How come this arcanist is invincible?

Chapter 230 Quasi-Third Tier and New Features

Bang! Water splashed everywhere.

Six giant ships broke through the sluice gates of Twin Harbor and sailed into the open water.

These ships were completely different from the merchant ships Kane had previously traveled on, which could only accommodate a few dozen people at most. Each ship had a standard crew of at least two hundred people and a much deeper draft.

The ship was also equipped with several standard crossbows, which, although not as powerful as the giant crossbows guarding the gates of Twin Harbor, were far superior to the hand crossbows issued to ordinary soldiers.

Behind the six armed giant ships followed more than a dozen merchant ships.

The cargo on the ship was completely covered with thick cloth, making it impossible to see what was inside. Only occasionally could one glimpse a few white outlines peeking out from the gaps in the cloth.

From the air, the fleet appears as a vast and impressive sight, sailing downstream from north to south.

In the flagship's rest cabin in the center of the fleet, Kane sat upright in his chair with his eyes lowered and closed.

The boat swayed gently with the waves, but he remained steady. He suddenly spoke, "Come in."

With a soft bang, the hatch was pushed open, and Logan Susas was standing in the doorway.

"You received a message from the royal court, right?"

Kane opened his eyes, a smile playing on his lips, and used his mage hand to push aside the chair beside him.

Logan Susas nodded slightly, stepped into the cabin, sat down, and slowly took his seat.

"I just received a message from the academy via carrier pigeon—my mentor and the Spirit Pivot were attacked at night by a small army of the Drow while investigating the death of Mage Daniel in the Dark Forest."

The enemy deployed three Tier 3 members: the Matriarch, the Martial Arts Master, and the Priest. They were ultimately repelled by our magic, and our personnel have now safely evacuated the Dark Forest.

"Two Tier 3 fighters repelled three Tier 3 opponents, along with their family army?"

Kane's eyes flickered slightly, but his face showed no surprise.

The sea of ​​skeletons in the cave had already taught him how troublesome necromancers were.

Just like this time when he traveled with a group of third-tier mages from various departments of the academy.

As a third-tier necromancer, Kugu would naturally be accompanied by an elite mage squad from the Necromancer Division, along with high-ranking corpse servants carefully trained by the academy.

Moreover, there's Ling Shu, a third-tier mind control mage who can manipulate minds.

He can even disrupt the minds of Tier 3 warriors and wanderers to some extent.

On the battlefield, even a moment's lapse in concentration can be fatal.

"Which drow clans were the attackers? Can you determine their motive?"

Logan Susas nodded and said, "It was a night raid, and we haven't yet figured out their motives."

However, judging from the different insignia on the opposing scimitars, at least three drow families are involved. One of the scimitars bears an insignia depicting spider silk entwined around it.

I have already asked the commission association in a nearby city to follow up on the investigation.

"Spider Blade Family?"

Kane's eyes flickered slightly, but his heart was in turmoil.

The Spiderblade family was severely weakened after Nord wiped out their core city. The remaining warriors are all people introduced by him who are still in the redemption period, and there are only about a hundred of them at most.

How could a family like that have the resources to participate in this attack?

"Because they share a common enemy, the Nords, Susas and the various families of the Dark Forest have always been on good terms. This attack is extremely unusual."

Logan Susas frowned.

Kane shook his head and said, "The Drow have always believed in chaos and evil, so this attack may not necessarily be a betrayal of Sussas."

More likely, they believed that Susas's future would be controlled by another powerful figure.

Their attack was merely a ploy to curry favor with the authorities.

"They're going to pledge allegiance to the Duke?" Logan Susas's eyes widened suddenly.

"Why not?" Kane said calmly.

"The chaotic situation of the three-way power struggle in the royal court is already common knowledge."

We, the royal family, and Parliament are like three wild beasts trapped in a cage of power. We have long since moved beyond testing and restraining each other, and we may very well end up fighting each other head-on.

But the duke stood by coldly, recruiting soldiers, training troops, and even plotting a demon army.

