Chapter 14 – The Knight’s Token

Duan Yu was someone who didn’t like using incantations, something Lin Wei had known in his past life.

Mages of each generation had created numerous incantations for various elements. As long as one had sufficient mental power, could communicate with the elements effectively, and recited the incantations accurately, they could unleash fixed magical attacks by invoking complex elemental rules through these incantations.

However, compared to other mages who often muttered long incantations to cast large-scale spells, Duan Yu was truly unique.

His mental power had reached a terrifying level, and he possessed an innate affinity and control over the metal element. He didn’t need the help of incantations at all—the metal elements around him obeyed his will as if recognizing him as their master.

For example, at this moment, while Haitie was still chanting with a crystal ball in her hands, dark golden flying blades were already closing in on the neck of the alpha wolf, which had a sleek, glossy coat.

The alpha wolf, after all, was no ordinary wild wolf. Sensing the impending danger, it immediately enveloped itself in a layer of icy-blue elemental armor.

The armor collided with the flying blades, producing a bright flash of light. The alpha wolf’s movement faltered, the luster of the flying blades dimmed, and the armor shattered into pieces. The wolf let out a long howl, redirecting its attention toward Duan Yu. The rest of the pack, which had been holding back, now surged forward, their paws pounding against the ground, creating a rushing wind.

Seeing that Haitie’s incantation was still incomplete, Lin Wei had already completed a large-scale summoning spell. In the path of the charging wolves, thick, tough black thorns burst out from the ground!

The first few wolves were impaled in their abdomens by the thorns, letting out agonized howls. Even though mid-tier magical beasts had thick, tough hides, they couldn’t avoid being pierced and bleeding profusely from the magical black thorns.

The rest of the pack scattered, trying to bypass the thorny bushes, but the black thorns seemed endless, sprouting up everywhere!

—This was thanks to the “supporting magic” of summoning spells, a specialty of Lin Wei’s teacher, Adele.

While plant summoning could have unexpected effects, it lacked flexibility. Thus, the “Mirror Image Technique” was created to complement it! By controlling the soul contract, one could disperse the soul of the summoned plant over a wide area, using sheer numbers to make up for the lack of flexibility.

At the same time, around Haitie, fire elements began to stir. A ring of blazing red flames gathered, spreading out in ripples like waves on water.

Under Haitie’s fire magic, “Ring of Flames,” the faint blue armor around the wolves began to melt away.

However, mid-tier magical beasts were not to be underestimated.

With a long howl from the alpha wolf, a dozen massive ice spikes condensed in the air, hurtling down toward Duan Yu!

Instead of dodging, Duan Yu stepped forward with his right foot, leaping into the air to meet the ice spikes head-on.

The flying blades whirled around him with sharp, cold energy, crashing into the ice spikes. In just a few moments, the hard, massive ice spikes were shattered into fine ice shards, scattering in all directions.

Hovering in mid-air, Duan Yu’s countless flying blades momentarily stilled, then, in the next instant, shot down like a meteor shower, aiming straight for the alpha wolf.

Even though the alpha wolf conjured a thick ice shield to protect itself from above, it couldn’t stop the flying blades from breaking through the ice. It could only reinforce its shield layer by layer, dodging nimbly under the relentless rain of attacks.

Unfortunately, though the alpha wolf was agile, it couldn’t match the ingenuity of a mage. While it was busy fending off the attacks from above, the Abel Vines that had been lying in wait on the ground suddenly sprang up like serpents, tightly binding its four legs.

As the alpha wolf froze, unable to struggle, a significant portion of the flying blades split off from the meteor shower, arcing gracefully through the air, nearing the ground, then shooting upward again to slash at the wolf’s unprotected belly.

Hearing the alpha wolf’s agonized howl, the rest of the pack’s eyes turned red with rage. They thickened their protective armor several times over, charging recklessly through the thorns toward the center.

With a click of his tongue, Daniel pulled out a deep red potion, removed the crystal stopper, and tossed it into the sea of flames.

The potion splashed onto the raging flames, which, after a momentary stillness, began to burn even more fiercely, their roots turning semi-transparent white!

In an instant, the wolves’ ice armor was completely destroyed, and they could no longer reform it, leaving them trapped in a dire situation.

At that moment, a barrage of fireballs rained down on the pack—Haitie, inspired by Duan Yu’s meteor-like attack, had unleashed a large number of low-level fireball spells, enhanced by Daniel’s potion, creating quite an impressive effect.

