Sarah’s brows furrowed tightly, the gravity in her eyes nearly taking tangible form.
This was absolutely not a simple monster mutation—there had to be a deeper secret lurking behind all this.
What’s more, the goblin chief in armor had yet to make a move, setting off loud alarm bells in her heart.
“Don’t get distracted!” Sarah’s cool, crisp voice snapped everyone out of their shock. “The goblins on the right have already charged in while our attention was elsewhere!”
At her words, Emma and Luke instantly forced down their horror and readied themselves for battle.
Emma was the first to raise her staff, chanting a series of buffing incantations. Gentle, pure light descended upon Sarah—“Agility Boost,” “Accelerated Mana Recovery,” “Elemental Perception Enhancement”…
A succession of support spells quickly took effect, restoring Sarah’s energy depleted by casting a Tier Four spell and even making her aura stronger than before.
Without hesitation, Emma cast the same buffs on Izar and Luke as well.
Feeling the warm power coursing through his body and his movements becoming lighter, Luke’s spirits soared.
“Hey! My turn!” Luke shouted, the [Fire Element Amplifying Gloves]—personally modified and enchanted by Izar—on his hands lighting up with intricate red patterns.
He drew on his surging fire magic, forming seals with his hands in front of his chest as blazing fire elements converged madly.
“Tier Three Spell—Explosion Flare!”
A massive, scorching fireball over a meter in diameter roared forth like a miniature sun, unleashing terrifying heat as it smashed squarely into the charging goblin horde on the right.
“Boom!”
A violent explosion echoed, flames shooting skyward, the fierce blast wave scattering all the debris around.
Several ordinary goblins caught in the blast center vaporized in an instant, not even leaving a trace behind—too fast for them to utter a scream.
Those on the edge were set alight by the scorching gusts and flying flames, shrieking in agony. Even a C-rank elite goblin, who tried blocking with a spiked club, was blown staggering back, its arm charred, face contorted in a near-human expression of terror—testament to a force far surpassing ordinary Tier Three spells.
Sarah witnessed the scene, her eyes flashing with admiration. She sincerely praised, “Luke, the power of your Tier Three fire spell already surpasses mages of the same level. In terms of sheer burst, you could almost rival Rhea back when she was Tier Three.”
Receiving such praise from Sarah, Luke floated a little with pride. He grinned and was about to brag, “That’s right! This is all thanks to I—”
Before the “zar” could leave his lips, a hand shot out from beside him and clamped his mouth shut.
Izar had somehow slipped close, a “gentle” smile on his face but eyes as cold as glacial ice, whispering a warning in Luke’s ear, “Think carefully before you speak.”
The look froze Luke’s bones, instantly sobering him. He hurriedly changed his tune, his voice rising several octaves: “…This is all the result of my relentless, day-and-night special training! Yeah! Special training!”
He wiped away imaginary sweat from his brow as he spoke, unable to hide his guilt.
During this short interlude, another wave of goblins—under the cover of the shaman’s buff magic—charged forward, fearless and ferocious.
This time, they seemed to have learned: instead of rushing in as a group, they split up, using the terrain and their comrades’ corpses as cover, inching closer.
Luke didn’t dare slack off. While waiting for Explosion Flare’s cooldown, he quickly switched spells—his hands swept out, and a blazing [Wall of Fire] erupted from the ground, blocking the goblins’ advance and buying his team some precious breathing space.
However, on the right flank, almost all the firepower rested on him alone.
Though Emma’s mana recovery and buffs flowed steadily, Luke still felt enormous pressure dealing with these goblins who attacked in waves and retreated with discipline.
Mana drained rapidly. His mind needed to stay razor-sharp. Fine sweat broke out across his brow.
He stole a glance to the side, seeing Izar still calmly hiding behind Emma with a look of “serious battlefield observation.”
Izar even piped up with “encouragement” from time to time: “Luke, to the left! Watch that one with the bow!” “Nicely done! Keep it up!”
Luke felt bitter. He couldn’t help but wail, “Senior Izar! Are you just going to watch? Aren’t you going to help your dearest junior who’s being mobbed?”
His voice brimmed with grievance and a hundred percent pitifulness, his gaze as woeful as an abandoned puppy.
Izar blinked, giving a perfect touch of helplessness and a hint of “embarrassment,” spreading his hands: “I’d love to help, but you know, my elemental affinity is a pitiful five percent. I can only manage a few weak Tier Two spells, and even then, I doubt they could scratch the hide of those elite goblins. There’s really nothing I can do to help you…”
His voice grew softer and softer, sounding especially “sincere” and “powerless.”
In reality, Izar had dozens of ways to instantly turn the tide.
For example, he could activate the hidden magic formations he’d secretly laid around the village—trapping and killing these goblins would be easy.
Or, he could pull out a few high-grade magic items from that seemingly ordinary, yet wondrous, storage ring of his—items he forged himself, enough to make any goblin suffer.
Or the most direct way: just rush in and brawl.
