Chapter 253: Critical Period (2)
Translator: Leo Editor: Frappe
"It's the only map I have in possession." Coach smiled. "It seems like I'm the weakest one here, but I've spent most of my time doing research on herbs. I'm a member of the school in Six Ring Area. I probably can't help you too much during fights, but I still want to assist you with all the information I know."
"Sounds great. You're gorgeous, by the way. Without you, this trip will be very boring…" Perry's eyes fell on Coach's cleavage.
"Thank you for the kind words." Coach covered her mouth with her right hand and chuckled.
Nopel shook his head slightly and said, "Well, let's focus on the trip. I think we'll encounter the Cloud Bees soon."
Angele, at the side, listened to the three's conversation with a smile on his face.
Coach looked at Angele for a second and continued, "It'll take us about four months to reach our destination if everything goes as planned." She pointed at the first black dot on the map.
"This is the northern highland. The Cloud Bees are very active in the snow-covered mountains." She then pointed at a white flashing dot. "This is us. It will take us about one month to get there. We have plenty of time to prepare.
"Next, it's the Human Snakes that have the bloodline of the ancient Siren. We'll encounter them by the Lake of Distortion. I will tell you the information about them later and discuss the details after surviving the attack from the Cloud Bees." She stopped for a second, then continued, "There will be about 500 of them in one Cloud Bee swarm. We need to be fully prepared. Kill them all once they enter our sights. Otherwise, they'll summon a larger swarm."
Angele was not concerned. The girl must be thinking that other wizards would protect her if they knew she had valuable information about the possible threats.
He noticed that the ten wizards on the boat had formed three small groups, excluding the missing ones.
Angele, Perry, Coach, and Nopel was one such group.
The captain named Baron and two other light wizards similarly formed one.
The couple also formed a group. Perry had tried to invite them, but they declined the offer. The two were also much stronger than Perry based on the mentality waves they were releasing.
Angele still disguised himself as a Gas stage wizard. It was a result of mentality compression. He could even disguise himself as a wizard apprentice if he wanted to. He did not trust anyone on the airship and he did not want the others to treat him as a threat.
Angele had done his homework before boarding the boat.
The wizards on the boats all had their own specializations, but the boats were not under any major organizations' control, and their backgrounds did not matter.
Perry invited Angele to his group because he knew that Angele was a strong wizard.
Wizards were selfish by nature. They would fight together for their lives but when there was still peace, they would only make decisions that were beneficial to themselves. Power would grant them the highest right on the airships after they left Nola. Coach's advantage was her knowledge and detailed information of the monsters. She could not fight like the others, but her knowledge was valuable to the team.
The sky cleared after about half an hour. The bright sunlight arrived at the deck and brought warmth to the wizards, but the wind was still cold as hell.
Angele stood on the deck. His upper body was cold while his lower body was hot, and that was a strange feeling.
They said goodbye to each other and returned to the cabins. Angele selected his room before he boarded the boat.
He walked down a short staircase and reached a long dark hallway. There were six brown wooden doors on both sides of the walls and there was a name tag on each of the doors.
Angele walked to the second room on the left.
He tapped on the door with his right hand, then a black snake-shaped rune flashed on its surface and the door opened itself quickly.
Angele entered the room whereas it was just a tiny bedroom. A white wooden bed was placed in the corner. There were several gears hanging on the wall as the decoration.
There were also a red table and a chair in the middle. Two large black cases were left beside the table.
Angele noticed that there was a window on the wall opposite to him.
The glass of the window was made of a special crystal and it would not be damaged easily.
Angele walked to the window and looked down.
There was a narrow river running down the forest.
There was no carriage moving between the trees. The area was probably not populated due to the dangerous beast living in the mountains.
"Nothing interesting." He sighed.
A group of blue flying snakes went passed the window. They had long, slim tails and large shiny wings.
Angele noticed that there was an elephant-sized golden lion drinking water from the river and two small lions running around behind it.
There was also a herd of yellow elks moving between the trees. The male elks had gray backs and enormous antlers that had the similar size as their bodies.
*WOO*
The noise sounded like someone was blowing a horn.
It was a beast roaring in the forest, its voice deep but gentle.
Angele stood in front of the crystal window for a while and turned around. He started to check the large cases beside the table.
*Click*
The first case was opened slowly.
A black shadow swung its wings and jumped out of the case. The shadow flew around in the room then landed on Angele's right shoulder.
It was a black night sparrow with four wings. The bird had a pair of dark red eyes; it was cleaning its feathers with its beak.
There were also dozens of black metal bottles inside the case and their sizes varied. White labels were stuck on the surface of the bottles.
Angele closed the first case and opened the second one.
*KA*
The case was full of different potions and test tubes.
Golden liquid, red liquid, silver liquid, yellow dust, and brown pills…
Dozens of test tubes lined up on a large wooden rack and they were all made of vulcanized crystal.
The one in the center looked different. It was filled with red sticky liquid and was glowing.
"The essence of the mutated Barry Turtle…" Angele grabbed the test tube and shook it several times.
It was a byproduct of the ancient bloodline. Angele did not want to leave it in Nola, so he removed all the traces left by the ancient bloodline extraction before leaving the territory, including the two white centaurs.
The essence could be injected into creatures and make them mutate. It was a much safer method to use but its resulting effects were weaker.
Angele decided not to use it on himself as there might be conflicts between the two ancient bloodlines. In addition to that, the side-effect of the essence might also decrease his attributes.
He grabbed the two test tubes with brown pills inside after checking all the items.
Angele removed the stopper and threw a pill into his mouth, swallowing it right away.
It was tasteless, but he soon felt satiated.
"There's no cook on this boat…Damn, I hate these nutrition pills…" He shook his head and stood up.
There was a critical problem that needed to be dealt with immediately.
A 'captain' for the three airships was needed to be selected in order to determine who would be in charge of navigating direction and pace. The leader would also be given a crystal amulet that could be used to control all three airships.
The rare materials that could release energy waves would be collected after the fights. Once that happened, the leader would be able to decide how to split the reward.
Furthermore, the special amulet could expel a wizard from a certain airship when necessary.
However, the crystal amulet would be activated only when the three pieces of crystal runes from the three airships were assembled.
There would be a fight between the captains soon or later.
The amulet was the symbol of power in the whole team. It could cause great tragedy once acquired by the wrong person, and that was the reason why the governing wizards forged the crystal runes. Similarly, the wizards on the boat were all qualified to join the fight for the amulet. The captains would hand the crystal runes to the winner along with the amulet.
The trip was dangerous, and the leader must be strong enough to rule the wizards.
It was much safer when the symbol of rights was controlled by just one person.
The organization did not appoint a leader because they wanted the members to figure it out by themselves.
Since the airships had left the region, wizards were no longer under the jurisdiction of the laws of Nola and so, wizards might die during the competition. It was no problem as the airships were equipped with the best medical facilities, so most injuries could be healed quickly. The wizards, after all, would do anything just to obtain the amulet.
"The fight will start before we encounter the Cloud Bees," Angele muttered. He did not want others to control his destiny. The airships were about one thousand meters above the earth and being expelled from the boat would be the worst outcome in the trip.
Angele had already decided to join in the fight for the possession of the amulet. He himself knew that most of the wizards would not let this chance slide.
'Sadly, not all wizards here are releasing their mentality waves.' That was the main problem Angele was facing. Without the information on the mentality waves, Zero would not be able to tell him which stage his opponent was at. He had to find it out by himself during the fight.
Chapter 254: Competition (1)
Translator: Leo Editor: Frappe
Four days later…
*Blop*
From within a translucent beaker.
A brown seed slowly sank into the water with purple petals from a flower.
Angele held the beaker in hand and observed the liquid.
"Nice flowering tea…" he muttered.
"Glad you like it."
A man sat opposite to Angele in the shadows answered in a light tone.
The shadow blurred the man's face. His long sleeves and hood covered every inch of his skin.
The two were sitting in Angele's room, face to face, enjoying a pot of warm tea.
The purple flower in their cups had already bloomed. The color was clean and vivid. The purple petals floated on the surface of the liquid; it looked fresh.
"I didn't bring my personal tea set with me this time. It would taste even better with my special teacups." Angele shook his head slightly.
"It's good enough for me." The man grabbed the beaker and took a sip from it. "So, what do you think about the matter we discussed? We only have two days left."
"I don't know too much about Baron, but we don't have to go for it right away."
"You know how the crystal runes work, right? It will absorb its owner's mentality waves. This is our best chance especially because no material that can be used to deactivate the rune is on the airship. Take it and carry it with you until it recognizes you as the owner. The longer we wait, the harder it'll become," the man explained. "I didn't interact with anyone else because Baron's Talent Skill will detect my presence if I'm in its range. I had to hide my mentality with spells just for that."
"Talent Skill, huh?" Angele repeated, "You mean his forcefield? What does it do?"
"He can monitor every wizard's location and condition on the airship if he wants to." The man lowered his voice.
"Interesting. I have one more question for you. Why did you come to me?" Angele smiled.
"I found out that you were out of Baron's forcefield range for some reason." The man's answer was straightforward.
