

'I have to get a new sword after this, damn.' Angele shook his head. 'But first, let me figure out a way to deal with this creature.'

He regretted leaving his poisoned weapons at the shop, but the elephant's Stamina was over 15, and the venoms he had were not strong enough for it anyways.

The elephant's Stamina was so high that it would be hard for Angele to deal any physical damage to it during a short period of time. He needed to keep attacking it like what Harland had done. The best way would be to open a deep wound on its body while having people to cover for him, but there was no one else around him right now.

The elephant trumpeted again and raised its head. A green fireball appeared between its tusks, and it threw the fireball toward Angele. Angele had a serious look on his face. He turned right and rushed behind a large tree.

*BAM*

The fireball hit the tree and exploded, drops of green flame alighting the grasses around. A basketball-sized hole was left on the body of the tree.

'Damn. I guess Stun Spell won't work on a target with such high Stamina. Let me try the Hand of Exhaustion. At least, it should reduce its speed.' Angele kept running, he put the sword back into its sheath and clapped his hands. They turned red within seconds.

************************

At the logging site.

Harland hit the elephant's feet again with his axe, and the axe stuck deep into its skin.

*PONG*

The elephant hit Harland with its trunk, and he fell onto the ground, not able to handle its force. Harland struggled to stand up. He spat out some blood and quickly looked around. Most of his team were either dead or injured.

The two Knights that had retreated with Tinos were now trying to attract the elephant's attention. The Glowing Elephant had wounds all over its body, and there was blood dripping down its skin. The elephant was about to die, but it was still trying its best to survive.

"Jack! You go!" Harland yelled.

"Yes, sir!" The Knight named Jack was injured too, but he could still fight. He tightened his grip on his great sword and rushed towards the elephant.

Suddenly, a white-feathered arrow blocked Jack's way.

"Who's there!"

Surprised by the attack, Jack raised his greatsword and looked in the direction that the arrow had come from.

The others were alerted by the arrow as well, and they started to check the surroundings.

Harland dropped his broken tower shield on the ground and grabbed the axe with his right hand. "I knew it. Two Glowing Elephants won't randomly appear around Lennon City!" he yelled. "Reveal yourselves!"

Harland heard the noise made by the armor pieces right away, and three men slowly walked out of the bush. Two of them were fully armored warriors: one bald and the other with short brown hair. He was also tall and strong. The man following the two was wearing a leather armor suit with a black robe over it, and his hair was silver. It was not a common sight to see people with silver hair around Lennon City.

"Harland, long time no see, haha." The bald man laughed.

"I and my brother missed you." The man with the short brown hair was also laughing.

"Vince brothers, you guys really can't give up Vader City, huh? Where is Kaiser? Why didn't he come here?" Harland laughed emotionlessly. "I didn't know you had the ability to control the Glowing Elephants. I guess a man with the mysterious power is helping you?"

Harland was talking to the two warriors, but he was looking at the man with silver hair.

"You are right." The man with silver hair smiled. "Vader City did me a huge favor during a recent event, and I am here to pay it back. I thought I lured two Glowing Elephants here, where is the other one? Someone else drew it away?"

'I guess he is the one with the mysterious power.'

Harland stayed on guard. People with mysterious power used different ways to fight, and he was not sure what skills the man in front of him had. He was not scared, but he sensed something different from the man with silver hair.

Harland kept staring the man, knowing that the man was dangerous just by looking at him. There was a strange aura around him.

"You are not a Wizard yet," Harland said.

"So what?" the man with silver hair said.

"You really think I can't deal with two Knights and an apprentice?" Harland smiled.

"Of course not. But you are injured now. Although you are a Grand Knight, you're no threat to me if you can barely use your left arm." The man with silver hair nodded. "I'm just here for the Glowing Elephants' hearts, and I don't care about you."

"You're using us to kill the elephants for you?" Tinos stepped forward and asked in anger.

"Bingo, ha," the man mocked him. "Sadly, the other one is gone, otherwise I could have gotten two hearts."

