A mage? A spell engineer!

Chapter 14 The Battle on the Nameless River

Faced with the arrow, Rorschach drew upon a vast amount of magic, conjuring the "strongest" mage's hand to date to slam it to the ground.

The fallen arrows liquefied into pools of dark green liquid, splashing onto the grass and causing black smoke to rise from them.

Highly corrosive?

Singh, a melee fighter, could only dodge the slurry on horseback, while Hill attempted to retaliate with her crossbow. However, her mount's forehooves were splashed with some slurry, causing it to writhe in pain and interrupting the ranger's movements. The knight immediately launched a second volley of fire.

As the arrows flew again, a giant hand made of flames suddenly stretched out from mid-air and grabbed all the poisoned arrows. The high temperature scorched the palm, and a thick smoke rose from it. When the hand was released, not a trace remained.

[Burning Hand]

Rorschach inserted "Elemental Conversion (Fire)" between the "Magic Condensation" and "Repulsion" of the [Mage's Hand], giving the magic-formed Mage's Hand the shape of flames. At this moment, his temples were buzzing, and Rorschach felt that he had consumed a lot of his own magic power twice.

Do mages have mana? Even the current stats don't show it, but there is definitely a limit to how much magic a spell can cast. The foundation of spellcasting lies in an individual's intrinsic mana; once a limit is reached, the caster will accumulate fatigue and phantom pain.

Just like running, someone who rarely exercises might find running a kilometer very painful, while someone who maintains an exercise habit would benefit greatly. Professional marathon runners have a huge gap in speed and endurance compared to ordinary people. Similarly, the difference in the amount of inner magic power and casting speed between low-level mages and legendary mages is even greater than the difference between ordinary people and athletes.

When a person runs to their limit, the muscles used in running, the chest cavity and respiratory tract, and the diaphragm in the abdomen will all feel pain. When a spellcaster reaches their limit, the "lactic acid buildup" in their mind will hinder their thinking and concentration, and their brain and whole body will be in pain.

On his first night in the afterlife, Rorschach had already experienced the depletion of his magical energy, but fortunately, he fell unconscious quickly enough to avoid experiencing full-blown pain. Now, however, he felt exhausted and sensed that he was nearing his limit.

On the opposite bank, the knight leader Leopold rallied his troops, and seven cavalrymen turned their horses around.

"They ran away?" Singh guessed that the heavily armored warhorses would only get stuck in the mud if they tried to cross the river. Did the enemy decide that they couldn't cross the river and retreated first?

"No, they're maneuvering, creating distance in preparation for a charge," Hill deduced, and everyone else tensed up at his words.

Rorschach perked up; he was preparing and aiming.

Hill drew his pistol, and the dwarf gripped his warhammer.

Da. Da.. Da! Da! Da da da da da da

With a visible acceleration, the knight drew his longsword, spurred his heavy warhorse on the bank, and leaped into the air, intending to cross the river! In the dim light, Rorschach could clearly see a faint green light shining through the gaps in the horse's armor.

Rorschach had been gathering his magic, and the instant the knight reached his highest point, directly above the river, he unleashed a fireball. As his most powerful spell, he didn't aim at any particular knight, but instead slammed the condensed ball of fire into the river.

boom!

Explosions and steam blasted through the knights, sending three unfortunate riders flying back to the opposite bank, separated from their horses. One warhorse crashed to the ground, melting into a dark green liquid like the arrows before it, leaving only its armor.

Despite the commotion, the warhorses that landed merely stamped their feet, and their own horses did not panic or lose control.

They are all good horses.

Summoning his strength, Luo Xia realized he had intercepted half of the knights.

Good news, he got the highest KD of the game with this shot; bad news, this is the last shot.

Rorschach nearly fell off his horse, and now he was feeling an overwhelming surge of nausea.

If he were to use the basic Disintegration spell, Rorschach could cast it non-stop all night, but the three spells he just used were all at their maximum power, which had already drained his own magic power.

Singh and Hill noticed that Rorschach was not in good condition and stood protectively by his side. Mr. Aller drew a straight-bladed sword to confront him.

The ranger fired at a knight; the bullet struck the horse's head, shattering the armor and revealing a festering wound.

Besides Leopold, the other two knights were also in poor condition. The steam liquefied upon contact with their skin, releasing a large amount of heat, and their exposed skin turned bright red.

"You're better than the innkeeper's report suggested," Leopold said in a low voice, being at the very front of the charging formation and thus least affected. "For the great Mother!"

"For our great mother!" the two knights replied with difficulty, pulling out a handful of herbal powder from their pouches and swallowing it in one gulp. It was the medicine powder they had fed to their horses before setting off.

The effect was immediate; the wounded knights went from pain to pleasure and excitement, drooling and chuckling uncontrollably as they tapped their horse armor with their longswords.

"They're about to attack."

Without waiting for the leader's instructions, the two young men charged directly towards Luo Xia. Although the acceleration distance was not long, they were still extremely fast, and they arrived in front of him in an instant.

"Don't underestimate me!"

Singrev, who hadn't made a move until now, suddenly unleashed his power. He squeezed his legs to make his horse lift its front hooves, swung his hammer to deflect the long sword that had been chopped down, and in the moment of the opponent's surprise, he twisted his power and swung the hammer down again to smash the knight's face.

The knight dodged to the side, and the warhammer slammed heavily onto the horse armor, causing an explosion. It turned out that the dwarf was wielding a gunpowder hammer!

Using the recoil, Singhlev swung up and smashed it again.

With a loud "Duang".

As the metal clashed, Leopold arrived just in time, weaving between the dwarf and his own men, using the angle between the blade and the guard to brace the hammer handle.

"My explosive hammer won't just go off once!"

The dwarf struck again, a short, powerful hammer blow that clashed against Leopold's blade, the impact nearly knocking him out of his hand. Leopold tightened the reins and pulled back.

On the other side, the rider faced Hill, the half-elf nimbly dodging and deflecting his opponent's blade with his dagger when necessary. Frustrated by his lack of success, the knight was further agitated when Mr. Ale, who had come to his aid, seized the opportunity, raising his cane sword and thrusting it at close range.

The knight easily dodged the merchant's attack, but in that instant, the wandering knight suddenly leaped off her mount, stepping on the horse's head, and swept her other leg across the knight's neck, cutting him down from his horse. Even Mr. Ale, who was standing nearby, couldn't see how this series of actions was accomplished.

His teammates gave him a chance to catch his breath, but it wasn't enough. Rorschach was now like a drowning man, overwhelmed by pressure, pain, and suffocation, and his inability to concentrate made it difficult for him to perform any more complex spells.

Want to give it a try?

As the dwarf fighting Leopold gradually fell into a disadvantageous position, it was obvious that Singleev's hammer swings were becoming slower and slower, while Leopold showed no signs of fatigue and fought with increasing ferocity.

Let's give it a try. Rorschach decided to take the risk without knowing the full story.

[Driving by Magic], the goal is oneself.

The magic in the environment was forced into his body, and Rorschach felt as if he had fallen into boiling water, experiencing double the pain.

But he was awake, incredibly awake. Perhaps it was the body's protective mechanism that was triggered, or perhaps it was the result of magic surging through his body, especially his nerves. Rorschach felt his mind was incredibly sharp, and he could unleash a spell with just a thought.

(End of this chapter)