Chapter 138 - 137: The Fear of a Hindering Teammate
Chapter 138: Chapter 137: The Fear of a Hindering Teammate
Perhaps it was because Leiden had seen the poison mist coming and subconsciously wanted to retreat, causing him to carelessly misaim his spell.
In any case, the guidance of his Magic Power went awry.
The Vortex Skill Leiden unleashed, far from dispersing the poison mist, instead caused the strong winds to carry it straight toward his own squad!
"Huh?" Zelir was stunned.
The squad members clearly hadn’t expected this from Leiden, and the poison mist engulfed them in an instant.
After accidentally inhaling the toxic gas, everyone’s body had an immediate, violent reaction.
"Ugh... COUGH, COUGH, COUGH, COUGH!"
"BLEH..."
"HACK..."
They had all been poisoned.
The Cystic Poison Frog’s deep purple toxin affected the nervous system.
Those who inhaled it would immediately feel dizzy and nauseous, and even their bodies would feel a wave of weakness.
’Are you serious...’
The corner of Lena’s eye twitched.
’How could something like this even happen?’
The situation on the battlefield took a nosedive.
Gray was already in a precarious situation, being heavily outnumbered. After inhaling the toxic gas, he grew even dizzier.
As he was on the very front line, he was immediately swarmed by the Long-tongued Frogs. A powerful tongue shot out like a heavy whip, striking Gray’s sword arm.
With a pained grunt, Gray’s Longsword fell from his hand.
Immediately after, two more slime-covered tongues shot out from different angles.
They struck Gray’s side and chest respectively, the immense force causing him to stagger and fall to the ground.
Marcus, who was holding back the Cystic Poison Frog at the front, was also affected by the toxic gas.
A Middle Level Warrior’s Constitution was stronger, but he wasn’t immune. His footing became unsteady, and even the motion of raising his shield was half a beat too slow.
Valles felt his arms go limp, making it difficult to draw his bow. The Cystic Poison Frog before him even started to appear as a double image, making it impossible to aim his arrows.
"Sigh..."
Seeing this, Manlin let out a sigh.
’If I don’t step in now, someone’s going to die.’
’What on earth is Leiden doing?’
Manlin raised her Magic Wand, the Spell Structure gathering energy at an incredible speed.
A gentle, magnificent, emerald-green halo radiated out from Manlin’s position, spreading like a ripple and silently sweeping across the entire battlefield.
Dispel Skill!
And it was cast over a wide area.
The light of the Magic washed over the bodies of Marcus, Gray, and the others, instantly dispelling the dazed state from their minds.
The squad members’ negative poisoned status was completely wiped away.
Not only that, but a warm Life Energy also seeped into their bodies along with the halo, temporarily strengthening their Constitution and resistance, making them less susceptible to any further poison.
Then, another streak of green light flew out.
Healing Skill!
This spell was cast specifically for Gray.
The moment the green light merged with Gray’s body, the bloody welts left by the frog tongues healed rapidly.
If left unattended, he would have likely died under the Long-tongued Frogs’ assault.
Seeing his squad leader Leiden’s incompetence, Riley, the Magic Apprentice, quickly cast a follow-up Vortex Skill.
This time, the direction wasn’t wrong.
The powerful gust of wind finally blew the poison mist away, preventing it from spreading further across the battlefield.
After releasing its powerful poison mist, the Cystic Poison Frog clearly entered a recovery period.
Its movements were no longer as swift and rapid as before, and it was now possible to aim at the single remaining purple pustule on its back.
Valles resolved to take this opportunity to shoot and burst that pustule, to avoid suffering another round of poison mist.
He drew his Longbow Moonlight, Thunder Fighting Qi coiling around the Arrow.
However, a strong sense of danger made Valles duck instinctively.
"WHOOSH!"
An Arcane Missile practically grazed Valles’s scalp as it flew past.
With a fizzle, the Arcane Missile shot crookedly into the mud ahead, kicking up a meaningless splash of muck.
"Damn it!"
A curse escaped his lips. Valles whipped his head around in shock, his face filled with rage.
The Magic had actually been cast by Leiden.
"What are you doing?!" Valles growled through clenched teeth.
’If I’d been any slower to dodge, the consequences would have been unthinkable.’
"Sorry, sorry!!"
Leiden, scared out of his wits by the scene, stammered out an explanation.
"I-I-I just wanted to destroy the pustule on the Demon’s back, I didn’t aim well..."
Valles took a deep breath, his knuckles turning white as he gripped his Longbow.
’Calm down... calm down...’
Valles forcibly suppressed the rage in his heart.
’I was hired by the Mage’s Guild...!’
’If this were a normal Adventurer Squad on a mission, who knows what I’d do after the fight was over.’
’Maybe I’d use that guy for target practice.’
From a distance, Bev watched with lingering fear.
’What kind of a fight is this...’
’It’s a good thing I’m on a team with Zelir...’ Even Yanni couldn’t help but have this thought.
Another Arcane Missile shot forth!
"BANG!!!"
The ball of blue light precisely struck the pustule on the Cystic Poison Frog’s back, destroying it.
And because of its immense Power, the residual Magic Power blasted away a good chunk of flesh, heavily wounding the Cystic Poison Frog.
