Chapter 11: The Powerful Arcanist
A fireball the size of a basin "whooshed" as it flew out.
It gradually expanded in the air, guided by mental power, and precisely landed in the center of the mutated black wolves.
With a loud "boom"!
The fireball instantly exploded, scorching tongues of flame engulfing several mutated black wolves.
The terrifying impact force tore the surrounding mutated black wolves apart.
When the dust settled, of the more than ten mutated black wolves, only four or five struggled to get back up.
One spell!
Instantly took out nearly ten mutated creatures!
All the soldiers who witnessed this were stunned and immediately reinvigorated!
The rear warriors swiftly stepped forward and easily slaughtered the few mutated black wolves that could barely move.
The scavengers cleaning the battlefield came back with three pieces of basic flesh essence, proudly shouting to everyone:
"Keep it up, guys!"
The other squads of warriors naturally wouldn't be outdone, bursting with far more enthusiasm than usual, and under the command of the knight Angela, began fighting the charging mutated creatures.
The mutated murlocs were the first to be cleared out.
Their bodies were small, their heads fragile, their attack power weak, and their agility low.
A shield blocked them, a spear or blade fell, and they were basically done for.
However, they had a decent drop rate for materials, with one dropping about every five kills.
With the threats on both sides eliminated, the freed-up soldiers quickly supported their other comrades.
A massive mutated bull, panting heavily, charged forward.
It was nearly two meters tall, weighing over a thousand kilograms, with two sharp horns on its head, a truly intimidating giant.
But the soft, muddy swamp submerged its front hooves, making it difficult to move.
Angela, ever sharp in battle, organized the soldiers to trap it in the mud pit.
Before it could climb onto the road, four or five spears were brutally thrust forward.
The stinking blood dyed the entire mud pit red.
The mutated bull howled non-stop, its body sinking deeper and deeper, until Angela arrived and beheaded it with a single strike.
The mutated bull, with its tenacious vitality, held on until the end, but the other mutated creatures had long been dealt with.
"Ding, you have killed a mutated black wolf, gaining 20 experience points."
"Ding, you have killed a mutated black wolf, gaining 30 experience points, and 1 skill point."
"Ding, you have killed a mutated black wolf, gaining 20 experience points..."
"Ding, you have killed..."
"...1 skill point!"
"..."
The nearly identical kill notifications echoed in his ears, and Matthew quickly noticed the differences.
"As expected, when you take action yourself, you can earn extra skill points, which seems equivalent to increasing skill proficiency."
"Looking at it this way, each method has its own advantages..."
"It seems I will need to be more generous in the future."
Two massive mutated crocodiles showed up late after all the other mutated creatures were dead.
Matthew calculated the speed of the mutated crocodiles and found it to be roughly the same as an adult walking quickly.
If the convoy abandoned all the supplies, they could probably outpace their pursuit.
As for the supplies, the mutated creatures wouldn't be interested in them, so they could come back and retrieve them the next morning after the night passed.
This plan seemed highly feasible.
But Matthew just quietly sat on the wagon, silently staring at the "-3" in his luck attribute.
Matthew vaguely remembered the final days of his previous life as a player.
In months of consecutive battles, both his army and the kingdom faced nothing but misfortune.
If it wasn't a natural disaster, it was the revival of evil gods, as if all the bad luck in the world had gathered at once.
Gradually, Matthew realized that someone was sabotaging things behind the scenes.
In the face of all the bad luck, Matthew did everything he could to deal with it, even though things kept getting worse.
Until the critical moment of the final battle, when the fatal weapons all collectively "failed."
Knowing that there was no hope left, Matthew unhesitatingly sacrificed himself, transforming into the strongest weapon, and heroically took down Death Yegor and the great evil god Lothander.
Little did he know, beside them, the goddess of luck Tymora, who was about to teleport away, was also played by luck.
The teleportation failed, and she didn't even manage to put up a decent resistance or struggle, being taken down alongside Matthew!
Reflecting on it now, Matthew immediately speculated that the ability "Choice of Fate" likely came from the goddess of luck, Tymora.
Those who recklessly toy with luck and misfortune will eventually be played by fate!
If Matthew kept running, he might escape for a while, but he certainly wouldn't escape forever!
"Give it your all, never miss a single opportunity, and fate will shatter!"
Matthew stood up, watching the mutated crocodiles approaching, silently calculating the distance.
When the one on the right came within 50 meters, he decisively flung another fireball.
Boom!
The glowing fireball accurately struck the mutated crocodile's head, and the expanding flames enveloped its upper body.
The violent shockwave blasted away countless mud and dirty water.
The fierce tremors made every warrior gulp, witnessing the devastating power of the fireball.
When the thick smoke slowly dissipated, the once smooth muddy ground now had a semicircular crater four to five meters in diameter.
The power of the fireball spell!
To such an extent!
Everyone only felt their scalps tingle, and they began to revere the power of their lord, Matthew.
Even the old butler, Nalff, standing beside Matthew, hadn't expected the power of Matthew's fireball spell to be this strong!
Far exceeding the fireballs released by ordinary mages or arcanists!
"Could it be that the lord has been researching how to enhance the fireball spell all this time?"
"Or perhaps, the lord's natural talent is just that strong, but it has simply gone unnoticed until now..."
"Looking at it this way, the lord's decision to sign with the young dragon was truly wise. With his accumulated potential, the arcanist's level will quickly rise, and maybe..."
"Roar...!"
The mutated crocodile's smoking head poked out from the semicircular mud pit.
One-third of its mouth had been blown apart, revealing a bloody gash inside, with even small flames "crackling" as they burned.
The mutated crocodile, seemingly without any sense of pain, shook its head, flinging away chunks of blood and flesh.
Before it could completely climb out, another speeding fireball smashed into its head.
The expanding flames, with their terrifying destructive power, completely shredded its head. The massive headless body writhed madly twice before finally "plopping" into the soft mud pit.
"Ding, you used an over-tier spell - Fireball, consuming 60 (additional 50% consumption) mana points."
"Ding, your fireball spell dealt 16 points of final damage (100% critical boost) to the mutated crocodile. The mutated crocodile has died..."
"Ding, you killed a mutated crocodile, gaining 70 experience points, and 1 skill point."
Having used up 180 mana points in one go, Matthew let out a soft sigh and calmly sat down.
He set down the staff that had expended its fireball uses and turned to Angela, who was in the center of the group, saying:
"Its vitality is quite strong, about 1.5 times that of the mutated bull, but its movement speed is slow, its reaction time slow, and it's dull when faced with attacks."
"Now is the perfect opportunity for training. Everyone work together to deal with it, and then we'll continue on our way."
Hearing Matthew's confident voice, the soldiers snapped out of their shock. They once again truly felt the power and terror of the arcanist, and they became even more excited.
Having such a lord is undoubtedly a blessing!
Matthew, with only 70 mana points remaining after using up most of it, certainly wouldn't tell everyone that he was almost out of resources.
He simply smiled as he enjoyed everyone's awestruck gazes!