Chapter 556 - 555: Confirmation of the Task

Chapter 556: Chapter 555: Confirmation of the Task

"That must have been [Instantaneous Instant Cast]. If you can get a handle on that feeling, you’ll be able to quickly cast difficult Spells at close range in real combat." Morel took another sip of his coffee.

Colin asked curiously, "Speaking of which, as a War Mage, are you also particularly skilled at rapid Casting?"

"Of course. Many of my Spells have been modified, mainly by shortening the incantations. Beyond that, I also use Magic for self-protection, and use techniques like [Counterspell] to plunder an enemy’s Magic Energy and put it into my own Spells."

Morel then added, "By the way, since you’ve learned the [Counterspell] Spell, do you know the ’Spell Interruption’ technique?"

"I recall that it was the method Mages used to counter other people’s Spells before [Counterspell] was developed."

"Exactly. If you recognize the Spell your opponent is Casting and then manage to complete the same Spell just before they do, you can disrupt the surrounding Magic Net and interrupt their Casting."

Morel added, "The advantage is that an opponent whose Spell is interrupted this way will be unable to cast any Magic for six seconds. It’s a method that exploits the rules of the Magic Net. Of course, the downside is also clear: it requires the Caster to have a vast amount of Casting experience."

"So that’s why everyone mostly uses [Counterspell] now." Colin made a mental note of what he’d said. ’Still, it’s not a bad thing to master another technique.’

"You’re right about that."

Morel blew on his hot coffee, and its rich aroma wafted through the air.

’A lazy, retired Mage whose favorite drink is a stimulant like coffee,’ Colin thought to himself. ’How strange.’

"Oh, right, the survey of those ruins from the Ancient Empire era is complete." Morel took another blissful sip of coffee. "The site is near the Witch’s Hammer, east of Holy Tear City. It should be marked on your map, so you can head over and check it out now."

"Oh, really? We can finally go, then. We’ll probably set out in a few days."

Colin glanced at his Task Log, and sure enough, a new task had appeared.

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[Task: Investigate the Ruins]

[Status: Not Started]

[Reward: Uncalculated]

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"Also, regarding those Viper Association members, the City Guard just finished processing everything. Here’s the equipment and Potions from their bodies."

As he spoke, Morel pulled a palm-sized wooden box from his pocket. Its surface was exquisitely decorated with silver flakes and gold foil, making it look like a beautiful little ornament.

He recited a Spell, then tossed the small box onto the ground.

The box then emitted a strange CLACKING sound and began to rapidly expand, growing into a large chest more than a meter wide.

Morel opened the chest, revealing it was stuffed full of the Armor and weapons worn by the Viper Association members.

Colin walked forward to take a closer look.

Most of the contents were just Leather Armor and Short Swords. Only the Heavy Crossbow was worth much. Bundled together, it all would undoubtedly fetch Several Hundred Gold Coins.

However, there were a few valuable items mixed in.

Colin picked up a Chain Armor Shirt. It looked like the one worn by the Viper Association’s Shield Guard.

[Chain Armor Shirt/Fine Products]

[Defense: 4]

Since the Dragonbone Armor Colin wore already included Chain Armor components, swapping in another piece would nullify the Armor’s Enchantment, so he couldn’t use it.

Besides that, there were two Fine Product Short Swords and a Flame Magic Wand. The wand had no Enchantment, however, so at best, it could only serve as a Magical Artifact to aid with Casting.

And finally, there were two bottles of [Healing Potion].

None of this was very useful to Colin and his party; only the two Potions could come in handy.

"Are you interested in buying this equipment? I can’t be bothered to haul it back," Colin said.

"Well... I suppose so. I happen to know someone who deals in used equipment; I could probably make a few dozen Gold Coins." Morel unhooked the money pouch from his belt and began to sort through the gear. "I’ll give you five hundred Gold Coins for the lot. Consider it a ’friendship price.’"

With that, he pulled two gold bars from the enchanted money pouch and handed them to Colin.

"Fair enough. This is a pretty good reward." Colin took the gold bars, weighing them in his hand out of habit.

"You took out a Tier Two squad from the Viper Association. All four members of that squad were Tier Two ’Snake Scales.’ Opponents like that are worth such a reward."

"For real? And they didn’t have any Magic Equipment? I remember when Kase and I were at Tier Two, we already had several Magic Items."

Colin tried to recall the battle, but it had been so easy that he had no distinct memories of it.

"Generally speaking, Magic Items aren’t that common. Besides, it’s typical for organizations like the Viper Association to exploit their lower-ranking squads. After all, most of the people in those squads are wanted fugitives.

"They have nowhere else to go besides relying on the Viper Association for protection. Having an organization backing you is better than turning to banditry, so they have no choice but to be exploited by the Viper Association’s leadership."

Morel crossed his arms. "As for you lot, I feel your adventuring career has been unusually fraught with disaster. When I was with Edwin, we certainly didn’t run into this much trouble... Are you sure you haven’t done something to offend the Goddess of Fortune?"

"Hmm, it might be Kase’s fault. You know how superstitious most Orcs are. Maybe his beliefs are affecting our luck. The more you think you’re unlucky, the unluckier you get... Anyway, forget it. I’m not going to get into all that. I need to go work on my Spellbook."

Colin let out a long sigh and turned toward the Meditation Platform, intending to make more detailed notes on the sensation of the Metamagic Casting he had just performed.

With this, he had now mastered two Metamagic Techniques.

Over the past three weeks, Colin had pretty much figured out his Metamagic Techniques. He had summarized their general effects and recorded them in his Spellbook.

[Instant Potency]: Increases your Spell’s power by one-half. Usable once per day.

And, if he wasn’t mistaken, the effect of the [Instantaneous Instant Cast] he had just learned should be this—

[Instantaneous Instant Cast]: Shortens your Spell to a single syllable. Usable once per day.

After he finished organizing his notes on Metamagic Techniques in the Spellbook, Colin flipped to the section where he recorded his Spells. It had grown much thicker compared to a few weeks ago.