Overconfidence

'Fortunately, my spiritual power has restored already.'

Relieved at this fact, the hooded Aren walked at his own pace to arrive before the grey robed apprentice.

As for the reason why he didn't avoid the fight?

It was not that he wanted to confront any enemy he saw but he had sensed, with the help of his token, that apprentice in front of him had collected three moonstones in total. Aren couldn't let such a big fish escape him.

However, Aren became shocked within a minute of arriving at this clearing. And the fact that astonished him was not that the apprentice in front of him was formidable but was his attitude when Aren stopped before him.

"It seems you have collected a moonstone. How laudable that you didn't run away when you saw me!" is what he said when Aren halted his steps at a distance away from him.

"Since you're so brave, Then face yours truly Dameil's mind magic!" Then giving Aren no time to reply, he again said as he Uh... posed himself?

Speechless!

Aren truly became speechless at this boy's foolishness! Which mage would announce their spell before casting? And where was his confidence coming from actually? Him taking down an apprentice didn't mean Aren would also be the same.

'It seems the world isn't only filled with level-headed, crafty and wary ones.'

Although Aren thought of this, he didn't dare underestimate his opponent. Who knew? This guy might even be putting on an act to make him lower his guard. If that was so, then Aren would regret it big time.

In fact, Aren had already formed a connection with his spellbook the moment he saw this apprentice. Now with a thought of his, the spellbook would appear on his hand and spell ''Probability Change'' would be casted.

With that ''declaration'' of his, Dameil's spellbook glowed in a dim white light as he chanted the activation incantation.

"Spirit strike!"

'Here it comes'

Just as he had planned, Aren's spellbook automatically landed on his palm and the pages turned, casting the ''probability change'' spell.

Yet the desired effect of the ''spirit strike'' missing him didn't happen. Instead, the spell actually hit him, making his head dizzy.

"Ah!" Aren held his head with his two hands, his face showing a pained expression. Due to the spell's effect, Aren even felt like throwing up. His mind temporarily couldn't think of anything.

He started to feel that his vision was turning blurry but suddenly, he saw his rune shining brightly in his spiritual space. With the timely and fortunate appearance of his rune, the effect of spirit strike receded.

With his mind finally cleared and that vomit-inducing sensation gone, Aren could now think of what had happened. After the apprentice attacked with his spell, Aren had also casted probability change.

He was sure that there was not any mistake in his incantations or timing. Still, he was attacked by the spirit strike... the only way that could happen was if the spell was not aimed at him, due to which the probability of the spell hitting him increased instead.

But that apprentice couldn't have known Aren was a diviner... Even if he could, there was no telling that Aren would surely cast probability change. Aren couldn't think of anything. Was it an ability of a special rune? He didn't know.

He then remembered that the boy was rather foolish for an apprentice. It was as if he had finally fulfilled his dream of learning a spell and wanted to use it.

'It can't be...'

Lifting his head, Aren decided to test the boy. Although it was dangerous, Aren knew that with the help of abilities of his rune, he wouldn't die immediately.

Closing his spellbook, he powered his legs with runic force and hurled forward at the apprentice. Dameil suprisingly didn't panic at the opponent's strange actions and chanted the incantations calmly, then when Aren was about to reach him; he casted his spell. His face was now radiating even more confidence than when he first cast the spell.

As prepared as he was, Aren still couldn't help but worry for himself when the boy actually cast the spell. He prepared for the worst circumstances like directly losing consciousness but even after five seconds...

Nothing.

Nothing happened! No whirling sensation, no sudden headache, no blurring of sight.

'So it was true...'

Aren was now truly at a loss for words. It seemed that, even the first time the apprentice had cast spirit strike, the spell wasn't even directed at him.

The grey robed apprentice who was actually looking that confident hadn't even practiced with his spells. Aren was sure that defeating another apprentice that was lying on the ground was a fluke.

When Dameil saw that the hooded figure didn't stop as he had expected, but instead was still moving towards him; cold sweat started appearing on his forehead.

At this point, there was no time for him to cast another spell and even if he could, there was no guarantee that he would hit the fast moving Aren.

With no time to think of anything, he could now only throw his spellbook in panic and instinctively cover his head with his arms. Yet by doing that, his belly and chest area was left open for Aren to strike.

Aren quickly appeared beside Dameil, inclining his body in a slugfest manner as he pulled back his fist filled with runic force and gave a solid punch on the boy's stomach.

Bang!

The crepitation of air resounded following which the grey-robed Dameil was flown ten to fifteen meters away.

Thud!

His body came to a stop after the force which was pushing him forward was expended. The boy didn't even get to cry for help before he fainted immediately.

Aren went near the now unconscious Dameil and took his token from his robes. As he placed his and the apprentice's token together, the count of moonstones he collected reached 4.

Aren then threw the now useless token on the ground and put his inside his pocket. Looking at the boy, whose face was covered in mud, Aren thought if he should kill him.

Although, this apprentice called Dameil did irritate him with his cocky attitude, was it really necessary to kill him and antagonize his whole family? The answer was no.

Aren was not a person to be led by rage. After years of working under the government back on earth, he had learned how to be humble, how to compromise and how to avoid trouble.

It might have been a different story if he was also from a mage family but he was not. So there was no need to seek trouble by meaningless killing.

Aren left Dameil alone and walked towards the woods. After half an hour of walking, when he had left that clearing far away, he suddenly stopped.

Quickly opening his spellbook, he turned to the last page. Katty's spiritual imprint was finally giving a weak signal now.

Yet rather than rejoicing at the fact, a frown formed in his forehead instead.

That signal was coming from other side of the river shore.