Chapter 106 Fake? (1/2)

The ice didn't hinder the Centaur Knight's movements at all; it merely raised its shield and blocked the shards.

Facing the Centaur Knight's unstoppable charge, the heavily-armored Swordsman was also forced back.

But the moment he turned around retreated a few steps back, his fate was already decided.

The heavily-armored Swordsman lifted his sword, intending to counterattack. Suddenly, a towering shadow loomed over him. When he looked over his shoulders, he saw the Centaur Knight's huge body just a few centimeters away from his face!

Sh*t!!

That was the last thing he could remember saying before his mind was sent into a whirl. The Centaur Knight smashed its shield into his chest and sent him flying, landing on the ground a few moments later. All he could do now was moan in agony while clutching his stomach.

He was out of the battle.

”Andon!”

The Ranger who was about to attack apparently didn't expect that his comrade to fall in one hit. As a result, he panicked and released an arrow towards the Centaur Knight before quickly backing off. Their original plan was to let the Swordsman hold the Centaur Knight's attention while the other three would find opportunities to attack. Alas, the plan hadn't lasted ten seconds before it shattered. The Ranger wasn't ready for such a drastic change in the plan at its initial stages, so he could only back off and think of other options.

At that moment, the Thief who had been concealing himself also made his move.

If he knew that Andon would fail so miserably, he would've hesitated and retreated like the Ranger. But it was too late as, by the time he attacked, Andon had already been knocked out. In a blink of an eye, his outcome was decided.

An intense wave of pain swept through the Thief's body. The Centaur Knight kicked backward using its two hind legs, stamping two black hoof prints on his chest. After that, the Thief was no different from the Swordsman and was left groaning on the ground.

If the Centaur Knight hadn't held back its strength, perhaps his ribcage would already have been shattered.

With two down, the Centaur Knight now shifted his attention to Randolf and rushed towards him.

”Lapis!”

Randolf quickly pulled his bow and yelled. He shot another arrow towards the Centaur Knight's chest, but its armor deflected it easily. The girl who Randolf shouted at recovered from her shock and grabbed another flask before throwing it onto the ground in front of Randolf.

On the surface, nothing seemed to have changed. But when the Centaur Knight galloped near Randolf, its huge body halted abruptly and tilted forward. Because of the inertia, the Centaur Knight ended in an awkward position; its two front hooves were stuck in the ground as though it was made out of mud. It began struggling wildly, but its legs sunk deeper into the ground the more it tried to move.

”That is indeed Elemental Fusion.”

Marlene said as she propped her chin with her fingers. She stared at the girl curiously with a glimmer of delight.

”That's strange... since she has already learned about Elemental Fusion, why would she use such elementary spells?”

When Rhode caught Marlene talking to herself, he chose to stay silent. He was also paying close attention to the girl named Lapis. As for the matter Marlene was thinking about, Rhode naturally knew her doubts.

Typically, when someone manages to reach the level of Elemental Fusion, it means that his or her ability is comparable to that of a full-fledged Alchemist. Alchemists were able to produce magic items and cast low-tier spells via concoction, but Lapis hadn't shown any magic instruments nor used any low-tier spells. All she did was imitate apprentice-level spells. Although her spells were passable, other than in training, there was no point for her to store these spells in flasks as they could be learned easily.

The purpose of alchemy was to make complicated things easier, but all Lapis was doing was making it more complicated.

As for the level of this alchemy, not only could Marlene passively ignore it, it could also be blocked by Lize's barrier. Rather than wasting time to concoct the spells into a flask, wasn't it better to use her Ranger skills?

When the two of them were still trying to figure out her intentions, the battle had already been decided.

Although they took the Centaur Knight by surprise, Randolf still didn't manage to win. When the Centaur Knight realized that it couldn't leave the trap, it hurled its spear at Randolf when he least expected it. As Randolf was in the midst of nocking his arrow, he didn't manage to react in time and was the third person to be sent flying.

Lapis, being the last one standing, knew that her brother was in a difficult position. She once again tried to attack the enemy by using alchemy, but her performance made Rhode and Marlene sigh at the same time.

The Centaur Knight caught sight of her movements and tossed its shield towards her. With an ear-piercing screech, the shield shot past her head. Lapis immediately lost her courage and squatted down with her hands on above her head. Apparently, she forgot what she was supposed to do.

A group of newbies.

From the beginning to the end, it took no less than thirty seconds for the Centaur Knight to wipe the floor with them. Rhode shook his head in disappointment. Frankly, this standard was even worse than the newbie players.

Ask them to go on a mission with him with this standard?

Impossible.

Rhode then recalled his summoned spirit.

From Rhode's gloomy expression, the four of them knew that their performance was unsatisfactory.

”To be honest... your performance is far below my requirements.”

Rhode didn't coat his words in sugar. This caused their already de-spirited expressions to turn even worse. However, they knew that what Rhode said was a fact.

”But, I will give you another chance. In the following days, I will teach you how to improving using your own strength. If you can successfully improve, you may have the opportunity to become a formal member of my mercenary group. But if you fail, then I'm sorry...”