Karin followed the two Rangers toward the Men's Lounge on one side of the camp.
"Host, please be advised: the two targets ahead still harbor deep hostility toward you and may seize any opportunity to retaliate!" The All-Knowing Eye's voice rang out in Karin's mind.
"All right, I understand..." Karin nodded. "How strong are they?"
"They are relatively weak compared with the female Ranger from earlier. Their actual combat strength may be only one-sixth to one-fifth of hers!"
"Understood!"
Just as they entered the lounge, the Ranger named Brew deliberately fell behind and shut the door.
The two Rangers hemmed Karin in from opposite sides.
"What are you trying to do?" Karin asked calmly.
"Perhaps Miss Vereesa's kindness led her to forgive your insult, mage!" Morgan snapped.
"But we won't..." Brew picked up where Morgan left off, bellowing just as angrily. "Do you have any idea who Miss Vereesa is? She's the brightest jewel in all the Ghostlands! Do you think someone like you has any right to lay a finger on her?"
"As far as we're concerned, daring to insult Miss Vereesa is already unforgivable, so we're going to give you the punishment you deserve!"
"The punishment I deserve?" Karin glanced at the two of them. "So you both took part in beating me up on the night of the Midsummer Festival?"
"Beating you up?" The two exchanged a glance, apparently unable to understand what Karin meant.
"Then it seems you two are rather lucky!" Karin raised his Staff.
"Mage, at this distance, do you really think your spells can hit us?" Morgan sneered, then charged with his fists swinging, while Brew attacked from behind.
Unfortunately, they were wrong... First, Karin specialized in abjuration, so even such close quarters would not greatly hamper him. Second, the gap in their strength was simply too vast!
A transparent shield enveloped Karin, instantly throwing both Rangers back!
Then Karin pointed his Staff at the Ranger named Morgan, and the Mana Shield that had surrounded him flew straight toward the man... It was not meant to protect him. What Karin had actually cast was the Binding Spell, which Antonidas had developed by casting Mana Shield in reverse.
Morgan was trapped inside the Mana Shield, unable to move an inch... Almost instinctively, Karin shrank the Mana Shield bit by bit. Morgan had less and less room to move, until he was forcibly curled into a ball...
Karin was certain that if he kept applying pressure, he could crush this Ranger completely, from the outside in!
Archmage Antonidas certainly lived up to his reputation. This spell, derived from the simplest First Ring abjuration spell, Mana Shield, was astonishingly powerful!
On the other side, Brew realized something was wrong and hurried toward the two longswords resting in a corner of the lounge. It seemed he intended to take up a weapon and fight Karin!
Karin had no intention of letting him get his wish. A Fireball shot straight at Brew, blasting the hapless Ranger into the wall and burning away half his clothes... Then another Binding Spell enveloped him, forcing him to curl into a ball just like Morgan!
"What are you doing!" An angry shout came from outside.
Then, with a tremendous crash, someone kicked the lounge door open, and Vereesa Windrunner appeared in the doorway.
She looks so gentle and beautiful, yet she's this hot-tempered... Karin grumbled inwardly.
Vereesa stared at the scene inside the lounge in shock. The two Rangers, Morgan and Brew, were curled up like puppets, seemingly trapped by something invisible.
Seeing Karin standing there unscathed, Vereesa demanded, "Mage, what are you doing?"
"These two subordinates of yours provoked me out of nowhere, saying they wanted to teach me a lesson!" Karin replied coolly. "Naturally, I had to show them the price of provoking a mage!"
"Whatever they've done, release them at once!" With that, Vereesa seized her longbow and aimed it at Karin, ready to strike.
Vereesa could hardly be blamed for reacting so strongly. Under the effects of the Binding Spell, Morgan and Brew did indeed look utterly miserable.
"Argh..."
"Aaah..."
Two screams rang out as Karin strengthened the Binding Spell without the slightest hesitation... Under the increased pressure, both Rangers howled in pain.
"Please calm down, Miss Vereesa!" Karin said evenly. "If you dare attack me, I guarantee that both of them will die horribly!"
"You..." Vereesa's hands trembled slightly. "Release them..."
"First, you'll have to lower your longbow before we can even discuss the matter!" Karin said casually.
Vereesa spoke rather helplessly, yielding first. "Let's both let go at the same time. All right?"
"Of course!" Karin had no objection to that.
At the same moment, Vereesa lowered her longbow, and Karin dispelled the Binding Spell, releasing Brew and Morgan.
The two Rangers, whom Karin had just tormented half to death, hurriedly scurried behind Vereesa in fear.
"Mr. Karin, I believe you promised me you wouldn't cause trouble..." Vereesa suppressed her anger.
"Of course I remember, but I never promised to swallow my anger when openly provoked!" Karin shot back without mercy.
The two stood face-to-face, staring at each other!
Vereesa felt that the world had become rather strange. She simply could not reconcile the face of that rude, foolish boy from a few months ago with the utterly forceful mage standing before her.
"I won't let those two trouble you again!" Vereesa said after a moment's thought.
"All right. Let's hope so!"