Magic Beast

Boom!

A thick bolt of lightning, carrying the scorched smell of sulfur, struck the ground and blasted a bowl-sized crater into the gray rock beneath his feet.

Benjamin remained unmoved. The earth-element shield covering his body stood as steady as a mountain, absorbing the violent current in its entirety.

Before him, a Thunderstorm Beetle more than five meters tall, its body covered in black carapace, shrieked furiously as dazzling arcs of electricity gathered in its mouth once more.

"Beasts can only rely on brute force or simple corrosive and venom attacks. Only creatures capable of directly controlling elemental power can be called Magic Beasts."

Benjamin looked up at the thunderstorm gathering overhead again, related knowledge flashing through his mind. "Their means of attack are more complex and more powerful, and their use of energy is more refined. Their combat strength far surpasses that of ordinary beasts."

The Thunderstorm Beetle before him was a prime example. Not only could it unleash powerful lightning, but its hard shell could also withstand physical impacts, making it a rather troublesome enemy for Wizard Apprentices.

Yet for Benjamin, it was merely the best target for testing a Rune Artifact.

The Thunderstorm Beetle charged again, its six thick armored legs gouging deep furrows into the ground.

Benjamin did not retreat. With a slight flick of his wrist, the Attack-Type Rune Artifact activated instantly.

Hiss! Hiss! Hiss!

Three high-explosive fireballs tore through the air with piercing shrieks and struck the Magic Beast's joints with precision.

Each explosion made the beetle's massive body shudder violently. Its charge stalled amid agonizing pain, and it let out a furious yet miserable screech.

Seizing the opportunity, Benjamin lightly twisted the Movement Rune Artifact and ghosted around to the Magic Beast's flank. Several more fireballs shot forth in rapid succession, precisely striking the relatively soft abdomen beneath its carapace.

Violent fire elements instantly blasted several charred holes through the Magic Beast's abdomen. Scorching flames even seeped inside, burning through its limbs.

The Thunderstorm Beetle let out one final mournful cry and crashed to the ground. The lightning crackling across its body went out with it.

From beginning to end, the battle had taken less than ten seconds. Benjamin had not even broken a sweat.

He put away the Rune Artifact, walked over, and scanned the Thunderstorm Beetle's remains with Alchemy and Analysis Art. He discovered an organ within its body that had condensed lightning essence.

With practiced ease, he removed it and stored it in the large beast-hide backpack at his side.

"This bag is nearly full too. Looks like I'll still need to find a way to get some Space Rings when I get back."

In the Wizard World, spatial knowledge was extremely difficult. At the very least, one had to be a Level 3 Wizard before they could begin to come into contact with it.

But there were enough people around, so all kinds of spatial equipment and skills were not particularly rare.

For example, the training ground in Benjamin's laboratory had been expanded internally by someone he hired at great expense.

There were countless small spatial items in the Academy, such as space bags. Though expensive, they were still within Benjamin's means.

The only problem was that, because the spatial constants of different planes varied, such spatial equipment could only be used in one or several specific planes.

Once brought to another plane, if one was lucky, it might simply fail to open. If unlucky, spatial distortion might occur, swallowing the user the instant they entered the plane.

Under normal circumstances, even the highest-grade spatial equipment was only suitable for planes that Wizard Civilization had already seized and recorded. There would still be risks in traveling to unknown planes.

But the Space Ring Benjamin spoke of was an exception.

It had extremely demanding manufacturing requirements and required at least a Level 6 Wizard to create, but its effects were excellent.

A portion of the rules was directly fixed within the ring itself, allowing its internal space to remain stable no matter where it went.

Accordingly, its price was terrifyingly high.

Most troublesome of all, because it was exceptionally difficult to manufacture and had a high failure rate, there was normally no stock available even if one had purchasing authorization.

"Mentor Clark seems to be a Level 6 Wizard. I wonder if he has any channels... I'll ask when I get back. Hopefully, he knows a spatial wizard."

As he pondered, Benjamin suddenly caught sight of a score token flashing with blue light, lying quietly beside the Magic Beast's corpse.

He bent down and picked it up. "A Magic Beast of this level already has a score token? The value looks pretty high too. My luck isn't bad."

He did not dwell on it and simply put it away.

Scores were merely a byproduct to him. The real core was the combat data for the Rune Artifact and the rare materials of this plane.

At that moment, Benjamin suddenly looked up in one direction. He could sense a violent elemental disturbance coming from there.

It was not the scattered impact of energy, but a mixed aura of large-scale wizardry and Magic Beast clashes.

He activated the Rune Artifact, lifted into the air, and flew swiftly toward that location.

He stopped before getting too close, landing behind a massive red crystal ore. From afar, he activated Analysis Art and extended his spiritual power outward.

Passing through rolling rocky hills and dense forests of red crystals, he "saw" the battlefield.

A team of Wizard Apprentices was engaged in a bitter battle with a massive fire-element Magic Beast formed entirely from pure flames and lava.

The Magic Beast stood ten meters tall. Every step it took made the ground tremble, and every attack it launched stirred up a tidal surge of surrounding fire elements.

In terms of destructive power, although it had not yet reached the level of a Level 1 Wizard, it had already surpassed that of a Level 3 Wizard Apprentice. The apprentices were having an extremely difficult time fighting it.

Benjamin observed the apprentices' battle from afar. There were around twelve or thirteen of them. Their positions were scattered, yet they could still support one another. Clearly, they had formed a team and made simple tactical arrangements.

Just as Benjamin watched, one apprentice released a large number of ice spikes, which shot toward the Magic Beast in a concentrated barrage.

"Ice-element wizardry suppression... Mm, this apprentice's Ice Spike Art has a decent casting speed," Benjamin assessed inwardly.

"But it lacks continuity. Against this fire-element Magic Beast, the damage is merely a cup of water against a cartload of firewood."

A tall, thin apprentice leaped out. Waving the Wand in his hand, he sent a high-pressure column of pure water roaring forth, striking the fire-element Magic Beast squarely in the head.

"Not bad. Water elements are suppressed in this environment, yet he can still produce this effect. His spiritual power control is fairly good. But Water Arrow Art's attack power is too low, and its casting frequency is just as low."

Benjamin could not help shaking his head.

These wizards looked like Combat Department cannon... elites. The Wizardry Models they had constructed were most likely models purchased directly.

The reason wizards called this method of construction a crooked path was that Wizardry Models built this way required casting time. In both burst power and continuity, they were far inferior to Wizardry Models independently constructed through painstaking research. This was also the fatal flaw of building another person's Wizardry Model.

Alchemy and Analysis Art, which Benjamin currently possessed, could be activated entirely at will, just like the breathing creatures commanded naturally. They had no casting time at all.