“Buff.”
Zuaaang.
As Eugene gave orders to the wizards standing in formation, the wizards cast spells on the other members.
Currently, Team 5 consisted of three knights and six wizards, excluding Eugene.
Arid Sabe, Aron Jemed, and Ken Pelven were the knights, while Dustin Agel, Elber Rune, Peron Horus, Rohen Aldron, Uls Pian, and Sekenef Doan were the wizards.
Shwaaa.
“Strengthen spell and haste spell complete.”
“Well done.”
Eugene praised Dustin, who was reporting to him.
The results of their continuous practice were now showing.
Originally, it is more difficult for wizards to cast combined magic with others than casting alone.
The reason is that when casting alone, the calculations are simple, but as the number of participants increases, the complexity of the calculations increases, and the calculations could easily become tangled.
Team 5 was very careful about this.
They believed that as long as the six wizards performed their calculations without error, they could pass the test.
“There it is.”
Eugene looked at the yellow orb floating in the air.
The floating yellow orb was the Space Ball.
“Everyone, get ready.”
Chwajajang.
Uuuung.
At Eugene’s words, the three knights positioned themselves behind the wizards, and among the six wizards, the two specializing in combat watched the left and right flanks, while the rest stood in the center, ready to support the others.
Of course, Eugene was at the top, facing forward.
Zuaaang.
“It’s coming.”
Warrurururu.
As Eugene spoke, the Space Ball started spewing out Lizardmen.
At that moment,
‘Wait… something’s wrong…’
Eugene squinted his eyes as he watched the Lizardmen pouring out from the Space Ball.
He quickly counted the Lizardmen as they were summoned, and even a rough count showed over 30 Lizardmen.
‘Now, it’s over 40…’
Something was wrong.
This made no sense.
Lizardmen are classified as a 5-tier threat when there are 18-20 of them.
Furthermore, for every additional 20 Lizardmen, the tier increases by one. With over 40 of them?
“Everyone, switch to formation C.”
“What? Why suddenly?”
“Hurry!”
Eugene urgently commanded his team members.
Chwaaak!
“Dig.”
At Eugene’s command, the team members spread out, and three wizards in the center simultaneously cast Dig, creating a large hole.
“Everyone, get in as practiced.”
Hwoook!
Eugene gave the order and immediately climbed up an artificial tree.
“Eek! Get in… quickly!”
Aron, who had good eyesight, saw the swarm of Lizardmen from afar, his face turned pale, and he pushed the others into the hole.
Zaaang.
Zuaaang.
The wizards who entered the large hole cast Illusion over the hole to make it invisible and Silence inside the hole to eliminate any sound.
“Why? What’s going on?”
“Out… outside…”
“Outside?”
“So… that means…?”
“Ah, what is it exactly?”
Arid, annoyed by Aron’s stammering, shouted.
“There were dozens of Lizardmen…?”
“Usually, dozens of Lizardmen come out, right?”
“There seemed to be over 40 of them…”
At Aron’s words, the team members all fell silent, their expressions grim.
If only Aron had said this, they would have scolded him for seeing wrong.
But since even their leader Eugene had ordered to switch to formation C, it meant there really were dozens of Lizardmen.
Formation C was originally designed for the team to hide if they were overwhelmed by Lizardmen.
And while the team members recovered their stamina, Eugene would deal with the Lizardmen.
But to switch to formation C from the start…
Something was definitely wrong.
Thump, thump, thump, thump.
Bang!
***
“Ha… Dean, in the testing grounds right now…”
Deiker burst into the dean’s office with an urgent expression.
“…I’m watching too……”
Hobin Jessup, a 9-circle wizard and the dean, and Terren Riod, a sword master, were watching the magic orb with hardened faces.
Whenever the students took a test, not only the education director but also the dean would watch the inside of the testing grounds through a magic orb, and dozens of Lizardmen were visible in their magic orb as well.
“We need to get into the testing grounds immediately.”
Deiker looked at the deans with a pale face.
The spatial magic spread in the testing grounds would automatically block external intrusions or monsters from entering once the test began, cutting off the area from the outside.
Therefore, to enter the testing grounds, they would have to forcibly break through the barrier spell.
However, there was a problem.
The magic currently cast on the testing grounds was a spell sturdily created by Don Dippel, the 11-circle wizard who was the founding dean, so breaking it would take considerable time.
“During that time, Team 5 students will have to hold on well…”
Creek,
Hobin and Terren jumped up from their seats and ran to the testing grounds.
As previously mentioned, there were interference devices within the academy, so teleportation was not possible.
***
‘Damn… what should I do…?’
After erasing his presence on the tree, Eugene looked at the Lizardmen swarming beneath the ground.
There were currently 50 Lizardmen.
Even in terms of tier, they were at least a 6-7 tier threat.
With 50 Lizardmen in front of them, even a 6-tier monster like a Griffin could be easily killed.
This was because Lizardmen were highly intelligent, fought in formation, and were good at using deception.
Additionally, some of them wore armor and some wielded swords, which was unusual for monsters.
“Hmm? Where am I?”
Thunk.
“What… what is it? Why are you coming out from there?”
Eugene was almost startled off the tree when he saw Taeje coming out of a small bag at his waist.
Why was this guy coming out of that bag?
He had clearly seen him sleeping in bed this morning.
“I put this in here.”
Taeje smiled and waved something in his hand.
“What is that?”
“Catnip. Sssss-hah~.”
Taeje had been wandering around the academy whenever Eugene went for training, and had once found a large amount of catnip in a corner of the academy, dug it up, and put it in Eugene’s bag.
