Chapter 14: The Giant Zongzi
It seems that the fleeting figure just now must have been a thief. Kommer was quite surprised to find that someone with such considerable wind magic skills could actually be a thief. Thinking back to how that figure had rushed past him, a bad thought suddenly crossed Kommer’s mind—could it be that the guy had deliberately passed by him with ulterior motives? Instinctively reaching into his chest, Kommer’s heart sank as his worst fear came true: the items in his chest had indeed been stolen by that despicable thief. It was laughable that he had been watching others while his own belongings were stolen; he hadn’t even realized it.
Seeing Kommer’s expression change slightly, Lomei beside him immediately noticed something was amiss and asked quietly, “Great Sage, is something wrong?”
“Nothing. That guy just stole my things—the very one they mentioned. I didn’t expect him to be so skilled, managing to steal from my chest without either of us noticing.”
Kommer was indeed annoyed. Though he and Lomei had been focused on admiring the exotic flowers, they still retained a basic level of vigilance. That elf thief had managed to steal his items silently. Fortunately, his Qi Bag was always worn close to his waist; otherwise, if it had been taken by the thief, things would have been much more troublesome. Still, the stolen items were quite important. One of them was a relic from Damalsk Fortress, and the other was a stone amulet used to strengthen mental cultivation and solidify mental memories. It was something Kommer had prepared for Lomei, intending to give it to her at the right time to enhance her current mental state and further refine her mental power.
A thought suddenly popped into Kommer’s mind. It seemed those guys had also lost something important. Why not ask them to help him search for the elf thief? Although the dwarf warrior had been a bit wordy, his words made sense. Prag was such a large city, and it was currently the period of the Magic Competition. Finding someone who deliberately wanted to avoid them wouldn’t be easy. An extra pair of eyes could help—once they located the thief, Kommer was confident he could retrieve his items.
With that thought, Kommer hesitated no longer. “Please, wait a moment, all of you.”
Komer didn’t expect his words to provoke such a fierce reaction from the other party. In an instant, the dwarf warrior’s axe whistled through the air as it swung toward him, while the mortal young warrior’s long sword also drew from its sheath at the same time. The silver light from the swinging blade flickered erratically. Komer was surprised—this young warrior had seemingly broken through his martial skill stage and entered a higher level of martial arts. The crystalline glint at the tip of the sword clearly indicated that he was on the verge of entering the combat energy stage. With a little more time, this young warrior could surely reach that realm, but not yet. Still, it was quite remarkable—such performance from such a young warrior was truly uncommon.
The behavior of the handsome young man dressed as a mage surprised Komer even more. Instead of using the usual methods before casting a spell—either muttering incantations or pulling out a magic scroll—he suddenly lifted his mage robes, revealing a finely crafted dagger. A mage using a dagger typically used by assassins?! It was simply unbelievable.
The dagger trembled in the air, transforming into a fan-shaped beam of light that covered Komer’s upper body. The chilling aura from the sword made him shiver instantly. This assassin posing as a mage clearly practiced ice combat energy. Though nothing could be seen from the blade itself, assassins were best at hiding their strength. As long as they achieved their goal, they didn’t care about the methods. Komer could even clearly sense that the tip of the dagger was aimed at his throat, clearly intending to kill him with a single strike. Komer couldn’t imagine what grudge could drive someone to go to such extremes. Even if there was some misunderstanding, wasn’t it necessary to at least ask a few questions before resorting to murder upon first meeting?
Lomei was truly angry. She didn’t know why the Grand Sage had summoned him, but she was sure it wasn’t out of malice. Yet he responded to the Grand Sage in such a way, which filled Lomei with utter humiliation and anger. It was pure provocation and murder. Regardless of the reason or any misunderstanding, for a mere mercenary group to dare assassinate a noble lord and a great mage in broad daylight was nothing but seeking their own death!