Angele knew that someone was releasing the mentality wave in a different way when he boarded the airship. He did not want to waste too much time trying to figure out what was going on, so he decided to stay away from the source of the mentality wave and create a special barrier.
He doubted if Baron's forcefield was helpful during a battle.
"I thought everyone on the airship has noticed the special forcefield."
"They're not as smart as you think." The man shook his head. "We can work together and take the crystal rune from Baron. What do you think?"
"Sounds good to me. We can decide who will become the owner later." Angele nodded slightly.
"Alright then. Two days later, the crystal rune will recognize Baron as its owner." The man stopped for a second, then explained, "You need to carry it with you for seven days before it recognizes you as the real owner, so we need to do it before that happens. I think there are other people going after it too. Be prepared."
"For sure."
"I'll see you later." The man stood up and moved to the wall behind him. He slowly vanished into the shadows. It almost looked like he passed through the wall.
Angele narrowed his eyes, unsure of what spell the man had cast, but it was not surprising that wizards had their own special skills.
The man was the missing wizard on the airship, who had suddenly knocked on the door and asked Angele to help him fight against Baron.
Zero confirmed that the man was a Gas stage wizard based on the mentality wave he was releasing. However, Angele was certain that the man was a Liquid stage wizard after observing him during their conversation. He was extremely confident in winning the fight against Baron for some reason.
Angele grabbed the beaker and sipped some tea. He turned around and worked to the window.
Below the airship was the sea of trees.
The only things he could see were several flashing green dots, likely some luminous plants.
Angele enjoyed the night view for a while. The seed inside the beaker had already sprouted and it grew into a flower within seconds. The white petals looked vivid and soft.
During the four days, the only things he did was studying, researching and meditating. It was his basic daily routine.
It would take a long time for wizards to learn spells, and they needed to practice building the spell models a countless number of times to master them. Although they just needed to invoke the incantation once they mastered the spell, the learning process was hard and supporting materials were required to cast certain spells.
Angele had the help from the biochip, but he still needed to do the detailed modification by himself. It would take other wizards years just to master a modified spell.
Most of the wizards on the airship were light wizards. Angele doubted if they knew any powerful damage spells and as a dark wizard, he had many practical experiences from all the battles he had fought.
The man cast a special spell when he left but Angele was not concerned. He did not look like a great fighter, and Angele could take the crystal rune using force if they were unable to reach an agreement.
For a wizard like this, Angele could make him lose the ability to fight within minutes.
Dark wizards were used to engaging in battles and they could cast the needed spells quickly once the fight started.
However, the light wizards would not be able to react so fast even if they were prepared for the upcoming battle. They needed enough time to figure out which spell could be cast to counter the opponent's attack. Some of them even needed a longer time to finish the incantation than usually once they were under pressure.
Angele shook his head slightly. He was not the slightest bit interested in the competition. He had never considered light wizards as threats. They were like the fledgling birds—a tiny storm would easily destroy them all.
'I can just usurp the crystal rune from the winner of this so-called competition.'
*Thud thud*
Someone knocked on the door as Angele finished thinking.
"Come in please, it's not locked," Angele answered the door.
*Creak*
The door was pushed open.
Under the dim light, Angele saw a man wearing a large white robe stepping into the door quietly.
"Perry? It's late in the night. What's the matter?" Angele recognized the man right away. It was Perry, the first wizard to talk to him on the deck.
Perry had shaved his beard, but his hair was still messy.
He closed the door after entering Angele's room.
"Green, I already talked to the others. Let's fight Baron the day after tomorrow and take the rune from him. We need to focus on the strongest wizard on the airship, then we can decide who will become the owner of the rune."
"But it's just one of the three crystal runes, right? We still need to fight against the winners from the other airships…"
"It's different. Once you become the 'captain' of this airship, the rest of the members must help you fight against the other airships. You'll be able to acquire all three crystal runes one way or another." Perry smiled. "Even if you're not the strongest wizards in all of the airships, you can still win the fight with the help of the crew. It has happened more than once in history."
"Never heard of that." Angele pursed his lips. "How many people are on your side?"
"We're a group of four, right? The couple agreed to join us too. So, it's six versus three. I think we can win." There was a confident smile on Perry's face.
"What's the plan?"
"I'll raise my right fist when the time is ripe. You just go all in on Baron once you see the signal. He's the strongest one." Perry explained, "We'll figure out a peaceful way to decide on who to give the rune to. What do you say?"
"Sounds good." Angele nodded.
Perry told Angele about the details and left the room quickly.
Angele thought for a while and then lay on the bed, starting his daily meditation.
Although meditation would not increase his mentality anymore, Angele had already developed such habit, and it could replace sleep.
Nothing happened on the second day.
Angele walked around on the deck. The temperature was low, and the wind was strong in the sky. Baron was standing by the railings. It seemed like he was modifying the speed and the direction of the airship.
He was carrying an enchanted item that could warm up his body, so he only wore a long white robe.
Angele's Stamina was well above average. Nonetheless, he just did not like the cold air. He enjoyed the fresh air, but he did not stay too long on the deck.
Although he could just use fire energy particles to warm up his body, he did not want to waste any mentality on that.
Angele detected some mechanical movement from the room on the left. It was probably someone setting up a magic matrix or circle.
He did not know too much about the magic matrix or the magic circle, but he had learned a lot from the defensive matrices that Wisp had sent him back in Nola.
The most basic magic matrices on the airship were the ones in the cabin. They were used to warm up the rooms.
Angele returned to his own room and continued the study of enchantment.
He had finally found some practical ways to apply the Fire enchantment knowledge.
Angele finished studying more than 20 different basic courses, and seven different needed languages. After wasting a lot of materials, he successfully did some basic Fire enchantment on his own.
Although the success rate on enchanting level 0 spells was low, it was still a huge step forward for him. He spent about 30,000 regular magic stones to buy materials for the enchantment in recent years. The biochip hadn't been able to help him much during the process.
Enchantment was different from Potion Concocting. The simulations of the biochip could not be applied to the actual process. Angele needed to be extremely cautious when applying the enchantment and he also needed the experience to solve the possible problems that might happen during the procedure. A lot of mentality would be consumed when applying the enchantment, so Angele only did the test when the current environment he was in was relatively safe.
Not all materials were compatible with the fire energy particles. Moreover, there were also countless possible combinations. The density of the energy particles, the environment requirement, the mentality requirement, the compatibility, and the resistance—all were needed to be tested one by one.
It would take a long time and a lot of materials to actually make an enchanted item.
Even masters of Enchantment could not speed up the process. Although their success rate was higher, anything could happen during the procedure. That was precisely the reason why enchanted items were so difficult to find.
They were many wizards studying Enchantment but crafting enchanted items was a different story altogether.
Angele studied enchantment for a while, then decided to check the magic device he acquired from Red Beard.
He sat beside the table and took out a metal pouch. The pouch protected the magic device from being detected by other wizards.
Inside the pouch was a white ring.
Chapter 255: Competition (2)
Translator: Leo Editor: Frappe
Simple but elegant, it was a ring with tiny runes engraved on its surface.
'Zero, is the result out yet?' Angele had created the task days ago.
'Forcefield analysis completed. Modify your mentality wave to activate it. Damage can be increased by invoking the correct incantation.'
'What spell can the ring cast?'
'The Light of Thorns. Release golden lasers while reflecting the incoming attack. The ring can be activated once a day. Cooldown is around 21 hours,' Zero reported. The description reminded Angele of the spell Red Beard had cast that day.
Angele held the ring in his hand, then observed the runes engraved on it but could not recognize any of them.
'The Light of Thorns had injured four dark wizards within a second, which means the damage is over 50 degrees. The golden lasers also travel extremely fast in the air. It'll be hard for the opponent to defend against them.' Angele carefully returned the ring into the pouch. '
Angele doubted if he could unleash the full damage of the spell without similarly getting injured by it.
If the golden lasers could reach him before the forcefield could automatically create the metal barrier, Angele would have been injured severely.
That was the reason why the dark wizards were burnt into ashes back in the forest. They had the forcefields to create a barrier for them, but the lasers reached them before the barriers were put up. The muscular female wizard successfully created the barrier, but it was too weak.
Angele held the metal pouch in hand and it was absorbed by his skin within seconds. He quickly created some water using the water energy particles and brushed his teeth. Tomorrow would be a big day so he wanted to have some good rest.
*****************************
The next day.
It was early in the morning.
Angele slowly opened his eyes and heard footsteps coming from outside the door.
He quickly got off the bed and wiped his face with a wet towel.
The cold towel was refreshing, and it quickly drove away his sleepiness.
Angele opened the door after putting down the towel.
Two light wizards were waiting for him in the hallway.
It was Perry and Nopel.
The two nodded slightly after seeing Angele stepping out of the door.
"Let's move. The others already went to the deck." Perry sent the words through energy particles.
Angele closed the door and walked to the staircase. The Four-wing Night Sparrow was looking for food in the forest down there. It could catch up with the airships easily.
The three arrived at the deck together.
There were already several wizards waiting there quietly.
