I chose the water element and purchased several F rank affinity and skills from the system shop.
* Water Bullet (F)
* Aqua Slash (F)
* Water Shield (F)
* Flow Guard (F)
* Healing Water (F)
Satisfied with my choices, I closed the system interface.
After traveling for nearly two hours, we finally reached the supposed location of the attacked caravan.
However, not a single living person was there. not even a dead body.
Only a few abandoned wagons and scattered supplies remained.
"So it really is a trap..." Rose muttered with a sigh.
But the moment she finished speaking, hundreds of people suddenly emerged from the surrounding forest and completely surrounded the caravan.
More than five hundred bandits appeared from all directions.
"No... this is an ambush," Elena said calmly while observing the situation carefully. "A normal bandit group near a town would never gather this many people."
Many adventurers immediately grew nervous after hearing her words.
The situation looked extremely dangerous.
"Should we just pay them toll money and leave?" one adventurer asked anxiously from the crowd.
"Idiot," another adventurer snapped at him. "Miss Elena already said this is an ambush. They’re here to kill us, not rob us."
"Well, well... I never expected to be this lucky."
A middle-aged man with a scarred face and a heavily muscular body slowly stepped forward from the bandit group.
His gaze shamelessly swept across Rose and Elena with a lecherous grin.
"So the famous Rose Stone and Elena Veyr are traveling together."
He slowly licked his lips.
"Originally, we were ordered to kill both of you as quickly as possible..."
A twisted smile appeared on his face.
"But now I’ve changed my mind."
He raised his weapon and shouted loudly toward the bandits behind him.
"Boys! Tonight we celebrate! Kill all the men and take whichever women you want!"
"YEAH!!"
The bandits roared with excitement and laughter.
Rose and Elena’s expressions instantly darkened after hearing those words.
Still, both women forced themselves to remain calm.
After all, they only have around two hundred adventurers against over five hundred enemies.
"Form defensive positions!" Rose shouted loudly, trying to stabilize everyone’s morale. "We have better equipment and trained fighters. We can still win this!"
Soon, the adventurers quickly formed defensive formations while the caravan workers hurriedly prepared crossbows behind them to support the battle.
"This situation looks bad..." I muttered while scanning the battlefield. "Seems like I need some crowd-control skills."
Without hesitation, I opened the system shop and searched for suitable water spells for the current situation.
"Found it."
*Slippery Ground (F)
*Binding Stream (F)
After purchasing both skills, I still have 180,836P remaining.
Soon, the bandits began charging toward us.
I immediately activated Slippery Ground across the front battlefield.
The effect was instant.
Like a chain reaction, one bandit slipped, then another, and another after that. Within seconds, more than a hundred bandits have fallen to the ground.
Some twisted their ankles, while others were accidentally injured by their own companions’ weapons during the chaos.
Silence spread across the battlefield.
Everyone stared at me in shock.
The bandits looked fearful, while the adventurers watched with visible relief.
Even Rose and Elena gave me curious looks.
So this is why mages are feared... I thought inwardly.
A single spell can completely change the terrain of an entire battlefield.
"Yeah, Dad! I told you my man would save us!" Lily said excitedly while pointing toward Luke.
Thomas immediately flicked her forehead.
"A young lady shouldn’t say things like that," he scolded with an irritated expression.
Lily held her forehead in pain and puffed her cheeks angrily.
"Attack!" Rose shouted loudly.
The adventurers quickly regained their senses and immediately began releasing spells and firing arrows toward the fallen bandits.
Panic spread through the enemy ranks.
The bandits at the back barely managed to dodge and take cover, but the ones trapped within the slippery area couldn’t even stand properly.
Every time they tried to get up, they slipped and crashed back down again.
"AAAH!"
"SAVE ME!"
Desperate screams echoed across the battlefield as the trapped bandits were struck by arrows and spells one after another.
"Damn it!" the scar-faced leader roared furiously.
"Archers, fire! Kill the mage first!"
