Chapter 58: The Enemy Approaches

"Bzzz!" 

The mosquito monster erupted in fury as its prized feeding tool—the long proboscis—fell to the ground.

With the mosquito monster enraged, Richard had achieved his goal—drawing its aggro.

"Hiss, I shouldn't use that again."

Richard winced, the powerful strike had cost him dearly—his arm muscles were completely torn. His sword arm was now limp, and without ten minutes or so to recover, it was unusable.

Ten minutes might sound short, but in battle, a fight could be over by then.

Using the Wind Boots and levitation, Richard weaved through the trees, leading the mosquito on a chase through the forest.

The mosquito monster lacked ranged attacks and wasn't too bright, relying purely on physical strength, a hard proboscis, and wings with a hypnotic effect.

Richard found himself almost leisurely evading it.

"Richard!"

At Ellie's call, Richard led the mosquito monster back. But he stopped short as another mark's wave approached.

Someone else was coming.

In an instant, Richard's mind raced; for someone with such a mark to arrive now likely meant trouble.

"Let's test this person's skill with the mosquito."

Thinking quickly, Richard pulled a bottle of alchemical potion from his pouch, smashing it on the ground. A thick, acrid smoke filled the forest.

Using the smoke as cover, Richard crouched with his Cloak of Shadows, listening to the mosquito's buzzing.

With the cloak concealing him, his mark's wave was masked by the new arrival's wave.

Ellie, meanwhile, had sensed the newcomer as well, but unlike Richard, she chose to launch her prepared spell in their direction.

Boom!

A violent explosion rocked the forest.

Watching from the side, Richard shook his head.

Ever since joining Master Susanna, Ellie had taken to greeting with fireballs.

The blast's shockwave dispersed Richard's smoke, but he no longer needed it for concealment.

A bigger target had drawn the mosquito monster's attention.

"Cough, cough… Is greeting with fireballs a new wizard etiquette?"

On one side of the forest, a line of wizard apprentices advanced in an orderly formation, with a blind apprentice with rolled-back eyes watching Richard.

"Soul school's apprentice."

Richard narrowed his eyes, slipping on two rings from his pouch.

Though he already wore a mental protection ring, dealing with soul wizards warranted extra defense.

Soul wizards excelled in mental manipulation—slave seeds, mind control, thought branding—this was their forte.

It could be said that if curse wizards had a bad reputation, soul wizards were downright infamous, causing even dogs to shake their heads.

"You're Richard?"

The blind apprentice greeted Richard.

Before Richard could respond, his ring flared with red light, a sharp pain clearing his mind.

"Damn, trying to mess with my mind at first sight."

Richard's eyes narrowed, a hint of killing intent flashing in his heart.

Meanwhile, Ellie faced her own trouble.

An apprentice accompanied by a flame giant bowed to Ellie.

"Elemental school, Holder."

Ellie returned the gesture, "Elemental school, Ellie."

As fellow elemental school apprentices, Ellie sensed the formidable power of the apprentice before her.

The flame giant's strength was near an advanced apprentice, each move akin to a fire elemental spell. If it exploded, everything within hundreds of meters would be flattened.

How could a mid-level apprentice control such a thing?

"So you're Master Susanna's disciple," Holder frowned slightly.

If Ellie were any other elemental wizard's apprentice, he'd feel no fear. But Ellie was Susanna's apprentice.

Susanna was one of the academy's few dual-discipline wizards, mastering both curses and elemental magic.

His mentor once mentioned Susanna had a spell called Cursed Flame, which, once touched, lingered like a curse, burning both flesh and soul to ash.

He just didn't know if this spell had been passed to Ellie.

...

"Mental protection, alchemy wizards sure are rich," the blind apprentice noted, disappointed by his failed mental attack.

If it had succeeded, a top-three leaderboard spot would be his.

But he wasn't too disheartened; a single mental protection layer was breakable.

Richard remained silent, drawing magic from two stones.

Anger didn't cloud his judgment. Even a lion uses full force against a rabbit, let alone this blind apprentice who wasn't a rabbit.

Staring at the blind apprentice, Richard thought coldly, "I'll feed you to Wuni later."

Above, the mosquito monster circled madly, trapped in an illusion. The blind apprentice looked at it, a hint of regret on his face.

Though easily fooled by illusions, the mosquito's mental power had reached forty points, his own thirty-plus couldn't control it.

If he could, he'd only have Holder as an opponent in this exam.

"Don't be so tense, it was just a joke," the blind apprentice waved, attempting to ease the tension.

But ironically, Richard's mental rings flared again, both this time.

Now the blind apprentice wasn't as indifferent.

"Two mental protection rings! How rich are you?"

He frowned. As a soul apprentice, he loathed encountering wealthy types like Richard, for whom a couple of protective items nullified his spells.

Mental protection items were the aristocrats of magical gear, starting at 3,000 magic stones each. Even self-made ones cost at least 500 stones.

Yet Richard had two.

Alchemy wizards sure were affluent.

And with two mental protectors, Richard likely had other protective gear, and plenty of magic stones. Killing him could yield more than the entire exam.

The blind apprentice licked his lips greedily.

Two mental protections were breakable.

But first, he had to deal with the black-scaled giant, sword in hand, charging to kill him.

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