This was cast by Zelir.
It was nothing short of fast, accurate, and ruthless.
Against this kind of flesh-and-blood creature with relatively low Defense Power, an Arcane Missile was actually enough to solve most problems.
Zelir hadn’t expected the situation to turn out like this; he had only stepped in because he couldn’t bear to watch any longer.
After taking Zelir’s Arcane Missile, the Cystic Poison Frog let out a piercing shriek, clearly unable to hold on much longer.
The threat it posed had been completely eliminated. All that was left was the finishing blow, which anyone could deliver.
In the end, a Thunder Arrow from Valles plunged deep into the Cystic Poison Frog’s eye socket and exploded inside its head, successfully killing the Cystic Giant Frog.
The remaining Long-tongued Frogs were also cleared out and eliminated one by one.
The battle finally subsided.
Level 12 (1/375) -> Level 12 (113/375).
Because he participated in killing the Cystic Poison Frog, Zelir also received a portion of the Experience Points.
Likewise, another Magic spell was added to Technique Celestial Calculation’s analysis queue.
Dispel Skill, analysis progress—3%
’A very practical Empowerment Magic spell. In the future, if I run into negative statuses like poison or weakness, I’ll have a way to deal with them.’
The marsh fell silent, the air filled with the acrid stench of venom and the scorched smell of the explosion.
Even though they had successfully killed the Cystic Poison Frog, there was no celebratory atmosphere around Leiden at all.
They knew very well that without Instructor Manlin’s help, just that one fatal, reversed Vortex Skill would have been enough to bring a devastating blow to their team.
"Hah... hah..." Gray leaned on his sword, resting against a nearby tree trunk.
When he had inhaled the poison and was being swarmed by the Long-tongued Frogs, Gray had thought it was all over for him.
He never would have dreamed that he’d be laid low by a teammate’s blunder.
Instructor Lena slowly walked over from the rear.
Her fiery red eyes burned with undisguised fury.
Leiden didn’t even dare to meet Instructor Lena’s gaze.
"Leiden... the mistakes you made in this battle were enough to get your team killed several times over!"
Lena’s voice was incredibly stern.
"How could you miss with the opening Arcane Missile sneak attack? That directly led to the Cystic Poison Frog being able to release its poison mist!"
"And your performance when facing the poison mist was even more appalling!"
"That was the moment you most needed to act calmly, and this is how you repay your teammates? With a Vortex Skill cast in the wrong direction?"
"And that utterly foolish Arcane Missile! You almost killed Valles!"
Lena criticized him without holding back. "It’s safe to say that in this battle, you were a complete detriment!"
Leiden lowered his head in shame, not saying a word.
The arrogant demeanor he usually displayed, born from his status as a Mage and Nobility, was now completely crushed.
The atmosphere became extremely tense.
Instructor Manlin also came forward. She placed a hand on Lena’s shoulder and gently shook her head.
"Alright, children."
Manlin’s gentle voice rang out.
"Instructor Lena’s words may be harsh, but they are for your own good. Failure isn’t frightening; what’s frightening is failing to learn anything from it."
"Now you know that no matter how much Power you hold in your hands, you must be able to release it correctly."
"Calmness is always the most important element in battle. If you panic at the first sign of trouble, it’s no different from suicide."
"Understood, Instructor Manlin..."
Seeing Leiden’s dejected look, Instructor Lena couldn’t bring herself to say any more and just waved her hand.
"Clean up the battlefield!"
Marcus carved the Cystic Poison Frog’s Demon Core out of the pile of ruined flesh.
It was a deep purple, fleshy core covered in a slimy fluid.
Its interior was filled with a thick essence of toxin, and you could even feel it pulsating slightly when you touched it.
In addition, the Cystic Poison Frog’s Sound Bag could also be cut out.
This was the special organ it used to spray the poison mist, which could be used to craft special magical instruments.
The spoils from the Long-tongued Frogs consisted of only a small piece of a Demon Core.
Zelir watched as Marcus handed these items over to Instructor Lena.
’Just as I thought...!’
Instructor Lena took out a small, black silk pouch from her clothes.
With a light swipe of her hand, the pile of Demon Cores and the Sound Bag vanished into thin air, drawn into the pouch.
Zelir hadn’t really paid attention yesterday.
’But thinking about it, they’ve collected so many spoils during this Monster Hunting trip.’
’There’s no way they could carry it all physically, right?’
’An Upper Level Mage must have something like a Storage Pouch to hold everything.’
’That’s a really convenient item to have...’ Zelir mused internally.
’With a Storage Pouch, I could carry a lot more things on future missions and even collect more spoils.’
’I have to find a way to get one.’
’It probably won’t be cheap, though.’
After their rest was over, the team continued on their way.
Before setting out, Manlin specially cast a group Vitality Granting to boost their condition.
After all, the Marcus Squad had indeed expended a great deal of energy. If they didn’t recover, it would inevitably affect the next battle.
The teams rotated again. Zelir’s Fourth Squad took the lead, while Leiden’s Third Squad fell back to the second line.
"I’ve never missed being on a team with Zelir so much," Gray sighed.
Marcus nodded in deep agreement.
’It’s not strong Demons you have to fear, it’s teammates who are more of a hindrance than a help.’