Chapter 70: [Flame Arrow]

Gao De sprinted through the night.

Fortunately, after more than a month of training and dietary supplementation, his physical condition had improved greatly.

Even so, by the time he reached the outskirts of the civilian district, he was already gasping for breath.

“No one should have noticed.”

“But with magical powers existing, just because no one saw me doesn’t mean I won’t be tracked down.”

“Even if they do track me down, it won’t matter—I’m essentially saving lives; from any perspective, they can’t find fault with me.”

“At worst, I’ll just expose that I’ve mastered the [Flame Arrow] spell.”

After organizing his thoughts and confirming his action carried no hidden risks, Gao De finally exhaled in relief.

As the strange vine lashed toward the second person, he, hidden atop the roadside trees, looked down and noticed a glow from the adjacent street.

He knew it was the handheld lanterns used by city patrol soldiers for illumination.

If he could see the light, it meant the patrol soldiers were nearby.

Under these circumstances, Gao De acted decisively.

A street’s distance ensured he could escape before the patrol soldiers arrived.

And that same distance guaranteed the patrol soldiers would notice the commotion and respond quickly.

As for the vine extending from the sewer all the way to the entrance—already remarkable as a mere vine.

Gao De simply didn’t believe it could span dozens of meters to continue chasing him.

All this talk, yet in the blink of an eye, who truly has time for such detailed thought?

The truth was, witnessing a monster slaughter its own kind before his eyes triggered an instinctive, visceral reaction.

Even the spell he cast—[Flame Arrow]—was chosen subconsciously.

Because only this spell could generate enough noise and commotion to draw the patrol soldiers’ attention.

Everything after that was deliberate thought, after he’d calmed down.

Though his main goal was merely to save lives, unexpected gains weren’t absent.

“Wind Spirit Moon Shadow,” Gao De thought inwardly.

A rudimentary information interface instantly appeared in his consciousness.

In the Source column, a new entry had appeared.

Source:

0th Circle—[Maso Rat] (7/7).

The red-eyed monster rat’s scientific name was actually [Maso Rat].

An utterly unexpected name.

It seemed weak, and indeed wasn’t powerful, but that didn’t change the fact it was a telluric creature.

As long as it possessed telluric creature bloodline, it entered the 0th Circle tier and could provide Source.

Gao De wasn’t certain how many [Maso Rat] he had killed with his [Flame Arrow] spell.

But at least seven.

Thus, without preparation, Gao De gained a third point of Source.

“An unexpected bonus.”

“Saving a life surpasses building a seven-tier pagoda; this is my due.”

If it doesn’t disrupt one’s normal life, doing good deeds is always better.

Even without the unexpected Source gain, saving two living people tonight had genuinely brought Gao De inner joy.

He returned to the herb garden at dawn.

On the way back, Gao De had already made his decision.

After this encounter with the sewer, he was nearly certain: the emergence of telluric energy was the source of the anomalies outside the city.

This place was no longer safe. Once the telluric energy fully formed, the flood of telluric creatures would overwhelm a small city like Hogan.

Worse still, the herb garden lay in the suburbs of Hogan City.

This meant he would likely be among the first “lucky” victims to face the telluric creatures’ assault.

“Old ginger is indeed the spiciest,” Gao De muttered, recalling Pierre, who had already begun liquidating his assets and preparing to flee to Bremen.

“I’ll leave, yes—but where, and how, must be carefully planned,” Gao De’s eyes flashed with resolve.

Exhausted and drowsy after all this, Gao De did not immediately lie down to rest.

Because he still had one thing left to do.

“Wind Spirit Moon Shadow.”

Gao De silently murmured.

The rudimentary information interface reappeared.

Spells:

0th Circle—[Mage Hand], [Repair+], [Acid Splash+], [Ray of Frost], [Resistance Boost], [Flame Arrow], [Tracking Mark], [Flash], [Fatigue Touch], [Detect Magic], [Read Magic], [Blade Ward].

In this “lavish” spell list, every spell except [Repair+] and [Acid Splash+] bore a small, flickering “+” after its name.

As if beckoning: “Master, click me already.”

“Little bastards, one day I’ll click every last one of you,” Gao De growled inwardly.

“Allocate points.”

Gao De then mentally locked onto [Flame Arrow].

Output, output, output!

A mage must first maximize output before considering anything else.

More importantly, allocating points to damage spells aids Gao De in acquiring new Source—since hunting telluric creatures remains the most reliable way to gain Source.

And [Flame Arrow] was currently the highest-damage spell he possessed.

Instantly, the “Big Dipper” representing the [Maso Rat] Source drifted out from within Wind Spirit Moon Shadow.

It flashed like lightning and merged into the [Flame Arrow] spell model.

New branches sprouted from the original spell model.

The model, originally composed of ten star particles, instantly expanded to nineteen.

In the spell list, [Flame Arrow] flashed once—the “+” after its name vanished, and its name became [Flame Arrow+].

[Flame Arrow+] (Evocation, 0th Circle):

You hurl a bolt of fire at a creature or object within 120 feet (40 meters), making a ranged spell attack. On a hit, the target takes fire damage.

Flammable objects struck by this spell ignite.

Extra: After being launched, [Flame Arrow+] may change its trajectory direction at most once, according to your will.

Another unexpected yet supremely practical enhancement.

As an instantaneous damage spell, [Flame Arrow] normally, by standard rules, flies in a straight line toward a target point once cast.

That is, once launched, the spell’s trajectory cannot be altered.

In this regard, [Flame Arrow] is similar to a regular arrow.

Once shot, an arrow’s direction remains unchanged unless acted upon by external force.

Of course, certain specialized archery techniques might allow arrows to curve—but such rare exceptions are irrelevant here.

Clearly, the ability granted by Wind Spirit Moon Shadow to alter [Flame Arrow]’s trajectory once is immensely overpowered.

This is the true power of Wind Spirit Moon Shadow.

Its “point allocation” never merely boosts spell power—it elevates the spell’s underlying mechanism.

(End of Chapter)