31: Private Mission

"Condensing arrows based on different elements to perform rapid strikes..."

As a 0-circle spell, the advantage of "Elemental Flying Arrow" was that,

when no element was provided, the condensed Elemental Flying Arrow would be an attribute-less arrow, completely transparent.

For certain scenarios requiring a surprise attack, attribute-less arrows could play a very effective stealthy role.

Aside from this point, the reason Ronan chose this spell was because of two other major functions of "Elemental Flying Arrow."

One was absorbing elements for transformation.

"Elemental Flying Arrow" would change the arrow's form and add corresponding elemental attribute damage based on the element provided by the caster.

For example, if the element provided by the caster was rock, then the arrow would transform into a rock form and add earth attribute damage.

The same applied to other elements.

This greatly broadened the diversity of Ronan's attribute attacks, ensuring he wouldn't easily run into issues with attribute counters.

The other was drawing in elements to condense into an arrow shape.

Absorbing elements for transformation only required a small amount of the element as a medium, regardless of the quantity.

Drawing in elements, however, would use the drawn element as the main body, turning it into an arrow to be fired.

In other words, if an element the size of a finger was drawn in, the arrow would be condensed from that finger-sized element.

From the two points above, the "Elemental Flying Arrow" spell seemed very powerful, almost comparable to a Circle-level spell.

However, the reason it remained a 0-circle spell was due to its limitations.

The first drawback was that the speed of the flying arrow was linked to the caster's Spiritual Power.

If Spiritual Power was too weak, one might not even succeed in condensing an attribute-less arrow.

At the same time, during the process of drawing in elements, the more elements drawn, the greater the pressure on the caster's Spiritual Power.

For the vast majority of mages who could only use 0-circle spells, this invisible threshold filtered out most people.

The other drawback was a derivative issue of drawing in elements.

If the drawn element had no destructive power, then the condensed "Elemental Flying Arrow" would basically have no offensive capability.

On the other hand, if the element possessed destructive power, the more powerful elements were often more unstable, and the caster would have to face the issue of carrying the element.

These two major drawbacks were like two natural chasms, forcibly cutting off the possibility of "Elemental Flying Arrow" becoming a Circle-level spell.

However, for Ronan, these two drawbacks weren't much of a problem.

After being strengthened by wish power, his Spiritual Power was now several times greater than others.

With this support, the speed of the flying arrow was not only not a weakness, but could even become an advantage.

As for the issue of drawing in elements... Ronan pulled out the long-unseen concentrated elemental orb from his storage pouch.

He had a life-and-death history with this powerful and dangerous item.

Unfortunately, this was all that remained of Wolf Fang's relics; everything else, like the man himself, had been sliced into fragments by Russell's sword.

Although Ronan didn't dare to directly draw the violent composite energy from the concentrated elemental orb, if he could turn the entire orb into an arrow... even if it could only be used once, the power would definitely be beyond imagination.

Everything was ready.

Ronan began to use his Spiritual Power to build the magic construct in his mind.

It felt a bit like building Legos in his previous life; countless possibilities could arise during the construction process.

He found that after his Spiritual Power became stronger, building a magic construct was practically without obstacles, as smooth as walking on level ground.

Whether it was the precision of the operation or the accuracy of the construction, his powerful Spiritual Power brought an unparalleled sense of control.

Soon, the magic construct for "Elemental Flying Arrow" was completed.

In an instant, the entire construct lit up and began to revolve around the book of magical knowledge.

Ronan tried injecting a wisp of Spiritual Power into it.

Instantly, a large transparent arrow floated above his palm.

With just a thought, this attribute-less "Elemental Flying Arrow" would shoot toward its target.

Ronan was overjoyed.

This was the first time he had learned a spell on his own, and the sense of achievement far surpassed the "Scorching Ray" he had obtained through a wish.

Alright, next is "Magic Shield"... He was suddenly full of energy and began researching and studying without rest.

He slept when he was tired and continued studying when he woke up.

It wasn't until two team members came knocking on his door that he realized three days had passed.

"Captain, are you injured?" Evil Axe asked.

"No." Ronan subconsciously looked at himself and asked in confusion, "Where did you hear that?"

"Really, Captain?" Drill Mouse stepped forward to confirm. "Don't force yourself, your health is the most import—"

Before Drill Mouse could finish, Evil Axe punched him on the head. "You damn sore loser, aren't you?"

Then Evil Axe held out his hand and chuckled, "Pay up."

Drill Mouse grumbled as he pulled out three silver coins and reluctantly handed them to Evil Axe.

"What's going on?" Ronan didn't understand what these two were doing; it seemed like they were betting on him.

He then realized that "wild" mages often met with accidents during magic research due to a lack of systematic knowledge.

Not leaving his room for three consecutive days perfectly fit the stereotype that 'something has happened to this mage.'

"Captain, Evil Axe was spreading rumors that you'd met with an accident," Drill Mouse said, striking first with a false accusation.

"You lost the bet and won't admit it, and now you've even learned to slander me?"

Evil Axe immediately used his height advantage to throw another punch at the top of Drill Mouse's head.

However, this time he hit nothing; Drill Mouse actually vanished from the spot instantly and reappeared on the other side a moment later.

Ronan was a bit startled, seeing Drill Mouse's methods for the first time.

Was that teleportation?

He silently spread out his Spiritual Power network.

Unexpectedly, Evil Axe couldn't be bothered with him and turned to Ronan with a smile. "Captain, we completed a few tasks over the past two days. These are the rewards."

He handed over a coin pouch, casually dropping the three silver wolves he'd won from the bet inside.

The coin pouch immediately jingled loudly; one could tell the harvest was bountiful just by the sound.

"Why is it all copper?"

Ronan opened it and found that he couldn't find a fourth silver coin inside; it was all copper eagles.

He remembered the minimum reward for a task was 1 silver wolf. Where did they get so much loose change... wait, these two were betting with silver wolves!

"What kind of tasks did you take?"

"Just... scouting tasks."

"Are the tasks all finished?"

"They're all finished, but..."

"But what?"

"But we ended up paying it all back in compensation." Seeing Evil Axe being evasive, Drill Mouse stepped forward and admitted it directly.

"What kind of compensation do you pay for a scouting task?" Ronan wondered, not understanding what these two were up to.

"Also, how is the money you two were betting with more than the rewards earned from the tasks?"

Ronan squinted at the two of them. "Seeing that I wasn't around, did you two just dive straight into corruption?"

"We've been wronged!" Drill Mouse shouted, giving Ronan a start. "This is a reward from another task!"

"Academy tasks don't have extra rewards... hmm?" Ronan reacted immediately. "What kind of task did you take?"

The same question, but asking about something else.

Evil Axe finally didn't dare to hide it anymore and answered honestly,

"A private task."