Chapter 186: Stunned the ships behind.

Bolf took an excited swig of strong liquor. “I had no idea Mage Apprentices could be this powerful!”

As he remembered them, apprentices could barely get through an incantation. They stumbled over the words and often got them wrong.

Everyone knew spells had to be cast in Elven, the hardest language in the world to learn. For a human, learning a completely unfamiliar language was sheer torture.

Most mages learned only the Elven words they needed for spells. Ask them anything beyond that, and they were lost.

Yet incantations had to be used flexibly. If a mage’s Elven was poor and they could not describe precisely what they wanted, they had little hope of making a spell more powerful.

These seven Mage Apprentices were different.

Bolf was in his forties. He would not claim to know much Elven, but he had heard plenty of mages cast spells. To his ear, these seven spoke it fluently and with remarkably good pronunciation.

No wonder they had received letters of recommendation to Saint Vilia Magic Academy.

“Two of them are Senior Mage Apprentices,” Johnny said. “They’re as strong as mages.”

“Then we should hire mages whenever we travel by river,” Bolf suggested.

Johnny shook his head. “I’m afraid the next mages we hire won’t be as good as these seven.”

None of the mages he had met before could compare with the Light Squad.

They understood one another instinctively and worked together without a hitch. That kind of teamwork could not be built overnight.

Whatever the case, today’s battle had set his blood racing. He wished he could join in and give the pirates a good beating himself.

The people aboard the ships behind them were just as excited.

They had been waiting their turn in line when the cargo ship ahead suddenly blazed with dazzling light and began charging through everything in its path. By the time they understood what was happening, magic had engulfed the river ahead. The ferocious pirates were being struck down without a chance to fight back, wailing as they fell.

The ships behind did not dare advance. They stayed where they were while everyone aboard stared at the battle from a distance.

Whose family owned that cargo ship? And what mercenary company had they hired? They were formidable!

Seeing the river pirates get the worst of it for once was immensely satisfying.

“Go on! Get them! Kill every last one of those pirates!”

“They’re almost through the blockade.”

“Should we rush through behind them? The pirates have taken heavy losses. We could slip past in the confusion...”

“Don’t celebrate yet. These are just the small fry. Once the pirates’ best fighters arrive, the people on that cargo ship will be in trouble.”

An old captain who regularly traveled the river knew what the pirates were capable of.

The pirates being swept aside were ordinary humans. They had only been able to throw their weight around for so long because far more powerful figures stood behind them.

The old captain knew it, and so did Bolf.

Before the cargo ship set out, Bolf had warned the seven Mage Apprentices. The pirates were numerous and included humans and members of other peoples. Most dangerous of all was a necromancer named Oguta.

His presence was the reason the pirates had been able to run wild for so many years.

Shu Li had taken Bolf’s warning to heart. Even with the battle overwhelmingly in their favor and victory in sight, he did not let down his guard.

He wanted to weaken the pirates as much as possible, preferably by killing the necromancer. Without him to rely on, how long would they dare keep acting so brazenly?

If the nearby lords had any sense, they would seize this chance to send troops against the pirates and uproot the menace that had plagued the river for years. They could make the Itongli River safe for ships again. It was a perfect opportunity to win distinction—they had better not miss it.

The cargo ship passed through the blockade with ease. The pirate underlings, who knew no tactic beyond brute force, could only watch helplessly as it went by.

Maiza was soaked to the skin. Weeds from the riverbed had nearly caught his ankles and dragged him down to feed the fish.

“Where is everyone? Why aren’t they here yet?” he roared.

Damn Oguta. Had he gone digging up graves again? What did he need so many skeletons for? Could they swim like humans?

As Maiza raged, movement finally appeared ahead.

Two or three hundred large assault boats converged from every direction. The necromancer descended from the sky astride the skeleton of his magical bird.

“Brother Maiza! Brother Maiza!” George rowed about searching for him. When he spotted the big man clinging to a plank, he hurried over and hauled him into the boat.

As soon as Maiza was aboard, he slapped George hard on the back. “What took you so long? I nearly died!”

George did not dare argue. He hunched his shoulders and gave an apologetic smile. “Well... Master Oguta was conducting an experiment. That delayed us a little.”

Maiza cursed under his breath and ordered George to row after the cargo ship.

He intended to see exactly which reckless mages had slaughtered so many of his men.

At the sight of the bodies floating on the river, he ground his teeth. “I’m going to kill everyone aboard that ship!”

The Light Squad had spotted the newly arrived pirates too, along with the black-robed mage riding the skeletal bird.

Shu Li walked to the bow and stood beside Ace, looking up at the sky.

“That’s the necromancer Bolf told us about. Oguta.”

“Mm.” Ace glanced up. “Help the others. I’ll deal with him.”

“No. You can’t take him on alone.” Shu Li frowned. Ace was only an Intermediate Mage Apprentice, while the necromancer looked to have reached the level of an Intermediate Magister.

No wonder Oguta was arrogant enough to seize control of the river and rob passing ships with impunity.

Ace was the only true Mage Apprentice in the Light Squad. How could Shu Li let him face the necromancer alone?

Shu Li was a Grand Mage. If he stepped in, they could be sure of winning.

But as far as their human classmate knew, the rest of the team were Mage Apprentices too.

“Oguta is a high-level necromancer. Even all seven of us together might not be able to defeat him,” Ace said gravely. “I’ll hold him off. You find a way past the pirates. Once the ship reaches Duke Derek’s territory, we’ll have succeeded.”

“And what about you?” Shu Li asked, still frowning.

“I use wind magic. Oguta’s skeletal bird won’t be able to catch me,” Ace said.

“I can use wind magic too.” Shu Li held his emerald-green gaze. “Let’s stop arguing and face him together.”

If Shu Li could not talk him out of it, he would join him.

Even if it meant revealing his true strength, he would not let their human classmate come to harm.

Ace’s expression softened. He smiled. “All right.”