Translator: CinderTL Aowwww!
The mist demon roared skyward, its pain overwhelming its balance.
It was forced to drop to one knee.
This gave Marcus the perfect opportunity to execute it.
Marcus stepped forward, his round shield swinging with ferocious force, slamming down with terrifying power onto the mist demon’s grotesque head!
Bang!
Nearly half of the mist demon’s skull shattered, splattering a viscous mixture of red and white fluids.
Stunned and disoriented, its head lolled to the side, exposing its neck.
A cold glint pierced the mist as Marcus’s war blade followed through, slashing down at the exposed neck!
Thwack…!
The blade sank into flesh, blood spurting outward.
But the mist demon’s faint energy barrier still functioned, causing Marcus’s war blade to become lodged halfway through its neck, unable to penetrate further!
The mist demon’s savage nature was fully unleashed.
Roar…!
It twisted its head with reckless abandon, its powerful bones and muscles locking together.
Not only could Marcus not withdraw his blade, but the blade itself began to warp!
Both sides gritted their teeth, locked in a desperate struggle.
Neither could afford to yield.
But the war blade was nearing its breaking point.
If this continued, the metal would twist beyond its tensile strength.
The mist demon opened its massive maw, revealing rows of razor-sharp, bone-white teeth in a terrifying display.
It slowly leaned toward Marcus, intent on biting off the human’s head!
“That vile beast…!” Vales snarled, drawing his curved saber and preparing to charge in to help.
Fireball Spell!
At that critical moment, Zellier’s second fireball spell finished charging, striking the wound on the mist demon’s neck with pinpoint accuracy.
Boom!
“Nice shot!” Marcus’s eyes lit up.
The fireball exploded against the mist demon’s body, its mana clashing with the creature’s energy barrier and dissolving its final defenses.
With all resistance suddenly gone, Marcus’s war blade met no further obstruction.
The mist demon froze, its ferocious expression hardening into a permanent grimace.
“Die!!!” With a roar, Marcus swung down with all his might!
The blade slid smoothly through muscle, then brutally severed the spine before piercing clean through the creature’s body.
Splatter!
The mist demon’s head rolled to the ground, foul-smelling black blood erupting skyward like a grotesque firework.
The massive, headless corpse swayed for a moment before crashing to the ground with a thunderous thud.
The mist demon was dead!
Zellier’s taut nerves finally relaxed.
He collapsed to the ground, his chest heaving as he gasped for breath.
The party has jointly slain a juvenile mist demon, earning a substantial amount of experience points.
Level 2 → Level 3!
Level Up!
Two levels gained in a single day, granting Zellier an additional four attribute points to allocate.
This time, Zellier chose to invest the points in intelligence rather than spirit, raising his intelligence attribute from 66 to 70.
He suddenly felt a smoother connection to mana, and the formula structure of the fireball spell seemed clearer to him.
Simultaneously, due to the strong correlation mechanism between intelligence and charm, his charm attribute also increased by one point, reaching 46.
After allocating the points, Zellier focused his attention on his talent skills.
The panel remained unchanged, the gray text indicating the requirement to unlock the next talent skill: Reach low-tier mage.
In the mage hierarchy of the Candia Continent, the ranks progressed from magic apprentice to low-tier mage, mid-tier mage, and high-tier mage.
Upon breaking through to high-tier mage, one had to choose a unique specialization path, each profession excelling in its own domain.
However, individuals at that level were all renowned powerhouses, and Zellier was still far from reaching their heights.
As for becoming a low-tier mage…
Zellier was nowhere near the level of a low-tier mage.
I wonder if I even qualify as a magic apprentice…
Zellier mused to himself.
Mage rankings were independent of those for warriors, rangers, and assassins.
The Adventurer’s Association had no authority over them; only the Mage Guild could conduct evaluations and issue certified mage badges.
His gaze fell upon the headless corpse of the mist demon, and Zellier felt a surge of relief.
Thank goodness it was just a juvenile form, and that I sensed its movements early enough.
That was the only reason the party had managed to defeat it.
Otherwise, the outcome would have been far less certain.
After slaying the mist demon, Marcus and Vales collapsed to the ground, panting heavily as they tried to calm their racing hearts, their faces etched with the relief of having narrowly escaped death.
Zellier turned to Gray, who lay motionless nearby.
“Gray?
How are you?” “Still alive…” Gray’s voice was weak and strained.
He had been remarkably lucky.
The mist demon’s second attack had missed his chest, shattering only Gray’s longsword.
The flying metal shards had narrowly missed vital areas like his eyes and neck.
Gray’s face was slashed, and several iron shards were embedded in his shoulder, blood gushing from the wounds.
Vales straightened up and walked over to Gray, placing a hand lightly on his chest.
“Don’t move.
Let me take a look.” Vales tore open Gray’s already tattered leather armor and inner lining, exposing his chest.
The mist demon’s strike had been terrifyingly powerful.
Vales could clearly see a slight indentation in Gray’s chest.
Several ribs were likely broken, but the bone fragments hadn’t pierced his lungs or other vital organs—otherwise, Gray would already be dead.
There were no open wounds on his chest, yet blood seeped through the skin, forming a bruise-like stain across his chest.
Zellier watched from the side, secretly horrified.
If I took a hit like that…
I’d probably be dead already.
The chest bruising couldn’t be treated immediately, so Vales shifted his attention to the iron shards embedded in Gray’s shoulder.
Wound cleaning and bleeding control were the priority.
“Zellier, start a fire and sterilize the dagger.
Bring the Firethroat Wine and the medical kit too.” Zellier followed Vales’ instructions, while Marcus stood guard, silently scanning the surroundings for any unexpected threats.
Vales took the small knife from Zellier and blew on the heat radiating from the blade.
“Bear with it.
No screaming,” Vales warned.
“Do I look like a girl to you?” Gray’s lips curled into a faint smirk.
With precise movements, Vales used the knife tip to carefully pry open the flesh trapped by the metal fragment, then gripped the edge.
Gray’s eyes began to twitch, his body tensing involuntarily.
Zellier swiftly shoved a piece of cloth into Gray’s mouth for him to bite down on.
With a sudden, forceful tug, Vales yanked the fragment outward.
Pfft!
A sickeningly soft sound accompanied the extraction of the twisted metal shard, followed by a spurt of blood.
“Ugh…
hahahahaha…” Gray’s body stiffened violently, his howls muffled by the cloth.
As the pain intensified, his muffled cries began to sound almost like laughter.
Whether it was a trick of the light or not, Zellier thought he glimpsed a fleeting expression of amusement on Vales’ face.
(End of the Chapter) —————————————————— What happens next?
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