"You!" Tinos was trying to hold his anger.

"Good job, you guys can leave now," the man said in a calm voice and smiled. "We will gratefully clean up the mess for you."

Harland narrowed his eyes and stared at the man. "Let's go!" he yelled out.

The two Knights that were still fighting with the elephant backed off, and the soldiers that had survived the fight looked disappointed, but they all knew that the best choice they had at the moment was to leave.

.

The badly wounded elephant just stood there, unmoving; it was not trying to attack anymore. The elephant started to back off, it looked weak and was probably trying to escape.

Harland suddenly stopped after giving the order. It seemed like the arrow had reminded him of something, and he stared at the man with silver hair with hatred in his eyes.

"It's you?" Harland said.

"Yea, it's me. It's about time you recognized the arrow I shot," the man said. "Also, I killed several mice in the forest on my way here. I'm not sure if they were your pets, but I will apologize anyways."

"I respect your power," Harland said with a deep tone. "That's why my Crossbow Soldiers did not show up. 15 Crossbow Soldiers..."

Harland gritted his teeth. Only post-Knights could meet the requirements of becoming Crossbow Soldiers. They needed to be strong and practice both crossbow and stealth skills, too. He spent a long-time training each one of them, so he did not expect for them to be killed so easily. The large loss of his elite soldiers in this mission made him feel sad.

"What's the plan, brother?" Tinos asked in a light tone.

"Let's wait for Master Angele to come back," Harland replied. They paid a great price to deal with the Glowing Elephant, and he would not let it go so easily.

He knew the heart of the elephant had some special value to the Wizards and that every part of the elephant could be sold for a good amount of gold coins in the market. The skin of the elephant was used to make top-class leather armor pieces, while its meat was very nutritious and its tusks were almost priceless.

The Glowing Elephant could easily be sold for more than ten million gold coins.

*********************

In an area not so far from the logging site.

The sunlight was blocked by the leaves, and the shadows on the ground were dancing when the wind passed by.

A tall and strong man with a beard slowly walked out of the shadow. He was wearing a black chest piece, and he had two silver great swords on his back.

The man checked the surroundings and took out a white shell out of his pouch. He opened the shell, and there was one white lively string twisting in the water. Its head always pointed in one direction, no matter how the man rotated the shell.

"That's it. It's Harland from Lennon City," the man said as he closed the shell and put it back into his pouch.

The man drew out his two swords and ran in the direction the string in the shell had pointed at; it was the location of Harland and his soldiers. He disappeared in the forest after several seconds.

*********************

Harland had a serious look on his face. He knew that if he wanted to escape the three would not be able to stop him, but it looked like they were waiting for their reinforcements to arrive as well.

'Who's coming? We're right outside Lennon City, but it seems like they don't even care.' One man's name appeared in Harland's mind. 'It can't be.'

He knew there was a Grand Knight in Vader City. Lennon City and Vader City were two of the largest cities in the province, and Harland was the Grand Knight of Lennon. The other Grand Knight was named Campbell. He was the Grand Knight of Vader, and he wielded two great swords.

'I hope it's not him…' Harland was not sure if he was making the right decision, but he just did not want to hand over the elephant to the three.

The soldiers stopped after they realized Harland was not moving. They did not really care about the injured elephant because they knew it would not go too far with all these wounds, and they could easily track it down after the problem was dealt with.

*********************

*Huff*

Angele took a deep breath. He stood between the trees and looked at the Glowing Elephant that was trapped in the soft mud by the river.

'It'll need more than a minute to get out of the mud. The Hand of Exhaustion had actually worked, I could probably kill it by myself if I had the time. Damn.'

The Glowing Elephant was still trumpeting. Although it was still dragging a large tree with its trunk, it was slowly getting out of the mud.

Angele gave it one last look and started to head back the way he had come.

