Above the mage

Chapter 345 Guaranteed Second-Class Merit

The Mystic Choir can play a form of music according to Gaode's ideas, and then lure the creatures that hear the music.

This creature must engage in a mental battle with Gaode.

If the fight fails, the creature will be lured into becoming friendly towards Gaode for the duration it can hear the music and for one hour thereafter.

Any act of attack against this creature would directly shatter this friendly relationship.

An ordinary, putrid salamander is naturally no match for Gao De, whose mental strength is as high as 186, in a battle of mental power.

Therefore, at this moment, due to the magical effect of [Mystic Chorus+], it is sending a friendly signal to Gaode.

Given the great effort Gaode has gone through, it's clear they didn't take advantage of the situation to attack the putrid water salamander.

He cast [Hand of the Mage+], gently stroking the ugly head of the putrid water salamander with his ghostly hand, as if petting a small pet.

It's only "like" because the rotting water salamander really smells terrible, and the slime on its surface is disgusting.

Therefore, Gaode could only contact the mage through the "Hand of the Mage" and did not personally get involved.

The reason for the contact was not because of any unusual fetish, but because the next spell he was about to cast required contact to be cast.

As the magic surged, another spell model was activated.

【Beast Bond+】: As long as the creature is friendly to you or charmed by you, you can successfully establish a mental bond, regardless of its intelligence.

[Mysterious Chorus+] and [Beast Link+] have collaborated.

Influenced by the former, the putrid water salamander, which was extremely friendly to Gaode, established a spiritual connection with Gaode without any resistance.

Through mind connection, Gaode can exchange simple information with it.

"Where are your hideout and your other companions?" Gaode conveyed this question to the other party via a link.

That was his purpose.

The putrid salamander is a social creature. He could easily find its stronghold quickly and directly by looking at the putrid salamander in front of him and carry out a large-scale extermination, thus saving a lot of time and energy, instead of conducting a carpet search like this.

The putrid salamander is not very intelligent, but Gaode's question was not complicated either, so Gaode immediately received the other party's feedback.

"Go that way," Gao De pointed in a direction to Shama after receiving the information, and then instructed, "It will lead the way, just follow it."

The "it" that Gaode mentioned is the putrid newt that he lured away.

At that moment, it was violently thrashing its tail fin towards the small boat where Gaode was, as if saying, "Sir, this way."

After a brief moment of stunned silence, Shama probably realized that Gao De was skillful and had already controlled the ferocious water beast through his extraordinary power.

He gritted his teeth, finally mustered his courage, rowed the boat, and followed the rotting water salamander.

A paddle cut through the dark green water, sending up a string of green bubbles that gurgled and swelled with a nauseating, fishy stench.

The two men on the boat showed no change in expression.

Sharma was born and raised here, and is already used to this smell, so she feels no discomfort at all.

Gao De also gradually got used to the taste, plus a bit of patience.

[You are breathing in a gas with a strong odor and trace amounts of toxins. You are beginning to adapt to the gas. Your immunity to various toxins has increased by 41.1%. Your body's organs' ability to digest, metabolize, and excrete various toxins has increased by 45.9%. Your tolerance for odors has increased by 1.2%.]

Yes, in the Marco district, doing nothing but breathing is equivalent to taking poison. This poison even prompts Gao De's body, which has gradually become immune to the Opening Meridian Tincture, to adapt and evolve once again.

Led by this "salamander," the small boat gradually sailed towards a corner of the Marco Polo area.

As they went deeper, the water became increasingly viscous, and phosphorescent clumps of slime even began to appear on the surface.

The surface of the slime block was covered with small debris, such as rotten seaweed and unknown fragments, which swayed gently with the current.

Just then, the salamander stopped swimming, its tail fin slapping violently against the water's surface, creating a splash.

Some simple emotions and information reach Gaode's mind directly through the mind connection.

This is its lair, but most of the rotting salamanders have gone out to forage and will only return when they are full.

Moreover, a new batch of cubs joined us last night, and they will be responsible for bringing food to the cubs, which will probably take them a long time.

The initial information was normal, and Gaode didn't pay much attention to it. However, the later information was easy for Zaizai to understand, as it was about juveniles. But the word "join" made Gaode frown.

How could it be "join"?

Normally, it should be "birth" or "hatching," right?

