'Sharpen your instant. This is not like training.' Silas reminded himself as he dodged the wolf's claw.
The air was cracking and making a familiar sound he heard. The sound of fire.
Silas backed away using his physical strength. The Spectral Wolf's physical strength was equal or greater than Second Circle Heart.
Ignoring their supernatural abilities, an experienced knight with similar physical strength can kill them.
But the wolves Silas faced were the Apex of their species. Equal to Third circle knight.
His sword can't keep up with their speed.
That was if he ignored the blue flame around them. If the flame caught him, he would get a nasty burn.
Silas observed his opponents and crouched down, channeling Heart energy into his sword, strengthening the blade.
The techniques recorded inside his circles were still fresh. He had little experience. But he was not a knight. He was also a mage as well.
'Four wolves. I need to cut down fast. Pierce spell will be consumed by the flame. I need to do something else.' Silas contemplated silently.
'The spells inside Third and Fourth circles didn't work well against the wolves either. Looks like I need to change my spells. No.'
Silas shook his head, narrowly avoiding the slash. He twisted his body, allowing the force around his body to travel from his hip to the feet. He kicked the wolf.
The wolf groaned and backed to the wall.
Silas frowned, shaking off the fire from his feet. He expelled the fire with his own energy.
'Distance. Maintain distance.' He reminded himself.
"Alright, I have calculated the path to stay you guys." Silas said quietly. "If you have any trump cards, prepare now."
Spectral Wolves were spirit beasts so they understood humans somewhat.
They howled, communicating with each other.
Seeing that, Silas smiled, calling out the second ring inside the mana core.
A white ring made from mana floated on his palm, circulating slowly. The mana released from the circle was vast and pure. Much better than the mana inside Pierce Spell.
Silas thought about the power system of the game. At first, he thought the power inside the game was fairly simple. But as the story went on the power grew stranger and more complex.
The world had mana and life energy. Most mages used mana in the air to form a core inside their body. Developing the core was the first step.
And then they studied magecraft and deepened their understanding of mana and spells. As their understanding toward the mana increased, the circle appeared, surrounding the mana core.
By adding more circles, the mage increased in everything.
Mana control. Concealment. Purity. Quality.
Everything.
And the mage can add spell crests into the ring in order to access the instant casting effect.
Most mages usually fought like this, drawing the spell crest inside the circle.
As Silas was Fourth circle mage, he had four spells he could use without worry.
The spell inside his first circle was called Pierce. A simple spell, not powerful but served as a great spell to his future.
The second spell inside his second circle was…
A fire ball crash landed in his direction.
Silas didn't dodge and extended his hand.
Water Serpent.
Mana changed to water and twirled around his body like a serpent, with the thought of his mind, the water serpent moved, facing head on with the fireball.
The water evaporated quickly but the water supply was limitless.
A perfect defense spell.
To be honest, it was quite weak in combat but that was only for pure mage.
Silas was someone who also studied sword.
The fireball was consumed by the serpent. Silas recalled the serpent to his body and let it coiled around his blade.
He then controlled the mist around him and covered his body, blocking the wolves' vision.
The mist was an extension of his water so he could control it. He dashed toward the nearby wolf, assaulting its eyes with the mist.
The wolf howled, calling for his friends. The blue flame around the wolf got intensified as he went on defensive mode.
Silas coated his body with water, enduring the might of the flame. He swung his sword. The sword sliced down the wolf's flesh.
It didn't stop as Silas ordered the serpent on his blade to enter inside the wolf's skin.
He jumped back and ordered the serpent to run wild. Due to the fire, it lasted for a few seconds but it was plentiful.
The wolf fell, letting out blood from its mouth.
Silas ignored and moved on the next one. He used the same tactics.
If it didn't break, there is no need to fix. His plan worked perfectly well.
He didn't need to use Energy or Third or Fourth circle spells.
That was why he chose Water Serpent as his second spell. The versatility of the spell was too great to ignore.
But there were many spells that could counter his spell. He would think about something when he faced such spells.
Right now, he was running wild. Cutting the flesh gave him an unpleasant feeling but Silas was used to it. During his time in the slum, he had to rob someone with a knife.
Of course, he didn't use the knife to kill. He used bullets.
Silas panted as he gathered the breath. He watched as the water fell to the ground as the support mana was gone.
'I use up 20 percent of my mana in the fight. I still have my stamina. Rest or go on?' Silas thought. 'Let's look at them.'
He lifted up his head and scanned the surroundings. Roland just finished cleaving the head of the wolf.
Ice-pick finished her task a long time ago and was looking at him. She smiled at him and waved her slender hand. She was still in her true state.
Silas walked over to her, swinging his sword in the air, letting the blood leave his blade.
"Wow." She clapped softly. "I can't believe you are so cool."
"Yeah. Yeah. You can still fight?"
Ice-pick nodded. "Somewhat. I rather not fight at all. I am a loving succubus."
"I am quite good, Silas." Roland said, jogging toward them, beaming.
Silas nodded, taking in a breath. "Then, we go."
***
In the space between real and spiritual, there was a vast ocean of thoughts.
Each thought shines with blinding light. They were what humans called stars.
Each star represented a domain.
And inside a faint star, there existed an old man.
His face was calm and cold. Having experienced life for hundreds of years, he was wise.
Currently, he was staring at the domain he conjured, the gift from the world. If he could understand it, he could control it, he can advance to seventh circle mage, surpassing human limit and entering the realm of Beyond.
It was not enough. The domain was not enough to give him the inside of the world. He needed more.
That was why he studied the soul.
At first, he just wanted to extend the limit of his soul but he thought about a new idea. Make his soul a new one, avoiding the circle of life and death.
But despite his effort, he only managed to glance at the surface of the soul. As a result, he developed a mind control crest.
Overwriting the mind was difficult.
He was a genius so he successed. He successed in creating a crest. It was not Tier 6 or Tier 7. Just between.
Like him, the crest was incomplete.
He sighed.
Thamior smiled softly, reminiscing about his life. He had grown old and now his heart was weaving. Deep inside his heart, he yearned for rest. But fear stopped him.
He couldn't. He mustn't.
"There are still those childs." He murmured, each word imbued with mana. "I can test my newly developed crest into their mind. But they are still too strong."
He sighed.
He knew he was going to die. But he wanted to still live.
Thamior, the sixth circle mage, will live and reach the height of Beyond.