Zatiel and Sophia continue to explore the Wasteland in search of resources and body-parts of some species.
Zatiel continued guiding the path but when it came to a fight, the one who takes the lead now was Sophia.
This was the idea of Zatiel so she could get used to her abilities and also practice the spell he gives to her known as 'Ice Mind'.
The spell allows the user to control the natural energy around them to summon a dome of ice that protects them and also can be used to attack the enemy. The defense of the spell can reach up to ten degrees and the attack almost the same.
Of course, this was the basics. As Sophia improves her proficiency in it, the offense and defense will improve as will the versatility of the spell. This is thanks to the Chaotic Core and the fact that the spell is not limited to only follow a spell rune.
After reading the description of the spell, he considered that this one was the most useful to someone like Sophia thanks to the fact that the spell also helps to calm the mind and to be cool-headed during a fight, something she wasn't very good at.
Sophia was able to prove the power of the spell when she had to fight a group of ghouls.
The creatures attacked madly at her, throwing themself like mad beasts but the moment they got closer to the dome, their bodies started to freeze making them move slowly.
But this was not all. Sophia moved her right hand and from the dome tentacles made of ice appeared and attacked these creatures sending them flying, breaking their bodies, and freezing them.
But still, the ghouls were in the hundreds, and despite only having the power of a rank 2 apprentice, they could present a threat to Pseudo-Magis in the right quantity. So there were a couple of dozen that were already reaching the dome and were going to attack Sophia.
Before even with her current power, Sophia would have been nervous before the horrifying creatures threatening her to devour her, but thanks to the spell, she was able to maintain calmness and using her left hand, she conjured a stream of frost that attacked the ghouls, freezing their bodies and ending their lives.
Zatiel was a couple of hundred meters away seeing how Sophia handled the situation.
'The spell covers her weak points perfectly. It would not take long for her to become truly proficient in it. A.I. Chip, analyze her.'
[Bip... scanning target.
Name: Sophia
Race: Neo-Demon
Strength: 8.2
Physique: 12.4
Speed: 12.2
Abyss Aura:13.1]
'Her strength is now her weakest attribute. But that is normal, after all, it is due to the mutations that they were so high before. Her main way of attacking should be at distance with her spells and with her speed and constitution plus that dome, harming her will be very difficult.'
After all the ghouls were finished, Zatiel collected some parts from their bodies before continuing to their next destination.
....
Zatiel and Sophia were around a campfire eating a stew made by the latter that contained the heart of some creatures. Zatiel was going to eat them raw but the woman started nagging him about not appreciating good food, and since the food of Sophia was indeed delicious and they were not in a hurry, he didn't mind waiting.
This looked like a beautiful scene of a couple, but not even ten meters away from them, hundreds of corpses were still bleeding in the ground.
These creatures had bull-like heads and muscular bodies. They were minotaurs, one of the strongest races that could be found in the Wasteland.
But now this powerful tribe was massacred.
Some of them had their heads blasted and there were holes in their bodies. As for the rest, they were frozen and their chest was split and their hearts missing
To Zatiel a scene like this was nothing, but Sophia was different. She was inexperienced but by using 'Ice Mind', she was able to calm herself and ignore the corpses.
"We have been in Wasteland for four months already. I have all the materials I need, so it is time we leave," Zatiel has all he came looking for, and the spatial sack was full of high energy food enough for the three of them, so staying here was no longer useful.
"Do you think that Magus will attack us?" Sophia already knows about the reason for the attack from the Pseudo-Magi and the contract that Zatiel made with Jhon.
"He will definitely do it. The moment I leave this place alive and the group he sent doesn't, he will know that I can kill a group of Pseudo-Magi accompanied by fifty ogres. No matter how I do it, the threat I will represent for him is too much."
Although the situation Zatiel finds himself in was very dangerous, he didn't look worried about it.
Zatiel knows that the only reason Erick has not attacked him was that he was afraid that the Magus named Clive will find out about it and make him responsible. But with the abilities that Zatiel has shown, having taken care of the group he sent after him, killing Zatiel himself was the only possibility unless he wants a genius going after him the moment he advances to rank 1.
"So we will fight against him?" Although Sophia was scared of facing a Magus and knew that her possibilities of surviving the match were very low, her will did not weaken at all.
Zatiel saw the determination on the woman's face and smile, but he shook his head.
"Of course not. We were barely able to survive the attack of that rank 1 spell, and that damage is the lowest a Magus can create. We have a lot to do before we face him. Don't worry, I have a way of leaving without being detected."
Fighting against a rank 1 Magus was too much for the current him, but escaping undetected was very easy.
....
Two figures could be seen running at an amazing speed, getting closer to the city that surrounded the Sinux Magic Tower. It was only when they reached the entrance to the city that the two stopped.
They were Zatiel and Sophia, and by their faces, you could see they were exhausted. They had run at their maximum speed since the moment they arrived at the cave that connects the surface to the Underground.
"We made it!" Sophia was practically jumping from happiness when she saw the tower in the distance. After all, since they left the cave, the threat of the Magus had been present like a sword above their heads.
Although his reaction was much more composed, Zatiel was also smiling. In his hand, a clown mask was disintegrating slowly.
'A shame, but it served its purpose,' The mask was the same Barbara had used to cover her group and surprise Zatiel. Although it has almost no use left, it was able to hide the two of them from Erick until they arrived at the tower.
