Trench Bolts and Magic

Chapter 233 Thank you for the gift, Highland Mage!
Morin quickly led a platoon from the fourth company toward the area where the massive explosion had occurred the day before. After yesterday's fighting, the area was now completely under the control of the Saxon side.

When they arrived at their destination, everyone, including Maureen, a survivor of the explosion, was stunned by what they saw.

The charming street that once lined the streets of a Gallo town has completely disappeared from the ground.

Instead, there was a nearly leveled ruin, scattered with a large number of broken bricks and stones and some objects that could no longer be identified.

"Oh my god."

The soldiers who came with Morin were all dumbfounded and couldn't help but gasp.

Although they knew there had been a massive explosion yesterday, they were still deeply shocked to witness this apocalyptic scene.

Morin stood at the explosion site and looked around briefly. Then he glanced at the information about the magic crystal bomb in the [Information] and [Technology] pages of the system—some of this information had also been derived after he obtained the detonating crystal.

The power of the magic crystal bomb is actually similar to that of a larger 'high-efficiency magic crystal bomb', mainly causing damage through instantaneous high temperature and shock wave.

However, Klaus and his team planted the bomb inside the building, so the entire building would become a giant 'fragmentation grenade' the moment it exploded.

At this point, for targets on the streets outside, the kinetic energy damage from the brick fragments actually accounts for a large portion of the damage dealt.
Even with their magical shields, the mages on the street couldn't withstand the barrage of bricks flying at high speed.

Morin opened the system map and carefully compared the four flashing gold markers on the map with their real-world locations.

He quickly located the first target.

"Right here!"

He took out his entrenching tool and pointed to a pile of rubble and broken wooden beams at his feet:

"Let's start digging!"

"Yes!"

Although the soldiers didn't understand why their battalion commander was digging in the ruins, they immediately picked up their entrenching tools and began clearing the rubble.

The clanging and banging of digging echoed across the deathly silent ruins.

The soldiers dug while whispering amongst themselves.

"What do you think the battalion commander is looking for?"

"Who knows? Maybe it's a treasure from a Brittany?"

Soon, a soldier's entrenching tool seemed to hit something soft.

"Squad leader! There's something here!"

The crowd immediately surrounded them.

They peeled away the last layer of rubble, and a corpse, no longer recognizable as human, appeared before them.

The corpse, or rather the pile of rotting flesh, was torn apart and pierced by countless fragments of brick and stone.

The tattered mage robes were stuck together with blood and flesh, making it impossible to distinguish between clothing and body.

A strong smell of blood and burning flesh hit them, causing several new recruits who had never seen anything like it to bend over and vomit on the spot.

Even the veterans turned pale and felt a churning in their stomachs.

"Damn it, that was a really gruesome death."

"Is this what happens when you offend our battalion commander?"

Morin looked at the corpse, his brow furrowing slightly, as if he were looking at a gory prop in a cult film up close.

This time, in addition to the visual impact, it also includes an olfactory impact.
But as soon as he saw the "Collectible" item on the system map, Morin crouched down, forcibly ignoring the disgusting scene, and began rummaging through the pile of rotten flesh.

Upon seeing this, the surrounding training assault battalion soldiers began to look at him as if he were a monster.

Their battalion commander not only fought like a madman, but he also coughed so professionally and calmly in the face of such corpses.

"Oh, I found it."

Morin quickly pulled a tattered leather scroll from the corpse's robes.

He wiped the two items on a relatively clean fragment of the robe, then put them in his pocket and said to the soldiers, "Let's keep digging, there are three more."

The soldiers, suppressing their nausea, continued digging at several other locations designated by Morin.

Having learned from their first experience, they quickly unearthed three more equally gruesome corpses.

Without batting an eye, Morin ransacked the four unfortunate mages, taking all their remaining 'legacy'.

Ultimately, his haul this round was quite good, considering the severe damage at the explosion site; it was quite remarkable that these spoils were preserved.

Two mage's notebooks, somewhat damaged by the shockwave and shrapnel, but whose contents were still barely legible.

A relatively well-preserved scroll, the type of magic used is unknown.

And a necklace, torn from the corpse's neck, still emitting a faint magical glow.

Morin carefully placed the spoils into his backpack, then stood up and addressed the still-pale soldiers behind him:

"Alright, we've finished our work. Let's bury them back. They were spellcasters after all; let's give them some final dignity."

The soldiers nodded in agreement, and then, together with Morin, they dug a few shallow pits in the ruins and hastily buried the four mutilated corpses.

Having done all this, Morin, with a satisfied expression and a backpack full of spoils, led his soldiers back to the bridgehead position.

