Chapter 5 Magic Staff (1)

“There’s someone inside the house,” the knight at the forefront, clad in armor, said.

Living in this desolate and abandoned wooden house was already suspicious. After all, living up in the mountains was prone to uncertainties compared to the safe environment in the town. It was not what normal people would choose.

Upon hearing the Lord Knight’s words, the constable fell silent. At the same time, he stole a glance at the Lord Knight’s figure with a hint of awe, and upon confirming that the Lord Knight did not take offense at his previous words, he quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

Sir Matthew, the Lord Knight from out of town, wasn’t a local. Their town couldn’t produce such a noble knight. It was said that Matthew hailed from the fiefdom of a prominent noble, having passed the trials of knighthood. Even the mayor treated him with great caution.

“I saw a faint light behind one of the windows from a considerable distance, but as we approached, it went out,” Matthew calmly stated.

In the silent night, his voice carried far beneath the vast expanse of the tree-filled forest.

And Lynn, hidden behind the window, heard it clearly.

He was already cautious enough. There were no curtains in the room, and he had dimmed the light in the oil lamp to its lowest setting. He didn’t even place it on the table near the window but kept it on the ground.

In this pitch-black night, without any light, the words in the books would be unreadable.

At the first sound from outside, Lynn promptly extinguished the lamp and moved to another room, hiding behind the window to observe discreetly.

But he didn’t expect…

These guys…

Lynn furrowed his brow.

No, he had to inform his teacher as soon as possible. Only his teacher could deal with these people. With his current meager skills, not even grasping a single spell, if he were to confront these individuals…

Lynn’s gaze fell upon the objects they held, resembling fireplace poker.

Though they were just muskets, he had no doubt that those muskets could turn him into a sieve with a single shot. As for whether Angley could block the muskets, that remained an unknown factor.

After all, practice makes perfect. Without practical experience, Lynn had no idea if his teacher could withstand a bullet.

Having become Angley’s student, Lynn knew that if he were caught, he would, at the very least, be tied to the gallows or even burned alive. It was no longer a mere fantasy.

Lynn turned away from the window and rushed up the stairs.

The teacher’s quarters were at the far end of the second floor.

Standing outside the door, Lynn took a moment to catch his breath, then lightly knocked.

“Teacher.” Lynn called out.

Silence filled the room.

“Teacher,” Lynn called out again from outside the door.

Creak——

The wooden door opened slightly, revealing a narrow gap.

Angley, with a grim expression, stood behind the door crack. His eyes locked onto Lynn like venomous snakes, devoid of any emotion.

Lynn felt a tingling sensation on his scalp.

“Lynn, I hope you can provide me with a suitable reason and tell me why you’ve disturbed me at this hour,” Angley’s emaciated face seemed almost skeletal, his sunken eyes deep-set. He slowly opened his mouth, speaking with a deliberate and unhurried pace.

“Teacher, there are people outside. Many of them are armed with muskets,” Lynn quickly explained.

Those individuals might be approaching the courtyard, ready to ascend the stairs. He didn’t want to waste any more time with idle talk while those people stormed in.

“From now on, don’t bother me with these kinds of matters. Deal with these interruptions yourself,” said Angley, as a murky silver light flickered across the ruby ring on his finger. In the next moment, a short oak staff appeared in the palm of his hand. “This staff contains two zero-ring spells: Acid Missile and Mental Shock.”

Lynn accepted the short staff, watching as the door closed.

Do I have to deal with that group of people? Lynn felt a sense of confusion.

Although he had read about how to use a magic staff in his notes, this would be his first time actually operating such a tool.

Lynn’s mood grew solemn.

Gazing at the short oak staff held in his hand, Lynn’s mind raced, recalling the intricate details from the books he had read.

Although his teacher had previously provided him with the first notebook containing some information about spellcasting and magical tools, he had never actually put those teachings into practice, lacking any real-world experience.

But now it was too late; those people would be arriving imminently.

Knowing Angley’s temperament all too well, Lynn understood that if he hadn’t adequately prepared for this, the consequences, given Angley’s capricious nature, could be truly severe.

With these thoughts weighing heavily on his mind, Lynn’s emotions turned grave.

He couldn’t be certain that the contents of that notebook were entirely accurate.