The alpha wolf lay on the ground, clearly on the verge of death, while the rest of the pack was trapped in the thorny bushes. What followed was almost a one-sided slaughter.

Magical beasts had tough hides, so killing them required considerable effort.

At this point, Lin Wei had little to do. He only needed to maintain the black thorn barrier, leaving the rest to the powerful metal mage Duan Yu and the fire mage Haitie, with occasional support from the alchemist Daniel.

Daniel’s job was mostly done by occasionally throwing a potion or a scroll, leaving him ample time to chat with Lin Wei.

Lin Wei: “…That’s it?”

While the fight had been intense, it had been entirely without danger—the four of them had come out completely unscathed.

They had even prepared to flee if things went south, but instead, they had managed to wipe out such a large pack of magical wolves.

“Actually, it’s not that surprising. These two kids are incredibly strong,” Daniel glanced at Haitie and Duan Yu in the air, then turned to look at Lin Wei. “And with a summoner like you tagging along, those wolves had nowhere to run… Honestly, plant summoners are almost like cheats in situations like this.”

Hearing such praise from Daniel was quite a surprise for Lin Wei.

In his past life, he had only dealt with flying mages, never fought magical beasts, and had never learned plant summoning. He hadn’t expected it to be so effective here.

“Are mid-tier magical beasts really only this strong?” Lin Wei asked.

“I’ve seen much more powerful ones,” Daniel shook his head. “It seems we weren’t unlucky, but rather quite lucky.”

Lin Wei didn’t say anything more, but he still felt a vague sense of unease.

Ordinary mercenary groups might go decades without encountering such a pack of magical beasts—having grown up in the whirlpool of the Imperial Capital in his past life, the one thing Lin Wei didn’t believe in was coincidence.

But if someone was targeting them, these wolves weren’t enough to kill them, which didn’t make sense.

Lin Wei could only suppress his doubts and wait for the two elemental mages to finish the battle.

Before long, both of them descended from the air. In the center of the thorny bushes lay a pile of unsightly corpses—charred black by fire magic, and torn apart by Duan Yu’s spells, they were indeed a gruesome sight. The group didn’t bother with their hides, only collecting the magic crystals before leaving.

They ventured deeper into the forest. Since this area seemed to be the territory of the wolf pack, they didn’t encounter any other magical beasts.

As the sky darkened, the group decided not to linger. Duan Yu and Haitie used their flight spells to carry one person each back to the edge of the town.

At the entrance of the tavern, Talin and her brother were waiting for them.

Nigel seemed to be able to walk normally now, though his face was still pale. It wouldn’t be long before he fully recovered.

He was quite tall, with a strong and well-proportioned build. When he saw Lin Wei and the others, a hint of gratitude appeared in his eyes, though he remained composed and dignified.

Though Lin Wei was slightly surprised that the siblings had come to find them so soon, his expression didn’t change as he led them into the room.

Lin Wei got straight to the point: “I want to know about your knightly identities.”

Facing a mage, especially since Talin had already sworn allegiance to Lin Wei, the siblings had no reason to hide anything. They shared everything they knew without reservation.

Talin and Nigel’s relatives were not all knights.

Their father was just an ordinary man who wasn’t even a warrior, while their grandfather had been a formidable warrior in his youth.

Yet, this seemingly ordinary family had always passed down a single phrase, along with a rusty longsword.

That phrase was the first line of the knight’s oath—Humility, Integrity, Compassion, Valor, Justice, Sacrifice, Honor, and Soul.

Their grandfather had once told them that their family carried the bloodline of ancient knights, and that descendants with talent had the potential to become knights—beings far more powerful than mere warriors.

From a young age, Talin and Nigel, while practicing martial skills, would daily recite these eight words in their hearts while facing the rusty longsword.

In the minds of young children, such repetition often left an indelible mark. They aspired to become the kind of people these words described, and at the same time, they began to notice strange changes happening within themselves—greater strength, agility, and a faint perception of magical elements.

Both of them, as their grandfather had said, were among the talented ones.

However, no matter how hard they tried, they seemed to hit a wall. Their bodies were strong and agile, but they seemed no different from ordinary warriors. It wasn’t until they grew older that they learned more from their grandfather.

“Grandfather told us that knights need more than just bloodline and talent. The biggest difference between knights and warriors lies in their faith.”

The mages nodded; they knew that knights possessed unshakable faith.

“But faith not only makes knights more resolute and brave, it is also the source of their power. To gain true strength, one must use their faith to gain the recognition of a knight’s token.”