Chapter 5: The Siege (Part 2)

“Kill those wildlings first!”
All the rune warriors with rune bows drew their arrows, while the spellcasters unleashed their one-time spells. The attack was highly effective—within less than a minute, four roaming wildlings were shot dead at the foot of the city. No one cheered, as the fierce wildlings pouring out of the forest began to gather together, not rushing to attack.

Luo Zhan said, “Shier, take Xiao Bao and the others back. This is no longer an apprentice’s battlefield. Besides, I’ll report your achievement of killing two wildlings to the inner sect—there will be a reward for that.”

If it weren’t for Luo Zhan, Guo Shier would have left long ago. After all, he was just a nine-year-old child and shouldn’t be fighting wildlings to the death. He nodded and asked, “Uncle Luo, are you going back too?”

Luo Zhan smiled. “How could I go back? One more person means one more strength. Otherwise, it won’t be safe for you to stay in the city either. Once the wildlings get in, no one will be safe. Those three should stay too. I’ll ask Lao Zhang to send you back first.”

Lao Zhang was the guy who carried wildling heads. He usually didn’t talk much but was very kind to Guo Shier.

Guo Shier nodded. He understood what Luo Zhan meant and said, “Okay, then please help us get back.”

Back in their residential courtyard, Guo Shier gave a few orders. Not even thinking about taking a bath, he went straight to his bedroom and fell into a deep sleep. Children need sleep—his head felt like it didn’t belong to him anymore. Using his precious runes twice had exhausted all his magical energy, placing a heavy strain on his body.

He slept deeply until evening the next day when he woke up. Refreshed, he got up, washed up, and went out to check on things.

Huo Bao and the others were eating. Only then did Guo Shier realize he was starving, his whole body feeling weak. He sighed, “Ah, abusing children… It’s the time for growth—how can I let myself go hungry? What a sin!”

Huo Bao, holding a large bone stick, stared at Guo Shier in astonishment. Chen Hong had just picked up a big bone with a large piece of meat on it. Holding the bone stick, she said, “Shier, here!”

Guo Shier snatched it and took a big bite, muttering, “Chen Hong, eat too!”

Chen Hong admired Guo Shier greatly. Such a young child could kill two wildlings, while she, being older, still needed protection. The gap was indeed huge.

Guo Shieru ate and drank voraciously, consuming both meat bones and rich broth until he was drenched in sweat. It took him five large meat bones before he calmed down slightly and became somewhat full, no longer needing to eat so desperately. Sometimes he wondered how such a small body could hold so much food without ever experiencing digestive problems.

He picked up a large pancake, dipped it slowly into the thick broth, and ate it delicately, asking as he ate, “Has Luo Dashi returned?”

Chen Bing replied, “No. The streets have been sealed off. Except for combatants, no one else is allowed on the streets, so we can’t get any news. Things don’t seem good.”

Hong Shi gnawed hard on a large piece of meat, making loud chewing sounds. After swallowing a mouthful, he said, “I heard that the more skilled apprentices have gone to the city walls…”

Huo Bao asked, “You heard that? From whom? We haven’t even left home…”

Hong Shi smiled and said, “The yard next door… They went out this afternoon. Hehe, they’re all apprentices about to advance, that’s why I know.”

Huo Bao suddenly understood and said, “No wonder. Most of the residents here are inner court apprentices. I wondered why it was so noisy this afternoon. It turns out they were called up to defend the city.”

Guo Shieru asked, “When did the street closures start?”

Chen Bing replied, “Last night. We don’t know when the restrictions will be lifted.”

Guo Shieru asked again, “Can we go outside?”

Hong Shi said, “I don’t know. Anyway, there are only patrol officers on the streets. We haven’t gone out since we returned, so we don’t know if the closures affect us. We’re all inner court disciples, so we have certain privileges.”

Guo Shieru said, “Xiao Bing, after eating, go outside and find out what’s going on. You have the identity token of an inner court disciple, so you should be able to go.”

Guo Shieru enjoyed this meal greatly. After finishing, he drank another large bowl of broth before saying satisfactorily, “I’m going back to my room to practice. Let me know as soon as you get any news, Xiao Bing.”

He took out the Ice Arrow Talisman that had played a crucial role and examined it carefully. The talisman had a limited number of uses—nine times in total. If used beyond that, forcing it to function again would damage the talisman beyond repair. After all, a talisman was extremely precious.

After being activated several times, if a talisman can be repaired in time, its lifespan will be very long, allowing it to be used repeatedly. Therefore, Guo Shier decided to repair the talisman himself. Activating a talisman requires spell power, while repairing it requires talisman power. He had the potential for talismans and had also developed his own talisman power, so mastering the art of repair was a skill he must acquire.

Guo Shier had learned the techniques of repairing talismans but had never put them into practice. After much thought, he listed each step of the repair process in detail until he was certain there were no doubts left before starting to work.