However, with no other options available, he had to resort to desperate measures.

With this realization, Lynn had to focus his mental energy and attempt to establish a connection with the oak magic staff in his hand.

Thankfully, the process went smoothly, and he effortlessly infused his mental energy into the oak staff, successfully establishing a profound connection.

A flood of information about the magic staff rushed into his mind.

Simultaneously, he became aware of two distinct modules within it.

It was a peculiar sensation, as if the oak magic staff he held harbored two invisible buttons, their existence detectable only through mental communication.

These must be the spell modules mentioned in the notebook.

Constructing spell modules within the magic staff meant that by expending his mental energy, Lynn could activate and utilize the spells stored within them.

Boom!!!

Suddenly, a powerful surge of elemental energy rippled through the courtyard, followed by an icy cold stream that crashed against the windows at the far end of the second-floor hallway, causing the glass panes to shudder and rattle.

Echoing the disturbance were numerous cries of anguish.

Lynn’s expression grew solemn as he swiftly turned and descended the stairs, his footsteps muffled and cautious, tiptoeing to reduce any noise.

His heartbeats quickened involuntarily, betraying the intensity of his emotions.

He felt nervous, reminiscent of the days when he and his father took turns keeping watch during their escape, when every refugee around them could turn into a violent mob at any moment. Throughout their journey, he witnessed the cruel and ugly side of human nature far too often.

“Damn, there are magic traps here.”

“You, go ahead and scout!” came an angry voice from outside the yard.

Lynn made his way to the ground floor and entered one of the rooms, hiding behind the broken window glass to secretly observe the scene in the yard. The glass was filled with impurities, transparent but cloudy.

Lynn assumed a crouching position, cautiously peering through the broken shards of the windowpane, exposing just a single eye to survey the scene in the courtyard.

At this moment, the wooden arch at the entrance of the yard had already shattered due to the explosion.

Frost covered the ground, and several people were scattered around, some lying on the ground, others holding their faces, while the people standing nearby were also injured.

He knew that Angley had set up magic traps at every entrance and exit of the yard and the house. It not only prevented people inside from escaping but also triggered the magic traps if anyone from outside entered.

After being caught by a magic trap once, the knight in charge became even more vigilant.

At the forefront of the group, a hunter dressed in fur, carrying a bow and arrow, and holding a short knife, cautiously approached the house. He moved slowly, occasionally looking back.

Outside in the yard, a knight holding a large sword gripped it with one hand, the tip of the sword embedded in the ground, while his gloomy face scanned the surroundings left and right.

Suddenly, the knight lifted his head and looked towards a specific window.

Lynn crouched down, leaning against the wall. He didn’t know if he had caught the attention of the knight because when the knight raised his head, he looked directly towards the window where Lynn was hiding.

Lynn had been extremely careful in his hiding, not even exposing much of his head. Moreover, it was nighttime, so he couldn’t be sure if the knight had noticed him or not.

The person who was ordered to scout ahead proceeded cautiously, and Lynn’s eyes flickered slightly.

He knew that right at the entrance, there was a trap. He wasn’t sure if there were any more traps behind, but he walked around the house daily, so it was highly unlikely.

So, if the trap at the entrance was destroyed, those people could easily enter the house.

Although the magic staff contained two abilities, Lynn estimated that he couldn’t even be considered a third-rank wizard apprentice at the moment.

At best, he could be regarded as a wizard apprentice who had just crossed the threshold of wizardry. He calculated that his current mental strength could support him in casting the spells inside the magic staff only three to four times, at most.

It seemed insufficient.

On the other side, although seven of the individuals were killed by the first magic trap, there were still eleven remaining, including a knight who possessed extraordinary strength.

Lynn’s mind raced as he quickly calculated. Mental Shock was a single-target damage spell, while Acid Missile theoretically targeted individual targets as well. However, in practice, this spell had splash effects and a small area of effect.

So, Acid Missile it is.

Lynn infused his mental energy into the magic staff, activating the spell embedded within.

In his mind, his mental energy flowed out like a rushing flood.

It diminished by more than one-fifth, and the magic staff in his hand was fully activated.

He felt a sense of readiness, as if he could unleash the spell at any moment.

——
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