Chapter 82: Post-War Confusion

The spell cast by the unknown mage was blocked in time by a second-order warrior of the Enemy Country, but the enemy warrior clearly underestimated the power of the spell. Due to interference from the surrounding soldiers, he failed to muster enough aura in time to protect his chest. Moreover, the red beam was not a first-order spell but the 'Blazing Ray' that Shaoke was casting. The spell pierced straight through the great axe, shattered the aura, and bored a fist-sized hole in the opponent's chest.

After the second-order warrior was killed by the mage, Shaoke had just completed his spell. Upon learning that the target had already been killed by a mage from another stone tower, Shaoke awkwardly retargeted the spell to lock onto an Enemy Country soldier who had just charged onto the city wall.

The spell, using hand-seal techniques, was also a red beam the thickness of a baby's fist, but Shaoke felt its red glow was a deeper red than the previous one.

While the Enemy Country soldier was busy blocking attacks from the soldiers, Shaoke's spell arrived. With Shaoke's relatively accurate targeting, it tore off nearly half of the opponent's head.

After spellcasting, Shaoke leaned against the stone wall beside him, sensing the spell had precisely hit his locked target. "Mage Roland, please keep watch for now. I need to calm down." Despite possessing the characteristic detachment from his previous life, Shaoke still felt uneasy after personally killing someone, even after a long period of life in this different world.

Mage Roland looked at Shaoke strangely. "Mage Xueye, I think you should rest for a while, preferably to recover your drained mental energy." He said, glancing out the window at the battlefield outside before quickly ducking back against the stone wall to avoid any stray arrows.

Shaoke shook his head and looked at the other mage, noticing that he too was looking at him with a strange gaze, apparently disturbed by his method of killing just now.

The enemy assault lasted until midnight. Shaoke and the others remained inside the stone tower without venturing out. The intense fighting kept them on edge. Shaoke noticed many times that when an imperial soldier appeared and showed signs of flaring aura, he would quickly cast the 'Blazing Ray' spell. Taking advantage of the opponent's engagement with ordinary soldiers, he would swiftly lock onto their head and kill them.

Under Shaoke's relentless, almost brutal efficiency in killing, Mage Roland and the other mage discussed and then took turns casting single-target spells to attack the Enemy Country soldiers with aura within spellcasting range.

Stimulated by Shaoke, Mage Roland used the 'Wind Blade' spell each time, aiming at the opponent's waist. Once, a likely newly promoted First Tier Warrior was cut clean in half at the waist by Mage Roland's 'Wind Blade' spell. This caused the Young Mage, who had been focusing on his own locked target, to turn pale as he watched the struggling soldier on the ground, who was eventually trampled into a pulp by both sides.

Shaoke would lean against the wall to meditate briefly after almost every spell cast, letting the other two mages keep an eye on the fighting on the wall. After taking turns casting spells, those two mages would also quickly enter a shallow meditation before Shaoke engaged in killing enemies, to recover as much spent mental energy and mana as they could.

The number of soldiers with aura charging onto the wall gradually decreased. After taking another pill issued by the Blizzard Legion, the sounds of battle on the wall slowly weakened and eventually subsided, with only sporadic clashes still faintly audible in the distance.

Shaoke leaned against the wall, an unnatural flush on his face. He touched the staff on his back. "Mage Roland, are you alright?" Shaoke asked somewhat uncertainly, looking at the other's pale face.

"I'm fine. I think I'm much better now." Mage Roland leaned against the wall without caring about his appearance, took out a pill, and put it in his mouth. Catching his breath, he continued, "Mage Xueye, you look quite well now! Is it because of the medicine you took earlier?"

Shaoke rubbed his head, mainly due to the headache caused by the massive consumption of mental energy from overusing the 'Blazing Ray' spell technique. "Yeah, these medicines helped to some extent. Another reason is that I cast fewer spells than you did. Heh!" Shaoke forced a smile, straightened up with effort, and straightened his disheveled cloak.

Mage Roland looked at Shaoke's hands and seemed about to say something more, but at that moment, the mage who had brought them up earlier interrupted their conversation from outside the stone tower. "Mages, you can come out now. The soldiers of the Desasi Empire have retreated. We can return to enjoy a delayed feast."

Shaoke and the others filed out of the stone tower. Outside, the soldiers had lit enough torches. Some lanterns were mounted on long poles by soldiers to illuminate the area, facilitating the timely cleanup of the battlefield.