According to Guo Shier’s understanding, a talisman was like a pistol with nine bullets, capable of firing nine times. No matter how many times it was fired, bullets needed to be replenished, and talisman power was the material used to create these “bullets.” As long as the replenishment was completed, the repair was done.

Throughout the repair process, Guo Shier was extremely careful with every step. Most spellcasters did not possess such powerful talismans, and any damage during repair would be deeply regrettable.

Thus, the repair took a long time—two full days—before it was finally completed successfully.

Chen Bing learned that the street closures applied only to ordinary people; their inner sect disciples were exempt and could come and go freely. Two days later, Guo Shier left the courtyard.

He went to the streets with Huo Bao and three others. The people who had protected them before, such as Luo Zhan, were no longer there, leaving the five child apprentices walking on the empty streets.

The patrol teams on the road let them pass without asking anything after seeing the identity badges on their chests.

The five of them arrived at the headquarters of the North Talisman Sect in Ye Guan City, which was bustling with activity. Dozens of talisman alchemists were busy there. All the wounded brought down from the city walls were gathered here for treatment. Only the North Talisman Sect could afford to have so many talisman alchemists working, along with many other spellcasters and masters repairing the talisman patterns on the bodies of talisman warriors.

Injured talisman warriors whose talisman patterns were partially damaged needed to be repaired by spellcasters; otherwise, their strength would decline. At the headquarters, the North Talisman Sect provided free treatment and repair for any talisman warriors who were injured while defending the city and whose talisman patterns were damaged.

Guo Shier went to the hall where tasks were assigned and found it crowded with people, mostly apprentices and ordinary citizens. A large number of tasks were being posted there.

As an inner disciple of the Northern Talisman Sect, Guo Shier still had the awareness to protect his sect. He led Huo Bao and the others to start selecting tasks. Facing such a large number of tasks, he felt a bit overwhelmed. Ranging from patrols to climbing city walls, from treating the wounded to crafting attack talismans, there were hundreds of tasks in total.

Guo Shier was an apprentice with great potential in talismans and spells; he could take on almost any task, whether it was for a talisman master or a spellcaster. This demonstrated his strong potential in this field.

Huo Bao said, “Although our abilities are limited, we can still take on some tasks.”

In addition to rewards for completing tasks, there were also special task points unique to the Northern Talisman Sect, which could be used to exchange for rare materials. This was done to encourage sect disciples to take on tasks proactively.

Guo Shier nodded and said, “Let’s start with some easier tasks. Hmm, everyone should take individual tasks first, then gather together to take on group tasks.”

Guo Shier didn’t want to take on those tasks involving climbing city walls for now, nor did he allow Huo Bao and the others to do so. He ordered them to only take tasks assigned by the headquarters. Although the points earned were less, it was safer.

Guo Shier found a decent task: crafting disposable attack talismans. The materials were provided by the headquarters—five sets of materials for two attack talismans, with any leftovers going to the maker. Additionally, each attack talisman earned three points. Almost no one took on this task.

Talisman masters could take on more advanced tasks with higher rewards and points. However, apprentices were reluctant to take on this task because their success rate was very low. With five sets of materials, they might succeed in making three talismans if lucky, or none at all if unlucky. So they preferred to take other tasks instead.

This task had to be completed at the Talisman Master Hall. Guo Shier asked where it was and then walked there alone. The Talisman Master Hall was close to the task hall—after walking about a hundred meters, he arrived. There were many people coming and going in the hall, mostly talisman master apprentices.

Talisman masters rarely went to battle. Except for a few special roles like talisman pill masters, the rest were considered logistical support. Besides crafting talismans, they also had to handle material distribution and management tasks.

With ten sets of materials, Guo Shier entered a dedicated room equipped with a full set of talisman-making tools. His success rate in crafting talismans was extremely high because of his powerful spiritual strength—a secret that no one had discovered yet. With ten sets of materials, he could successfully create at least seven disposable attack talismans, and if lucky, even nine.

For ten consecutive days, starting by creating six talismans per day and later increasing to eight, Guo Shier’s success rate was comparable to that of a talisman master. Of course, talisman masters generally did not create one-time attack talismans—those were the main tasks of talisman artisans and their apprentices.
That day, after handing in six one-time attack talismans, Guo Shier heard someone shouting, “We need a talisman artisan apprentice or a spellcraft apprentice to assist! Talisman artisan apprentices and spellcraft apprentices who haven’t been assigned tasks yet, please sign up immediately!”
Curious, Guo Shier asked, “Is there anything I can help with?”
At that time, almost everyone already had their own tasks, so no one stepped forward to sign up. As soon as Guo Shier asked, the person called out to him, “Are you an apprentice spellcrafter from the inner sect?”
Guo Shier nodded. “Yes.”
The person said happily, “Great! You’re the one!”
Guo Shier was puzzled. “Me?”