Fight Like Men!

Ted reached out and patted Hermione on the head, using Ravenclaw's Wisdom (Blue) on her.

Hermione's fluffy little head jerked suddenly, and she stared at Ted with wide, round eyes.

Ted winked at her, signaling for her to keep quiet.

Hermione's original Intelligence stat was 7. As expected of a natural top student.

Now it had increased by another 2 points, while her Spirit had gone up by 1. It felt as though her mind had suddenly become crystal clear!

It was as if she had become smart enough to solve any problem! It felt amazing! Almost addictive~ With the boost, Hermione would perform even better.

The group had already worked out a battle plan, as well as escape routes in case anything went wrong.

And in a moment, Hermione's task would be the most important one.

Right, he also had to cast the Bubblehead Charm on each of them, to keep them from becoming non-combat casualties.

The three monsters, having already wrecked an entire corridor and now heading toward the First Floor Staircase, were still somewhat confused.

They had suddenly escaped their cages. In truth, they had no idea how they had gotten out, nor did they know what they were supposed to do.

One look at their Intelligence stats told the story. These three had the intelligence of five-year-old children—slightly smarter than ordinary beasts, but not by much.

They vaguely remembered that they were supposed to cause havoc. Basically, they just wrecked whatever they came across. Beyond that, they had no other thoughts.

Just as they were about to climb the stairs, a shrill pig squeal rang out. A massive, fat Big Black Wild Boar charged down from above! Though they could not make sense of the situation, they still had their biological instincts.

The Modified Troll in the lead snorted, swung its huge club, and smashed it down in pursuit! "Duang~" Though it was the dull sound of wood striking stone steps, it was still incredibly loud.

Even the thousand-year-old brick steps cracked beneath the blow! Those were antiques! Yet the black boar seemed completely unharmed as it passed through the troll's club and charged straight through its legs at the Spider Mantis Bug in second place.

The Spider Mantis Bug did not understand why the boar had not been knocked down, but it still instinctively swung its two blade-like arms down at it! It struck with astonishing speed, leaving afterimages behind! Watching from the shadows, Ted could not help raising its danger rating. It might look stupid, but if it ambushed someone, that move alone could kill!

Yet its two Emerald Green blade-arms also passed straight through the boar, which charged without looking back at the Quirrell Horned Beast at the rear!

The Quirrell Horned Beast could not figure out what its two teammates up front were doing. How had they both let the enemy reach the back line? It immediately extended its two long claws to scratch at the boar and opened its mouth wide, but its "crunch" bit nothing but air.

The boar charged into the darkness without looking back, then rammed straight into a wall and vanished~ That was Ted's Wild Boar Firecracker (Green) Item Card.

If they had been normal people, they might have noticed from a third-person perspective that there was something wrong with the boar, that it was not a normal living creature.

But when a boar bigger than you came charging at you from your own point of view, who could calmly observe the details? Especially not three dim-witted monsters.

At that moment, they were all turning back dumbly to stare at the wall where the boar had disappeared!

Judging by the Modified Troll's expression, it even wanted to smash open the wall and take a look~ Then, a blue Ice Arrow shot out from the darkness in the blink of an eye. It skimmed past the Modified Troll's body and struck the Spider Mantis Bug.

The Spider Mantis Bug should have been the hardest to ambush, because it had Compound Eyes with nearly three hundred and sixty degrees of vision.

But in this situation, by the time it saw the arrow, it was already too late to dodge.

The Ice Arrow struck the Spider Mantis Bug, whose body was covered in an insect's distinctive chitinous exoskeleton.

If an ordinary person slashed at it with a blade, they probably would not be able to damage it directly.

But an Ice Arrow was far more powerful than an ordinary person's slash. It punched a fist-sized hole straight through the creature, shattering the shell around it! Half of the Spider Mantis Bug's body immediately turned pale blue and gave off a chill, while its entire body stiffened.

Insects feared cold and fire most of all. The Ice Arrow, having broken through its shell, sent a bone-deep chill through it!

Ted's newly developed "Ice Arrow" finally came in handy! With his experience developing Frost Armor, developing ice magic had become much easier.

Although its casting preparation still took as long as four seconds and had almost no practical combat value, it was quite useful for the opening strike of an ambush!

"Awooo~" Seeing living creatures attacking them, the Modified Troll suddenly threw back its head and roared! The sound echoed through the corridor like an exploding thunderclap, instantly disrupting the group's follow-up plan.

They had been about to cast spells, but the roar shook them so badly that they clapped their hands over their ears. Jerry's eyes were even spinning in circles.

Meanwhile, the Modified Troll had already charged up the stairs! At a critical moment like this, it still came down to Ted.

