The Tide of Battle Turns

A single shot of Spellfire might not be lethal, but the agony of continuous burning was enough to shatter the bandits' morale.

What was even more terrifying was that these attacks appeared out of nowhere; there were no projectiles to track, making them impossible to dodge.

The bandits were left dazed and confused, so preoccupied with dodging the blue-and-white flames that could erupt at any moment that they couldn't even spare the effort to kill Ye Wei'an.

As the guards finished off the burning bandits one by one, experience notifications popped up in rapid succession.

Even though all the bandits were Lv.1, the experience they provided to Ye Wei'an varied significantly.

Clearly, the experience gained from a kill depended not only on the enemy's level but also on his own participation in the kill.

While Ye Wei'an was busy picking off bandits with his Spellfire, he didn't forget to glance at the mini-map.

This was a good habit he had cultivated from playing games in his past life.

Sure enough, amidst the chaos, someone had made the "correct" choice—correct in every sense of the word.

Of the two sub-leaders, the one called "Scarface" was the most ferocious; he took a direct hit of Spellfire Flame, endured the burns, and charged toward the side of the carriage, weapon clamped in his teeth, climbing up with both hands and feet.

His actions gave Ye Wei'an a start. Unfortunately, there was only one as fierce as him; if all the bandits were like this, he would have to consider running away.

The other one who made the "correct" choice was the other sub-leader, "Goat."

He had claimed he was going to spread out and flank, but he ended up slipping into the woods and fleeing for his life.

In other words, the only person who could threaten Ye Wei'an now was Scarface.

That made things easy to handle.

Seeing that Scarface had already climbed halfway onto the carriage roof, Ye Wei'an grabbed his blade and prepared a spell simultaneously.

It was True Strike again.

With the augmentation of magical power, Scarface's assault was full of openings in Ye Wei'an's eyes.

Standing above, he swung down with all his might toward the bandit's unprotected crown!

Scarface was, after all, a veteran bandit who had licked blood off the edge of a blade; he had rich combat experience. Seeing the situation turn dire, he jerked his head to the side while desperately raising his arm, attempting to take the blow on his shoulder.

He had noticed that the blade the pretty boy was using wasn't some expensive noble piece, but one looted from his own cohorts.

As a sub-leader, Scarface knew exactly what kind of junk his men used.

Given the quality of that broken blade, it would definitely get stuck in his scapula.

As long as he could tank this hit, he could scramble onto the roof, and then...

Squelch!

His calculations came to an abrupt end.

He had completely misjudged Ye Wei'an's move.

This wasn't a vertical hack, but a diagonal slash!

Scarface's movement to tilt his head made him look incredibly foolish under this change of technique, as if he had offered his own neck into the trajectory of the blade.

The rusted edge precisely sliced into the gap of the fourth cervical vertebra, cutting through the trachea and cartilage; like a master butcher carving an ox, the process met with no resistance at all.

Scarface's roar was choked off in his throat, turning into a wheezing, airy rattle. He felt the world spinning before his eyes, and the last thing he saw was his own body...

The headless corpse swayed and tumbled off the carriage, while the head rolled several meters away.

[Killed "Scarface," Lv.1 Warrior, gained 93 experience points.]

With one sub-leader having fled and the other executed, the remaining bandits were terrified.

Seeing that the morale of this rabble was about to collapse, the two archers on the perimeter, who had been waiting for an opportunity, finally couldn't hold back and loosed cold arrows at the top of the carriage.

Thwack! Thwack!

One arrow buried itself deep into the door panel in front of Ye Wei'an, while the other was deflected by the invisible force field armor on his body, sliding harmlessly to the ground.

Ye Wei'an didn't even blink; his gaze swept over the panicked enemies below, and he raised his casting hand once more.

That gesture alone was enough to send several bandits turning tail and running.

In these few short seconds, the scales of battle had already tipped.

Ye Wei'an had his own gains as well.

Experience continued to accumulate, crossing the 300-point threshold.

Ye Wei'an saw a notification box appear in the bottom right corner of his vision.

[Current level experience is full (308/300).]

[You may level up. Please select a class to level up.]

Ye Wei'an chose to level up [Spellfire Sorcerer].

In the game system, choosing a class didn't mean you were locked into it forever.

Every time they leveled up, players could choose another class for [Multi-classing].

But Ye Wei'an wasn't considering that for the moment.

The Spellfire Sorcerer is powerful enough and possesses a sufficiently comprehensive set of abilities; there is no need for him to patch up shortcomings through multiclassing.

The familiar scene of time stopping appeared once again.

Ye Wei'an began to select his level-up bonuses.

Upon reaching level 2, a Sorcerer gains a core ability: [Metamagic].

This allows a Sorcerer to expend sorcery points to modify the effects of spells to suit their needs. For example, [Distant Spell] can double a spell's range, while [Extended Spell] can double a spell's duration, and so on.

His abilities as a Spellfire Sorcerer were also enhanced.

