Chapter 70: Mass Strengthening!

"The tide was set..."

Distributing the fifty-one of them into groups based on precision, heavy firepower, and defense, the next few days were filled with training and only training.

In the morning, Ethan would teach them how to handle mana; in the afternoon, he would take turns teaching each group some of the spells he knew, having them fight against each other to promote teamwork.

In this process, four people truly stood out to him among the fifty-one:

Thomas Reed, known as the Battle Architect: among all the people present, he was the first person to understand and use Mana Sight, possessing a higher sensitivity to mana than others.

While he wasn’t the strongest of the veterans or the one with the most kills, Thomas was someone who, with the right equipment, could turn a simple bunker into an impenetrable fortress.

Kenjiro Sato: adept with the Mana Blade. With a combination of Mana Sight and his Mana Blade, he could even cut bullets.

Darius Kane, the Iron Wall: adept with the Body Reinforcement spell, making most blades impervious to him.

Lauren Larouche: using her previous sniper talents, Mana Sight, and the Density principle, she had created a technique called the Mana Preceding Shot in just a few days.

In the three days of training, she had almost created her own signature move!

Writing down everyone’s growth in a diary, Ethan sat at a desk while he watched them sit cross-legged, patiently meditating.

They had been training nonstop for three days, and under his careful guidance, along with the air-walking technique, everyone had at least mastered one or two spells.

Even if they couldn’t master them fully, they could at least achieve basic application.

"As expected of the legendary veterans, they sure learn fast."

"I wonder how Elena and the others are doing?" whispered Ethan.

Thinking of his sister’s reaction when Alfred delivered the message to her, Ethan couldn’t help but sigh.

But unfortunately, there was nothing he could do.

"Don’t worry, Sis. When this is all over, I’ll spar with you as much as you want."

Saying this, Ethan quietly pulled up his awakening panel.

In these past days, it wasn’t only the veterans who had grown.

Thanks to them mastering all his spells, under the ten-thousand-fold increase, his various spells had also evolved:

[Low-Level Body Strengthening] —> [Advanced Body Strengthening]

[Low-Level Illusion]—> [Advanced Illusion]

[Mana Compression] → [Perfected Mana Compression]

[External Mana Construct (Mana Blade)] → [Advanced Mana Construct]

[Mana Sight] —> [Advanced Mana Sight]

[Ice-Make] —> [Advanced Ice-Make]

In fact, as his spells evolved, Ethan no longer continued to fear whatever monster was out there.

With his massive mana pool and his advanced spells, even if he couldn’t kill it outright, he was sure he could easily drive any C-class monster away.

"However, the increase in Mana Sight was a pleasant surprise."

"At the advanced level, not only can I sense and see the mana in the surroundings, but I can use it to predict the direction of attacks powered by mana."

"Meaning if a fire-ability user wanted to attack me with a fireball, I would have already dodged or counterattacked before they could even launch it!"

Saying this, Ethan was more than satisfied. Even now, he didn’t know how strong he truly was.

Strictly speaking, the more advanced spells should have been a burden as they consumed more mana, but thanks to his ten-thousand-fold feedback, his current mana pool was outrageous.

Had he understood the third principle, perhaps he could even start aiming for a breakthrough to the third order.

’Perhaps the me right now can take on the whole monster wave by myself?’ thought Ethan.

However, when he looked at the veterans training with all their strength, he couldn’t bear to keep them from battle.

Instead, he decided to stay behind them and only intervene when needed.

Boom!

Just as he was lost in thought, the meeting room doors suddenly burst open, catching everyone’s attention.

With blood streaming down his arm and a large scar across his chest, Marcus stumbled into the room, his voice completely out of breath.

"We were discovered! Patriarch... those monsters!"

"They’re on the move!"

"Along with an army of over one hundred monsters, the beast we saw in the air is leading them right here!"

Struggling to remain standing, Marcus began to deliver all the information he had gathered.

It turned out that, as per Ethan’s request, he and his scouts had been watching the monster’s lair for movements, getting ready to report if anything happened.

However, different from what they expected, nothing had occurred on the first day or the second day.

When they thought the third day would also pass in peace, the monster had suddenly swooped down on their observation post, killing them all with a single swipe of its paw.

"The only reason I’m still alive is that it let me go. Although I’m not sure, I seemed to see a smile on its beak."

"It was like it was telling me to run and cower in despair!"

Hearing this, everyone fell silent. Anger began to well up in every single one of them.

This monster was going too far! When had the Smiths ever suffered such humiliation?

"Ethan, we’re ready! Let’s teach that dumb monster a lesson!" Standing up from the ground, Christian spoke up.

As he said this, the other veterans also chimed in, each expressing their fierce desire to join the battle.

Three days of training had made each of them at least ten times stronger than before.

No longer did they feel like aging seniors; instead, they felt like superhumans.

After advancing to the second circle, some of them had even begun to see streaks of black hair return to their silver heads.

With this newfound strength and youth, what better way to test their skills than to clean up a few disrespectful beasts?

"Alright, then! Everyone, let’s show them what mages and the Smiths can do!"

"Let’s remind that monster that we humans are the true rulers of this world!"

Getting up from his desk, Ethan stepped into the air using Air Walk, and the others, controlling their mana, immediately joined suit.

"Damn, this is crazy..."

Careless of the fact that he was still bleeding, Marcus looked at the scene before him with sheer shock in his eyes.

Ethan actually did it!