"This should be some kind of possession spell!"
The well-traveled Leilin recognized the dwarf's condition immediately.
"Old man, this body of yours only has semi-elementalized strength, and you think you can take me down?" Leilin said with a nonchalant expression, though his right hand had already slipped into his waist pouch.
Boom!
Leilin flung several potions at the giant, and they exploded on impact. A mass of purple flame spread across the giant's body, continuously eroding it.
"Negative energy fire? Child's play!" The giant shook his head, then opened his mouth and, as if generating a powerful suction, drew all the flames into his stomach.
"Now, it's my turn!" The giant let out a satisfied belch and grinned at Leilin.
In an instant, the giant's body shot toward Leilin like a bolt of silver lightning.
That massive frame, the bulging muscles, and the faint but oppressive aura all pressed down on Leilin with tremendous force.
Whoosh! The giant's skin took on a metallic silver sheen, and one arm lashed out like a steel whip. Leilin could only raise both hands to shield his chest.
Crack!
Leilin's body was sent flying like a cannonball, slamming hard into a wall and demolishing most of the building behind him.
Boom!!! Rubble slid away, revealing Leilin's figure.
"Main body: fractured ribs in the chest, multiple muscle contusions. Immediate treatment recommended!" The Chip's alert sounded.
"Such incredible strength — at least fifteen, minimum! And with the bonus of a metallic affinity..."
A blue light flickered in Leilin's eyes. "Chip, input terrain data. Activate prediction mode!"
"Terrain data input. Simulating opponent data!" The Chip responded instantly, projecting a three-dimensional graphic in front of Leilin.
"Based on opponent's movements, the next attack has a 98.7% probability of coming from the right at thirty-eight degrees!"
Whoosh! Just then, the giant charged again.
"Optimal evasion: dodge left at sixty-three degrees, then jump backward!"
Leilin twisted his body, barely dodging the giant's strike, and quickly leaped backward.
Pfft!
At the spot where Leilin had been standing, metal spikes half a meter long suddenly erupted from the ground. Had he still been there, he would have been a dead man.
From the onlookers' perspective, Leilin moved with extraordinary agility, performing incredible evasive maneuvers, barely dodging attack after attack.
"He's actually managing to hold his own against a semi-elementalized wizard who combines body tempering and wizardry!"
The leader was sweating profusely. "I thought—"
"Thought he was just a freshly minted first-rank wizard who'd be easy to push around, didn't you?" A burly man beside him cut in. "Count yourself lucky, old man! That you're still alive right now is no small thing!"
On the other side of the battlefield, after Leilin dodged several more attacks, the giant grew visibly more agitated. The human face on his left chest let out a roar: "Damn it! You damned pest!"
Then the giant made a move.
With his silver hand, he tore open his own abdomen and pulled out a metallic ring-like object.
"Ring of Binding!"
A brilliant white light shot from the metal ring and struck Leilin in an instant.
The moment the white light hit his body, Leilin discovered with horror that his body felt as though an entire mountain had been pressed onto it — he couldn't move a single step.
"Though this magical item is only of medium grade, it carries a trace of the legendary Ring of Binding's power! Even a semi-elementalized wizard struck by it would be paralyzed for at least one minute!"
The silver giant's abdomen was still bleeding profusely, his intestines exposed, yet he strode forward without a care, grabbed Leilin by the neck, and said with a mocking gleam in his eyes: "Now try running from me, boy!"
"It's over!"
A sigh rippled through the crowd.
"No matter how long he could hold out against a semi-elementalized wizard, it doesn't change the fact that he's merely a newly advanced first-rank wizard. And the opponent has a medium-grade magical item on top of that!"
The white-bearded, spectacled old man at the bar no longer had the pity in his eyes from before — now there was only a hint of regret. "What a shame! He's a true wizard prodigy!"
"Boy, say your last words!"
A cold smile spread across the silver giant's face.
"You're the one who should be saying goodbye!" A manic grin appeared on Leilin's face.
"Falling Star Pendant — activate!"
A burst of dark crimson light radiated from Leilin's chest, quickly spreading to his limbs. Then Leilin gripped the giant's hands, and his eyes suddenly transformed into vertical slit pupils, glowing with an amber hue and emanating a mysterious radiance.
Innate Wizardry — Petrifying Gaze!!!
Crack! Crack!
The silver giant's expression froze. Then a grayish pallor began spreading from his eyes, quickly covering his face and spreading toward his chest and limbs.
"Petrification spell? Damn it!" The old man's face on the giant's chest cried out in alarm.
Then the old man gritted his teeth and spat a mouthful of blood onto the giant's body. A metallic shimmer flashed across the giant's surface, and the petrification slowed considerably.