"Although we lack sufficient information to make an accurate divination, anyone with a bit of shrewdness can see that the Duke's chances of winning are far greater than ours."

Moreover, he also shares the surname Susas and holds the legitimate right to inherit the kingdom—”

"What?"

Logan Susas's eyes widened, and his heart sank to the bottom.

"Don't be discouraged, we still have a chance."

Kane spoke with certainty.

"Although this attack by the Drow may have been intended to curry favor with the Duke, it is not without its own hidden agenda."

Otherwise, how could a truly deadly night raid have resulted in so few casualties on both sides? They most likely left themselves an escape route in case the situation changed later.

"After all, they grew up in an environment of intrigue and scheming, and they've long since mastered the art of hedging their bets."

"I understand." Logan Susas nodded.

She had a vague feeling that something was wrong, but after Kane's explanation, she instantly understood the key point.

"During these three days on the way to the royal court, please take good care of the fleet for me. I need to engage in deep meditation."

Logan Susas nodded in response to Kane's instructions, then turned and left, gently closing the hatch behind him.

Kane stared at the closed hatch, his fingertips tapping lightly on the table, lost in deep thought.

Now, we can finally see the results.

He summoned the system panel, his gaze sweeping over the dense array of experience tips, and couldn't help but feel a surge of joy.

First, the reward for killing the necromancer:

[Check: You killed the necromancer Ashford. Your level is lower than the monster's level (Iv36). Base experience is 100%]

[Cumulative Experience Points Gained: 16000]

His gaze continued downwards, where he found a dense record of experience points from killing skeleton soldiers.

Although he was affected by the experience penalty due to level suppression, each skeleton soldier could only provide him with 10% to 20% of the base experience, but he had killed thousands of skeletons.

Even if each one only contributes a few dozen experience points, the total adds up to tens of thousands of points, which is almost equivalent to killing several third-tier powerhouses.

Seeing the surge in experience points on the panel, Kane's eyes lit up, and he whispered, "I can level up now."

With a thought, the level numbers on the panel jumped up and down, eventually settling at Iv30.

As an Arcane Scholar Iv30 (ma), all attributes have been refreshed from their original levels.

The Agility and Strength attributes remained almost unchanged, while the Intelligence attribute experienced an explosive increase.

He could clearly feel that his connection with the surrounding ether had become closer than ever before, even without any testing.

Kane was also certain that his spellcasting speed would definitely see a qualitative improvement.

"All the prerequisites for advancement have been met. Now, as long as I acquire the advanced knowledge of the third tier, I can officially break through to become a third-tier mage."

Once I get back to the academy, I'll consult Hammond. Although knowledge of third-tier spells is a top secret of the academy, he would never refuse me in my current state.

After all, in the current situation, every additional third-tier mage adds a force to the academy that could potentially change the course of the battle.

Kane's eyes flickered slightly as he quickly calculated in his mind, then he looked at another reward on the panel:

[Randomly select one profession trait].

This is the reward for the side quest to save the Zeno mage.

Although Master Zeno remained unconscious in the cabin and was being cared for by someone, he was ultimately rescued.

Looking back now, the process of rescuing him was full of twists and turns.

The Duke's Chamber of Commerce, the Parliament, the Royal Army, and the Church of Death—all these forces were intertwined and involved, turning the entire Twin Port upside down before finally bringing the matter to a complete end.

He pondered for a moment, then without hesitation, chose to draw.

New features will soon appear in the features section on the panel.

[Skillful Transformation]

This? A characteristic of the Craftsman class?

Kane subconsciously thought of his long-abandoned secondary profession, Alchemy Apprentice, but the two were clearly completely different.

Alchemy leans more towards potion making and magical creation, while craftsmanship, judging from the name alone, leans more towards pure artisan skills.

After he read the full description of the characteristics, he was slightly stunned.

[Skillful Transformation: Your understanding of the principles behind objects directly determines your crafting abilities. As long as you grasp the design logic and operating principles of the target object, you can complete its production, modification, and adjustment, automatically reducing the difficulty of the transformation.]

