Faerun: The arcane mage is still too imprisoned.

[Rising Ring Casting - Charm Humans!]

He raised his hand to cast a spell. Pink light flooded into their eyes.

The two men froze, their pupils slowly dilated, and when they opened them again, they were filled with submission.

The two, half-dead from the beating, were completely powerless against Lance's [Charm of Humans], which had been upgraded to the fourth ring.

"Alright," Lance clapped his hands.

"Ask whatever you want to ask. You should answer all your questions without reservation."

"Thank you for your hard work, Mage Lance," Alfred said politely, then took out paper and pen and asked,

"What are your names?"

"Hans..."

"Fried..."

"What level?"

"Level 11 warrior..."

"Level 11 Wanderer..."

"How many troops are there exactly?"

The two of them, in a daze, took turns talking and poured out everything they knew.

The location of the main army, the status of food supplies, troop composition, and the fact that several nobles were in the city keeping them informed...

Alfred was taking notes, his quill pen almost sparking with ink.

In the end, Alfred felt there was nothing more to ask.

He stood up, brushed the dust off his knees, and looked down at the two people.

"Alright, those two are fine..." Alfred glanced at Lance.

"Let's leave it to Mage Lance to handle."

"Yes, she's sensible."

[Zero-level spell - Mana Burst!]

Two ghastly green beams of light pierced through their foreheads.

[Defeat 1 Level 11 Human Warrior, gain 600 experience points!]

[Slayed 1 Level 11 Human Wanderer, gained 600 experience points!]

Current experience: 5010/7000

Lance looked at the extra experience points on the panel and felt great. With the previous wave, he had gained all the experience points of the eight Exemplary Ranks.

"Alright," Alfred said, putting his things away. "Everyone, go back and rest. We'll see how the Sassanid army moves tomorrow, and then we'll make a decision."

"And... Mage Lance."

"Um?"

"Thank you for tonight..."

Lance waved his hand and said magnanimously, "Don't worry about it, it's just a small matter."

"How could I not take it to heart? I will surely repay you handsomely!"

Lance nodded and left.

Halfway there, he opened the panel to check his experience points, and then opened the spell list.

[Consuming 400 experience points, you have learned the fourth-circle spell - Confusion!]

[Confusion Spell: This spell shocks and distorts the will of a creature, causing it to become delusional and act uncontrollably. Creatures within a 10-meter radius sphere centered on a designated point within 90 meters must make a perception saving throw and pass through successfully, or they will be affected by this spell.]

The target cannot perform a reaction and must roll a d10 at the start of its turn to determine the creature's action for that turn.

[Consuming 400 experience points, you have learned the fourth-level spell – Stone Skin!]

[Stone Skin: You touch a willing creature, hardening its skin to stone for one hour. The target gains resistance to blunt, piercing, and slashing damage from non-magical weapons.]

[Consumed 400 experience points, learned the fourth-circle spell - Black Tentacles of Aiva!]

【Aiva Black Tentacles: You designate a 20-meter square area within your casting range that you can see, filling it with writhing black tentacles, thus turning that area into difficult terrain.

Any creature that first enters the area in a turn, or begins its turn within the area, must make a Dexterity saving throw. The creature that fails to save will suffer 18 blunt damage and be bound by tentacles until the spell ends. If a creature is already bound by tentacles when it begins its turn within the area, it will suffer 18 blunt damage.

A creature bound by tentacles may make an action to perform either a Strength or Dexterity check against a spell saving DC. If successful, the creature breaks free of the tentacles.

[Consuming 400 experience points, you have learned the fourth-circle spell - Freedom of Movement!]

[Freedom of Movement: When you touch a willing creature, it will be unaffected by difficult terrain during its movement for one hour. No spell or magical effect can slow down the target or paralyze or bind it.]

The target can also break free from non-magical restraints (such as shackles or being held by creatures). Furthermore, the target will not experience any negative effects when moving or attacking underwater.

[Consuming 400 experience points, you have learned the fourth-circle spell – Phantom Assassin!]

【Phantom Assassin: You designate a creature within 120 meters that you can see, and delve into its nightmares to materialize its deepest fears, thereby creating a phantom avatar that only the target can see.

The target organism must make a perception exemption. If the exemption fails, the target will panic within one minute.

Before the spell ends, the target must make a perception saving throw at the end of every ten seconds. A failed save inflicts 40 points of mental damage. A successful save ends the spell.

……

After completing the fourth-circle spells, I have 210 experience points remaining.

……

After everyone left, only two people remained at the scene.

Alfred nudged Graham in the flank with his elbow.

"Graham, Lance should be a mage variant, right?"

"have no idea."

"Are you saying there really are mage variants capable of casting [Resurrection]?"

"I don't know."

Graham shook his head.

"I've never been a monk."

"But I feel that's unlikely; it's probably just a part-time job."

Alfred exclaimed, "Mage Nalans is truly a prodigy. At such a young age, he has not only made rapid progress in his mage profession, but also has the energy to take on other jobs."

"What kind of part-time job do you think he does?"

Why didn't you just ask him directly?

"It's fine for us to guess in private, but asking in person is a big no-no."

Graham thought for a moment: "Let's rule out priests first."

Alfred laughed and said, "A paladin certainly couldn't be one either."

"Could it be a druid...?"

……

As Olaf struggled to run back to the camp, Cassius waited anxiously.

After Olaf emerged from the portal, he used the [Acceleration] scroll to avoid being caught.

But it seems no one is pursuing him.

Back at the camp, his blood was still surging like red steam, not yet fully calmed.

The soldiers around him stared wide-eyed at his appearance, not daring to breathe.

Cassius rushed out of the tent upon hearing the noise and saw Olaf standing in the center of the camp, covered in blood.

Eight, the eight Exemplary Ones he took with him, why didn't any of them come back?

Cassius's heart sank to the bottom.

"General..."

His voice was dry. "Where are the others?"

Olaf didn't say anything.

He stood there with his head down for a long while before finally squeezing out two words through gritted teeth: "The operation failed. They won't be coming back."

Cassius's mind went blank!

All eight paradigmatic orders are gone?

Those are eight Exemplary Professionals!

Even the Sassanid kingdom would suffer a major blow.