Chương 39: Advancement

The scene of the Giant Winged Bat's attack replayed in Vaelis's mind once again. He desperately tried to capture that feeling—the perfect resonance between wind and bone.

"Not a forceful push…"

"It's wrapping… it's fusion." Vaelis drew another arrow and once again guided his Aura toward his fingertips. Wrapping… Fusion… The Aura slowly flowed from his fingertips, carefully spreading from the tail of the arrow until it enveloped the entire shaft. It was an incredibly demanding process. The slightest mistake would cause all his previous efforts to collapse. Vaelis took a deep breath, forcing himself to remain calm. Even when sweat trickled into his eyes, he didn't blink.

Finally, the Aura and the arrow reached a delicate balance. The arrow began to hum softly, as if it had gained a will of its own and could no longer wait to be unleashed. Vaelis nocked it once more. Drew the string. The bow bent like a full moon. He inhaled deeply. Then released.

"Boom!" This time, it was no longer the ordinary whistle of an arrow cutting through air. A high-pitched roar echoed throughout the entire forest. Electric arcs crackled through the air. The entire arrow was wrapped in a layer of faint blue radiance as it shot forward like a streak of lightning!

"Bang!!!" The moment it struck its target, terrifying kinetic force exploded outward. A hole the size of a bowl was blasted through the tree trunk, completely piercing it. Around the edges of the hole remained charred marks torn apart by lightning, leaving behind a brutal sight.

"Heh…" A faint smile appeared on Vaelis's tense face. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and slightly raised his chin. Years of accumulated effort… Combined with that sudden flash of insight… Had finally paid off. From this moment onward, Vaelis had officially stepped into the realm of a Mid-tier Ranger. He felt both joy and surprise. He never expected his Aura to develop a lightning attribute. He originally thought it would become something like wind blades. But… This wasn't bad either.

Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. Vaelis stood up, preparing to return to Blackstone Town. However, his ears suddenly twitched. He caught a strange sound.

"Boom… boom…" Was something exploding? Vaelis looked toward the source of the noise, confusion filling his mind. After thinking for a moment, he decided to investigate. Passing through the final line of dense bushes, a winding river appeared before him. Several massive black stones were scattered along the riverbank. And standing beside one of those rocks was the person creating the noise. The sight instantly surprised Vaelis. It was Zelier.

At that moment, Zelier was holding his white ashwood staff horizontally, channeling mana into it. Faint traces of light shimmered around his body. At the tip of the staff, countless streams of radiance gathered together, becoming increasingly condensed and refined. A prism-shaped energy projectile had already taken form. The terrifying power contained inside made even Vaelis's eyes widen slightly. Finally, when the projectile was compressed to its absolute limit— A flash of blue light erupted!

Like a cannonball fired from its barrel, the spell shot forward with a thunderous roar. It slammed directly into the black rock beside the river.

"BOOM!!!" A deafening explosion erupted. In an instant, violent mana surged outward. The rough surface of the black stone was blasted open, leaving behind a crater the size of a fist. Fragments of stone scattered into the river, creating waves that rippled outward.

"Man… that's exhausting…" Zelier breathed heavily and collapsed onto the ground. The spell he had just cast was the same Arcane Missile he had witnessed at the arena. After half a month of analysis, he had finally reconstructed the spell matrix. As a Tier-3 Single-Layer Spell Matrix spell, Arcane Missile possessed greater destructive power than Flame Breath. At least in terms of single-target damage, Arcane Missile surpassed Flame Breath. The only area where it fell behind was probably its attack range.

However, just as Bev had mentioned before, Arcane spells consumed far more mana than elemental spells. With Zelier's current mana pool, he could only cast Arcane Missile three times at most. Furthermore, its casting time was even longer than Flame Breath. It required nearly nine seconds of channeling before it could be released. The Ice Lance spell that Lante had used before had also finished being analyzed. Ice Lance possessed greater piercing power than Wind Blade.

After striking a target, it would trigger a small frost explosion, producing a secondary burst effect. It was another excellent offensive spell. There was also another piece of good news these past few days. Because his Intelligence attribute had increased, his analysis speed had improved. The spell matrix of Veil of the Mist had finally been reconstructed. But there was also bad news. Zelier still couldn't cast it.

Veil of the Mist Magic School: Arcane Construction Type: Single-Layer Spell Matrix Spell Rank: Tier 4 Effect Description: The caster manipulates their own mana to weave a buffering force field around their body. This field redirects, deflects, and disperses any physical kinetic force that enters its range at high speed. From the outside, the force field appears as a blurred halo.

When physical attacks make contact with it, they feel as if they have plunged into a swamp, with their momentum instantly scattered and their power greatly reduced. However, this spell only affects physical kinetic energy. It provides no defense against pure energy-based attacks. Furthermore, such attacks will disrupt the buffering field itself, causing the spell to collapse. As a Tier-4 Single-Layer Spell Matrix, Veil of the Mist possessed incredibly complex rune circuits.

No matter how hard Zelier tried, he was unable to complete even a single mana circulation cycle. This was the limitation of mana control. Even if someone knew the structure of a high-level spell, they still couldn't cast it without sufficient Intelligence and mana manipulation ability. Zelier silently considered the possibility. Perhaps after officially becoming a Low-tier Mage, he would finally be able to cast Tier-4 spells. The battle against the Mistwraith was still vivid in his memories.

That strange ability capable of completely neutralizing physical attacks… Just imagining it was exciting. During these days, Zelier had also continuously attempted to optimize his spell matrices. But he still hadn't made any progress. Even after gaining four more points of Intelligence, that invisible barrier remained firmly in place.

"What spell was that just now?" Vaelis's voice suddenly sounded beside him, startling Zelier. He turned around.

"Oh, it's you… You're here too?"

"Same as you. Training my skills." Vaelis casually walked over and sat down beside him. Zelier carefully examined him. He noticed that Vaelis seemed different compared to before. There was some subtle change about him. Stronger?

"It's an offensive spell." Zelier gave a brief explanation.

"Compared to spells like Fireball or Wind Blade, which rely on elemental forces to attack, that projectile is formed entirely from pure mana. That's why its destructive power is higher." Then Zelier looked at him curiously.

"Speaking of which… you seem like you've broken through?" Vaelis had mentioned something related during their celebration meal. It seemed he had gained inspiration from the Giant Winged Bat's attack style.

"Yes." Vaelis nodded.

"I've learned how to combine Aura with my arrows. I suppose I can officially call myself a Mid-tier Ranger now."

"Congratulations." Zelier smiled.