Ethan's New Weapon

His shield blocked a heavy blow just in time. His right hand, holding the Short Sword poised and ready, thrust out with the fastest speed, piercing directly through the Fallen's chest. After dealing with this Dark Creature that had suddenly rushed out from the side to ambush him, Ethan quickly pulled back his Short Sword and repositioned himself to face the next wave of attacks.

"Well done, Ethan, you're improving quickly."

They had been away from the Rogue Encampment for most of the day. This journey wasn't like Ethan's previous trips where he deliberately avoided dangerous enemies; instead, they actively sought them out, eliminating every Dark Creature they encountered.

In just half a day, they had eliminated over a dozen Quill Rats, more than twenty Zombies, and countless Fallen.

As they moved further away from the encampment, the Dark Creatures they encountered not only became more difficult to deal with but also appeared in much larger numbers.

This time, they ran into a small tribe of several dozen Fallen, including at least three Fallen Shamans. Isendra and Zul immediately prioritized eliminating the three Shamans, then slowly cleared out the remaining weaklings who no longer had the Shamans as backup.

For these two powerful Sorcerers, even relying on melee combat, eliminating these dozens of Fallen wasn't a difficult task. The only thing they needed to be mindful of was Ethan's safety.

They didn't object to Ethan's sudden decision to join them in eliminating the Dark Creatures in the Den of Evil; in fact, they welcomed it.

"Anyone willing to fight against the Demons is our comrade."

Strength wasn't something they cared about. Even though Ethan was weak, they were willing to bring him along to eliminate the darkness.

Along the way, the two Sorcerers deliberately trained Ethan: for example, they let Ethan handle scattered Zombies by himself, and when they encountered larger groups, they intentionally left a few weaker minions for Ethan to gain combat experience.

This time was no different. After quickly eliminating the most dangerous Fallen Shamans and controlling the situation, the two Sorcerers intentionally allowed a few Fallen who had scattered to launch surprise attacks on Ethan.

They weren't worried about Ethan dying. After getting to know him for a while, both of them had a clear understanding of Ethan's strength.

Furthermore, as spellcasters who cultivated Mental Power themselves, they were very clear about the physical changes that come with increased Mental Power.

Now that Ethan's Mental Power had increased, his mental reaction speed was faster than that of ordinary people. When he focused his mind during combat, he felt as if the opponent's movements were slowing down.

This characteristic was almost the greatest reliance for Rathma Priests when they first started learning melee combat. Excellent mental reaction ability allowed them to better grasp their opponent's movements, and abundant and powerful Mental Power enabled them to think of countermeasures in a very short time.

The only thing limiting their melee ability was their physical reaction speed.

Ethan was now facing the same problem. Fortunately, his body was that of a young seventeen-year-old boy. While boys' bodies might lack strength, their reaction speed is definitely at the peak of their lives, and their flexibility is much stronger than that of adults. Therefore, he could barely keep up with his mental speed and make appropriate defensive movements to kill enemies.

After a period of training, Ethan had improved from simply defending against enemy sneak attacks to counter-killing. Even if the opponents were just weak Fallen minions, it was still a huge improvement.

Even weak Fallen minions had the strength equivalent to a strong adult man. Their movement speed was also very fast, allowing them to easily escape from the pursuit of some clumsy humans. Being able to kill Fallen independently proved that Ethan's current combat power had surpassed the level of ordinary people.

After killing the last few Fallen, Ethan stood in place and took a deep breath – the air filled with the aura of darkness and the unpleasant smell of the Fallen wasn't pleasant, but it gave Ethan a feeling of joy from the bottom of his heart: every time he could survive and persevere until the end of the battle was something to be happy about.

"Your progress is faster than I expected. I'm really curious why someone with your talent hasn't yet entered the ranks of a true Sorcerer's Apprentice at this age?"

A true Sorcerer's Apprentice could initially master some basic minor spells and even help their teacher with preliminary preparations for some trivial magic experiments. Although they were apprentices, they were no longer ordinary people; they were beings who had truly grasped Magic Power.

Few young people who were favored by Sorcerers and taken in as disciples were this old without having entered the ranks – however, disciples favored by Sorcerers were born with strong Mental Power. Most only needed to practice controlling their Mental Power and then directly began to condense Magic Power.

"Because I only recently started truly getting into magic."

As Ethan answered the question, he looked at the Short Sword in his hand. This weapon, given to him by Kashya, had now reached the end of its life – the blade was curled and damaged, and the already short blade had become even shorter because the tip had broken off. The only part that was still intact was the hilt.

