Faced with the change in the battle scene with the entry of a minotaur, Nick itched to test his own power. He relaxed and pointed his finger at the minotaur that was about to attack the mages and warriors, guarding the two carriages. There were only four mages left after one succumbed to the minotaur’s surprise attack. The body of the dead mage had become a tangled mess. One swing of the minotaur’s arm was enough to turn a human body into a paste. This alone was proof of how powerful the minotaur was.
After about three to five seconds, Nick created the Sonic Bullet. Looking at the minotaur’s head, he marked the area just below its right ear as the target. Nick could use magical energy to enhance his eyes and turn them into binoculars without even needing to create an algorithm or a spell for it.
He imagined seeing afar, imagined a ‘binocular’, and then controlled his magical energy according to his imagination. If he were to add ‘optics’ knowledge here, he knew that he would be able to see much further away, but he did not need this at the moment.
After Sonic Bullet was created, Nick whispered and shot.
“Sonic Bullet.”
The bullet caused the air around it to compress as it broke through the sound barrier and fired towards its target.
—
The mages and warriors had fallen into a formation to confront the minotaur, but they were still to devise a plan of attack. The middle-aged mage, who was holding the blue book, had just about formed the plan in his mind but before he could share it with the others, something happened. In a distinctly short time window, something fast had hit the minotaur and made it stagger.
The minotaur shrieked in pain. Just below his head, blood had started gushing out like a river.
Nick was reasonably satisfied with this result. Although his Sonic Bullet was not enough to kill the minotaur in one shot, considering the distance, this was only natural. But it did gravely hurt him. The injury level was higher than moderate if not fatal.
The sharp mind of the middle-aged mage was evident as he was quick to grab this opportunity and started shouting instructions.
“We have a strong, ancient mage helper here. Now use your attack spells to kill this godforsaken creature.”
As the words of the middle-aged mage fell, he and the other three mages cast their spells in a coordinated attack just like before.
“Improved Fireball”
“Water Panther”
“Firebomb”
“Thunderbolt”
The spells being cast led to a slew of attacks on the injured creature, causing massive damage, and it fell heavily on the ground.
The minotaur was in a terrible state. Its left arm was crushed, and it was bleeding profusely with no signs of stopping.
Nick could see the whole scene clearly. He had wanted to kill the creature by his own spell, so he once again cast another Sonic Bullet, hitting the minotaur on the ground, making a near-impossible shot from the tree that he was standing on.
“Sonic Bullet.”
Within seconds, the spell hit its target on exactly the same spot that was shot at before. Only this time, it crushed the minotaur and killed it. If not for Nick’s first shot that had crippled it, making it a sitting target, the minotaur would have claimed more than one mage’s life today. It would possibly have dealt a massacre to the mages, warriors, and the people inside the carriage.
The middle-aged man who was going to finish off the minotaur, noticed once again that some kind of energy projectile had entered its head, and exploded it like a watermelon.
He was in awe of this mysterious mage who could kill a minotaur using just two spells. But he was also keenly aware that the mage was in the shadows, and they were in the light. There was no guarantee whether this was a friendly mage or an enemy. Without the ability to even see the ‘opponent’, they would be sitting ducks against someone who was too proficient in long-range attacks.
The middle-aged man timely turned towards the forest and shouted.
“My friends and I thank the respectable mage for helping us. My name is Alvion Niarna. I am a Lightning Mage Instructor from the Deep Fire Empire’s Meprias City, at the Meprias Magical Academy. It would be my privilege to see you in the future. Thank you for everything.”
After Alvion paid his verbal gratitude, he signaled his people to keep going without so much as even a second look at the minotaur. A dead minotaur was likely to fetch more than 100 to 150 Ether Stones. It was also a tempting kill because of the magical energy in its body, apart from its meat and other parts.
But Alvion and the others were no fools. They did not, even for one second, think that the corpse of the minotaur belonged to them. What if they tried to carry it and provoked the anger of the mysterious long-range mage? They would be hunted mercilessly without being given a chance to fight back or escape.
Nobody was going to risk their lives just for a mere corpse of a minotaur anyway.
—
Nick finally exhaled and stopped looking at the dead and destroyed minotaur. Instead, he turned his attention towards the cave. It seemed that there were some movements.
Nick did not put the minotaur in his eyes at all. What would be the use of a corpse to him at this point? In his mind, he figured that for the time being, he had no interest in Necromancy Magic or similar dark arts.
Truth be told however this was a misconception about necromancers. At a superficial level, it looked like a form of magic used by evil people or races, but when seen deeper, it was not. There were many mages who dabbled in necromancy but did not cultivate or show evil behavior.
Therefore, in some places, practicing necromancy was illegal and punishable by death but in places such as the Deep Fire Empire, it was not. If used correctly, necromancers were a strong power to be reckoned with in any empire or organization. They could create cannon-fodder soldiers or tireless soldiers to carry out simple instructions and perform basic tasks. It was said in the legends that a true necromancer was an immortal who could give a new life to a dead person or being.
