Magic Beast (II)

"This isn't good news." Ophelia said to Krystal. With so many of them, if they all wielded magic similar to the Water Arrow just now, then even if the apprentices mastered Fireball in a short time, they would still have no way to stop them. "What exactly are the mages trying to do? Do they want us all to die here? No. If they wanted us dead, with a mage's power, there would be no need for such methods..."

In this desperate situation, Krystal displayed a strength of will that made people see her in a new light. Her body trembled with fear, yet it did not affect her focused gaze as she stared at the Fireball runes. She was so absorbed that she did not even have time to answer Ophelia.

Adam picked out useful information from her words and replied, "That's right. There are two possibilities. First, the Magic Beasts' attacks will not continue without end. Second, not every Magic Beast can use magic."

Ophelia pulled Krystal toward a spot near the center of the deck. William had already begun organizing people to build barricades. They did not know how useful those would be, but at least they offered some psychological comfort.

"Move aside, traitor." There were not many things on the deck that could serve as cover. A southern apprentice and Ophelia arrived beside a large crate at the same time, and the southern apprentice roared fiercely at Ophelia.

Normally, no one would have dared speak to Ophelia like that. But before the fear of life and death, the pressure Ophelia brought was negligible. To this wastrel, the crate before him meant one more chance of survival.

Bang.

Ophelia's response was exceedingly simple. A whipping kick sent him flying hard. She then used similar methods to seize many large objects and pile them together, but she realized that alone, she was too slow. There was only so much on the deck, after all.

"Krystal, you..."

"Don't make noise. I'm about to succeed, very soon..." Krystal cut off Ophelia without even turning her head. She had already gone mad.

Ophelia pressed her lips together and turned her gaze toward Adam.

"Actually, this is of little use. It's even foolish. You're a Great Knight. Only sufficient space will let you evade magical attacks. Cowering behind cover just makes you a target."

Adam was very busy, and he did not think much of this approach.

For an Ordinary Person, the Fireball Rune Array had to be copied over and over again. But Adam did not need to do that. Though he had only one soul, Adam could perform multithreaded calculations. Combined with his enormous Mental Power, far beyond that of ordinary people, he could replicate the Rune Array on every thread. The instant one thread was used up, he would switch to another, achieving continuous casting in this way.

But it was not limitless. Due to the volume of calculations and the recovery rate of his Mental Power, he could probably sustain the activation of twelve Fireballs in succession. After that, he would need some time to cool down.

"Then what can I do? I don't think I'll be able to use magic successfully anytime soon." Ophelia felt helpless. Black Mage had clearly said that the path of a Body Refining Mage held advantages during the apprentice stage, yet now she was the burden.

"The essence of a Breathing Technique is secondary energy produced by the interaction between Mental Power and pseudo-aether matter. The soul cannot bear aether and mana, but that does not mean the body cannot. Try guiding mana into your body. If I'm right, and if you're lucky enough, you might succeed."

At that moment, inside the ship's cabin, the mages were enjoying luxurious food. Eileen Mage swirled the crimson wine in her hand and softly said, "Guess how many of these Little Fellows will survive?"

Mage Robert elegantly cut apart a bloody steak with his Knife and Fork. After putting it into his mouth, he let out a sound of praise and answered unhurriedly, "Who knows? That depends on how much wisdom they possess."

Black Mage and Mage Jerome were not eating. They were watching the densely packed aquatic Magic Beasts outside through the portholes. Mage Jerome was somewhat dissatisfied. "The numbers are low this time. Was the bait's concentration too low?"

"Yes. This time, we did not prepare bait with too high an Aether Crystal content. The academy has just suffered defeat and needs a batch of fresh blood to face the battle thirty years from now. Besides, there are too few apprentices." Black Mage replied.

No one cared whether the apprentices lived or died. Mage World was a world of severe polarization. Mages stood high above all others, and the knowledge and power they possessed were enough to transcend life and death, to surpass the limits of productive force. Ordinary people's knowledge and physical strength could not even operate a 'technological Black Box,' leaving them with no purpose beyond providing mages with new qualified seeds.

But there were many, many seeds. Human lives were cheap. Mage World was boundless; beyond the high-magic Main Continent lay countless islands, inhabited by innumerable people. The deaths of one or two batches of apprentices were utterly insignificant. At most, ten years later, Newborns would grow up again.

"Duke Alfred has clearly failed to learn his lesson. He did not tell William that only knowledge held in one's hand was valuable power. The number of ordinary people means nothing before magic. Perhaps he thought magical items could protect his son?" Eileen Mage, who was responsible for the south, commented coldly.

