The sudden entry of the rear guard only threw the spider swarm into chaos for a short while. They had been on guard against the enemy behind them for a long time, but a surprise attack led by Qiaosen still killed three spiders and severely injured and paralyzed five others.
The total number of Giant Spiders gathered here was only around eighty, and now one-tenth of them were gone. Having achieved a great victory, Qiaosen quickly turned his horse around and led his cavalry back. According to the original plan, now was the time for the mages to show their skills, and his task was to hold the line and protect the mages.
Du'an and Huoye were both fire mages, but their students and subordinates also possessed water and ice magic. The five Elves and humans formed an ice team and began casting a spell, radiating a chilling aura from them.
On the other side of the battlefield, since the rear guard appeared Unas tightened its defenses even more, firmly blocking the spider swarm. Angela had also recovered some of her magic power after Meditation for a while. A few hundred meters away, she coordinated with the Frost Squad on the opposite side, Archmage easily took control of this large-scale ice spell.
The sky suddenly darkened, and a circular blue light curtain that completely enveloped the spider swarm pressed down. At the same time, dozens of ice pillars, each requiring two people to encircle, rose from the ground, trapping the entire spider swarm within its embrace.
Of course, a few fish escaped and were kept outside. They immediately turned back to attack the ice pillar with the spiders inside the ice prison, but the cold air emanating from the ice pillar made their limbs stiff and their movements slow, so they could not destroy it in a short time.
After casting the spell, the Frost Squad and Archmage Angela exhausted. They retreated together amidst a flash of green light, the spider swarm now trapped. The remaining mages unleashed their prepared spells.
Fireballs, Pyroblast, scorching—the various techniques were dazzling. The Giant Spiders, who had just been chilled by the cold air, were instantly scorched by the flames, experiencing what it meant to be subjected to both ice and fire.
The most eye-catching spells were Du'an and Huoye's Flamestrike, a high-level spell that only they could cast. The two seemed to be secretly competing to see who could control it most skillfully and kill the most spiders.
The spider swarm in the icy cage became easy targets, Unas certainly wouldn't let this opportunity pass. While the mages attacked the center of the spider swarm, he ordered his men to fire on the spiders that were trying to destroy the ice pillars.
This battle, which could be described as a massacre, finally began to show some signs of life as it neared its end. The mages' relentless bombardment had come to a halt, and the two Flamestrike had ended due to the casters' fatigue. The dozen or so surviving Giant Spiders desperately smashed an ice pillar and rushed out towards Qiaosen's direction, knowing that the ice wall in Unas's direction was an insurmountable chasm.
Unas was getting a little anxious. These Giant Spiders, which had survived the baptism of flames, were all relatively powerful species. He didn't know if Qiaosen, who had lost his magical powers, could hold out. Human soldiers were his base of operations, and he couldn't accept too many casualties.
"Orcs, Charge with me!" he roared, leading the most firmly controlled Orcs across the icy cage and straight towards Qiaosen's group. The gaps between the ice pillars were narrow for the Giant Spiders, but humans could easily pass through, although the cold air was indeed unbearable when approaching the ice pillars.
As Unas ran, he buffed the Orcs. The deaths of more than sixty Giant Spiders allowed him, who was just gaining experience, to level up again, from 2% at level 29 to 28% at level 30. This was only because the experience required to level up increased dramatically after reaching level 30.
Before level 29, each Giant Spiders can provide 2-3% experience, but after level 30, it drops to only about 1%. In addition to attribute increases and skill points, there's a new feature this time – talents.
Previously, the talent section on the attribute panel always showed "None," but after reaching level 30, three new options appeared:
Divine Strength: Permanently increases your base strength by 20%.
Holy Awakening: There is a very small chance that casting any spell will grant you a full-body recovery effect.
Reckoning: There is a high chance of triggering Reckoning when attacked, storing the damage received and retaliating all at once, which will put a certain burden on the body.
All three talents seemed impressive, but he could only choose one, and he had been pondering which one to choose after leveling up.
The permanent 20% increase in base strength is a very useful talent. His current base strength is 120, so an increase of 24 points is a great improvement. Moreover, the 20% bonus will increase as his strength continues to rise.
The effect of Holy Awakening is incredibly powerful; Unas experiences the full-body recovery effect every time he levels up. It's a talent that could save his life, but the phrase "extremely low chance" made him hesitate, as the uncertainty was simply too great.
The Reckoning is somewhat similar to the concept of "Star-Shifting Skill" or "using their own methods against them. "Unas Although Unas dislikes Murong Fu, his talent is quite remarkable. Many of the skills he is currently learning are support and defensive, and he hasn't fallen behind in terms of attack power thanks to the Firekiss. Having another way to deliver a fatal blow is essential.
After much deliberation, he ultimately chose Reckoning. He could deal with Holy Awakening and Divine Strength later. When he selected Reckoning, the other two options did not disappear, but simply turned gray, indicating that there would still be opportunities to choose them later.
He speculated that he would have to wait until level 40 to obtain the second talent, and given the current leveling speed, as long as he kept eliminating spiders, that day wouldn't be too far off.
The escaped spiders were right in front of him. Unas wouldn't deliberately take a beating to test his new talent, but he subconsciously launched an even more reckless attack, which boosted the morale of the opposing team, Qiaosen — the Warden was fighting so hard to help them, so they had no reason to back down.
The chances of triggering the Reckoning were indeed high. Unas's arm armor was ripped open by the leg of a Blade Spider, and he immediately felt a force flowing into his body through the wound, but it did not put any burden on his body.
After he was hit, bitten, and slapped a few more times, the combined force of these blows made him feel a slight burden, as if a heavy stone was pressing on his chest, but it was still within a tolerable range.
Using his new talent for the first time, he didn't want to walk too tight a tightrope. Unas pulled out a javelin and aimed it at a troublesome Ironclad Spider not far ahead. As the name suggests, this spider also has very thick armor and is one of the most difficult Giant Spiders to kill. Even Firekiss could not pierce its armor.
"Die!" Unas roared and launched the spear with all his might, releasing all the Reckoning power stored within his body. The spear disappeared into the air, and with a huge roar, the Ironclad Spider let out a miserable scream as it was pierced through from head to tail and paralyzed on the ground.
The javelin continued its momentum, piercing another Green Tail before flying straight into the human ranks opposite. Fortunately, most of its force had dissipated, and it was deflected by a soldier's sword, preventing any friendly fire.
Unas looked at his hands, somewhat excited. His choice was indeed correct; the new talent had boosted his damage output by more than one level!