Chapter 91

Chapter 92: The Most Important Thing for a Mage (Fourth Update, Please Subscribe!)

The elven girl didn’t even have time to react before she realized she was encased in something yellow.

Yep, it wasn’t yellow glasses she wore—this thing itself was yellow!

On each of the four corners above and below on both sides, there floated some dark golden stone fragments, looking incredibly mystical.

“This is one of Izay’s spells. It can attack while providing a very durable defensive shield. This thing’s super tough~”

While Refia was utterly baffled, Raul stepped forward, pointing at the energy shield enveloping him as well, explaining to Refia.

“Attack and defend at the same time? There’s actually magic like this!?”

The sheltered elven girl was greatly astonished.

“You’re looking right at it, aren’t you?”

With one breath, Izay had dispatched the group of monsters, then retracted his spear to regroup with the two.

“S-sure, that’s what it does… but isn’t that totally unfair!”

Refia stammered, expressing her astonishment.

“And, and I didn’t even hear Izay chant any incantation!”

“Hoh, about that, my magic doesn’t require chanting.”

“My magic? Does that mean… all of them?”

“Not all, but most of them.”

After pondering for a moment, Izay replied.

There was one spell that still required an incantation, and that was “Silver Starfall,” though the chant was just one sentence.

For the other spells, all he needed to do was construct a magic circle, operate and condense mana using different methods.

“Eeeeeeeeee———”

Refia let out a high-pitched shriek from her lips.

Her expression instantly changed dramatically, looking agitated, as if she were losing her mind.

Magic that could attack and defend simultaneously, with both power and functionality, and no need for chanting??

How absurd was that!?

Suddenly, the elven girl seemed to understand why Riviria praised Izay as having unprecedented magical talent, yet he chose not to be a rear-guard mage but instead went to fight upfront.

If she could cast spells instantly, she too could become an unstoppable elven warrior!

Absolutely! Absolutely possible!

“Do you know, Refia, what the most important thing for a rear-guard mage, a wizard, is?”

While continuously dealing with the monsters along the way, Izay decided to impart some wisdom to Refia during their journey.

“The most important thing?”

The elven girl tilted her head, puzzled by Izay’s sudden topic, then after a brief pause, tentatively gave her response.

“Is it powerful chanting skills?”

With powerful chanting skills, one could defeat enemies faster, um, it must be so.

“Nope, nope, chanting? Whatever. Actually, the most important thing for a back-row mage is to survive first. Only by surviving will you have the chance to deal damage. You get what I mean, right?”

“Hmm… yeah, got it. So Mr. Izay wants me to learn how to skillfully dodge monster attacks?”

“No, I want you to learn how to run away skillfully.”

“…”

Seeing Refia’s face twist as if she swallowed a fly, Izay chuckled.

“Actually, besides running, there is another method.”

“Huh!? What method!?”

Refia, whose thoughts were already complicated, was once again intrigued and anticipatory due to Izay’s words.

“You can practice melee combat. Once your close-combat skills are honed, when a monster comes near, just lift your staff and smash it down. Why bother with chanting? Super convenient~”

“Ahh, this…”

Refia hesitated.

It couldn’t be denied that Izay’s short speech directly shook the elven girl’s long-held belief in being a rear-guard mage.

One wonders if Riviria would want to kill Izay upon learning about this.

(Riviria: That successor I worked so hard to cultivate!)

“Cough cough, stop chatting there. Did you hear anything?”

Raul faked a couple of coughs to interrupt their conversation.

“Hear?…”

“…Yeah, we definitely heard something!”

First blinking in unison, soon afterward, both Izay and Refia noticed something unusual.

There was a sound, an abnormal sound.

It was a kind of intense, strong vibration sound, and many such sounds resonating together, making one break out in cold sweat without realizing it.

Izay slightly narrowed his eyes: “The Murder Hornets are coming, in a swarm.”

These days exploring within the “Great Tree Maze,” Izay and Raul had dealt with these monsters quite a bit, becoming rather familiar with them.

Raul remained calm, carrying his backpack with ease, whereas Refia raised her wand somewhat nervously.

She knew about, and had faced, these monsters.

“Murder Hornets.”

These insect-like monsters appeared starting from the 22nd level, a powerful species preventing third-tier and second-tier adventurers from entering the “lower levels.”

Their “Venom Stinger,” capable of piercing through heavy armor, could send a Level 2 adventurer straight to the afterlife with one strike—a notorious killing move.

Even if immediate death was avoided, critical injuries were inevitable. Their full-body hard shells could deflect weak attacks, much like evolved Giant Ants (Murder Ants).

Similar to the “Newbie Killer” title of Murder Ants, Murder Hornets were known as “Advanced Killers.”

Possibly sensing Refia’s tension, Izay made a gesture with one hand as if lifting something up.

From the ground beneath, from deep within the rocks, a deep yellow energy surged upward, gathering around the three of them.

From the soles of their feet to the tops of their heads, a warm current swept over their entire bodies.

At the same time, the energy shields that had been floating beside them, which had dimmed significantly, recharged themselves, becoming brighter and more substantial.

The mysterious sound grew louder.

From the other end of the forest passage, the true form of the sound-making monsters appeared.

An insectoid body with a black hard shell resembling armor, its shape filled with sharp angles and malice, measuring as large as an adult human. Its face featured giant mandibles equipped with pincers, and a protruding, elongated “Venom Stinger” extending from the front of its body.

The Murder Hornets flapped their two pairs of four wings, forming a massive squadron of at least thirty flying towards them.

“Eep… eep! So many!”

Upon suddenly seeing so many Murder Hornets, Refia let out a cry of terror like a frightened little animal.

Such an ungraceful elf…

Alright, that couldn’t be said outright.

Even though they had faced these monsters multiple times during their expeditions, the sheer scale of this swarm of Murder Hornets was indeed intimidating.

Moreover, during those expeditions, they had a large team of comrades, providing a sense of security far beyond what this trio could offer.

Not only that, but black silhouettes also began appearing on the ground in the forest passage ahead—those were undoubtedly…

Monsters.

“Crack! Crack—!”

The bark-covered walls ahead emitted ominous cracking sounds, echoing throughout the entire passage until the next tree cavern, revealing countless dark red cracks. A large number of monsters burst forth from the walls all at once.

“M-monster feast…”

Izay’s lips twitched.

To be honest, really necessary?

There were only three of them here.

Look at the other side.

A rough estimate counted over sixty monsters, with half of them being Murder Hornets, and their numbers were still increasing.