Chapter 162 Return After the Hunt

"Boom..." A violent explosion snapped Shaoke out of his excitement. Spell ripples came from up ahead. Shaoke quickly retrieved his crystal ball and released his mental energy to scan the area ahead in detail. Perhaps due to the distance, Shaoke did not sense any mages within his probing range.

The intense spell collisions did not cease; instead, the clashes came faster and faster. Shaoke gritted his teeth and decided to investigate the situation ahead. He believed that if his ally was at a disadvantage, the two of them attacking the opponent together could still succeed. With this thought, Shaoke quickened his pace and released his mental energy, probing as hard as he could toward the location of the spell collisions.

Upon reaching the battlefield, Shaoke quickly made out the two mages. Facing him was a mage in black robes and a black cloak, while the one with her back to him was a Blue-robed Mage. The Blue-robed Mage had clearly mastered the technique of two-handed hand seals, with a short staff slung diagonally at her waist. Its owner continuously shifted her footing to confuse the enemy's spell lock.

The black-robed mage, like Shaoke, belonged to the Death Mage Corps. He was steadily releasing a strange yellow mist, which continuously lashed out at the Blue-robed Mage. Even though the Blue-robed Mage could disperse the yellow mist, she still had to dodge the lingering wisps of mist around her. After all, the trees touched by the mist rapidly corroded and withered, forcing the Blue-robed Mage to be extra careful.

As the Death Mage Corps mage released more spells, the yellow mist floating in the forest thickened. Under his control, it slowly drifted toward the Blue-robed Mage. All obstacles between the two mages withered due to the yellow mist and collapsed under the shockwaves from the spell clashes.

'Sigh of the Wind,' an ordinary Third-level Spell, was swiftly released by the Blue-robed Mage. The spell, carrying a howling cold wind, blew the yellow mist toward the Death Mage. The Death Mage failed to block the counterattack in time and was enveloped by the mist.

The Blue-robed Mage did not rejoice at her opponent being shrouded by her spell; instead, she continued preparing her attack spell. 'Cutting Wave,' a spell unique to the Blue Feather Empire's military, was unleashed by this Blue-robed Mage. A wide, thin black line thrummed rapidly as it flew, cutting toward the yellow mist. At that moment, the yellow mist around the Death Mage underwent a new change. With the mage's incantation, the mist quickly condensed into a thin tendril of yellow smoke, then, under its master's command, shot toward the Blue-robed Mage.

After this, the Death Mage crushed a crystal sealed with a Defensive Spell, applying the spell to himself, then focused on manipulating his spells to intercept and attack his opponent.

The black wave easily sliced through a separated portion of the yellow mist and continued flying toward the Death Mage. Meanwhile, the yellow mist, under the mage's control, persisted in assaulting the Blue-robed Mage.

The yellow mist swiftly entangled the mage who failed to dodge in time, tightly enveloping her. Facing the cutting wave, the Death Mage remained calm and activated another magic item. A silver light shot from the necklace around his neck, colliding with the black wave. Although it did not shatter the Spell Structure of the black wave, it still weakened some of its energy.

The black wave easily cut through two of the Death Mage's defensive spells but dissipated after shattering the third, failing to harm the Death Mage.

As for the Blue-robed Mage enveloped by the yellow mist, under the erosion of the spell, several of her defensive spells were quickly worn down by two layers. Yet, she still managed to prepare a new spell: Blaze Art, an ordinary Second Rank targeted spell. This spell was not directed at the Death Mage; instead, under the Blue-robed Mage's precise control, it ignited around herself. The intense heat was blocked by her defensive spells, and the yellow mist rapidly vanished in the sudden high temperature.

Just as the Blue-robed Mage retrieved a scroll, preparing to release the spell sealed within to attack the Death Mage, Shaoke's attack arrived. 'Elemental Hand'—a gray palm several meters in size—slammed down toward the mage. It was only then that Shaoke's mental energy locked onto the Blue-robed Mage. The panicked mage abandoned control of the Blaze Art, quickly tore the scroll to release the spell within, and directed it to meet the Elemental Hand.

Amid the intense spell collision, the Death Mage, who had lost his defensive spells, prepared his spell once more. A much smaller stream of yellow mist flew toward the mage and, as the opponent failed to evade in time, rapidly corroded her last defensive spell, dissolving her robe and cloak.

Under the combined attacks from both mages, the Blue-robed Mage, after exhausting the spells stored on her person and within her staff, was sorrowfully killed by the Death Mage and completely corroded by the mist.

After the enemy perished, Shaoke stepped forward first and released the Death Mage Corps' unique spell emblem: a Blue Rhombus Flower-shaped green flame. "We can talk. Of course, if necessary, you should first collect the spoils. And we should leave this place." Speaking here, Shaoke watched as the mage nodded in agreement before relaxing. He had been somewhat worried that the mage might reject his goodwill, as Death Mage Corps mages tended to have more peculiar tempers than ordinary mages.

After the two had moved a distance from the battlefield, Shaoke detected a special fluctuation emanating from ahead, which had gone unnoticed earlier due to the mages' battle.

Seeing the triangular copper token thrown on the ground, Shaoke hesitated slightly before bending down to pick it up. After carefully examining the text on it, Shaoke found he still could not recognize the script. He then tossed the token into his pouch, retrieved the copper token representing his identity, embedded it into the stone frame, and also left the mission area.

"Token." An utterly emotionless gaze fixed on Shaoke. A thin, bony hand extended before him, holding a transparent notebook and a pen of the same material. "Write your name in it." After speaking, seeing Shaoke's continued confusion, he added, "Give me the token, write your name here. The materials distributed to you initially covered all this." He pointed to a tall stone chest nestled against the corner, indicating for Shaoke to throw the token inside himself.

Following the mage's instructions, Shaoke tossed the tokens representing the lives of four mages into the chest, then returned to the mage, who still maintained that posture. He took the notebook and pen, wrote his name inside, and, as requested, recorded the emblem he had obtained.

"Do I need to participate next month?" Shaoke handed the notebook and pen back to the mage and inquired. He had no desire whatsoever to check the so-called helpful booklet for the mission at the moment.

Mages continuously entered and exited through the light gate where Shaoke stood. The mage merely approached them mechanically and conversed. For those mages returning from their first mission, the mage before them was truly somewhat frightening. After all, the mages they had encountered before, even if silent or eccentric, still displayed all the emotions inherent to humans in their eyes—unlike this mage, whose icy, mechanical behavior resembled a puppet crafted by a High-rank Mage.