Using Mind Power, he directly blocked out the ringing in his ears and the shock. His heart remained utterly calm as he suppressed every emotion unrelated to battle.

He calmly aimed at the steps ahead and cast a spell. "Sliding Charm~"

The Sliding Charm could make a stretch of road or slope smooth and level, reducing friction and turning it into something like a slide.

Ted had learned this spell by chance from a book in the library. After practicing it a few times, he had never used it again.

He had not expected it to prove so useful now! The steps beneath the Modified Troll suddenly turned into a slope, slick as though they had been coated in lubricant—the kind where one careless step sent you sliding.

The Modified Troll slipped, crashing onto the steps with a bang, then slid all the way back down. It knocked over the Spider Mantis Bug, which was still slowed by the freezing effect, and snapped two of its long, thin legs on impact!

The Quirrell Horned Beast at the back was quicker-witted and dodged in time, but Ron's Tooth-Growing Charm hit it the next second.

Its Large Fangs began growing wildly, instantly stuffing its mouth full.

The Quirrell Horned Beast shook its head madly, trying to fling the "strange things" out of its mouth, but it was useless.

The next instant, Harriett cast the Cutting Charm. The pale red spell struck, and a twenty-centimeter gash instantly split open across the Quirrell Horned Beast's back, blood gushing out at once.

Even Harriett had not realized the spell would have such a powerful effect. The sudden sight of so much blood startled her into freezing up.

Jerry then cast the Leg-Locker Curse on the Spider Mantis Bug as it tried to struggle back to its feet. Its remaining six legs suddenly clumped together and stuck fast. It rolled around on the floor, wildly slashing with its two blade-arms and carving numerous gashes into the ground.

Even the Modified Troll was struck once. Its thick skin, a full centimeter deep, split open and leaked a little yellowish-green blood.

The Modified Troll was truly merciless toward its teammates. It raised a leg and kicked the Spider Mantis Bug flying seven or eight meters.

But in the next moment, a large number of white paper butterflies appeared, fluttering up and down around its little head.

All it could see was a blur of white; it could not make out anything. Whenever it reached out to grab them, the paper butterflies were incredibly nimble, leaving its hand empty as though it had caught nothing.

After several failed grabs, it lost patience. Enraged, it swung its club straight at its own head!

"Duang~"

Modified Troll: When I get angry, I hit even myself! Hermione's paper butterflies, created through Transfiguration using paper as the material, had already fried the Modified Troll's brain. It waved its club wildly above its head, occasionally striking itself, but that only made it even angrier! Troll: In a fit of extreme rage, I beat myself up all day!

Jerry cast several more Leg-Locker Curses on the half-crippled Spider Mantis Bug to reinforce the effect, then cast two Leg-Locker Curses on the Quirrell Horned Beast as well.

Other than the Modified Troll, which was busy swatting butterflies, the other two monsters had basically lost their threat.

But what were they supposed to do about the Modified Troll? "Why is it so tough?!" Ron exclaimed through gritted teeth.

In just this short while, that thigh-thick club had struck its own head five or six times solidly, yet it had only bled a little and seemed otherwise fine! And the Leg-Locker Curse, Tooth-Growing Charm, and Cutting Charm they had used on the troll had been completely useless.

Even when they hit, it was as if nothing had happened! Magic Resistance lv2 was practically magic immunity against first-years like them.

Against this Modified Troll, Harriett and Ron's level was like Cao Pi's wife entering a vegetable garden—Zhen Ji picking vegetables.

It was clear that Professor Quirrell's modification of the troll had been successful. After adding Troll Blood, he had improved every aspect of the troll except its Intelligence. Especially its ability to take a beating!

An ordinary troll would already be down after hitting itself seven or eight times with that much force.

But this Modified Troll relied on its powerful physique and healing ability to remain completely fine! "Take out the other two first!" Ted shouted.

A bird in the hand was worth ten in the forest. Hermione could keep restraining the troll while they finished off the other two first.

Ted directly fired another Ice Arrow after charging it for four seconds, accurately hitting the Spider Mantis Bug, which had already lost two legs and had its other six locked together.

Another fist-sized hole opened up, and the Ice Arrow penetrated at least thirty centimeters! Even for a giant insect like the Spider Mantis Bug, that was far too severe.

The two Ice Arrows, combined with the troll's kick, had already robbed it of the strength to struggle. Only its two blade-arms were still slowly scraping about. Though unwilling, death had already arrived uninvited! Neville, who had not helped much until now, suddenly shouted, "Watch out!"

Thanks to reader "Da Zhonghua Liu Liu Liu" for the 100 reward. Thank you.