Chapter 83: The Chase (2)

Translator: Leo Editor: DarkGem/Frappe

Zero had sensed people hiding in the shadows when Angele had run down to lure the elephant away. The people hiding behind the bushes probably did not think Angele would notice them, but they did not know Angele had a chip that could record anything it detected.

'I need to go back. There is no way two Glowing Elephants just randomly appeared outside the city. Also, those people in the bushes… Maybe they're after Harland.' Angel's eyebrows furrowed. 'According to the data, Glowing Elephants are intelligent enough to make decisions, and they are cunning, but the two I saw here were different. Their eyes were red, and they had no reason to fight to their last breath. Maybe someone casted Bloodlust on them.'

Bloodlust was one of the basic water type spells. It was a level zero spell that had a similar effect to the Berserk Potion, but its effect was a bit weaker than the potion's. Bloodlust would only make the creatures lose their mind, without boosting their attributes. The Bloodlust model was displayed in the school as well, but Angele did not buy it; he only recorded the free data he had access to.

Angele stopped thinking and increased his speed. He was sure something went wrong.

************************

The logging site.

The last rays of sunlight made everything on the ground look red and shiny. With the white mist in the forest, the area was dreamy.

"Why are you still here?" the man with silver hair yelled out. "Although I'm not sure if I can kill you, you won���t stop us from taking the elephant. Also, I think you already know who's coming."

"Campbell, right? The man that dual wields swords," Harland said in a deep voice. It seemed like he was still having trouble with his left arm.

"Your left arm was not fractured. Why are you faking it?" The man looked at Harland's left arm.

"Well"—Harland straightened his back and stretched his arms— "I was planning to lure you out, but I guess I'm bad at acting." He smiled.

"One on one, Campbell will lose. However, what about you versus me and Campbell?" The man chuckled.

"I will lose for sure," Harland answered without hesitation.

"Let's go." Harland waved his hands. "I will retreat today. However, make sure you stay alert on your way back. The deep forest is probably more dangerous than you think…"

"We will see." The man smiled and stepped on Harland's broken tower shield.

"You will regret this…" Tinos stared at the three in anger. The soldiers behind him helped each other to stand up before starting to walk towards their horses.

Harland fell back with his axe in hand, still staring at the man's hands. He had fought with the people that could use the mysterious power before and knew that they could cast strange spells just with incantations or hand gestures.

Harland kept moving back until he reached a large tree. A silver greatsword suddenly appeared behind his head, but for some reason, Harland did not notice it at all.

*Clank*

A crossguard sword appeared before the man who was trying to slash Harland, but the man blocked the attack with another great sword in his other hand.

The two men dropped down from the trees and stepped back.

"Campbell!" Harland broke out in cold sweat. He hadn't noticed the stealth attack at all.

"How is that even possible? Did you cast some stealth spell on him?" Harland was staring at Campbell, but he was talking to the man with silver hair.

The man who tried to attack Harland was wielding two silver great swords. He was rubbing the back of his neck where there was a short line of blood dripping down. Angele was standing opposite the man with a thick beard, holding his sword and looking calm.

"You're fast. You can use mysterious power too?" Campbell laughed. "That's why Harland hasn't given up yet, right?"

The soldiers hadn't noticed Campbell until he traded attacks with Angele. They were surprised by how fast and accurate Campbell's attack was. Tinos' face turned pale, and he held the sword in his hand tight, his eyes filled up with fear.

"You really think there is nothing I can do?" Harland asked. He raised his axe and charged towards Campbell. His footsteps were heavy, and the ground was almost shaking.

Campbell jumped and backflipped to a tree behind. "Harland, long time no see. That's how you welcome an old friend?"

*Clink*

He swung his swords and sliced two daggers that were coming toward him into pieces.

Angele lowered his arms, and there was a serious look on his face, ��Impressive."

He drew his crossguard sword and stepped forward, but his way was blocked by the man with silver hair.

"You're an apprentice too, huh? I will be your opponent."

