Luckily, it seems like their lower-level troops managed to take out most of their enemies and scare off the rest.
Two of our allies' knights jumped into the fight real quick. They swung their swords, glowing with light too, at the brown knight. But it seems like they're not at the level of those level 4 magic knights yet, 'cause they couldn't shoot aura out of their slashes.
Still, those slashes were enough to throw off the brown knight for a sec. In a blink, he cranked up his mana output on his mana circulation skill, you know, the [Body Enhancement - Mana] one, at 1 mana per second.
That's his max output without busting out the big guns, [Body Enhancement - Lightning] - 5 sec max output.
He zoomed in real quick, catching his opponent off guard. Surprised and worn out, the green knight couldn't stop Zack's arm from going through his heart.
Then, he pivoted to the other knight and took him out too. The enemy wizard, seeing the odds stacked against him, bolted for the forest.
Caleb and Alden were too beat up to chase after the escaping wizard.
No way! Zack wasn't about to let that wizard slip away. He kept up his [Body Enhancement - Mana] at 1 mana per second to keep pace and went after the wizard. Alden yelled at him to stop, but he brushed it off.
As soon as he hit the forest, he switched back to the basic enhancement and kept going.
Because he is using the basic double enhancement, the enemy wizard managed to put some distance between them. He was definitely using some escape spell 'cause he was hauling.
When Zack figured they were far enough apart, he kicked it up a notch with the 1 mana per second version to close the gap fast. The wizard noticed him getting closer and started prepping a spell. But just before he could finish it, Zack hit him with [Double Enhancement] at max output.
So, Zack, already lightning quick, kicks it into overdrive. The wizard barely has time to whip out his artifact. Zack's watching it all unfold like it's in slow-mo, the barrier creeping up in front of him. But he sees a gap and decides to dart his arm to the gap before it seals shut.
In that split second, he knows he couldn't make it and switches gears from casting [Lightning Clad Gloves] to [Zap]. The spell forms in a snap, thanks to his [Double Enhancement], and zaps right through that tiny opening.
Zap! Bang! The sound of the spell reaching the wizard and Zack's fist hitting the barrier echoes at the same time.
The wizard's zapped, failing to finish his spells. Not only that, he's stunned for a split sec. But that's all Zack needs. He slaps on [Lightning Clad Gloves] on both hands and starts pounding the barrier. In that moment, Zack manages to land dozens of hits, but the barrier's holding strong.
It takes him a sec to finally break through, but a sec is all a top-level 3 wizard needs to cast a spell. Zack fires off another [Zap] right after the barrier's down, but the wizard finishes his spell first.
Zack dodges the glowing orb flying at him while his [Zap] connects with the wizard. He closes in fast while the wizard's still dazed.
Slash! The wizard's eyes widen as Zack's arm slices through his neck. Bam! Zack feels a shockwave from behind him. He spins around and sees the wizard's spell exploding, shooting out countless ice particles.
Since the particles are already too close, he decides not to dodge.
He turns his fist into a palm and starts slapping at the particles, creating a gust of air that pushes them away. But there are too many, and some still hit him.
He feels a weird sensation as the particles hit him, but he shakes it off. The spell's not done yet. Suddenly, the ice particles stop flying out and rush back to where they exploded, causing an even bigger explosion.
This time, Zack easily dodges while grabbing the wizard's body. In his [Double Enhancement] - max output mode, it's a piece of cake.
All this might sound like it takes forever, but in reality, it's only been 5 seconds. He looks at the wizard, who's trying to stem the blood from his throat, agony written all over his face.
Zack closes his eyes and slashes the wizard's neck again, ending his suffering.
Ignoring the churn in his stomach, he quickly searches the wizard's body. No bag, but he finds a suspicious ring tied to a necklace around the wizard's neck. He snatches it without a second thought.
Then, Zack senses the mana around him and gathers fire particles to his arm. Once enough gather, they form a fiery ball on his palm. He uses it to thoroughly burn the wizard's body and erase any traces of the battle in the forest.
Returning to Ikokha's convoy, Zack finds them gathering the bodies. There's a lot of casualties, both from the enemy and their own side. The lower-ranking troops are banged up pretty bad, with many seriously injured. Caleb and Alden are in rough shape too.
Alden hands Zack two bags. "These are from the two knights," he says, referring to the level 6 knights. Zack nods and takes the bags. Alden then asks about the enemy wizard.
Zack tells him the wizard got away during the chase. Alden looks at Zack's torn and ice-covered robes. "You got lucky," he says, "seems like the wizard was focused on getting away and didn't want to mess with you. Don't take unnecessary risks next time."
Alden pats Zack on the shoulder and changes the subject. He seems convinced Zack couldn't handle the wizard. It's understandable, considering the info from the Baron said the wizard was just a level 2 apprentice.
Zack shrugs and says he figured the wizard must've been tired from fighting Alden and Caleb, so he thought he had a shot at taking him down.
Dropping the topic, Alden mentioned that they'll only give emergency treatment to the knights and get out of there ASAP. He's worried about attracting bandits, and their forces are too depleted for another attack.
Zack heads back to his carriage, flops onto the bed, and closes his eyes. He can't shake the faces of the two knights and the wizard he... took care of. Pushing down the rising nausea, he tries to force himself to sleep.
He... doesn't have a choice. Survival's the name of the game in this world.
He's jolted awake by a knock on the carriage door. The person outside tells him they've reached a camping site and it's up to him whether he wants to crash in the carriage or pitch his tent outside. By the way, he's got the whole carriage to himself, except for the part packed with supplies.
Preferring more space, he opts to set up his tent. Once it's up, he heads inside to take stock of his loot. A good night's sleep has made it easier to shove down the guilt and nausea while holding onto those bags and the ring.
From the knights' bags, he scores 10 low-quality mana stones and a book on [Body Enhancement - Aura] technique. Then he checks out the wizard's ring. He's kinda stoked 'cause there's a good chance it's a storage ring.
Even the cheapest storage ring costs 500 points at the tower! When he probes his mana into it, he feels a bit of resistance. Probably 'cause the owner's dead, he easily breaks through and senses what's inside.
Bingo! It's a ring alright. The space is about a square meter. Inside, there are mana stones, 2 spell books, and loads of potion ingredients. Counting the stones, he finds a whopping 300 low-quality ones. This guy was loaded.
Sorting through his loot, he decides to hang onto the [Body Enhancement - Aura] book. Even though it uses aura instead of mana for enhancement, it could help him improve his mana circulation technique.
According to the book, mana-based body enhancement is actually derived from its aura counterpart. But knights keep refining their body enhancement 'cause that's their main power source. That's why aura circulation is more advanced than mana.
As for the spells, they're both obviously level 0. One's an offensive technique, while the other is unique. After reading the second spell book, [Frostburst Convergence], he realizes what that weird feeling was when he got hit by the ice crystals.
Turns out, if an enemy gets touched by those ice crystals from the first explosion, they'll all converge on them, causing a bigger boom right where they're standing.
This spell's made to take down speedsters. No matter how fast you are, if one of those ice crystals tags you, you're toast in the second explosion.
He gets chills thinking about it. Good thing he had [Stealth] activated at the time. The ice crystal hitting him was considered an item that could blow his cover, so its presence was hidden too.
This dude managed to pull off such a complex spell in a split second. Guess he can't underestimate peak level 3 wizards. Who knows what kinda weird spells they've mastered.