Baron was standing beside the main mast and he had a blank expression his face. There were two light wizards following him, one male and the other female.
They just stood there and waited. The atmosphere on the deck was heavy.
Coach was already there. He walked to Perry and stood together with them. Perry then eyed the couple but did not say anything.
"I know why you're here. It's the last day. Step forward if you want the rune." Baron wasted no time and raised his right hand to the air, revealing a palm-sized crystal rune.
The S-shaped rune had two sharp edges that were covered by a red glow.
The wizards all stared at the crystal rune in his hand.
*Boom*
It sounded like something exploded.
Angele was surprised. He turned to the direction of where the noise came from right away.
A large fireball exploded on the airship ahead of theirs and the shockwave induced made the whole airship shake.
The light from the red flame illuminated on everyone's faces.
The fireball quickly vanished into the air. Nothing was ignited for some reason. Countless white magic circles appeared on the surface of that airship. Angele then heard people roaring and the noise made by metal weaponry.
"It seems like the competition has already begun on that one. I think we should start too." Perry stepped forward and shouted while looking at Baron.
"Hand over the rune, Baron. You got no chance!" He raised his right fist in the air.
Suddenly, the six started invoking incantation before Baron could talk.
The six wizards released rays of red flames at the same time. It was a simple but effective way to initiate an attack.
The fire rays looked like six large petals that gathered together and formed a one-meter-tall fireball. The fireball drew a red arc in the air and flew toward Baron.
The deck was brightened up by the light from the flame.
Strangely, the fireball was surrounded by a distorted wave and it looked like the fireball was sucking all the air around into it, creating a magnetic force field.
Baron pursed his lips. The large fireball was only a meter away from him after about two seconds' time.
An egg-shaped black magic circle appeared under his feet. Several black cubes flew out of the circle and floated in front of him.
The black cubes spun quickly and released an invisible energy wave.
*CHI*
The fireball was slowed down right away.
Its speed decreased quickly then it almost stopped.
Baron and the two light wizards quickly ran to the side and dodged the strike.
The invisible energy wave disappeared as they moved.
*BOOM*
The noise was deafeningly loud like thunder.
The flames sparked after the explosion. The rain of fire landed on the deck, with the temperature around the airship increasing.
Baron's face turned pale. He raised his right hand and there was a cross-shaped silver accessory on the waist. The color of the cross changed from silver to black and it dropped to the floor, turning into a pile of ashes.
"Good…good!" He shook his head and drew the egg-shaped black magic circle again as he chanted the incantation.
The two light wizards finally started to prepare for battle. They stepped forward together, their bodies covered in a white glow. After several seconds, they created two white light balls and the balls started revolving around them.
"They're preparing for a strong spell. We need to move!" Perry shouted.
Angele nodded slightly. He gathered the energy particles around Baron's body just like what the other five wizards were doing. Everything was going as planned.
The electric, fire, and ice particles were gathered all together. It was the basic application of energy particle control but each of the strikes could deal over 40 degrees damage. Perry also used a special technique to increase the accuracy of their energy strikes.
However, the white light balls created by the two light wizards in Baron's team were blocking most of the attacks.
*BAM BAM*
The white light balls were shrinking in size as the attack from Perry was getting stronger.
Finally, it disappeared after the sixth energy strike.
The light balls bought Baron enough time to finish the incantation.
He raised his arms.
Countless invisible vortices started spinning around his body.
Several seconds later, the vortices turned into two muscular men with gray skin. Their feet were replaced by some sparking electric pulse.
"Go!" Baron pointed Perry and his crew.
The two muscular men roared and raised their hands, creating countless purple electric pulses over their palms.
"Storm spirits!" Perry's expression changed as he looked at the dancing electric pulses. He took two steps back and took out a piece of yellow wood piece. The man's body vanished into the air after he tapped on the surface of the wood piece.
The light wizard couple turned around and ran away.
Angele pointed his right index finger in the air. A silver metal needle emerged out of his skin.
Some green energy particles flashed around his feet and he quickly moved away from the danger zone.
Coach and Nopel was just one second later. They had failed to escape the incoming attack.
*CHI*
They were struck by two purple flashes of lightning.
A red cloud and several rays of white light appeared in front of their bodies, but they were still penetrated by the lightning. They fainted at the same time and fell to the floor, black smoke rising from their burnt skin.
The rest of the electric pulses were absorbed by the silver needle Angele left at his original location.
"Two gone." Baron looked relaxed.
"Take them off too!" He then pointed at the light wizard couple that was still running.
The storm spirits created some more electric pulses and the static noise echoed in the sky.
Angele took this opportunity to charge toward Baron at full speed. He drew the cursed scimitar and slashed forward.
At the same time, a black dagger that had a silver glint on its blade was flying to Baron's waist from the left.
The timing of the ambush was perfect, and the two weapons struck Baron together.
*CHI*
A black energy wave was released from Baron's body. He opened his mouth and tried to yell but failed. The two light wizards right beside him finally understood the situation and tried to create a barrier, but it was already too late.
The scimitar and dagger broke through the energy wave, striking Baron's body savagely.
*BAM*
Baron was blown away by the impact and his body drew a straight line the air and hit the railings with great force. He spat out some blood and fainted.
"The storm spirits are out of control! Goddamn it!" Someone yelled.
A dark shadow moved to the fainted Baron, trying to snatch the crystal rune from his hand.
*Pa*
Angele stabbed the scimitar into the deck in front of Baron, creating a green light screen.
"F*ck off!"
*BOOM*
The two traded hits and all stepped back.
Angele grabbed the scimitar and created a silver longsword in his other hand. He flipped back and landed on the railings.
The black shadow rolled several times on the floor and forcefully smashed at the entrance of the cabins. The hood dropped and showed the pale face of a young man.
The two stopped for a second and charged toward each other again.
*CLANK*
"Ugh!"
The man grunted and fell to the floor. He stopped moving as blood spurted out of his chest.
Angele turned around and jumped to the two storm spirits on the side.
*CHI CHI*
His body disappeared from the deck for two seconds. In the next moment he reappeared in the center of the deck, he already had the rune crystal in his possession.
*WOO*
The two storm spirits dispersed and slowly vanished into the air.
"It's over!" Angele raised his right hand and waved it several times.
*BAM*
Seemingly infinite silver strings emerged out of his hands and covered the whole deck.
One second later, the four fainted at the same time and lay on the surface of the deck.
*CHI*
The silver metal strings returned into Angele's body.
*PA*
Angele heard the noise and turned around.
Reyline was standing on the deck of the airship ahead. There was a large silver bow in his hand, and his long blonde hair was flying about in the wind.
There was a strange spiral rune flashing in the man's right eye. Reyline slowly pulled the bowstring to a full moon and aimed at Angele. Many blue electric pulses were drawn to the bow.
Angele raised his hands and gathered green energy particles on his palm, creating a large translucent hexagram in the air.
Chapter 256: Result (1)
Translator: Leo Editor: Frappe
The crystal hexagram slowly rotated in the air, releasing rays of green lights.
Clouds covered the sky and so it was dark.
The blue light and green light illuminated the deck of the two airships.
Reyline's arrow was created by electric pulses and he was aiming at Angele.
The crystal hexagram started cracking after several seconds and it turned into the green sand.
The sand was blown away by the chilling wind and several green strings were revolving around Angele's body.
"It seems like you're the winner of that airship." Reyline's voice came from the other side. His long blonde hair was flying about in the air.
"Ha, you saw the crystal rune in my hand, right?"
"It's all about the amulet now," Reyline released the bowstring as he spoke.
*CHI*
The electric arrow left a blue trail in the air and flew to Angele.
*BAM*
The arrow was blocked by a silver metal shield and it exploded in the air, turning into blue electric pulses.
Angele charged toward the electric pulses at full speed.
On the deck, a black shadow rushed toward Reyline.
The gap between the two airships was small. The black shadow failed to stop, and it ran into Reyline.
*BAM*
The two rolled several times on the surface of the deck but no one was releasing any energy waves.
"That's repulsion effect! Your Talent Skill is actually the repulsive force field! How's that even possible!?" Angele was surprised. He held the silver longsword tight and slashed forward.
*Clank*
Reyline blocked the strike using the longbow.
The spiral rune in his right eye was spinning faster and faster.
"Close combat, huh? Let's see who's better." He bent the longbow in half and it turned into two scimitars that were connected by a chain. There electric pulses sparking along the surface of the silver blades.
*CLANK*
Angele drew the cursed scimitar after Reyline blocked the attack.
The electric pulses climbed up Angele's arm as Reyline fought back with his scimitars.
Angele wanted to slash forward again but his arms numbed for a second.
*PA*
Reyline's was going for Angele's chest.
Angele stepped back quickly but his robe was cut open.
The repulsive force field was a passive Talent Skill and it could disable other wizards' force fields temporarily.
That was the reason why Angele did not use his Metal Mastery.
He had no idea how long the impact would last but he was confident in his close combat skills.
However, without the metal force field, Angele had trouble defending against the electric pulses coming from Reyline's dual scimitars. His body was still covered by the metal shield but without the force field, the metal's real weight was just slowing him down. The only thing keeping Angele in the fight was the attribute buff from the cursed scimitar.