His first thought was that the putrid salamander had such low intelligence that it could only express simple information, which was therefore ambiguous.

However, Gaode's rigorous nature as a "mathematician" led him to instinctively ask, "Is this the baby you gave birth to?"

The next moment, another message came from the consciousness of the putrid water salamander.

Then, Gao De raised an eyebrow, and his expression changed slightly.

On the surface, however, he showed no signs of anything amiss, and was already using [Detection Magic+] to look at the water in front of him.

Through the murky water, God saw countless magical lights underwater.

These lights flickered with a dim, eerie green glow, like countless tiny will-o'-the-wisps swaying in the water, with a few occasionally brighter.

Such a weak magical aura must be the larva of the putrid water salamander.

There's no such thing as old, weak, women, or children with these aquatic beasts.

A thought struck Gao De. Regardless of whether it was an larva or not, he pointed his finger slightly into the water, and magical light began to emanate from his fingertip.

【Blade Burst+】: You instantly create a ring of semi-transparent blades to sweep around you.

After the Wind Spirit Moon Shadow skill points are allocated, Blade Burst+ no longer has its center point limited to itself, but can be any point within a 20-foot radius.

The center point chosen by Gaode was precisely where the magical aura was most concentrated.

In an instant, a powerful surge of magical energy spread out from beneath the water's surface.

The previously murky but relatively calm water surface suddenly began to tremble violently, as if an invisible force was stirring it from underwater.

A ring of semi-transparent blades appeared and shot outwards at an extremely high speed.

The larvae of those putrid water salamanders, hidden by the color of the sewage itself, were peacefully waiting underwater for food and to grow up.

But now it's all just wishful thinking.

The ring of translucent blades stirred up ripples in the water, sweeping straight across their bodies.

There was no scene of it being torn to pieces, with juices and blood splattering everywhere.

Because the damage type of [Blade Burst+] is the most prestigious force field damage, ignoring surface physical defense and going straight to the essence.

A faint halo appeared on the surface of the putrid salamander larvae, and then their bodies began to twist and deform slightly.

The originally soft body was twisted and deformed under the influence of the force field, as if squeezed by an invisible force, like a crumpled piece of paper.

The next moment, fine cracks began to appear on the bodies of these larvae, spreading rapidly like a spider web.

Inside their bodies, something was being gradually broken down by an invisible force.

Finally, with a faint "pop," all the larvae lost their life and floated to the surface like dead fish.

All of this seems to have taken a long time, but it actually happened in an instant.

So in Shama's eyes, the young sea sentinel mage in front of him simply pointed his finger forward, and the next moment, the originally calm water surface began to churn like boiling water.

Immediately afterwards, countless rotting salamander carcasses surfaced, their bodies twisted and contorted.

This sudden sight gave him a jolt and left him quite shocked.

"Don't be nervous," Gao De reassured him.

The most powerful of the putrid water salamanders is only at the first level, and these juveniles are even less worth mentioning. Even though the power of [Blade Burst] is only at the sixth level, it is enough to kill them instantly.

Of course, one spell is not enough to clear the field. There are a few larvae of the putrid salamander that are not within the range of the [Blade Burst] spell, as well as adult putrid salamanders with slightly brighter magical auras. They are more resilient and have not died after being attacked by [Blade Burst+].

Gaode Maps is not prepared to let these slip through the net.

He made a false grab with his right hand.

A dazzling arc of electricity, like a nimble silver snake, shot out from Gaode's hand in an instant.

[Lightning pull].

Lightning Pull is a single-target spell, but thanks to the excellent conductivity of sewage, it instantly transforms into an area-of-effect spell.

Zizizi!

The electric arc spread rapidly through the water, like an invisible net, enveloping all the surviving, putrid salamanders.

Their bodies convulsed violently under the stimulation of the electric current, and their skin began to turn black, and their lives were quickly ended.

Even an adult, putrid salamander is actually only at the bottom of the first ring in terms of combat strength. It poses a great threat to ordinary people, but it is nothing to a proper first-ring mage.

The reason why this task is so troublesome for the sea sentinel mages and why they are unwilling to take it is mainly because no one is willing to go into the water.

But for Gaode, he can complete the task without going into the water.

