Charlie's heart sank, an overwhelming sense of danger washing over him.
In the dead of night, his vision struggled to catch fast-moving objects. However, the chip in his mind depicted his predicament through sound; several arrows were flying towards him at high speed, encompassing an area just a few meters around him.
Because he had been focused on his duel with Daniel, he hadn't noticed that a group of archers had already stealthily approached within a dozen meters—an extremely dangerous distance.
Without a moment of hesitation, Charlie rolled to the side.
Suddenly, a sharp pain shot through his shoulder as a metal arrowhead pierced his flesh, grazing the gap between his shoulder blades and protruding from the front. Blood gushed out, and his arm went numb, the shock of pain tearing at his nerves.
He had been hit!
But the danger wasn't over; the sound of arrows thudding against the ground was relentless, and the apprentices led by Peter were gathering intense magical energy, undoubtedly preparing a powerful magical attack.
Peter wants to kill me!
A thought flashed through Charlie's mind. Logically speaking, if it were just over the theft of the Fishman Lord's equipment, a reasonable course of action would be to reclaim what was taken and seek punishment without resorting to lethal violence, especially since murder was not supported by the academy and would be met with severe punishment from the Academy Inspection Division!
Instinctively, Charlie sensed that tonight was abnormal; first, there was Daniel's inexplicable ambush, and now Peter's unreasonable pursuit.
This was not a coincidence; it was a premeditated murder!
The only people who could incite both Daniel and Peter and hold a grudge against Charlie were almost certainly tied to one person—Prince Weining. Moreover, this had to be arranged before the start of the new student task season. When had he developed such deep animosity with Prince Weining?!
Charlie dashed straight into Daniel's group, but the rain of arrows did not cease. The magical apprentices had suffered losses; only a few managed to activate their magical shields, while half were injured by the arrows, and two unfortunate apprentices were hit in vital areas, nearing death.
"Peter, what are you doing?! Stop it!" Qingtong shouted sternly.
Peter unleashed a fiery ring, casually responding, "Don't interfere! He stole my things; he must pay with his life!"
"That's the result of everyone's hard work; it doesn't belong to you alone! Besides, we can resolve our differences through negotiation! Peter, stop immediately! Otherwise, I will inform the teachers that you attempted to murder a fellow student and harmed others in the process!"
Peter chuckled coldly, "Do as you wish!"
Qingtong frowned slightly, and suddenly erupted in a burst of pure water elemental energy from her bracelet. A pale blue glow emerged, and frost crystals rapidly expanded at an alarming speed before she pushed them forward.
Everyone felt the chilling wave, goosebumps rising all over their bodies, as if winter's cold had gripped their hearts.
The fiery ring and icy nova exploded in two different places…
Charlie was caught in the blast of the fiery ring, letting out a muffled groan as he staggered and jumped into the reeds, disappearing from sight.
The four archers hiding in the reeds were encased in a thick layer of frost, like they had donned white armor, frozen in place.
Peter's expression changed dramatically; he struggled to move, the ice shards cracking and falling to the ground.
"Qingtong, you actually attacked me?!" Peter questioned, his face as cold as ice.
Qingtong retorted sharply, "Anyone who lays a hand on Charlie is my enemy!"
Peter glared at her, coldly stating, "Don't think just because someone likes you that everyone should cater to you! I advise you to be more polite to me, or else…"
The Ghesta brothers stepped behind Qingtong, their voices deep and threatening, "Or else what?! I really don't believe you can kill us all! There are over twenty apprentices here, and four of them are already on the brink of death! I'd like to see what kind of storm you, a Crystal Badge apprentice, can stir in the academy! If you're brave enough, give it a shot! Let's see if Mr. Ferinand is willing to tolerate your slaughter of Lady Angelina's prized student!"
Peter sneered, "I wouldn't dare to touch Qingtong, but killing you is certainly within my means!"
"You!" David's face flushed with anger, wanting to rush forward but being held back tightly by Colin.
At that moment, Charlie was stumbling through the reeds, blood spilling everywhere. His face was pale, his body cold, and he felt a burning pain in his chest, accompanied by an uncomfortable sense of suffocation.
The chip in his mind continuously emitted warnings: "Host has lost over 930 milliliters of blood. Please stop the bleeding as soon as possible! Otherwise, it will affect physical capabilities!"
Under normal circumstances, losing over 800 milliliters of blood in adults can cause symptoms such as pale complexion, cold sweat, cold hands and feet, and rapid breathing, while losing 1500 milliliters could lead to insufficient blood supply to the brain, resulting in blurred vision, confusion, or even unconsciousness.
His physical state had reached a critical point that needed immediate attention, but thankfully, there were no sounds of pursuit behind him. It seemed his companions had bought him some time.
Peter was a cold, ruthless person, decisively inclined towards killing—far from the frivolous nature of Daniel. His appearance had brought oppressive pressure and pain to Charlie, marking his first defeat; he had never been pushed to this extent by another apprentice before.
Very well! I'll remember this!!
Charlie leaned to the side, toppling a patch of reeds. Once he steadied himself, he reached behind his shoulder, a cruel smile forming on his face as he gritted his teeth.
Ah!
Charlie suddenly snapped the arrow shaft, the arrowhead crushing his wound, sending a wave of tearing pain through him. But he wasn't done; he gripped the arrowhead and pulled it out of his body.
