The apprentice side began to suffer casualties, more and more realizing they were about to lose the battle and attempting to retreat from the battlefield, the remaining injured apprentices putting up a last-ditch resistance.
The pressure on Charlie's group was mounting, the retreating fishmen constantly joining the new frontline, bolstering the enemy's strength.
"Charlie! What's the plan? Should we retreat?" Colin asked loudly.
"Wait a bit longer!"
"Wait longer? We might not even have a chance to escape!" Colin fretted.
Charlie didn't respond, only beginning to chant spells. A powerful magical surge, and three massive bear summons appeared before him. With a pointing gesture, the bears roared and charged into the fishmen warriors, sending them flying - the sheer weight and force carving a path through the fishmen ranks.
He had proven to Colin there was a way to break through.
But at that moment, the Sogo Beach trembled slightly, the sky suddenly darkening. Then, a dazzling bolt of lightning thundered down, in the fleeting instant before anyone could react, accompanied by a deafening metallic scraping sound.
Like being struck by lightning.
Charlie felt the momentary terror of death, his heart skipping a beat. This blow was unavoidable even with the chip's assistance. He quickly turned his head.
In the distance, a massive golden sword was impaled in the beach, emanating a solemn, majestic glow. The blade had pierced through the fishmen leader's corpse, pinning it to the rocks.
Charlie turned to the Gusta brothers, their faces equally pale, frozen in place. The surrounding fishmen were also paralyzed by this golden light.
Only Eileen rubbed her ears, looking bewildered.
Charlie asked, "What magic is this?"
Colin hesitated, "I don't think it's magic, more like divine art - the 'Celestial Blade', equivalent to a level 7 spell, an attack from a Grand Mage-level expert."
At this time, Peter picked up the fishmen leader's coral staff, letting out a taunting roar.
The fishmen were initially stunned, seeing the towering golden sword and the dead fishmen leader. Some fish let out a chittering sound - fear, suspicion, shock, a jumble of emotions weighing on their simple minds. With their pitiful intellect, they couldn't discern the gap between them and the enemy. They only knew their mighty leader had been one-shot!
Soon, some fishmen began throwing down their weapons and fleeing, the behavior rapidly spreading through the entire group, rushing back towards the deep sea...
As expected, killing the fishmen leader had crushed their entire tribe.
Peter smugly surveyed the area, ready to claim the leader's spoils.
"Hold it!" Someone stood in his way, bloodied but undeterred. "Peter, the fishmen have been defeated, this is everyone's achievement, of course your contribution was the greatest. Now the battle is over, we need to figure out how to distribute the spoils."
A group of injured apprentices stood behind the speaker, two bows aimed at Peter from left and right, about seven or eight of them.
Charlie gestured, signaling everyone to quietly approach.
"Big brother Charlie!"
Seeing Charlie approach, Qingxue smiled sweetly, coming towards him affectionately.
The moment of reckoning had finally arrived.
In truth, Charlie had never really seen Qingxue as a potential romantic interest, at most as a little sister. But her brother didn't see it that way.
Charlie still remembered that black points card, and what Qiandu had said to him on the first day entering the Arcane Circle - undeniably, Qiandu had wounded his pride, making Charlie quite unhappy. But he had spoken the truth, and Charlie had agreed to Qiandu's request.
Charlie calmly avoided Qingxue's intimacy, giving her a faint smile instead, turning to chat amiably with Eileen.
Qingxue pouted, a look of hurt in her doe eyes, on the verge of tears.
Facing Qingxue's fierce gaze, Eileen shrank back, feeling awkward - she had no experience being seen as a love rival by such a beautiful girl, at a loss.
Nearby, Daniel seemed to have sensed something, chuckling, "Qingxue, don't bother with that impolite thing, come back here! Let's see what good stuff the fishmen leader dropped."
The Gusta brothers didn't know what had happened between the two, nor how to comfort the sulking Qingxue, greeting her only to be ignored, unsure of what to do.
Meanwhile, more and more people had gathered around the central battlefield.
Peter sneered, "You all killed some fishmen, so go loot the fishmen, but the fishmen leader is mine! Its spoils naturally all belong to me!"
"B*llsh*t! Without our help, could you have killed the fishmen leader alone? We all paid such a heavy price, you want to hog all the victory spoils for yourself? Dream on!"
"Yeah! Before the battle, how affectionately you called us all brothers! Now it's time to divvy up the loot, your ugly face is exposed! Can you be any more shameless?!"
Peter snorted disdainfully, "Without my level 7 divine art scroll, who could have killed that leader? Now that I've done it, you want a share? I'm afraid you're asking for too much!
I don't feel like arguing with you. Whoever wants to fight me for the spoils, step forward. If I accidentally kill someone, don't blame me - it's your own greed!"
