“I’ve changed my mind,” Jude murmured. “I’m going to capture you…”
The vines that were wrapped around him tore away in an instant as if being pulled by a brutal force.
It was like an invisible mind power was clamping these vines.
These flexible yet tough vines struggled desperately but to no avail. Wandering Child immediately noticed that the weak connection between himself and these vines had been cut off by something within an instant.
In the next moment, their shape had also changed.
There was no change in color and texture, but the tips of these vines were bundled into perfectly straight dark green vine spears by an invisible power.
Jude didn’t even raise his hand.
He only looked at Wandering Child, and those long spears suspended beside him all shot towards the Child!
An alarming sense of danger instantly rung in the Child’s heart.
He immediately retreated to the side without hesitation.
Immediately after, he pointed the slender rapier towards the ground and lifted it upwards.
Amidst the roaring sounds of the earth, an earth wall about five fingers wide rose from the ground, sending dust flying in the air.
——Boom boom boom boom boom boom boom!
It was an unbelievably loud noise.
The earth wall was instantly filled with cracks from being bombarded by the sturdy spears transformed from the vines. In the blink of an eye, it collapsed and shattered. On the other hand, the vines that came head to head with the earth wall became a mud puddle.
However, none of this mattered because Jude had reclaimed the roots of those vines. So they continued to harden, temper, and become new spearheads.
Wandering Child felt a chill in his heart.
…Is this the standard of a Silver Rank Wizard?
What school is he from exactly?
Alteration? Or is it… Shaping?
These rattan spears knocked down the standard earth wall, which the Wandering Child summoned with ease. An earth wall of this thickness would only break open a small opening upon withstanding the [All-out Blow] from Jiu Er’s axe.
According to the calculations of previous players, it was almost equivalent to the damage that could be withstood by a target that had a 10-point Constitution and was wearing leather armor.
Yet under these soft vines, it couldn’t hold up even for a moment.
In other words, one would only be left with blood and skin if a vine spear like this one hit them. If two spears were to hit them, they would kick the bucket immediately.
I’m done for. Am I in the new Souls Like Game [1] series?
Wandering Child didn’t hesitate.
He waved the Elf Rapier in his hand continuously.
He summoned earth walls one after another from the ground like a maze. Innumerable vines reinforced the earth wall and were intertwined with one another.
After fighting with all his might, Wandering Child only realized his fighting power.
It seems a frontal charge of cavalry might also rout me easily.
Although the maze would block the Child’s vision, it would also block Jude’s vision.
The Child was not a wizard after all.
Using this swordsmanship would only consume his physical strength.
If he couldn’t escape after being resurrected, his stamina would still be fully restored.
He didn’t believe that a wizard unit capable of sieging a city had unlimited mana.
As long as he consumes mana, I may be able to fight back if I use my physical strength to deplete his mana value!
He made twelve or thirteen earth walls in a row more than two meters high and connected them in vines. Wandering Child felt his stamina had depleted in an instant.
A strong sense of emptiness came from his lower back, and he felt his legs go weak as he almost fell to his knees.
…But there was no hurry.
In the dense forest environment, his physical recovery was relatively fast.
These earth walls should be able to hold up a few waves of attack.
Yet, the ground around him had suddenly begun to shake at this moment.
It wasn’t quite the rumbling roar of an earthquake… Instead, it was more like an avalanche from a cake that had begun to vibrate and melt quietly.
The Child was caught off guard, and his feet fell directly into the melting mud.
It wasn’t clay… If one was forced to describe it, it was like freshly laid cement.
It’s just that the cement was too deep with no ground underneath that he couldn’t even exert his strength.
It was too soft to touch to the point that made the Child feel a little disgusted by it.
The earth walls that concealed him also began melting like a melted candle when the ground beneath his feet collapsed. In the blink of an eye, it had become a pool of mud returning to the ground.
A dark brilliance spread out along the ground’s surface in the next moment.
Wandering Child opened his eyes slightly.
This time, he saw it clearly—
A pale gray magic circle that was expanding outwardly had appeared on the ground just now!
It was a circle with a diameter of about twenty meters. It seemed the coverage of the magic circle wasn’t too overwhelming.
But it was already too late.
Wandering Child noticed that after the glimmers flowed passed the ground, the ground under his feet had suddenly solidified. The part below his knees had been directly sealed in the earth.
If he exerted force at this time, even the skin on his legs might be ripped off.
“…Ah, I’ve got you.” Jude said softly and emotionlessly, “I would advise you not to move… You can’t hurt me.”
Hearing this, Wandering Child gritted his teeth and gasped.
—I have failed.
The dozen or so earthen walls he had prepared that were entwined with vines were utterly useless. He was confident that he could resist a few rounds of attacks, even if it were the main artillery bombardment of a ship.
