Chapter 0166
Astrapi assessed Tempest’s companion from the sideline as she supplied mana to the spells she cast.
The spells Astrapi cast can be sensed by mages if they knew what they were looking for, except mages, never had the best sensing abilities even when another mage was sneakily casting right in front of them, much less a spirit who was possessing their mortal.
Of course, Astrapi was confident the mages arguing with Graden can’t sense the spells she cast. The spirits have better control over mana and the underlying theories of their spells, more so than their mages can ever comprehend. The spells cast by the spirits themselves contain the underlying law of their elements. Unless a mage is completely attuned to the same element, in this case, lightning, they have no chance of perceiving the spell Astrapi cast. Even an immortal will have a hard time sensing her spells much less the weak mages arguing with Graden.
Speaking of which, that Graden boy was a good choice for Tempest. Even though it was they who chose Tempest’s companions, they did so through their connections on the spirit plane. They know the particular traits, quirks, and personalities of the spirits attached to the mortal but they don’t know about the mortals themselves.
Astrapi wondered if she should give Graden a warning about making any moves against Tempest.
Not a sexual move.
The two children are not that stage yet and Tempest rarely shows an interest in the opposite sex.
Astrapi was thinking about sneaky retaliation for slights Tempest might dish out to him. The boy is black bellied through and through. Astrapi can tell by the slight perk in the boy’s demeanor he was thinking of something horrible and given his fire and wood affinities it would be something along the lines of “My beauties, let’s show them we aren’t weaklings who they can bully at any time.”
Of course, the fact that the entire group looks like they were on their last leg gave the impression to their opponent that they can be bullied. Their group has a seemingly bloody and wounded Bei Ting Mao, Li Ming and Fenix who were faking exhaustion, a useless Starm, a fire wood mage who was too gentle for his own good and Astrapi possessing Tempest lying on the floor twitching from the electrical currents running through Tempest’s body.
The other group has Hannah Trellis, Mark Aventil, Flunky One and Flunky Two. They were all in good health, had plenty of mana and could still fight.
The unpredictable variable were the five mages in the cave with them. They look to be a rag tagged individualist bunch who would turn on each other at the first sign of temptation. They’d also be easy to take out after Tempest’s group was taken care of as they were all wounded in various places from the previous fight.
“All the complaining before was just to rally people to your cause. You were aiming for our treasure in the first place.” Graden sneered. “You’re nothing but a bunch of greedy fools.”
Astrapi grinned. So Graden wasn’t a spineless wuss after all. He’s acting more like a dangerous vine hanging on the tree, waiting for prey to fall into his trap rather than an intense blazing sun.
“So you admit you used us to get the treasures from the chaotic rift.” Hannah Trellis immediately pounced on Graden’s evasion as an admission of guilt. She looked down up Graden with a smug expression.
Astrapi could tell Hannah Trellis was trying to pull the other mages to her cause and Graden has given her one. Birds die for food, humans die for treasure. Hannah Trellis preyed on the greed of the variable mages perfectly.
“Damn shameless bastards, using us as your pawns!”
“How dare you scheme against your own guild! Wait until I get back. You’d have to answer to our Mercenary Captain.”
“Will your greed know no bounds? Your shamelessness disgusts me. I was fighting until I nearly exhausted my mana out there. If I knew I was wasting my mana protecting a group of backstabbing bastards, I wouldn't have tried so hard.”
The variable mages were quick to jump in to admonish Tempest’s group. Astrapi had seen millions if not billions of their kind before. They are nothing more than easily swayed herd of sheep who does nothing more than follow where the sheepherder leads them, even if it was to their death. Of course, those cowardly fools value their lives, yet they were so short-sighted they can’t sense the dangers up ahead even if it smacked them right in front of their faces.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
“Pathetic ignorant fools. Chaotic rifts occur by chance. If we knew ahead of time one was going to open at our location, we would have snatched all the treasures for ourselves instead of trying to organize a bunch of useless mages as cannon fodders. Once the news got out that we have a treasure from a chaotic rift, we will be the subject of a manhunt. The more people who know the worse our situation is going to be.” Graden explained while subtlely warning the other mages not to get ideas. They won’t be able to hold onto the treasure from the chaotic rift if word gets out.
Astrapi could have told Graden his effort was useless. Reasons do not work on mob mentality.
“Yet you aren’t denying it.” Hannah Trellis pushed the issue, completely ignoring Graden’s warning. The variable mages didn’t bother to hide their evil intent either. Everyone slowly positioned themselves to gain the best advantage.