Instantly, blood gushed forth, staining his shirt front. Charlie gasped for breath, a wave of dizziness washing over him. The chip sent another serious warning: if Charlie's condition didn't improve, the chip would enter sleep mode, and that would be truly disastrous, as he still depended on it to evade pursuit.
Struggling, Charlie rummaged through his backpack, pulling out various potions. He didn't care about conservation now; he used everything he could find—this was Charlie's advantage.
He downed potions for basic strength, agility, and stamina recovery, along with the Eagle Eye potion and the Tranquil Mind potion, each bottle consumed in rapid succession.
Healing potions were applied both internally and externally, sprinkled on his wounds as a disinfectant.
He gulped down two bottles of mana restoration potion, feeling his drained mana pool slowly recover at a perceivable speed. Charlie cast several healing spells on himself: "Holy Light Flicker," "Natural Healing," "Rain of Recovery."
A halo the size of a fingernail flickered on his shoulder, with faint golden, light green, and grayish-white mists. The holy light, nature, and water worked according to their own rhythms to repair the wound. Under the multiple stimuli of potions and magic, the bleeding from Charlie's shoulder quickly stopped, the gaping wound gradually closing, sending waves of itchiness through his shoulder as feeling returned.
Charlie let out a sigh of relief and commanded in his mind, "Display my personal status."
"Host Charlie, the Princen Coefficient is as follows:Strength: 0.98+2.1Agility: 0.72+1.5Mental Power: 370+20Mental Power Growth Rate: 0.6/hourStamina: 0.22Stamina Recovery: +0.05/minutePhysique: 0.56Personal Mana Pool: 21.4Mana Recovery Rate: +6/minuteShadow Affinity: 2Shadow Resistance: 3Water Element Affinity: 2Dark Vision: +3."
Except for mental power, all attributes had notably dropped, especially stamina, which was nearly exhausted. However, the magical potions provided a powerful boost, with fixed attributes like strength, agility, and physique recovering slowly with rest and food. Stamina and mana, being consumable attributes, would recover at a faster rate due to the effects of the potions.
Then, Charlie began to investigate why Daniel had been tracking him. Jerry must have placed some sort of mark on him, allowing the enemy to pinpoint his location in the dark night.
Charlie focused his mental energy to explore his backpack, examining each item without missing any details, going over it again and again. Eventually, he found something unusual on one of the potion bottles.
The Tranquil Mind potion, which was the most valuable potion provided by Mentor Anthony, emitted some magical fluctuations capable of masking certain magical marks. If one didn't scrutinize closely, they would never notice the dark red magical mark at the bottom of the bottle, continuously radiating magical energy at a specific frequency.
"Good job! Nice attention to detail!" Charlie couldn't help but applaud Jerry's caution. If given the chance, he would personally send him on his way. After experiencing all sorts of situations on the first day, Charlie was gradually adapting to the brutal competitive relationships among apprentices.
Charlie carefully went through everything again and confirmed there was only one magical tracking mark on him. He placed the bottle into his pocket—since someone had set a trap for him, it was only fair that he returned the favor.
After clearing the mark, he began to check the spoils he had taken from Daniel. Through
the dim light of the illumination spell, he spotted a gray cloak. It felt icy to the touch, thin and soft, yet elastic, resembling the leather of some creature.
Generally, high-grade equipment requires activation through mental energy to reveal its information and mark its ownership. If one cannot dispel the mark, even if they have acquired the equipment, they cannot use it. Many wizard's items possess a soul-binding characteristic, making them exclusive to the owner, and typically, no one else can covet them.
Charlie closed his eyes to sense the traces of this cloak and quickly located the mark that Daniel had left within it. He channeled his mental energy to envelop this mark and forcefully dispel it.
A new mental mark appeared on the cloak's lining, flickering for a few moments before disappearing, followed by a rush of information flooding into Charlie's mind.
"Blizzard's Magic Cloak," Exceptional grade, Equipment Level 31, crafted from Abyss Lizard skin, partially shields against mental detection, Fire Resistance +10, Shadow Resistance +15, additional inscriptions "Concentration in Casting" and "Clarity," Equipment Skill "Blizzard's Magic Shield," absorbing a certain amount of physical and magical damage, usable twice daily.
He already owned two pieces of exceptional gear; although their attributes might not surpass those of this cloak, what was this "Equipment Level"? The gnarled wooden staff didn't have a similar description, but Charlie didn't have the time to discern these differences.
Seeing the complete description of this equipment, Charlie was momentarily taken aback, a wave of excitement surging within him. This was an unexpected gain! It also indirectly explained the confusion he had regarding his battle with Daniel.
No wonder no matter how Charlie bombarded Daniel with magic, he couldn't interrupt his casting; no wonder Charlie felt that the Fireball spell had only a mediocre effect on him; and no wonder he had nearly exhausted his mana pool, using no less than seven spells before breaking that shield.
Unfortunately, the magical shield had already been used twice, and its equipment skill was in a dim state, unable to be activated.
Charlie didn't hesitate to drape it over his shoulders; he had to admit that the feeling of walking with the wind was quite delightful. He had already rested for over ten minutes, and his pursuers had not caught up, suggesting they had run into some trouble.
Charlie was not one to remain passive; it was time to fight back. Peter certainly didn't expect that he would return to confront them that very night!