A rain of arrows immediately darkened the sky as they shot toward the caravan guards.
"Raise your shields!" Rose ordered instantly.
The heavily armored adventurers stepped forward and locked their shields together, forming a solid shield wall.
"Clank! Clank! Clank!"
Many arrows bounced harmlessly off the shields, but several still slipped through the gaps and continued toward the center of the formation.
I immediately raised my hand.
"Water Shield."
Instantly, ten thin water barriers, each nearly one meter wide, materialized in midair.
The arrows rapidly lost momentum the moment they struck the water shields before falling harmlessly to the ground.
Even though I still possessed enough mana to create more, my current F rank water affinity only allowed me to control ten shields at once.
Even so, a few adventurers still suffered injuries.
I quickly used Healing Water to stop their bleeding and stabilize their wounds.
Several injured adventurers looked at me gratefully.
After nearly thirty minutes of fighting, the bandit forces has been reduced to barely a hundred remaining men, including their leader.
Many of them were already heavily injured.
Even the scar-faced leader himself isn’t unharmed.
He had foolishly assumed an E rank fighter couldn’t possibly be injured by an F rank mage.
Unfortunately for him, my Aqua Slash has still managed to cut his weapon arm.
Blood continuously dripped from the wound as he glared at me with eyes filled with killing intent.
The remaining bandits slowly began losing morale.
Were they actually going to lose?
The scar-faced bandit leader has clearly realized the same thing.
"I gave you money and power, yet you still can’t even handle a group of F rank fighters?"
A disappointed voice suddenly echoed from nearby.
The scar-faced man’s expression instantly turned pale.
"S-Sir, please forgive me!" he said nervously. "The information we received never mentioned a water mage among them. And that F rank mage is clearly abnormal—his mana far exceeds his rank!"
"I don’t care," the voice replied coldly. "F rank remains F rank."
Said an old man.
His body is thin and frail, looking as though a single gust of wind could knock him over.
Yet not a single person dared underestimate him.
The scar-faced bandit didn’t even dare raise his head to meet the old man’s eyes.
Because this seemingly dying old man is a genuine D rank fighter.
The old man slowly glanced toward the battlefield.
"Soon, I’ll force that hidden woman to reveal herself," he muttered calmly.
Then his cold gaze shifted toward Elena.
"Capture that woman alive. Kill everyone else if necessary."
Just as Rose is preparing to launch a counterattack, a thin old man slowly stepped out from the bandits’ side.
At first, many people looked confused by his appearance.
But the next moment, their expressions turned pale.
A dreadful aura filled with pure malice spread across the battlefield, pressing down on everyone like a mountain.
Several weaker adventurers instantly dropped to their knees under the overwhelming pressure.
"Come out, Elaris," the old man said with a sadistic smile. "Your uncle is here."
The moment his words fell, an intense bloodlust suddenly erupted from the black-clothed woman standing silently behind Elena.
Elena glanced toward her with a worried expression, though she remained silent.
"Tap."
"Tap."
The woman slowly stepped forward.
With each step she took, the black attire peeled away layer by layer.
Dark cloth transformed into solid silver armor that protected her torso and lower body, while a long battle skirt formed around her waist.
Then her hood slowly fell back.
Long silver hair cascaded down to her waist, swaying gently in the wind.
Her silver-blue eyes contained nothing but chilling coldness.
The surrounding temperature instantly dropped.
"You finally decided to show yourself," the old man said with amusement.
Elaris looked at him silently for a moment before speaking in an icy tone.
"So you decided to die today."
[Chapter End]
Author Note:
Finally, Chapter 25 is live!
The Village Arc will be ending soon. Even though it isn’t a full volume, it’s still an important part of the story and the beginning of many future events.
I hope all of you are enjoying the novel so far.
And if you haven’t added the novel to your library yet, please consider doing so. It really motivates me to continue uploading new Chapters for everyone.
Also, don’t forget to leave a rating if you think the novel has potential.
Thank you for your support.
— Author: Eternal Void Ruler