Enhancing Equipment

"What's that?"

A speck of light floated above the Wind Wolf he'd just blown apart nearby, piquing Garen's curiosity.

"Could it have dropped equipment?"

He still didn't dare go over, so he stayed back and started casting Fireball Technique again.

"Fireball Technique!"

Another compressed fireball shot out, but the wolf dodged it.

A hundred Wind Wolves sounded like a lot, but they were spread all around and weren't bunched together, so the fireballs weren't easy to land. After all, this wasn't a large-scale area spell.

Garen compressed his fireballs not only to increase their power, but also to make the small fireballs harder to spot. A large fireball was simply too conspicuous.

If he released five large fireballs at once, he could only do it twice before his magic ran dry. And although it looked impressive, the fireballs were actually less powerful when spread out. They might not kill a Level Three Magical Beast in one hit.

After being ambushed once, the Wind Wolves were on guard, making them harder to hit. Looks like I'll have to lead my shots when I use skills.

At higher Magic Levels, one's mental strength grew, allowing one to control a spell's direction with it. But at Level Three, Garen couldn't do that yet.

The Wind Wolves could cast magic, but after a few rounds of Wind Blades, they ran low on mana and charged in to fight at close range.

They had sharp claws and teeth, making them formidable in close combat.

But the members of the Guard Team had formed a circle, so they didn't have to worry about attacks from behind. For a while, the two sides were evenly matched.

Garen was quite safe for the time being. With no worries behind him, he cast another fireball.

"Boom!"

He'd been aiming for a Level Three Wind Wolf, but the battlefield changed in an instant. The wolf leaped, and the fireball grazed its tail before striking a Level Four Wind Wolf behind it.

The Level Four Wind Wolf fell to the ground, its hide torn and its fur completely scorched. As soon as it got back up, a Guard Team warrior finished it off.

"Looks like killing monsters above my level is still pretty hard. I wonder if I'd get experience if I landed the finishing blow after they wounded one badly."

Garen was still thinking about stealing kills when he saw Captain Lucas charge toward the Wolf Leader.

"Awooo!"

The Wolf Leader was probably terrified. It howled and turned to run.

But it had underestimated Captain Lucas's speed. After cutting down a Level Five Wind Wolf that blocked his path, he caught up with the Wolf Leader in just over ten seconds.

A Level Seven wind-style warrior might have weaker attack and defense than Level Seven warriors of other styles, but his speed was already close to that of a Level Nine warrior of another style. A Level Six Wind Wolf couldn't compare.

Several Wind Wolves tried to rush to the Wolf Leader's aid, but Luke held them off.

Lucas dodged a Wind Blade that passed within inches of him, then slashed at the Wolf Leader's waist. The wolf barely leaped out of the way, but Lucas's hands were incredibly fast. He stepped forward and swung again at Extreme Speed.

"Rip!"

A long gash opened across the Wind Wolf's neck, and blood poured out.

"Whoosh, whoosh!"

Two more slashes—one across its waist, another across its leg.

The Wolf Leader's speed dropped sharply.

"Thrust!"

Lucas stabbed straight through its neck, and the Wolf Leader fell.

At the sight of their leader going down, the pack fell into disarray. Within seconds, they began scattering in all directions.

Garen surveyed the battlefield. Some of the high-level Wind Wolves were badly wounded, but they were close to the Guard Team warriors. He was afraid of hitting one of them by mistake, so there was no chance to steal a kill.

As the pack neared the forest, he fired another fireball at a small wolf lagging behind.

Ding! Killed a Level Three Wind Wolf. Gained 26 experience points.

He was about to cast another, but realized he was out of mental strength.

It might have looked like he'd only cast four Fireball Techniques, but each fireball had been compressed to half its original size, nearly doubling its power. They could even wound Level Four Wind Wolves, but they consumed a great deal of mental strength.

"If only grinding monsters could drop a Divine Artifact like the Coiling Dragon Ring. Each spell would cost only one-sixth of the magic and mental strength, and I'd instantly become a walking cannon."

They cleared the battlefield. The fight hadn't lasted long, but more than a dozen warriors had been wounded, and one had died. The Wind Wolves had outnumbered them, and their levels had been similar.

No one grieved for long. After discussing it, they decided to give all the Magic Crystal Cores from this group to the fallen warrior's family as compensation, then buried his body where he'd fallen.

They weren't cold-blooded. These days, anyone who traveled with a merchant caravan had seen death often enough to be prepared for it.

"Not bad, little Garen. You took down two Wind Wolves. The Magic Crystal Cores from those two Level Three Wind Wolves are yours. Go get them yourself."

Luke came over, patted Garen on the head, and praised him.

Only then did Garen notice the two simply bandaged wounds on Luke's arm and thigh, belatedly realizing how dangerous Magical Beasts were.

He'd only been firing shots from the rear. Luke was a Level Six warrior, but fighting several Wind Wolves at once was still extremely dangerous.

"Uncle Luke, are you all right?"

"These are just scratches. I'll be fine after a few days' rest. Go get your spoils. You're a proper warrior now."

"Okay."

Garen hurried to the first Wind Wolf he'd blown up.

Ding! One Primary Enhancement Stone. Collect?

"Collect."

"Collection successful."

"No way, it really dropped something! An Enhancement Stone—is it for enhancing equipment? It seems like nobody else can see this light. Otherwise, they'd have come over to take a look."

Garen split open the Wind Wolf's skull with his Steel Blade and found a Magic Crystal Core.

A Level Three Magic Crystal Core was worth ten gold coins, which was no small sum.

The other Wind Wolf had dropped nothing but experience.

He put away both Magic Crystal Cores and donated them to the fallen warrior's family. They were only worth twenty gold coins, but it was still his way of showing he cared.

After telling Uncle Luke, Garen ran into the carriage.

He opened his Space Ring, and a transparent, diamond-shaped stone appeared before him.

Common Enhancement Stone: Can enhance weapons and equipment.

"We don't know how many more dangers we'll run into on this journey. Weapons aren't very useful to me for now, since magic does most of the damage. I'll enhance my clothes first. They could save my life at a critical moment."

"Enhance."

He gave the command silently.

Ding! Enhancement successful.

Leather Armor: Leather armor with decent defensive properties. Provides strong protection against Magical Beasts below Level Five. (Can be upgraded)

Not bad. Magical Beasts below Level Five couldn't damage it. That meant Level Four beasts would probably only leave me with a bruise at worst, and it should offer some protection against Level Five beasts too.

Unfortunately, neither Fire-style nor wind-style magic had any good defensive spells. Otherwise, my defense could improve even more.

Over the next few months, they didn't encounter any more large groups of Magical Beasts. After all, this was a road cleared by merchant caravans, and it ran through the outer reaches of the Magical Beast Mountain Range.

Garen only fought twice after that. Once, they came across two Level Three Unicorn Wild Boars charging around. Garen took them down with two fireballs and gained over fifty experience points.

The other time, they ran into a Level Two Earth Scorpion. Unfortunately, after killing it, the system actually said that killing a lower-level monster gave no experience. Garen was so mad he cursed the useless system.

None of the three Magical Beasts dropped anything. It seemed the system had a low drop rate.

Just as they were about to leave the Magical Beast Mountain Range and everyone began to relax, danger quietly crept closer.