Reyline charged toward him again and slashed forward. Angele leaped away quickly and barely dodged the attack.
Reyline's close combat skill was strong. He had the strength, agility, and techniques. However, the outcome of a battle was not only decided by those things.
Angele slashed forward with the cursed scimitar randomly as he stepped back. He sneakily activated the illusion signet on his left palm.
*CHI*
Reyline grunted. He thought he had hit Angele in the face, but it was just a blurred illusion. The left side of his waist was cut open and blood spurted out of the wound.
"What the hell!" He applied more electric pulses to both scimitars and slashed forward ferociously.
*KA*
It was an illusion again. The blade had only hit the deck.
Reyline just realized that Angele was about half a meter away from him. He was not sure what had just happened.
*CHI*
Angele left another wound on his waist.
"Impressive!" Angele praised, "Your body is hard like a two-headed rhino."
He held the scimitar in right hand and created another silver longsword in left hand.
"What do you say? Just give me the crystal rune. I could've killed you with my sword." He stood by the railings and stared at Reyline.
"Illusions, huh?" There was a serious expression on his face. Majority of illusion spells were weak as wizards needed to channel it without moving but it seemed like the man in front of him could cast the spell anytime he wanted to.
Reyline knew that he was in trouble if he could not figure out a way to break the illusions.
He thought that Angele was a close-combat wizard that only practiced illusion spells. If he could find Angele's weak point, he would win the battle within seconds.
"You have the close-combat skills of a Grand Knight, but I have these illusions to support me. You'll lose once your repulsive force field is deactivated." Angele pursed his lips to a sneer.
"You're right. If you're a better close-combat wizard than me, I'll lose the fight for sure." Reyline straightened his back. "Actually, I'll just give you the crystal rune if you can handle my next skill."
He raised his left hand and took down a golden headband.
Reyline's long blonde hair looked like a blooming flower without the headband. The fragrance of flower permeated the air and it was not affected by the strong wind.
Angele's brow furrowed. A black rune flashed in his eyes, and he charged toward Reyline. He tightly held both the silver sword and scimitar in his hands.
*CLANK*
Reyline blocked the strike with his dual scimitars. Fire sparks were created as the weapons clashed with each other. They traded hits so fast that they looked like two blurred shadows.
However, Angele's strength was much higher than Reyline and the only thing Reyline could do was to slowly move back.
Suddenly, Reyline's feet numbed for a second. He felt dizzy and uncomfortable.
The energy wave from the signet finally worked. Angele seized this opportunity as he stepped forward and jumped onto Reyline.
*BAM*
He forcefully kicked the man in the waist.
Reyline was blown away by the impact. He lay on the floor and spat out some blood. He tried to support himself with the scimitars, but he did not have enough strength left.
It was just a competition and Angele had no intention to kill him. Reyline sighed and shook his head.
"You won." He raised his hand and threw the crystal rune to Angele.
*PA*
Angele nodded as he caught the crystal rune.
"How did you manage to get such a strong body? We can do a trade if you don't mind."
He stared at Reyline. The man's feet were petrified for just one second. Only people with extremely high Stamina would be able to recover from the petrification so fast.
Angele wanted to buy Reyline's secret technique, so he could easily fight against ranged spells.
Olive was a Crystal stage wizard, but half of his body was petrified, and he had to use energy particles to heal himself. Reyline recovered from the petrification just because he had high Stamina, which made Angele curious about how he trained himself or if he had used some special enchanted items.
"Sorry, it's my family's secret so I can't just sell it to you." Reyline recovered from the injury quickly. He stood up and the spiral rune disappeared from his eyes. Furthermore, the repulsive force field was no longer influencing Angele's force field.
"It's fine." Angele shrugged. "Alright, I need to get the last crystal rune now."
"You'll be facing captain Hikari. She's not a strong wizard but she knows many dirty tricks." Reyline did not seem concerned about losing the fight. It seemed that the rumor about him was wrong.
"I heard you're short-tempered, but you seem like a nice guy to me." Angele smiled.
"Well, you're stronger than me. I don't want to get myself killed," Reyline responded in a light tone. "I'll go have some rest, good luck." It seemed that the secret skill cost him a lot of mentality.
Angele watched him walk down the staircases. He noticed that there were no fainted wizards on this airship and there were only some bloodstains on the railings. There was a great fight here but Reyline definitely had the advantage due to his repulsive force field. The airship was small and most of the wizards would rely on their barriers created by the force shields. He probably won the battle without a sweat.
Angele heard something exploding and people roaring when the battle started but it only lasted for several minutes.
He wiped the dust off his robe and walked to the main mast.
The airships were traveling in a line and this was the second airship. There was one more airship ahead of them.
It seemed that the fight had not yet finished on the first airship. He could still see spells being cast and things exploding.
Angele checked his condition quickly. He had used about a third of his mana, but the wind buff spell he stored in the chip was used when the fight against Reyline started. The buff would last for about 20 minutes. He was confident that he could finish the battle within the time limit.
He checked the green strings surrounding his body. The light they were releasing had already started fading away.
Angele walked to the stern and checked the situation.
Nine wizards were attacking the captain named Hikari together.
They surrounded the lady using a random formation.
It seemed like the wizards on the airship were treating the battle way too serious. They were casting high-damage spells and activating enchanted items.
Angele's expression turned serious.
He knew it was just a competition, so he had no intention to kill anyone. Reyline also stopped attacking after Angele defeated him. There were many dangerous creatures that needed to be dealt with on the trip. The wizards must work together for their future. There was no point on wasting too much mentality and mana in a competition.
However, the situation on the first airship was getting worse by the second.
Hikari defended against the attack from nine wizards and all the wizards were using their strongest spells. Angele even saw an acid energy ball that could deal more than 40 degrees of damage. There was also a snake-shaped flame ray and a white owl that was trying to catch Hikari off guard from behind.
Chapter 257: Result (2)
Translator: Leo Editor: Frappe
A buck's head was being grasped by Hikari, its antler akin to branches of a large tree. It was surrounded by white energy particles that looked like fireflies.
The light dots were blocking all the attacks from the wizards for Hikari, with some of the weaker spells aimed at her repelled.
Angele stood on the deck and watched the fight. Most of the wizards he saw were around at the Gas stage and were casting modified spells, though no one used any secret techniques.
The nine wizards were also getting nervous because their spells were not effective.
Angele recalled the moment Reyline removed his headband. The fragrance of the flower came from some toxic gas, but it did nothing to him, and Reyline just admitted his loss. It was not a deathmatch, so Angele assumed that Reyline still had some powerful spells left. Even if the fight continued, Angele still had one more modified spell he wanted to test in a real fight. The wind buff was just one of the two spells he modified recently.
And with the petrification and a fully activated signet, he could slay Reyline easily with his close combat skills.
'Sadly, I can only use the petrification ability twice a day.' Angele shook his head.
The petrification ability would only work when the target was within the effective range of three meters, and if the target had high Stamina, the skill would only be able to stop him from moving for about one second. Furthermore, a certain amount of mana would be consumed when the skill was used.
Angele had the great harpy's ancient bloodline in his body so his resistance to poison and illusions was high. That was probably the reason why the toxic gas did not work.
He watched the wizards relentlessly attack Hikari. Angele wondered why the situation was so intense.
Several minutes later, one of the wizards suddenly fell to the ground. His face turned purple and his body was trembling.
"Brother! F*cking hell! Hikari, give me the antidote!" A muscular man in a long red robe shouted. He kept releasing red fire birds from his sleeves. There were around ten fire birds flying around above the deck.
*PA*
Another wizard fell to the floor and the symptom was same as the last one.
The wizards started to faint one by one. Their face all turned purple and some of them were grunting while staring at Hikari. The spells they were channeling all disappeared.d
"That's it, wizards. Your mana will be halved as long as you're in my poison mist. Admit it, you don't stand a chance against me."
Hikari chuckled.
The wizards on the deck had already lost the ability to fight back.
Angele pursed his lips.
Hikari was not fighting like a light wizard but was fighting like a dark wizard instead.
Angele raised his hand and aimed at the main mast of the first airship, releasing a silver metal chain.
He held the chain tight and jumped onto the railings of the airship.
"Just you and me then." He jumped off the railings and walked to Hikari.
Hikari turned around and stopped laughing. Her face turned serious as she knew that Angele already had two crystal runes in possession.
Blue light dots flashed in front of Angele's eyes.
"The tooth of the Red Snow Snake and the Rhino Grass, huh? Where did you get this Purple Sabretooth poison mist from?" Angele coughed.
Hikari narrowed her eyes. "A knowledgeable potion master that can fight? Impressive."
"Don't worry, I read it from a wizard book, but I don't think a poison mist like that will work on me." Angele shook his head.
A bitter smile appeared on Hikari's face. "I'm a potion master. I'll just admit defeat if none of my potions work on you."
"Huh?" Angele was surprised. He looked at the head of the buck. It was translucent and there was a tiny black bottle placed inside it. That bottle was the source of the poison mist.
