The tougher the predicament, the better it can reveal a person's psychological qualities. The man with the bloodline of the Paveiro family usually has exceptional talents in this regard.
Still using the scrolls, Charlie's voice was urgent but not frantic, as he uttered a series of strange syllables that were incomprehensible, like a burning fuse, igniting the scroll in his hand.
In the moment the wolf's paw reached towards him, a surge of powerful magical energy erupted from the scroll, instantly forming a semi-transparent, pale blue egg-shaped shield around Charlie.
'Arcane Shield' - Consuming 6 mana units, creating a shield that can absorb damage.
The sharp wolf claws struck the shield but were violently repelled. The shield was then pressed down by the massive wolf, deforming like a balloon, only to rebound, sending the heavy magic wolf flying several meters away, where it rolled on the ground and rose, letting out a threatening howl - how cowardly the beasts were, it seemed they also knew fear!
What incredible magic!
Charlie quickly got up from the ground, a mocking smile on his face. The Arcane Shield had worked successfully, instantly relieving the tense situation. He noticed the shield's luster had dimmed a bit, but according to the current trend, it could still withstand a few more attacks.
Without waiting for the magic wolf to attack, Charlie unfurled another scroll, the incantation flowing out effortlessly.
'Arcane Missiles' - Consuming 9 mana units, releasing three arcane missiles to strike the enemy in front.
An even more turbulent and violent energy surged out of the scroll, coalescing at Charlie's fingertips, glowing with a faint blue light, growing brighter and brighter. Suddenly, he felt something shoot out from within him, a sense of exhilaration, and an egg-sized missile flew straight out.
The magic wolf, frenzied and restless, pounced forward without evasion.
Charlie felt a bit weak, from the perspective of physics, this was not a collision of the same weight class, would it really be effective?
But magic can never be explained by the laws of physics.
Upon hitting the wolf's body, the missile exploded violently, the three units of magical power unleashing a force that Charlie could not comprehend, pushing the wolf back forcefully and igniting its body with a flame unlike any ordinary fire. It burned the wolf's internal magic, and the wolf was dead before it hit the ground.
One scroll could shoot out three missiles, and the last one, under Charlie's control, was fired at the wolf pouncing towards the caravan master, knocking it down and grievously wounding it.
The bearded burly man gave him a thumbs up: "Bro, your magic is really impressive!"
Looking at the defensive formation outside, three fierce and savage bears had appeared at the gaps, blocking the magic wolves, standing on their hind legs and letting out roaring howls. Their massive paws slashed at the wolves' waists, leaving bloody gashes, each bear holding off several wolves, firmly supporting the crumbling defense line.
These three bears were magical beasts, and Charlie could sense the fluctuations of their magic power - Brian had lent a hand.
In this way, the potential collapse points of the defensive formation were patched up by the two of them, barely reaching a state of equilibrium.
"A mage!" a warrior shouted joyfully.
"We have a lord mage, everyone, redouble your efforts! We can hold on!" the bearded man took the opportunity to boost morale.
"Protect the lord mage!"
A group of warriors gathered around this direction, it was obvious that the mage was the only variable in this battle, their last glimmer of hope.
The magic wolves were not gray wolves, and in terms of species, they could be distinguished from ordinary wolves in terms of food, energy supply, and various qualities. Although Charlie had not witnessed the magic of the magic wolves before.
Charlie shouted loudly, "People, don't stand too close, spread out!"
As soon as he finished speaking, several larger, pale wolf magic eyes could be seen in the distance, glowing like embers in the wind. Suddenly, they raised their heads, their chests beginning to swell, a ball of light swirling and flickering in their huge jaws, growing brighter and brighter.
A ranger quickly drew an arrow and shot, aimed at the wolf's throat, but another wolf nearby leaped up, using its body to block the arrow.
But before the ranger could draw the arrow, Charlie had already reacted. In a duel between mages, the outcome was often decided in fractions of a second, the difference between life and death. At that moment, Charlie's tongue blossomed like a lotus, in pursuit of speed, he involuntarily connected the syllables of the incantation, using the English technique of connected pronunciation.
The 11 key syllables of Arcane Missiles, normally taking a student 3 seconds to recite, and a qualified great mage 1.5 seconds, but Charlie's speed was beyond the limits of a great mage, three pale blue magical missiles leaving his hand in the blink of an eye, flying towards three different directions.
'Quickcast'?!
Brian's pupils constricted, a term that made him feel incredibly astonished emerged in his mind, although it was the simplest of all arcane techniques, but why would it occur in a magic student without any mana? Shouldn't arcane techniques be a realm that only intermediate mages could begin to touch?
Suddenly, Brian felt that his perception had been overturned for the first time.
"Wow! Magic can be played like this?" The bearded man was also amazed, daring to bet his life that the magic just now was definitely completed in less than a second, unbelievably fast.
