“Are these... coming for us?”
Across the entire cavern, monsters filling the sky and water roared in unison as they charged, their overwhelming pressure almost condensing into something physical.
The hearts of everyone in the party sank in terror.
“Hold the formation! Push through!”
Brad raised his longsword and pointed toward the small island at the other end of the bridge of light.
However, despite the short distance, both the air and the water were packed with swarms of monsters.
The group struggled to advance along the bridge of light.
The defensive barrier held up by the Heavy Warrior shrank continuously under the onslaught, while cracks and dents began to mar their shields and armor.
Blood and flesh splattered endlessly onto the water and the bridge.
Yet the reek of blood only stirred the beasts into an even fiercer frenzy, causing them to swarm toward the party like moths to a flame.
The monsters weren't particularly high in level, but they poured forth endlessly, as if they could never be wiped out.
Wounds accumulated, and sword blades grew duller by the moment.
They hadn't even covered half the length of the light bridge, and the remaining half was choked with even more monsters.
“Tier 2 Magic—Fire Arrow Rain!”
A red magic circle opened, unleashing a deluge of flaming arrows that rained down over a massive area.
The stench of roasted meat began to spread.
Li Xiuman swiftly lowered his wand. Looking at the experience notification pop-ups rapidly ticking upward, his jaw practically dropped to the ground in glee.
Click.
Well, his jaw actually unhinged and dropped. Snap it back, snap it back.
Click.
He popped his jaw bone back into place.
Although these monsters were low in level, there were sheer numbers of them—an endless horde.
Every bit added up. Mowing down massive groups like this yielded experience far more efficiently than slowly hunting down high-level monsters one by one.
So Li Xiuman was more than happy to use this path as an opportunity to grind levels.
At his current power, Tier 2 magic barely consumed any mana at all.
As long as he didn't cast Tier 3 spells, he could farm like this for a whole day.
Well, a whole day might be a bit of an exaggeration.
Still, with a mana pool far exceeding others of his tier and his refined magical control, grinding with Tier 2 magic for a few hours was easily doable.
After advancing a bit further...
The Heavy Warrior's shield had been battered and warped into a mangled scrap of iron. The party was so tightly swarmed by flying monsters that they could barely move.
Furthermore, as time ticked by, they noticed the light bridge beneath their feet was steadily dimming.
Once the bridge of light vanished completely, they would fall into the water below.
Looking at the water swarming with aquatic monsters, falling in meant absolute, undeniable death.
“Miss Xiuman... I've dragged you into this disaster.”
“You saved us so many times, yet if I had known it would end like this, I never should have asked you to come with us.”
Brad spoke with a haggard, weary expression.
He stole a glance at Li Xiuman, wondering what expression Miss Xiuman had right now and what she would say.
She probably blames me, doesn't she? That's right... if not for me, how could everyone have ended up in this dire state?
Even though everyone trusted me so much...
If I knew it would come to this, I shouldn't have involved anyone. I should have set out alone.
“I told you, stop adding 'Miss' as a suffix.”
Li Xiuman's voice rang out.
Hearing Li Xiuman's response, Brad felt tears welling in his eyes, nearly spilling over.
Miss Xiuman doesn't blame me at all.
She really is so gentle, Miss Xiuman.
And everyone else, too.
He looked at his companions who were still fighting bravely. Bloodied as they were, not a single one complained.
“I'm sorry, everyone. Let's give up on the Spirit Spring.”
“In a moment, I'll draw all the monsters away. As many of you as can escape, get out!”
Brad's voice was resolute.
“Captain! If we die, we die together!”
“We didn't follow you for rewards or profit! We followed you because you're our captain. We take responsibility for our own choices!”
“Captain, dying on an adventure is a hundred times better than rotting away in some manor!”
“...”
“Everyone!”
Brad swung his battered sword, choked up with emotion.
Yes... this is it.
This is precisely why I left the Royal Capital with them.
To search for that elusive, mythical Spirit Spring.
More than just finding the spring, I've been treasuring every moment of this adventure alongside them.
What a dramatic performance of comradeship.
Normally under these circumstances, Brad ought to be swinging a sword of light and shouting about the power of friendship and bonds while mowing down enemies.
Li Xiuman had already scripted the lines in his head:
“The power of our bonds and friendship is limitless!”
Just wait a little longer. My experience bar is almost full. In a moment, I'll carry you all and go Dynasty Warriors mode on them.
Li Xiuman cast magic with all his might.
“Miss Xiuman, that's enough.”
“You've used so much mana. You must be running low by now.”
Brad said as he looked at Li Xiuman, who remained silent while continuously unleashing area-of-effect spells.
