Chapter 99: Chris’s Surprise

Seeing Kelthas eliminate an adventurer who had sneaked up on him, Donald didn’t even have time to stop him—he still wanted to interrogate the mastermind behind this!
Kelthas inherited the proud nature of the elves, along with the false memories imparted by the Book of Truth, giving him a degree of the coldness typical of the blood elves after losing their homeland and being forced into exile. Naturally, he wouldn’t show mercy in such a situation, so Donald couldn’t blame him.
Thinking about the people he had offended so far—only Macbeth and that black-robed silver mage from the Mage Association—it seemed the mastermind must be one of these two.
Having regained some strength, Donald pointed at the battlefield and said, “Uther, go help! Kelthas and Mage Chris are enough here.”
Uther bowed in obedience and seized the opportunity to join the battle.
As for the ogre wizard in silver armor, his strength was indeed formidable. Though he was a spellcaster, his weapon was a giant war club. His naturally robust physique, combined with his enlarged size after mutation, made him the most combat-effective among the ogres.
Continuous spells dealt heavy casualties among the ogres, but the ogre wizard, surrounded by seven male ogres, still fared well against several bronze-level warriors and one adventurer, keeping control of the battle and forcing everyone else to follow his lead.
The giant war club in his hands, half his height, swung with astonishing force. No one dared to block its strike, not even the two well-known mercenary captains from the Northlands, who were already advanced bronze-level swordsmen.
Moreover, the bronze-level warriors had to defend against the ogres’ attacks while also protecting their comrades behind them, leaving them unable to fight fully. Thus, the battle stalled.
This situation changed with Uther’s entry. When the ogre wizard suddenly raised his club and unleashed a powerful spellful spear attack at one of the adventurers, aiming to kill him, Uther, clad in silver armor and wielding a long sword, with a pale golden holy shield, blocked the attack and saved the adventurer’s life.
This spellful spear attack was the ogre wizard’s unique killing technique. Earlier, a bronze-level adventurer had nearly lost his life due to a sudden attack. If he hadn’t already mastered the use of energy at the bronze level and managed to block part of the attack with his weapon, he likely would have died before he could use a life potion to recover.

Before the rescued adventurer could even express his thanks, Uther already swung his sword at the ogre wizard. With Uther holding off the silver-ranked ogre leader, the remaining male ogre warriors were quickly taken care of by several bronze-ranked strongmen. The other four were separated by those present, leaving only a few bronze-ranked strongmen by the ogres. Only then could the human warriors launch full-force attacks.

“Humans… damn you!”

Seeing his subordinates being torn apart one by one, the ogre wizard roared angrily in the clumsy common language, releasing flames once more to conjure a fire dragon as thick as a barrel, which charged at the bronze-ranked strongmen.

At that moment, Uther, who annoyed the ogre wizard greatly, stepped forward once again with his sacred shield. The fire dragon was destroyed, but Uther emerged unharmed and attacked once more.

“Roar…!”

Furious, the ogre wizard ignored the attacks directed at Uther, but it was to no avail. He even suffered more wounds from the other bronze-ranked strongmen.

Although the sacred shield had a time limit due to the power of holy light, just like in the game, it was more flexible to use. As long as Uther’s supply of holy light remained intact, he could use it at any time, with only a slight cooldown. With his combat experience, he could skillfully utilize this spell to its fullest potential.

Watching the ogres die one after another, and though the ogre wizard was in a desperate situation, he still wasn’t in mortal danger—this was the result of rank disparity. Although these bronze-ranked strongmen could jointly surround the silver-ranked ogre wizard, they couldn’t defeat him in a short time.

So, Donald, who was watching from behind, turned to Kelsas and said, “This ogre’s spells pose a serious threat to Uther and the others. If they fight desperately, they’ll suffer heavy losses. Go and disable his spellcasting ability; let our warriors handle the rest!”

Kelsas nodded silently upon hearing this and immediately headed toward the battlefield.

As a newly born hero, his four hero skills had significant limitations in terms of effect and range, especially when dealing with enemies of a higher rank. The gap in levels also weakened his abilities, and he would need to raise his soul level to gradually grow stronger.

When he was twenty steps away from the orcs, Kelthas finally stopped and began casting spells. This was the optimal distance for dealing with orc wizards—any closer and they would retaliate. Any farther, and it would be beyond the effective range for spells, reducing their power significantly.

As the Bloodseer took his stance, a stream of magical energy surged from the besieged orc wizard and connected to Kelthas’s hands.