Angele looked at Hikari and used the biochip to identify the potions she was carrying. He could do that easily if her potion bottles were not completely sealed.
"Well, you're carrying a Natoros potion, a Petrification potion, a Touch of Ice, two bottles of water elements, and one bottle of ice elements, am I right?"
An average potion master would never be able to do something like that.
Hikari's expression broke its façade. She stared at Angele in shock. The white light dots around her vanished into the air.
With the help of Zero, Angele's knowledge on potions had already reached an entirely different level.
Moreover, he knew how to deal with all the potions she had.
Angele took out a tiny crystal test tube from one of his pouches. Inside it contained sticky purple liquid.
"For the elemental summoning potions, I have the energy disruption potion to interrupt the summoning process for a certain duration and I have plenty of time to attack during this period. I don't need to do anything to counter the Natoros as it's just too weak. For the Petrification potion, I can just use…Well, I'm not going to go too far on this one as the wizards on the floor are still conscious." Only the strongest potion masters knew the secret about these potions. If the other wizards had learned about the secret, Hikari would not have been able to fight back had things gone south for her.
"Ah, and the Touch of Ice. Sadly, I'm familiar with all the potions you have right now." Angele chuckled as he shook his head. "Just give me the crystal rune. It will only take me one minute to dispatch. I have one honest advice for you. Don't rely too much on potions. You can trick the light wizards with them, sure, but you won't stand a chance if you're fighting against a dark wizard."
Angele was a potion master, but he barely used any potion in fights. Using a potion was easy but when the opponent recognized the potion he was using, it would just be a waste.
The poison mist was effective on wizards with low Stamina but for someone like Reyline or Angele, they would not even notice the toxic mist in the air. Furthermore, if the opponent had higher mentality level, activating the elemental summoning potions would be nearly impossible, as the stronger mentality waves would interrupt the summoning process.
Angele only carried several potions that were concocted for a fight, but it was only for emergency situations.
Hikari stood there and slowly nodded. "Fine, I give up."
She raised her right hand and threw a crystal rune to the air.
Angele caught the rune and took out the two other crustal runes he acquired earlier.
The three crystal runes formed a palm-sized crystal shackle. It was clean and elegant.
Angele closed his eyes and several images from the crystal shackle were transmitted into his brain.
'Accepting data from an unknown source…' Zero reported right away.
Angele stood on the deck and opened his eyes after several minutes.
"Well, use your antidote first." He looked at Hikari.
Hikari nodded and took out a tiny bottle, then started applying the antidote on the nine wizards right away.
Angele returned to his own airship and he saw that Perry had already woken up. The wizards that were severely injured would be protected by the magic matrices on the airships, but they would not be able to move under the protective matrices. Angele deactivated the function right away as the competition was over.
The wizards immediately healed themselves using the prepared healing gels and spells. Angele asked the original captains of the airships to keep monitoring the direction and the speed.
The competition decided who would be the one to commandeer the airships. Most of the wizards hadn't even used their strongest damage spells.
The owner of the amulet had the power to expel wizards from the airships. Actually, they could still stay on the airships, but the magic matrices would not protect them even if they were severely wounded.
Angele would not expel any wizard for no reason. He needed everyone's strength to deal with the dangerous creatures they would encounter during the trip.
**************************
In a cabin of the leading airship.
Angele, Reyline, Hikari, and Baron sat around a long rectangular wooden table. They were all staring at a crystal orb.
The crystal orb was supported by a metal base, the image inside showed an enormous flying bee.
It was a white bee with blue spiral patterns around its abdomen. The bee looked identical to a normal bee, but it had three dark stingers.
The strange bee was flying over the snow-covered trees. Its body was about one meter long and its stingers were cutting down some of the branches.
"That's a Cloud Bee," Hikari said in a light tone. "My ancestors are from Omandis. They have kept some information of the bee in my family library. I acquired the information through the signal obelisks, but the distance was too far and some of the critical data were missing. Still, it's better than nothing.
"A Cloud Bee has three stingers, and it can deal a substantial amount of Ice damage. Its speed is fast, and its attacks are hard to dodge. There are three basic types of Cloud Bees: the worker bees, the male bees, and the queen bee." Hikari continued, "The one we just saw is a worker bee. It can deal both physical and energy damage. Male bees are much stronger than the worker bees, and I don't have any intel on the queen bee. Usually, the queen bee won't leave the nest. There will be at least one male bee in a group of worker bees, too. We must be careful."
"They're bees, right? What do they eat?" Baron knitted his eyebrows.
"They're Cloud Bees…They feed on animal flesh," Reyline responded. He was spinning a silver badge on the table.
"You said the bee's speed is fast but how fast can it travel exactly? And do they just appear in a large swarm when looking for prey?" Angele questioned.
"They usually appear in a pair of two first. That's all I know. No one has ever tested their flying speed but I'm fairly sure they're faster than our airships," Hikari pursed her lips.
Chapter 258: The Cloud Bee (1)
Translator: Leo Editor: Frappe
Angele did not say anything but started thinking.
"Is there a way to stay away from them?" Baron wondered.
"No. Cloud Bees will attack anything flying over them and eat anything they find." Hikari shook her head.
The four wizards remained silent after the short discussion, trying to figure out the best way to deal with the bees.
Inside the room, the flame inside the oil lamp was dancing.
"I think the magic matrices on the airships can be activated to do damage." Angele suddenly opened his mouth. "But I'm not sure if it's a good idea."
"We can test it on the first two Cloud Bees that come to the airship." Reyline nodded slightly.
"How long until we reach the Cloud Bee's territory?" Angele questioned.
"We'll be there in half a month."
"Good, let's get prepared then." Angele stood up. "I'll return to my room." He pushed the door open and left.
The others stood up as well.
"I wonder how many of us will make it to Omandis," Hikari muttered.
"Good luck everyone." Baron put on his hood and stepped out of the door.
************************
It was night time.
Angele returned to his own airship.
The deck was empty.
He jumped off the railings and stepped on the deck. Baron followed after him and jumped to the deck as well. The only thing making noise was their footsteps.
"Green, let's cut the crap. How strong is the defensive matrix on the airship?" Baron asked from behind.
"It's hard to say. I need to do some testing." Angele turned around. "But don't raise your expectations. Our enemy is strong," he warned in a serious tone.
"Cloud Bees have high Stamina and resistance. They're also good fighters. If our plan fails, many of us will die."
Although Angele was confident in his fighting skills, the stories he heard about the bees were still horrifying. He could not promise anything to the crew until he actually fought one.
"Also, there are many magic stones stored on the bottom level of the cabin. The defensive and offensive matrices are set up there as well. If we have a matrix master, the trip will be much easier. We can only fight with what we have right now." Angele sighed.
"We need to make sure the airship is not badly damaged. That's the priority." Baron added, "You, me, Reyline, and Hikari are the strongest wizards in the team. We need to collect as much information as we can when we encounter the scout bees."
"For sure."
"Alright, I'll go have some rest." Baron turned around and walked to the stairs.
Angele stood on the deck and waited till Baron left.
*WOO*
A black shadow soared through the sky and landed on Angele's right shoulder. It was a night sparrow with four wings.
Angele patted its back as he stood beside the railings and looked down.
Some blue light dots were flashing in the dark forest, probably some luminous plants.
The gentle white light from the two crescent moons shined upon the land.
Angele stood by the railings and waited. About half an hour later, a man slowly walked out of the cabin.
It was a man with a serious expression on his face. He was wearing a long black robe that helped him blend into the dark background. His face was pain and his eyes were surrounded by dark circles.
"Are you looking for me?" He walked to Angele. "Finished the discussion?"
"The situation is bad. Perry healed you, right? He said you knew a lot about matrices." Angele leaned forward. "So, the matrices on the airship…"
The man interrupted before Angele could finish.
"Well, nothing I can do about that. You know what the airship is made of, right? Pinewood is hard, light, and elastic. However, its conductivity with energy is bad. I can't improve the matrices because of that," the man explained. He was the one who had helped Angele ambush Baron during the competition.
"You mean the three airships will be able to handle the damage but it's impossible to make the offensive matrices stronger?"
"Correct." The man nodded.
"Alright. Thanks for the help."
"Yeah."
The two walked down the staircase together and returned to their own rooms.
Angele sat in the room and thought for a while, but he did not come up with any viable plan.
Half a month passed in a blink of the eyes.
Angele had already communicated with most of the wizards from the three airships.
Hikari was hated by all the wizards on the first airship. Thus, she stayed in her room most of the time. The wizards on her airship also barely talked to each other after the competition.
Only two wizards asked Angele about the situation but that was the only conversation they had.
The situation on Reyline's airship was different. All the wizards respected him for his power. He also recruited an assistant, a beautiful lady around 20 years old, who was Reyline's cousin. She wanted to join the discussion between the captains. Angele had no problem with that.
Perry, Nopel, and Coach treated Angele differently after the fight. It seemed like they wanted to become friends with the strongest wizard in the team, but the other wizards just stayed in their room and minded their own business.