This? Can you create whatever you think of?

Kane frowned slightly at first, after all, this trait seemed far inferior to the Resilient Life he had drawn before, and could not be directly applied to actual combat.

But the next second, his eyes suddenly lit up as he suddenly grasped the most crucial blind spot.

This professional characteristic is clearly an exclusive ability of high-level craftsmen. To make it effective, it requires a vast amount of prior knowledge and a thorough understanding of the principles behind the items.

But he was different; he came from another world, and his mind contained a whole system of basic science and engineering knowledge.

"Give it a try."

He got up, pushed open the hatch, and looked at Logan Susas, who was standing outside with a bewildered expression, whom he had assumed would be in seclusion. He said, "Get me a crossbow—no, get me several."

A crossbow? Logan Susas was puzzled by this strange request, but he still complied.

Not long after, she returned with three crossbows.

Kane thanked him, took the crossbow, and closed the hatch behind him, leaving Logan Susas standing outside looking bewildered.

He had no time to think about anything else. He returned to the table, sat down, gripped the crossbow, activated item recognition, and looked at the crossbow's attribute panel.

Military hand crossbow (white)

Weapon Slot: Off-hand Weapon Equipment Level: Apprentice Base Attributes: Agility +1, Strength +1

Equipment effect: Requires loading a standard crossbow bolt before pulling the trigger to fire, dealing basic physical damage, with no special additional effects.

Note: This is a replica made by Sussart craftsmen based on the Nord military standard crossbow, with a rudimentary understanding of how the equipment works. Its performance is inferior to the original standard equipment.

He examined each of the three crossbows one by one, and found that their attributes were all very similar.

However, he knew very well that although the attribute only stated "deals basic physical damage", in actual combat, if it accurately hit a professional's vital points, this crossbow could still kill them in one shot.

If dozens or even hundreds of crossbows were fired simultaneously, even a second-tier professional would suffer severe damage if caught off guard.

The barrier to entry for operating it is extremely low; only apprentice-level soldiers can master it. Kane even believes that ordinary people with a bit of strength can complete the loading and firing.

Kane repeatedly examined the crossbow in his hand.

Its structure is not complicated, consisting of four core components: crossbow arm, crossbow bow, bowstring, and crossbow mechanism. The entire operation process is nothing more than three steps: loading, cocking, and firing.

"If you want to increase its power, perhaps you could change it like this."

Kane stared at the crossbow, countless modification ideas flooding his mind, and subconsciously recalled the "automatically reduces modification difficulty" feature in the description.

He pondered for a moment, then without hesitation, his shadow surged and coalesced into a dagger.

He gripped the dagger and began to disassemble, carve, and polish the crossbows, breaking them down into scattered parts.

Two days later, Logan Susas knocked on the hatch.

She stared at the closed door, her brow furrowed.

Ever since Kane took the crossbow that day, he'd locked himself in his cabin for two whole days, only having his food placed there—

He stays at the door all other times and never goes out.

"We're almost at the royal court; we must call him now."

Logan Susas took a deep breath and was about to knock on the door again when, with a creak, the hatch opened first.

Kane looked at Logan Susas standing at the door and said, "You've come at the right time. Help me with a test."

"A test?" Logan Susas frowned, his gaze unconsciously sweeping towards the table inside the cabin.

Of the three crossbows on the wooden table, only one remained, and it looked quite different from the previous standard crossbows.

The other two had already been disassembled into parts scattered all over the floor, and there were also many polished crossbow bolts scattered on the table.

On the opposite wall, there were several dents of varying depths.

She knew that many mages had strange research hobbies, but the fleet was about to arrive at the royal court, so it was clearly not the time to conduct experiments.

Before she could refuse, Kane had already raised the modified crossbow, aimed it at the dent in the wall, and said, "I'm going to fire an arrow at the dent. You use magic to protect that spot now."

"Master Logan, this is no joke, please cooperate with me."

