Battlefield Lighter

As the system's time-stop effect ended, everything returned to normal.

The little maid's sobs rang in his ears again. The heavy smell of rust filled his nostrils, and ahead of him, the bandit with an axe had reached the doorway and was raising his weapon.

Ye Wei'an could see a [Lv.1 Commoner] label above the little maid's head.

The bandit at the door was a [Lv.1 Bandit].

So this really was an RPG.

"Young master, look out!" Ailian cried out when she saw him still standing there in a daze.

But the panic had vanished from Ye Wei'an's face.

No incantation. No complicated gestures.

He simply followed the new instinct that had awakened inside him and raised his right hand toward the oncoming shadow.

Power from the source of the Weave surged through him.

A beam of blue-white arcane flame appeared out of nowhere and engulfed the bandit.

"Argh—!"

His roar turned into a bloodcurdling scream.

The flames first consumed his leather armor with a sizzling hiss, then his flesh, filling the air with the stench of burning. The bandit dropped his axe and frantically slapped at the blue-white flames on his body.

But Spellfire wasn't ordinary flame. He couldn't put it out that way; his futile attempts only spread the fire to his hands.

While pain and flames consumed the bandit's attention, Ye Wei'an snatched up the cleaver on the ground. At the same time, he prepared another cantrip.

"True Strike!"

He stepped forward and thrust with the magic guiding his blade.

The strike was quick, clean, and precise. The blade slipped through a gap in the leather armor, neatly bypassed the ribs, and sank into the bandit's heart without resistance.

The bandit's body stiffened, then went limp.

[You killed a Lv.1 Bandit. Gained 50 experience.]

A few seconds ago, this enemy had been a threat he couldn't handle. A few seconds later, the bandit hadn't even been a match for his two moves.

The system's power was terrifying.

Ailian had witnessed the scene, as had both sides in the battle outside the carriage.

"What the hell! The intel said that kid was a magic apprentice who couldn't do a damn thing!"

"Shit, that fire's freaky!"

"And that sword strike... He doesn't look like a novice!"

The bandits burst into angry, startled curses, and their assault faltered into disarray.

According to the information they'd received, their target had never trained as a knight. He'd spent four years at the academy without learning more than a few spells. He was a useless weakling, no good at either scholarship or fighting, and the Xiaxing House guards were supposed to be the main obstacle in this job.

But now, two of their men had fallen to the kid in quick succession. One had died without anyone knowing how, while the other had first been scorched by strange flames, then killed with a single sword thrust.

This was nothing like they'd expected.

Meanwhile, the guards, who had been struggling, rallied.

"It's the young master!" cried a bloodied guard in delight. "The young master has joined the fight!"

"Hold on, everyone!" Knight Cain called to his men, taking the chance to encourage them as he battled the bare-chested brute. "The young master is a powerful Wizard. His magic will help us take care of this rabble!"

The guards' morale visibly rose.

To ordinary people, spellcasters were powerful and rare. A genuine spellcaster—even one of the lowest rank—could turn the tide of a small battle.

When the bandits had broken through to the young master's side, they had thought he was doomed!

But his magic was so powerful. They were bound to win now, weren't they?

Inside the carriage, Ailian's eyes widened. Her gaze darted between the bandit's corpse and Ye Wei'an, disbelief written all over her face.

"Y-Young master? When... when did you learn such powerful magic?"

"Just now," Ye Wei'an replied briefly. He tossed the cleaver aside, returned to the carriage, and sat down cross-legged.

Only then did he have a chance to feel his new power.

Ever since he chose his class, he had felt a strange power filling him, resonating constantly with the surrounding Weave.

This must be Spellfire energy.

Along with it came a wealth of knowledge and insight about casting spells and channeling magic.

They weren't "memories" he needed to recall, but "instincts" as natural as breathing and drinking.

How to conjure Spellfire, how to manipulate the elements, how to detect another person's thoughts... It all came naturally, as if he had practiced each skill tens of thousands of times.

The system really was something else.

Even more astonishingly, a small circular map had appeared in the upper-right corner of his vision.

It outlined the nearby forest path and woods, marking friend and foe with different colored dots.

The arrow in the center represented him, while the green dot beside it was clearly Ailian. Farther away, green and red dots mingled—the guards and bandits outside.

"This system even has a minimap?" Ye Wei'an marveled.

It was looking more and more like a game.

He wasted no time and quickly surveyed the battle outside.

As he watched, simple information appeared over the heads of those fighting.