The three missiles reached the magic wolves before they could unleash their magic, hitting different targets in quick succession, the arcane energy igniting the surging magic, instantly erupting into three dazzling bursts of fireworks in the dark night.
The violent magical fireworks stunned the entire battlefield, the wolves and guards hesitating, the wolf pack having the advantage in numbers and combat power, but hesitating and uneasy under the intimidation of a mere magic student.
The guard troop's morale soared, courage returning to their bodies, their momentum strengthened. Several injured shield-wielding soldiers fought to the death to guard the perimeter, preventing the magic wolves from advancing even an inch.
Charlie tore open scroll after scroll, firing volley after volley of Arcane Missiles, entering artillery mode.
After all, they were just magical beasts, too rough in the details of tactical execution and magic usage, leaving Charlie some opportunities to turn the tide. With the relentless barrage of magic and arrows, one magic wolf after another fell, the survivors expressing the feeling of being snatched from the jaws of death, this battle was won.
Ooowww!
A long howl came from the outside, the wolf pack unable to endure the heavy losses, feeling unable to break through the defenses of these human remnants, reluctantly retreating.
As the last magic wolf disappeared into the darkness, the crowd broke out in joyous cheers, some regardless of propriety or status, hugging each other, reveling in the feeling of being snatched from the brink of death!
Only Charlie and Brian stood in the crowd, with lingering fear, their backpacks containing only a few remaining scrolls. If the magic wolves had persisted to the end? If there were a few more? If the magic wolves had higher intelligence? The tide of battle might have been rewritten.
"Young master, how do you feel now?" In this battle, Brian had played a supporting role, but had actually played a more crucial part, his few nature summoning spells were powerful support for the battle situation.
Charlie wiped the sweat from his forehead and unhesitatingly replied, "It feels really cool!"
Brian smiled and sighed softly, "But it's also really expensive! A Arcane Shield scroll costs 120 gold coins, an Arcane Missiles scroll is 140 gold coins, but our scrolls have a special feature, they are 'zero mana scrolls' that can be used by ordinary people, the price should be at least 5 times higher. Young master, you can do the math, how much did we spend in this battle?"
Charlie had no concept of magic scrolls, but now that it was measured in gold coins, he realized that the "fireworks" really did cost a lot. At least he had burned through more than 20,000 gold coins in that last battle, in comparison, the price of ordinary arrows was less than 80 silver coins, and enchanted arrows were 50 gold coins, the entire caravan's battle consumption was nowhere near as much as Charlie's alone.
The bearded burly man unwrapped his blood-soaked steel bracer, the thick steel bracer already deformed by the wolf fangs. He stretched out his hand to Charlie and said, "Lord mage, we are truly grateful to you today! You saved the entire caravan!"
As he finished, he looked down at his blood-stained hand, immediately realizing this was impolite, and smiled awkwardly, about to withdraw it, when Charlie grabbed it with one hand.
Charlie smiled and said, "No need to thank us, we're all in the same boat, helping each other. Without you all, we might have ended up in the wolves' bellies tonight as well!"
Brian asked, "Will you continue on your journey?"
Before the bearded burly man could respond, a plump middle-aged man came over with a package, first handing over a gilded business card, his face full of sincere smiles: "We are truly grateful to the two lord mages! You have saved our Violet Rose Trading Company, and you will forever be our friends. With this, you can enjoy a 10% discount at the Haines branch of the Violet Rose Trading Company."
As he spoke, he handed over a package: "It may seem a bit crass, but it is the best I can do to compensate. The cost of the battle just now to drive away the wolf pack was considerable, this is a small token of our appreciation, I hope it can make up for a portion of your losses."
Everyone was a discerning person, those scrolls they had thrown out were hard currency, and once taken to the Haines City auction house, they could be sold off completely in a single night.
Brian, overstepping his usual role for the first time, accepted the package. He understood his young master, with the latter's usual personality, this amount of money was probably nothing to him, in the past he could be carefree, but now he no longer had the luxury of being willful.
Brian nodded and said, "No need to thank us, it's a mutually beneficial relationship, and we certainly did spend a lot just now."
Charlie naturally wouldn't puff up his face just for the sake of face.
In fact, to be fair, Charlie should have expressed gratitude to them instead. If it weren't for the caravan guard's defense of the perimeter, he and Brian might have been trapped in the wolf pack with an unknown fate.
The more crucial issue was that the attack tonight was rather peculiar - if there was such a large pack of magic wolves active in the forest path, they should have been discovered and eradicated by the Haines patrol long ago, so this pack of wolves was most likely arranged by someone to plot against Charlie. If the caravan master knew the true origins of this, he might not have felt so grateful.
The caravan master saw through the disguise of this dilapidated carriage and guessed that the two were from a noble family, eager to befriend such a reckless big spender, but unfortunately Charlie didn't dare to take off his mask, and didn't continue to cultivate the relationship.
After some polite exchange, the two groups went their separate ways.