Liam walked into the Forest of Echoes calmly with a small furry creature popping out of his armor. Unlike last time, he did not have to conceal himself using [Stealth]. He now had a standing in the elven community, so he freely walked into the sacred forest.
Naturally, once he was deep enough into these forests and there were no more elves in the vicinity, he started his business.
Bang!
He raised his hand, and a ball of fire sprang forward at breakneck speed. The Level 51 deer in the distance only barely had a chance to glance in his direction when the fireball aimed for its head perfectly landed and blew its brains out.
As the corpse lifelessly thudded on the ground, the other beasts standing near it scattered and ran helter-skelter.
<Ding. You have gained 50 experience points>
"Not bad." Liam nodded in satisfaction. This was the first time he had a chance to test out the effects of his so-called training, which was nothing but an excuse for the old elf to pummel him day in and day out.
He wasn't even sure if he had learned anything from it or gained anything productive at all, but now that he had executed an attack, he could feel the difference between his earlier self and his current self, even on something simple like the fireball.
Essentially, he was much more fluent in mana now. He raised his hand and again aimed at one of the fleeing deer to observe the changes when suddenly, Luna jumped off of his neck and stood behind him, growling loudly.
"Hmmm?" Liam let go of that deer and immediately turned around. To his surprise, there was no one around him, and yet Luna was staring in a particular direction and growling viciously.
"Grrrr! Master! There are five elves there!" The fox snarled.
And it looked like Luna's detection was on point as the next second five elves emerged from the shadows with ugly expressions on their faces.
"Heh." Liam's lips curled upwards as he instantly recognized the face at the front. "You are the one who got arrested for trying to make a scene at the auction house, aren't you? You are still not satisfied?" He chuckled.
"Shut up!" The elf howled. "I knew it. I knew you were doing something fishy. You are living proof that humans are depraved. You are not supposed to hunt in the sacred forest, and now you will pay for your sins."
"Heh?"
"In the name of the Ballin family, I hereby arrest you and sentence you to death. Go and capture him." The elf shouted at the men surrounding him. Immediately, all four elves rushed toward Liam.
He, on the other hand, was still smiling.
"You want a death sentence? Alright, I will grant your wish." He sneered. He stepped forward, dodging the two flying discs of wind that came at him.
The elves were naturally talented wielders of mana, so their attacks were power packed. However, unfortunately for them, they were against the wrong person.
Liam took another step, simultaneously inhaling a deep breath of air. The elves couldn't see it, but with every move he made, the mana around him was reacting.
He sucked in a big gulp of the good stuff and conjured five spinning fireballs around him. The next instant, the five fireballs blasted toward the five targets.
He did not stop with that and continuously kept sending the same attack again and again. Mana was overflowing in his blood and veins. Everything he used was immediately regenerated.
As a mage mana consumption was the worst enemy but now Liam felt as if he had an endless supply. He was still not at his best yet and even so, he was truly able to reach into the depths of his mana core. Compared to before, the difference was huge.
As for the elves, they were unable to keep up with Liam's speed. They stared at him in shock. They couldn't believe that a mere human was so adept at using mana. With attacks constantly barraging them, they couldn't run or hide or fight back.
One by one the four elves wailed in pain and agony as they became severely injured and writhed on the ground only barely alive. At this point, they just wanted death. However, Liam had other plans.
As for their leader, the elf paled when he saw his men go down like flies. He had assumed that Liam wouldn't harm them because he was from a big family but now he could see the err of his ways.
He hurriedly waved his Epic-ranked staff at Liam, starting to conjure a powerful attack. He was also severely injured and only barely holding on, but he had enough strength to not fall just yet.
"I say, let's see what you whip up." Liam also calmly waited for him to launch the attack. He had spent all this time in training, so he desperately wanted to improve the range of his skill set. He wanted to learn more powerful attacks.
"You are from a big noble family, right? Don't disappoint me."
Meeting his cold gaze, the elf shivered. Why did it feel like they were not battling? Liam stood as if he was a teacher waiting to inspect his student, and the elf trembled.
In the end, the attack he conjured also came out as sputters. He created several vortexes of spiraling wind that looked very threatening. However, all Liam had to do was flood his body with mana as he casually evaded the attack.
"Hmmm. That was disappointing. You are useless. There is no point in dragging this out." He shrugged and dashed towards the guy to end the fight.
The elf screamed. "Save me! Save me!"
"But no one is here?" Liam smiled.
The elf became even more panicked as he looked around, "Save me, Dimitri! I will give you everything I promised. I swear, save me."
Now Liam paused in his tracks. Perhaps he was mistaken. It seemed like someone else was also here, after all.
At that exact same time, a loud growl sounded somewhere in the distance, as Luna pounced forward at full speed.
Both Liam and the elf who was on his deathbed turned to look at the sight when a dark elf appeared out of nowhere as he was trampled upon by the fox.
"Bastard! You ran?" The elf's eyes were bloodshot with anger. Coincidentally, Liam also did not look good, as he had already recognized this dark elf.
Their gazes met, and the dark elf sneered. The next second, he took out something that resembled a potion bottle, except that Liam knew it was not a potion.
"Luna! GET OUT OF THERE!" He shouted.
He no longer held back and immediately summoned his soul army, taking everyone who was alive by surprise.