[Spellfire Energy]: Your sorcery points are replaced by unique "Spellfire Energy." The amount of Spellfire Energy naturally recovered each day is equal to your caster level. Additionally, you can replenish this energy by absorbing external spell energy or magical items. The maximum amount of Spellfire Energy you can safely store within your body is tied to your Constitution; if you accumulate more than five times your Constitution score, you will face the danger of an energy overload.

At the same time, his existing [Magic Absorption] ability evolved accordingly:

[Magic Absorption]: When you take spell damage, you can absorb a portion of the energy to reduce the damage and recover 1 point of Spellfire Energy.

This evolution is a qualitative leap.

It means that Ye Wei'an can "save up" by enduring or absorbing magical attacks, and at a critical moment, expend that accumulated Spellfire Energy to unleash Metamagic techniques at will, erupting with firepower far exceeding his current level.

At level 2, he could choose two Metamagic options; Ye Wei'an immediately selected [Twinned Spell] and [Quickened Spell].

[Twinned Spell]: Expend 1 point of Spellfire Energy to make a spell that originally targets a single creature affect two targets simultaneously.

[Quickened Spell]: Expend 2 points of Spellfire Energy to cast a spell instantly, without the need for preparation time.

Upon reaching level 2, Ye Wei'an could also master two new 1st-level spells.

He chose [Grease] and [Shield].

[Grease]: Create a patch of slippery grease covering a 10-square-meter area; creatures within the range are highly likely to lose their balance and fall.

[Shield]: Instantly create an invisible force field shield to block enemy attacks.

The former is a high-quality crowd control skill that can produce unexpected results when combined with fire spells.

The latter is an instant-cast shield, a life-saving skill for critical moments.

Do not be fooled by Ye Wei'an's earlier "tough guy" image of standing unflinching under a hail of arrows; that was only because he was bullying bandits using the cheapest, weakest bows.

If he truly encountered a tough opponent, [Mage Armor] alone would not provide him with enough sense of security.

He spread the fingers of his left hand, aimed at the most densely packed area of the ground, and focused his intent.

"Grease!"

Magic silently washed over that area.

The next second, the previously solid dirt ground suddenly took on an eerie, oily sheen, becoming exceptionally slippery.

Seven or eight bandits, huddled together trying to reorganize their formation, were caught off guard and their feet slipped violently.

"Ouch!"

"Damn it! What's wrong with the ground?!"

Amidst the screams, some fell flat on their backs, others stumbled into their companions, and more were brought down by the sudden chaos, instantly tumbling into a pile of limbs.

Nearby guards were overjoyed at the sight and raised their swords, wanting to move in for the kill.

"Don't go over there!" Ye Wei'an shouted to stop them.

During the previous battle, Ye Wei'an—this legendary "useless young master"—had displayed such might that he had already begun to establish prestige among the guards.

Though the guards were a bit confused, they still stopped in their tracks.

The next moment, Ye Wei'an snapped his fingers with his raised hand.

It was still that blue-white Spellfire Flame, but this time, it did not land on anyone; instead, it appeared within the oil slick.

The ghostly blue flames spread rapidly along the oil, and then...

BOOM—!

Slippery grease is the perfect accelerant; the Spellfire instantly ignited the entire area!

WHOOSH!!

Ghostly blue and searing white flames surged nearly a person's height, transforming into a man-eating sea of fire.

Even from four or five meters away, the guards were drenched in sweat from the heat wave.

The bandits caught in the sea of fire had it even worse.

"AH—!!!"

"It's burning, it's burning! Help!"

"Water! Where is there water!"

Screams so shrill they didn't sound human erupted from the flames.

The bandits who had slipped could not escape the grease in time and immediately became human torches. They twisted their bodies frantically, beating and rolling in a desperate attempt to find relief, but this only caused the highly adhesive Spellfire to spread even faster.

The smell of charred protein mixed with the scent of burning grease permeated the air, creating an eerie aroma of roasted meat.

[Killed Lv.1 Bandit, gained 26 experience points.]

[Killed Lv.1 Bandit, gained 50 EXP.]

[Killed Lv.1 Prowler, gained 81 EXP.]

[Killed Lv.1 Bandit, gained 37 EXP.]

A string of kill notifications flooded the screen, pushing the experience bar straight to (364/500).

Even Ye Wei'an hadn't expected the classic combo of Grease + Produce Flame to have such devastating lethality.

Both sides of the battlefield were so shocked that they temporarily ceased fighting.

The efficiency of the spellcaster's slaughter was beyond the imagination of these mere mortals.

This hellish scene became the final straw that broke the bandits' morale.

"A d-devil! He's a devil!"

"Run! Run for your lives!"

It was unclear who shouted first, but the remaining bandits completely collapsed.

They no longer cared about their leader, their mission, or the bounty; wailing and crying, they dropped their weapons and turned to scatter into the depths of the woods.

"Pursue them! Don't let them get away!" Knight Cain was the first to react, issuing the order immediately.

The guards switched into pursuit mode, their blades rising and falling as they cut down several more bandits who lagged behind.