“I said stop adding 'Miss'!”
Li Xiuman sounded like he was snapping in embarrassment and irritation.
But hearing this only made Brad's heart ache.
Miss Xiuman... even at a time like this, you refuse to give up on us?
Even though we've only known each other for such a short time... do we already share such a deep bond?
“Xiuman, I understand now... the deep bond we share.”
“Even if it's just for our sake... please, survive!”
Brad swung his sword with one hand and offered a clenched fist with the other.
At that moment, the entire party burst with tacit synergy, somehow carving out a path of blood through the surrounding monsters.
“Miss Xiuman, even if it's just for us, survive!”
“Sister Xiuman, carry my bond with you and live!”
“Miss Xiuman, you know I'm just a rough guy, but you—you must live on!”
“Miss Xiuman...”
Everyone looked at Li Xiuman with ardent, resolute eyes.
Li Xiuman gritted his teeth in sheer exasperation, barely resisting the urge to stomp his foot.
Damn it, is this 'Miss' persona never going away? Number Zero, you will pay for this.
Down in the deep water, Number Zero—who was currently hunting the two Electric Eels with Crystal Orchid—couldn't help but shudder.
“I told you, stop adding 'Miss' at the end!”
Miss Xiuman—ptui, Li Xiuman—stomped his cute little foot—ptui, stomped his foot—and raised his magical girl wand—ptui, wand!
[Ding! Experience requirement met. Level increased to Lv 32.]
[Constitution +1, Spirit +2]
[Free Stat Points +2]
[Dragon-Blooded Skeleton Racial Strength Modifier: Strength +1]
His aura surging violently from the level-up, Li Xiuman raised his wand high, manifesting a massive, dazzling magic circle.
It blanketed the entire bridge of light.
Every adventurer and monster couldn't help but turn their gaze toward it.
Looking up at the brilliant, fiery red magic circle.
Not enough!!
Above the fiery red circle, a yellow magic circle expanded.
Then a cyan one followed.
It resembled a dazzling display of magical fireworks.
“A breakthrough!”
“Xiuman advanced to Tier 3!”
Brad stared in disbelief at the gorgeous figure enveloped in magic circles.
He mistook the surging aura of Li Xiuman's level-up for a breakthrough into a Tier 3 Mage.
His heart throbbed uncontrollably with emotion, urging him to scream it out.
“Is this... the power of our bonds?!”
“Empowered by the bond we share, go for it, Miss Xiuman!”
Brad yelled at the top of his lungs, roaring toward Li Xiuman.
Li Xiuman, who was pouring everything into casting a Tier 3 fusion spell, could only think that this guy had lost his absolute mind.
The three massive layers of magic circles slowly spun, and Li Xiuman's body drifted into the center of the magic array.
“Try this on for size.”
“Tier 3 Fusion Magic—”
Shing, shing, shing. The three layers of magic circles expanded once more, wildly discharging brilliant light.
“Flaming Rock Whirlwind!”
A towering tornado swept up fiery flames and sharp rock fragments.
Monsters flapped their wings desperately, but none could overcome the tornado's irresistible suction, getting swallowed whole and disappearing without a trace.
Annihilation.
Wherever the tornado swept through, it wiped the sky clear, consuming every monster in its path.
It was an absolute slaughter—the monsters stood no chance at all.
Against the devastating power of the whirlwind, the swarming monsters were no different from moths in a storm.
The terrifying force left everyone quaking in awe.
“So this is Miss Xiuman's full power...”
“She just advanced to Tier 3 Elementalist, yet she can already cast magic with such destructive force... Unbelievable.”
As Li Xiuman descended, the monsters surrounding them had been virtually wiped clean.
Farther off, monsters were still gathering toward them.
Even Li Xiuman was startled by the spell's destructive force. Tier 3 fusion magic seemed to undergo a qualitative surge in power.
No wonder it had taken him so long to research this AoE tri-elemental fusion magic, even with [Magic Analysis Lv 3] and [Golem Lv 3].
He hadn't even successfully developed a single-target Tier 3 fusion spell yet.
However, the mana consumption was equally terrifying; a single cast drained a third of his total mana.
Drawing out such a massive amount of mana in an instant overloaded the corresponding elemental magic circuits in his body, requiring roughly a day to recover.
He couldn't use this spell again during that window. Otherwise, his magic circuits would suffer permanent damage, locking him out of all spells belonging to those three elements until healed.
In other words, this magic could only be cast once a day.
“Push all the way through in one go!”
Li Xiuman shouted as he landed.
Snapping back to reality, the rest of the party hurriedly sprinted toward the far end of the light bridge.
Rate on N.U.
