Chapter 13: Crisis (Part 1)
“Whew, they’re finally gone.” Linley let out a quiet sigh of relief.
Linley knew very well that with his strength as a level-four warrior, engaging in close combat with a level-five Windwolf would be suicide. He had to rely on magic. But without sufficient speed, how could he have time to chant magic incantations? Fortunately, his own speed was quite fast, which allowed him to achieve such results.
“If a level-six magician had come, they couldn’t have done better than me. If a level-six magician came, with the speed of an ordinary level-six magician, they wouldn’t be able to escape the Windwolf’s pursuit. Surrounded by a pack of Windwolves, they probably wouldn’t even have time to cast magic.” At this moment, Linley felt even more that his earlier decision to train his physical abilities had been wise.
Linley glanced at the Coiling Dragon Ring on the middle finger of his left hand. This ring had been on his finger ever since he grew up.
“And it’s all thanks to the Coiling Dragon Ring, otherwise how could I have cast so many level-five spells in one go!”
An ordinary level-five magician could at most cast two level-five spells before running out of magic power. But Linley was different; he had just cast three level-five earth-type spells—‘Shatterstone,’ one ‘Gravity Technique,’ one ‘Earth Guardian Armor,’ and one ‘Earth Spike Array.’ That was a total of six level-five spells.
The main reason was—the Coiling Dragon Ring.
The Coiling Dragon Ring was something Delin Kowlt had obtained by chance back in the day. Delin Kowlt was shocked to discover while casting a spell that the same spell, when cast through the Coiling Dragon Ring, only required one-sixth of the magic power and mental energy to achieve the same effect.
The Coiling Dragon Ring clearly could better communicate with earth-type elements and better manipulate them. The burden on mental energy and magic power was very low.
One-sixth—what did that mean?
For example, a Saint-level magician could normally only cast one terrifying ‘Destruction Storm,’ but with the Coiling Dragon Ring, they could cast six ‘Destruction Storms.’ Such a terrifying treasure had moved Delin Kowlt so much back then that he considered it a gift from the Mother Goddess of the Earth, so he named it the ‘Ring of the Earth.’
The divine artifact, the ‘Ring of the Earth.’
That was what Delin Kowlt named it. According to Delin Kowlt, although there were other extremely powerful treasures on the Yulan Continent that could help magicians cast spells more easily, almost none could achieve the effect of the ‘Ring of the Earth.’
After Linley obtained the Coiling Dragon Ring, he discovered during training—
“It’s not just earth-type magic; even wind-type magic, and even my half-baked fire-type magic, when channeling the elements of heaven and earth through the Coiling Dragon Ring, only requires one-sixth of the magic power and mental energy.” Linley looked at the Coiling Dragon Ring, his heart growing even happier.
At this moment, Delin Kowlt also appeared beside Linley.
“Stop staring. I never dared tell anyone about this Coiling Dragon Ring when I got it. If others found out, I estimate a large number of Saint-level experts would come fighting for this treasure. But I never expected that the Coiling Dragon Ring would assist not only earth-type magic but also wind-type and fire-type.” Delin Kowlt praised endlessly.
Linley nodded. “I won’t leak this secret in the future either.” Linley was very clear about the preciousness of the Coiling Dragon Ring. Once the news got out, he would probably be torn apart by Saint-level experts from all over the Yulan Continent.
“Boss, is it over?” At this moment, the voice of the little Shadowmouse ‘Bebe’ sounded. Bebe was near the grass not far away. He hadn’t participated in the battle just now but had quietly watched from the side.
Linley smiled slightly.
“Whew, it still hurts quite a bit.” Linley looked at his chest. His shirt was torn, and blood was seeping out from the wound on his chest. Only now did Linley carefully clean the wound, while circulating earth elements to slowly flow over it, causing the wound to gradually close.
Bebe stared at Linley treating the wound, seemingly nervous for him.
“Boss, next time this happens, I have to step in.” Bebe suddenly transmitted a message.
