The battle was over. Soldiers cleared the rocks and logs blocking the road.
Allen took advantage of the downti to gather the Mages for instruction.
"Using the Cloud Mist Technique on the enemy is forbidden."
"Later, to make coordination easier, I will assign you all numbers. During battle, you will operate within fixed Casting zones."
...
Allen announced many new rules, which caused a wave of displeasure among the crowd.
Mages were already arrogant by nature. Forcing them into Mage squads had already drawn many complaints.
Now, Allen’s actions completely disregarded the discontent in everyone’s hearts.
Allen also noticed the resentful atmosphere. He looked at them grimly and said, "This is war. Only the Power of a team can influence the entire battlefield. Fighting alone is a death sentence!"
"On the battlefield, a lone Mage is often the easiest prey for the enemy to target."
"We must stand united, a fortress built of common will!"
The murmuring in the crowd subsided.
CLOP, CLOP, CLOP!
Reina rode her warhorse to Allen’s side and said, "Mage Allen, the road ahead has been cleared. The column will now advance."
Allen nodded. "Understood."
At his command, everyone returned to their wagons and followed the column forward.
Following Allen’s orders, the Mages of each Elent gathered together.
Li Wei was separated from Gu Ze, and now sat with Rota, George, and a few others in the sa Earth Beast-drawn cart.
The Fire Elent Mages from the Mage Tutoring Corps sat in the cart next to them.
Delis complained, "Mage Allen wants us to obey orders like soldiers. What’s the point of even having us here then?"
"A Mage’s strength lies in the versatility of their Magic, yet he wants us all to use the sa Magic uniformly."
"Doesn’t that just erase all of a Mage’s advantages?"
He hadn’t wanted to join the war in the first place and was dragged here, so his resentnt was much stronger than the others’.
George said with his eyes closed, "That’s enough. Quit your complaining."
Seeing George speak up, Delis obediently shut his mouth.
Li Wei glanced at them, then turned to look at the Mages from the City Lord’s Mansion in the next cart.
There wasn’t much complaining from their side. He had noticed earlier that the Mages from the City Lord’s Mansion coordinated better.
’They must have undergone special training.’
Li Wei took out his Magic Badge and glanced at it. It already showed 3 Contribution points.
Two were the basic daily points, one point per day, and the other was an extra point from repelling the Beastn just now.
’No wonder so many Mages are willing to join the war. Turns out it’s this easy to rack up Contribution points.’
’The more people there are, the easier it is to get points.’
Putting away the Magic Badge, Li Wei found himself looking forward to encountering more foolish Beastman raiders.
Unfortunately, by the ti they reached their destination, Cold Sand City, at dusk, they hadn’t encountered a second battle.
RUMBLE... RUMBLE...
The wheels rumbled. Li Wei got out of the cart and stood at the city gate, waiting for the carts to enter.
He looked up. The city walls were mottled with battle damage, and broken arrows were stuck in many places.
Looking around, he saw piles of Beastman corpses not far away. People were pouring oil on them and setting them alight to prevent the spread of plague.
The area outside the city was a complete ss. Shattered Armor, broken Longswords, snapped arrows, and blackened bloodstains... were everywhere.
It was apparent the city had already endured a fierce battle.
After the forces from Maple City arrived, they quickly took over the city’s garrison duties.
Everyone was exhausted after traveling hundreds of kiloters to reach the city.
The Extraordinary Professionals all went to rest.
Li Wei had dinner and returned to his room early to rest.
Every Mage was given a private room, unlike the other Professionals who were housed in double or quadruple rooms.
’I haven’t cast the Fireball Skill in the real world yet. I wonder what Teacher Gu Ze ant by gaining the recognition of the Elents?’
Li Wei released his Spiritual Power. It penetrated the walls, allowing him to see everything within a ten-ter radius.
After confirming no one was nearby, he cast the Fireball Skill.
It was his first ti casting a Tier One Magic in the real world.
The Magic Model was constructed, and the Fire Elent began to fill it.
A large amount of Fire Elent surged forth, converging into a Fireball.
Li Wei felt a subtle change from the Fire Elent. It was as if the Fire Elent had gained life.
It was very faint, but he could definitely sense a trace of life within the Fire Elent.
To put it simply, it moved.
After a large amount of Fire Elent gathered, it began to pulse faintly, like a living organism.
’What are Magic Elents, exactly? Isn’t the God Particle a fundantal particle? Why is it showing signs of life?’
Li Wei was completely baffled.
He quickly snapped out of it. Probing the essence of Magic was a task far beyond his current reach.
Pushing the questions to the back of his mind, Li Wei focused on the present.
’If a large amount of Fire Elent gathers and produces a life phenonon, it’s sowhat like a fungal lifeform, where spores gather to form sothing like a mushroom.’
’This shouldn’t have any self-awareness. It’s more of a life instinct.’
’How do I gain the recognition of the Fire Elental Life Instinct? Perhaps this is the key to the Elental Awakening thod.’
Li Wei pondered for a long ti before reaching a conclusion: follow its life instinct.
Without a doubt, following the Fire Elental Life Instinct was the easiest way to gain the Fire Elent’s recognition and thus awaken Extraordinary Traits.
But the question was, what was the Fire Elent’s life instinct?
Combustion? Explosion? Proliferation?
’Forget it. This question is too profound. I can’t figure it out. I’ll just have to grind it out. Sooner or later, I’ll awaken my Extraordinary Traits.’
How long has the Mage profession existed? For several thousand years, at least.
No one had figured this out in thousands of years, so Li Wei didn’t think he could solve it right now.
It was just that his thinking and perception as an Earthling made it easier for him to see fundantal questions that others might not.
Or perhaps it was just wishful thinking and baseless delusion on his part.
Li Wei practiced the Fireball Skill and discovered that with each Casting, the Fire Elent’s response speed increased slightly.
It was as if the Fire Elent was gradually falling in love with him.
It was like going from getting no reply to a text, to getting an instant reply.
The feeling was incredibly subtle.
’Is this what it feels like to be in a relationship?’
’But the Fire Elent falls for anyone, doesn’t it? Isn’t that a bit scummy?’
’No, that’s not right. "Scummy" is a human concept. What if the Fire Elent is like Elysia, loving all of humanity? Then it’s not scummy, it’s... An!’
Late at night, Li Wei slipped into the dreamscape.
The room looked like the one in his Mage Tower, but when he opened the door and stepped out, he was in the hallway of an inn in Cold Sand City.
Li Wei walked to the end of the hallway and stood by the window, looking outside.
A gloomy sky was the dominant color of the dreamscape. The entirety of Cold Sand City seed to be shrouded in thick, dark clouds, and the light in the distance was dim and indistinct.
Li Wei looked down at the street below the window. Several Nightmare Beastn were hunting humans on the streets.
Every so often, a few humans would dart out from rooms to fight back against the Beastn who had invaded Cold Sand City.
No one knew when Cold Sand City had actually fallen.
The Nightmare manifested the most feared scenes from people’s hearts.
Therefore, when people dread, what they saw was a Cold Sand City that had already been lost.
Li Wei used his Invisibility Cloak and walked out of the inn.
He rembered that the Mages Martin, Allen, El, and Marina were all staying in the barracks by the city wall.
Li Wei walked toward the city wall.
Just as he reached the wall, he saw a familiar figure.
El was controlling a Fire Serpent, devouring the surrounding Beastn.
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