Most of the bandits were [Lv.1 Bandits], with five or six [Lv.1 Fighters] and [Lv.1 Rogues] mixed among them, all noticeably better equipped.

"Bandit" didn't sound like a proper class.

The Fighters and Rogues, on the other hand, were clearly the bandits' core fighters.

The guards were mostly [Lv.1 Militia], along with seven or eight [Lv.1 Fighters].

Although they were outnumbered, they had more classed fighters among them. No wonder they'd held out for so long against the attack.

As for the leaders on either side, the knight's label read [Cain Orm, Lv.3 Purple Dragon Knight], while the bare-chested brute swinging a greatsword was a [Lv.3 Barbarian].

This information gave Ye Wei'an a clearer understanding of the situation.

He no longer hesitated. Turning to Ailian, who was still shaken, he said, "Stay inside. Shut the carriage door and don't come out."

"Y-Young master? Where are you going?" Ailian instinctively reached out to grab his sleeve and stop him, but pulled her hand back halfway.

The young master was no longer the helpless young master he'd been before.

"To solve the problem," Ye Wei'an replied briefly.

He bent down to pick up the bloodstained cleaver, then began casting another spell.

"Mage Armor!"

An invisible force formed a light layer of armor against his body, giving him a little reassurance.

This first-level spell might not stop an attack from a classed fighter, but it could block a bandit's blade and protect him from stray arrows.

With that done, he took a deep breath, climbed out of the carriage, and stepped back onto the battlefield.

Almost as soon as he appeared, several pairs of eyes locked onto him.

"Ha! The kid came out on his own!" The bare-chested brute battling Cain laughed loudly.

He parried a slash, stepped back half a pace, and shouted to the chaotic group, "Scarface! Goat! Take your men and chop up that little punk playing at magic!"

"Don't worry, boss!"

"Leave it to me!"

The two bandits responded at once.

Their armor was in much better shape than the others'. One had a hideous scar across his face and carried a short-handled battle axe; the other was thin and nimble, with a dagger gripped backward in each hand. They were clearly the little rabble's lieutenants.

Ye Wei'an immediately saw who they were:

["Scarface," Lv.1 Fighter]

["Goat," Lv.1 Rogue]

Each led three or four men as they closed in on Ye Wei'an from both sides.

"Protect the young master!" Knight Cain tried to break away and stop them, but the bare-chested brute grinned and drove him back with a swing of his sword. Cain could only watch as the two groups charged toward the carriage.

The remaining guards desperately tried to intercept them, but they were too badly outnumbered to cover every gap.

Ye Wei'an knew he couldn't let himself get surrounded.

His gaze swept over the half-broken oak carriage door beside the carriage.

Noble carriages were made from fine wood. Their doors weren't too heavy, yet were sturdy enough. Even when split apart, the door remained in one solid piece—just right to use as a shield.

He grabbed it, tossed it onto the carriage roof, then climbed up after it with practiced ease.

The roof was about two meters off the ground. From up there, Ye Wei'an had a clear view of the whole chaotic battlefield.

Scarface and Goat had just sacrificed two of their men to break through the guards' interception. They came charging toward the carriage with wild yells.

Unfazed, Ye Wei'an set the cleaver by his feet, braced the wooden door in front of him with his left hand, and pointed his right index finger at the bandit in front.

Blue-white flames bloomed silently across the bandit's chest.

"Argh—!"

Another piercing scream rang out.

"Spread out! Don't bunch up!" Goat shrieked when he saw the clinging flames rise from his companion. He swiftly circled toward the flank.

Ye Wei'an didn't react. He fixed his mind on the next target and called down another Spellfire Flame, then a third...

Cantrips didn't use Spell Slots, so he could cast them as often as he liked.

"Waah!"

"I'm burning!"

"H-Help me!"

The bandits turned into human torches one after another, and the stench of burning grew stronger in the air.

"Shit! You can't even beat this fire out!" Driven by pain and fear, a bandit covered in flames suddenly lunged at the nearest guard, trying to rub the strange fire onto him.

But the blue-white flames seemed almost alive. They clung stubbornly to the bandit and had no effect on the guard right beside him.

The guard took the opportunity to smash the bandit back with his shield, then drove his sword into the man's stomach.

Ye Wei'an received a notification, too.

[You killed a Lv.1 Bandit. Gained 35 experience.]

Seeing that the fire could distinguish friend from foe, the guards no longer held back. They rushed forward and beat the bandits while they were down.