Soren paced around the room.
One step, two steps, three steps, four steps... He slowly reached the end of the room, turned around, and walked back to the other end before turning around again.
He repeated this over and over.
He murmured faintly, "Eleven orders already, eleven..."
Halfway through his pacing, he seemed to hear something and tilted his head toward the door.
"Tap, tap, tap..."
The next moment, hurried footsteps sounded, and a Wizard in a green robe approached. He was also one of Soren's subordinates. His name was Abu Yule. His strength was considerable, but his ability to stay alive was even greater. More than three years ago, he had followed Soren into the national war and the battle against the Truth Society, even facing Gray Mist directly.
He was naturally no match for Gray Mist, but surviving a battle against Gray Mist took more than luck; his strength could not be underestimated either. In that battle, to withstand Gray Mist's attacks, he had frantically stacked dozens of layers of Energy Shield around himself. People mockingly called him the "Hundred-Shield Wizard" and the "Iron-Shell Wizard," ridiculing him for completely abandoning offense in order to survive.
Rather than becoming angry over those somewhat insulting titles, he had accepted them calmly. Over the past three years, he had devoted himself to studying all kinds of defensive spells, making those titles well deserved.
In his view, there was nothing shameful about a Wizard doing anything to survive in battle. Only by staying alive could one do anything else; only the living possessed fighting strength.
With his defense-first philosophy, Abu Yule's defenses had become monstrously powerful. Yet now, he too seemed barely able to withstand attacks coming from some direction. His expression was somewhat grim as he entered, holding a sheet of