Dozens of mages gathered outside the stone tower. By the flickering light, Shaoke noticed most mages wore relaxed expressions; some even quietly discussed whether tonight's banquet would have enough exquisite food for the mages to enjoy.

The somewhat weakened mages, new to the battlefield, joined this group and hurried down from the wall, carefully avoiding the corpses on the ground, broken weapons, and the muddy, pulpy flesh.

Most of the carriages at the foot of the wall had already left. Amidst the moans of the wounded soldiers, the mages hurriedly boarded the carriages and headed back to their residences.

The Young Mages on the carriage kept discussing the sudden war that had just occurred, at least that was the case in Shaoke's carriage.

Shaoke didn't know how the other mages performed in that battle. He only knew his own performance had been extremely poor. During the fight, because he failed to timely apply the 'Eyes of the Night' Support Spell, he missed spotting several high-tier enemy warriors in time, leading to the deaths of many ordinary soldiers.

Shaoke quietly listened to the other mages' discussions, comparing them to the mistakes he made in the recent battle, hoping to adapt to the spellcasting conditions on the battlefield as quickly as possible.

The residents near the battlefield side showed no panic due to the enemy's arrival. As the carriage passed by a manor, Shaoke could even hear the music and laughter from a banquet being held inside.

After the mages returned to the manor, the long-prepared banquet was not held. The main reason was that these mages, new to the battlefield, all looked pale and shaken. Some mages, after casting a few spells above, had not performed any degree of meditation to recover their depleted mental energy and mana.

The Third Tier Mage who had initially received them had enough red wine sent to these mages who had suddenly been thrown into battle. He advised the mages to rest early and informed them that the banquet would be held tomorrow.

After meditation, by the light of the smokeless candle, Shaoke leaned against his own spell record and meticulously recorded the details of his recent spellcasting.

Shaoke didn't sleep at all in the latter half of the night. One reason was that his work wasn't smoothly completed; another was that the sudden war kept replaying in Shaoke's mind.

After completing the increasingly burdensome morning routine, Shaoke stayed in his room, continuing to record the unfinished tasks from last night.

While Shaoke was busy, the arrival of Mage Roland interrupted his recording work. "My apologies, Mage Xueye. I didn't mean to disturb your work." Mage Roland said, noticing the scrolls, ink, and brushes on the writing desk. He awkwardly performed a Mage Etiquette to ask for forgiveness.

Shaoke shook his head. "Mage Roland, how about a drink? I didn't drink last night's wine!" He said, taking out two silver goblets, retrieving the small jar of red wine delivered by the soldiers yesterday, pouring a cup for his guest, and handing it over.

Mage Roland sat opposite Shaoke, thanked him, raised his glass, and offered a toast: "To our safety yesterday, and to our future continuation." Shaoke nodded. After having a little wine, the two soon began a pleasant conversation.

"Mage Xueye, was that spellcasting technique you used last night the hand-seal technique?" Mage Roland took a small sip of red wine. Although he felt the question was somewhat abrupt, he couldn't suppress his curiosity.

Shaoke nodded. "That's the technique. Is there a problem?" Shaoke looked at the excited Mage Roland, momentarily puzzled by the reason for his excitement.

"Haha! Mage Xueye, I tried to learn that technique back then too. Unfortunately, I couldn't even master the most basic method." Mage Roland said with a bitter smile and a shake of his head. "It's a pity that fewer and fewer mages want to learn this technique now. In the academy I attended, only a handful attempted to learn it, but none succeeded."

Shaoke agreed with Mage Roland's view. When he was learning this technique, not many in his academy were studying it either, and he didn't know if others had succeeded. "Being able to learn this technique back then was indeed fortunate."

"Mage Xueye, did we make the wrong choice?" Mage Roland fell silent for a moment, took a deep breath, looked at Shaoke, and voiced the main purpose of his visit.

"Made the wrong choice?" Shaoke frowned, looking at the uneasy Mage Roland. "Can you tell me why you think that? Is it because of last night's battle?" Shaoke thought for a moment and asked somewhat uncertainly.

"Yes, it was last night's battle that made me feel we made the wrong choice." Mage Roland suddenly straightened his posture, trying to make himself look very upright. "A mage died last night. Second Rank. I heard he came here last year." Mage Roland didn't miss any change in Shaoke's expression. "He was like us, casting single-target attack spells."