Above the mage

Chapter 96 Gray Thorn Bee Swarm

The team is still moving forward and exploring.

The fact that a mage apprentice was attacked and injured will not affect the entire team's actions.

Moreover, this was something that was expected.

How can there be no casualties during land reclamation?

……

In fact, if there were no new ley lines, the area within two kilometers on both sides of the official road would have been almost devoid of ley line creatures after years of sweeping by sorcerers.

But now, everything is different.

Unlike the ley line creatures that have almost become native inhabitants, the ley line creatures emerging from newly formed ley lines do not know that the area near the official road is human "territory" and should not be approached.

Moreover, the deep forests far from the official roads are mostly occupied by "old ley line creatures".

In comparison, these cleared "transitional zones" have become no-man's-land in the eyes of the "new leyline creatures".

Therefore, it became the best place to settle in the eyes of these "new ley line creatures".

"There!" The leading middle-aged mage's eyes flashed with a spiritual light; this time, he was the first to discover the ley line creature.

The group looked in the direction he indicated.

In the distance, a towering tree stands, estimated to be over ten meters thick, its trunk as black as iron and riddled with cracks.

Within the crack, black insects resembling wasps could be seen clinging to the surface.

These black insects lay motionless on the tree trunk, their color blending seamlessly with the bark, making them difficult to notice without the middle-aged monk's prompting.

"Grey Stinger Bees, 0-ring ley line creatures. They can launch stingers from their tails. Individual Grey Stinger Bees are not much of a threat, but they always come in swarms and are extremely afraid of fire," the middle-aged mage quickly stated the insect's information.

"Raise your hand if you know any fire-based spells," he whispered.

A few hands were raised, including Gaode's.

Of the twenty-odd mage apprentices, only about a third had mastered fire attack spells.

"Join me and try to wipe out most of these gray stinging wasps in the first wave."

"Those remaining who possess area-of-effect spells, get ready. Once we've made our move, you immediately launch a second wave of attacks to finish them off," the middle-aged mage simply issued the battle orders.

Such simple combat orders could only be issued.

First, the team was formed temporarily, and no one knew their own strength or the spells they possessed.

Secondly, the battle plan was too complicated, and the team couldn't coordinate effectively.

In this situation, a simple and straightforward tactic is actually the most suitable.

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Thus, at the command of the middle-aged mage, the mages who had mastered fire attack spells quickly activated the spell model.

Gao De took a deep breath, suppressing his excitement—the Grey Stinger wasp was exactly his favorite social ley line creature!

He also activated the [Fire Arrow+] spell model.

The surrounding air was immediately filled with a scorching heat.

Everyone unleashed their own fire spells.

Several irregularly shaped magical flames intertwined in the air, forming a small sea of ​​fire, and roared towards the swarm of gray stinging bees clinging to the tree trunk.

The most impressive spell was the one cast by the middle-aged mage who led the group.

To Gao Dewei's surprise, the fire attack spell released by the middle-aged mage was also [Fire Arrow], exactly the same as his.

Of course, in terms of both power and prestige, it surpasses him by more than a fraction.

"High-level mages will still use low-level spells, and the power of their spells will increase as their mage rank increases."

These thoughts flashed through Gao De's mind quickly.

boom!

The flames strike in succession, and upon contact with a solid object, they trigger a minor explosion.

The swarm of gray stinging bees was startled by the sudden attack of fire.

They flew around frantically, but the flames spread too quickly, engulfing a large number of gray stinging bees in an instant, making a hissing sound.

The gray stinger bee colony clearly does not possess any special characteristics.

Under the scorching heat of the flames, they turned to ashes without much struggle.

This single attack reduced the gray stinging bee swarm on the towering tree to less than half its number.

Startled, the remaining gray stinging wasps immediately flew out from the tree trunk.

Even after a round of cleaning, the remaining gray stinging wasps were still densely packed, looking like several gray clouds flying up from the tree trunk.

Buzz!

These dark clouds, emitting an irritating buzzing sound, crossed the gradually subsiding fire line and surged towards Gaode, seemingly preparing for revenge.

However, the mage apprentices who had not made a move in the first wave of attacks and who possessed area-of-effect spells now unleashed the spells they had prepared.

Among them were the [acid splash] that Gao De was extremely familiar with, as well as poison gas attacks, and one person even used lightning magic, which made Gao De take a slight look.

However, most of the mages in the team are wild mages, so their skills are very limited.

Upon closer inspection, there were only six people casting spells in the second round.

In other words, half of the entire temporary team, which was specifically selected from wild mages who possessed offensive spells, lacked area-of-effect attack spells.

Is it that you don't want to?

Definitely not, it's just that you can't learn it.

The spell recipes publicly sold by the Mage Guild are all functional spells.

For wild mages, learning and mastering offensive spells has always been an extremely difficult task.

This made Gaode sigh once again at the difficult living conditions of unaffiliated mages under the monopoly of knowledge.

After the second round of spells, most of the approaching gray clouds disappeared.

Meanwhile, Gao De and others who possessed fire magic had already unleashed their second round of spells to attack.

Flames erupted in an instant, clearing out a large area in a flash, eliminating countless more gray stinging bees.

just

After these two rounds of entanglement, a small number of gray stinging wasps have finally gotten close.

shhhhhh!

The next moment, these gray stinging wasps raised their tails.

One after another, the tail spikes shot out like raindrops, heading straight for the group of mages in the group.

These gray stinging bees, though no bigger than a thumb, can unleash a powerful stinger that should not be underestimated.

It's no problem for them to penetrate at least several layers of clothing, and there are so many of them, densely packed together.

Gao De's heart skipped a beat. In the sea of ​​magic, another magic model flashed with magic power.

He didn't make any move, but a layer of grayish light flashed across Gao De's skin.

【Blade Protection+】!

Bang bang bang!

About twenty tail spikes shot towards Gao De.

However, when these stingers struck Gao De's skin, they bounced off as if they had hit a layer of highly elastic cowhide.

Others weren't so lucky. Some hadn't mastered defensive spells, while others were too slow to react and were injured to varying degrees by the stingers fired by the gray bees.

Some people who reacted particularly slowly did not have time to cover their faces, and small puncture wounds appeared on their faces, from which beads of blood seeped out, making them look extremely ferocious.

Seeing this, Gao De couldn't help but secretly rejoice that he had focused the essence of the ferocious bat on [Blade Protection].

The elimination of a casting animation after adding points makes his [Blade Protection+] casting speed almost instantaneous.

Creatures of the 0-ring ley lines mostly lack extraordinary power; they are simply more powerful beasts.

In this situation, the [Blade Protection] which increases physical resistance is far more practical than the [Increase Resistance] which increases magical resistance.

Fortunately, after these rounds of cleansing, the number of gray stinging wasps has been greatly reduced, and the stingers shot out by the remaining gray stinging wasps have not yet reached the level of quantitative change leading to qualitative change.

So although many people were injured, most of them suffered minor injuries and no one was in life-threatening danger.

The mage apprentices gritted their teeth, temporarily ignoring the pain and numbness from their wounds, and cast spells once again to sweep away the remaining gray stinging bees.

Acid, toxic gas, and lightning erupted in succession.

After this wave of attacks, the bee swarm could no longer maintain its formation and only a small, scattered patch remained, scattering and retreating into the dense forest amidst buzzing sounds.

"If the gray stinging bees don't swarm, they don't pose much of a threat." Seeing this, the middle-aged monk who was leading the group did not pursue them relentlessly.

(End of this chapter)