The soldiers were still trying to figure out what was going on when the Vinci Brothers had already blocked them from moving toward Harland. Thus, the battlefield was divided into three parts: Harland against Campbell, Angele against the man with silver hair, and the rest of Harland's team against the Vinci Brothers.

The man with silver hair smiled. "This place is too narrow for us, follow me."

He turned around and rushed into the deep forest in seconds.

Angele followed after the man, controlling his speed to keep a distance from his opponent, and they both disappeared in the mist.

***********************

On one of the main roads outside Lennon City.

The carriage lane was made from gray mud. Three black carriages were stopped by the bandits, and about ten guards of the carriage team were fighting them.

There were people screaming and yelling everywhere around the carriages.

A bandit laughed and stabbed into one of the guards' chests, the blade easily penetrating the white leather chest piece, and blood spurted out of the wound once the bandit pulled his blade out.

All the bandits were wearing white masks and gray scarfs. Their faces were covered very well.

Inside one of the carriages, Avril's mother embraced Avril in her arms while they peeked outside through the window. Avril's father held his commander sword in hand and was finishing off the bandits that had broken their defense formation. It seemed that her father knew how to fight, and he looked wild with the blood stains on his clothes.

"You think I don't know who you are? Damn Terrio's puppies! I will not give up my life here, and you will never take my territory from me!" Avril's father was yelling in anger.

Avril hugged her mother tighter after hearing her father's words.

"Don't worry, I'm here for you so no one will hurt you," Avril's mother whispered, but Avril could barely understand what she was saying.

"Mom, dad will win, right?" she asked in a light tone.

"Yea… He will, your father is the strongest man in the world," her mother responded.

Suddenly, someone groaned outside the carriage.

The man with the commander sword in hand was staring at another man in front him, and his eyes were filled with surprise. There was a dagger protruding from his stomach, and the blood coming out of the wound was dripping down to the ground.

"Why… Dunleavy… Why did you…" the man asked in pain, but there was no expression on Dunleavy's face.

"Don't blame me," Dunleavy answered in a deep voice.

"Avril, stay here!" The lady had a strange expression on her face as she released her daughter from her arms. "Once you find the chance, run, and… you will be alright!"

The lady patted the girl's head and pushed her away. She stood up, grabbing the silver sword lying by her side, opened the door and jumped off the carriage.

Avril stayed in the carriage alone, crouching down since she did not know what else to do. She was the only one left in the carriage, her parents gone.

Avril was in shock. She could hear people screaming outside while the bandits were approaching her carriage.

"Mother…" Avril was holding her knees on the floor, and a flood of tears gushed down her cheeks.

"Run… Mother told me to run…" She suddenly realized what she should do and quickly opened a hidden exit on the floor. There was mud down there.

********************

Angele and the man with silver hair were already several kilometers away from Harland and the others. They were so quick that the objects around them looked like slideshows.

Suddenly, they both heard some people fighting.

"Huh?"

The man with silver hair hesitated for a second. He then quickly changed his direction and ran toward the source of the noise.

Through the gap between trees, he could see several carriages being attacked by a group bandits with gray scarfs. The man with silver hair was trying to say something before approaching the carriages, but his expression suddenly changed, and he blocked Angele's slash with something black in his hands.

*Dang*

Angele's strike hit the man hard, but he floated in the air almost like a feather and flew through the carriages into the other side of the forest. It was almost like he had blocked the attack and used Angele's force to retreat.

Angele walked out of the forest slowly and swung his sword towards the road.

���Let's do it here."

He was calm, and there were green dots floating around him. He looked ghastly and bloodcurdling with the glowing green light.

"I don't really care."

The man with silver hair smiled. He walked out of the bush and raised his right hand. There was blue lightning sparking around his palm.

The carriages and bandits were right between Angele and the man with silver hair. Both parties stopped fighting after the two appeared.

"Wizards…" someone said in a shaky voice.

The place suddenly became silent, and everyone was dazed.

Some of them started to tremble.

Avril was under one of the carriages, looking for a chance to escape. She knew something had happened, and then saw Angele walk out of the forest.