Angele was not concerned about the relationship between the wizards. Perry, Nopel, and Coach's skill level was below the average. He would rather spend more time with Baron and the man in the black robe.
All the functions of the airships were the same as before, but the other wizards would bow to Angele slightly after he had become the owner of the amulet.
***************************
In the endless blue sky, the three black gondolas were hanging down three envelopes, moving forward slowly.
Two white dots were flying around the leading airship.
They looked like flies moving around rotten food.
The wizards gathered on the deck of the leading airship. They were looking at the flying white dots nervously.
Angele stood in the front with a serious look on his face. The captains were standing behind him. No one spoke a word and the atmosphere was heavy.
"The defensive matrices are fully operational. I'll remove the force barrier now. Stay alert everyone!" Angele suddenly yelled. He held the amulet in right hand and shook it slightly.
A white glint flashed on the surface of the crystal.
The invisible force barriers were deactivated, and three airships were now exposed to the threat.
The pair of Cloud Bees noticed the change and stopped flying around, now rushing straight to the people on the deck.
Angele finally had a clear view of the creature when they approached.
These were two enormous bees, with white-colored bodies and blue spiral patterns covered their abdomen. Each of the bees was about two meters tall and the images of the wizards on deck reflected in their compound eyes.
"Ready!" Angele raised his right hand.
"I'll do it!" A muscular male wizard from the first airship stepped forward. There was a long iron bow in his hands.
He raised the bow and pulled the bowstring to full, then fired an invisible arrow.
*CHI*
The arrow landed on one of the Cloud Bees accurately. It exploded and turned into a large sticky web, capturing the two bees.
*BOOM*
The Cloud Bees failed to dodge the web and hit the surface of the deck hard, rolling several times on the floor.
Before Angele gave the next order, two wizards had already jumped onto the bees. One of them had a mace, while the other a long crossguard sword.
*CLANK*
Red light and the yellow light flashed in the air. The two wizards were blown away by the impact, smashing against the railings. They struggled for several seconds before they stopped moving.
"Arian, are you alright?" Another wizard rushed to help them. "Oh, god!" he suddenly yelled.
The two Cloud Bees were trying to escape from the web. Angele asked Reyline to get ready for the possible attack and went to check on the two injured wizards.
The air around the two was freezing.
Their bodies were covered by a thick layer of frost. Angele narrowed his eyes and he saw two stingers penetrated their chests.
The half-meter-long stinger broke through the wizard's force shield easily.
An old light wizard crouched and checked the two wizards' condition. He then looked at Angele and shook his head slightly.
They were killed in one single strike.
"Their force shields did nothing…The damage is horrifying…" A female wizard's face turned pale. "And Arian's Talent skill is much stronger than mine…"
Angele pursed his lips and turned around. He saw that the two Cloud Bees had already escaped the translucent web and were now flying around above the deck.
Reyline and the several other wizards were attacking the bees using electric arrows, but the bees were so fast that they dodged most of the attacks easily. They were still flying in the air even after being hit several times.
Angele noticed that the bees' bodies were surrounded by a thin light barrier, protecting them from all the electric arrows.
Reyline and Baron were observing the light barrier as well. There were also wizards recording and calculating data of the two Cloud Bees.
Once, the Cloud Bees tried to rush down and Baron and Reyline shot them with stronger electric arrows, yet none of them did any actual damage to those monsters.
Angele asked them to increase the spell damage to over 40 degrees, but they still failed to break through the Cloud Bees' barriers. The two bees were still trying to charge to the wizards.
Angele expression turned serious as time passed.
He stood by the railings quietly while Zero was analyzing the creature.
Rows of data were being refreshed in his right.
'Simulation and analysis completed.'
Zero's mechanical voice echoed in Angele's ears, and he felt a bit relieved.
'Worker bee's data. Results are not final.'
'Strength, over 11. Agility, over 8. Stamina, over 8. Mentality, over 24. Talent skills: (2) Ice Forcefield: Created by strong mentality, can block any damage lower than 30 degrees, and all Ice damage will be ignored. (2) Damage Reduction: Every time a bee is attacked by physical skills or energy strikes, the damage will be halved. (3) Toxic Stinger: Release the stinger. Damage, unknown. Other skills, unknown.'
'Mentality over 24…' Angele finally knew why a significant number of wizards would die on a trip to Omandis. The creature was like a flying Grand Knight with extreme magic resistance and it could even deal elemental damage. The bee could also use ranged attacks if it wanted to.
"Baron! I'm ready!" Angele communicated with Baron and Reyline using energy particles.
Chapter 259: The Cloud Bee (2)
Translator: Leo Editor: Frappe
"Got it." Reyline stepped forward raising his longbow. He did not use an electric arrow this time but pulled a strand of blonde hair off his head and turned it into a lengthy metal string of a golden hue instead.
Reyline nocked the metal string onto the bow and the black spiral rune appeared in his right eye.
*CHI*
The metal string turned into a ray of golden light and was released from the bow.
*Dang*
The two Cloud Bees were charging toward Reyline, trying to attack him with the stingers. The metal string penetrated one of the bees' abdomen easily.
For some reason, the bees' force shields failed to stop Reyline's strike.
The other bee increased its speed and shot two stingers toward Reyline.
*CHI*
Another golden metal string penetrated the bee's body.
*BAM*
The two Cloud Bees fell onto the deck, still struggling.
Reyline grunted. He held his right shoulder tight as his face turned pale. If he had not leaned to the left after seeing the stingers flying to him, his chest would've been penetrated just like the two dead wizards.
Several thin layers of white frost were expanding from his wound but Reyline stopped them right away with blue electric pulses.
"Are you alright?!" Angele ran to Reyline quickly.
Reyline's cousin, Robin, created a white flame over her palm and tried to apply it to the wound.
*CHI*
The flame did nothing to it at all. Worse thing was, the white frost was beginning to climb up her hand.
"So that's the Cloud Bee's poison? Let me help him!" An old man with goatee stepped forward. He created some light green smoke by rubbing his hands and applied it onto Reyline's shoulder.
*CHI*
It sounded like meat being grilled.
Reyline's face turned pale, showing how it must be a painful experience. Angele could see the sweat dripping down his chin.
The expanding white frost was finally under control.
Angele tapped on the amulet with his left hand.
The barriers around the three airships were activated again within seconds.
He turned around and walked to the Cloud Bees that had already stopped moving. Several wizards had already gathered around the bees and started observing. No one was smiling. It seemed that they encountered some trouble.
Hikari stood up as she saw Angele walking toward them.
"Not good," She spoke in a deep tone, "I checked the bees' bodies with several other wizards. Their mentality and body are very strong. Their energy barriers are stronger than the ones used by the average wizards. I think we can all agree that they're strong fighters. After all, they just took out two of our members."
"Their only weakness is the intelligence and the way they initiate the attack," a female wizard added.
"Based on the result of the fight, our team can handle a maximum number of 20 Cloud Bees. However, there will be at least 50 Cloud Bees in their patrol team…"
"We need to figure out a way to hide our airships from them." Angele shook his head.
"That's impossible. They will detect us easily with their compound eyes." Another female wizard joined the conversation. It was Coach, who was part of Perry's crew. She was initially interested in Angele before the competition, but her interest in him was replaced by fear after the fight.
"The best way to fight them is by using close combat skills but it'll be hard for us to dodge their stingers." Baron walked to Angele. "Reyline said that the Cloud Bees' barriers were only strong against ranged attacks."
"How's his condition?"
"Not a big problem. The wizard named Daren is good at treating wounds like that. The poison has stopped spreading after the dead muscle tissues were cleaned out," Baron answered in a low voice. "However, Daren said that he did not bring enough materials to the airship. He can only cure two more wounded wizards."
Angele nodded and gritted his teeth.
"When will he recover from the injury?"
"At least 15 days. The wound is fine, but the stinger damaged his nervous system. It'll take some time."
"That's worse than I expected…" Angele rubbed his temples. "I want to increase the airships' speed since the barriers will be able to protect us for some time. We must change our plan. I don't want to spend the energy on the offensive matrix. We need to hurry, or else we'll just die to the Cloud Bees…"
"Master Angele! Come here, please! Hurry!" A voice came from behind.
Angele turned around quickly and saw a young male wizard with a pyramid-shaped red crystal in hand. He was staring at the crystal with a serious expression on his face.
"What happened?!" Angele walked to the wizard and looked at the crystal.
Images were shifting on the surface of the crystal.
A large swarm of Cloud Bees was flying over the sea of trees. They were rushing to a certain direction at full speed.
"What the hell?" Angele was surprised. There were more than 100 Cloud Bees in the group. His heart almost stopped for a second.
"They're coming for us. At this speed, we will encounter them by tomorrow afternoon. It's the Cloud Bee's hunting team and there are 128 of them!" the male wizard reported in a shaky tone.
*HA*
The wizards heard his words and gasped.
Angele pursed his lips and glanced around. There were 28 wizards on the deck but only several of them were good at fighting, and they could probably kill several Cloud Bees by themselves.
