Earthbound Spirit

"Elder brother?"

Vivian squinted and carefully observed what was ahead, then gestured to Soren beside her to pick her up, saying in a clear voice, "Brother, pick me up! I think I see a path over there! It's on the left side of that garden, near that pile of rubble. There seems to be a path there, but I don't know where it leads."

There's a side path!?

Upon hearing this, Soren immediately picked up the little girl beside him and placed Vivian on his shoulder. Her tiny feet rested on Soren's left shoulder, and her white little hands wrapped around his head. After observing carefully in that direction for a while, she whispered, "We can go around to the left. There doesn't seem to be any fog there, but I don't know where it leads!"

The fog before us must be part of the [Mythal].

Just as there's often mist within a Bagua formation, many [Mythal] employ various illusions. These illusions require keen eyesight to see through, or can only be dispelled by Spell, Special Feat, or Divine Power. It seems the power here has diminished considerably; otherwise, a true Mythal should create Illusion, not just a rising mist. Even the Mythal set up by Lich can form a [Dark Sky Curtain], so the Mythal set up by Arcanist are even more formidable!

"Walk."

Soren didn't hesitate for long before saying, "Let's go around and take a look."

Not daring to force his way through the Mythal head-on stems from caution, prudence, composure, and concern for Vivian's safety. However, not daring to even explore the side entrance reveals a lack of courage. Adventure inherently involves risk, Soren's principle is to ensure the risk doesn't exceed his limits, not to avoid any risk altogether. It seems the side path has been largely destroyed by time; even if there is any danger, it couldn't be greater than a direct confrontation.

This also allows us to estimate the difficulty of a direct confrontation!

"Careful!"

Soren Vivian down and then began to observe his surroundings. Every now and then, he would lightly tap the ground with his toes. He was checking for traps nearby; there shouldn't be any, but he felt it was necessary to be extra careful. The path led to the corner of the garden, with a pile of pebbles on the side. There were no strange plants nearby, but the ground had some slight cracks.

Soren looked around and whispered, "Vivian! Don't you think this path looks a bit like it leads to the backyard?"

This is a feeling of Soren's.

Judging from the surrounding environment, this is the front yard of the Wizard Tower. This path goes around from the side, so it seems to lead to the backyard or perhaps the kitchen. Arcanist had a large number of servants, unlike modern Wizard who only need Puppet Golem to serve them. Wizard during the Arcane Empire were the ruling class. In addition to a considerable number of servants, they also had a certain number of followers.

"It does look a bit like it," Vivian nodded gently.

It was as if we were in two different worlds.

To the right is a strange garden shrouded in mist, while to the left are ruins scattered with many rubble, devoid of mist.

Soren led Vivian carefully through the area, and after walking about 300 meters, they came upon a house that was relatively well-preserved. This house had a very distinctive feature: a chimney. Generally speaking, houses with chimneys serve a similar purpose, and Soren felt that his initial guess was correct.

"Elder brother."

Vivian reached out and tugged at Soren's sleeve, whispering, "This really does look like a kitchen!"

"Hmm." Soren nodded slightly. "Be careful. Let's go inside and take a look."

Squeak!

Soren drew his Scimitar, Icetail, and then gave Vivian a look behind him. He immediately pushed open the still-intact door, sending a cloud of dust billowing out. When Soren led the little girl inside, he immediately noticed the dust was almost half a centimeter thick. It was unclear how long it had been since anyone had been there.

"Brother, look!"

After entering the room, Vivian glanced around, then pointed to a chair with a backrest and whispered, "There seems to be something over there!"

There's something there!?

Soren shifted his position cautiously, then picked up a stone and threw it at the back of the chair, deflecting it slightly. They then saw a rather short Skeleton on the chair. The Skeleton was only about 1.25 meters tall, but the bones were quite large relative to its body height, especially the leg and foot bones. Such a skeletal shape would be immediately recognizable to an experienced person what kind of creature it once belonged to.

Soren glanced at them and whispered, "They're Halfling skeletons, probably the Arcanist's cook."

Whoosh!

Just as he finished speaking, a chill suddenly swept through the nearly enclosed house, the cold wind sending shivers down one's spine, followed by a sinister laugh.

Undead?

Wraith?

Earthbound Spirit?

