Soon, the magicalized wild beasts revealed their true forms, with pairs of glowing green eyes appearing in the jungle. They were a type of carrion-eating Hyena, small in stature, with teeth and claws carrying toxins.
A flock of night crows flew out from above the jungle. Night crows are nearly thirty centimeters in length, and their mutated variant, the Shadow Night Crow, is quite famous and has been taken as a magic pet by many apprentices and sorcerers.
Normally, given the strong aura of Ivan and the others, the average magicalized wild beast would choose to stay away. However, the carrion-eating Hyenas and night crows, two unrelated groups, unusually banded together and targeted them.
From the two kinds of magicalized wild beasts, Ivan could feel an extraordinary wildness from afar, which must be what Wolban referred to as ‘Beast Rampage.’ Your next chapter is on empire
The night crows approached first, but Ivan calmly pulled out a vial of dark red potion and murmured a chant.
He cast ‘Spirit Infusion Skill’ on the vial, and a wisp of spiritual energy emerged, transforming into an insect-like shape and burrowed into the vial.
“Poof.”
With a light pop, the vial’s stopper flew off, and the dark red potion drifted out, instantly turning into a blood-colored pigeon about one meter and sixty centimeters in length, with a sharp beak and talons both of blood color.
The blood-colored pigeon flapped its wings joyfully, as if celebrating its rebirth.
This was a summoned puppet creature, a combination of Shaping Skill, Spirit Infusion Skill, and Enchantment techniques, into which he had put much thought. The blood-colored pigeon’s strongest attack could reach eight graduated degrees, and a typical claw strike would have five or six degrees.
This was the first time he had deployed it in an actual combat test.
“Go.”
At Ivan’s command, the blood-colored pigeon flapped its wings vigorously and rushed towards the approaching night crows. It met one head-on and pecked it to death, then tore another to pieces with its talons, displaying its ferocity.
“Not bad at all, I’ll handle the ground,” Gina said, standing by his side, also pulling out a potion vial. The potion transformed into a three-meter-long ink-colored blood wolf that exuded an aura even stronger than that of the blood-colored pigeon. She commanded the blood wolf to fight for her.
The blood-colored pigeon protected the sky while the blood wolf guarded the ground, fending off the night crows and Hyenas that approached the two of them.
The spell had been passed down by Randall. As long as the magic-casting materials were prepared in advance, the materials would contain energy, and the expenditure in combat would be relatively small.
Of course, this unique spell could be applied not only in combat.
While the two of them were employing their techniques against the enemy, the other apprentices were not idle either, casting various spells in a controlled manner that kept the magicalized wild beasts from getting within four to five meters of them.
‘Lightning Cloud Jump’
At that moment, Wolban cast a spell with powerful energy fluctuations. The sky above changed rapidly, and in a blink of an eye, it was covered with dark clouds, within which lightning danced continuously. The night crows enveloped in those clouds immediately suffered greatly.
Ivan and Gina exchanged glances, gesturing to call back their summoned creatures, which reverted back into vials of potion, now noticeably more diluted in concentration.
Sure enough, as clear thunderclaps sounded above, thin streaks of lightning leapt from the clouds, striking the night crows flying around as well as the Hyenas on the ground, killing them with a single blow.
This demonstrated the power of Wolban’s spell.
Ivan secretly did some calculations—the random bolts of electricity that leapt out should have eight graduated degrees, and at full power, they could probably reach twelve or thirteen degrees. Such a dangerous spell must have been developed by Wolban himself.
He couldn’t help but touch the inner part of his sleeve, where there was a bracelet with a small tag hanging from it. The tag was the ‘Green Tree Star’ shield, which made him feel much more at ease.
“After I finish learning the newly purchased spells, I must allocate time to develop my own powerful spells, and put together a tactical system that suits me,” a strong thought emerged in his mind.
The spells available for sale in the academy are all basic Level 0 magic, none of which are particularly powerful in attack. Fully developed, these spells do not exceed ten graduated degrees at most.
Most 3rd Class apprentices often optimize and develop their personal powerful spells on top of the basic ones, using them as their secret weapons and usual tactics. The spell Wolban just cast should have come about this way, although such spells consume a considerable amount of energy.
In a short time, under the relentless assault of lightning, both night crows and hyenas were dispatched.
“Look, there is indeed a pattern.”
Ivan and Gina gathered around the corpse of a hyena, examining the inexplicable black lines behind the animal’s skull—merely a few thin segments, disconnected and shapeless, with no traces of engraving, as if they had grown directly onto the skin.
With just a few scattered lines, the chance of discerning anything specific was very low.
The patterns on the skulls of the other hyenas were much of a muchness, and the night crow’s head had them too, only even more indistinct, defying further speculation.
The four members from the Enchantment Group observed for a moment, then shook their heads in frustration.
Afterward, Ivan used the ‘Draw-in Skill’ on the dead night crow, pulling streams of blood-colored mist into the test tube until the liquid inside returned to its original concentration.
They left the blood-soaked area, finding another spot where nothing witless came to cause trouble.
A new day began, and everyone mounted the eight-legged beasts to continue on their journey, soon arriving at their destination—Swamp Forest City, a mid-sized city with its gates firmly shut and squads of guards patrolling the walls.
“We are sorcerer apprentices from Mongna Ant Land Cottage, summon your City Lord to meet with us.”
Seeing the figures in apprentice robes below, a guard promptly reported to the city lord, then some opened the gate to welcome the group into the city.
Inside the city, the houses near the city gate had their doors and windows shut tight, and there were few pedestrians on the streets, presenting a desolate scene.
“My lords, we apologize for the trouble of coming all the way from the Sorcerers Academy; our negligence is truly regrettable,” the guards said.
“Lady Heidi, Lord Wolban, I am very pleased to see you again. Your arrival finally puts my heart at ease,” they continued.
Shortly, City Lord Simmons Albe arrived with his entourage, the aging man clad in Knight’s leather armor showing clear signs of fatigue on his face, likely harried by recent events.
He was accompanied by his eldest son, Nelsey, and his second son, Matthew.
Wolban glanced at Heidi, and seeing no directive from her, spoke up, “There’s no need for such formalities, just take us to see the infected people.”
Simmons looked at the gathering of apprentices, his expression troubled, “But—we haven’t properly welcomed you yet.”
Heidi said, “First, we address the problem.”
Seeing her take charge, Simmons had no choice but to lead them deep into the city to the cells where the infected were confined.
“The prison’s defenses are robust. To prevent them from harming others in their frenzy, we had no choice but to capture and place them inside,” Simmons cautiously explained, though no one cared about that.
They came across a row of clean cells, occupied by men and women, old and young, robust individuals who saluted upon seeing City Lord Simmons, seeming no different from normal people, yet they were the ones the city lord referred to as having gone mad after contracting the plague.