"This time we really took a huge loss. We actually had to use several Elemental Potions in a row!"
"I had it worse. I got hit by a spear for no reason!"
"More importantly, we got nothing out of it!"
Their conversation drifted faintly over.
Potterning and the others looked rather bedraggled. Their luck had not been very good this time around. Not only had they come away empty-handed, but they had also lost quite a bit of capital.
Hunting down mermen was no simple task.
They also lacked the Mirage Orb Sailen possessed, which could spare some people to hold off the Merman Sorcerer Leader.
"Someone's up ahead!"
Suddenly, a companion's warning brought Potterning back to his senses.
The outskirts were barren and desolate. The meeting place was a small valley formed by several mounds of earth.
As a result, the two sides only noticed each other when they were already very close.
Potterning took a look and relaxed. "Just a few rookies who were promoted last year. I know them. They're no threat."
"Promoted only last year?"
An old apprentice spoke meaningfully.
Being a junior meant being weak.
Being weak meant being easy prey.
There might be exceptions, but the odds were very low.
Even if something went wrong, they were confident they could escape.
Potterning's eyes brightened slightly, and he instantly understood what his companions meant.
"Our luck hasn't been very good this time, but theirs might not be so bad!
If they happened to run into a small tribe we could deal with...
they should have something worthwhile on them!"
For mediocre apprentices, advancement required even more resources, creating an even larger shortage of money.
But their ability to make money was limited.
He had been desperately short of money lately.
He exchanged a glance with his companions. The group tacitly urged their Necromancer Warhorses forward and charged ahead faster.
"Someone's coming!"
Roy's increasingly powerful Spiritual Power detected something.
He sensed movement on the small slope on the other side of the fork in the road. When he looked up, his expression immediately changed.
"Potterning?" The others heard his warning and were surprised as well. "And those people with him... They're all old apprentices who have been here for several years..."
Running into this notorious group of old apprentices in such a remote wilderness gave everyone a vague sense that something was wrong.
The dangers of the wilderness did not come only from monsters.
Humans who were also Tower Apprentices were people they needed to guard against as well!
"You lot, get off your mounts.
Throw out all your backpacks and bags."
The old apprentices looked at them with sinister smiles, as though they were regarding lambs waiting to be slaughtered.
Renion and the others immediately grew flustered, unsure what to do.
Roy frowned as well.
Although his strengthened body allowed him to run fairly fast, getting off his mount was practically the same as handing over his life and everything he owned and meekly waiting to be slaughtered.
Without saying a word, he reached toward his pouch, pretending to undo its strap while actually moving toward its opening.
Unexpectedly, several companions behind Potterning suddenly drew crossbows and fired several bolts in succession.
They attacked the moment they decided to, without the slightest hesitation.
Even the seemingly threatening demand to rob them had merely been a ruse.
While everyone was still stunned, the hair behind Roy suddenly grew explosively, transforming into numerous wildly dancing black pythons that knocked the bolts aside.
This Mage Body Modification had already begun to show results. Each lock of hair was like a tentacle. Although it could not create an airtight defense, its wild movements were more than enough to block most flying weapons.
So long as they contained no Witchcraft Energy or spell effects.
Everyone was shocked by the sight.
Roy, however, reacted swiftly and threw out a vial containing Orchard's Bane.
Potterning and the others hurriedly dodged. When they saw the liquid scatter across the ground with a sizzling sound, their expressions changed.
What terrifying corrosiveness!
"They still dare to resist...
Kill that boy first!"
Several people looked toward Roy, realizing that this was the result of some kind of Mage Body Modification.
Unlike ordinary physical enhancement, this type of modification often came with all sorts of bizarre special abilities.
Even to a group of old apprentices who had all undergone enhancement, it posed a considerable threat.
But at that moment, they all caught the scent of wine brewed from apples.
A slight strange sensation welled up within them.
Immediately afterward came an inexplicable, airy lightness.
The wilderness around them seemed to shift. The night sky shimmered with multicolored radiance, and stars blinked one after another.
Roy and the others opposite them seemed to transform into gigantic humanoid snakes with heads of dazzling, multicolored serpents.
The bizarre sight left them in a daze. Reality and hallucination became intertwined as their consciousness struggled violently.
They only came to their senses when they heard murmured incantations and the clatter of chains.
A black shadow was hurled over by Roy, pouncing like a snake.
He had aimed at Potterning, with whom he had clashed before. Among these old apprentices, he knew only Potterning and none of the others.
Potterning abruptly came to his senses and drew his sword to hack at the chain. Instead, all he heard was the clang of metal striking metal.
The chain moved like a snake. Its shadow coiled around him, wrapping him up with immense force.
"Help... help me!"
The chain tightened around Potterning's neck, and he felt unable to breathe.
He hurriedly struggled and pulled with all his strength.
But the chain only tightened further. It was like a true giant python; the moment it sensed his strength slacken even slightly, it violently contracted again.
Potterning could only flush red as he exerted all his strength to resist the tremendous constricting force.
He was utterly shocked, as though stormy waves had risen in his heart.
How was this possible?
Wasn't Roy a seven-year apprentice at the same level as Trides?
He had only advanced last year...
How could he know sorcery, and how could he use it so skillfully?
The people nearby were also horrified. But once they recovered, they did not help him. Instead, they scattered in all directions.
"Sor... sorcery!"
"We can't fight it head-on! Don't try to force your way through!"
Even Renion and the others, slow to react as they were, had come to their senses by now. They drew their crossbows and fired wildly, killing two people on the spot.
Potterning gathered his strength again and pulled violently with power comparable to that of an Intermediate Knight.
But a crossbow bolt shot over and sank into his right arm. His eyes immediately widened.
The strength he had worked so hard to gather burst away like air escaping a punctured ball.
He was about to suffocate...
Potterning grew increasingly anxious.
The chain perfectly mimicked the way a snake constricted its prey, maintaining steady, continuous pressure.
When the pain had made him slacken slightly, the chain tightened even more around his carotid artery.
His brain was beginning to suffer from oxygen deprivation.
The faint magic power granted by his enhancement could temporarily substitute for oxygen in his blood, allowing him to hold out a little longer, but it was still rapidly being consumed.
The fear on Potterning's face deepened. He struggled and pulled even harder, but it was all in vain.
His exertion only felt effective to him. In reality, as his stamina drained, his resistance grew weaker and weaker.
Roy rode straight over and thrust his longsword fiercely into Potterning's chest.
Blood gushed like a spring. Potterning's eyes widened as he collapsed to the ground with a thud and died.
When the others saw this, their hearts trembled with fear. They completely lost the will to fight and were slaughtered to the last one.
Before you continue