Chapter 225

: Courage (Part 2)
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Most people might have thought that mages could only win fights when they were at a distance from their opponent. Some might even have thought that mages were as good as dead when they came too close to a swordsman. Fortunately or unfortunately, that was a huge misconception. Most spells only worked well at close range. Moreover, the effectiveness of magic spells were dependent on the circumstances. There was no fixed distance that a mage had to gauge in order to release a magic attack.
Take the crystal ring that Raphael had passed on to Saleen, for example. For it to work, the enemy needed to be within the striking range of ten meters. Before Saleen had further developed it, the striking range had not even been three meters. There were many other rare spells like this as well. The general consensus was that most mages did not like getting too close to their opponents during battle. Why take the risk If they could resolve their problems from a safe distance?
However, Lex and Saleen had no choice but to take that risk. They had never come face to face with such a strong opponent, or rather, armor, before. The armor was enough to boost the strength of its wearer from the level of a bronze grand swordmaster to that of a golden grand swordmaster. That was boost of three grades! Facing an opponent of that level was dangerous, perhaps even fatal to both Lex and Saleen.
Originally, Saleen had intended to fight Fellett until one of them came out on top. If he had cowered away while Nailisi and Sika sacrificed their lives, he would live the rest of his life in shame. He would not even have dared to continue honing his magic if he was going to be branded a deserter. However, he realized that he would not even need to do anything to weaken Fellett. The bolt of the alchemy crossbow had struck Fellett’s neck so forcefully that it was badly twisted.
Saleen knew that it was now or never. Under normal circumstances, a person who had been afflicted with this type of injury would have been completely paralyzed. Even if Fellett had truly been a golden grand swordmaster, he would not have been able to brush off this injury. Swordmasters were not like mages. They could not fire spells for the sake of their lives. Being unable to maneuver their neck was as good as losing half of their combat abilities.
As Saleen continued releasing scroll after scroll, the ocean waters rippled even more turbulently and the waves reached a height that Saleen did not even think was possible. These waves hurtled towards Fellett, who was still stuck at the stern of the ship, unable to move properly. These walls of water moved haphazardly in all directions. Saleen did not bother controlling the strength of the water. He wanted his spell to hit Fellett full force in order to stop him from getting away. He also wanted to give Lex as well as himself the chance to catch their breaths.
As Saleen hovered above the choppy waters, a whirlpool started to form beneath his feet. What started out as a small spiral immediately developed into a huge vortex. In the distance, a jagged bolt of white-hot lightning occasionally lit up the soon-to-be sunken ship.
Saleen started to gather moisture from the air. The small droplets of water coagulated into a huge mist before forming a wall of fog as thick as the cumulonimbus clouds that peppered the sky. The thickening fog lifted Saleen higher and higher as his Windspeed skill started to mutate yet again. Saleen noticed that he had not been sucked into the whirlpool as he travelled across the water. Instead, he felt as though he was one with the water elements.
Just then, Saleen realized that his magic chords had been depleted of their energy. It was then that he realized he had discovered a new magic spell! He probably would not have achieved this without Joey’s help. At that moment, he felt like he was one with the water, almost as though he lived in it.
Without realizing it, Saleen’s body had started absorbing even more water than before. The veil of mist that surrounded him began to grow thicker and thicker before reaching a diameter of at least one hundred meters. To Saleen, these cloud-like formations were weightless, hardly considered obstacles. He was able to freely pass through these clouds without any difficulty. He guessed that everyone else would not be able to navigate through them as easily as he could.
This magic was much better than the Windspeed spell. It was as if the grade-4 mage was levitating high in the sky. With his icy sight, Saleen could see through the opaque clouds. He began to fly for over two hundred meters before the clouds lifted him even higher than before. Unfortunately, that little stunt he had pulled with the clouds had consumed even more of his magic chords’ energy. It seemed that for every ten meters in height that the clouds were able to raise him, the rate of depletion of his magic chords was doubled.
Nonetheless, Saleen was not too worried. He just needed enough space between him and Fellett in order to avoid death by his sword. Now that his opponent was stuck in midair, his head fully paralyzed and immobile, Fellett was like a living dartboard.
