Enchantment Mage

"So this is my cheat..."

Zeliel scratched his head.

Attributes were divided into basic, advanced, and ultimate categories, with helpful notes attached beneath them.

By the standard of sixty points for an ordinary person, his basic attributes were fairly solid.

As a mage, his most important stats—Spirit and Intelligence—weren't lagging behind. They were even somewhat above average, which was good news.

As for advanced attributes, each increase cost two points, so their average value should presumably be halved to thirty, right?

Thirty points in Perception was decent enough, but forty-five points in Charisma was another matter entirely.

Was it because the original owner had been modeled rather well?

And then there was Luck.

This mystical nonsense was actually an ultimate attribute, and every increase cost four points.

Judging by the weighting, Luck should have averaged around fifteen, yet his panel had reached a staggering forty-one points, even surpassing Perception.

That was a little absurd... Could he be some kind of chosen one?

Next, Zeliel turned his attention to the talent skill section at the bottom of the panel.

A mage's talent skill would unlock after leveling up.

Choose one of two.

First: Spell Surge.

Based on a percentage of the Spirit attribute, it increased maximum mana reserves, mana recovery speed, and mana power, making a mage's foundations as solid as rock.

"Firepower is justice!"

Second: Spell Structure Evolution.

It could analyze the structure of any magical spell seen and reproduce it for personal use.

However, the analysis speed was linked to Intelligence. The higher the Intelligence, the faster the analysis. The complexity of the spell structure would also affect the progress.

"Your magic is quite good, but the next second, it'll be mine."

Zeliel rubbed his chin and considered it briefly.

Comparing them like this, one looked like a stat-monster skill, while the other looked like a mechanic-breaking skill...

If he chose Spell Surge, his mana endurance, mana pool, and even spell power would all improve to a certain extent. Those were all core attributes for a mage.

But Spell Structure Evolution...

Just reading the description was enough to tell him that Spell Structure Evolution was absolutely a treasure of a skill.

In this other world, learning magic required spending a fortune on magic scrolls. Some rare types of magic were priceless even when available, and a single scroll was nearly impossible to obtain.

If he chose Spell Structure Evolution, he would only need to witness someone else casting a spell to analyze its structure. It was practically a god-tier skill.

But its analysis speed was tied to Intelligence...

Then he would have to prioritize Intelligence when assigning points. According to the panel, Intelligence was strongly linked to Charisma, with every four points of Intelligence increasing Charisma by one.

Was he supposed to take the path of a bewitching mage?

Zeliel shook his head hard.

Forget it. It was too early to think about that.

Talent skills required leveling up to unlock, so he still had to find a way to get more experience.

To be fair, although mage was a noble profession, it required vast resources to pave the way.

A back-alley mage of humble origins like Zeliel was truly hard to put to use before he had developed.

He couldn't beat swordsmen in a fight, couldn't take hits as well as vanguards, couldn't run as fast as assassins, and before learning high-damage spells, couldn't even match rangers in ranged damage.

Over the past five days, the party had killed twenty-two wild wolves in total. Marcus had killed nine, while Gray and Vales had each killed six.

As for Zeliel, he had killed one.

This had nothing to do with being an adventurer anymore. Zeliel was more like a middle schooler on a field trip.

He felt around in his cloth pouch. Aside from dry rations, there was only a dagger inside.

If he had brought even a hand crossbow, he wouldn't have ended up with just one kill... What an idiot. Zeliel couldn't help criticizing the original owner.

The night wind brushed past, carrying a refreshing chill—and a strange scent...

The rank, gamey stench of wild wolves!

Zeliel, deep in thought, snapped to attention and immediately shouted at the top of his lungs!

"Alert!!!"

The snoring and teeth-grinding inside the tents stopped abruptly. After several rustling movements, the tent flaps were violently thrown open.

Gray was the first to rush out with his sword, followed by Marcus and Vales.

Within those few seconds, faint green lights slowly emerged from the dark bushes, flickering without pause.

Zeliel clenched his fists. He knew those were not ghostly flames, but wolves' eyes.

They were here.

Judging from the positions of those eyes, the wild wolves had formed a semicircle around the party's rear flank.

Zeliel couldn't help growing tense.

In his previous life, he had killed nothing more than chickens. Facing these vicious wolves in the pitch-black night, he could not help feeling uncertain.

"Don't panic, kid. They're just beasts..."

Gray fixed his gaze tightly on the bushes and casually spun his sword in his hand.

"It's good that they came to us. Saves us from searching all over the mountains for them."

Marcus and Vales were ready as well. One raised his shield at the very front, while the other drew his bowstring taut, poised to strike.

The battle erupted in an instant, with wolf howls and charging bodies bursting forth at once!

Vales's eyes narrowed. He aimed an arrow at the wolf charging at the front, and with a sharp whoosh, struck it dead on!

The feathered arrow pierced straight through its eye socket, burying nearly halfway in. Blood gushed out in streams as the wolf's corpse staggered forward two more steps on momentum before crashing headfirst to the ground.

At the same time, Gray and Marcus sprang into action.

"Hah!"

With a savage roar, Marcus stepped forward twice and drew the wolves' attention first.

His towering build gave him an advantage. It was not so easy for the wolves to reach his neck.

Moreover, Marcus swung his round shield without leaving the slightest opening. Any wolf that tried to pounce was met with a vicious blow.

Beast bones simply could not withstand such a powerful impact. They often snapped on the spot, after which Marcus's saber followed up to finish the job with a single fatal strike. His burly silhouette amid the wolf pack was practically that of a war god.

Gray guarded Marcus's flank from the side. His swordsmanship was sharp and fierce, more than enough for dealing with wild wolves. A swift slash could cut a wolf cleanly in half at the waist.

Miserable wolf howls rang out without end, startling the forest birds into scattering. Thick, rank blood sprayed across the grass, mixed with plenty of shattered entrails.

Marcus and Gray held back the wolves' assault at the front. With Vales's arrows supporting them, the party's line had completely stabilized.

Their fighting style also began to change, shifting from slash-focused attacks to precise thrusts—after all, the most valuable thing on a wild wolf was its pelt. Every extra bit of profit counted.

Marcus, Gray, and Vales slaughtered wolves to their hearts' content. By comparison, Zeliel looked especially out of place.

He gripped his dagger and made several eager attempts to step forward, only to gloomily realize in the end that there was nowhere for him to intervene at all.

"Ah..."

Zeliel sighed, feeling rather dejected.

There was no helping it. This was just how mages were in the early game.