Vampire

The Vampire Wizard Apprentice was incredibly fast. In an instant, he charged into the crowd, overtook the Wizard Apprentices of the Enforcement Squad, reached their rear, and locked onto the Wizard Apprentice wielding Light Magic—the one who posed the greatest threat to him.

Before that Wizard Apprentice could finish casting the Cantrip Model [Sunlight Flicker], the Vampire got there first, grabbed his head, and with a crack, crushed it.

After the Wizard Apprentice died, some kind of special magical substance seemed to emerge from his body. A flash of lightning shot out, forming a lightning arrow that struck the Vampire Wizard Apprentice in the chest.

The Vampire twisted his strange head and grinned viciously. Ignoring the wound in his chest, he lunged at his next target.

This elite Second-Class Wizard Apprentice from the Blood Curse Court had extraordinarily rich combat experience. He knew that when facing many enemies alone, the one thing to avoid was getting bogged down.

If he became locked in a struggle with even one Wizard Apprentice from the Enforcement Squad, he would be struck by more than a dozen cantrips in the next instant and lose his ability to resist.

So, relying on his speed advantage, he darted through Dwarf Street, using the chaos as cover as he continuously attacked the Wizard Apprentices who threatened him most—those specializing in Light Magic and Fire Magic.

Light Magic and Fire Magic could suppress a Vampire's Undead Body.

Locke had learned in Universal Studies that Vampires possessed powerful undead abilities and were unaffected by most magical damage. However, Fire Magic and Light Magic dealt increased damage to them.

The moment this Black Wizard Apprentice made his move, he displayed combat experience far beyond that of the Wizard Apprentices from Lilith's Cottage.

The same spells became lethal weapons in his hands.

Black Wizards differed from White Wizards. White Wizards spent most of their time researching and creating, while Black Wizards often lived amid battle and plunder. They were brimming with combat experience; among Wizards of the same rank, Black Wizards were unquestionably stronger.

Captain Bruno Suarez shouted, "Can anyone use a spell to restrict his movement?"

A female Second-Class Wizard Apprentice chanted an incantation, intending to use Lesser Exhaustion Breath to restrict the Vampire's movements.

Lesser Exhaustion Breath was a cantrip that infused negative energy into a target's body, thereby stripping away their ability to act.

It was a spell of the Conjuration School.

Lilith's Cottage was a comprehensive academy, so it had Second-Class Wizard Apprentices in all sorts of magical disciplines.

But when the gray mist formed by Lesser Exhaustion Breath struck the Vampire monster, it not only failed to deprive him of movement—it caused the wounds on his body to heal rapidly, restoring him to peak condition.

The female Second-Class Wizard Apprentice screamed, "This is bad! I forgot that the negative energy flow controlled by Lesser Exhaustion Breath weakens living beings, but it strengthens Vampires!"

Locke glanced at the female Second-Class Wizard Apprentice. Her timing had been perfect, and she had correctly predicted the Vampire's path.

But she clearly still had shortcomings. In battle, she had forgotten that for Undead Creatures, all magical attributes worked in reverse.

Healing Nature Magic and Radiant Magic would instead harm Undead Creatures, while negative-energy spells meant to damage or restrain would heal them.

Clearly, even the Enforcement Squad of Lilith's Cottage still fell short compared to those Black Wizards who specialized in combat.

The Vampire seemed to feel that keeping this female Second-Class Wizard Apprentice alive would actually benefit him. He bypassed her and came up behind Captain Bruno Suarez and Locke.

The Vampire grinned viciously at Captain Bruno Suarez. "Bruno Suarez, aren't your teammates utterly ridiculous?"

"They're actually healing their own enemy in the middle of battle."

The next instant, two Vampire Blood Claws came down toward the backs of Locke and Captain Bruno Suarez.

This Vampire's modifications had reached at least the level of 0.5 rings, perhaps even close to 0.6 rings.

He clearly still wanted to live. He still dreamed of fighting his way out of Dwarf Street and escaping Lilith's Cottage. He was unwilling to die as an abandoned pawn of the Blood Curse Court.

In that instant, Locke immediately used [Green Purifying Grasp]. The branches and leaves of the Invisible Mandrake Vine, which had been synthesized again and strengthened to Level 6 over the past few days, underwent Rapid Growth and formed a small shield in front of him.

Bang!

A massive, heavy force transmitted through the plant shield. The Vampire's Blood Claw nearly tore the entire plant shield apart in an instant.

Locke lowered his head and saw that the clothing around his shoulder had been ripped open, leaving three bloody marks on his skin.

He himself was sent flying more than five meters by the powerful blow.

The Vampire swept past Locke and lunged toward Captain Bruno Suarez. At the same time, he gave Locke a surprised look, as if wondering why that claw strike had failed to tear this ordinary Second-Class Wizard Apprentice, whose Mana seemed so mediocre, in half.

In fact, the Vampire's Mana was close to 200—probably over 190.

Compared to him, Locke's Spell Models were average and his Mana was inferior. But thanks to the excellent foundational magical power of the Level 6 Mandrake Vine, he had still managed to block the attack.

