Instant Casting

With the Wizard down, the interference from his slow spells ceased, and the fireball attacks stopped. The Russell family's knights, now reinvigorated, charged back into the fray, quickly turning the tide of battle. The burly warrior, despite his bear-like strength, couldn't withstand the sheer number of opponents and was soon taken down with two slashes to his legs. The archer had already been knocked unconscious.

The real challenge was the beautiful girl. Though her skills were average, her magically enhanced leather armor made her exceptionally agile. Her scimitar was no ordinary weapon either, as she managed to sever two knights' longswords with it. It took a concerted effort from several knights to finally bring her down, pinning her to the ground with great difficulty.

Freyr took a moment to catch his breath. An anxious knight helped him up and found an undamaged chair for him to sit on. The knights felt ashamed; as his guardians, they had let their young master be frightened, even if he was the neglected one.

But Freyr was unconcerned. He had already assessed the situation: these adventurers were ordinary people. Their combat skills were mediocre at best, and the strongest warrior was just slightly more powerful. Most importantly, none of them were skilled fighters who could use Inner Power, not even at the most basic level. They were just a bunch of third-rate opponents.

However, this situation also highlighted how unloved Freyr was. The twenty knights assigned to protect him were clearly the worst in the Russell household. Twenty men struggled against just four opponents—what a pitiful display.

"It seems my father, the Earl, has truly given up on me, to have assigned such a sorry group as my escort," Freyr thought with a bitter smile.

Freyr took the confiscated weapons and began to examine them closely. He glanced at the warrior's shield and then tossed it aside. Approaching the girl, he carefully studied the leather armor she was wearing. After a while, he exclaimed, "Just as I thought!"

Having delved deeply into numerous books on magical knowledge, Freyr's interest in magic had only grown. He had already identified that the leather armor was imbued with at least two enchantments: one for agility and another for strength.

The value of armor with two enchantments was considerable. Even in the high-end weapon shops of the imperial capital, it would fetch a high price. Many skilled warriors would be willing to pay a large sum for such an item. But how did this average-skilled, pretty girl come to possess such valuable equipment?

On closer inspection, Freyr noticed a special gem embedded in the hilt of her scimitar, resembling a magical power storage tool he had read about. "Hmm, another weapon with magical enhancements."

Even more valuable than the scimitar was the pure silver bow she carried. Silver, being a soft metal, was not suitable for making regular weapons but was excellent for combating Wizards. Many high-level Wizards, to compensate for their poor melee capabilities, would first cast a protective spell on themselves. A pure silver bow could pierce such magical defenses.

Therefore, this rare bow with "magic-breaking" properties was not very useful against ordinary people but was an excellent weapon against Wizards. Freyr couldn't help but glance at the long-legged girl again. For a low-level warrior to possess such high-grade enchanted weapons and a rare magic-breaking weapon was highly unusual.

Freyr kept staring at the girl, leading those present to misunderstand. A teenage boy's gaze fixed on a girl's chest made the men around him exchange knowing looks. "Take off her leather armor," Freyr commanded casually. He was genuinely interested in her magical weapons.

He even felt an urge to find a quiet room immediately to study these items thoroughly, comparing them against his books and verifying his hypotheses. However, the knight receiving the order hesitated. "Uh... respected young master, do you really want to undress her here...?"

The knight's words were somewhat vague, and his expression was ambiguous. Given the girl's seductive curves and exposed cleavage, it was clear she wore little beneath the leather armor, likely just a small undergarment at most.

"Ah." Freyr nodded and came to his senses. "Find her a room and let her undress herself," he said, smiling at the girl. "I have no other intentions, just an interest in your leather armor."

"You damn little brat! If you dare touch me, I'll make sure you..." the girl cursed, feigning fierceness.

Freyr walked up to her, his face stern. He extended a finger and poked her cheek twice, hard. "Oh, I touched you. What are you going to do about it?"

The other three were tied up with ropes, and the burly warrior was even chained with livestock chains, though it was unclear where they found them. As for the girl, after being knocked out by Russell's guards, she was thrown directly into Freyr's room. Since the young master seemed interested in her, the subordinates naturally had to anticipate their master's wishes.

Having examined the magical weapons, Freyr's interest shifted to the Wizard. Stripped of his gray robe, the Wizard stood in front of Freyr in his undergarments, his hands and feet bound with ropes. Initially, he tried to intimidate the young noble. "Do you not fear offending the Magic Society by treating a Wizard this way?"

Freyr slapped him across the face, silencing him immediately.

"If you answer a few questions obediently, I might consider letting you go," Freyr said, sitting in a chair and looking at the disheveled mage. "When you cast spells earlier, I didn't see you chanting. Have you mastered the technique of 'instant casting'?"

This was what intrigued Freyr the most!

From his books, Freyr knew that Wizards needed to chant to cast spells. Of course, there were a few top-tier Wizards who could activate spells with sheer willpower, without chanting—this legendary technique was known as "instant casting." However, such a high-level skill required immense mental strength!

Those who could achieve this were almost exclusively renowned Great Wizards on the continent, certainly not a gray-robed Wizard.

Of course, besides relying on one's abilities to achieve "instant casting," there were other ways to do so, the most common being magical scrolls.