Logan Susas frowned, but still chanted the incantation as instructed, uttering a low shout: "Shield!"

A faint, invisible magical field instantly covered the dent in the wall.

Kane nodded and, to Logan Susas's astonishment, placed two crossbow bolts side by side into the mortar.

He quickly cocked the crossbow, pulled the trigger, and the bolt shot out instantly.

A sharp whooshing sound pierced the air.

To Logan Susas’s astonishment, two crossbow bolts flew out one after the other, only a fraction of a second apart.

The first crossbow bolt shattered the shield's force field, and the second bolt followed closely, hitting the dent precisely and embedding itself firmly into the solid wood wall.

Upon seeing this, Logan Susas's eyes widened instantly.

Although the shield spell is only a first-level spell, Kane did not use any magical power at all when using the crossbow, and his movements were extremely casual.

This means that any ordinary person could unleash such a powerful attack.

If such hand crossbows were widely adopted—

Logan Susas felt a chill run down his spine just thinking about the image.

She looked at Kane and exclaimed, "Dean, this—"

Before he could finish speaking, Kane shook his head and frowned, saying, "As expected, there are still flaws. After improving the crossbow, its power has only increased slightly, and because of the staggered double arrow path design, the force of the bowstring has been dispersed and weakened."

It seems we still need to continue optimizing it and further lower the barrier to entry for users.

Need further improvement?!

Logan Susas was utterly astonished.

If such crossbows were mass-produced, not only would low-level spellcasters have no chance of survival, but even professional-level ordinary soldiers would be easily killed by ordinary people equipped with these crossbows on a large scale!

She looked at Kane and hurriedly advised, "Dean, I don't recommend that you continue modifying this thing—"

"Logan, I know what you want to say."

Kane interrupted her, his tone calm yet undeniably firm.

"You don't know what kind of enemy we are about to face. Right now, every bit of increase in strength is a matter of life and death for Susas."

"Once we return to the academy, I request that you gather a group of skilled craftsmen from the royal court. I need to conduct a comprehensive overhaul and upgrade of all existing standard weapons and equipment."

Looking at the unwavering determination in Kane's eyes, Logan Susas swallowed back the words that were on the tip of his tongue and replied in a low voice, "Okay."

Kane nodded slightly.

Time flew by, and another night passed. As dawn broke, the fleet finally arrived at the Royal Court Wharf.

But the scene at the dock made Kane, who was standing on the flagship's deck, slowly narrow his eyes as he listened to the low reports from his subordinate squad leaders.

Outside the dock, a dense array of Sussas soldiers stood, their armor clearly indicating they were the royal guard directly under the royal court.

Their bright silver armor gleamed in the sunlight. In front of the formation were more than a dozen heavy ballistae and three dark, magical cannons.

All these armed forces clearly had only one target: their newly arrived fleet.

"Stop the ship outside firing range," Kane ordered in a deep voice.

As soon as his command was given, the signalmen immediately signaled, and the entire massive fleet slowly came to a stop on the water some distance from the dock.

As Kane's fleet came to a stop, a small transport boat slowly sailed from the dock.

Standing on the ship was a mature half-elf dressed in standard military uniform, with a calm and composed demeanor.

After being taken aboard the flagship, he looked at Kane, who was dressed in a gray-white robe, and said in a deep voice, "May I ask which legion you belong to? We have not yet received any orders from the council regarding the mobilization of any legions."

"I'm sorry." Kane smiled at the half-elf.

The other man's magnificent military uniform, embroidered with his family crest, was enough to prove that he was a general of noble birth. He spoke slowly: "They are not a military unit."

"How is this possible?" The mature half-elf's face instantly darkened, and he shouted sharply, "Are you planning to lead your army to attack the royal court?"

Kane suddenly smiled, revealing a set of gleaming white teeth.

"I am Kane, the head of the Language Department at the Mage Academy. They are merely my guards—only a little more numerous."

He looked at the half-elf, who was completely stunned and speechless for a long time, and slowly added, "This is a right that a mage academy should have."