Faerun: The arcane mage is still too imprisoned.

The battle ended quickly.

Celine saw Wald fall, but her reaction was a fraction of a second too slow.

Finn's arrow pierced her shoulder, and she groaned as she fell from the tree.

Lance raised his hand, and pale blue magic gathered at his fingertips.

[Second-level spell - Lesser Spirit Bomb!]

A blue energy ball shot out and hit Celine, who had just struggled to her feet.

She let out another muffled groan, her body went limp and she fell to the ground, motionless.

[Defeat 1 level 6 half-elf archer and gain 200 experience points!]

Current experience: 550/5000

Not far away, Edric witnessed his companions fall one after another, and his eyes instantly turned bloodshot.

"Wald—!"

He forcefully forced Durac back with his sword, then turned and charged towards Lance.

But someone is faster than him.

Finn's second arrow has already left the bow.

"puff--"

The sharp arrowhead pierced Edric's knee, and his forward momentum came to an abrupt halt.

The attacks from the wind and fire spirits followed closely behind. A wind blade struck his other leg, and a fireball slammed into his sword-wielding hand.

The longsword flew out of his hand with a clang.

Edric staggered backward, and before he could regain his footing, Greta's sword was already at his neck, Drak's giant axe was pressed against his lower back, and Logan's dagger was pressed against his Adam's apple.

"Don't move."

Edric froze, unable to move.

The battle is over.

Lance walked slowly to Edric, who was being forced to kneel on the ground.

The level 7 warrior was covered in blood and looked utterly disheveled, but his eyes were fixed on Lance, his hatred almost overflowing.

"Who sent you?"

Edric clenched his teeth and remained silent.

Lance sighed softly.

He raised his hand, and a soft yet extremely oppressive pink halo appeared around his fingertips.

[Rising Ring Casting - Charm Humans!]

He directly upgraded the spell, which was originally only at the first level, to the third level.

A strong pink light flooded into Edric's eyes, and the ferocity in his eyes quickly faded, his pupils dilated, and then slowly softened.

The hatred on his face vanished, replaced by an almost devout submission.

"My lord..." his voice was hoarse, yet utterly submissive, "What would you like to ask?"

"Who are you people?"

"The Sassanid Kingdom... the vanguard scout squad." Edric replied blankly, "I am the captain."

"Oh ho."

"They really are from the Sassanid Kingdom."

"What are you doing here?"

"The Eye Demon..." Edric murmured, "That Eye Demon larva was summoned by our Sassanid court mages."

"They secretly transported it here and hid it in this abandoned mine."

"When the time is right, we'll secretly deliver it into Rild City, causing chaos from within and weakening its defenses as much as possible..."

Lance's eyes turned cold.

"Wait for war to break out?"

"Yes..." Edric nodded, "Our 30,000-strong army has already secretly crossed the border, and the vanguard is less than five days' journey from Rild City..."

Everyone's expression changed drastically.

Lance paused for a moment, then turned and walked toward the ranger Cohen, who was still breathing in a pool of blood.

His limbs were broken, but his eyes were still open. When he saw Lance approaching, all that was left in his eyes was fear.

[Bewitching humans!]

Their testimonies were exactly the same.

Then there's Grell.

[Bewitching humans!]

It's still the same.

"Um……"

Lance nodded in satisfaction.

It seems that Edric wasn't pretending to be charmed to deceive him.

Lance squatted down in front of Edric again.

"How do you know the Eye Demon won't be discovered after hiding in the mine?"

"We've been looking for that spot for a long time, but nobody's going to use it."

"You mean, I'm not human?"

"No...that's not what I meant..."

"So what do you mean?"

"It's a magic circle," Edric said. "We used a magic circle."

"An eighth-level sorcerer has set up a complex concealment array deep within the mine."

"It can isolate aura, distort light, and interfere with perception, covering the entire cave where the beholder is imprisoned."

Logan gasped.

"An eighth-level mage?! That's a powerful being capable of using fourth-circle spells!"

"He's probably even... even worse than Lord Lance."

Lance didn't seem to care: "How did the magic circle fail?"

Edric's expression underwent a subtle change.

"A group of kobolds migrated to that mine, coming from the west. Given their habits, they must have dug many new tunnels inside the mine..."

"Perhaps there is a passage that has been dug right next to the core node of the magic circle. The magic circle needs a stable flow of energy, and the changes in the rock strata have caused deviations in the transmission of magic between the runes, causing it to slowly fail."

Dulac was stunned.

"So it was actually those stupid kobolds who helped us discover the Eye Demon?!"

Logan couldn't help but laugh out loud: "My god, an eighth-level mage spent a huge amount of time and effort to create a magic circle, and it was destroyed by a bunch of dug kobolds?"

The trial ends.

Lance stood up, and a ghastly green beam of light pierced through Edric's forehead.

[Defeat 1 Level 7 Human Warrior, gain 350 experience points!]

Turn around.

[Magic Burst] x2

Two muffled thuds.

[Defeat a Level 6 Human Ranger x1, gain 200 experience points!]

[Slayed 1 Level 6 Human Wanderer, gained 200 experience points!]

Current experience: 1300/5000

Five bodies lay on the gravel ground, blood seeping into the cracks in the rocks.

Lance withdrew his hand from the spell and glanced indifferently at the system panel in front of him.

He was still far from needing the 5000 experience points required to level up to level 6, but what made him happiest at the moment was that he could finally get the third-circle spell he had been longing for!

Fireball, Lightning Bolt, Flight, Blink, Dispel Magic...

Any one of them could be a powerful trump card that turns the tide of battle.

"Clean up the battlefield and leave immediately," Lance ordered in a deep voice. "We're heading back to the city."

Drucker immediately nodded and pulled Logan to begin examining the body, while Greta and Finn also joined in the cleanup.

Cielsa stood quietly beside Lance, her blood-stained scimitar still in her hand, her small figure appearing exceptionally docile in the twilight.

Little Black darted out of the shadows, nimbly leaping onto Lance's shoulder and casting a spell in mid-air.

[A magical trick!]

Little Black instantly became clean and tidy.

Then she released another one for Lance—she knew her master always liked things clean.

Little Black habitually licked its paws and softly reminded, "Master, that wanderer has a small bag with something shiny inside."

Lance walked over slowly.

Next to Grell's body, there was indeed a palm-sized grayish-brown cloth bag.

He casually untied the knot, and six fingernail-sized gems rolled out, their red, blue, and purple colors intertwined, gleaming with a warm, magical luster in the setting sun.

【Magic Gem】

[Type: Magical Material]

[Quality: Tier 2]

[Note: Common magic gems can be used as spellcasting materials or as currency.]

Lance casually stuffed the gem into his pocket.