Heimarian Odyssey

Chapter 307: Black Mist

In light of an ocean of slaves and vehement spells, the sturdy fort built by tens of thousands of Botanians was nothing but a piece of paper. Thorn City’s defence had fallen through.

The three level-one Botanians could only watch their citizens get torn apart by the monstrous invaders. Their hearts trembled at the visceral scene; the regular Botanians cried and begged before getting reduced to fluids or puffs of green smoke. The triplets could barely do anything for there were five formidable enemies within their vicinity. Things were dire; there might be another stronger lifeform eyeing them hungrily from afar even.

Since the thorn Botanian triplets had managed to defeat four level-one Magisters and even injured one of them, Parlina decided to take the safe route. This time, she would be working with the other Magisters in her contingent closely.

Truth to be told, the hydromancer was overcomplicating things. The few Magisters in her team were all capable of overwhelming the entire battle alone. Even if the Botanian triplets were to be more difficult than anticipated, the Magisters would be alright as long as the city lords’ synergy was disrupted. The strongest of the triplets had already been subdued by Ashar. The two remaining brothers were left to be dealt with by two Magister pairs.

The shadowmancer was once again made the star of the battle. Far from what Porscher had assumed, Ashar didn’t focus most of her powers on combat orientated applications. She was already at the pinnacle among level-one Magisters at this point.

Bottleneck phases between ranks had always been the toughest part of advancement. The path to ascend as a level-two lifeform was filled with obstacles that hindered smooth progress. Not even Porscher could offer a confident answer to when he could become a level-two Magister.

Though Ashar hadn’t gotten a chance to showcase her potential for advancements, it was obvious that her capabilities were far superior to Porscher’s since she could subdue equals without qualms.

Her chances of advancing as a level-two lifeform were at least twenty percent higher than Porscher. This percentage was considerably high for the average rate of success was lower than three-tenths. That being said, Porscher was recognised as a prodigy but he could only promise a forty-percent success rate confidently. With the right auxiliary potions, his odds would be a good fifty percent, much like a coin toss. It was consensus that as long as Ashar stayed on the right path, she was bound to become a level-two Magister sooner or later.

On the other end of the battlefield, Porscher’s mind was clouded with thoughts. He was currently attacking the level-one thorn Botanian with Reiner but he couldn’t help but wonder if he’d offended Ashar recently. To the level-headed casters, offending a stronger existence was always a bad choice. He jogged his memory, relieved to conclude that he hadn’t offended her in any way so far. Porscher let out a meek sigh before returning his full attention to defeating the level-one thorn Botanian.

It was only natural for Porscher to feel threatened that Ashar had surpassed him. If he and Reiner failed to defeat the level-one Botanian, the Magister would have to question his passion in the pursuit of the universal truth for a very long time.

He chanted slightly, producing four flame orbs around his periphery. He fed his powers into it and once it was charged, he released it. The orbs began to spiral towards the thorn Botanian, who was now heavily distracted by Reiner.

Porscher and Reiner had been friends for close to a century. They’d been comrades in academia and war for a very long time. Before they knew it, they’d already conjured up a joint strategy.

In terms of damage dealt, Porscher and Reiner’s joint attack wasn’t any weaker than the thorn Botanian triplets.

As the orb lunged for the thorn Botanian, Reiner mirrored the attack. He summoned multiple wind element chains and restrained their enemy. In the presence of wind, the flames burned fiercely. The thorn Botanian was set ablaze immediately upon contact. It screeched in agony before it fell completely silent.

Porscher and Reiner knew better than to celebrate an unconfirmed victory. They continued to unleash their best spells relentlessly since level-one lifeforms don’t die easily. It was safer to assume that the thorn Botanian was not dead yet.

Unlike Porscher and Reiner, Parlina and Carla’s battle was more sophisticated. A shot of intense frost froze the blood of the other level-one thorn Botanian. As soon as it was petrified, Carla quickly circled a rope of light around its neck. The Botanian was completely docile, not for the lack of trying, but due to multiple slowing and binding spells. Since hydromancy and photomancy weren’t the most aggressive in nature, they’d resorted to restraining the Botanian to buy time. As long as the triplets were kept away from each other, victory was theirs.josei

Once Ashar, Porscher or Reiner could come and go in for the kill, their conquest would be officially done with. The casters below could barely catch a glimpse of Ashar’s battle. The level-one Magister had mastered the essence of shadowmancy, which was also one of the criteria to reach greater heights. She manifested a dense black mist that covered one-fifth of the sky above the battlefield.

The mist was fundamentally different from Mist City’s crystal fog. It was tangible, best described as a product of Ashar’s proficiency of her element rather than a simple black mist. While it looked unassuming, the thorn Botanian within would soon learn of its true vehemency. This was a new attack she constructed just recently; no one had ever seen this particular application of the arcane art.