Act IX: The Battle of the Lich

Lower-level liches are skilled in two spells: Dark Veil and Corruption. Both of these spells are categorized as "Evil" dark magic.

In the game, dark magic was introduced to the world by the Minel, servants of the Twilight Dragon. Before the Age of Dawn began, they lived in the frozen highlands north of Cruz.

Minel shamans were adept in both necromancy and dark witchcraft, and these types of spells, along with all offensive magic outside of elemental, natural, and holy factions, became collectively known as dark magic.

After the Holy War, King Gilt drove these dark beings to the cold east, and it is said that no one has seen them since.

However, the Minel did exist. In the Dark Codex, the dark lords exiled to Madara learned necromancy from these demonic descendants.

The Dark Veil, despite its name, is somewhat misleadingly labeled as dark magic. It is actually a support-type stealth spell that can conceal a small group of skeleton soldiers.

Of course, it does not render them completely invisible or erase sounds, smells, or other sensory inputs, and it is limited to a certain range. But in the darkness of night, this spell becomes the perfect cover for Madara's undead army, which is why the Madara forces often choose to act at night.

As for Corruption, this terrible dark magic had already been witnessed on Josen by Freya and others.

It is a vicious attack spell and the primary offensive tool of liches. It relies on negative energy to erode the enemy; the more severe the enemy's negative emotions and the weaker their will, the greater the spell's damage.

Until death.

This spell, like most dark magic, amplifies negative energy to manifest destructive power.

Controlling mysterious dark magic and commanding thoughtless skeleton soldiers—who are stronger and inherently cunning—makes liches seem like formidable enemies.

But Lin Fei knows a secret: liches themselves do not possess the ability to cast spells. Their true power comes from the bone staff they wield, a powerful magical item unique to each lich. Once separated from the staff, it reverts to a plain stick.

Understanding this, one can devise tactics to counter them.

As another skeleton soldier fell, Lin Fei instructed Freya, the most skilled swordswoman among the militia, and Essen to flank the lich preparing its spell.

"Attack its hands. Dark witchcraft isn't as mysterious as you think," Lin Fei pointed out the undead creature's weakness: "See its hand movements? Disrupt its spell and seize its staff…"

The lich suddenly looked up and locked eyes with Lin Fei, its eyes glowing with a malevolent green fire. Lin Fei felt a chill and a dry throat—he knew the lich had fixated on him. But our protagonist quickly regained his composure. The lich could not bypass the attacking militia.

Still, being targeted by a lifeless, cold monster was unsettling, and Lin Fei had to wait for Freya and Essen's attacks to take effect.

The lich grinned sinisterly and waved its staff, causing the darkness around it to ripple and engulf it. When Essen's longsword thrust through the dark like a shard of snowlight, it only struck empty space where the undead creature had been.

"Huh?" The young man was momentarily stunned.

Lin Fei remained unfazed. He was very familiar with these tricks. "Essen, to your left!"

Essen didn't react immediately.

But Freya, arriving from behind, swung her sword straight at the position Lin Fei had indicated. The blade traced a straight silver line in the dim light, almost reaching the spot. However, before it could, the lich had already staggered backward.

Everyone saw the shadow retreat like flowing water.

"Human, who are you? You're not just a militia!" a sharp voice erupted from the shadows. The lich seemed agitated.

Indeed, the militia could not know so much; some of what Lin Fei had said was even known only among wizards in Madara.

But Lin Fei remained silent, and Freya's second strike followed. The lich's green eyes flashed with fury as it raised its staff to deflect the young woman's sword. The lich, with a strength of 1.7 levels, was surely more powerful than Freya, who probably wasn't stronger than Charlotte.

Freya's attack was easily deflected, and she was pushed back several steps before she stopped, instinctively clutching her left shoulder and frowning slightly.

Her previous arrow wound seemed to have reopened—

"Freya, let Markmi take over. Your wound…" Essen called out, unable to suppress his concern.

Markmi and young Phineas arrived from behind.

"Phineas, fall back!" Freya ordered, her sword held out to block the boy, her voice stern.

"But I'm a militia too!" the boy protested.

"Back off, do you hear me——!"

Phineas's face flushed with anger, but he still dared not disobey Freya's order. Among their group of young people, Freya had always been the leader. The girl was kind-hearted and had her own principles, and everyone respected her as a leader.

Lin Fei shook his head behind them. The battlefield was not a place for disputes. Yet, Freya's insistence earned his admiration. Such girls were rare in his world.

"You four, attack together," he said.

"Mr. Charlotte, you—!" Freya took a deep breath and looked back. The young man lying on the rock—Roman—still stood beside him, looking innocent and even winking.

This damned kid, already turning against us!

She couldn't help but feel frustrated.

"The lich is a tough opponent. The four of you can cover each other well," Lin Fei said seriously.

"But Phineas…"

"He's a militia too."

Freya bit her lip, looking back. Markmi and Essen were already being pushed back under the lich's assault. If the undead creature found a chance to cast its spell, the team might suffer more casualties.

She couldn't bear that.

With that thought, she nodded reluctantly, "Alright."

"Hooray! Charlotte, you're amazing!" Phineas shouted, drawing his longsword immediately. But Freya grabbed him by the collar and pulled him back, sternly commanding, "Stick with me, don't leave my cover, understood——"

"Oh…" came the disappointed response.

