Pala!
A loud rumble, and the cracked partition suddenly collapsed outward, revealing a young girl in a white mage's robe behind the wall.
She slowly lowered her raised leg, her skirt fluttering, and a slight smile curled her lips.
However, as people's gaze was drawn to the girl, an astounding energy surge erupted by her side.
The equip skill of the Withered Wood Wand,
Mana Storm, was triggered, and a stream of pure magic gushed out of the wand, spreading like electric currents up Charlie's arm, surging like the tide, draining all the magic reserves of the wand...
Indistinct whispers swirled in the air.
Charlie consolidated an dense orange-red fireball in his hand, its scorching heat palpable even from a few meters away.
In the blink of an eye, a series of golden fireballs flew out from his fingertips, one after another, uninterrupted...
Qianshe instinctively covered her mouth.
Charlie had only told her to use magic to kick down the wooden wall, without informing her of the real tactical details, and the other three's role was merely to release various magical shields to protect the safety of the five, unaware of Charlie's true intentions.Rumble, rumble...
The explosions blended into a continuous roar.
Under Charlie's control, a dozen or so fireballs engulfed most of the area below, a regional saturation bombing.
The raging fire elements exploded violently in the dense space, colliding and overlapping, whipping up a towering firestorm.
Anything hit by the falling fireballs was torn to shreds in the fierce explosions, with charcoal and molten iron splattering in all directions, releasing a violent shockwave.
At this time, the Gossta brothers had already pinned the exhausted Charlie and Qianshe to the ground, still feeling the scorching heat of the towering flames, no less than a small volcanic eruption.
At some point, the sky quietly started to drizzle, the fine rain pattering on people's faces, cool and refreshing.
Colin got up and couldn't help but look down.The raging heat gradually subsided, with dark red flames burning silently everywhere, and the entire central deck was left in a single color, varying shades of black.
The original steel plates were in a state of melting, hissing in the drizzle.Charlie lay on the floor, his cheek smeared with mud, but he lacked the strength to clean it.
A strong sense of emptiness filled his heart, his body no longer under his control, every part a burden even to breathe.
The fierce attack also came at a price. Waves of excruciating pain came from his left arm. At the moment the first volley of fireballs was released,
a few pirates had reacted, shooting a series of crossbow bolts in retaliation. Fortunately,
the magic shield blocked several fatal arrows, but after the shield shattered, a cold bolt had pierced his arm, leaving a penetrating wound.
The devastating bombardment of the fireball storm had decisively turned the tide of the battle.
If the teacher was smart enough, he should have seized the opportunity to take control of the entire battlefield.
Otherwise, they would face the retaliation of the remaining pirates without Charlie's support, with unforeseeable consequences.
Sure enough, Charlie heard furious roars coming from the bow, thinking the teacher's guards had finally seized the chance to launch a full counterattack.Charlie's mood lightened, and an unprecedented fatigue swept over him, his heavy eyelids sticking together like magnets....
He didn't know how long had passed, but when he regained consciousness, Charlie found himself lying on a bed.
He could vaguely hear a few people breathing in the room.
His left arm no longer hurt, only a faint tingling sensation.Charlie opened his eyes and saw Professor Ebu sitting by the bedside, arms crossed as if dozing.
"Charlie's awake!" a joyful cry broke the calm in the room.Qianshe's pretty face, a mix of delight and admonishment, appeared in Charlie's field of vision, bringing a trace of warmth.A group of people crowded around him, but were blocked by Professor Ebu.
"He just woke up, give him some space to recover."Charlie supported himself to sit up, only just realizing that his left hand was now usable. He looked down at the bandaged arm in surprise.
"The injury was so severe, but it's healed?""Yes, that's thanks to the divine arts master Jian."Divine arts master?
That means the captain has already returned to the ship.Charlie asked, "So what's the situation now?"
David couldn't help but say, "We set sail last night, and are now out of the Saint Croix Islands area.
Don't worry, we're safe now!"Qingyan silently walked to the window, pushed open the right one, and exposed the view outside to Charlie's gaze, a vast expanse of deep blue, clean and pure.
"Are the others all right?"Colin smiled.
"Don't worry, Charlie, we're all doing great, unharmed, thanks to you turning the tide of the battle. Otherwise, our fate would have been the same as those dead students.Looking back now, I feel so ashamed.
Usually,my brother and I have always craved a real battle, but suddenly faced with the real battlefield, we found ourselves incapable, couldn't even cast spells properly. It's so embarrassing to talk about
."Facing this question, Professor Ebu's expression was sad, containing a hint of anger.
"When the teachers faced the pirates' night raid, we let them kill 28 apprentices. The damage to the entire ship exceeded thirty percent, nearly destroying the core alchemy formation of the ship.