Angele looked at the carriages and scrunched his eyebrows. He knew those carriages.

"Avril's carriage."

He narrowed his eyes.

Chapter 84: Intense Battle (1)

Translator: Leo Editor: DarkGem/Frappe

'Why is Avril here?' Angele wondered. It seemed like her carriage was being attacked by the bandits.

Avril had saved him once, and Angele had not yet found a chance to repay it. So since she was in trouble, he would try his best to help her.

Angele stopped thinking and instead returned his stare to the man with silver hair while dragging the green dots toward himself.

He was releasing the Wind energy particles into the air so they would help him act faster. Although using the particles was not as effective as casting Agility Burst, they could still provide him with a decent buff while increasing his magic resistance. It was one the advantage of being a rank 3 apprentice. Rank 2 apprentices would never be able to control the particles so accurately due to the limitations of their Mentality.

The man with silver hair clasped his hands, and a large electric arc appeared between his palms. The noise made by the lightning sparking was loud, and its arc made everything around look blue.

"Die!"

The man with silver hair chuckled and released the thick electric arc from his hands. It jumped toward Angele's head like a blue flash within a second.

Angele's expression changed, but he quickly reacted to the attack by swinging his sword toward the incoming electric arc, and the electricity was absorbed by the blade. Angele's sword turned blue, and he could still see tiny lightning sparks flickering around the blade.

Angele could barely hold the handle of his sword—it was blazing hot—and his right hand was almost burning. He quickly gathered the green particles towards his sword, and the Wind energy particles weakened the Lightning particles around the sword.

If the man's electric arc had hit a normal person, they would have been paralyzed and burnt to ashes.

Angele quickly thrust his sword into the ground, and the rest of the electricity disappeared in seconds. White smoke was coming out of Angele's body. He was injured by the heat from the electricity, and his clothes were burning.

'Thank god the electricity was from the Lightning particles, which is slow. If it was a real lightning strike, I'd be dead already.' Angele thought he was lucky, and he began to pay more attention to the man on the opposite side of the road.

Zero was not fast enough to calculate a plan for Angele when the man had released the electric arc, and he had to deal with the attack by himself. The chip was useless in fights between Wizards since the spells were way too fast for it to collect necessary data and figure out a counter.

After Angele dealt with the electricity, he charged toward the man with silver hair with a raised hand. A white flash appeared in the air and flew towards the man's chest.

The man with silver hair had seemed to know the lightning spell would not work on Angele and had lowered his head to start another incantation.

Angele could see the man waving his hand in the air, and there were blue runes appearing around it. He had to be preparing to cast some powerful spell.

The man was not concerned about the daggers flying toward him. He moved one step to the left and dodged them easily, still preparing for the next spell.

Suddenly, the man raised his hands in the air and a pentagram magic circle slowly appeared under his feet. Its dazzling blue light almost blinded Angele.

He then pointed at Angele, and a finger-sized blue laser was generated by the magic circle which then shot toward Angele. The Lightning particles were gathered together and became a laser. There were also unstable tiny lightning sparks around it. The laser could easily paralyze and penetrate anything on its way.

The laser was about six meters long, and it looked like a blue spear. The blue spear was slowly traveling through the air, but it seemed like the man was still channeling the spell so the laser would not disappear after landing on the target.

The man with silver hair was enjoying the fight. The magic circle was specially designed for him by his master. Besides creating lasers, it could also help the man block incoming projectiles. His skill level was very close to a formal Wizard's with the defensive enchanted item he was using.

Most bandits had already fled due to the fear of the Wizards, but some unlucky ones were still penetrated by the laser. They fell to the ground, paralyzed.

Knight Dunleavy took a last glance at the carriages before escaping, but someone on the ground grabbed his ankle and stopped him from leaving. It was Avril's father. There was blood all over his face, and it made his smile scary.

*CHI*

Dunleavy was hit by the lightning sparking from the laser, and he was paralyzed by it.

