Chapter 143 - 142: Close-Combat Mage
Chapter 143: Chapter 142: Close-Combat Mage
The shadow of death descended upon them.
Rivaya didn’t hesitate. Sheathing his dagger, he kicked off hard and vaulted toward the two legs on the spider’s left side.
He repeated the same motion, hacking down once more!
The blade sliced clean through!
With two sharp CRACKS, both of the Crystal Cluster Giant Spider’s left legs were rendered useless.
Its body lurched to the left. The immense weight made it impossible to keep its balance, and it lost most of its mobility.
Gray’s figure suddenly emerged.
He executed a sliding tackle mid-sprint, his body like a shadow skimming the ground as he shot under the Crystal Cluster Giant Spider’s abdomen with a WHOOSH.
He wasn’t as fast as Zelir or Rivaya, but he seized his opportunity all the same.
He charged his longsword for an upward slash, severing the joint of the third leg on its right side.
’Let’s see if your eyes are as hard as that shell of yours...’
Valles had already drawn his longbow.
The Crystal Cluster Giant Spider, now off-balance, had a massive opening.
Seizing the chance, he released the bowstring. Feathered arrows whistled through the air in rapid succession!
They lanced out, bursting several of the Crystal Cluster Giant Spider’s eyes!
The Crystal Cluster Giant Spider now looked both pathetic and ridiculous.
Five of its eight long, dangerous legs had been shattered in the initial assault by Zelir’s three-man team. Its face was also smeared with fluid from its ruptured eyes.
With the joints of its front legs severed, it could no longer support its weight and collapsed pathetically onto the ground.
Only its three rearmost legs still struggled to hold it up, making the whole creature look as if it were sticking its rear end in the air.
The Crystal Cluster Giant Spider had essentially lost all ability to move or fight back.
Standing under the Crystal Cluster Giant Spider’s huge abdomen, Zelir looked up.
He saw the disgusting structure used for digesting prey still squirming.
"Here..."
Zelir raised his Magic Wand, the tip of the Night Peace Staff glowing with a brilliant blue light.
"You don’t have a shell protecting you here, do you?"
BANG!!!
A tremendously powerful Arcane Missile struck the Crystal Cluster Giant Spider’s abdomen squarely, tearing it and its internal organs to shreds!
"SKREEE!"
The Crystal Cluster Giant Spider’s body arched violently as it let out a dying wail.
Its severed limbs and still-intact legs began to twitch violently.
Zelir used the spider’s severed limbs as a foothold to leap into the air, landing steadily on its head.
The Crystal Cluster Giant Spider’s few remaining compound eyes rolled upwards in terror.
"Die!"
Zelir gripped his longsword with both hands, point-down, and plunged it downward fiercely!
SHUNK...!
The sharp longsword met no resistance, plunging straight through a gap in the carapace on its head and instantly destroying the Crystal Cluster Giant Spider’s brain.
Its massive body went rigid. Its legs reflexively curled inward, tucking into a ball-like shape.
In just a few seconds, the final twitches ceased.
Crystal Cluster Giant Spider successfully killed!
Level 13 (8/400) -> Level 13 (158/400).
Killing the Crystal Cluster Giant Spider this time only awarded 150 Experience Points.
This was probably because the Crystal Cluster Giant Spider wasn’t a particularly tough [Difficulty]-rated Demon, and also because others had helped with the kill.
To put it bluntly, it was just a rather large spider.
It was only due to a mutation that it gained the special ability to absorb energy-based attacks, which made it a little trickier.
SQUELCH...
With the faint sound of a blade pulling free from flesh, Zelir withdrew his longsword.
He gave his wrist a flick, performing a Blood Vibration, and slid the sword back into its sheath.
’Expensive things really are worth it...’
Zelir felt this deeply.
If it had been his previous foil, the blade probably would have shattered when he was hacking through the joints.
After that bloody battle, the edge of this Fine Steel Longsword was still as sharp as new, and the blade hadn’t bent in the slightest.
The Five Gold Coins were well spent.
Crisp applause came from behind.
CLAP, CLAP, CLAP...
"Zelir, I never realized you were in such good physical shape."
Instructor Lena clapped lightly, her fiery red eyes filled with undisguised admiration and surprise. "I feel like even Gray can’t compare to you."
Gray let out a deep sigh.
"It’s nothing special. I just make a point to train my body regularly."
Zelir jumped down from the Crystal Cluster Giant Spider’s corpse.
"A Mage’s weakness is a frail physique. You can only grow stronger by shoring up your shortcomings."
"Well said. Shoring up shortcomings," Lena nodded in approval.
"Your fighting style... reminds me of a certain figure from the Kingdom’s past."
Manlin thought for a moment, then suddenly spoke up, "He was a... hmm, how should I put it, a rather special Mage."
"A rather special Mage?" Zelir asked curiously.
"Yes. His name was Wyatt."
"Was he an Arcane Magic System or Elemental Magic System Mage?"
"No..."
Manlin’s expression was a little strange. "He was an Upper Level Mage of the Empowerment Magic System."
"Empowerment Magic System... What’s so special about it?" Bev asked from the side.