“No, unless you find that I’m definitely going to die if I resist alone, only then can you act. Otherwise… what’s the point of me coming to the Magical Beast Mountain Range for training?” Linley’s tone was very firm, and Bebe immediately fell silent. Bebe had long wanted to go on a killing spree, but Linley always forbade it.
At this moment, about thirty meters away from Linley, in the grass, a dark figure silently lurked.
“In that battle just now, this young man cast six level-five earth-type spells from start to finish. Although they had the power of level-five spells, being able to cast six means he should be a level-six magician. His warrior strength should be around level four. Based on the wind-type magic assisting his movements, he should also know wind-type magic. Summary: a level-six dual-element magician, and a level-four warrior.”
The distant dark figure calculated in his mind.
“The chance of killing him is ninety percent. I can act.” The dark figure made his judgment.
Linley had just gone through a great battle and naturally relaxed. The dark figure remained motionless, silent in the darkness. Not even Linley, nor the little Shadowmouse ‘Bebe,’ noticed him.
The earthy yellow on the ground finally dissipated.
The Gravity Technique’s time was up!
“Now!” The dark figure, who had been lying in ambush without moving, silently drifted out, rushing toward Linley like a phantom.
Linley suddenly felt a chill of terror. He quickly dodged to the side while turning his head to look behind him. He saw a black-clad figure holding a sharp blade, thrusting directly at him. The cold gleam reflected off the blade startled Linley, and the pair of cold, murderous eyes made his heart tighten.
“So fast.” Linley retreated, but the dark figure was clearly faster. The black-glinting blade was already before his eyes.
“Clang!”
Linley held his flat blade in a reverse grip to block. The dark figure’s sharp blade struck Linley’s flat blade heavily. A series of crisp, continuous impacts sounded, and with a “bang,” the flat blade shattered completely. The broken fragments even grazed Linley’s face, leaving a thin line of blood.
“Whoosh!” “Whoosh!” “Whoosh!” “Whoosh!”…
Seven or eight wind blades suddenly appeared in front of Linley, slashing directly at the dark figure. With Linley’s current strength, he could silently cast wind blades. The seven or eight wind blades struck the dark figure, but black light flowed over his body surface, and the wind blades dissipated.
“Dark attribute battle qi!” Linley judged instantly.
Although these seven or eight wind blades didn’t stop the dark figure, they distracted him slightly. Linley immediately turned on his heel, leaping sideways like an arrow from a bowstring. The dark figure reacted just as quickly, leaping toward Linley with even greater speed.
In midair, facing Linley, the black-light-flowing sharp blade thrust rapidly, its target clearly Linley’s heart. At that moment, Linley’s mind flashed back to the tragic scene of the five corpses he had seen upon entering the Magical Beast Mountain Range—those five had also died from their hearts being pierced.
“Die!”
The dark figure was full of confidence. The black-light-flowing blade stabbed fiercely into Linley’s chest. In midair, Linley couldn’t use any leverage to dodge; he could only instantly cast a simple defensive spell—an Earth Shield! A small earth shield, only one-third the size of a normal one, appeared in front of his heart.
“Hmph!”
The dark figure snorted coldly. The blade in his hand stabbed into the Earth Shield even faster. To the dark figure, a low-level spell like the Earth Shield was no obstacle.
Although this Earth Shield had stronger defense per unit area due to its reduced size, it could only slow down the blade’s attack, not stop it. Linley felt a sharp pain in his chest. In a short time, the blade had pierced through the Earth Shield.
“Squeak~~”
A terrifying, shrill screech rang out. The Shadowmouse ‘Bebe’ suddenly appeared beside the dark figure’s wrist. His mouth opened wide enough to swallow a fist, and his sharp teeth bit down fiercely on the dark figure’s wrist. A miserable scream followed, and the dark figure’s wrist was completely bitten off.
Only a limp, severed hand remained, gripping the dagger, stuck into the chest covered by the small Earth Shield.