"Die!"
Leilin extended his right hand. The dark crimson light from the Falling Star Pendant gathered and took the shape of a long blade, which he brought crashing down!
Pfft! First strike — the giant's head flew into the air.
Second strike — Leilin directly severed the old man's face from the giant's chest.
Slap!!! The face hit the ground, still screaming: "I won't let you get away with this!"
"I won't be letting you get away." Leilin's expression was cold as he stepped on the face.
"Ahhh..." A muffled sound rang out, and a pool of green blood spread from beneath Leilin's foot.
Phew, phew...
A gentle breeze blew through the dead silence of the crowd.
"He... he actually killed a semi-elementalized wizard head-on!"
The leader's jaw dropped, and his eyes darted about as though searching for something.
Then, catching Leilin's gaze turning his way, the old man immediately put on an obsequious grin: "Lord Leilin! Please forgive my earlier offense..."
Watching the old man's expression change so swiftly, Leilin shook his head, having no intention of doing anything to him.
Even killing him wouldn't bring any benefit, and Leilin certainly didn't consider himself a homicidal maniac.
He casually gathered his belongings and spoils, then quickly left the scene. The crowd parted automatically to create a path, and no one present — whether wizard or apprentice — dared meet Leilin's gaze.
"I need to leave this place as soon as possible!"
Leilin murmured to himself, gazing at the now-distant speck that was Andrie Town.
That dwarf had clearly been nothing more than one of the enemy's avatars.
This matched the intelligence Leilin had gathered before. According to the information he'd obtained, the elder of the Lillitell Family had likely pushed spiritual elementalization past eighty percent and was attempting to advance to Second-rank
The dwarf he'd just faced, on the other hand, had at most semi-elementalized strength, and that wasn't even stable — far too great a gap.
Leilin had read about this kind of wizardry before. Each avatar was extremely difficult to create, requiring vast quantities of rare materials. Furthermore, the destruction of an avatar would absolutely deal a significant blow to the original body.
And the one that had chased him here was only an avatar.
Leilin surmised that either the original couldn't come in person, or this avatar had been deliberately placed on the other side of the great canyon specifically for communication and other tasks.
But regardless, the next wave of pursuit from the Lillitell Family would surely arrive soon.
"In terms of territory, this is still Black Wizard land. As long as I reach the White Wizard Domain quickly, even the Lillitell Family wouldn't dare violate the rules there..."
Leilin glanced back, then vanished into the darkness...
Almost without noticing, several months went by.
During this time, Leilin traveled nonstop, crossing a vast number of duchies, and finally entered the sphere of influence of the White Wizards.
On the South Coast, wizards were divided into two types: the Black Wizards, who revered violence and preached survival of the fittest, and the White Wizards, who were more peace-loving and championed scientific research.
Within these two major powers existed numerous smaller organizations and academies. Internally, while not exactly cohesive, friction was common — yet when something significant occurred, they could unite against external threats.
Geographically, the White Wizards occupied the central regions of the South Coast, while the Black Wizards ruled the remote borderlands.
In Leilin's view, this distribution looked like concentric circles: the White Wizards held the most prosperous inner circle, while the Black Wizards controlled the outer ring.
After months of traveling, Leilin had to admit that the duchies under White Wizard rule were generally far more prosperous than those on the Black Wizard side, and the common people lived more harmonious and stable lives.
In governance, the White Wizards far surpassed the Black Wizards, and combined with their far greater unity, they were able to maintain control over the South Coast's most lucrative territories.
And according to the map on his Chip, today Leilin would arrive at the White Wizard Domain's trading hub — Trijones City!
Leilin rarely changed out of his black robe, but today he replaced it with a set of practical leather armor.
The well-crafted armor fit his proportioned frame perfectly, adding a dash of heroic flair and making him appear more robust.
White Wizard Domain wizards harbored an instinctive hostility toward Black Wizards, and Leilin didn't want to attract trouble through carelessness.
Though as a trading center, the city was certain to house Black Wizards looking to fence stolen goods and the like, Leilin still tried his best to keep a low profile.
As his horse continued forward, Leilin noticed the road growing wider and wider, with increasing numbers of travelers using various modes of transportation on either side.
Leilin looked carefully and spotted many novel things.
For instance, a young woman wizard riding a winged steed, an old man traveling in a device resembling a hot air balloon — with a banner hanging from it that read: "Welcome to Hawk-Davil's General Store, long-term supplies available..."
Leilin even saw several metal constructs that looked remarkably like automobiles from a later age, rumbling with tremendous noise as they carried a handful of dwarves down the road at speed.