First, use [Detect Magic+] to locate a single putrid salamander. Then, use the beast-taming spells [Mystic Chorus+] and [Beast Link+], taken from the Snowfield Guardians, to directly attack the putrid salamander's lair. Finally, use [Blade Burst+] and [Lightning Pull], which are particularly effective in water, to launch an attack.

Even a second-level mage might not be able to outperform a high-level mage with this combo.

This is the advantage of having a deep spell library.

With a deep enough reserve of spells, Gaode can pick out the appropriate spell combinations to deal with most situations.

Although most of the putrid salamanders in this lair were dead, Gao De did not leave.

The salamanders he exterminated were mostly juveniles; 99% of the adult salamanders were out foraging and not in their nests.

These adult, putrid salamanders are the ones that truly pose a life-threatening danger to the poor in the Marcoco district.

Things have become simpler at this point.

Gao De instructed Shama to moor the boat here.

His next step is to wait patiently for the opportunity to strike.

If a rotting newt comes back, kill it.

Without having to worry about being outnumbered, and with ample time to recover mana, this putrid salamander lair can basically be used as a "monster spawn point" at irregular times.

And so they waited, from morning till sunset.

At first, only one or two rotten salamanders returned sporadically.

After midday, the number of rotting water salamanders returning to their nests gradually increases.

But by evening, it became scattered again.

The entire process of waiting for the rabbit to run into the tree stump proceeded without any unexpected events.

These putrid salamanders are utterly insignificant in terms of combat strength.

Gao De roughly estimated that he killed about a hundred adult, putrid salamanders that day.

There are nearly two hundred juveniles.

This is already a very objective figure.

Of course, it's unrealistic to expect to completely wipe out all these water beasts.

Because these putrefactive salamanders are so resilient and are oviparous, their eggs could be found anywhere in the waters of the Marco Coshock area.

Even if you kill off one batch, a new batch of putrid salamanders will appear after a while.

The Sea Sentinels understood this as well, so their strategy was to first carry out a large-scale cleanup of the Marco district to reduce the overall density of aquatic beasts, and then periodically conduct so-called "expulsion and maintenance" to ensure that these aquatic beasts would not proliferate.

Gao De was aware of this as well, and looking at the tail fins of the hundred or so rotting salamanders he had collected on the ship, he was quite satisfied with the results.

The tail fin is a token used to signify succession.

To eliminate water beasts, you must remove a specific part of the corresponding water beast as proof; otherwise, who can guarantee that your achievements are genuine?

"That's all for today. I'll come back tomorrow to wipe out the demon octopuses. Wait for me at the same place tomorrow morning. Same pay as today, okay?" Gao De asked.

"No problem, no problem," Shama nodded repeatedly.

Having witnessed Gaode's entire process of eliminating the water monsters today, he now feels nothing but awe and respect for Gaode.

He never expected that this seemingly young Gao De would be the most skilled and efficient of all the sea sentinel mages who came to the Macco district to exterminate the water beasts.

"But now, I need to trouble you to take me somewhere else," Gao De said again.

"Huh?" Sama didn't react for a moment.

"Let's just follow it." Gao De pointed to the "Salamander" that he had been continuously [Mysterious Chorus] with, maintaining a friendly demeanor.

crunch.

The sound of the wooden door opening and closing rang out.

Under the dim glow of the setting sun, Gao De stepped across the threshold and entered the room, which looked no different from the other shacks, his eyes scanning the surroundings.

Faced with his cautious questioning, "Salamander Traitor" revealed an important piece of information: those larvae were not hatched by them, but came from this shed not far from their lair.

Even it itself originated from this.

After learning this information, how could Gaode not react?

These water monsters that appeared in the Marco district and plagued the residents for so long were not created on their own, but were man-made!

This immediately invigorated Gaode.

An opportunity! A huge opportunity!

Driving away the water beasts was just an ordinary task, and the merit earned was only the lowest level, the third-class merit.

Double the reward is two third-class merits.

However, if these aquatic beasts are raised by humans and then released to harm people, the nature of the entire mission changes.

To use an imperfect analogy, it's like the difference between seizing a batch of drugs and arresting drug dealers.

The latter's contribution is far greater than the former's.

If we can find the mastermind behind the rampant water monsters in Marco District, given the severity of the whole incident, the wide-ranging impact, and his strength, he would at least be awarded a second-class merit!

(End of this chapter)