The night had completely darkened, the wilderness night somewhat chilly, with sharp, piercing animal cries occasionally echoing from the distant black peach forest. Los told Ye Chui that the wolf rats were gathering to prepare for their hunt, sleeping in the burrows of the black peach forest during the day.
“Those beasts won’t set out until after midnight, so you don’t need to worry about them appearing suddenly. My people will keep watch, so you and Miss Debbie should rest for a bit,” Los said, handing Ye Chui a blanket.
“Miss Los, what do we need to do?” Ye Chui asked curiously.
“Look after yourselves. If any wolf rats get close, you’ll need to defend. You have a defensive spell, right? And Miss Debbie, if anyone gets hurt, we’ll need your summoning magic,” Los replied.
It seemed like an easy task?
The sky was filled with stars, casting a faint but pure starlight.
Ye Chui and Debbie leaned against each other, sitting behind a small hollow in the hill. The animal cries, though initially unsettling, became less daunting once they got used to them. Debbie even rested her head on Ye Chui’s shoulder, letting out soft snores.
Though this world had a medieval European feel, it wasn’t as rigid about male-female interactions as one might expect. At least, Debbie using Ye Chui’s shoulder as a pillow seemed perfectly natural, and she showed no embarrassment. Ye Chui, not feeling sleepy, looked down at the girl wrapped in the blanket with only her head visible, a faint smile on his face.
Though they had known each other for barely half a day, he felt an inexplicable familiarity with her, a strange emotion that transcended time and space, hard to describe…
“It’s cold!” Debbie murmured in her sleep, then selfishly pulled the entire blanket over herself, letting out a comfortable moan.
“…”
Ye Chui decided to retract his earlier sentiments.
He tugged at the blanket, but it wouldn’t budge, the girl gripping it tightly even in her sleep. Giving up, Ye Chui sighed silently, stretched out a hand, and with a thought, his iPad spellbook appeared above his palm, emitting a faint glow.
“Magic power’s restored to 97%,” Ye Chui noted, pleased, seeing the mana bar on the iPad.
Summoning the spellbook, even without casting spells, consumed power. But when stored in his body, it gradually recharged by absorbing his magic, much like charging a battery, and quite efficiently too.
Without casting spells, the spellbook used only 1% of its power per hour. Fully depleted, it took just four hours to recharge completely, roughly 2% every five minutes. Truly, five minutes of charging for two hours of summoning.
Ye Chui huddled up, looking at his iPad spellbook, occasionally tapping it.
During his battle with Kaimis, Ye Chui’s points had risen to 12. He spent 10 to download the basic elemental spell [Lightning]. After defeating Kaimis, he gained 4 more points, leaving him with 6. If he earned enough points hunting wolf rats, he planned to download more attack spells.
The spellbook had nine basic attributes: water, wind, earth, lightning, fire, space, light, darkness, and spirit.
Ordinary spellbooks had one or two attributes, rarely three. But Ye Chui had long noticed his iPad spellbook seemed unrestricted. With enough points, he could download spells of all attributes. From Wade’s memories, he knew a mage mastering all attributes was called an Omni Mage, a feat no one had achieved in the five thousand years since mages existed.
“An Omni Mage, huh? Sounds interesting.”
Ye Chui was intrigued by the title, but for now, he debated whether to download other attribute spells or strengthen his lightning magic.
“I’ll install another lightning spell, the beginner attack spell [Lightning Strike]. It needs 15 points, and I’m 9 short,” Ye Chui decided. [Lightning] simply converted magic into electricity, its destructive power inherent to electricity itself. [Lightning Strike] turned lightning into a focused attack, with greater, more concentrated damage.
As Ye Chui made this decision and prepared to store his iPad spellbook, Los’s voice suddenly rang out, “Careful, they’re coming!”
The shrill animal cries grew denser and sharper.
Ye Chui quickly leapt up, peering over the slope. In the dim plain, he could faintly see figures darting from the black forest, small but swift. Those were wolf rats, ferocious beasts ravaging the elf plains, causing devastation to countless villages. They bred quickly, and the pack emerging from the black peach forest numbered at least a hundred.
“So those are wolf rats? They don’t look like much,” Debbie said, rubbing her eyes as she stood beside Ye Chui. As a unique beast of the elf plains, she had never seen these savage creatures before.
The wolf rat pack soon reached the slope where they hid.
“Get ready to fight!” Los called out quietly.
Los’s team moved with practiced coordination. Los led the charge, drawing her longsword from her waist, letting out a clear cry, and rushing forward.
With her went a tall, armored swordsman named Gaiton, carrying a massive iron shield in one arm and a short sword in the other. The odd combination of shield and sword was purely for defending alongside Los’s attacks, sacrificing nearly all offensive capability.
Los and Gaiton plunged into the wolf pack, the sounds of battle ringing out. They carried glowing magical devices, magic lanterns, illuminating a small area around them.
The fire mage Harley cast the [Flame] spell, igniting a ring of fire around the hill. Wolf rats feared fire at night, and the flames kept them at bay. The archer Matt, armed with a crossbow, used the light from Los and Gaiton’s lanterns to provide ranged support, picking off wolf rats.
This four-person mercenary team worked with seamless coordination, their formation honed through countless battles.
Then there were Ye Chui and Debbie…
“What do we need to do?” Ye Chui asked Matt, a mix of nervousness and excitement in his voice.
Swish!
Matt fired an arrow, saying gravely, “Just stay alive.”
“Huh?”
Matt grinned at Ye Chui, “Don’t worry, Miss Los said she’ll give you two wolf rats in the end, so you won’t leave empty-handed.”
“Uh?”
Ye Chui and Debbie exchanged glances, suddenly understanding Los’s true reason for inviting them to join the team. She had taken them in because they were newbies, wanting to look after them? But… this was completely different from what Ye Chui had imagined. The wolf rats, fearing the flames, didn’t dare approach them. He wanted to fight and earn points!
“Debbie,” Ye Chui turned to the girl beside him, “I’ve got an idea. Want to go for something big?”