20 Cloud Bees would be fine, but it was impossible for them to win the fight against 128 of them.
Angele could kill around four Cloud Bees without getting hurt, but he needed to fully activate the signet and use petrification. If the Cloud Bees surrounded him and shot the stingers at the same time, his metal shield would have a hard time blocking all the attacks.
A Cloud Bee had a Stamina over 8 and Strength over 11. Their stingers were hard to dodge at the close distance and they had high resistance against ranged attacks. In addition to that, their high mentality increased their defense against the damage spells.
There were too many things to consider when fighting with the bees. Angele doubted that he could survive a rain of the bee stingers.
Cloud Bees were like a group of formal wizards that focused on one single damage spell. They were the master of that spell so the damage the spell could do was horrifying.
Angele considered the possibility of using the energy bombs, but the damage of the explosion would be greatly reduced by the Cloud Bees' talent skills and energy shields. It would just be a waste of resources and energy.
"Master Angele! Another group of Cloud Bees is coming for us!" someone shouted.
"A group?! How many of them can you see?" Angele's skull numbed.
"About…32…" The wizard replied in a shaky one.
"32?!" Two Cloud Bees had already killed two wizards and injured a team captain. Angele needed more time to figure out a viable plan.
The altitude of the airships was around 1,000 meters. Although it was possible for them to jump off the airship and land on the ground safely, there were countless mutated beasts in the mountains. Rumors had said that those beasts could kill a rank 2 wizard.
Angele hesitated, then he looked at Baron, Hikari, and the man in a black hood. They were already preparing for the incoming attack.
"Baron, Hikari, and you, stay with me. The rest of you, listen to me. Go to the railings and start putting up energy barriers once the defensive matrix is broken!" Angele walked to the main mast and shouted.
"We're the only people that can actually kill the Cloud Bees, I think." He turned around and looked at the three. "Go help the wizards by the railings if they're in trouble."
"There's only so much I can do." The man in black hood pursed his lips.
"We live together, or we die together. The Cloud Bees will destroy the airships, but you can test your luck in the mountains if you want to." Angele shrugged.
"How long till they get here?" he asked the wizard who had detected the bees.
"12 minutes, master!" the man responded right away. "I have a question, master. Is our defensive matrix…still good?"
Angele shook his head slightly and looked at him. "The matrix can only protect for about one hour."
"Alright, get ready everyone!" He pointed at Reyline who was still lying on the floor. "Carry him down to the cabin first."
Wizards were selfish, but they were smart. No one questioned Angele's decision. They quickly finished the tasks allotted to them and moved to their designated positions on the deck.
Only four people were still standing by the main mast.
Hikari returned to her room and carried a huge black pouch to the deck.
"That's all the summoning potions I have. We need to summon them all right away."
"It won't work. Elementals are much weaker than Cloud Bees. They'll perish from the stingers within seconds." Angele shook his head.
He picked Reyline's silver longbow from the floor and pulled the bowstring slightly.
'An electric enchanted longbow. The electric arrows will do around 30 degrees of damage. I can use it shoot regular arrows, too.' Angele checked the bow. He saw Baron putting on a pair of white gloves.
If Angele could fully activate the illusion signet, he could probably deal with more than ten Cloud Bees, but he decided not to take the chance until the last second. There were talented wizards on the airship and some of them could probably recognize Angele's signet.
He needed to use everything else he knew to fight for his life.
Angele took a deep breath. He thought this would be the most difficult fight he would have to date ever since he became a formal wizard.
He raised his head as he heard the noise made by the bees' wings. There were 36 tiny light dots flying toward the airship in front.
Chapter 260: Chaos (1)
Translator: Leo Editor: Frappe
The noise from the 36 flying Cloud Bees made the wizards' skulls numb. Everyone was staring at those terrifying creatures.
The three boats were getting closer and closer to the Cloud Bee swarms.
"Get ready!" Angele shouted.
The wizards with ranged weapons and spells started preparing to launch the attack.
Countless runes and energy particles appeared on the deck. Red light, green light, blue light, golden light, and silver light mixed together and flashed in the air.
At the same time, Hikari and several other wizards summoned storm spirits, water elementals, and elementals. There were about 30 of them and they lined up on the deck.
Angele raised the silver bow high in the air and nocked a black metal arrow on the bowstring, with its tip of the arrow was coated in dark flames.
*CHI*
The bowstring was pulled to full. Blue light dots flashed in front of Angele's eyes.
"Fire!" he yelled.
*BAM BAM BAM*
Countless spells followed after Angele's arrow and flew toward the Cloud Bees in the air.
The Cloud Bees did not seem to care about the spells. They increased their speed and just took the damage using their bodies.
*BOOM*
Things were exploding everywhere in the air. The colorful lights illuminated on the wizards' faces.
"Two down!"
A wizard yelled in excitement.
He looked relieved as he thought that their spells were powerful enough to take down the bees.
"Don't stop!" Angele raised his bow again.
However, the two dropping Cloud Bees started flying again and continued to charge toward the boat.
"The distance is too far! We're not doing enough damage!" Hikari advised, "We need to wait till they get close!"
Angele bit his lips. The arrow he shot hit a Cloud Bee accurately, but it was then blocked by the energy barrier. The bee did not take any damage although the arrow's tip was coated with Fire energy particles. Reyline's special bow increased the speed of the arrow, and Angele thought the strike would deal at least 50 degrees of damage but it did not even penetrate the shield due to the bee's talent skill.
The wizards were getting nervous after realizing that none of their spells worked.
Some wizards already started to prepare to escape. Several of them used special stealth techniques, Angele also saw people drinking potions and taking out rare enchanted items from their pouches. They would do anything to stay alive.
Two wizards were still setting up red and white magic circles under their feet as they had not yet given up.
Invisible energy waves spread to the air, covering the area around.
A Cloud Bee in the front headbutted the barrier with great momentum.
*BAM*
White distorted energy waves from the defensive matrix blocked the bee's strike.
The rest of the bees arrived at the barrier as well but the magic circles from the wizards did nothing to them.
*BAM BAM BAM*
The white energy barrier started cracking after being hit so many times by the bees.
Angele could see the energy stored in the defensive matrix depleting sharply through the amulet.
The silver glow covering the amulet was fading away.
He noticed that the Cloud Bees would hit the barrier using their stingers each time they approached the boat.
Those stingers were the reason why the defensive matrix was consuming so much energy.
"Get ready! The shield is breaking!" he turned around and shouted.
Angele dropped the bow to the floor and drew the scimitar, charging forward.
At that moment, three Cloud Bees penetrated the energy shield and flew toward Angele.
*CLANK*
*CHI*
Two strange runes flashed in Angele's eyes. He was blown away by the impact and flew to the railings.
*BAM*
He hit the railings hard and spat out some blood. Angele struggled and felt dizzy.
"F*cking hell! 11 Strength is no joke. The difference is huge!" Angele supported himself with the scimitar and saw a dead Cloud Bee dropped to the deck.
The bee's left wing was petrified and the energy shield beside the wing was cracked open. Angele seized this opportunity to successfully sliced its head off.
The bee's dead body was still trembling on the floor and it made some loud noise with the petrified wing.
Angele stood up.
"AH!"
Suddenly, he heard someone grunting in the front.
He turned to the right and saw a wizard's chest being penetrated by a long black stinger. It seemed that the wizard was doing the ritual to turn his body into their energy form. However, the frost from the stinger was relentlessly spreading around the man's body, and he was having a hard time to transform himself into pure energy.
The wizard struggled and released some green gas but died before the process was completed.
Everything happened so fast that Angele could not do anything for the man.
He heard people shouting and roaring. All the Cloud Bees went through the crack and started attacking the boat. They flew around in the sky and there were wizards being killed every minute.
Ten minutes later, there were only about ten wizards that were still alive. Dead bodies lay on the surface of the deck but only two Cloud Bees were killed.
Angele killed one, and Baron and the man in a black robe killed another one together.
The noise made by the bees' wings echoed in the air.
Angele was fighting with two Cloud Bees, attacking him from both sides. He was surprised at how fast those terrifying creatures could move.
*CHI*
A distorted energy wave was released from his left hand.
Angele rolled forward quickly.
The Cloud Bees' stingers missed the target and hit the floor. It was close.
Angele used petrification again as he turned around.
*KA*
The bee's energy barrier failed to stop the cursed scimitar and Angele successfully hit the bee's head.
*BAM*
Angele was knocked away by the other bee right after he made the first hit. He rolled on the deck for several times to reduce the damage.
'Strength increased, Agility increased, Stamina increased…Injured,' Zero quickly reported.
He activated the buff of the cursed scimitar. He could feel the power being transferred into his body. Angele's heart was pumping fast and his head was clear.
Angele roared and stood up. Four more Cloud Bees charged toward him and shot two stingers.
He heard the noise and leaned to the left immediately.
However, his right arm was still hit by one of the stingers and he almost dropped the scimitar.
Angele's right arm was paralyzed.
"Damn it!" He raised his left hand and released the illusion energy wave again.
*BAM*
One of the Cloud Bees was impacted by the wave and it smashed onto the deck. Its force was so strong that it created a small hole on the floor.
