Chapter 84: Spell Slots

"Is it the kind they used to cast spells before? Let me see!"

Xia Duo's eyes lit up. He was quite interested in the mysterious buffing spell the Orcs had used earlier. Was that Wolf Tooth Amulet similar to a human Magic Scroll?

Dien handed a Wolf Tooth Amulet with a thin animal-hide cord to Xia Duo. As soon as Xia Duo looked at it, he discovered the unusual nature of this amulet.

Previously, they had also found two Wolf Tooth Amulets on the Orc with the Metal Armor, but those two amulets only possessed a faint Magic Aura.

But the Magic Aura on this piece of loot was quite strong, and its connection to the Magic Net was by no means just at the shallowest level. It felt to Xia Duo somewhat like an unfurled Bear's Endurance scroll.

And a Bear's Endurance scroll is a 2nd-Ring Spell scroll, so does that mean this Wolf Tooth Amulet can connect to the second layer of the Magic Net?

Valuable!

This was Xia Duo's first reaction, but he still couldn't judge whether this Wolf Tooth Amulet was one-time use or permanent, which directly related to how much it was worth!

But even if it were one-time use, its price would still exceed the sum of everything Xia Duo and the others had harvested before.

"Sami, Dewan, I'll keep this amulet for now. Let me study it first."

Sami and Dewan did not refuse. In any case, if it wasn't kept with Xia Duo, it would have to be kept with another Apprentice. They still trusted Xia Duo quite a bit.

Soon, those who had gone to the trap area to look for the single-handed swords returned. Xia Duo immediately ordered everyone to retreat a certain distance, set up a Temporary Camp, and eat lunch while they were at it.

……

On the other side, Lao Nier Inn.

It wasn't until noon, after finishing lunch, that Mage Kenni set off under Lao Nier's urging. To make it easier to find Xia Duo, Lao Nier even handed him the Simulation Silk Pajamas he had "bought" from Xia Duo.

After leaving the town area, Mage Kenni still maintained the guise of a middle-aged Merchant, unhurriedly driving an old carriage toward the forest.

He had already Scried the Apprentice's location. He only needed to head to the forest to kill him, and he would be able to obtain the location of the Elf Ruins.

Of course, by then, Lao Nier would also completely keep this secret.

Thinking of the happy outcome, Mage Kenni couldn't help but reveal a knowing smile.

If there were no accidents, Mage Kenni would soon find Xia Duo and then be able to kill him without much effort, but accidents often appear when one is off guard.

And not long after Mage Kenni abandoned the carriage and entered the Green Pearl Forest, he encountered Mage Leonard, who was returning from the forest, along with a dozen Night Watchers.

Originally, Leonard had given up on searching for Kenni, never expecting to run into him on his way back.

Although Kenni had undergone complex disguises, Undead do not identify the living entirely by appearance; the Soul is a person's most essential characteristic.

Prompted by the Night Watchers, Leonard launched an attack without hesitation.

And the moment Kenni discovered Leonard, he chose to run. Hidden Mist, Phantom, Invisibility, Haste—all in one go—but Leonard's attack arrived as well.

It was Dispel Magic.

If the essence of Spellcasting is the distortion of the Magic Net to produce a Magic Effect, then Dispel Magic is the act of smoothing out the distorted Magic Net, removing the Magic Effect.

Kenni could only continuously trigger the life-saving and escape spells stored in the Magic Net, but he was only a 7th-level Mage; the number of spells he could store in the Magic Net was quite limited.

And if he didn't use the spells stored in the Magic Net, but instead cast them himself or triggered a Scroll, he wouldn't even have a chance to run.

The difference between instant and non-instant casting is often the difference between life and death in battle.

If he knew the Gate spell, he would have used it to escape the moment he discovered Leonard.

Leonard was different from Kenni; he was an academic Mage. The spells he stored in the Magic Net didn't have a very obvious bias; they were often functional spells, and usually, having Scrolls was enough.

It was just that Leonard wasn't very accustomed to Wild Mages who were used to running away. If it weren't for the Night Watchers doggedly trailing the opponent, he might have let him run away again.

Just like that, one side ran for their life, and the other chased desperately so as not to disappoint their teacher, staging a scene of a great forest escape.

……

On the other side, after a short rest, Xia Duo and the others decided to retreat a bit further. Xia Duo's team would also separate from Sami's team; after all, they still had to be responsible for their respective assigned areas.

They just wouldn't go deeper into the forest.

After finding a location with higher terrain and cover in the 12th Area to serve as a Temporary Camp, Xia Duo sent a Sending to Sami to report their location, and the group found themselves with nothing to do.

In the next few days, they would have to stay here during the day until the heavy snow arrived, at which point they could return to town.

After arranging the necessary guard rotations, Xia Duo sat near the campfire and took out his Spell Notes to begin studying. He could say he had mastered 0-Ring Spell theory; all that was lacking was the proficiency of Spellcasting.

It was also time to start considering more Advanced spells.

The simplest method would be to obtain a Learning Scroll from the Mage Tower, but Xia Duo only had three exchange Permission Levels left for 0-Ring Learning Scrolls, and he hadn't even caught a glimpse of Learning Scrolls for more Advanced spells!

As for researching it himself, Xia Duo had such thoughts, but he had almost no understanding of Deep Weave theory, and the Mage Tower did not offer such courses for Apprentices.

Thinking it over, no matter which path, it was not so easy to achieve.

To become an Official Mage! Xia Duo muttered silently. At this moment, Dien leaned over to his side and asked:

"Xia Duo, what do you think is going on with the Orcs now? Can't they just flee properly after being defeated?"

Xia Duo had also thought about this question, but he had very little understanding of Orcs, limited to the materials obtained from the Mage Tower Library and the few sentences of Orcish he had learned from Aiwa.

With his eyes fixed on his Spell Notes, Xia Duo guessed casually, "Maybe the Lord hit them too hard, and hatred has overridden their survival instinct."

"Would such a barbaric race give birth to true hatred?" Dien was somewhat skeptical.

Put that way, Xia Duo also felt that some of the Orcs' behaviors were abnormal. Wouldn't normal people think about fleeing as quickly as possible? What kind of grudge or hatred would make them keep coming to their deaths after being defeated?

"Forget about them, we just need to do our own thing."

Seeing that Xia Duo had no interest in chatting, Dien felt a bit bored. He felt deep pressure from Xia Duo, but he had no direction for his efforts and could only drift with the tide.

Dien, sitting on the other side of the campfire, did not take out his Spell Notes to read, but instead poked at the flames with a thin twig, quite bored.

Seeing this, Xia Duo shook his head imperceptibly and immersed himself even more into the world of Magic.