"Thank you all for your hard work. Tonight I'll have the field kitchen prepare an extra meal—some stewed meat!"

Morin said with a smile, but upon hearing his words, the soldiers participating in the excavation immediately changed their expressions. "Um, Battalion Commander, perhaps you shouldn't."

"Yeah, I don't seem to have much interest in meat anymore."

"I can't hold it in anymore!"

Back at the makeshift command post in the battalion headquarters, the first thing Morin did was crawl into a tent and eagerly begin taking stock of his spoils.

He first took out the two spellbooks he had looted from ordinary mages.

The notebook's cover was torn, and the paper was wrinkled from being soaked in blood.

However, the system still provided a message indicating that these items could be used.

[Use 'Incomplete Personal Training Manual (Intermediate)' x1?]

【Use 'Damaged Personal Training Manual (Advanced)' x1?】

[After use, it is expected to promote you to a level 6, 3rd-ring mage]

"use!"

Morin silently recited it in his mind without hesitation.

The next second, some white light appeared on the two tattered notebooks and then surged into his body.

A massive flow of information instantly flooded his mind.

He quickly absorbed and understood all sorts of theoretical knowledge, spellcasting techniques, and magic construction models about the Third Ring spells, as if enlightened.

On his system panel, the column representing experience points also jumped up significantly.

Morin felt like his head was about to explode, but the feeling of his knowledge and power suddenly surging was simply wonderful.

【Used successfully! 】

[The caster's level has been increased to 6, allowing them to use spells of the 3rd level.]

[New spell slots gained: 3x 3rd-level spell slots]

[Gain new Arcane Legacy: Projectile Defense]

[Projective Protection: When a visible creature within 30 feet of you takes damage, you can use your reaction to attempt to absorb the damage with your existing Arcane Protection.]

Please select 4 spells from the spell list.

Seeing the system's prompts, Morin didn't immediately choose a spell to learn, but instead planned to think about it carefully when he had some free time.

Because these four spells can be selected from the list of spells in the 1st to 3rd rings, the range and choices are much wider, so some careful consideration is still required.
As before, after the two spellbooks were 'used', there were no changes, and Morin planned to hand them over according to procedure when the time was right.

Although the captured spell scrolls and magical equipment were supposed to be handed over according to regulations, Morin believed that given the current situation, the higher-ups would probably agree to let him keep them for himself.
Then, he took out the only intact spell scroll.

The scroll was made of some kind of unknown animal hide, which felt warm to the touch. It was covered with extremely complex and mysterious magical runes drawn in gold ink.

[Spell Scroll: Bigby's Hand, Fifth Ring Evocation Spell]

"Oh my gosh!"

Morin's eyes lit up as he carefully read the description of this fifth-circle spell.

[You designate a visible, unoccupied space within your casting range and create a gigantic, shimmering hand there; the hand remains for the duration of the spell and moves in the manner of your hand, obeying your commands, for 3 minutes.]

"Good, good, a fifth-circle spell scroll!"

Morin's heart skipped a beat. This was a treasure! It would allow him to cast spells beyond his level!
He had personally witnessed the seventh-circle mage of Brittany use this technique to crush a heavy armored knight weighing over ten tons into scrap metal, as if it were a toy.

For me right now, this spell scroll is definitely a life-saving trump card that can turn the tide of battle in critical moments!
Morin carefully put the scroll away and kept it close to his body.

He had made up his mind that even if he had to submit a report, he would keep this thing.

I, Friedrich Morin, have risked my life for the Empire countless times, and I've killed countless enemy mages under my command. That fifth-circle spell scroll—I even captured it myself!
Is there a problem?

Of course, no problem!
Finally, Morin's gaze fell on the necklace that had been torn from a mage's neck.

The necklace chain is made of some kind of silver metal and feels cool to the touch.

The pendant is a deep blue gemstone the size of a pigeon's egg, with starlight seemingly flowing inside, radiating a magical aura.

[Found 'Guardian Necklace' (Fine-grade Magical Item)]

[Effect 1: Increased exemption from testing for the wearer]

【效果2：3环法术位+3、4环法术位+2】

Effect 3: [Stone Skin] can be cast once per natural day, current cast count: 0/1

"This is good stuff!"

It grants a saving throw, an extra spell slot, and a free daily protection spell!

When Morin saw the necklace's attributes, he was quite surprised, especially the effect of adding spell slots, which could be described as a "timely rain".

After so many battles, he increasingly felt that spell slots severely limited a mage's endurance.

Often, after one or two skirmishes, all the spells he had prepared for the day would be used up. So he had been looking for ways to increase his spell slots, but he hadn't found any yet.

(End of this chapter)