Kris, who had been standing beside Donald, was astonished at this sight. “The orc’s magical energy is fading! Is this… mana absorption or energy absorption?” Donald immediately replied with a laugh, “How is that possible? Those are both legendary level-9 golden spells—even the greatest swordmasters can’t resist them. Kelthas’s spell is his innate ability; it’s equivalent to a level-5 weakened mana absorption spell. Not only is its effect much weaker, but it also has many restrictions!” Hearing this, Kris finally breathed a sigh of relief—the surprises he’d encountered that day were already too many.

First, there were those top-tier equipment items, and then Donald’s powerful spell with at least level-7 strength. If even a follower could master level-9 spells now, he didn’t know what else to say.

Even though the weakened mana absorption spell was much less potent, its effect was still astonishing. After all, spells involving fundamental forces rarely existed below level 7, and he had only just begun to grasp the basics of level-7 spells.

Like the three mages—Morielus and the others—Kris also chose to specialize in the most easily learned elemental spells.

In reality, while spells are generally divided into four major schools, most mages focus on elemental spells, which are part of the ancient archmage’s arcane system—specifically, the energy-shaping spells.

The term “energy-shaping” is easy to understand. According to Donald, it means shaping energy—the caster uses mental power to control and mold elemental energy into spells, which are then released for attack, defense, and so on.

Due to their strong direct offensive power, energy-shaping spells are the most popular choice among low- and mid-level archmages, resulting in the most complete spell traditions within this school.

However, among high-level and grand archmages, very few specialize in energy-shaping spells.

This is because the early stages of energy-shaping are more like applying elements, without delving into the principles behind them. Schools like Donald’s Transformation School, which deal with changes in matter and energy from the outset and involve some basic application of fundamental laws, are thus more likely to lead to promotion to the golden tier. The same applies to other schools such as enchantment, necromancy, prophecy, and curses.

Although the Illusion and Defense schools have the weakest offensive power, the knowledge they learn is easier to advance in compared to the Elementalist school. At higher levels, their strength is on par with that of mages from other schools. The spell in that silver moon coin is one of the most powerful spells in the Defense school—Shatter. If one masters several spells targeting a mage’s defenses in this school, it is sufficient to break through the defenses of over 80% of ordinary spells.

Therefore, most mages show respect for those who inherit the knowledge of these rare spell schools. After all, aside from the Elementalist school, the inheritance of knowledge from other schools is largely incomplete. After thousands of years of exploration, the spells of these schools were gradually developed and refined by their predecessors, eventually reaching the level where elemental mages can also learn and master some spells from other schools to enhance their strength.

The orc wizard was hit by the Blood Mage’s spell of mana absorption. Despite the rank disparity, the orc wizard, who had taken a unorthodox path, already had a weak foundation. Under the force of the absorption, it felt weak, as if all its energy had been drained.

Kelsas’s mana absorption lasted only a dozen seconds. The orc wizard, having lost a great deal of its mana, could no longer cast its few powerful spells. With the remaining mana, it could only use minor tricks that had little effect on the bronze-level warriors protected by sword energy.

In the end, the once-powerful orc wizard was pierced in the neck by the combined swords of two mercenary captains. The swords were pulled out, nearly severing most of its neck. Blood gushed out in large amounts, and its massive body, nearly two men tall, collapsed to the ground like a mountain toppling.

Seeing the orc wizard’s blood spilling all over the ground, Kris felt deep sorrow. She quickly said to Donald, “It’s such a waste! This orc wizard doesn’t have a magic core; its mana is stored in its body. Not only is its corpse good material, but its blood is also an excellent ingredient for magic ink. Donald, do you have any containers? Collect some quickly, or it will all be wasted!” Hearing this, Donald took out two wine barrels from his storage space and ordered Clinton and the others to collect the orc wizard’s blood.

The orc leader had already fallen, and the remaining two male orcs were quickly taken care of by the bronze-level warriors. Seeing the victorious adventurers cheering loudly, they began to tend to the wounded and clean up the battlefield. Those orcs who were seriously injured and unconscious were finished off as well.

Of course, Donald and the others didn’t have to do this themselves.

Seeing the battle over and others cleaning up the battlefield, Chris cast a spell to conserve his magic power using the gathered ogre blood, then did nothing but ask Donald curiously, “What spell did you cast earlier? I’ve never seen such a powerful spell that can achieve a level 7 effect by skipping three levels at the beginning of Bronze rank!” Donald, who had quietly absorbed the souls of these ogres, explained, “That’s my innate spell. Of course, I was only able to unleash such a strong effect with the help of these equipment enhancements!”