Angele passed by him while charging toward the man with silver hair, and he cut Dunleavy's throat open. A line of blood spurted out of Dunleavy's neck. He stood there for several seconds, then fell to the ground. There he trembled for several seconds and died before realizing what had actually happened.

Angele threw a green potion to Avril's mother after cutting Dunleavy's throat open.

"Apply the potion to his wound. It will stop the bleeding," Angele ordered in passing. He was still charging toward the man with silver hair.

Avril's mother held her left arm tight and rushed towards the carriage after seeing what Angele just did. She helped her daughter that was hiding beneath the carriage to get out and wiped the dust off Avril's clothes.

"Mother… What about dad? We need to help him!" Avril was almost yelling, her face still covered with tears.

Avril's mother picked up the green potion with gritted her teeth. "Your father will be fine," she said, then quickly pulled the stopper off the potion.

After another lightning bolt struck the bushes, Angele and the man with silver hair disappeared into the forest once again. The blue light was getting farther and farther. It seemed like one of them was chasing the other.

"Damn! Not this again!"

Angele missed another slash, and he was getting nervous. The man with silver hair kept dodging his attacks with ease while chuckling all the time. The magic circle moved when he moved, and it buffed his speed as well.

After missing the hit, Angele rolled to the left right away and dodged the incoming laser attack. Everything where he had been standing just a moment ago got burnt to ashes in seconds.

'Such power…'

Cold sweat poured down Angele's back. He was certain he'd be dead if he had gotten hit by the laser.

He could dodge the lasers because they were slow, but the tiny electric pulse around the laser was still a problem.

Angele bent down and kept moving, but the lasers easily located him every time he changed locations. There were burn marks everywhere in the bushes now.

Angele tried his best to dodge everything, but he was still hit by the pulse and became paralyzed for a second.

*RIZZZ*

His right arm was hit by the laser and got burnt due to the extremely high temperature. The pain made Angele even more nervous.

'He's a rank 3 apprentice too, but he is much stronger than me. If only I had access to more spell models…"

Angele dodged another blue electric arc and finally got closer to the man with silver hair.

He jumped toward the man and aimed at the man's neck with his sword.

Again, Angele's attack missed, and he hit a tree on the side, slicing off several pieces of wood.

The man with silver hair smiled and pointed at Angele. An electric arc burst from the tip of his finger and hit Angele's chest.

Although the arc was much weaker than the laser, it still left a burn mark on his chest. Cold sweat was still running down his back, and his actions were becoming slower due to the pain.

"Why don't you understand? You can't even touch me since I only use ranged spells. I can crush you like an insect if you can't get close to me," the man said in a light tone, sounding both contemptuous and arrogant.

Angele's expression did not change. He kept attacking the man with his sword skills, even if he was yet to land a single hit.

*RIZZZ*

Angele's left arm was hit by the electric arc again.

"Do you even know how to cast spells? You're just like an average warrior with your weak physical skills. If you focused on close combat spells, you should at least learn to deal with ranged spells. Pathetic," the man with silver hair started to mock Angele. "How long can you hide? Your endurance is good, almost like a Knight's, but it won't help you."

*HUFF*

Angele was breathing hard.

The man had paused his attacks to talk, and Angele finally had time to recover a bit. He threw the last dagger he had with his left hand, aiming right at the face of the man with silver hair.

"That's all you got?" the man with silver hair taunted and raised his hands again. Countless electric arcs appeared in the air, and they all started to rotate around him. The dagger was slowed down and eventually stopped by the electricity after entering the magic circle.

The dagger had still slowed the man for a second, and Angele used that moment to jump at the man again. He started to strike the man from different angles with his sword skills. Although the man was still dodged most of Angele's slashes, he had managed to hit him several times, and there was blood spurting out of his wounds.

After losing some blood, the man's face turned pale, and the lightning pulse generated by the magic circles became less and less. It seemed like the man did not have enough Mentality and Mana to keep the magic circle up.

