Chapter 19: Persevering
Ophelia forced herself to calm down. If she couldn't maintain some distance, then they wouldn't be able to help her.
Crystal abandoned all negative emotion and focused on Ophelia.
Adam waited. In the face of a highly mobile opponent, it would be impossible to hit a fireball. All possible escape routes must be sealed before he could go in for the kill.
Speed meant that the body itself was weak.
Ophelia's bleeding garnered the attention of all the beasts, wherever she ran, she brought along hungry beasts wanting to devour her.
The apprentices were all in tears.
"Do not come here!"
"Get away from me!"
"No!"
Randy, Quentin, and William were helpless. If they were in Ophelia's situation, they would not be able to move.
William shouted, "Everyone, to me! Shrink the circle, don't block the way of the monsters!"
Quentin and Randy walked up and whispered, "We can't stay like this. If these monsters keep rushing to the deck we will be finished! We need to kill them."
Randy looked at Ophelia, and his eyes flickered, "But we can't kill the beast without harming Ophelia..."
Quentin replied sullenly, "She'll understand."
William remained silent.
Ophelia was about to die, and found that the beast was trying to corner her...
...in the direction of the fireball runes.
"Damn!"
"My god."
Quentin and Randy were under the fireball runes. In about ten seconds, they will all be in danger.
They looked at each other and then used their magic items, aiming at Ophelia's back.
At the same time, Adam ordered Crystal, "Launch after three seconds! Target it at Ophelia!"
Crystal panicked, but didn't question him. She forced herself to believe that Adam would not deliberately kill her like this.
"You can do it. You can do it. You can do it." Crystal repeated.
"Now!" Adam ordered, and Crystal launched her fireball towards Ophelia.
At the same time, Randy and Quentin cast their magic, and it was about to collide with the fireball.
Ophelia felt the scorching heat behind her and despaired. "I can't die like this... I haven't become a mage yet... is it over..."
Just then, she heard Adam's sharp voice, "Jump! Now!"
Ophelia swore that this was the most beautiful voice she has ever heard, and jumped without hesitation.
It looked as if she was dancing on fire.
The tiny beast roared.
It dodged to the side, furious.
The magic didn't hit.
For agile enemies, all direct means of attack are useless unless they are completely trapped.
"Damn it!" Randy and Quentin turned pale. They haven't learnt the fireball spell yet, and relied heavily on their magical trinkets.
Crystal was terrified. Her fireball didn't land, and Ophelia was exhausted. They really might die.
Adam didn't panic, and prepared to cast more fireballs. His system was calculating the possible trajectory of the tiny beast and the approximate direction of the beast.
"Now!" He predicted a 60% success rate; it was worth a try.
Adam gestured his hand in the air, and continuously shot out fireballs.
Five fireballs burned in the air, and flew towards the beast's landing point.
The beast snickered to itself; it wasn't afraid at all. There was no way the fireballs would hit it, since it was aimed around it. It laughed mockingly, wanting to kill Adam after landing.
The beast landed directly, and the five fireballs surrounded it, exploding.
"Success," Adam muttered. The beast was read like a book, and was burnt to a crisp.
Puff.
Ophelia fell between Crystal and Adam, and she smiled.
"Thank you."
"It's good you're not dead, or I'll be in trouble," Adam said, while walking to the front and preparing to cast more fireballs.
The apprentices were silent. They were jealous of Adam, but thought that they would be able to catch up with his magic with little effort, but now, they feared Adam. Five fireballs in an instant, and he was already casting more.
"Black Mage, did you read it wrong? Your apprentice seems attuned to the fire element!" Mage Jerome pointed out.
The Black Mage shook his head, "No. His talent is definitely not within the fire element... as for his ability to cast that many fireballs in quick successions..." Mage Black smiled bitterly. "He's a genius, that's for sure."
Mage Robert nodded, "The Black Mage is right. As long as we can fund the mana, we can cast dozens or hundreds of low-levelled spells. But have you seen anyone do such a thing when they are only an apprentice?"
"This is greater than an affinity for an element, the senior mages will pay special attention to him," Mage Robert concluded.
Mage Erin was still sipping on her wine, dyeing her lips red, "Black Mage, you are lucky. Do you want to protect him? If he dies, you won't get any rewards."
The Black Mage chuckled, "No need. He is strong enough. This apprenticeship will be a piece of cake for him, and you are wrong. I am more interested in the girl than him." He pointed towards Crystal. "She has the same affinity as me, and she has great inherent talent in magic. No rewards I get can compare to training a full-fledged mage by hand."
Adam killed any approaching monsters, but after careful observation, realised that the monsters flocked to a certain location.
They had another goal.
Most of the beasts ignored Adam and rushed towards William's group. By now, a third of them have fallen.
"If I were a beast, I would..." Adam noticed the group of fireball runes.
Adam knew that the runes should have no physical quality, so the others would still be able to cast fireballs even without the runes.
Adam grabbed a fish and shot the runes down with its magical arrows.
The fish leapt out of Adam's arms and slammed into the second rune.
"I get it now."