So, Charlie, you were the last fig leaf for our ship.
If you hadn't led the students to break through the siege and single-handedly turned the tide of the battle, we might have become the laughing stock of the entire Arcane Circle,
and the situation would have been even more severe, perhaps all of us would have been buried in this sea!"
Charlie asked,
"Who are these people? And what was their purpose?"
Professor Ebu took a deep breath and replied,
"Plankton's explanation is that they were roving bandits on the fringe of the island chain, not under his jurisdiction."
"That's a lie!"
Qianshe couldn't help but shout.
"This is his territory, how could something happen that he can't control?!"
"The problem is we have no evidence.
All the pirates who boarded the ship were killed, and the ship itself disappeared without a trace.
Even if we find some evidence, the Pirate King is unlikely to admit to this, and the academy also doesn't want him to admit it."
Colin couldn't help but ask, "What does that mean? Is the academy afraid of the Pirate King's power?"
Ebu shook his head and smiled bitterly.
"It's not fear, but helplessness. In fact, the top powers on the continent are powerless against him.
This is why the Saint Croix Islands are a haven for villains.Because it is located in the middle of the storm-tossed ocean, the ocean waves are their natural barrier.
For the Arcane Circle, although we have mastered the technology to cross the sea, we have not solved the cost problem of large ship voyages.
Recklessly going to war, the logistics alone would burden the Arcane Circle with a heavy burden, and the council is unlikely to approve a war strategy.
This is a dilemma facing the entire continent now. Otherwise, someone would have dealt with those rascals long ago!
As for why the academy doesn't want the Pirate King to acknowledge this incident, it's because they don't want to be put in a passive position.
You should all know the people of the Arcane Circle, they are a bunch of geniuses and eccentrics, both students and teachers, who have an arrogant air of superiority, rebellious and unruly, a vice they've cultivated over the years.
If the full story was exposed, how could these people tolerate such humiliation? It would inevitably trigger an outburst of a pro-war sentiment.
But now the upper echelons are not ready to go to war with the Pirate King,
because the cost would outweigh the benefits.
If they can't control this wave of sentiment, but the leadership continues to delay launching the war, they will lose face in front of the middle and lower-level teachers and students, further losing control of public opinion.
It's a dilemma."
After listening to Professor Ebu's explanation, they had a fairly clear understanding of the current situation, but no matter how they looked at it, the situation seemed very awkward.
They had taken a big loss, but had to swallow their pride and bear the responsibility of comforting the victims' families. It was really frustrating!
Ebu sighed, "But this is not something you need to worry about. The captain will take all the responsibility. He asked me to express his gratitude to you for saving Qianshe and fulfilling his promise."
Charlie modestly said, "There's no need to be polite. It was actually a self-rescue. The unexpected effectiveness was because the teacher drew the main force of the pirates, and we just happened to seize the opportunity for a surprise attack.Personally, I don't think the captain should bear any responsibility. After all, who could have predicted the ocean storm? Or the sudden pirate attack?"
Ebu sighed, "That's true, but the tragedy has already happened. Captain Stephen may take half the blame and lose his job. His future prospects will be quite torturous."
The group of students were powerless to influence Captain Stephen's fate.
Ebu patted Charlie on the shoulder and smiled, "Anyway, it's all over now. Congratulations, Charlie, wait for the academy's reward!"
Charlie asked curiously, "Reward?"
"Yes! As I said, you were the last fig leaf for this ship mission. The academy may report the incident from a different angle, using the glory of individual heroism to cover up the nature of the incident. So your reward should be quite good."
"Wow, cool!" Colin was the first to applaud.
Qingyan asked curiously, "Teacher, what kind of reward might it be?"
Ebu thought for a moment and said, "As for material rewards, I can't guarantee anything. The standard is hard to define, what the academy is willing to give may not be what you want, and what you want, the academy may not be willing to give.As for other rewards, based on past practice, I think you may be given an exceptional admission qualification, in other words, you may get an official student position in the Arcane Circle, just like everyone else."
David banged the table excitedly, "Can't wait for that day! Brother, we can finally study together!"
Qianshe questioned, "What kind of reward is that? Doesn't Charlie brother deserve an official student position based on his own abilities?"
Ebu explained with a smile, "That's still quite difficult. After all, Charlie is older. You should know that the academy has a group of old conservatives, without this meritorious service, Charlie impressing them solely through talent would be challenging.It's not that I underestimate Charlie, it's just one of the academy's bad habits. The younger the apprentice, the more the teachers will value them.Besides, Qianshe, don't underestimate this official position. It can be sold on the black market for several million gold coins, and even with money, it may not be available."
Charlie's smile blossomed. "That's indeed a great reward! I hope the teacher's guess is correct!"