The apprentices had just backed away when the ground on which they previously stood began to crack and trees collapsed; the monster composed of slime and rotting matter grew larger and taller, expanding swiftly to the height of nearly a two-story building, transforming into a bloated mud giant.
A tremendous presence emanated from the mud giant.
This time, the six companions undoubtedly faced a tough opponent.
“There’s such a powerful element monster here, surely some laboratory must have leaked high-energy particles.”
“Silence, don’t speak recklessly.”
No sooner had someone started to complain than Cody immediately stopped him.
As apprentices, sorcerers’ affairs were never theirs to question.
‘Secondary Energy Fireball’
Stabilizing his footing, 3rd Class apprentice Hayden was the first to launch a magic attack, forming a fireball over one meter in diameter, hurling it at the now-static swamp mud monster; the burning fireball exploded on its body.
The fireball burst.
The flames and mud splashed around, forcing the apprentices to step back a few paces involuntarily.
“No use, the mud layer is too thick, such a spell can’t harm the swamp mud monster,” said Hayden helplessly, as his fireball crashed into the flowing mud like a fist hitting a sponge.
As the mud flowed, the scorch marks made by the Fireball Technique were rapidly erased by the corrosive mud monster.
The swamp mud monster, enraged by the fireball, roared grotesquely through its yet unbeautifully-formed features, spitting out one mud ball after another directed at Hayden.
“Bang Bang Bang.”
Hayden easily dodged; the mud balls hit the ground, leaving evident corrosive marks on the impacted areas, likely containing some type of corrosive acid.
After one round of attacks, the characteristics of the swamp mud monster became apparent: strong defense and quick recovery were its advantages, while its drawbacks were clumsiness and slow movement.
Under Cody’s command, the other four dispersed around the swamp mud monster, continuously launching attacks to further confirm its traits.
The four together launched frost and cold attacks; frost spread across the body of the swamp mud monster, greatly hindering its movement but not completely restricting it.
Under the effect of the frost, the swamp mud monster appeared as if clad in a layer of ice armor, leaving the apprentices helpless.
“This monster must be the bane of the rapid wood silkworm.”
Ivan, searching for opportunities in the background, realized he had no means to deal with the swamp mud monster himself. The rapid wood silkworm he had high hopes for was particularly ineffective against such creatures, suggesting he needed to learn other spells quickly.
In the distance, Mellie also stayed back, her only means of attacking the mud monster being the strong bow, which would hardly be effective under these circumstances.
As the ice armor dispersed, the swamp mud monster, further provoked by the apprentices, transformed its flowing mud into two huge hands, thrusting one after the other into the air and slapping down towards the apprentices around it.
Cody and the others had already dodged in advance.
The giant palms hit the ground, and the impacted area corroded into two irregular palm prints, with nearby mud splashing around.
‘Secondary Tornado’
In the most furious moment of the swamp mud monster’s attack, Cody seized the opportunity and decisively executed his signature spell.
A whirlwind landed on the forward-leaning body of the swamp mud monster at its midsection, picking up mud and leaves, instantly forming a unique tornado, continuously pulling at the mud on the body of the monster.
Seeing this, the other three apprentices launched their spells, bombarding different parts of the monster’s body.
Ivan and Mellie, positioned on the periphery, stepped forward involuntarily. Discover more content at empire
In just a few seconds, the swamp mud monster’s body had slimmed by half and continued to dwindle.
At that moment, a strong flow started inside the monster’s body, a high-energy mass surged from the upper to the lower part of its body.
It was the core of the swamp mud monster!
All six people present realized one thing, this was a perfect opportunity.
Cody, who was maintaining the tornado, couldn’t free his hands, and the other three had just cast their spells and needed a few seconds.
Mellie drew her strong bow and shot an arrow.
Ivan didn’t hesitate and casually took out three disposable runes. He slapped a “Sharpness Rune” on the tip of the sword and two “Freezing Ice Runes” on the middle and back sections of the blade, enchanting the longsword with three runes in an instant.
He threw the longsword forward.
The longsword, with its unusual sharpness and chilling aura, pierced into the body of the swamp mud monster, penetrating directly toward that surging energy core, and in the blink of an eye, it disappeared into the mud.
The next second, the swamp mud monster emitted a terrified roar. Frost formed from the inside out, freezing the surrounding mud into chunks and shattering into icy debris.
The enormous body of the swamp mud monster began to collapse rapidly.
“Scatter.”
Seeing this, the apprentices quickly stepped back to avoid being hit by the falling mud.
The swamp mud monster was dead, leaving the nearby area a complete mess.
“Given the growth rate of the vegetation here, it won’t take two months to return to its original state,” Cody motioned toward the place where the swamp mud monster fell, and the wind carried a clump of objects toward the group.
A layer of thin ice enveloped a clump of viscous frozen liquid with half a cracked sword sticking out.
The broken sword was the longsword that Ivan had just thrown.
“This is the core of the swamp mud monster, and you could exchange it at the academy’s purchase office for probably twenty to thirty magic stones. Ivan, it seems you used three disposable runes just now, worth about twenty magic stones. Maybe—”
As Cody spoke, he glanced at the others, guessing that Ivan, being a new apprentice, definitely lacked in magic stones and shouldn’t be spending so much.
Before anyone else could speak, Ivan refused his kind offer. “It’s okay, I am an enchanter, and it was a good test of the runes I made myself, killing two birds with one stone.”
“Were those your first runes you made yourself?”
“Yes, I just made them recently.”
Cody knew his situation well and looked at him differently after hearing this.
Cody joked, “It seems we might seek your help for making magicalized items in the future.”
Ivan humbly responded, “I’m far from it, currently I can only make disposable runes, nothing else.”
Cody pretended not to hear that. You’ve barely been at the academy for long. If you could make magicalized items now, then we’ve been studying here for nothing.
The other three didn’t know Ivan well and were indifferent, but Mellie, who had enrolled at the same time, felt differently. When she was the head senior at Cassia Swordsmanship Hall, Ivan was just an apprentice who wasn’t even a 1st Class knight’s page.
She hadn’t expected that in less than a year, he would have progressed far beyond her, which made Mellie grip her broad sword tighter.
The appearance of the swamp mud monster was just an episode on their patrol route; they still had to continue their patrol mission.
On the fourth night of patrolling, Ivan had been back in the dormitory for three hours.
Under the light of the fire, he was immersed in potion crafting, and the potion in the glass vessel had reached a crucial moment, turning clear and sparkling shortly after.
“Done.”
He stared at the glass vessel in front of him, where a stream of ink-like potion remained undispersed, rotating slowly in the clear water, so smooth and comfortable. This was Magic Crystal Water.
Compared to Magic Stone Water, the Magic Crystal Water was darker, and its smooth, slick surface looked like a swirling black eel.
This was his fifth time crafting it, after consuming another 2nd Class Light of Wisdom yesterday, he had finally succeeded today, making it the most difficult potion he had ever crafted.
After the potion cooled, Ivan transferred the Magic Crystal Water into a small glass bottle, completing one batch.
After meticulously examining it for a while and finding no errors, he began meditation to restore his mental power, intending to directly consume the Magic Crystal Water to enhance his own power once his mental power had restored.