*BAM*

The man suddenly got knocked back, and he dropped to the ground after hitting a tree. He coughed up some blood and kneeled on the ground.

The mist that was floating around Angele disappeared. He had done everything he could but still failed to kill the opponent.

He was uncertain if the man had really lost his ability to fight and could no longer make another electric arc. Even though it seemed like he was badly injured after taking all the hits, Angele still decided not to take a step closer.

Chapter 85: Intense Battle (2)

Translator: Leo Editor: DarkGem/Frappe

The man with silver hair pointed his finger at Angele again, a blue electric laser appearing at the tip of his finger, and was about to unleash it towards him. Suddenly, a crossguard sword hit the laser and stabbed into the ground beside the man. The rest of the electric pulse spread into the ground, and there were energy particles leaking everywhere. The sounds made by the sparks were extremely loud and intense.

Soon, the magic circle under the man collapsed.

The man's expression changed. He just now noticed that Angele was only several meters away from him.

Angele's hands were bloody red as if their skin was peeled off. Green dots of light around his feet were protecting him from the electric pulses.

"You think you can…" The man did not finish his words, a wave of dizziness washing over him. "It's the Stun Spell!"

The man tried to leap away, but it was too late.

Angele was extremely calm at the moment. The closer he was to victory, the more careful he needed to be. He wanted to make sure he did not mess this up.

There was a black dagger in his right hand, his father's gift. It was the first time he was going to put it to use.

He held his dagger tight and leaned forward.

"Ah!" He groaned.

"You thought I didn't know what you were going to do? You thought I didn't know metals were conductive?" The man leaped away and landed on his feet. He stared at Angele and sneered.

Countless tiny electric arcs were climbing up Angele's body like insects. There were many green and red light dots coming out of Angele's body, protecting him from getting hurt by the blue electric arcs. But Angele was not feeling well. He was paralyzed.

"However, it's quite impressive that you broke my magic circle." The man stopped smiling. "I mean, for a rat like you, it's truly impressive. I was planning to finish you off quickly and grab the parts I needed from the elephant, but oh well. I will become a Wizard after I return to my school so I'm happy that I found you. I gained some practical experience."

The man raised his hand again, and another blue electric arc flew toward Angele.

He rolled to the right, but he was too slow to dodge the attack, and the electric arc hit his shoulders. He trembled and barely able to stand still.

"Now who's laughing?" The man sneered. "Come at me."

Angele charged toward him after pulling his crossguard sword out of the ground.

The man applied a speed buff on himself and leaped back, easily dodging Angele's attack. He waved his hand and hit Angele with another electric arc, but without the help of the magic circle, the electricity didn't deal as much damage as before.

"You're a coward," Angele suddenly said.

He stared at the man, holding his sword tight. There were still electric pulses moving around his body. Many burns marked his skin, and Zero kept warning him about how badly wounded he was. He would die if he kept getting hit by the electric arcs.

"Dumbass! I'm not good at close combat." The man knew Angele was taunting him. "It won't work. You should tell me your last wish. I can make it come true if I'll feel like it, hahahahah."

Angele had no expression on his face. He charged toward the man again and threw his dagger at the man's chest. The dagger was thrown with his full strength, and it drew a black line in the air.

"I told you it won't work!"

Once more the man blocked Angele's attack with the black thing he had used earlier. The dagger hit the thing and dropped to the ground.

A black chain flew towards the man and bounded him. He hadn't known Angele had so many different weapons. Having failed to dodge the chain, he looked surprised.

However, the man smiled and chopped the chain to pieces with the black blinking thing.

"That's all you got?"

The man chuckled and dodged Angele's front slash again.

"Damn!" The man was really getting on Angele's nerves. "You little monkey!"

"Retard!"

The man with silver hair started to use incantations again, but he looked tired. A fist-sized blue electric ball appeared beside him. There were many electric arcs in the ball as it floated in the air.

"Wait! You're from Manchester School too, right?" Angele asked, calming down.

