One of the fireballs was conjured by Adam, and the second was conjured by Crystal. She had incredible adaptability in times of crisis.
Adam had already learnt magic though.
Crystal was crazed with power, and the big fish had become her target.
Before she could cast another fireball, she noticed Ophelia limping beside the fish.
Crystal panicked and quickly stopped the spell.
"Miss Ophelia... sorry! I just..."
Ophelia quickly comforted Crystal, "Don't worry about it. Thank you for saving me."
The big fish was still not dead, despite being cooked to the flesh. The display of magic caused some beasts to flee in fear.
The magic displayed by them shocked the apprentices. Their confidence faltered. Comparing someone who can cast magic freely and someone who only has disposable magic items, it was obvious which option was more secure.
William couldn't help but hate Adam even more. He had to be better than Adam or the fragile alliance built on false bravado would fall apart.
"Buy me some time!"
William leapt out of safety, and conjured a narrow but concentrated blade of wind, and sliced a beast cleanly in half.
A wind blade.
It was different from a fireball -- it didn't dissipate after hitting a target, and moved straight ahead to slice open all monsters in his way.
After William displayed his strength, the apprentices had their faith slightly restored in William. Besides, even if they tried to join Adam's side, it's not like he would accept them.
"The beasts aren't invincible! We need to be united!" William rallied, ignoring the fact that defeating these beasts required magic. "Buy time for the others to learn the fireball!"
Adam didn't care. The fundamentals behind the blade of wind was obvious -- increase the pressure by compressing air.
"Crystal, how many fireballs can you cast in a quick succession?" Adam asked.
"Uh, I can only cast two before I need to recharge!" Crystal said.
Adam nodded. This was within his expectations. "You and Ophelia should form a group, and I can fend for myself. Let's take turns to defend against the beasts here. Each of us gets one hour, and we must ensure that no beast breaks through the defence."
Adam went first. He needed to buy time for Ophelia to learn the runes and for Crystal to recharge.
The two nodded. This way, she won't be useless.
"It's definitely much better than them," Ophelia muttered, watching the apprentices struggling to survive. "If you fail this test, you deserve to die."
Adam walked in front, aware that it only gets more dangerous from here on out.
As they get closer to the Mage Continent, the magical content will become higher, which naturally means that the frequency of magical beasts also increases. Although Adam is strong, he wasn't a fireball dispenser.
Crystal and Ophelia understood this too. Crystal quickly replenished her mana using the rune, and Ophelia studied the fireball rune intently.
Ophelia felt powerless. The Crystal Ball was right -- she had no talent in elemental magic.
Adam killed every monster that came close with ease, since William's side attracted more beasts.
An hour had passed, and Adam said, "Your turn."
Misfortune struck and a wave rushed up beside them, causing a large number of monsters to rush onto the deck. Crystal stood up nervously, her legs feeling like jelly. Ophelia patted her shoulder, "Let me deal with the ordinary monsters."
Ophelia infused herself with bloodied energy, and rushed forward. The ordinary monsters were just like knights, and she continually used the breathing exercise to deal with the monsters, but she eventually got tired.
Ophelia tiredly smashed the head of a beast into pieces, its remains exploding in her face. In her sudden blindness, the situation took an awful turn.
A tiny monster rushed out from the remains and swung its sharp claws viciously towards Ophelia's throat.
Crystal shouted helplessly, "No! Be careful!" She couldn't do anything either -- if she casts a fireball, then Ophelia would perish too.
Adam studied the scene. According to the Black Mage, this beast was a refiner, much like Ophelia, and its speed and strength far surpassed Ophelia's. It was clearly a greater threat compared to the magical beasts.
"This must be the advantage of a refiner. If Ophelia was a mage, she would have perished by now," Adam muttered.
"But these creatures... they come in all sorts of different species... if power comes from knowledge... how do these creatures without any sort of sentience master knowledge?" Adam pondered.
"No. Knowledge is a man-made concept. Natural instincts guide the monsters."
The shadow of death loomed over Ophelia.
A sonic boom sounded, and thanks to her knight training, she shielded her throat with her arm.
The beast's sharp claws sliced Ophelia's arm cleanly -- her blood, her muscles, her bones were revealed.
The severe pain snapped her out of her stupor, and she retreated quickly.
The beasts continued their advance on Ophelia, slicing each other in an attempt to reach her.
Ophelia was exhausted, and she could only rely on her knight instincts to avoid danger.
Crystal was sweating profusely, and she couldn't aim her fireball, "I'm sorry, Miss Ophelia! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I can't! Adam, please help her!"
Adam knew he needed to help her, but he didn't want to accidentally kill Ophelia too.
"Prepare a fireball, we only have one chance."