Behind Peter, a few apprentices with gold insignias stepped to his side, representing the elite echelon of the Arcane Circle's new students.
What he said did make sense - Peter had indeed expended the most precious asset, a level 7 scroll.
"Heh! Don't act so high and mighty! Before the battle, weren't you the one egging everyone on, intending to use us to wear down the fishmen army?"
"I ask you, can you make up for the brothers who died in this battle?! Can you make up for the academy's painstaking efforts in cultivating apprentices?! Can you make up for the Arcane Circle's insignia?! You heartless, merciless beast!"
"We all want a piece, so have the guts to kill us all!"
The other apprentices didn't seem like pushovers either, not so easily fooled.
Peter swung the coral staff, sneering, "Then prepare to die!"
The words ignited the entire battlefield, the atmosphere suddenly tense, the battle on the verge of erupting.
Just as the two groups glared at each other, Charlie was secretly generating a pale blue glow behind his back, while not far from Peter, Qingyan received Charlie's signal, making the same motion.
"Attack!" Peter roared, triggering the apprentice infighting.
Poof! Poof!!
A cloud of vapor exploded in the central battlefield, enveloping an area dozens of meters wide, just like the scene on the ship. Charlie and Qingyan's gazes met, perfectly synchronized - the two water vapor spells had shrouded the area around the fishmen leader.
In an instant, the entire battlefield descended into chaos. To prevent sneak attacks, the weapon-wielding combatants were hacking wildly, pushing away anyone nearby. The apprentices shoved each other, cries of pain ringing out as the mage apprentices chanted defensive spells, bright egg-shaped shields flaring up in the mist.
While everyone had lost their sight, only Charlie remained unaffected, the chip directly reconstructing the detailed state of the chaotic battlefield through sound and energy feedback.
Charlie rushed to the fishmen leader as fast as he could, enduring the nauseating slime on its body, feeling around for the items he had already marked before the battle started.
The "money pouch" hanging on the fishmen leader's seaweed garment at the waist, the headdress it wore, the ring on its right foreleg.
Unfortunately, the coral staff had been taken by Peter - even if Charlie could snatch it back, he wouldn't be able to escape the two raging factions.
"Quick, use 'Gale'!" Someone soon reacted.
"The fishmen leader's position, an indiscriminate group attack, let's see who dares to muddy the waters!"
At this moment, Eileen's hand was suddenly pulled, "Let's get out of here!"
Eileen was tugged and stumbled out of the mist, finding herself surrounded by a group of companions: two beautiful girls, the Gusta twins, and Charlie.
Qingyan asked, "Did you get the items?"
Charlie nodded.
"Let's hurry and leave!" The group took advantage of the battlefield chaos to flee towards the swampland.
"Ah! Ah! Ah!! The items, someone took them!" Peter's furious roar echoed from afar.
"I didn't take them!"
"Me neither!"
"Look, that group is fleeing! They must have taken them!"
"What are you waiting for? Chase them, all of you!"
...
Charlie led the group all the way back to the previous reed bed, only stopping once they could no longer hear sounds from behind. The few of them sat on the ground, panting heavily before bursting into laughter.
Qingxue obediently said, "Big brother Charlie, what good things did you find? Show us!"
Colin chuckled, "Yeah! The way you're grinning, you must have hit the jackpot!"
Charlie still didn't directly respond to Qingxue, taking down the pouch hanging on his chest. He laid out the three items in a row.
A green gemstone ring, emanating a natural elemental aura.
A palm-sized money pouch sewn from fish skin, the scales delicate and exquisite, in various colors - a unique work of art.
A headdress woven from mysterious deep-sea seaweed, the pale, semi-transparent strands remarkably sturdy yet pliable. The front was bound with a coral crown, a deep blue gem embedded in the center, constantly radiating an abundance of water element.
Qingxue set aside her previous displeasure, smiling brightly, "Wow, these are clearly no ordinary items!"
Qingxue was probably the one with the broadest material knowledge in this group, the royal palace's warehouses filled with countless treasures. If she praised these items, they must be quite remarkable - of course, how much of her compliments were just flattery, who could say.
"Open the money pouch and take a look." David couldn't resist saying.
Charlie did as suggested, picking up the pouch and turning it over, but couldn't find an opening. The others grew curious, crowding around.
"How strange, what exactly is this thing that looks like a money pouch?" Colin couldn't help but remark.
With the chip's assistance, Charlie found a different-looking scale on the fish-skin pouch. Lightly touching it, a faint psychic ripple emanated.
Charlie pondered for a moment, infusing it with natural elements. The seamless pouch suddenly underwent a transformation, a crack opening, a shimmering light spilling out from the newly formed opening...