Bang! The chains of fire that surrounded Lex suddenly exploded, burning even more brightly than before. Hundreds of fire crows started crowding around her. Ten meters. This distance was all Lex needed for the flames to effectively reach their target. The god’s ring on Lex’s hand glowed a light golden color as it pulsated on her finger. The golden light expanded until it covered Lex’s entire body. Saleen knew that Lex was taking a gamble. It was either her or the god’s ring. She had chosen to sacrifice her prized possession in exchange for a chance to live.
By then, the right-handed swordsman had switched his sword to his left hand in order to free up his right one and pop his neck back into place. Lex did not even flinch as the sickening
pop
of Fellett’s neck being cracked into place reached her ears. It was her first time unleashing such a rare, unique spell. The flames that surrounded her glinted hungrily, as though they were waiting for the right moment to pounce on their prey. The fire crows that were dancing prettily beside her suddenly flew towards Fellett.
Unleashing Fire Magic like this was unheard of. Lex was now situated in the middle of the blazing fire. Even her hair was glowing bright orange from the flames that emanated from her body.
By now, Saleen had made his way towards Fellett and was hovering directly above him. The storm continued to rage on as darts of icy rain fell from the sky like there was no tomorrow. Saleen weaved in and out of the clouds as he fished out the demon spellbook from the Ring of Gifts. No sooner had he flipped open the pages of the magic book did a gigantic block of ice begin to form in midair. The ice bomb was originally a level-1 spell. However, this ice bomb that Saleen had created far surpassed any ice bomb that a grade-1 mage could conjure up. It was transparent and its diameter spanned over three meters. It had twenty-four sides and was smooth to the touch, almost like a polished magic nucleus.
Most mages had unique ways of casting their spells. After seeing Faerun’s Fireball spell, Saleen had been inspired to continue exploring areas that he wanted to further develop. The Icicle spell had only been the beginning. This ice bomb was his assassin’s mace.
After receiving the magic books and notes from Raphael, Saleen was better able to advance his studies in magic and formulate his theories. Using the Figaro formula, Saleen had managed to study the ice bomb attack in great detail. Although impressive, Saleen knew that he would never be able to replicate the spell and unleash it in such a magnitude without the assistance of the god’s ring. Just preparing to launch this spell alone took a great deal of effort and at least three minutes.
What made it worse for him was that this level-5 spell actually consumed double the amount of energy needed by other level-5 spells. Regardless, the twenty-four-faced ice bomb was a breathtaking sight to behold. Floating magic patterns which decorated the ice block suddenly oozed out thick layers of steam, which burned at the touch and exerted great pressure on everything it came in contact with.
This steam-like vapor was rather unstable. In fact, a person could even say that it was combustible. If not for the fact that the ice ball had such strong stabilizing forces, the vapor likely would have exploded in Saleen’s face by now.
As the thunder continued rumbling in the distance, a new whirlpool started to form beneath Fellett. It was so strong that the ship, which had already been seriously broken, started coming apart once more. As Fellett continued snapping his neck back into place, he looked at Lex condescendingly and asked,
So, little mage, did you really think those flames of yours could hurt me?

No sooner had he said this did his sword aura decided to make a reappearance. With a swipe of his long sword, the flames that Lex had released upon him disappeared. It was obvious by now who the stronger party was. No matter how hard Lex tried, she would not be able to make up for the difference in their strengths. This was fairly understandable though. This was likely one of the main reasons why mages honed their magic while swordsmen polished up their skills everyday.

Haaa!
Lex roared as the golden light surrounding her started to expand rapidly. Her hair flew in all directions. Saleen could see some semblance of a fire elf in Lex as vicious flames began to shroud her again. The heavy rain did not seem to do anything to extinguish the fire. In fact, the fire burned even more fiercely than before, almost as if oil had been doused upon it. The fire crows pounced on Fellett like they were magic beasts attacking their prey. Fellett did not flinch as the flames licked his body. It was as if he did not feel the agony usually associated with being burned alive. Instead, he took a step forward. Lex’s flames, together with the fire crows, immediately disappeared upon contact with his armor.
Fellett then raised his long sword and aimed it at Lex’s heart. The sword aura was so powerful that even the howling sounds of the hurricane-like winds and surging waves did not affect Fellett’s grip on his sword. Lex merely stood there, as though she were a pinata offering herself up to be cut open by Fellett.
