Chapter 5: From Combat to Training
Arcane Mage.
As a transcendental profession originating in the Macedonian kingdom of the Second Age, it was famous for its immense destructive power.
The Arcane Sequence had five classic sequences: Fire, Frost, Storm, Meteor, and Thunder.
In essence, Fire manipulated high temperatures, Frost manipulated low temperatures, Storm manipulated air pressure, Meteor manipulated gravity, and Thunder manipulated electromagnetism.
Hailing from the court of the Eastern Solomon Empire, which followed the Orthodox Church, Thira, although lacking in practical experience, had no problems with theoretical knowledge and naturally knew how to utilize the power of the Storm Sequence.
She made a pistol gesture with her right hand in the air. In the spherical area about 1 centimeter in radius in front of her index finger, under the effect of supernatural power and spirituality, the internal air pressure was rapidly being extracted.
This created a pressure difference between the inside and outside. The outside air, under natural atmospheric pressure, instantly rushed in.
In less than 0.1 seconds, this “bullet” composed of a large amount of highly compressed air was quietly suspended in front of Thira’s right index fingertip.
She aimed at one of the ghouls and simultaneously erased the air pressure in front of the bullet.
The air bullet instantly shot out. The moment it entered the ghoul’s body, it was invaded by the supernatural power within the undead, and the “formula” maintaining the ultra-low air pressure inside the bullet immediately collapsed.
The highly compressed air bullet, almost solidified, exploded the moment the formula collapsed.
As if a grenade had been stuffed inside, the ghoul’s entire chest was blown to pieces, making a loud noise like a gas tank exploding.
“Whoa.” Medea, whose attention was drawn by the loud noise, asked in the channel, “Is that also an ability of the Storm Sequence?”
“Yes.” Thira said calmly. “Using the pressure of the sudden expansion of air, it’s actually the same principle as the firing of a gunpowder firearm.”
“Oh, an air bullet.” Medea immediately guessed the principle of her ability and said with a smile, “In that case, I’ll use my Desire ability to lure a few more ghouls to your side, do you mind?”
“Bring it on.” Thira said indifferently.
In an instant, she seemed to regain the feeling of sitting on the ivory throne, her mind extremely calm, yet her blood boiling.
Because this time, she wasn’t surrounded by her scheming elder sister, her respectful yet calculating ministers and guards, and the endless intrigues, conspiracies, and probes.
Instead, it was an intense and exciting battlefield, with intertwined steel, flames, and flesh, and… trustworthy companions fighting side by side.
She spread her ten fingers, and a highly compressed air bullet condensed at the tip of each finger.
“Come on, monsters.” She stared at the ghouls climbing up below and said coldly.
On the high ground a few hundred meters away, the Night’s Watch knights were surprised to find that in the few seconds of the battle, these mercenaries didn’t immediately collapse.
Instead, they fought alone, outnumbered but strong, stubbornly surviving among the ghoul horde.
“Everyone, go immediately! Flying geese formation, flamethrowers in front, shotguns follow, laser rifles at the rear, Go! Go! Go!” Quasimodo made a decisive decision and quickly changed his command.
Since these outside mercenaries could hold on, there was no point in holding the high ground anymore. The ghouls wouldn’t turn back before defeating these mercenaries.
It was better to take advantage of the situation and attack from both sides.
The Night’s Watch knights quickly rushed towards them. On the other side, Asker and the two girls had broken out of the encirclement. He switched to his Desert Eagle in his left hand and fired three shots in a row.
Triple shot.
Wherever the bullets passed, the ghouls were knocked down.
“Fan shot! No, it’s an armor-piercing fan shot!” The approaching Night’s Watch knight shouted.
The so-called fan shot was firing continuously while swinging the arm, the trajectory fanning out.
If it was an armor-piercing bullet, then each trajectory would penetrate all enemies in a straight line, causing damage and rigidity to a large number of enemies.
For the Night’s Watch knights, the armor-piercing fan shot was a very practical technique because their powered armor could withstand the recoil of firing armor-piercing bullets consecutively.
The fact that Asker could perform an armor-piercing fan shot with his flesh arm could only mean that his physical strength had reached a certain level.
“Such strength, compared to using firearms, would probably be even more terrifying when wielding swords…” Quasimodo couldn’t help but think.
As if to confirm his thoughts, the next second, Asker put away his pistol and turned to take the spear from Eleanor’s hand.
“Comrades, the more outnumbered you are, the more you must pay attention to controlling your positioning!” Asker said earnestly, stepping forward with his spear in one hand. “Watch carefully.”
Eleanor and Sidlipha looked closely and realized that the ghouls that were chasing them before, those in front knocked down by Asker’s fan shot, were now getting up.
The ghouls behind them, who hadn’t been hit, were pouncing forward with their claws and teeth bared.
The ghouls that caught up collided with the ghouls that were getting up, instantly causing a chaotic “traffic accident.”
