Faerun: The arcane mage is still too imprisoned.

At the doorway, a creature a size larger than the other goblins sat in a chair.

It was draped in a tattered robe that it had somehow acquired, had a bunch of messy bones hanging around its neck, and was clutching a wooden stick with a skull tied to it.

Goblin Shaman.

Lance narrowed his eyes, and the information surfaced:

[Target: Gulu]

[Race: Goblin]

[Class: Shaman]

[Level: 4]

Among the goblins around, there were three level 3 warriors, five level 2 goblins, and the rest were level 1 goblins.

There are approximately forty in total.

This should be the goblin faction with the highest average strength in Ash Hills.

They are also the best test subjects.

Lance's lips curled up slightly.

Let's use them to try out the [Fireball] spell.

After all, this was the first time he had used a three-ring attack spell in actual combat.

"Little Black, hold me tight," he said.

Xiao Hei immediately buried its head in his chest, its paws tugging at his clothes, only its eyes peeking out to peek down.

Lance took a deep breath.

Raise your right hand.

The casting gestures for third-circle spells are much more complex than those for zero-circle spells, requiring the fingers to bend and extend in a specific order and angle, while simultaneously coordinating with the rhythm of the incantation.

But his movements were fluid and natural, as if he were playing a familiar tune.

The incantation flowed from his lips, its syllables ancient and long.

The magic gradually gathered, converging into the palm of the hand along a specific path.

A light began to emanate from the raised palm.

First, there was a small orange-red spot of light, which then rapidly expanded and coalesced into a ball of light the size of a basketball.

The ball of light hovered above his palm, slowly rotating, its surface flowing with magma-like patterns of light.

The temperature was rising, and Xiao Hei was becoming slightly restless.

Lance, however, did not feel the heat; the magic naturally protected the caster during the spell's formation.

He stared at the goblin settlement below, his gaze fixed on the open space directly in front of the house.

The largest number of goblins gathered there—the shaman sat at the entrance, surrounded by more than twenty others.

This is the optimal target point.

Lance had a sudden thought.

The ball of light flew out from the palm of the hand, trailing a bright flame as it drew a graceful arc in the air.

The trajectory resembled that of a shooting star.

The goblins finally noticed something was wrong.

A level 3 warrior raised his head, his cloudy little eyes staring at the approaching point of light, making a confused "caw caw" sound.

The goblin shaman also raised his head.

Its cloudy eyes reflected the image of that sphere of light.

Then--

"boom--!!!"

The fireball exploded.

In that instant, Lance saw the entire process of the flames spreading—orange-red light burst forth from the core, like a giant flower blooming in an instant.

A spherical area with a radius of twenty meters was engulfed by flames.

The explosion was deafening, but the scene was even more shocking—

The flames expanded outward in a beautiful and magnificent sphere, distorting the air and cracking the ground wherever they passed. Wooden poles, animal hides, broken swords and shields, and those ugly gray-green creatures were all swept up in it.

"So beautiful..."

Lance squinted.

The goblin shaman didn't even have time to stand up.

It sat on that broken chair, its head tilted back, its murky eyes reflecting the ever-growing fireball, its mouth open as if emitting some kind of silent hiss.

Then the flames engulfed it.

The skull on the wooden stick exploded in the high temperature, scattering bone fragments, but they were instantly engulfed by flames.

Those level 3 warriors, level 2 grunts, and level 1 cannon fodder were all engulfed in flames at almost the same moment.

Lance did not hear any screams.

Because they didn't even have time to scream.

After the flames subsided, only a charred crater forty meters in diameter remained.

Smoke was still rising from the edge of the pit, and the ground had a vitreous sheen, a result of the rock melting and cooling at high temperatures.

In the center of the pit, the simple stone house had completely disappeared.

The stones were blasted away and scattered throughout the pit; some were broken, some melted, and some were still glowing red.

Those goblins...

Lance squinted and scanned the area.

There was no intact body.

Only some charred remains were scattered in the pit, barely discernible as the shapes of what were once living beings. Some were severed arms, some were charred lumps, and some were just a few blackened bones.

Most of it simply vaporized.

A prompt appeared on the panel:

[Slay a level 4 Goblin Shaman and gain 100 experience points!]

[Slayed 3 level 3 goblin warriors, gained 60 experience points!]

[Slayed 5 level 2 goblin warriors, gained 50 experience points!]

[Slayed 33 level 1 goblin warriors, gained 150 experience points!]

Current experience: 1255/5000

"So this is a third-circle spell..."

He muttered to himself, his tone filled with undisguised satisfaction.

Xiao Hei peeked out from behind him, staring wide-eyed at the still-smoking, charred crater.

"Master..." its voice was a little weak, "That spell... was so powerful..."

"Well, the effective range is a radius of twenty meters after all," Lance said calmly. "If it were flat land, that range could be even larger. The depressions in the terrain slightly limit the spread."

He paused, then looked down at Xiao Hei: "Remember? The power of the fireball spell."

Little Black nodded vigorously, forgetting to even wag its tail.

"Just remember that." Lance patted its head. "Try to get this spell in the next level... but you can't control it anyway."

Lance stood up and patted off non-existent dust from his robe.

He walked to the edge of the pit, squatted down, and looked at the remains.

There are a few scales that are still relatively intact.

Goblins don't have scales, of course; those are scraps they've plucked from other creatures. There are also some molten metal pieces, possibly weapons or pots and pans.

There's nothing of value here.

"Tsk, still dirt poor."

Lance shook his head, stood up, and glanced at the charred crater again.

The fireball was cleaner than he had imagined.

There was no blood, no pieces of flesh, only charred remains and a vitrified ground.

In a sense, this aligns well with his aesthetic.

"Let's go, there are still a few small outposts to clear." Lance turned around and walked towards the next target.

Little Black skipped and hopped behind him, glancing back at the big pit every now and then, his eyes filled with a complex emotion.

Over the next hour, Lance cleared out the remaining goblin strongholds in Ash Hills.

That level 4 shaman was the strongest goblin here, yet Lance still managed to kick him to death. The remaining goblins were no match for him either; some escaped, but it wasn't a serious loss.

[Slayed 2 level 3 goblin warriors, gained 40 experience points!]

[Slayed 4 level 2 goblin warriors, gained 40 experience points!]

[Slayed 17 level 1 goblin warriors, gained 85 experience points!]

Current experience: 1420/5000

That's enough to learn four third-circle spells, and there's still some money left over.

Lance opened the spell learning interface and began browsing the list of third-circle spells.

He thought for a moment and made his choice.