Just then, two silhouettes emerged from behind Lex and started charging towards Fellett from his left and right. Fellett continued brandishing his sword as he attempted to use his sword aura to finish off his enemies. Alas, although Fellett was a war veteran, he had made a huge lapse in judgement. The people coming towards him did not possess any sword auras. In fact, they were even deadlier than swordmen.
Shing! That was the sound that filled the air as long dragon horns started to appear on the tip of her cudgel. They were so sharp that touching them would be akin to touching cacti over in the Alchemy Desert. The spikes had torn his sword aura apart, creating dozens of holes in the process. Seizing the opportunity, Sika dove her way through the holes in his sword aura, trying to make as little contact with the golden light as possible. By now, her leather armor had been torn into a million pieces.
Sika’s cudgel became a blur as she waved it wildly in the air. Some of Saleen’s mist that had come into contact with her weapon instantly disintegrated. The cudgel seemed to have a life of its own, emitting loud roars as it came into contact with the magical presences over and over again.
It was too late for Fellett to retract his sword. He hoisted himself into the air and narrowly dodged Nailisi, who was attacking him from below. From there, he used his shoulders to shoulder, quite literally, the impact of Sika’s attack.

Argh!
Fellett let out an animalistic roar of pain as the cudgel came down hard on his shoulders, causing the golden light to scatter in all directions. The magical patterns engraved on his armor were instantly dislodged from the force of impact, flying in different directions. As he tried to acclimate to the pain, he suddenly realized that half of his body was numb. Deep down, Fellett knew that it could have been a lot worse. Without the armor, he would have been smashed, crushed, or even killed.
Stepping onto the remains of the boat to gain traction, Nailisi rushed up to Fellett, her dragon tooth dagger in hand and ready to strike Fellett’s legs at any time. She did not need to strike him in his vitals. She only needed to strike with enough force to break Fellett’s armor so she could use her magic to freeze one of his legs.
The three ladies’ attacks had forced Fellett to move upwards into the sky. Big mistake. A flash of lightning illuminated the area. That was when Fellett saw a huge ice crystal hurtling towards him from the overcast skies.
Instinctively, Fellett raised his long sword in an attempt to counter Saleen’s attack. However, before the sword could even touch the ice crystal, the vapors surrounding it began to burst into flames. Before Fellett knew it, the entire ice crystal had started to burn brightly before exploding in his face. The golden light that surrounded his armor instantly faded into nothingness. His mouth started dribbling with blood which fell onto his chest, staining it. Almost instantly, the armor reabsorbed the blood as though Fellett were donating his blood. The golden light which had previously been dispersed returned and glowed brighter than ever.
Pew! Fellett followed the direction of the sound and saw a second giant ice crystal coming towards him. This time, Fellett did not dare use his sword to counteract the attack. Just as he was about to dodge the icicle, he saw Nailisi leap towards him. Focusing on the imp instead, Fellett calmly raised his right leg.
Nailisi did not try to dodge either. Instead, she allowed herself to be kicked in the lower abdomen. Of course, she was not offering herself up as a punching bag for nothing. With her dragon tooth dagger in hand, Nailisi found a gap present in the armor and stabbed the weapon into his thigh.
Umph! Nailisi grunted as her body convulsed from the impact Fellett’s foot had caused on her body. It hurt, to say the least. If Fellett really did possess this much power, Nailisi knew that she would be dead if he struck a second time. Even demons like her had a pain threshold, and Fellett’s kick had far surpassed it.
A hole appeared where Fellett’s skin and muscle should have been. Strangely, not a single drop of blood was seen. Instead, his wound was immediately frozen. It was then that Fellett felt fear for the first time since the battle had started.
Being bestowed – cursed, really – with the powers of a golden grand swordmaster had caused him to spiral into insanity. As soon as he realized that even golden grand swordmasters could be this seriously injured, Fellett was overwhelmed with thoughts of escaping. He felt Nailisi’s grip on him loosen and watched as the demon fell into the ocean.
Bang! Before he was able to realize that Nailisi’s attack had only been a distraction, the second ice block had struck Fellett’s skull heavily, twisting his neck at a grotesque angle once again. Dazed, he dropped like a sack of bricks and fell into the ocean along with Nailisi.