Moreover, because they had been knocked down by a fan shot and had just gotten up, these ghouls, colliding and entangled with each other, were now in a fan-shaped formation.
“This is… Iron Cutter!” Eleanor suddenly exclaimed as if she had been enlightened.
As she blurted out, Asker had already charged forward a few steps, the spear in his hand swinging out a swift semicircle like a storm!
Iron Cutter!
The position where Asker swung his spear was exactly the center point of the ghouls’ fan-shaped formation. Therefore, this perfectly positioned Iron Cutter instantly knocked down more than ten ghouls.
Where the spear blade passed, severed limbs flew.
The next second, Asker charged forward again, breaking through the center of the front line of the ghoul horde, a sharp thrust with his spear.
The ghoul in front hurriedly jumped up, trying to dodge the thrust, but the spear tip followed it upwards, Dragon Spear!
The Dragon Spear lifted the ghoul into the air. Asker had already turned, his spear swinging sharply to the right, throwing the ghoul on his spear out.
So all the ghouls on the right were knocked down by this “cannonball.” Asker continued to spin, instantly turning 270 degrees, the spear blade returning to the left.
Then, Spiral Thrust!
To be precise, it was Charge + Spiral Thrust, the professional spear technique known as “Two-Stage Thrust” that was highly praised by players.
The high-speed charge, coupled with the unique deflecting effect of Spiral Thrust, instantly caused the ghouls in a straight line on the left to be either knocked down by Asker’s charge or sent flying five or six meters away. The scene was both magnificent and shocking, making one’s blood boil.
Eleanor and Sidlipha held their breath in excitement, only one word left in their minds:
Unstoppable!
“When attacking, you have to consider how to control and kill the most enemies with the shortest route.” Asker said as his charge came to a smooth stop.
The ghouls around him who could still move immediately charged forward fearlessly. His face, however, showed no fear. He just said calmly:
“At the same time, you also have to consider your position and the enemy’s relative position after the move ends, and how you should move and attack next.”
As soon as he finished speaking, he swung his spear again and used Iron Cutter.
This time, the Iron Cutter swung a full 360 degrees, sending all the surrounding ghouls flying.
Then came another Two-Stage Thrust, knocking away the ghouls blocking his way in front.
“First, use Iron Cutter to damage and repel all enemies around you. Then, Two-Stage Thrust, adding Spiral Thrust during the charge, knocking away enemies blocking the path in a straight line and repositioning yourself, then use Iron Cutter again.”
“Repeating this attack, because they are all skills that repel enemies around you, you can remain unharmed throughout the process. It’s called a ‘brainless tactic’ by spear technique players.” Asker charged all the way back to Eleanor and Sidlipha and said.
“Although it’s indeed a bit brainless, it can help you practice positioning and target selection.”
“With perfect positioning, your Two-Stage Thrust will be very smooth; with excellent target selection, your Iron Cutter can hit more ghouls.”
He handed the spear back to Eleanor and pointed at the ghouls pouncing towards them with their claws and teeth bared.
“Practice with this routine I taught you. It’s rare to encounter so many and such stupid meatbags like this.”
“Okay!” Eleanor said with a serious expression, grabbing the spear and charging towards the ghouls.
“What about me? What about me?” Sidlipha asked hurriedly, ignoring her previous embarrassing defeat, grabbing Asker’s arm and shaking it.
“Your problem is that your attacks are too fierce, and you lack variation in your moves.” Asker took out his Aphrodite and casually shot a ghoul, attracting its aggro.
“Just practice with this one, only use the blunt side of your axe to attack, and don’t hit its limbs, torso, or neck, only its head.” Asker lured the ghoul over and dodged all its consecutive pounces with a few light back hops.
“Okay.” Sidlipha said with some disappointment and started to deal with the ghoul.
As a result, when the Night’s Watch knights arrived, they saw Eleanor alone, wielding her spear and moving freely among the ghouls, without any signs of distress.
On the other side, Sidlipha was gritting her teeth, hitting the ghoul’s head with the back of her axe.
Occasionally, a ghoul would break away from Eleanor’s side and try to attack the two here, and Asker would charge out with his sword.
A Wing Beat, sending the ghoul flying straight up, then rapid pistol fire, knocking the airborne ghoul away, back to Eleanor’s side.
“This… seems like training?” Roger said uncertainly.
The Night’s Watch knights were speechless.
Using ghouls for training rookie squires was commonplace in the Night’s Watch. However, they were basically all deactivated, half-dead ghouls, and there were dedicated senior knights supervising in a professional arena.
As for directly using a live ghoul horde for practical training, the risk was too high. In the Third Age, the ancient Night’s Watch still retained the custom of practical training, but later, because of the excessive casualty rate, it was abolished in the early Fourth Age.
This small mercenary group called “Azure Longsword” actually dared to use an intact ghoul horde for practical training? Weren’t they afraid that a mistake in battle would lead to death on the spot?
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