1V5

Kuang Tu led his band of bandits in a forced march toward Lincoln Town, intending to find a suitable place to rest for the night before launching their raid the following day.

They found a small grove and were just about to settle in.

A shadow flickered past again—yes, it was that very same guy. Kuang Tu flew into a rage and ordered everyone to give chase.

Let's see where you run to this time, Kuang Tu thought viciously.

Yet, strangely, this thief did not vanish, remaining within their line of sight the entire time.

However, in his fury, Kuang Tu failed to notice this.

It was only after that figure had led them in a circle, leaving them all panting and exhausted, that they realized they might have been played.

But at that moment, the figure came to a halt.

They had arrived near a hillside, and the figure was standing at the very top.

Although they were gasping for air, there was only one person against them, so Kuang Tu immediately ordered his entire force to press the attack.

The figure remained calm and motionless as they charged up, which left Kuang Tu suspicious, but he had no other choice.

After all, the enemy was right in front of them and alone; there was no reason to back down.

Just as they were about to reach him, the man beckoned, and a group of people suddenly surged up from the other side of the hill.

Kuang Tu and his men halted their charge; it was clearly a trap.

But Kuang Tu quickly realized that the group emerging from the other side consisted of only a dozen people, and counting the one on the hill, there were only two intermediate-level professionals, nine primary-level professionals, and the rest were merely apprentices.

Even in their exhausted state, they had nothing to fear from such a small group.

Feeling his confidence return, Kuang Tu shouted, "Are you that sneaky thief?"

"No."

"What!!!"

"I am a mage."

"I don't care what you are. You're the one who destroyed our supplies and killed our men, right?"

"That's right."

"You insidious little rat, raaaargh!" Having finally cornered the culprit, Kuang Tu charged forward in a fit of rage.

"Wait. You call me insidious? Then let me show you something not so insidious. I'll take on five of you at once. Do you dare?"

"Hmph." Without a word, Kuang Tu and several others charged forward. Joseph and the rest fell back.

Watching them draw closer, Drew finally reached effective range.

Drew pulled out his staff, buffed himself, activated his shield, and channeled Arcane Missiles toward the group.

The opposing mage stood behind his shield, chanting a spell to cast Fireball. But an Arcane Missile struck his shield, interrupting his incantation.

The mage hadn't expected Drew's damage to be so high; he had managed to break the chant even while the mage was protected by a shield.

One had to know that Drew himself was at the peak of the intermediate level, wielded an epic-grade staff imbued with Wisdom, and had consumed a primary wisdom potion.

The spell damage was far beyond what the opposing mage had imagined.

Meanwhile, the opposing ranger tried to use his agile footwork to dodge the Arcane Missiles while launching an attack at Drew.

But he hadn't expected that Drew could not only multitask to attack them all with Arcane Missiles but also control the missiles to curve in mid-air.

As the ranger adjusted his stance to dodge, the Arcane Missiles curved like living things and surged toward him.

The ranger couldn't dodge in time and was struck. He had underestimated the damage of the Arcane Missiles and took a heavy blow—this was no mere Arcane Missile; the damage was higher than a Fireball.

He looked at his own attack, his arrows stuck in Drew's shield like blades of grass.

He looked at the stability of Drew's shield; it had taken almost no damage. He didn't know that Drew was actually a High Elf. Among mages of the same level, long-lived races like High Elves studied magic with profound depth, resulting in an exceptionally deep mana pool.

And a mana shield was based on one's mana pool.

The higher the percentage of mana, the more stable the shield.

The damage from the ranger's attack was converted into mana consumption by the shield, a loss that had no impact on Drew whatsoever.

Kuang Tu didn't see the situation with the mage and the ranger, as they were ranged professionals, while he and the Shield Warrior beside him were melee fighters leading the charge.

Drew's initial Arcane Missiles hadn't targeted them, as melee professionals were only a threat at close range.

Finally, Kuang Tu and the Shield Warrior reached charging distance. Charge.

They activated their skills and lunged toward Drew.

Only then did Drew fire Arcane Missiles at Kuang Tu, sparing the Shield Warrior.

During a charge, Kuang Tu gained a 300% speed boost, which was more than enough to dodge an Arcane Missile.

But Drew's Arcane Missile wasn't aimed at Kuang Tu's body; it was aimed at his feet.

The Arcane Missile missed Kuang Tu's foot but struck the ground, instantly creating a pit.

As luck would have it, Kuang Tu's next step in his charge was destined for that exact spot. His foot sank into the hole, and the charging Kuang Tu was certain to be tripped.

Moreover, the pit was somewhat deep; it might not just be a trip—he might even break his leg, given his immense speed.

Kuang Tu had no choice but to halt his charge, his speed returning to normal.

Had Drew attacked the ground a moment earlier, Kuang Tu could have skirted around the pit or adjusted his stride to leap over it; had Drew attacked a moment later, Kuang Tu would have already passed.

The timing was impeccable, leaving Kuang Tu awkwardly caught in between.

This was the power of the system's analytical capabilities, knowing precisely where Kuang Tu would step next.

It struck the ground with pinpoint accuracy, and the timing was just right.

The attack power and direction were perfect, and the size of the resulting crater was exactly as needed.

Kuang Tu could only watch as the Shield Warrior continued his charge.

At this moment, Drew ceased casting Arcane Missiles and gathered his mana to unleash a Frost Nova, commonly known as a Frost Ring.

A wave of ice-elemental mana spread outward from Drew as the center.

The onlookers were puzzled; the Shield Warrior was still in the middle of his charge, and Frost Nova could not freeze him, nor could it stop his momentum, as he would simply shatter the ice.

It seemed like a poor time to use Frost Nova, and everyone wondered why Drew chose this moment to cast it.

Suddenly, they realized the truth: a figure had appeared within the range of the Frost Nova, caught perfectly by the spell and kept at a distance where he could not reach Drew.

It was a rogue. Counting carefully, the ones attacking Drew earlier—a mage, a ranger, a berserker, and a Shield Warrior—only totaled four people.

The five intermediate-level professionals mentioned at the start were clearly missing one.

It turned out the missing one was a rogue. This rogue had gone invisible from the start, circling the battlefield to close in on Drew.

The other four were merely there to distract Drew, while this rogue was the true killing blow.

Once he got close to Drew, a single chain of crowd-control skills would leave Drew waiting to be beaten to death by the group, no matter how thick his magic shield was.

However, this rogue's level was not high enough to walk within the Shadow Plane, so he was forced to move in the real world.

Under the system's incredibly powerful scanning, even the movement of gravel on the ground was crystal clear.

The rogue's movements were equally transparent under the system's scan. Drew had pretended not to notice him at first, ignoring him until the very moment he was about to succeed, at which point he caught him.

Once frozen, Drew immediately struck the nearby rogue with a Fire Blast, knocking the squishy rogue to the ground. He then followed up with a Sleeping Potion to neutralize his combat ability.

The severely wounded rogue could not withstand the potency of the potion and lay motionless on the ground.