"Let me put it this way. Normally when an Empowerment Mage joins a battle, they stay in the back, casting various Beneficial Magic to help their teammates."
"But Wyatt was different. He cast almost all of his Beneficial Magic on himself."
Manlin said, "He would cast all sorts of Magic on himself to increase his speed, Power, and Constitution... and then charge in like a Warrior to fight Demons in close combat."
"There are Empowerment Mages like that...?" Zelir was astonished.
’It sounds bizarre, but when I think about it... it actually seems feasible.’
’Since it’s hard for an Empowerment Mage to master high-level Elemental or Arcane Magic, they might as well just buff themselves and go for close combat.’
’It’s not a bad strategy at all.’
"As for Wyatt’s personal style, it was just like his fighting style,"
Manlin recalled.
"He was a born Adventurer who loved excitement and rarely stayed in the Mage’s Guild."
"His favorite thing to do was to follow all sorts of squads on quests, his footprints covering the Candia Continent."
"It’s said he was already a top-tier Golden Level Adventurer, just shy of ascending to Diamond Level."
"Then, Instructor Manlin... where is Wyatt now?" Zelir asked.
’He was such a peculiar man. Maybe I’ll get the chance to meet him someday.’
"Him? He’s been unheard of for years. He probably died somewhere on one of his adventures," Lena, who also knew of the man, chimed in.
"Yes, and his active period was decades ago. Even if he’s still alive now, he’d be in his seventies or eighties," Manlin added.
’What a shame...’
Zelir shook his head, feeling quite regretful.
’I can master Empowerment Magic through Technique Celestial Calculation. If I could actually meet Wyatt and learn from his experience, I’m sure I’d benefit immensely.’
With the battle over, they began to clean up the field.
A normal Crystal Cluster Giant Spider would only yield a Demon Core as loot.
However, this Crystal Cluster Giant Spider was an exception.
After it mutated and died, a portion of its Crystalized Shell did not decay and remained intact.
Instructor Lena held it in her palm and tested it a little.
"Hmm... Just as I thought."
Instructor Lena nodded lightly.
"This material has the property of absorbing Magic Power. It’s quite special. It can be used to make magic-resistant armor, which is worth a lot more than typical armor materials."
’Armor with magic-resistant properties...’
Zelir looked at the Crystalized Shell and felt inexplicably uncomfortable.
’As I thought. When I see something that can counter my abilities, my first instinct is to destroy it.’
’It’s a real eyesore.’
After resting for a short while in the cave, the team prepared to set out again.
According to the rotation, it was time for the Third Squad, led by Leiden, to take the lead.
However, this time Instructor Lena proposed a different idea.
"Zelir, just stay with the Third Squad."
"Leiden, you’re not yet suited to lead a squad in combat. For now, just follow Zelir’s command like the other Magic Apprentices."
"No problem!" Leiden agreed readily, a look of relief washing over his face.
He had little combat experience to begin with, and having to act as the squad leader and commander on top of that was immensely stressful.
Now, with Zelir on the team, he could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
"Zelir, will you be tired?" Lena asked.
"No," Zelir shook his head.
He was eager to participate in more battles.
"My name is Isaac, Isaac Prall. I know some Earth Magic."
The Third Squad’s Magic Apprentice, Isaac, took the initiative to introduce himself to Zelir.
"Zelir."
Riley greeted Zelir with a familiar, broad smile. "Finally! I get to be on a team with you."
"Hi, I’m Mili! Mili Novi."
Mili gave a playful hop and extended her hand to Zelir. "Captain Zelir, I’ll be in your care."
"Oh..." Zelir shook Mili’s hand.
After a brief introduction, Zelir waved his hand and gave the order.
"Alright then, let’s move out!"
According to the route map, the next Demon to be cleared out was...
A Gnoll community.
As fellow humanoid Demons, Gnolls were not like the goblins or Kobolds they had encountered before.
They were stronger, more ferocious, more cruel, and also more cunning.
If there was a Goblin Community near a village, the villagers might still be able to organize a militia and take care of it without asking for help from Adventurers.
If signs of Gnolls appeared, the entire village either had to evacuate and flee for their lives or immediately request help from Adventurers to wipe them out. There was no third option.
Just from the defenses around the Gnoll camp, one could see the difference.
Compared to the lax Goblin Community, the Gnoll camp was far more heavily guarded.
They had chosen a site on a gentle slope with sparse woods around it, and had even built a stockade wall out of sharpened, massive logs, making it heavily fortified.
Two simple watchtowers were set up on the stockade wall. From a distance, one could see dark figures inside, obviously sentries.
Several flags sewn from human skin and beast hides flapped in the wind, exuding an air of bloodlust and savagery.
Hidden in the bushes with the squad, Leiden gripped his Magic Wand, his palms sweating. He asked in a low voice,
"Zelir... what do we do?"
The Gnolls’ ferocious aura was terrifying to behold, and he felt his confidence waver.
"Leiden, when making a battle plan, the most important thing is to understand the enemy’s weaknesses."
Zelir said, "What are the Gnolls’ weaknesses?"
"Uh..."
Leiden frowned, thought hard for a moment, and said, "I don’t know."