Volume 8 Chapter 2 Part 2
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Translator: Kell
I crawled across the ground and moved to the spot where the Fire Bomb had just landed. Psychologically, it is unlikely that a person would attack the exact same spot twice in a situation where they’re forced to attack randomly.
In fact, out of all the spells they had fired on me so far, not a single one had landed in the same place twice. As long as the enemy hadn’t figured out my plan, the spots where their spells had already landed were, in a sense, safe zones.
“Flame Wall.”
The enemy has switched their attack from Fire Bomb to Flame Wall. It’s not very powerful, but it’s good enough for PvP and has a wide attack range. It’s not a bad choice when you don’t know where the enemy is. But because it’s an excellent spell, it’s also easy to read.
“Flame Wall. Flame Wall. Flame Wall.”
The first Flame Wall went off about ten meters in front of me, and the rest moved further away. From the enemy’s point of view, they first fired at maximum range and then shifted the subsequent shots closer and closer towards them. If I had been closer to the enemy than the first Flame Wall, I would have been caught between a Flame Wall and the Ether Wall, cutting me off any escape route.
But of course, not a single one of those spells reached me. The Flame Walls they cast—there were at least ten of them—burned in the distance with no purpose. After all, I was positioned where Flame Wall could not reach me.
I chose a spot 50 meters from the enemy because I assumed that they would shoot Flame Wall in this situation. Wide area spells have shorter range than concentrated attacks. With a few exceptions, most can’t reach me.
A minute has passed since I cast Steam Explosion. My spell is off cooldown, and I could fire the next shot.
Of course, I hadn’t forgotten that the first and second shots of Steam Explosion were blocked by the enemy. But those were level two Steam Explosions. My Steam Explosion is actually level five, normally.
Disable Skill Level Limiter. Target: Steam Explosion.
Skill Level Limiter is one of the basic Skills that all classes can use.
The effect is quite simple. It reduces the level of the specified skill until it is disabled.
This magic spell, which normally only provides disadvantages, has very little use in this world. After all, in this world, no one knows that Skill levels can be raised past level one. So there’s really no point in using it. I’m not sure if it’s a commonly known Skill or not, but because it’s useless, it helps the enemy make the wrong assumption.
I’ve left Skill Level Limiter on since we started the journey, keeping Steam Explosion at level 2. This is partly because it’s too powerful to be used at level 5, but the biggest reason is to mislead the enemy about the power of the spell in situations like this.
My previous attack will convince the enemy that Steam Explosion cannot break through Ether Wall. But that’s only because I cast level 2 Steam Explosion, without any buffing Skills. If I used a level 5 one with buffs, the story would be different… or so I would like to say, but that’s not the case, unfortunately.
The Skills you learn from Awakening are powerful—so powerful in fact, that even a level 5 Steam Explosion can’t destroy Ether Wall. If the enemy used an advanced defensive magic other than Ether Wall—there are several that can deal with level 2 Steam Explosion, although with strict conditions—I could’ve disabled Skill Level Limiter right before I used Dual Cast, ending the battle right then and there.
Compared to that, the strategy of making them mistake the power of my spell may not necessarily produce the best results.
However, there are still other ways to increase the power of Steam Explosion.
Ether Hack.
I activated Ether Hack and modified the property of Steam Explosion.
What I need to do is simple. Increase the power as much as possible. In exchange, the cooldown will exceed one hour, and the mana efficiency drops to the worst level imaginable. Once used, Steam Explosion would be useless in battle, except for Dual Cast, which could only be used within five seconds.
I covered my ears, closed my eyes, and opened my mouth. In my previous life, it’s a posture you take for explosions.
Then I cast the spell.
“Steam Explosion.”
Flames and shock waves erupted. The blast was so destructive that even when I was down on the ground and fired at the maximum distance, a lot of my mana was spent. Thanks to Magic Veil, I received no physical damage. Otherwise, I probably would have died.
I’m still alive, but most of my remaining mana has been consumed by the Magic Veil, which means I won’t be able to cast Dual Cast even within five seconds. Heck, I doubt if I could even cast a Fire Bomb. You could say I’m completely out of juice.
A spellcaster without mana may as well be a Novice. If after receiving my attack and one of them still survived, then I would have no choice but to use Mana Invisibility and hope I survived.
Meanwhile, I waited for the flames to die down.
Several seconds later, my field of vision cleared up. The enemy’s Ether Wall was still intact. Even after being hit by an explosion from the enhanced version of Steam Explosion 5, which could kill even the caster if they didn’t use defensive magic, it didn’t have a scratch on it.
Damn, that thing’s tough.
Dumbfounded by the sheer strength of the magical wall, I peered beyond the barrier. Ether Wall doesn’t block vision, so I could see what was on the other side. The reason why I’m checking out the enemy’s status out in the open without even watching out for Ether Cannon is because I already know the results.
“Yup. I knew it would end like this.”
On the other side of the unscathed wall, two enemies were lying on the ground, motionless.
Judging by the surroundings, the Ether Wall they had put up completely blocked the blast and heat of the Steam Explosion. If the blast had reached them, they would have been torn to shreds. The two enemies were now lying on the ground with hardly any noticeable injuries, not moving an inch.
The reason for this is air pressure. Even the most powerful defensive magic cannot protect against the intense pressure difference generated by an explosion. It can rupture a person’s internal organs and kill them even if they’re not hit by the blast.
In order to protect yourself from the effects of the air pressure difference, you need to completely surround yourself with a barrier, but Ether Wall is not a spell that can be used that way, and other barrier magic will shatter in an instant because the area of pressure applied is too large. If there was any magic that could be cast in a short period of time that could withstand the explosion, it would be Magic Veil, which can protect the body directly.
“Magic Search.”
I used what little mana I had left to cast a detection spell. If there’s a living person nearby, my spell should detect them, but I sensed no mana signatures around me.
“Two enemies with Awakened Skills is quite tough.”
It’s possible that all three of them had Awakened Skills, but there’s no way to check now. Either way, I had won.
After double checking to make sure that my enemy was actually dead, I left the mountain summit.
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