52: Chapter 52 Cliffside Tunnel, Defensive Battle

Whether it was Vera and her brother who had just been trapped within the encirclement of the Ghouls and likely would have perished under the monsters' siege,

or Ross who originally intended to reach the core area of the magic power fluctuations to explore a path for leaving,

if both sides had arrived at this place separately, they would probably both have faced some danger.

Fortunately, at this moment, the three of them had regrouped once again.

"Ross, the flame you just released seems quite powerful. Those Ghouls were directly ignited upon contact with it."

Vera had just escaped from the dangerous battlefield, and her face still carried an expression of lingering fear.

Upon seeing the power of Ross's [Void Magic Flame], sounds of surprise continuously escaped her lips.

At this time, Edmund had already escaped from danger, and his own magic power had also stabilized.

Seeing his younger sister's surprised expression and questions,

on one hand, fearing that Ross might misunderstand his sister as trying to pry into his secrets, and on the other hand, feeling relieved to have survived a mortal crisis,

Edmund wore such a complex expression and spoke in a helpless tone:

"That is a rank zero Spell Model [Magic Flame]. It is generally a spell used for refining magic potions."

"It is still different from general attacking spells like Fireball. However, I wonder what method Junior Ross used to bring out such a powerful effect."

Before Ross could explain, Edmund explained to his sister.

"Yes, this is the Magic Flame Spell Model exchanged from the Academy's Hall."

"It is a bit more powerful, and it also involves my unique secret recipe, so it is inconvenient to discuss it further."

Ross looked at the disheveled appearance of the two people who had just escaped and regrouped, and then explained.

At this moment, Vera and Edmund listened to Ross's explanation, and naturally they did not believe it was purely due to the effect of the Magic Flame.

But as outsiders, and since they were all Wizard Apprentices from the same academy,

it was naturally not proper to pry into other people's secrets.

Right at the time when both sides had regrouped and were talking, faint particles of light emanated from the dead Ghouls and then flew into Ross's body.

"Mental Strength + 8"

"Mental Strength + 10"

...

"Mental Strength + 12"

Those 5 Ghouls that had just died could, on average, bring Ross an increase of 50 points in Mental Strength.

"Although these Ghouls do not pose much of a threat, the Mental Strength they contain is much more than those hound pups and Walking Corpses."

Ross carefully judged in his heart the Mental Strength that the monsters he encountered could provide him.

Those Walking Corpses were the weakest, with each Walking Corpse only bringing him 0.5 points of Mental Strength.

As for those hound pups, each provided about 1 point of Mental Strength.

On average, each Ghoul could bring an increase of nearly 10 points of Mental Strength.

At this moment, this group of fanged, red-eyed Ghouls before his eyes

was no longer seen as monsters in Ross's eyes, but rather as treasures capable of enhancing his own Mental Strength.

These specks of light continuously poured into Ross's body, and when Vera and Edmund saw this, they were also filled with extreme astonishment.

Before the two of them could ask Ross what this was,

the Ghouls that had originally been scattered by Ross's Magic Flame gathered together once again.

"It seems we need to cooperate fully to deal with these remaining Ghouls."

When the three of them saw that the Ghouls before them were about to attack them again after a brief period of calm,

this sentence popped up in each of their minds.

"Now is not the time for explanations. First, Edmund, you cast the [Iron Armor Spell] and then defend at the front."

"Then Vera, when the timing is right, release some attacks to disrupt these Ghouls from charging into our defense line."

"Then I will handle the main attacks and finishing blows."

Ross's combat awareness was extremely strong. In an instant, he assessed the current situation: there were probably about fifteen Ghouls remaining.

Compared to the more than 20 Ghouls previously, 5 fewer remained.

However, this number still posed some pressure for the three of them.

On average, each person had to face 5 fearless Ghouls.

If they did not pool their strength to layout the battlefield, I'm afraid the three of them would only be able to run away next.

And trapped in this secret realm, if too much time passed, there was no telling when they would be able to get out.

"Alright, I will defend at the front and attract the attention of these Ghouls."

At this time, Edmund had already recovered from his previous state of scattered Mental Strength.

He was seen taking out some dark golden metal ores and some magic stones from a drab magic pouch.

Then he crushed them, chanted some incantation in his mouth, and a shield formed of magic power and ores emerged around his body once again.

This shield was like a hard barrier surrounding him.

It was the [Iron Armor Spell].

Under the manipulation of Edmund's Level 2 Wizard Apprentice Mental Strength, supported by magic power,

after making preparations, dealing with the impact of these Ghouls would be much less difficult.

Just earlier, Edmund and his younger sister Vera had suddenly fallen from the outside world, causing them to panic and fail to make sufficient preparations.

Otherwise, if a Wizard Apprentice were given ample preparation,

dealing with these brainless monsters could probably be sustained for a very long time.

At this time, the Ghouls had already charged up, and Edmund had stepped forward to stand at the very front.

At this moment, when the shield formed by the [Iron Armor Spell] came into contact with the sharp claws of the Ghouls, it burst forth with intense sparks.

Crackle, crackle, crackle, crackle.

Ross saw that the effect of Edmund's [Iron Armor Spell] was extremely remarkable; these Ghouls could hardly advance within the range of the incantation.

At this point, Ross directed Edmund to deal with the Ghouls' attacks while heading toward the nearest earthen mound.

That place was a cliff crevice formed by earthen mound rock walls.

The terrain there was treacherous, with only a single barrier tunnel leading inside and outside.

If they fought there, the combat space would be restricted within the tunnel.

In this way, they could defend it very well and prevent these Ghouls from flanking them from the sides.

The three of them quickly retreated to defend inside the tunnel beneath the earthen pit cliff.

Meanwhile, the magic power Ross had just released also recovered a portion during this short while.

The five Ghouls just killed brought Ross an increase of nearly 50 points in Mental Strength.

His own Mental Strength also stabilized from 800 to around 850.

This fluctuating Mental Strength up and down was not an approximate number.

Instead, it was a genuine fluctuation of Mental Strength displayed on the panel.

Although the specific reason why these monsters dropped Mental Strength after death was unknown,

for a wizard, enhancing Mental Strength was inherently a complex matter.

It was very likely to have certain upward and downward fluctuations during the enhancement process.

Perhaps only when Ross stopped fighting could it truly stabilize.

But one thing was beyond doubt:

along with the enhancement of Mental Strength, his own magic power recovery level had also greatly improved.