[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-above-the-mage":3,"chapter-above-the-mage-above-the-mage-chapter-98":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Above the Mage!",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2257102,4404,"Chapter 98: Grinding Monsters to Level Up","above-the-mage-chapter-98",98,"\u003Cp>Next, the section of the wall where Gao De and the others stood endured successive waves of attacks from furious bats.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet as the battle dragged on and the number of attacks increased, everyone gradually grew familiar with the furious bats’ patterns, becoming increasingly adept at countering them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>During this time, the apprentice mages of Squad Seven launched six or seven more attacks.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gao De participated in three of them, each time successfully slaying three furious bats using the extended range and superior lethality of [Flame Arrow+].\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Adding this to his first attack, the acquisition progress of the furious bats’ essence had now reached (4\u002F7).\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The situation appeared to be steadily improving.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But change often happens in an instant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Another wave of furious bats surged toward the section of the wall Gao De was defending.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Among this new wave, the first four bats were noticeably larger than the others, their fur a much deeper shade.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Arrows fired by archers bounced off these four bats like striking metal, unable to pierce their hides at all.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“They’re 1st-ring furious bats!” Li Luo frowned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>0th-ring furious bats could still be wounded by ordinary arrows.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But once a ground pulse creature reached the first-ring tier, it gained formidable physical resistance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only spells or alchemical weapons could inflict meaningful damage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>*Clang! Clang! Clang!* The four 1st-ring furious bats charged ahead, braving the arrow storm and carving a path through.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing this, the apprentice mages of Squad Seven paled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They knew their cantrips posed no threat to first-ring ground pulse creatures.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even without the 1st-ring bats, the number of furious bats now closing in under the leadership of those four had approached a hundred.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That number was beyond their capacity to stop.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was the first crisis Squad Seven had faced in this defense.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What do we do?!” Some with weak nerves began panicking, flailing helplessly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Panic was easily contagious.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Don’t fear—high-ring mages will act!” Li Luo noticed the shift in morale and shouted to steady them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that moment, as Li Luo’s voice faded, Gao De felt a powerful, invisible energy surge from the tower behind them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Along the wall, towers were built at intervals, each equipped with alchemical weapons.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, Bremen City had no intention of deploying those weapons in this defense.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was the mages who acted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gao De instinctively turned his head and glimpsed, within the fortress-like tower atop the wall, a robed figure flicker past.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The next instant, before the section of wall defended by Squad Seven, a cloud of countless tiny daggers formed along the furious bats’ advance path.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>These daggers gleamed with cold light, spinning and whirling in a fixed zone, carving arcs through the air like a storm of blades.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The furious bats had no time to react—they plunged straight into the dagger cloud.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Silver trails appeared across the bats’ bodies as the daggers cut through them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Whether the four first-ring bats or the nearly a hundred zero-ring ones, they made no difference before the spinning magical daggers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Each bat was struck simultaneously by multiple daggers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Every bat struck let out a piercing shriek.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Their bodies were sliced apart, flesh and blood spraying everywhere.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They tried to flee or dodge, but the daggers’ speed and number far outpaced them, spreading rapidly. Soon, the air was filled with blood and shattered remains.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The most threatening wave, which had turned the apprentice mages pale, was effortlessly neutralized.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Is this the true power of spells?” Gao De murmured to himself: “I wonder if it’s a 1st-ring or 2nd-ring spell?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He finally understood why his own potent 0th-ring spells were mockingly called “cantrips.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It wasn’t that 0th-ring spells were weak—it was that higher-ring spells were overwhelmingly powerful. The gap between mages and apprentice mages was still too vast.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After the hidden high-ring mage in the tower eliminated this most dangerous wave, the situation stabilized once more, with no further incidents.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The furious bats emerging from the forest continued their assault for nearly half an hour before being largely broken.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The scattered remnants could no longer mount organized attacks, vanishing into the wastelands beyond the city walls.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The battle ended.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gao De looked at the ground outside the wall, littered with bat corpses and broken wings, then at the wounded city guards on the wall, and sighed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Furious bats were among the easiest ground pulse creatures to handle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They had no ranged attacks or supernatural abilities—only tough bodies, charging the wall head-on through arrow storms, one life after another.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It felt almost like moths flying into flames, seeking death.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet even so, several city guards had been scratched or bitten by “leakers” that broke through the line before the mages could intervene.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>According to Li Luo, furious bats carried deadly diseases—so the fate of these wounded guards was obvious.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the very least, they’d lose half their lives.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But war was war—avoiding all casualties and injuries was nearly impossible.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Before this, you were all strangers, never fought together. Completing the mission with so few casualties on your first battle is already impressive.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But their leader, Li Luo, clearly approved of the outcome and spoke up in praise.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This greatly pleased the makeshift Squad Seven apprentice mages.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They received tangible rewards and emotional validation—everyone felt good.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“During the city defense, conditions were too chaotic and urgent to accurately count how many furious bats each of you killed.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Luo paused, his gaze sweeping over their faces, then said:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“But rest assured—the extra reward we promised won’t be shortchanged.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Later, report your claimed kills to the registration staff—we’ll settle your rewards based on your reports.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I trust none of you will falsify your numbers,” Li Luo smiled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In truth, even if someone lied, the discrepancy wouldn’t be large.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, a second-class apprentice mage could cast at most ten or so cantrips before exhausting their mana.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though no one had counted exactly how many cantrips each apprentice cast during the defense, everyone had a rough sense of the numbers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So even if someone cheated, they dared not overreport by much.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Li Luo saying this made him seem generous—and everyone felt comfortable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For Li Luo, the money wasn’t his anyway—it came from official funds.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even if he didn’t pay these “wild mages,” the money wouldn’t end up in his pocket.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So why not be generous? At least he’d earn goodwill.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of Chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",1059,"2026-06-19T14:28:48.629Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","40ada5ae631a90d4f079ced3fb887bcddb54e579e8b3c8fb0019b9ff7aaf0be5","above-the-mage-chapter-99","above-the-mage-chapter-97",529,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fabove-the-mage-cover.jpg"]