Chapter 306 Explanation and Hands-on Seizure

An Eighth Tier Mage showed up, getting all the mages in the manor hyped up, especially the young girl Lan Wei'er. Fortunately, after over a decade of training under Shaoke, she wasn't the kind of person to be rude or let her feelings show, so she, led by her mother Mage Roman, gave the visitor a proper bow.

Since she was an Eighth Tier Female Mage, Mage Roman and Shaoke invited her to the third-floor space, where there was a smaller living room good enough to host guests. There, the White-robed Cleric, after resting, also came out to accompany the Eighth Tier Female Mage.

After some quick small talk and formal greetings, Shaoke began asking the Eighth Tier Female Mage questions about spellcasting, and Mage Roman did the same. Because of their rank, the three female practitioners barely said a word, merely listening to the conversation between Shaoke and the visitor.

Servants, following Shaoke's orders, prepared a large amount of exquisite breakfast, which Lan Wei'er eventually brought up for everyone to enjoy.

Shaoke's thoughtful gesture got just a nod of thanks from the Blue-robed Female Mage without further comment. Honestly, these Eighth-order beings could go days without eating and be fine. Sure, getting hurt or overexerting themselves could make them hungry sooner.

The Eighth Tier Female Mage hung around Shaoke's place until evening before heading out. Before leaving, though, she asked about Shaoke's plans for the mage tower's layout. Of course, Shaoke hadn't gotten anywhere with it yet, so the Blue-robed Female Mage left.

"What's going on?" Mage Roman asked nervously after the Eighth Tier Mage left, pushing Shaoke for details on what was up. Even though she knew nothing was wrong, she still worried.

After calming Mage Roman and Lan Wei'er down a bit, Shaoke gave them a full rundown of the fight, and finally briefly mentioned he wanted to grab the book. This plan needed Lan Wei'er's help, since she was in charge of the intel from all those low-rank mages.

The female spellcasters quickly agreed and started making detailed plans to achieve the goal as swiftly as possible.

After a bunch of hustle and bustle, everyone split up. Mage Roman went back to her lab to run some experiments, while Shaoke headed to his room to write down the questions and answers from the Eighth Tier Mage. He also jotted down the battle details like he always did.

For the next three or four days, Shaoke hung out in the short mage tower, writing stuff down and practicing spells. But he mostly focused on studying the mage tower's energy setup.

News about the young mage with an ancient magic book soon got to Shaoke. It wasn't super detailed, but Shaoke figured it was enough. Along with that news came reports of brutal fights in a mountain range on the border of the Fallen Capital and the Desasi Empire, where troops from different countries were duking it out, now with Eighth-order Practitioners joining in.

The first bit of news was useful to Shaoke, but he blew off the second, since, like the Eighth-order Practitioners from the Blue Feather Empire said, he didn't have the chops or the right to get in on that fight. For now, just sitting back and watching was the smartest move.

With the young mage's info in hand, Shaoke rounded up all the Sixth Tier Mages there that night, about fifty of them, to kick off the operation.

According to the intel, the young mage lived in a small manor not far from the former Mage Guild estate, with a mercenary squad of seven or eight members protecting him.

Over fifty Black-robed Mages quietly waited outside the manor. Shaoke signaled a mage, who took out a half-meter-square crystal mirror from a magic bag. Under the mage's control, the mirror gave off a faint magical pulse and slowly floated into the air.

The mage then grabbed a handful of special magic powder, scattering it over the mirror in a set pattern. After a brief reaction, the mirror quickly showed an image, which the mage explained was the manor's interior.

In a large living room, seven or eight people sat in a semicircle around a fireplace, chatting. What surprised Shaoke most was a female archer, who reclined against the mage, her small hands wandering over his body, while the others seemed oblivious to the scene.

After confirming the interior situation, Shaoke signaled the other mages to start the attack.

Half of the over fifty mages prepped spells and let them loose all at once, while the others, following Shaoke's orders, used lingering techniques to keep their spells on their staves for quick follow-ups.

The buildup of many spells quickly tipped off those inside, especially the male mage holding the female archer. He sensed the attack coming and promptly warned his buddies.

At the young male mage's warning, the female archer shot an arrow toward Shaoke's group. Propelled by the archer's special aura, the arrow reached Shaoke almost instantly. Shaoke's fierce mental power quickly sussed out the arrow's properties, and he let it smack into his Seventh Tier defensive spell, which did no damage.

"Seventh Tier Mage," the archer inside finally called out Shaoke's level just before the spells hit, but that only got cold laughs from Shaoke and the others.

The mercenaries inside, including the young mage, quickly realized they were locked onto by dozens of mental or magical forces. Their long-time teamwork kicked in, and they bolted. They huddled around a tall warrior and rushed outward, just as Shaoke's spells arrived.

Over twenty Sixth Rank attacks covered the living room and surrounding tens of meters. Shaoke used the Command Technique to fire a Death Ray, zeroing in on the young male mage who held the book.

Shaoke figured this attack was nearly perfect. Based on their intel and mental locks, he judged the strongest was the tall warrior, only at Sixth Tier, while the others, including the young mage, were Fifth Tier practitioners.

But the outcome wasn't as perfect as Shaoke expected. Just as the spells were about to hit, a golden shield suddenly wrapped around the mercenaries. Though thin, it was tough as nails, blocking Shaoke's attacks before slowly fading.

As the golden shield vanished, the group scattered fast. The young mage, pulling the female archer and a black-robed mage, fled quickly. The tall warrior, meanwhile, yanked out two massive double axes, hurled them at Shaoke's group with a roar, and then ran off in another direction.

The axes, loaded with heavy aura, were shattered by over a dozen low-level spells before reaching Shaoke's group. Shaoke and the others kept up their attacks, now focusing on the male mage, who Shaoke figured held the book as the squad's leader.

Shaoke prepped his spell first but didn't aim at the fleeing mage. Instead, he targeted a large pit.

A gray-black beam of light slammed into the pit's edge, blasting a bowl-sized hole behind it. Ahead, a cloud of blood burst in the air, with scattered flesh pieces hitting the ground, marking their owner's fate. Clearly, an infiltrator had been hiding there, but their tier was way below Shaoke's, unable to dodge a mage's mental lock.

No one can survive without a head. Sensing his spell had blown off the infiltrator's skull, Shaoke went back to attacking the fleeing mage and archer, who had only covered about a hundred meters.

Spells flew toward the fleeing mage, but oddly, few hit their mark. Even when they were about to strike, the archer gave off a faint green light that, after a quick blink, scattered or deflected Shaoke's attacks.

This weird phenomenon puzzled Shaoke and the others, but in the heat of battle, they couldn't dwell on it. So they kept up their relentless spell barrage.