This weapon, which was technically his first, held great sentimental value, but now it didn't even have value for collection. The broken blade was so twisted that it couldn't even fit into the scabbard; he could only discard it.

"There are quite a few items collected by the Fallen here. You can see if there's a weapon you can use."

Unlike the two Sorcerers, they both had their own unique weapons. For example, Isendra's long Staff – which could be used directly to perform Staff Fighting when necessary. Isendra's Staff Fighting wasn't just for show; it could truly be used to fight against Demons.

Zul's exclusive weapon was a strangely shaped dagger, said to be personal equipment exclusive to Rathma Priests, and every Priest had one. This dagger had many uses; it could not only be used for melee combat but also assist in casting spells. However, Zul wasn't using it at the moment. Instead, he had created a long bone scythe with magic. If he were to change into a black hooded robe and combine it with his gloomy and terrifying demeanor...

"Can't you use your magic to create a long sword or something for me?"

"This kind of magic requires continuous infusion of Magic Power to maintain its form, and it also carries my personal mental imprint, so you cannot use it."

Ethan nodded and began searching for a suitable weapon in the chaotic encampment.

The most common items on the ground were the daggers and wooden clubs used by the Fallen. These things were not only crude, but they didn't look much better than his own Short Sword.

After searching around, Ethan finally settled on a wooden club that looked reasonably sturdy.

Seeing that he had chosen his 'new weapon', the group prepared to continue moving forward. They were not far from the Den of Evil, and they could even see the outline of the entrance to the Den of Evil in the distance.

It was precisely because they were so close that there was such a large Fallen encampment here.

"Huh?"

Just a few steps out, Isendra called out to the two of them, then picked up an iron rod from beside a nearby stone.

"This thing..."

She casually swung it a few times. The whistling sound of the wind seemed to indicate the weight of the iron rod, followed immediately by the sudden flash of electric light, which showed its extraordinary nature.

"Ha, you're quite lucky."

Isendra handed the iron rod in her hand to Ethan: "Throw away that firewood you're holding. You can use this."

"What is this?"

Ethan had, of course, seen the fleeting electric light and knew it wasn't an ordinary iron rod. However, this iron rod, covered in mud and grass, looked even more miserable than the wooden club and didn't look like a weapon at all.

It was the well-traveled Zul who first recognized the true form of this weapon: "If I'm not mistaken, this is a One-Handed War Hammer."

"War Hammer?" Ethan had seen One-Handed War Hammers at Charsi the blacksmith's place: "Where's the hammerhead?"

Isendra spread her hands: "It must have broken off. This is the back half of a One-Handed War Hammer... that is, the part connecting the hammerhead and the handle."

Hearing only this, one might think Isendra was playing a trick on Ethan. What was good about a broken weapon? So the female Sorcerer immediately explained: "Don't think that without the hammerhead, it's not as good as the wooden club in your hand. This is a piece of Magic Equipment."

Ethan nodded. He had also thought of this point, after all, the electric light that had just flashed wasn't an illusion. However, without the hammerhead, this piece of Magic Equipment was damaged. Could it still exert its proper power?

"You don't need to worry about it not being powerful enough," Isendra said, spreading her hands. "I just tested it. Although the magic inscribed on it was damaged and can't unleash its full power, most of the magic is still functional."

Talking about it wasn't as good as experiencing it firsthand. Isendra told Ethan how to inject his Mental Power and how to properly use this Magic Equipment.

As he injected his Mental Power and found the 'switch' within the metal rod, the rod in Ethan's hand suddenly flashed with dazzling electric light. Unstable arcs of electricity leaped across the rod. The sudden release of power caused even Zul, the powerful Necromancer, to instinctively take a step back.

"Oh? It seems quite powerful. But what kind of magic is attached to this equipment?"

In that instant, the flickering electric light struck Zul, causing even his body, protected by bone armor and powerful Magic Power, to feel a tingling numbness and pain. If it were an ordinary person who took that hit...

"It should be a very powerful Lightning Magic. However, the final shaping and casting parts of the magic spell were likely inscribed on the hammerhead. Without seeing the hammerhead, I'm not sure exactly which magic it is."

So, this was essentially a rod that could automatically discharge electricity. Fortunately, this rod automatically absorbed the surrounding free energy to replenish and store Magic Power. Ethan only needed to use his Mental Power to trigger it, and the metal rod would automatically convert the stored Magic Power into lightning and release it.

"So, this thing is just an Electric Baton?"