Chapter 22

This time, it was a group of fifteen wolves. Quite large and there were several Level 3 Magic Beasts in that group. Calter was really amazed at the Thousand Beasts Forest. In truth, the number of creatures inside this forest was higher than other magical beast infested forests. If not for the beasts mostly staying at the place suitable for their level, then this forest would be one of the top dangerous areas in the realm

In other places, even just the outskirts there's a chance of meeting warrior rank beasts or higher thus the danger for Magic Apprentices were high. Even Magic Warriors wouldn't dare be careless there. But Thousand Beast Forest was different, it was extremely rare to meet level 4 and above beast in the outskirts area

This always baffled powerful mages, the population of the forest was high yet it seems like they have the rule of only staying in the place they belong. But this case help humans, the death rate was too low here as you don't need to worry much about encountering beasts you can't fight

"If I become strong enough, I'll investigate this forest" Calter said to himself

Even if the wolves has higher numbers but the skeletons compensated that for being stronger. In almost every sword slash a wolf would be killed

Only the level 3 wolves can put up a significant resistance but they were still killed in a few slash. These wolves has the body but not any magical ability. They were easy to kill individually but their prices were at the lowest

In just a few minutes all wolves were killed, in front of the skeletons' swords the lives of the wolves were easy to take. The smell of blood in the air was amplified by more bodies as 23 dead wolves were on the floor

Calter yawned as he want to fight personally. Although he can kill the wolves but it will take more time and his priority for now was to make money. He will only move if he met a worthy opponent

The smell of blood attracted more creatures and this time a fire red colored wolf was attracted by the wolves' howl along with its other underlings

"Oh?" Calter looked at the wolf with interest. Most of the time, beasts that can use magic were more troublesome to fight. The normal ones mostly only use their claws, teeth, legs, head, beaks, etc. But the special beasts can use long range attacks

Just like this red wolf, Calter was sure that it has the ability to manipulate fire

This group maybe the last of this wolf pack. The underlings were all at the level 2 and 3. Even the red wolf was level 3 but its fighting prowess was higher

Calter gave a mental command to the skeletons and they attacked the wolf underlings. While Calter decided to fight the fire wolf. The skeletons have a high chance of winning with all of the wolves but the fire wolf might cause some casualties

It will take more mana to summon another skeleton warriors and Calter wants to be ready for unexpected variables and can't use all of his mana

The leader wolf also took Calter as its priority and run towards the youth. When the distance between the two was only about five meters, the wolf opened its mouth and a ball of fire was shot on Calter's direction. The fire ball, thanks to the wolf's level has a power comparable to level 3 spells

"Hmph!" Calter snorted and pointed his wand at the wolf's direction

"[Dark Magic: Darkness Ball!]" Three balls of acidic ball was generated on Calter's wand and one of them collided on the fire ball's side. Fire was effective on dark magic and one of Calter's darkness ball cannot fully destroy it but he didn't plant to

The collision altered the fire ball's trajectory and it didn't hit Calter. The young man controlled the remaining two acid ball and it landed on each of the wolf's eyes

The wolf howled in pain and rolled on the ground to escape from the pain. It only took one clash to make wolf lose the ability to fight even though it has the same level at Calter. The spell didn't even put much of a burden to Calter as the amount of mana required was only comparable to level 1 spells. However, thanks to the principles behind it, the mana cost and the power has a huge difference

As the wolf already lose the ability to fight, Calter didn't pay any attention on it. He just controlled the skeletons causing their fighting abilities to be boosted. He only fought the fire wolf as fire attacks will deal significant damage on undead creatures

Magic beasts doesn't have much intellect and skeleton warriors' intellect was even lower. If the skeletons were skillful, with their power they should already finished the fight but even until now there were still some wolves

Personally controlling the skeletons will make them much skillful. Too bad that Calter's soul was still weak and he can't control the skeletons to act like expert soldiers or make a formation

Calter was busy controlling the skeletons when he sensed a danger. Even with fighting, Calter still didn't let his guard down for other enemies that might appear. The sound of something cutting the air entered his ears

From Calter's peripheral vision, he saw an arrow made from condensed wind flying on his direction. The arrow's speed was fast and he can't activate any magic to protect himself

Deciding that he can't use magic to defend, Calter forced his body to move as fast as it can. Too bad, his body was too weak and the arrow pierced his shoulder. Calter hissed in pain as a small wound appeared on his shoulder causing it to bleed. Even his bones fractured a bit by that spell and he can see his own flesh and bones even though it barely graze pass his shoulder

If not for his strong willpower, he would already lose consciousness. Calter gritted his teeth and looked at the direction where the attack came from

He saw a mage standing about twenty meters away from him with, his face was covered with a black mask but Calter is sure that the mage was shock. The mage has the right to be shock as his spell was a level 6 Magic Spell!

