Chapter 16: Every Mage Has a Melee Dream

At dawn, as the sunrise began, the remaining night faded, leaving a touch of obscurity. A sturdy cedar boat cut through the dim mist over the sea and washed ashore on a sandy beach.

Arrived!

Luo En on the boat looked up at the silhouette of a deserted island ahead, his spirits lifted. He immediately jumped off the deck, grabbed the rope, and tied the boat to a nearby rock. He moved to higher ground to look into the distance.

The island, no more than a dozen square kilometers, lay within his wide field of view from above.

The island was relatively desolate and narrow, surrounded by piles of grotesque, jutting rocks. There was almost no vegetation or animals, and one could faintly detect a strong scent of sulfur.

As a place to live, it was indeed quite shabby and barren; but as a hunting ground, it couldn't be more perfect.

Because this was an island recently formed by the accumulation of debris that had emerged following an underwater volcanic eruption.

It was not marked on any sea chart, so naturally, there was little chance of intruders disturbing the peace.

Moreover, these new volcanic rock islands often did not last long before disintegrating under the onslaught of waves and underwater currents, sinking back into the sea—a spot that spared one the trouble of cleaning up and erasing traces.

Throughout history, many islands that suddenly appeared and disappeared were of this same nature.

Having inspected his secret base prepared in advance, Luo En nodded with satisfaction. He chose a relatively elevated and secluded area along the coast, and then casually scattered a handful of Two-legged Flying Dragon teeth, which he had collected, onto the land in front of him.

A dozen dagger-sized, ghostly white dragon teeth scattered on the ground began to take root on their own. Like seeds bursting with vitality, they frantically absorbed the magic power from the earth and air, growing rapidly, twisting, and transforming into bony soldiers with slight draconic features, silently standing before Luo En, awaiting his commands.

The Spartos, dragon-tooth warriors, are a widely-known summoning secret technique in Greek magic. Derived from dragon material, they are much harder, more flexible, and have better magic conductivity than ordinary skeletons and departed souls, making them reliable servants.

Luo En's summoning skills were not all that profound, but his talent for utilizing dragon-tooth warriors seemed astonishing.

Of course, this was probably a gift of his bloodline.

Legend has it that the hero Cadmus, during his quest to find his sister Europa who was abducted by Zeus, killed Ares' poison dragon. The Goddess of Wisdom, Athena, instructed Cadmus to overturn the earth and plant the dragon's teeth in the ground.

Afterward, the dragon teeth sown in the earth became a fully-armed army of warriors. These warriors fought each other, and the last surviving five were called "Spartos," meaning "sown," hence the forebears of the dragon-tooth warriors.

These dragon-tooth warriors helped Cadmus establish the city described in the Apollo's oracle and, by divine decree, named it Thebes—Luo En's nominal hometown.

Therefore, summoning dragon-tooth warriors could be regarded as a talent passed down from his ancestors.

Thanks to this bloodline gift, even with ordinary Two-legged Flying Dragon teeth and his own gold-rank level, Luo En was able to summon a silver-rank squad of dragon-tooth warriors as his vassals.

These servants might not count for much on the Sea of Okeanos, but as labor, they were more than suitable.

"Get to work."

As soon as the dozen or so dragon-tooth warriors had formed, Luo En waved his hand and issued his command.

Suddenly, the dragon-tooth warriors split into two groups. One headed towards the shore to transport the large and small supplies from the ship's cabin, while the other stayed to drive stakes into the ground, beginning the construction of a campsite with multiple purposes such as a rest area, a defense post, and a magic workshop.

These indefatigable, tireless laborers completed the task impressively in just two or three hours and then stood on guard near the campsite awaiting orders.

Looking at the sun, which had not yet reached its zenith, Luo En stretched his body and began leisurely to inventory his previous acquisitions from the big and small dozen or so packages.

In terms of magic potions, he had 10 bottles of energy tonic, 7 coagulants, 5 bottles each of paralysis and weakness potions, 6 bottles of lethal poison…and two jars of Hygieian Porridge which he didn't quite know how to evaluate...

In terms of materials, there were 32 gems, 18 of which had been used, inscribed with magic arrays, and 14 which were unused raw stones.

Additionally, there were 12 mature Mandrake, three bottles of mint oil for meditative mosquito repelling, a few Dragon Teeth and Dragon Scales, and some other miscellaneous items such as herbs, ores, dried food, and clean water to carry...

Finally, on the equipment side:

Four Rune Rings, a bronze longsword, a dusty breastplate, a bronze hunting bow, and two quivers of Bronze Arrows...

Looking at the strategic reserves that filled his vision, Luo En's unconsciously raised lips sketched a pleased curve, and his mind couldn't help but project the image of a Great Witch, waking up to find her small vault plundered, lying on the ground crying and making a scene in her pathetic state.

Indeed, these were the gold coins that the dear Enchantress teacher had given him before she left.

After all, Luo En had almost lost his entire savings during the chess bet with Hecate.

But the "Rite of Ascension" to Demigod was already strung on the bow, ready to be released.

After much thought, a certain unscrupulous good student simply set his sights on Circe.

There was no help for it, there were only two bosses on the entire Aiaia Island that could drop equipment.

He was definitely no match for the Goddess of the Underworld Moon, Hecate, and wasn't sure about setting a trap either.

For the benefit of the students, he had to sacrifice his Enchantress teacher a bit.

All these were to be taken as a bit of spiritual compensation for the many years she had tormented him to near death.

While justifying his unscrupulous behavior to himself, Luo En familiarized himself with the new equipment he had smoothly taken from Circe.

When it comes to weapons, the feel is very important.

If a mistake were to happen during the upcoming actions because of this, it would be both stupid and fatal.

After a simple test, Luo En had a general understanding of the few pieces of equipment he had acquired.

The four rings each possessed protective, offensive, concealing, and recovery effects, and the gems embedded on the outside were each infused with magic power of the four basic elements of water, fire, earth, and air, forming a perfect cycle in secret, allowing the user to significantly amplify their manipulation of Hermes Script.

Evidently, this was a complete set of magical gear, with the excellent performance and belonged to Circe's treasured collection.

As for items like the bronze longsword, breastplate, bronze hunting bow, and the two quivers of bronze arrows, their specific origins were indiscernible, and they still bore some rust and battle damage, clearly having quite a history.

They were most likely high-quality gear that fell into the sea after a battle among gods or a major conflict then were inadvertently picked up by Circe as part of her collection.

But because they were of no use to her and she lacked interest, Circe had not repaired them, simply allowing them to lay in her warehouse gathering dust.

Now, most of the Rune augmentation on the surface and the spirit within the weapons had been lost.

Yet even so, these items still possessed the quality of gold, allowing Luo En to fully utilize his own combat abilities.

Such a waste of treasures made Luo En quite regretful.

After all, every Mage has a dream of close combat, especially an unconventional sorcerer like him.

As long as they were usable, that was fine; the rest could wait for later.

With a swing of the bronze longsword in his hands, the blade made a low woosh as it sliced through the air, and Luo En's deep gaze stretched towards the expansive and profound Sea of Occhanos.

Everything was ready, the hunt was about to begin!