Grinding EXP From Fireball Skill-Chapter 56: Is the Fire Element a "Player" Girl?
The battle was over. Soldiers cleared the rocks and logs blocking the road.
Allen took advantage of the downtime to gather the Mages for instruction.
"Using the Cloud Mist Technique on the enemy is forbidden."
"Later, to make coordination easier, I will assign you all numbers. During battle, you will operate within fixed Casting zones."
...
Allen announced many new rules, which caused a wave of displeasure among the crowd.
Mages were already arrogant by nature. Forcing them into Mage squads had already drawn many complaints.
Now, Allen’s actions completely disregarded the discontent in everyone’s hearts.
Allen also noticed the resentful atmosphere. He looked at them grimly and said, "This is war. Only the Power of a team can influence the entire battlefield. Fighting alone is a death sentence!"
"On the battlefield, a lone Mage is often the easiest prey for the enemy to target."
"We must stand united, a fortress built of common will!"
The murmuring in the crowd subsided.
CLOP, CLOP, CLOP!
Reina rode her warhorse to Allen’s side and said, "Mage Allen, the road ahead has been cleared. The column will now advance."
Allen nodded. "Understood."
At his command, everyone returned to their wagons and followed the column forward.
Following Allen’s orders, the Mages of each Element gathered together.
Li Wei was separated from Gu Ze, and now sat with Rota, George, and a few others in the same Earth Beast-drawn cart.
The Fire Element Mages from the Mage Tutoring Corps sat in the cart next to them.
Delis complained, "Mage Allen wants us to obey orders like soldiers. What’s the point of even having us here then?"
"A Mage’s strength lies in the versatility of their Magic, yet he wants us all to use the same Magic uniformly."
"Doesn’t that just erase all of a Mage’s advantages?"
He hadn’t wanted to join the war in the first place and was dragged here, so his resentment was much stronger than the others’.
George said with his eyes closed, "That’s enough. Quit your complaining."
Seeing George speak up, Delis obediently shut his mouth.
Li Wei glanced at them, then turned to look at the Mages from the City Lord’s Mansion in the next cart.
There wasn’t much complaining from their side. He had noticed earlier that the Mages from the City Lord’s Mansion coordinated better.
’They must have undergone special training.’
Li Wei took out his Magic Badge and glanced at it. It already showed 3 Contribution points.
Two were the basic daily points, one point per day, and the other was an extra point from repelling the Beastmen just now.
’No wonder so many Mages are willing to join the war. Turns out it’s this easy to rack up Contribution points.’
’The more people there are, the easier it is to get points.’
Putting away the Magic Badge, Li Wei found himself looking forward to encountering more foolish Beastman raiders.
Unfortunately, by the time they reached their destination, Cold Sand City, at dusk, they hadn’t encountered a second battle.
RUMBLE... RUMBLE...
The wheels rumbled. Li Wei got out of the cart and stood at the city gate, waiting for the carts to enter.
He looked up. The city walls were mottled with battle damage, and broken arrows were stuck in many places.
Looking around, he saw piles of Beastman corpses not far away. People were pouring oil on them and setting them alight to prevent the spread of plague.
The area outside the city was a complete mess. Shattered Armor, broken Longswords, snapped arrows, and blackened bloodstains... were everywhere.
It was apparent the city had already endured a fierce battle.
After the forces from Maple City arrived, they quickly took over the city’s garrison duties.
Everyone was exhausted after traveling hundreds of kilometers to reach the city.
The Extraordinary Professionals all went to rest.
Li Wei had dinner and returned to his room early to rest.
Every Mage was given a private room, unlike the other Professionals who were housed in double or quadruple rooms.
’I haven’t cast the Fireball Skill in the real world yet. I wonder what Teacher Gu Ze meant by gaining the recognition of the Elements?’
Li Wei released his Spiritual Power. It penetrated the walls, allowing him to see everything within a ten-meter radius.
After confirming no one was nearby, he cast the Fireball Skill.
It was his first time casting a Tier One Magic in the real world.
The Magic Model was constructed, and the Fire Element began to fill it.
A large amount of Fire Element surged forth, converging into a Fireball.
Li Wei felt a subtle change from the Fire Element. It was as if the Fire Element had gained life.
It was very faint, but he could definitely sense a trace of life within the Fire Element.
To put it simply, it moved.
After a large amount of Fire Element gathered, it began to pulse faintly, like a living organism.
’What are Magic Elements, exactly? Isn’t the God Particle a fundamental particle? Why is it showing signs of life?’
Li Wei was completely baffled.
He quickly snapped out of it. Probing the essence of Magic was a task far beyond his current reach.
Pushing the questions to the back of his mind, Li Wei focused on the present.
’If a large amount of Fire Element gathers and produces a life phenomenon, it’s somewhat like a fungal lifeform, where spores gather to form something like a mushroom.’
’This shouldn’t have any self-awareness. It’s more of a life instinct.’
’How do I gain the recognition of the Fire Elemental Life Instinct? Perhaps this is the key to the Elemental Awakening Method.’
Li Wei pondered for a long time before reaching a conclusion: follow its life instinct.
Without a doubt, following the Fire Elemental Life Instinct was the easiest way to gain the Fire Element’s recognition and thus awaken Extraordinary Traits.
But the question was, what was the Fire Element’s life instinct?
Combustion? Explosion? Proliferation?
’Forget it. This question is too profound. I can’t figure it out. I’ll just have to grind it out. Sooner or later, I’ll awaken my Extraordinary Traits.’
How long has the Mage profession existed? For several thousand years, at least.
No one had figured this out in thousands of years, so Li Wei didn’t think he could solve it right now.
It was just that his thinking and perception as an Earthling made it easier for him to see fundamental questions that others might not.
Or perhaps it was just wishful thinking and baseless delusion on his part.
Li Wei practiced the Fireball Skill and discovered that with each Casting, the Fire Element’s response speed increased slightly.
It was as if the Fire Element was gradually falling in love with him.
It was like going from getting no reply to a text, to getting an instant reply.
The feeling was incredibly subtle.
’Is this what it feels like to be in a relationship?’
’But the Fire Element falls for anyone, doesn’t it? Isn’t that a bit scummy?’
’No, that’s not right. "Scummy" is a human concept. What if the Fire Element is like Elysia, loving all of humanity? Then it’s not scummy, it’s... Amen!’
Late at night, Li Wei slipped into the dreamscape.
The room looked like the one in his Mage Tower, but when he opened the door and stepped out, he was in the hallway of an inn in Cold Sand City.
Li Wei walked to the end of the hallway and stood by the window, looking outside.
A gloomy sky was the dominant color of the dreamscape. The entirety of Cold Sand City seemed to be shrouded in thick, dark clouds, and the light in the distance was dim and indistinct.
Li Wei looked down at the street below the window. Several Nightmare Beastmen were hunting humans on the streets.
Every so often, a few humans would dart out from rooms to fight back against the Beastmen who had invaded Cold Sand City. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎
No one knew when Cold Sand City had actually fallen.
The Nightmare manifested the most feared scenes from people’s hearts.
Therefore, when people dreamed, what they saw was a Cold Sand City that had already been lost.
Li Wei used his Invisibility Cloak and walked out of the inn.
He remembered that the Mages Martin, Allen, El, and Marina were all staying in the barracks by the city wall.
Li Wei walked toward the city wall.
Just as he reached the wall, he saw a familiar figure.
El was controlling a Fire Serpent, devouring the surrounding Beastmen.