It was no wonder why the spell pierced a hole on Calter's shoulder. "Despicable!" Calter ignored the pain on his shoulder and looked angrily at the mage

The mage recovered from shock and sneered. "Heh.... I'm despicable but so what? I'm a level 7 Magician, what can you do about it?" Before, the mage only activated a level 6 Spell and he already thought that it was too much of an overkill but who would have thought that it was still not enough to kill a level 3 mage

"Is that so? Then I'll kill you and let's see what you can do about it" the atmosphere turned cold as an oppressive presence pervaded in the surrounding. The mage was puzzled at how can a youth this young can have such a terrifying pressure. But the pressure was not enough, it was intangible and Calter's power was too weak to be able to suppress a level 7 Magician

"Don't think too highly of yourself brat! You can only defeat those wolves because of your treasures!" Hearing his words, Calter realized why the mage attacked him

No matter how much mana a mage has, those above their level can still sense their level. The mage sensed that Calter was only a level 3 magician with powerful treasures. Treasures that are enough to let him fight several beasts at his level

Even if Calter doesn't have treasures, just the Cloud Stepping Horse already has a huge value! The mage can't sense the level of the horse but it must at least be a warrior rank!

This kind of horse has a major weakness and that is they don't like fighting. The horse won't attack anyone unless they were attacked first. Magic Beasts has low intelligence level and will attacked the horse but humans are different. As long as the mage doesn't attack the horse it won't attack him

He only needs to be careful and not let his attack reached the horse, if not then it would be his doom. A knight rank creature is still a knight rank! A Magic Apprentice has no hope of defeating one. If he attacked the horse, the mage would surely die. He can't escape as the horse was famous for its speed

"Then let's see if my so called treasures were enough to kill you!" Calter gave a mental command to the skeletons to attack the masked mage. The mage might be level 7 but a group of ten level 4 creatures will be troublesome for him!

This was why the mage decided to sneak attack despite the huge difference in level

'I only need to attack that brat, he's just a level 3 mage, how can he summon ten skeletons without a treasure? His mana might not even be enough to cast another spell' the mage thought and decided to cast a level 3 spell on Calter before the skeletons arrive at his position

However, Calter's next actions stunned him. The young man actually hopped on the horse's back. The situation become tricky for the mage, he can't risk firing a spell on Calter as his magic might land on the horse. The horse that can kill him easily if it wants

"Damn it!" The mage cursed and decided to just focus first on the skeletons. He thought that he only need to buy some time and consume all of Calter's mana. The only thing he was afraid at was Calter running away using the horse. With the horse's speed he doesn't have any hope of catching up

"Brat, you're a coward if you run away!" The mage taunted. He deduced that Calter might have a powerful background and is a genius of his clan or organization. Geniuses have their pride that he wants to use. Even if he knew Calter has a powerful backing but one's greed can make one do things they normally wouldn't do

But for the mage this is a magic beast forest, he didn't saw any guard around Calter. With his mask, even if people saw him killing the brat no one would recognize him. He was naive though, he didn't thought that what if a powerful mage was hiding and secretly protecting Calter?

"Don't worry, I won't run. I still need to kill you!" The mage thought that its plan succeeded and focused on the skeletons. Calter doesn't have mana and the horse won't attack him, what does he need to worry about? Too bad, his stupidity will cost him his life

"[Wind Magic: Wind Cut!]" The mage pointed his wand on the skeletons and two arcs of condensed wind flew on their direction. The spell has the power of a level 5 Spell, it was enough to one hit level 4 Magic Beasts if landed on vulnerable parts

The two target skeletons was controlled by Calter and used their swords as a shield. Too bad, their speed was slow and the winds already reached them. The wind arc accurately hit the two skeletons' neck. As Calter's summons were all bones, their body was thin and the wind arc managed to severe their necks

In a single spell, two skeletons were killed. "It actually has only enough power to kill two skeletons?" The mage's face darkened. Summoning skeleton warriors was only a level 3 spell, their body strength defense shouldn't be that high. The wind arcs normally can kill two skeletons each if the mage was skillful or at least kill one and harm another one. But it only managed to kill one skeleton and all the power behind the spell was used up

"Could it be that not only he has a treasure to summon more skeletons but also one that can amplify his summons' power? Just how huge is his background? I need to immediately kill him and run as far away as possible!" The mage thought and decided to go all out while thinking of all the money he will have after he sell the brat's treasures