Wizard: I'm leveling up by AFK in another world

Just as Simon and Rodin rushed over, Claire had just dispelled the effects of [Iron Wire Vine].

Before Isabella could get past his shield, he quickly captured some orcs and extracted pain.

As soon as I came out, I saw a bunch of red-haired monsters.

"Claire!" Rod shouted excitedly and rushed over.

"Wow, you're lucky to be alive."

"You're not bad either."

On the other side, a rare hint of joy appeared on Isabella's usually indifferent face.

"Captain, are you alright? You look badly injured," Simon said with concern.

He had never seen his young mistress so weak.

"It's alright," Isabella said softly. "It's just that I overdraw my magic, so the recovery is a bit slow."

For her, who is affinity-for-water, the environment of the Ironblood Continent is truly hell.

"By the way, have you seen Patton?"

Simon shook his head: "We encountered three groups of people along the way, but none of them found any trace of Barton."

"I think he was transported to a deeper place."

Isabella nodded slightly.

Neither of them showed much concern. Although Barton was usually taciturn, his survival skills as Isabella's personal bodyguard were beyond question.

Moreover, Simon sensed a faint earth elemental magical fluctuation coming from deep within the volcano, which was very likely Barton.

The four continued their journey together, heading in the direction Simon had sensed.

As Simon walked, he suddenly stopped and reached out to press his hand against the rock wall.

A faint layer of earth elemental magic spread out from beneath his feet, rapidly expanding outwards along the ground.

After a moment, he opened his eyes.

"It is indeed Patton's 'Rock Wall'... He's probably in trouble, and there are a lot of enemies, not far ahead."

"Let's go." A chill ran down Isabella's spine.

"You stay here," Claire suddenly said. "You're completely incapable of fighting right now, don't try to be brave."

The atmosphere suddenly became extremely strange.

"Um..." Simon prepared to smooth things over.

"Okay. I'll stay here."

...?

Simon stared at Isabella in shock, his expression one of utter disarray.

Rhodes's gaze swept back and forth between Claire and Isabella, and he quietly gave them a thumbs up.

Then Ichifuji hit him in the face.

"You stay here too, Rhodes," Claire said. "If anything happens, bring Isabella and run this way to us."

The two nodded obediently.

Before Simon could react, he saw Claire transform into a streak of light and head towards Barton.

"Oh my god, am I really not in the illusion created by the sealing technique...?"

Before he knew it, he had already followed Claire to the scene.

Beyond a crack, one could see a burly man kneeling in the pit below, his upper body bare.

It was Patton.

His hands were firmly planted on the ground, and a thick, spherical rock wall protected him in the center.

Outside the fortress, hordes of orc warriors were launching a frenzied attack.

Behind them was a row of orc priests, who continuously fired highly corrosive green venom at the rocky ramparts.

The attacks slammed into the rocky wall, making the burly man tremble all over, but he could only grit his teeth and endure it.

"Barton!" Simon roared and jumped down from the top of the pit, which was more than ten meters high.

In mid-air, Simon formed hand seals, and a massive amount of earth elemental magic erupted instantly.

boom!

Centered on Simon's landing point, the gravity within a 50-meter radius suddenly tripled.

Caught off guard, the orc warriors who were launching a frenzied attack suddenly collapsed to the ground.

"Simon!" Barton grinned, revealing his blood-soaked mouth.

He abruptly removed the rock barrier and swung his fists, which were as big as casserole dishes, smashing the head of the nearest orc warrior.

But even more orcs roared and charged forward.

Just as Barton was about to unleash the last bit of magic within him, he was astonished to see the orcs who had charged at him stop their movements, flowers blooming on their chests.

They all fell to the ground, withering away along with the flowers.

"this……"

Patton's pupils contracted slightly.

He remembered that scene, but he was never as shocked as he was back then.

He sensed something, turned around and looked up, and saw that familiar figure waving at him from above.

"It really is you! But why..."

He didn't say anything more.

"Thank you for saving me." He bowed deeply to Claire.

"What else is there to say? We're on the same team," Claire said. "How's your injury?"

"I can still walk."

"Good, let's get out of here quickly. With so many orcs, I reckon we're about to stumble upon their lair."

The three did not linger and quickly retreated along the same route.

Isabella visibly relaxed when she saw Patton return safely.

After a series of chaotic events, the five-person team finally reunited here.

After helping Barton treat his wounds, Claire looked at Isabella.

"I think we should talk about what to do next."

He stated bluntly: "My plan is to immediately move upwards and find the nearest vent or fissure in the earth's crust. Evacuate the volcano as quickly as possible."

These words instantly chilled the warm atmosphere of the team's reunion.

"Evacuate?" Isabella stared intently at Claire. "We still don't know what's inside this volcano."

"The squad's mission is not yet complete; I do not agree to withdraw."

"This is no longer something we can get involved in!"

Claire took a dark blue test tube from her ring and waved it in front of everyone.

"This is enamel powder, which I extracted from a rock wall earlier."

Apart from Isabella, the other three all looked shocked.

"Psionic energy once surged from the depths of this volcano, and it is known to the orcs. Now, they want to exploit this power."

Simon couldn't help but interject, "This is a force capable of changing the course of the battle! We should bring back more intelligence to command!"

"That's what I thought at first too," Claire said, waving her hand to project a picture. "Until just now."

He and Isabella encountered orcs unlike any they had encountered before.

They were stronger and more trained, and their battle formation seemed to have undergone some kind of targeted modification, which actually interfered with his magic output.

If the old orc priest who "sealed" them into the volcano had such an army, he wouldn't have needed to resort to such a desperate measure.

At first, Claire thought these were elite guards protecting the secrets of the sacred mountain.

But after examining the corpses, he discovered that the orcs had a very low concentration of blood flame, indicating that they had just entered the depths of the volcano.

Are they orc reinforcements?

He used "sweet pain" to torture the prisoners, piecing together Duke Tarot's plan from fragmented intelligence:

Lure legitimate wizards to the sacred mountain and ambush them using the mysterious power deep within.

These newly arrived orc warriors were all members of Duke Taro's personal guard, the elite of the elite handpicked by this powerful duke.

He himself is a veteran Saint-level expert.

Duke Tarot is now leading the main force of the Royal Guard to protect the altar.

This level of power is far beyond what their nearly crippled team can withstand.

Even when spying from afar, the slightest carelessness could lead to the complete annihilation of the entire force.

"Garret and Sylva are currently missing, and I suspect they are in grave danger. When Duke Tarot realizes that the wizards inside the volcano no longer pose a threat to the altar, he will surely launch a major purge."

"We have a general understanding of the orcs' plans, enough to report back. With most of our forces currently concentrated near the altar by Duke Taro, now is the best time to evacuate!"

Simon and Barton nodded repeatedly, clearly convinced.

"No!"

Isabella's expression was resolute: "Command is unlikely to believe you based solely on your word and these phasic powders."

"Don't forget, the very fact that orcs can use psionic energy is a joke!"

"Our team has suffered heavy losses. If we don't have that altar and the orcs' conclusive evidence that they can use psionic energy, we will not only fail to gain merit, but we may also be investigated by the Legion."

"Therefore, I disagree with evacuating now."