Black Mage suddenly laughed. "Seeing them is like seeing ourselves back then. Didn't we join an organization too? What was that leader's name? It was so long ago."

Mage Robert finished his steak. "Look at those children." He pointed at Adam's group of three. "Do they remind you of Wolaston?"

"Wolaston, the Transdimensional Archmage." The other three spoke the name with complicated expressions. How could they forget? He had been utterly different from them even before he embarked on the path of an apprentice. Now, he was a Transdimensional Archmage. Even they had to address him respectfully as my lord upon meeting him.

Black Mage lightly waved his hand. Wineglasses and bottles began to dance through the air, then hovered before the Four People. He took hold of a wineglass, raised it slightly, and said, "It has begun. Good luck, Little Fellows."

It has begun, Adam silently said on the deck.

The Magic Beasts in the sea began to move. The seawater churned and crashed against the hull, forming waves more than ten meters high. Some Magic Beasts rode the surging waves into the sky, then lunged down at the horrified apprentices on the deck and bit down viciously.

"Aah!!!"

The screams of apprentices who witnessed their companions torn apart announced the beginning of this bloody battle. The Magic Beasts surged wildly onto the deck, using every part of their bodies to destroy everything they touched.

They were creatures of disorder. Their purpose in survival was destruction.

"Save me! Save me! I don't want to die!" A male apprentice fell to the ground. Behind him was a grotesque marine creature. He wailed as he tried to grab his companion's foot.

"Get lost!" His companion kicked him away viciously. That kick hastened the apprentice's death, while the other scrambled and crawled toward the 'organization.'

Just then, another wave rose at his side. A Magic Beast leaped into the air and gathered magic while still airborne. The temperature of the air plummeted, and a block of ice formed, smashing viciously toward the deck.

In an instant, the ice block crushed the apprentice into a slab of flesh. After colliding with the deck's special alloy, it exploded into countless Fragments, each carrying several times the force of a crossbow bolt.

This was a disaster.

Several apprentices who had not found cover were instantly wiped out. Their corpses froze stiff in the cold, then slammed onto the deck with a bang, only to be devoured by the Magic Beasts behind them. Under the spreading strike of a single spell, the barricades were nearly shattered beyond recognition. Everyone knew they had no possibility of withstanding a second spell.

Fortunately, there did not seem to be many Magic Beasts capable of magic. Even more fortunately, the Magic Beasts could not activate magic continuously.

William kicked away an approaching Magic Beast and shouted sternly, "Ordinary Magic Beasts are not that strong. The real threat is the Magic Beasts that can use magic. We have to kill it!"

Upon hearing William's words, the apprentices without magical items retreated even faster. The few who possessed magical items wore uncertain expressions. Those were Life-Saving measures, and no one wanted to lose them so quickly.

The Magic Beast that had used ice magic rampaged across the deck, even swallowing its companions in a single bite. Even with the Naked Eye, one could see that the more it ate, the denser the Energy Fluctuation around its body became. It would soon be able to use magic a second time.

Another wave rose higher than the deck. This time, it was Adam's Old Familiar Fish. Its mouth was smeared with blood of an indiscernible color, and its enormous, savage jaws were packed with dense rows of teeth. After leaping onto the deck, it charged straight at Adam.

Do not dwell on how a fish could move across the deck. As Magic Beasts, they could move freely anywhere there was water.

Clearly, this fish held a grudge. It had set its sights on Adam—or rather, it believed the energy within Adam was the most valuable.

Watching this, William shouted, "Move aside! Clear the way! Don't block it! It isn't our problem! Come back and kill this beast together!" William and several others had already surrounded the previous Magic Beast from several directions. Upon seeing the huge fish, Randy hesitated, uncertain whether he should step in and stop it.

But William thought this was a fine opportunity to ease the pressure on himself. Magic Beasts did not care about the lives of their own kind; this fish had already killed quite a few ordinary Magic Beasts. As for Adam, ever since Adam refused to join him, the lives of Adam's group of three had nothing to do with him.

Ophelia's face turned pale. She looked at the still-composed Adam and the obsessed Krystal, then gritted her teeth. A surge of blood energy shot skyward as she charged toward the giant fish without hesitation.

She did not know whether she could stop the fish, but the path of the knight would not allow her to cower behind 'the weak.' The moment she charged out, life and death were cast from her mind. She even felt a trace of regret. If only I had my knight's sword in hand...

Bang.

Bang.

Roar.

Three sounds rang out in succession. Ophelia was blasted away by a Shockwave of rolling heat, while the huge fish was struck head-on by two Fireballs. It howled miserably and collapsed onto the deck, giving off the thick scent of roasted meat.

"I succeeded! I learned magic!" Krystal's voice rang out, filled with boundless delight.