With his system-boosted [Defense] and [Constitution], the goblins’ attacks wouldn’t even tickle him, while a casual punch from him could turn an elite goblin to pulp.
But—none of these fit his “Stealth Master” core philosophy!
How could he explain the hidden formations and that backpack full of supreme magic gear?
Why would a “non-combatant” and “useless” mage have a body capable of wrestling monsters head-on?
Any of these slip-ups would shatter his hard-maintained “background extra” persona, slapping him with a “suspicious” and “secret powerhouse” label, drawing him into ever more dangerous troubles.
He could never accept that!
Luke was about to break down. He knew some of Izar’s secrets—at least, that Izar was a master of magic formations, could make incredible magic tools, and concocted all kinds of rare yet useful potions.
From his perspective, Izar just needed to toss out one thing—anything—and Luke would be able to handle the situation with ease.
Even just a magic tool, or a potion to temporarily boost mana or stamina, would do!
“Senior Izar, please, just… just help me a little bit…” Luke’s voice quivered on the verge of tears, his expression pitiful to the extreme, as if Izar’s refusal would mean being drowned by goblins in the very next instant.
Seeing Luke’s miserable look, and catching Sarah and Emma—who, while efficiently slaying enemies, were clearly starting to watch this side—Izar realized that any further inaction would draw even more suspicion.
He sighed inwardly, but on the surface, as if moved by Luke’s “sincerity,” he finally “reluctantly” nodded, “All right, all right. Since you’ve worked so hard… I’ll… help just a little bit.”
Instantly, hope blazed in Luke’s eyes—he looked like he’d seen a savior!
Anything at all! Even just one of Izar’s special mana potions!
Their conversation drew the attention of Sarah—still alert for the chief while dealing with the remaining goblins on the left—and Emma, who was focused on keeping up the buffs.
Neither of the girls had ever seen Izar fight. At this moment, their curiosity was piqued, their gazes focusing on the so-called “useless” junior, wanting to see what he could really do.
Izar stepped forward, wearing a look of “solemnity” as if about to unleash a major spell. Slowly, he raised both hands—and around him, five different elemental magics began to gather at once! Crimson fire, deep blue water, vibrant green wind, golden light (lightning), and earthy brown—all five elements shimmered and danced around his hands, drawn in as if by magic.
This sight made Sarah, Emma, and Luke widen their eyes in unison, faces full of shock!
To simultaneously gather five different elemental forces?! What kind of exquisite elemental control did that require?!
Even a prodigy like Sarah, a Tier Five mage, could only stably control two elements at once—and casting two spells at the same time always meant lowering their tier.
For Izar to so casually wield all five basic elements at once—it was unheard of!
“Could it be… Izar is actually a deeply hidden magic genius? Has he been hiding his strength all along?” At that instant, all three had this shocking thought flash through their minds. Their hearts beat faster, eyes fixed on Izar, eager to see what kind of magic he would unleash.
Under their expectant gazes, Izar concentrated for a moment, then finally released his spells—
“Tier Two Spell—Wall of Fire!”
“Tier Two Spell—Water Arrow!”
“Tier Two Spell—Wind Blade!”
“Tier Two Spell—Chain Lightning!”
“Tier Two Spell—Falling Stones!”
With his chant, five different Tier Two spells shot toward the goblin horde on the right.
And then, everyone witnessed a jaw-dropping scene:
That [Wall of Fire] flared up, the flames flickering, but the height didn’t even reach half a meter—let alone blocking goblins, even the shortest ones could hop right over. (Luke’s earlier Wall of Fire had soared to three meters, blazing fiercely.)
The [Wind Blade] he cast was palm-sized, utterly non-threatening. (A normal wind blade would be at least the size of a basin and fast as lightning.)
The [Chain Lightning] arced and flickered, but was as thin as a finger. (Normally, a chain lightning would be as thick as a wrist and blacken a target with one hit.)
The [Water Arrow] was barely half as long as a regular arrow.
The [Falling Stones] summoned were each the size of a fist. (A typical Falling Stones spell would drop basketball-sized boulders with crushing impact.)
These five Tier Two spells, while decent in appearance, delivered a “unique” performance—but the damage was, to put it mildly, miserable…
Sarah: “…”
Emma: “…”
Luke: “………”
Once again, the three stared, their expressions freezing, shifting from shock and anticipation to a complicated mixture of confusion, speechlessness, and “What exactly was I expecting?” self-doubt.
A strange silence descended, broken only by the goblins’ howls and the distant sounds of battle.
Izar looked at his “masterpiece,” and, appearing a bit “embarrassed,” scratched his nose and spoke to the dumbfounded Luke with a “sincere” and apologetic tone:
“You see, I told you… My magic really isn’t very strong.
Sigh, sorry I couldn’t be of much help.”
Luke looked at Izar’s face, full of “innocence” and “remorse,” then at those hilariously feeble spells, and nearly spat blood in frustration.
His earlier hope felt, in retrospect, utterly foolish!
……
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