Before Komer could even react, Lomei raised her hand high, swinging her left wrist lightly as her pale fingers formed a strange shape in the air. Muttering spells, a massive shield of light suddenly appeared between Komer and Lomei. The silver-blue shield emitted a dazzling glow. The “Shield of Light” was the most complex yet most practical defensive spell among light-based magic. The shield could be resized at will by the caster, though the larger it became, the more mana it consumed, the greater the magical power required, and the more difficult it was to control. Yet Lomei managed to conjure such a shield that could cover both of their bodies with ease, leaving even Komer in awe of her flawless mastery of light-based magic.
The massive axe head produced a howling sound as it moved—this was the weapon most commonly used by dwarves. Its blade was more than twice as large as those used by ordinary people, with a sharp edge that emitted a silver-white glow, clearly indicating it was no cheap, inferior weapon. At least the silver-white glow suggested some mixture of magical metals. At the tip of the axe was a protruding spike that seemed to shimmer with a faint blue light, and strange inscriptions could be clearly seen engraved around it. Even Komer became interested in this seemingly unimpressive weapon used by the dwarf.
When the axe blade collided with the shield, intense ripples immediately formed at the point of impact—this was the result of two magical forces clashing, causing severe spatial distortion in a small area. The axe blade carried more than just ordinary physical force; the spatial distortion indicated that it was also imbued with strong magical power. However, the magical shield cast by Lomei was not something ordinary people could penetrate. The Shield of Light was extremely resilient to any form of impact, especially physical ones. Despite the dwarf gritting his teeth and exerting all his strength, almost popping his eyes out, the axe blade could only penetrate the first two layers of the shield before stopping abruptly.
The long sword of the mortal young warrior pierced into the light shield almost simultaneously, with his already somewhat developed combat energy generating intense ripples of power as it clashed violently with the shield, spreading outward in waves. A shrill screeching sound filled the air, and even the young warrior could sense the surge of magical energy. He realized the strength of the opponent’s magical shield and quickly tried to change his position and angle repeatedly in an attempt to break through its defense, but it was clearly futile. Lome’s Light Sacred Shield proved to be extremely resilient, remaining as solid as rock even under dual attacks.
Meanwhile, the assassin’s dagger emitted a buzzing vibration in an instant, its silver-white blade light flickering erratically before suddenly piercing through the weak side of Lome’s Light Sacred Shield. Although the shield had been weakened by the dual attacks, it was still not something ordinary people could easily penetrate. Yet this guy’s dagger managed to pinpoint the weak point with precision—truly the mark of a master assassin skilled in killing with a single strike, quick and adept at identifying weaknesses.
As the dagger broke through the light shield, the collision with magical energy produced a strange, dazzling light, like a suddenly exploding ball of light. The assassin’s wrist moved in intricate ways, creating countless glowing spheres and sword flashes that enveloped Komer’s chest and abdomen. The immense force of his combat energy blew Komer and Lome’s clothes fluttering, giving them the impression of floating in midair.
Komer had been focusing his attention on this calm yet daring assassin who pretended to be a magician. The silver-white blade light indicated that the assassin’s combat energy was even higher than that of the young warrior. The buzzing vibration, combined with rapid successive attacks in a small area, generated enough force to tear through the spatial protective energy of the light shield, aiming to deliver a fatal blow once penetration was achieved. But he had underestimated Komer behind the shield.
With a casual sidestep to avoid the sharp edge of the thrusting sword, Komer smiled slightly and lifted his hands lightly. Suddenly, two thick vine-like plants sprang up from the ground in the front garden without warning, instantly growing into vines as thick as arms and several dozen feet long. Like two sentient giant pythons, one vine rolled up along the ground and tightly wrapped around the unprepared assassin, while the other vine shot upward abruptly, passing through the assassin’s arms and spinning rapidly through the air. In an instant, it wrapped itself around the assassin countless times. The assassin, who was diving from the air, had almost no chance to resist and fell to the ground in a disheveled mess, like a giant zongzi.