However, because Locke's Mana seemed so insignificant, this experienced Vampire Wizard Apprentice immediately focused all his attention on the enemy he considered the greatest threat: Captain Bruno Suarez.

Relying on the Vampire's advantages in speed and physical strength, he kept slashing claw after claw at Captain Bruno Suarez, trying to forcefully kill the captain of the Enforcement Squad within ten seconds.

"Bruno Suarez, today you will die at the hands of Taren Curry, a Second-Class Wizard Apprentice of the Blood Curse Court!"

"Hahahaha..."

Under the barrage of rapid attacks, Captain Bruno Suarez was in misery. It was not that he lacked the ability to fight back, but the Vampire was simply too fast. He fully exploited that advantage, leaving Bruno unable to cast spells in retaliation.

Captain Bruno Suarez could only activate the Thorn Armor on his body for protection, but that Magic Item was also torn apart by the Vampire's Blood Claws in a very short time.

Just as he was driven into a desperate situation, he suddenly felt the Vampire stop attacking.

Captain Bruno Suarez looked up and saw the Vampire hanging in midair, seemingly restrained by something invisible.

The Invisible Mandrake Vine that Locke had kept concealed on his right hand also revealed itself at that moment.

The Vampire Second-Class Wizard Apprentice showed an incredulous expression. "When? This is Vine Hand, such a low-level spell!"

Under the effect of Vine Hand, the Mandrake Vine transformed into a plant hand and seized the Vampire.

It was no wonder the Vampire Wizard Apprentice was shocked and enraged, because Vine Hand was a relatively low-level cantrip.

Moreover, given his combat experience and the Vampire's speed advantage, a spell like Vine Hand should never have been able to get anywhere near him.

But Locke's Mandrake Vine possessed invisibility, causing the Vampire Wizard Apprentice to fail to notice Locke's Vine Hand approaching him.

The Vampire Second-Class Wizard Apprentice reacted at once. He had to break free from Locke's Vine Hand as quickly as possible.

The reason he had been able to slaughter his way through everyone here was not because he was truly invincible, but because he had used his combat experience and speed to create a local advantage.

And the White Wizard Apprentices lacked combat experience. Early on, they had not realized he had undergone Vampire modification and had failed to use spells targeting Vampires, allowing him to withstand many spells with the Vampire's undead abilities.

But as long as he was delayed even slightly, his local advantage would be gone.

In a sense, his failure to kill Captain Bruno Suarez instantly meant that he had already been delayed.

Originally, this had not been much of a problem. He was confident he could kill Bruno Suarez within ten seconds. But he had never expected an unknown Second-Class Wizard Apprentice with ordinary Mana to control him with Vine Hand, such a low-level spell.

The next instant, Captain Bruno Suarez used Thorn Spear. A Magic Vine transformed into a long spear and pierced through the Vampire's chest, straight through his heart.

Fire, sunlight, and wood piercing the heart could all break a Vampire's Undead Body.

Captain Bruno Suarez shouted to Locke, "New guy, well done."

"I didn't expect you to be so capable."

"Thanks to you restraining him. As long as he was held for an instant, I could kill him."

"That Magic Vine of yours must have been specially bred for you by Lady Sophia. It's truly impressive."

The Vampire monster's face revealed hatred and unwillingness. He glared at Bruno Suarez and Locke. "No... no..."

"No..."

"No..."

Golden flames ignited across his entire body. He screamed continuously within the fire, gradually turning to ash and leaving behind only a pierced, bright-red heart that still beat upon the ground.

Captain Bruno Suarez let out a breath and surveyed the grim scene around him. "This time, our Enforcement Squad lost three Wizard Apprentices and two Wizard Seedlings."

"The war is getting more and more intense."

"New guy, thanks to you. You and I killed this Vampire together, so according to the rules, the spoils belong to both of us."

"But you saved me just now, or at least helped me greatly. So this Vampire heart is yours."

Captain Bruno Suarez added, "A Vampire heart is a fine material for brewing potions and crafting alchemical items."

Locke looked at the Vampire heart on the ground and did not refuse. A Vampire heart was quite valuable, after all. "All right."

Captain Bruno Suarez looked toward his team members. "Clean up the scene and write the report."

"We must report this matter to the higher-ups."

The female Wizard Apprentice who had used the wrong spell and healed the Vampire earlier said with lingering fear, "Captain, patrols have really become more and more dangerous lately."

"We simply don't have enough manpower."

"Another group of people in the Enforcement Squad used connections to voluntarily leave the squad, greatly reducing our combat strength. The new Wizards haven't yet developed real combat experience..."

She glanced guiltily at Locke. No matter what, in that battle just now, Locke had displayed more combat experience than she had.

"Captain, could you speak to the higher-ups about our current predicament and have the Academy assign us some locally born Wizard Apprentices?"

"Locally born Wizard Apprentices must have far better magical training than those who came from overseas."

Captain Bruno Suarez gave her a cold look. "Hailia, do your own job properly."

"Where are there any local Wizard Apprentices still willing to join our Enforcement Squad? And judging by your performance just now, you weren't even as good as the new guy... not even as good as Augustine."