Magicians never make wishes

The sword moved swiftly, and the resulting gale struck first, scraping the skin on my neck with a painful ache.

Just as the sword tip was about to pierce the skin, a fleeting red ray suddenly deflected it.

"You don't actually think my magic can only be cast with one hand, do you?"

Ronan sneered, staring intently at Dunshan, who had suddenly attacked him.

"How did you figure that out?"

Dunshan's face showed neither joy nor sorrow; having missed his attack, he quickly retreated a distance.

Ronan shrugged, his tone laced with sarcasm. "Does that even need looking?"

"Oh? Tell me about it."

Dunshan was no longer in a hurry. He switched to his usual friendly expression and asked curiously.

"The rat swarm came, and Axe and I were separated. How did you and Hawkeye get separated?"

"I'll take it as a slip of the tongue, but..."

Ronan couldn't help but roll his eyes. "You're blatantly hanging two storage bags on your person, do you think I'm blind?"

Storage bags are storage equipment provided by the Adventurers' Guild, and each member of the party has one.

The second bag hanging from Dunshan's waist clearly belonged to the elusive Eagle Eye.

"Of course, even without these factors, you didn't have much trust in me to begin with."

Now that things have come to this, Ronan no longer needs to feign politeness.

"As a survivor of the beast tide, you are far more reliable than Evil Axe."

"The Demon Axe escaped the beast horde through bloodlust, but what about you? A mere shield guard, what makes you think you could have survived such a ferocious beast tide?"

"So I was wondering, could the person Wolf Fang mentioned be the key?"

Ronan pretended to be deep in thought, but in reality, he was constantly watching Dunshan's expression.

"Let me think, what's her name... Scarlet Gauze, right?"

"Truly worthy of being called a magician, finding out the inside story so quickly." Dunshan clapped his hands, praising without reservation.

"That's right. The reason I was able to survive the beast tide is just as Wolf Fang guessed—I killed his lover and took the magical item she used to escape the beast tide."

Dunshan remained calm. "But that's how adventurers are. It's survival of the fittest. It's either you or me who dies."

"It all comes down to individual ability."

"So you took advantage of the beast tide to kill Hawkeye too?" Ronan asked.

"I just gave him a push at the crucial moment and took his luggage while I was at it... He was the one who was watching you the whole time, and now that I've killed him, you should be thanking me."

Dunshan looked completely at ease, showing no sign of sarcasm whatsoever.

"I'm not really that concerned about what happened between the two of you."

"But..." Ronan stood up, his gaze sharp as lightning, a red light flashing at his fingertips.

"How dare you set your sights on me?"

Dunshan shrugged helplessly, unconcerned about the failed sneak attack. "I really didn't expect that even at a time like this, you would still have the strength to counterattack..."

"But with your current mental strength, what can you still do?"

He could tell at a glance that Ronan's dizziness and nausea were not only due to the impact of the beast tide, but also a sign that his mental energy was about to be exhausted.

"A mage with depleted spiritual energy will be overwhelmed by the approaching swarm of rats even if I don't intervene."

"If that's the case, why not just give it to me directly?" Dunshan smiled. "After all, we were teammates."

"Being your teammate is far more dangerous than being overwhelmed by a horde of beasts," Ronan sneered.

"Bai Ye, don't think I don't know you're actually stalling for time to recover your mental strength," Dunshan frankly revealed. "It's useless. Without meditation techniques, you wouldn't recover much mental strength even if you had a whole day."

He shook his head, a hint of pity in his eyes. "Just as that mercenary said, you're nothing more than a 'wild magician'."

No, you're a shieldbearer and you're being rated as a mage?

"Didn't you want to know how I survived the last beast tide?"

After Dunshan finished speaking, he suddenly stomped down, and a subtle wave spread out from him.

He then reached out and opened the two bags, revealing a small skull hidden on his belt.

"Alright, for the time being, we won't be able to use our storage bag."

Ronan tried it secretly and found that the baggage could not be opened.

"I don't care, I have everything I need on me. But you..." Dunshan said with a mocking expression, "Have you used up your Condensed Elemental Orb?"

"I see, so you were also stalling for time, preparing to unleash this skill."

Ronan suddenly realized why Dunshan could chat with him for so long without any problems.

"Hmph, good to know." Having achieved his goal, Dunshan had no desire to continue the conversation.

He removed his wristband, revealing a pink bracelet with a small skull embedded in it.

"Let me use your magician's methods to grant you peace."

"Pfft." Ronan almost died laughing at this contrasting scene.

"I never imagined that someone as plain-looking as you could have such a girlish heart... Hahahaha."

Dunshan didn't argue when he heard this, but stared at Ronan with a sinister look and activated the magic bracelet on his wrist.

In an instant, the skull on the bracelet spewed out a cloud of black mist, which quickly spread throughout its body.

His face visibly paled, though it wasn't very noticeable under the cover of the black mist.

"It seems you survived the beast tide thanks to this magical item."

This should be the item with the scarlet veil.

Ronan didn't delay any longer; he had no intention of letting the enemy finish charging up before inflicting damage on him.

In his mind, the wish-granting function of the deity had been activated.

"I hope that, at the cost of 1 point of willpower, my mental strength can be restored to normal immediately."

[Your wish has come true!]

[Wish Power Reserves -1]

Ronan suddenly felt a sense of clarity and alertness.

The dizziness and lightheadedness caused by the depletion of mental energy completely disappeared.

However, after taking a closer look, Ronan noticed something was amiss.

My mental strength has only recovered by half.

But the wish requires 'to return to normal levels'... which means that his total mental energy is almost double the normal level.

Thinking of this, Ronan was overjoyed.

But then, he suddenly felt that he couldn't mobilize his mental energy.

When he focused his attention on the panel, he saw that the word "Descent" in the Powers section had turned red and was flashing continuously.

A single thought touched upon it.

[Wish Power Reserves: 0]

[The divine essence is about to be lost; self-rescue mode activated; a miracle occurs!]

In an instant, the surrounding environment was replaced by darkness and emptiness.

Ronan felt his soul leave his body, rapidly ascending along an unknown passage away from the earth's surface, reaching the highest heavens.

When he came to his senses, he found himself in a dark and gloomy hall.

The hall was dilapidated, and its ceiling faced the boundless void, making the entire hall resemble a lonely island floating in the void.

He was sitting on an ancient and majestic chair, at the highest point of the hall.

Beneath my feet is an endless staircase that stretches downwards, as if traversing through time and space.

At this moment, on the lowest step of the stairs stood Dunshan, looking flustered and at a loss.