With Freya and Phineas joining the fight, the situation quickly turned around. Freya and Essen, both exceptional swordsmen among this batch of militia, were joined by the surprisingly impressive Phineas—who was aggressive and precise in his strikes. According to Lin Fei, this kid's fighting style was decisively offensive, reminiscent of Cruz's aggressive battlefield sword techniques rather than the defensive swordsmanship of Eluin's military style.

From a veteran's perspective, this was high praise.

Lin Fei thought that when Phineas grew up to be as skilled as Charlotte, his swordsmanship would be nearly as impressive, though perhaps lacking in instinct—since Charlotte seemed born for combat.

He sometimes wondered if, had the young man in history survived and grown through war, his achievements might not have shone less brightly than Freya's.

Alas, the world is unpredictable, and history has no "what ifs."

Of course, the most crucial aspect of this battle was the young man's timely reminders. Lin Fei seemed to see through the lich's every intention, predicting its actions and advising on when to disrupt its spells.

What was it planning? Why was it doing this? Was it preparing a spell? When should it be interfered with?

The lich grew increasingly alarmed. Although the undead cannot feel fear, they can still become disoriented. It almost screamed, "Who are you? A necromancer? Or a black knight?"

This question earned the lich a merciless blow from Freya, and its staff-gripping claws were sent flying. The monster let out a scream, its green fire dimming in its sunken eyes.

"Damn humans…"

The battle ended with Markmi's solid strike. The lich, already exhausted from the fight, howled in defiance as its hands and staff were shattered. It watched helplessly as the bright blade cut into its skull.

With a crack, the soul flame burst from its body. This was the creature's final counterattack, but thanks to Lin Fei's guidance, only Essen's right hand suffered a slight burn due to a slow dodge.

Meanwhile, the others also took a casualty to defeat the remaining two skeletons. When the forest fell silent again, only the wind rustled through the treetops.

Everyone stopped, exchanging looks of disbelief.

Even Freya was astonished. They had won against four skeleton soldiers and a fearsome lich.

Markmi's sword clattered to the ground, triggering a chain reaction among the others. They couldn't help but embrace each other, shouting and crying out in relief, overwhelmed by their survival.

Lin Fei, however, remained calm. He looked up and saw three golden lights rising from the darkness and merging into his chest. No one around seemed to notice this detail, not even Roman, who stood beside him.

The merchant girl was visibly relieved.

Was it only him who could see this? Lin Fei wondered with some curiosity.

He glanced around and instinctively checked his stats, just as he did in the "Sword of Amber." After a battle, Lin Fei always assessed his gains and losses first.

Lines of green numbers appeared on his retina:

Strength 1.1, Dexterity 2.0, Constitution 1.0, Intelligence 1.1, Willpower 1.3, Perception 1.0.

Absolute Strength 3.5, Elemental (Unawakened)—

Charlotte, Human Male, Level 1 (Strength System: Physical, Melee; Talent: Resilience)

P: 4 (Civilian Level 1: —, Militia Level 2, 6/10)

Health (Weak, Near Death): 10 (Bandaged, restores 1 point per day)

Occupation (Idle Skill Experience 1)—

Civilian [Basic Knowledge (Level 1), Geography (Level 0), Local Knowledge (Level 1)]

Militia [Military Swordsmanship (Level 1), Combat Skills (Level 1), Tactical Theory (Level 0), Military Organization (Level 0)]

The attributes that had changed were Strength and Constitution, indicating that his physical fitness had improved from the militia training (leveling up).

His absolute strength increased by 2.5 levels, mainly due to the Windstorm Ring's 1-point Dexterity boost, with secondary improvements from physical fitness changes.

Finally, in this battle, he earned only four experience points from the four skeleton soldiers and one lich. Only half of the deserved experience, Lin Fei concluded it was a team penalty.

This was absurd. How could such a thing exist in the real world? However, as a gaming enthusiast, he had no professional knowledge to explain it. After all, crossing over itself was a more absurd matter.

Wasn't it?

He initially wanted to figure out the team penalty calculation, but soon realized it was futile, as it seemed entirely unrelated to the game he knew.

"By Masha, it's good that I'm thick-skinned…" He couldn't help but rub his forehead in frustration.

But then Lin Fei hesitated, looking at his militia level. He wasn't keen on investing more experience in this profession. The militia's ineffectiveness was well-known, and it had always been considered a useless class.

In his previous life, he never imagined he would waste experience on this profession.

And he had chosen Resilience as his talent!

By Masha, there were many talents suitable for warriors, and Resilience was the worst. This skill could save him from fatal physical attacks, but he only had five minutes to arrange his affairs unless he received powerful healing before then.

But so far, he had yet to see anything more effective than bandages for restoring health. In the game, such items were everywhere.

Still, Lin Fei didn't regret it too much. After all, this skill had saved his life.

Yet the current situation was the same—he couldn't find a way to switch to other professions. And he needed strength urgently, so the only option left was to go all the way with the militia profession.

Lin Fei felt somewhat depressed.

Was he to become a seasoned militia instead of a seasoned warrior? Hey, wasn't a warrior already enough of a cannon fodder!