Soren's thoughts raced through his mind several times in an instant, before he shielded Vivian behind him and said in a deep voice, "It's Spiritual Body- type enemy! It looks like Earthbound Spirit!"

Be careful.

"It should be watching us from the Spirit Realm right now! Let's wait for it to reveal itself before we attack!"

Undead enemies.

The most common type is the Skeleton Undead encountered outside, which have physical Undead and are relatively easy to deal with. Another type is like the one in front of us, which is born from Spectre, Wraith, Evil Spirit, etc., and is a monster without a physical form or a semi-energy form. This type of Undead is more difficult to deal with, and ordinary physical attacks are not very effective against them.

"Hehehe!"

A mournful, eerie laugh echoed from all directions. Soren remained unmoved, but Vivian seemed somewhat displeased, letting out a cold snort and saying, "I hate you Undead the most! Get out here!"

A faint Spell Aura appeared.

--"Protection from Evil."

Vivian first cast 1st-level Spell, ' Protection from Evil, ' and then continued casting spells.

--"Detect Undead!"

An invisible Spell Aura appeared, instantly enveloping the entire house. Then, behind a wall, a dark red, aura-shaped phantom appeared. Most Undead creatures appear dark red under the detection of Spell Aura, indicating a high degree of Evil. If it were Paladin, it would mean they must be destroyed.

--"Hold Undead!"

Another Spell Aura appeared. Vivian raised her hand and pointed at the Undead in the distance. Then a faint light appeared, followed by a shrill howl. The Undead behind the wall suddenly seemed to go mad, charging towards Vivian with extremely fierce momentum. The Control Spell failed, and the enemy bypassed the Saving Throw check, so Vivian was identified as the primary target.

Clang!

Soren drew his Scimitar instantly and slashed at the hazy, half-real Earthbound Spirit.

--"Shadow Assassination!"

The Legendary Scimitar, Icetail, deals Cold Damage and is particularly effective against Undead. While physical attacks are almost ineffective against it, the Rogue's Shadow Assassination is effective, as it deals shadow energy damage. Soren's Scimitar instantly struck the charging Earthbound Spirit, feeling as if it had struck a marshmallow. The blade passed directly through the spirit's body, with only frost and shadow energy damaging it; physical attacks likely only dealt a point or two of damage.

--"Cause Fear [Instant Cast]!"

As a near-high-ranking Undead creature, the Earthbound Spirit possesses a unique ability: it can instantly cast fear Spell, such as Dread, Cause Fear, or even Cloak of Fear. However, the Earthbound Spirit was momentarily dumbfounded when it unleashed its instant-cast Cause Fear Spell. The two people before it seemed to completely disregard Cause Fear, showing no concern whatsoever about applying a fear Saving Throw check.

Yes.

They completely ignored the Cause Fear.

Vivian, of course, needs no introduction; as the Fear God Child, how could she not be immune to a mere Cause Fear? As for Soren, his resistance to Cause Fear is also quite high. Putting aside his accumulated powerful Will Save, the Fear Divinity he absorbed alone is enough to make him Saving Throw to Cause Fear cast by enemies below the Legendary.

--"Dominate Person!"

The Earthbound Spirit before them seemed to possess a certain level of intelligence. Realizing that the Cause Fear was ineffective, it immediately changed its tactics. It cast a talent-based Spell, [Dominate Person], attempting to control Soren, who appeared to be Warrior, and then use him to kill the little girl behind it who it perceived as dangerous. However, it miscalculated once again, because its [Dominate Person] spell was utterly useless, completely neutralized by Soren's powerful will.

Are you kidding me!

He has weathered so many storms along the way, how could his mind be so easily controlled by others!

Soren traveled barefoot for thousands of miles precisely so that he could be prepared to deal with the current situation at any time.

If his will is strong enough, he will be immune to most Charm, mind, and Control Spell in the future, which is very important for Rogue whose Saving Throw Ability is already lower than that of Warrior!

A will as firm as steel.

This is the first essential element for Soren's survival!

So when he successfully Saving Throw the [Dominate Person] spell cast by the Earthbound Spirit before him, a hint of killing intent appeared in his eyes, and he swung his sword at the enemy in front of him once again.

--"Shadow Assassination!"

...(To be continued~^~)