He didn’t expect this wizard to not be reasonable at all… These earth walls didn’t hold up for even a second before they melted.
It’s like having two or three waves of soldiers dispatched with the intention to push over the opponent’s high ground in one go… yet ended up being wiped out just with an AOE attack from the wizard on the opposite side.
“…Shaping wizard.” Annan, who saw this scene through the live stream, muttered, “I see. This is a profession that counters the Child inherently…”
What he saw just now was exactly what he saw in the ritual earlier— the moment within the “snippets from the future”!
The Child could use the power from nature to control the earth, rivers, and vines. Yet his attack was almost meaningless for a Shaping Wizard who was good at changing the shape of objects.
If he had reached Silver Rank, he might at least end up in a stalemate situation with the other party.
But under the restrictions coming from the rank’s gap, the Child had no way to compete with his opponent for the control over each vine and each earth wall.
As long as Shaping wizard’s spell flowed through, the “natural terrain” he created would become part of the opponent’s power.
He was still alive now because the other party wanted to catch him as a hostage.
Otherwise, Jude would have instantly killed the Child on the spot by having sharp rock spikes pierce out of these earth walls and the ground underneath Child.
Jude’s spell that melted the ground wasn’t special either.
Annan had seen this trick before.
In Nightmare: White Tower, the pirate captain Karl Mathew, who went by the alias Miss Claire, was a Silver Rank Shaping wizard.
He was able to turn the walls of the wizard tower into heavy mud between breaths. He could also manipulate dozens of tons of mud to flow around him and transform them into walls or to garb the enemy; he could draw out the blood of others in the blink of any eye, transforming the blood into flying sharp blades. He could even reshape his body in an instant to become a whole different person with regards to height, figure, appearance, and skin. Even his clothing and voice could be changed.
In comparison to Captain Karl, the man in front of him by the name of Jude had a Shaping Wizardry level that was lackluster.
An obvious spell casting trace could be seen during his Shaping process. The magic circle did not disappear, and a lot of preparation time was required. He also couldn’t simultaneously control the two Shaping elements. Moreover, he only managed to convert a dozen or so of the vines into sharp spears.
And most importantly— his spell casting range was too short.
The Shaping could only be performed on objects within 20 meters of his surroundings.
Such a pity. Annan smacked his lips.
If he was there himself, he might be able to retain Jude directly… as long as the other party didn’t use curse vessels or drugs.
He would first use [Frost Arena] to freeze the ground and vines, making the surface brittle so that the [Frost Wheel] could directly kill the opponent, force the opponent to dodge or intercept it… And each time the opponent would run, attack, dodge, or be attacked, [Frost Arena] would instantly bring damage to him.
On the other hand, the invisible [Impeding Wall] could completely intercept the opponent’s attack. The mirror-boning knife that he would be continuously throwing also wouldn’t be able to be Altered into his opponent’s power. Frost Arena’s freeze would also bypass the opponent’s barricades.
Although Jude had completely restrained Child, he was also entirely restrained by Annan.
With Jude’s spell casting range, Annan could roughly guess that his Perception attribute may not be as high as his own.
Is it possible that I’m actually very strong? Annan was lost in thought.
Seems like it.
His wizard profession had fully met the standards of Bronze Rank. There wouldn’t be much difference between their profession levels… It was also impossible that he had fought in less nightmare than Jude.
It would be best if this guy would enter the ruins directly after killing the four of them. Annan could advance or retreat, attack or defend, fight or bypass with this quality. He could basically get around easily.
It also didn’t matter even if he were to capture the Child and keep the Child by his side. The Child could coincidentally become a mobile surveillance. Annan would be able to get everything he wanted just by spying on the two.
What Annan was most worried about now was if Jude were to directly seal the Child and Citalopram in storage and then bring them back to Black Tower.
Then it would be troublesome.
Nobody knew whether wizards had any sealing spells. Annan also didn’t want to write to his senior for help over this kind of thing. It would be embarrassing.
— Yet at this moment.
The sudden change in the situation immediately shocked Annan.
Just as Jude walked over to the Child, a whistling sound was heard.
Jude turned his head warily, only to see a serval pounce on him.
The rattan spears around him shot outward in the blink of an eye, but the serval managed to avoid them all, given its agility.
Just as a rattan spear was shifted away, a silent arrow that was shot out from the dense forest had arrived. The spear that was initially floating by his side was also previously blocking Jude’s sight; the sound of the spear shooting out had also covered the whistling sound of the arrow.
It nailed precisely into Jude’s left brain and shot out from his right brain!
Jude’s head slanted to the right with the inertia of the arrow, followed naturally by his body’s collapse…
In just an instant, he had lost his life.
