Chapter 59 (1/2)

Chapter 59: Let Magic Roar!

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio  Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Thirty minutes after receiving the letter from the Syndicate, Link, Annie, and the two mercenaries had reached the opening of the Red Leaves Cove on horseback.

It was late fall and the cove was awash with fiery red maple leaves. Weeds and shrubs thronged the spaces between the maple trees. Except for the stream that flowed through the middle of the cove, the whole place was full of nooks and crannies where the thieves of the Syndicate could be lying in wait. If they barged into the cove without prior planning or preparation, just one misstep and they could easily be surrounded and captured.

A narrow, craggy path ran through the middle of the cove. It was too small for the horses to trot on, so they had to dismount their horses and walk from there.

Jacker walked in front with his shield raised, Annie was at Link’s left side, and Gildern walked behind him. As they entered the cove, Link saw a notification popped up on the interface.

New Mission Series Activated: Venomous Snake in the Girvent Forest!

First Mission: Rescue.

Mission Details: Rescue Lucy who was captured and tortured by the Syndicate.

Mission Rewards: 20 Omni Points.

Link accepted the mission without hesitation. He now had 14 Omni Points, while his Mana was almost full at 96 points. His Glass Orbs only consumed 1 Mana point each, and his Level-1 spell Whistle only needed 4 Mana points. All in all, he had more than enough resources to put up a good fight against the Syndicate.

Their visibility in the woods was very limited, so to protect themselves against sneak attacks, Link used the Aura Detection spell on his eyes in order to see everything’s Innate Aura. Non-living things and plants had stable and unmoving auras, but animals and humans were covered in auras that actively moved and vibrated.

The auras that the three people beside him emitted were both intense and energetic. Jacker’s aura was yellow, and it shone the most intensely. This meant that his Combat Aura was the most powerful. Annie’s aura was grey, which came from the energy of shadows that Assassins possessed. But what surprised him the most was Gildern’s luminous green aura, which was the color of the wind element.

Gildern’s green aura was much brighter and more intense than what Link had seen previously. It seemed that even though he hadn’t cast the Hidden Power spell on Gildern yet, he had been practicing his skills according to the Battle Art techniques that Jacker had shared with him. He managed to achieve impressive progress just from that.

After walking for about five minutes, Link saw a flash of aura behind a large boulder that was about 160 feet away—he immediately knew that it was a scout sent by the Syndicate.

The scout was a bit far from them, and he was hiding in an inconspicuous spot, so Annie and the mercenaries did not notice him. Nevertheless, nothing could escape the eyes of a Magician!

Right now, they had absolutely no idea of what to expect in the Red Leaves Cove, but now fate had provided them with someone to interrogate. So Link grabbed the opportunity and began to make the first move. Mana flowed into Link’s wand and it vibrated slightly, then a light blue glass orb started to form.

“Go!” Link pointed the wand at the big boulder, and the glass orb whistled through the air in a high-pitched screech—in less than a second it traversed more than 160 feet. Just before it hit the stone, it changed its trajectory abruptly and circled around the boulder.

Bang! From the distance, they could hear a howl of pain coming from behind the boulder. The Glass Orb had successfully hit its target!

Jacker and Gildern were used to seeing Link’s magic in action by now, so they weren’t stirred by it much. But it was Annie’s first time.

“Link,” she exclaimed, “What was that spell? How could it work at such a huge distance?”

She was much more knowledgeable about magic than the mercenaries, so she knew that normal elemental spells could only work at a distance of no more than 100 to 130 feet, but Link had just unleashed a spell that worked at 200 feet!

“It’s Fireball, but I’ve modified it,” Link explained while signaling the rest to head towards the boulder, “Do you still remember the Dark Elf Magician in Gladstone who cast a spell that worked at a large distance too? I used the same technique he did.”

“Is it Supreme Magical Skill?” asked Annie. She was beginning to understand Link’s powers.

But the more she understood it, the more stunned she was by it. Link must now have a deep understanding of the workings of magic to be able to modify spells with Supreme Magical Skills. Moreover, she knew that the process of modifying a spell, even a Level-0 spell, was arduous and time-consuming. Some Level-6 Magicians might need months to perfect a stable modified spell.

Annie remembered clearly that Link did not have this skill when they were in Gladstone. But it had only been barely more than a month since then and he had managed to achieve such vast progress–what level of talent was she witnessing here? If she had seen Link’s whistle, she would’ve been in for a bigger shock.

Link didn’t have the time to explain, so he only nodded in reply to Annie’s question.

The four checked behind the boulder and saw a man clad in a greyish brown leather armor writhing on the ground in pain. His left arm had been blown off his shoulder by the Glass Orb.