The bag Eugene wore at his waist had a decay-prevention spell, making it an excellent place to store catnip.
“What’s with that expression?”
“Nothing…”
Eugene shook his head and sighed.
For a moment, he almost threw Taeje at the Lizardmen.
“Ugh… look at them swarming.”
“Sigh… I guess I have to go down… tsk.”
“Are you going to jump down there? Need help?”
“I’d love to use you, but if I do, the team members might notice. There are not just one or two, but nine people here.”
“You brat… you know how to talk to make someone not want to help.”
“You weren’t going to help anyway, right? You just said that to tease me.”
“Hoho, you’re quick-witted.”
Somehow, Taeje was getting more annoying by the day.
Eugene’s eyes sparkled from atop the tree.
-Rohen.
-Yes, leader.
Eugene sent a telepathic message to Rohen, a team member hiding underground, and Rohen responded naturally to Eugene.
During practice, Eugene had used telepathic communication several times, so the team members thought Eugene was using telepathy magic.
-When I give the signal, all the wizards should launch fire attack spells at the Lizardmen.
-What?! Really attack?
-Yes. We need to time it perfectly, so don’t be late.
-…Got it.
Eugene took a deep breath atop the tree.
-Now.
Hoo.
“Fireball.”
“Wind Cutter.”
“Lighthein.”
“Air Bomb.”
“Fire Bomb.”
“Lightning Arrow.”
Zuaaang.
Hoo, hoo, hoo, hoo.
At Eugene’s signal, the wizards who had been hiding in the hole came up and fired spells at the Lizardmen horde.
All the team members had already reached the 2nd circle, so the power was quite strong.
Boom!
“Kieeek!”
The Lizardmen tried to move quickly due to the team’s magic.
But at that moment.
Whook.
‘Heavenly Weight.’
Boom!
Crash!
As Eugene jumped from the tree and landed on the ground with immense weight, shockwaves and dust clouds rose around him.
Swish.
Eugene, who had landed in the midst of the Lizardmen, drew his sword from his waist.
“Heavenly Killing Sword Technique, Second Form: Illusory Rain Sword.”
Slash! Slash! Slash!
“Kiek?!”
“Kieeek??”
Eugene moved his sword swiftly within the thick dust fog.
He had to kill as many as possible while they were disoriented in the dust.
“Huuuu.”
Eugene adjusted his rapidly depleting internal energy with his breathing while cutting off the Lizardmen’s heads in the dust.
“What? Did you just perform energy circulation?”
As Eugene was frantically slaughtering the Lizardmen, Taeje, who was in Eugene’s bag, looked at him in amazement.
Although it wasn’t as much as when he usually performed energy circulation, Eugene felt a slight flow of internal energy returning to him with each breath.
“Don’t talk to me.”
“This crazy guy…”
Originally, energy circulation could not be done while moving.
This was true for any martial artist.
Energy circulation involves not just storing energy in the dantian, but also filtering out impurities and storing pure energy in the dantian, then moving this energy through the body’s meridians.
So what happens if one performs energy circulation while moving?
The energy moving through the meridians could reverse or cause disturbances, potentially twisting the meridians.
Moreover, doing this while using internal energy for martial arts?
It was sheer madness.
Yet, Eugene was performing energy circulation while wielding his sword.
“Kiek!”
“Kieeek!”
‘These guys… They’re quickly reorganizing their formation.’
While observing the situation through the dust, Eugene noticed the Lizardmen gradually regaining their composure.
Normally, in such a situation, they’d be unable to do anything and would just die, but the Lizardmen, being intelligent monsters, were reading the situation.
‘But I can’t just watch them do that.’
Whook.
‘Heavenly God Art, First Absolute: Earthquake Step.’
Crash.
Boom!
As Eugene stomped the ground hard, the area within a 2-meter radius, including where he stood, started to flip over.
“Kieeek!”
The simultaneous cries of numerous Lizardmen were heard.
But there was a problem.
‘There are still too many Lizardmen.’
Even with his depleting internal energy, there were still too many Lizardmen around.
Judging by the energy he sensed, quite a number seemed to be heading towards the scattered team members, yet there were still many around Eugene.
“Need help?”
Taeje spoke to Eugene, who was sweating.
“No.”
If Taeje grew large now, he would be easily seen by others.
‘What should I do…’
At that moment.
Whiiiing.
A gentle breeze blew near Eugene.
“Ah!”
Eugene’s face brightened as he seemed to recall something.
‘I have that.’
It was the spirit.
Wooong.
Pop!
“Did you call for me, Eugene… Aack!”
As soon as it appeared, Sylph screamed because of the Lizardman next to it.
“Goodness, that startled me…”
“Hey, Sylph.”
“Yes, Master Eugene.”
“Imbue my energy with the power of the wind.”
Wooong.
Without any formal greetings, Eugene began to gather all the remaining inner energy he had.
Whoosh!
As Eugene gathered all his remaining inner energy and created a white flame in his hand, Sylph imbued the flame with the power of the wind.
It was obvious that using all his inner energy like this would lead to exhaustion and fainting, but this wasn’t the time to worry about that.
Whoooosh!
Normally, the martial art he was performing now would be the second technique of the Heavenly Killing Divine Art, the White Fire Bow, which was a white arrow-shaped technique.
However, with Sylph’s power added, the White Fire Bow took on a different form.
“Heavenly Killing Divine Art Transformation: White Flower Full Bloom.”
Kuuuuu.
Boooom!
Eugene released the white flame around his body, and the large, white blaze began to engulf the Lizardmen one by one.
Cliche Novel 