"Huh?" The man hesitated, confused. "You are an apprentice from Manchester?" He wondered why Angele suddenly brought this up, but he had rules to follow. "Show me your sigil."

Manchester School was a strong Wizard organization, and fights between rank 3 apprentices were against the rule there. The punishment for rule violations was very hard, and the man did not want to risk it.

Angele smiled.

'Warning! Warning! Your heart rate is way too high, and your bioelectricity is being interfered with. If you take another electric attack in the next hour, your heart will stop!' Zero reported.

"I didn't know we're from the same school. There must be some misunderstanding between us."

Angele kept smiling.

"Show me your sigil," the man said in a deep voice. "If you're lying, I'll kill all your relatives, and I have my own ways to find them."

Angele nodded and slowly walked toward the man. He put his right hand into the pouch on the back of his waist. It looked like he was trying to take something out of it.

One more electric arc and Angele would be dead. However, he was not scared for some reason, rather he was even getting excited. Angele felt like he was in a trance at that moment. The pain from the wounds, the numbness from the electric attacks, and the chilling wind blowing in the forest - all of them made him feel like everything was so real. He could actually sense his presence in this world.

Angele knew that he was not a normal man that lived on Earth anymore, and he needed to do whatever he could to survive in this new world.

He suddenly realized something, and the objects around him became vivid. The memories of the earth became a slideshow in front of his eyes.

Angele was still smiling, and he looked relaxed. It seemed like the man with silver hair believed what he just said after seeing his natural smile and canceled the spell he was going to cast. He thought a lying man would never show a smile like that.

"Show me your sigil. Why didn't you tell me earlier that you were from Manchester?"

The man looked relieved.

Angele looked at him with a strange expression on his face as black smoke kept coming from his body.

"I guess you don't have a lot of mana left?"

"What?"

The man's expression changed. He had been trying to say something when he saw Angele charging toward him, ready to cut his throat with the silver crossguard sword.

"How dare you!" he yelled out and quickly leaped backward. Again, an electric ball appeared on his right hand, but his face turned pale. He had just wasted most of his mana and mentality on the previous spell he had cast and had barely any mana left.

Angele's assumption was right—the man was out of mana. He drew the electricity toward his sword and threw it toward the man. His opponent leaned left, trying his best to avoid the sword, but it still hit his right shoulder, and the electricity on the sword paralyzed him for several seconds.

"The black enchanted item you were using probably reached its limit for the day too."

Angele smiled and walked toward the man.

The man's face turned serious. He pulled the crossguard sword out of his shoulder and dropped it to the ground. The heat from the electric pulses burnt his wound and stopped it from bleeding.

"You're smart. I don't even know why I trusted you for a second. I don't have much mana left, but your wounds are severe. You still think you can win?"

"We'll see." Angele charged forward and picked up the crossguard sword from the ground. The blade became blurry as Angele rushed aiming at multiple weak points on the man's body.

The gloomy electric ball exploded, and the man groaned as he stepped back. His stomach was almost penetrated by Angele's sword. He held the wound with his hands, but there was blood leaking out through the gaps between his fingers.

Angele swung his sword and the electric pulses dropped to the ground. The black smoke was protecting him from taking any lightning damage, and it was formed by the last negative energy particles in his body. The stored wind and fire energy particles were all gone so the negative energy particles were all he had left, but they would not last long. Zero told him that he had about ten seconds before all the negative energy particles would be consumed.

"Fool! Didn't your master tell you, once you use up all your mana, you can easily be killed by a close combat spell user?"

Angele was slowly approaching the man, trying to make sure that his opponent did not have another enchanted item or special spell prepared. It was a cautious advance.

The fights between Wizards were all about the stability of their minds. If a Wizard could easily be disturbed by the words his opponent was saying, he would not be able to form any spell models. If that happened, no matter how high his Mentality was, he would not be able to cast any spells.

Angele and the man with silver hair tried to test each other's stability of mind by cursing or saying weird things, but it seemed like both of their minds were stable.