Volume 5: Grounding

Chapter 51: Shaman Priest (1)
“Go!”
Seeing the orc shaman pull off a magical beast skull from his neck, Donald hadn’t anticipated that the opponent would possess such magic-scroll-like spells, but he had a way to deal with it. He raised his staff and pointed it at the orc shaman.
The skill attached to the denial staff activated instantly, and a stream of magic rushed toward the opponent. The already glowing witchcraft skull dimmed immediately under this attack.
The shaman priest, alarmed by the enemy’s bizarre tactics that rendered all his methods ineffective, screamed and pulled off another skull. But this time, before Donald could act, a witch behind him chanted loudly, pointing her delicate hand at the orc shaman.
“Shapeshift!”
In a puff of smoke, the orc shaman transformed into a little sheep, slowly flailing its hooves in panic as it tried to escape.
However, shifting suddenly from a bipedal human-like creature to a quadrupedal hoofed animal made it difficult to adapt to the new way of moving. The orc shaman, like a newborn lamb, couldn’t walk properly and couldn’t keep its legs straight. The more anxious it became, the less distance it could cover.
After a few breaths, an orc warrior, in his panic, stepped on the sheep, delivering an unexpected attack, and the orc shaman snapped back to its original form with a thud.
In such a short time, more than half of the remaining fifty elite orc warriors on the battlefield had been killed, not even having touched the enemy, all falling victim to Donald’s ambushes from afar.
The restored young shaman immediately shouted, and the orc warriors around him joined in with loud cries. Although Donald didn’t understand what they were saying, judging by their actions, it was likely something about protecting the shaman priest.
The orcs had a deep-seated reverence for their supreme shaman priest and were willing to sacrifice their lives for him.
The remaining orc axe warriors formed a human wall to protect the young orc shaman in the middle. But by now, Donald no longer cared about the nearly crippled shaman. Seeing the orcs gather together, he unleashed a newly acquired innate spell without hesitation.
Frost Nova—a powerful spell formed by the icy magic power wielded by liches.

A brilliant blue ice glow appeared at Donald’s fingertips like a meteor, then instantly blossomed among the orcs before him into an ice flower ten feet in diameter. The sudden burst of freezing cold enveloped all the orcs within a dozen feet, covering them in an ice-blue layer. Aside from a few stronger orcs on the periphery, most of them were frozen stiff by the icy force and unable to move for a while. While restricting their mobility, the explosive power of the Frost Nova and the freezing air that penetrated their bodies also caused severe damage to the orcs.

“As expected, this is truly a spell favored by the warlocks—its power is on par with that of a fourth-level mage spell!” Having tested the second innate spell granted to him by the Book of Truth, Donald was in high spirits. He ordered his subordinates to strike fiercely and attack with all their might, while he himself gathered the soul fragments of the dead orcs. Even without the effect of the Frost Nova, this battle would have been a foregone conclusion, leaving Donald no need to worry. Uther was an excellent commander; even without his involvement, the attacks from the summoned warriors would have swept through the orcs and claimed their lives.

When the last few orc warriors fell, the orc shaman stood in the center of the battlefield, surrounded by the corpses of his kind, holding the last magical beast skull and surrounded by a green glow. His expression was one of grief and despair. After gathering the soul fragments of the last orc warriors, Donald stepped forward and stared at the orc shaman, who was surrounded by his summoned creatures. He knew that the green glow around the shaman was a protective spell similar to the mage armor he could now cast, but this spell was emitted by the skull artifact, making it far more powerful than what the young shaman could cast on his own. It could withstand the aftereffects of the Frost Nova, so ordinary attacks would likely not be able to break through it after just a few attempts.

But that was as far as it would go. Relying on a mere protective spell, it was impossible to escape from being surrounded by summoned creatures.

“Your defensive spell looks quite good. It’s perfect for me to test my spells. Do you mind?” Donald stepped forward, intending to use this orc shaman as a practice target. Though his words sounded like a question, he didn’t wait for a response. Instead, he communicated with the elements through his mental power, recited a spell, and a sharp gust of wind shot toward the shaman like an arrow.

The young orc shaman clearly understood human language. His eyes flashed with anger, but he was helpless against Donald.

From the start, Donald used his most powerful offensive skill—Level 2 spell Wind Arrow. This was the spell he had mastered when he became a full-fledged mage. Later, due to a class change that granted him enhanced mental and physical strength, he advanced to a Mid-Black Iron Mage. By absorbing demonic power, his physical and mental strength reached the peak of Black Iron level. However, this change happened suddenly, so he hadn’t had time to learn other Level 2 spells yet.

After his advancement, the power of Wind Arrow increased even further. When it struck the green light surrounding the opponent, it immediately made the light barrier shake violently.

“Good! Another one!”

With ample mana, Donald released another Wind Arrow. After being hit by this spell, the green light barrier wobbled precariously. With his third attack, he completely shattered the orc shaman’s protective spell, which vanished within seconds, along with the magic artifact—a beast skull—in his hands.

Left without any means of protection, the young orc shaman stood alone like a lamb ready for slaughter. Yet, he showed great courage by refusing to plead for mercy, instead staring fiercely as if determined to perish alongside his enemy.

But before the fatal blow could land, he suddenly felt a tightness around his body, followed by a sense of weakness as his stamina drained rapidly. Looking down, he saw a finger-thick beam of light coiled around him, with the other end connected to the human mage.

As the orc shaman struggled and screamed under the drain of his life force, Donald felt a profound sense of satisfaction within himself, as if he had taken a hot bath after a long day and slept soundly all night. Of course, absorbing the target’s life force had more effects than just this. At that moment, his mental strength, physical stamina, and endurance all returned to their peak levels, even improving slightly.

The effect of the Life Drain spell lasted about eight seconds before ending quickly. Yet, Donald was still very satisfied with its results. Because of its strange and peculiar nature, he hadn’t had the chance to use it before. This was the first time he had tested this newly acquired third innate spell on a living being.