"Now! Go down to the cabin!" Angele yelled and ran to the stairs.
He glanced around. There were only seven or eight people left on the deck. The bodies on the floor were all covered in white frost.
They were doing their utmost to survive the onslaught.
Angele knew that if his body was not protected by the metal barrier, he would already be killed by the bees. Their fighting capability was much higher than what he had expected.
However, the strong metal barrier failed to block the bee's stinger. The tip of the stinger was so sharp, and the damage done by the stingers was in a completely different league.
Angele was running at full speed but Zero warned him about the danger coming from behind.
The Cloud Bees were still going after him.
He had no time to think. Angele rolled forward, then drew the silver longsword and slashed toward behind him.
*BAM*
He could feel that the silver sword penetrated something and the noise the weapon made sounded like wood being sawed.
*PA*
A large creature jumped onto Angele's back and hit his shoulders several times.
Angele struggled for a while, but he could no longer handle the pressure as he fell to the ground.
"F*cking bee!" Angele could not even turn his head around as there was an enormous creature on his back.
The bee's forelegs were moving around his neck and Angele could see the hard shell under its white hair.
The bee stank, its body smelling like pee mixed with feces.
*PA*
A drop of green sticky fluid hit the floor. It was right in front of Angele's face.
Angele's body was partially paralyzed by the bee's poison. More and more strange fluids dripped down the deck.
Several seconds later, the fluid created a small pool in front of Angele's face. He asked Zero to check the fluid right away. Angele narrowed his eyes. He struggled and dipped his left hand into the pool quickly.
He heard people grunting as he applied the fluid to the wound on his right arm.
Chapter 261: Chaos (2)
Translator: Leo Editor: Frappe
Angele tried to get up but couldn't due to him being out of strength. The enormous body of the Cloud Bee made him feel as though he was carrying a large rock. Its abdomen was right above his legs and the green sticky fluid was still dripping down the deck.
The green fluid had the texture of a strong glue. The size of the pool in front was becoming larger every second.
*BAM*
Angele heard something hitting the floor ahead.
He struggled and raised his head slightly. Long ears and thin cheeks, it was Baron.
His eyes were wide open, and his right shoulder was pinned to the floor by a black stinger. The man looked like a frozen body, not moving.
Angele crawled on the deck and slowly drew a triangular rune on the floor.
"Anubis Amanda," he chanted the incantation in a light tone.
*CHI*
A translucent energy wave spread around the airship.
The wave covered all the wizards on the deck.
Suddenly, the smell and the sound all disappeared from the deck. The place became deadly silent.
The remaining Cloud Bees flew around right above the airship for a while. Several elementals were still trying to attack the bees, but all the energy strikes were blocked by their barriers.
The wizards were either frozen or killed. The survivors had already left the deck.
The Cloud Bees were not concerned about the spell Angele just cast. They grabbed the dead bodies with legs and started leaving the airships.
Several minutes later, all the dead and frozen wizards were carried away. The only things left on the deck were the corpses of the slain Cloud Bees and several bloodstains.
The Cloud Bees only wanted human flesh. The noise made by their wings was fading away, and finally, they vanished into the sky.
Angele was lucky. His clothes were soaked in the dead Cloud Bee's bodily fluid, so the other bees ignored him. One bee tried to grab him with its legs. Its enormous head and sharp jaw were right above Angele's neck. Without the strong metal barrier, his neck would've been easily penetrated.
After about half an hour, Angele's paralyzed body finally started recovering. The frost was melting, and he could feel his limbs again.
The first thing he did was to push the dead Cloud Bee away from his body.
He chopped the white furry foreleg in half and threw it away.
Goosebumps rose upon his skin as he touched the dead bee's soft abdomen.
Angele stood up and checked the dead Cloud Bee.
His silver longsword pierced through its head and a deep wound was left on its abdomen by his cursed scimitar. That was where the green sticky liquid came from.
The bee's abdomen was shrinking as its bodily fluid was leaking out of the wound. It still had two black stingers, but it died instantly and failed to use them.
"My guess was right. The bee's bodily fluid is the antidote to its poison." Angele felt relieved. He held the stinger on his right shoulder tight with the left hand.
*CHI*
He pulled the stinger out and dropped it to the floor.
The stinger left a massive gaping hole in his shoulder. His bone was fractured, and the wound was deep. Good thing was that the frost from the stinger stopped the wound from bleeding.
Angele took out a glass tube that was filled with black liquid. He removed the stopper and poured the liquid onto the blood hole.
Some white smoke rose from the wound.
Angele's brows furrowed, and cold sweat was dripping down his chin.
The potion removed the frost on his wound and blood started dripping down.
Angele quickly took out some light-yellow dust from a different pouch and applied it to the wound.
His shoulder was surrounded by a green glow after the dust was mixed with the blood.
After about two minutes, a large piece of scab was formed, and it covered the whole blood hole.
'I need to have some good rest. I almost fully activated the illusion signet.' Angele sighed. He was not even sure if the illusion signet would work on those Cloud Bees. The great harpy was terrifying but there were stronger creatures even in the ancient times. He was not sure if the monsters around the mountains were inheritors of the ancient beasts.
Angele raised his head and glanced around.
He was the only one on the deck. Broken weapons and shields were everywhere. There were five Cloud Bees' corpses beside the railings and the main mast. They were all soaked in the green sticky fluid.
'If they didn't come in such a large swarm…' Angele bit his lips. He held the cursed scimitar tight and started walking around.
"Anyone? Hey!" he shouted.
Angele's loud voice echoed in the sky.
The chilling wind was blowing over his face. He suddenly detected some movement under one of the dead bees.
"Help…I'm still alive…" It was a male wizard.
Angele ran to the direction of the voice and pushed the Cloud Bee's corpse away. It was the man in a black robe, whose name Angele had never asked before.
The man's right leg was pierced by a stinger, but the bodily fluid of the bee already removed the poison for him.
However, the man's Stamina was much lower than Angele. He looked exhausted, blood was running out of his eyes, mouth, nose, and ears. He was also suffering from a concussion.
"Anyone else?!" Angele yelled again as he helped the man to stand up.
No one responded.
The two walked to the entrance of the cabin and saw two light wizards lying in the hallway but they were not moving.
The one on the left was a female wizard with long black hair. Her left palm was pinned on the floor by a black stinger, and her body was frozen.
The other one was Hikari. The female potion master lay on the floor, but the black stinger missed her neck. She was unconscious as she was still affected by the poison.
"They're still alive!" Angele helped the man to sit by the staircase and rushed to the deck. He came back after several seconds with a full beaker of green liquid. He started applying the liquid onto the two female wizards' wounds right away.
The frost disappeared from their body after about half an hour. Angele removed the security rune from the rooms and helped the man in a black robe walk into the room on the left.
"Why're you still helping us? You're severely wounded too." The man looked at Angele and shook his head. "If it's me, I'll just kill everyone and take all the rare resources they have."
"Do you really think I can make it to the other side alone?" Angele answered in a light tone, "Saving you is saving myself."
The man lay on the bed and took out some healing gel from his pouch.
"Heal yourself, alright?"
"Sure." The man nodded.
"Good, I'll go check the airships' condition." Angele scrunched his eyebrows and walked out of the door. The two female wizards were sitting in the hallway. Their faces were still pale, but they already regained the consciousness.
"Thank you for saving us. Where are the others?" Hikari asked when she saw Angele walking to her.
"The Cloud Bees carried them away. They'll be feasting today." Angele was tired. He checked his wound again.
"There are not many wizards left on the airship."
He turned to the other female wizard.
She opened her mouth, "Master…I'm Morrisa, thank you for helping me…" She stopped for a second and continued, "We heard you yelling during the fight and ran to the cabin right away, but I'm still hit by the stinger. Someone cast a spell that removed the smell and sound, so the bees didn't come for us…"
Morrisa recalled the fight against the Cloud Bees and Angele could see the fear in her eyes.
"They're terrifying! None of our spells worked! None of them! How is that even possible?! We're wizards and they're stronger than us? How?!" She lowered her head and muttered. The lady's body was trembling.
Morrisa knew the trip would be dangerous when she agreed to be sent to Omandis but the first monster she met had just killed most of the crew. Only several of the wizards survived the attack. She had lived in the peaceful Nola for too long and she found this kind of reality quite difficult to believe.
Morrisa calmed down after several minutes. "Sorry…I'm just…"
"It's fine." There was a bitter smile on Hikari's face. "It felt like a dream…but my wounds are still aching.
"Heal yourselves and have some rest. I still have something to do. The good thing is the airships are still operating like usual and we're still on the correct route." Angele nodded. "Alright, Reyline is still resting in the room I think. Go check on him after you feel better."
Hikari and Morrisa struggled for a while and returned to their own rooms.
Angele walked to the staircase and returned to the deck. He decided to double-check the dead bees.
He found several more frozen wizards but that was it. The others were all captured or killed by the Cloud Bees.
Angele checked the other two airships as well, but he did not find anyone. The third airship was straying from the right route due to the impact of the battle. He returned to the first airship after modifying the speed and direction of the third airship.