“The one you saw snatching the treasure is spasming in pain on the ground. Do you really think she’s capable of snatching treasures in her condition.” Graden pointed to Tempest who was really spasming on the ground.
Astrapi allowed the spasm to wrack Tempest’s body throughout the entire argument because it was one of the easiest methods for Astrapi to convert the chaotic power into mana. She didn’t appreciate Graden directing the attention towards her while she was setting up a trap.
All the mages gave Tempest a quick glance before focusing their attention on Graden, whom they perceived to be the greatest threat.
“She being incapacitated only proves my point. She looks to be a victim of chaotic power overload.”
The other mages silently agreed with Hannah Trellis.
“You aren’t going to believe us no matter what we -” Graden got cut off mid-sentence and one of the variable mages sent a Fireball his way.
The Fireball act as a signal for the three sides to attack each other. It was also a signal for Astrapi to hurry the hell up.
Astrapi watched as Hannah Trellis affected a stunned expression as if she couldn’t believe someone would attack Graden without waiting for his explanation. Her stunned expression lasts long enough for the variable mages to rush in front of her to attack Tempest’s group.
The variable mages figured out what Hannah Trellis was going to do, so they took the chance to attack Graden when Hannah Trellis was closest to him so Graden would attack her first thereby weakening her faction, however they didn’t realize Hannah Trellis was skilled enough to take advantage of the situation and force them to rush in instead of her.
Li Ming was the first to react. She shot a Water Ball to intercept the Fireball headed towards Graden. The two spells clashed and created a mist cloud.
Bei Ting Mao took advantage of the situation to launch his attack, “Spiritual Earth Sword Art: Daunting Chiasm.” Bei Ting Mao was able to cut off the head of the variable mage leading the charge with his first attack. When he went to engage his second opponent, his attack was countered by the sword skill of his opponent.
Mages tend to favor long-range fights where they can lob spells after spells on their enemies. Attacking from range is ideal, however, more and more mages find themselves forced to engage in close combat. Mages who live long enough becomes proficient in both long-range attacks and close combat. Astrapi intends for Tempest to be skilled in both melee combat and spells.
Astrapi knew of this variable mage. Given different circumstances, Astrapi wanted Tempest and Bei Ting Mao to observe his fighting style. This variable mage had lived for over three hundred years. He had to learn a few skills to supplement his small mana reserves sword skills being one of them. “Sword Skill: Scarlet Fire, Blazing Might.”
“Spiritual Earth Sword Art: Might of the Mountain.” The weight of Bei Ting Mao’s attack shattered the variable mage’s sword skill.
Still, the mage didn’t live for three hundred years for nothing. “Smouldering Waves, Sword Skill: Crimson Slash.” Smoldering Waves was a combination spell of earth and fire. The variable mage fused the combination magic with his Sword Skill: Crimson Slash to amplify the already potent attack.
“Gravitational Vortex.” Bei Ting Mao used Gravitational Vortex to change the angle of the combination spell sword skill attack. A change of a few degrees can make a bullseye become a dud. The attack didn’t miss completely but Bei Ting Mao took the time to enhance his defense with Spiritual Earth Sword Art: Defense of the Earth, a sword skill used to augment the swordsman defense.
“No wonder you dare covet the treasure from the chaotic rift. You aren’t without skill.” The variable mage sounded impressed. A combination spell fused with a sword art allows the mage to kill another mage two levels higher than him.
Bei Ting Mao grinned happily and got into his fighting stance.
Astrapi nodded to herself and held back on launching her spell. The spirit knew of Bei Ting Mao rollercoaster experience. He was on top of the world with his earth and metal spirit veins. Then he fell to hell when his dan tian was destroyed. He was able to pull himself together and seek another path towards the summit that is immortality. As he continued to walk this path called cultivating the heart, Bei Ting Mao would always glance back at what he had to give up - his sword.
He was a swordsman at heart and throwing away the sword was like throwing away his right arm. When he learned he could cultivate both, he picked up a sword once more.
When his group was getting to know each other, he deliberately attacks using the sword. He must cultivate the heart. It doesn’t mean he has to fight like a mage. He just had to figure out how.
Astrapi smiled. The path to cultivating both the body and the heart has opened up for him when he was attacked by the sword art fused with spells. Bei Ting Mao fought with his life on the line. It was the only way to force this mage to show a few more of his trump cards.
Straddling two cultivation path, the heart and the body aren’t easy for a cultivator. Astrapi can wait a bit for the boy to learn. He is, after all, one of the companions she has chosen for Tempest.