Grinding EXP From Fireball Skill-Chapter 62: Double Awakening
BZZZT!
Everything returned to normal. If not for the warm Fire Element coursing through his body, he would have thought it was all an illusion.
’Did I awaken?’
Li Wei wasn’t entirely sure.
He looked at the ground, where the dust gathered to form several lines of text.
[Basic Meditation Method (Perfection)] 688/∞
[Small Fireball Technique (Tier Zero Great Success)] 2042/8000
[Fireball Skill (Tier One Mastery)] 0/2000
[Invisible Armor Skill (Tier Zero Small Success)] 912/4000
[Great Dream Traveling Skill (Tier Zero)] 5450/10000
[Shadow Touch Surgery (Tier One Entry Level)] 220/1000
[Ice Arrow Skill (Tier Zero Mastery)] 211/2000
[Rock Breathing Method (Entry Level)] 467/1000
[Fire Elemental Body (Basic Level)] (Elemental Awakening, Fire Element Magic power doubled, Fire Element Magic Casting time halved)
[Mana Control (Basic Level)] (Spiritual Awakening, Mana Control Power greatly increased)
Li Wei’s face showed his astonishment. ’A dual awakening?’
’Two Extraordinary Traits?’
’When did I awaken this Mana Control?’
’Why didn’t I feel anything?’
Too many questions flooded his mind at once, and Li Wei felt a bit overwhelmed.
He cleared his mind and focused on the present, pushing aside all the extraneous thoughts.
’All in all, I’ve awakened two Extraordinary Traits, and my Fireball Skill has reached the Master Level.’
Li Wei glanced around, careful not to make any rash movements.
He was itching to try out his new abilities, but he knew he could only experience their full power in the dream world.
Suddenly, the sounds of battle erupted from outside.
THUMP THUMP THUMP!
Several arrows were sticking out of the tower gate.
Rota opened the door and walked out, protected by a Magic Shield.
Once Li Wei snapped out of it, he immediately ran out of the tower after him.
"What’s happening?" Delis asked, a confused look on his face.
Li Wei looked into the distance. The vanguard of the Beastman Race was attacking Cold Sand City.
WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!
An Arrow Rain fell from the sky, accompanied by javelins and thrown spears.
Large siege engines like catapults had not yet appeared.
Li Wei followed Rota, ducking behind the parapet as arrows and spears flew overhead.
Delis and the other two, nearly hit by stray arrows, quickly followed their example and hid in a corner by the wall.
"Archers, fire!"
The defending commander shouted.
The Archers on the city walls began to return fire.
Li Wei took the opportunity to peek his head out. The Beastman Army was still over a hundred meters from the wall.
This distance was beyond the range of his Magic.
It was the domain of the Shooters.
Li Wei and the others could only huddle in the corner and wait for the Beastman Army to get closer.
’This Contribution isn’t going to be easy to earn!’ Li Wei thought with a sigh.
He had thought it would be as easy as repelling the bandits last time, but he hadn’t expected to be completely suppressed from the start, with no way to fight back.
It seemed there was a huge difference between a regular army and wandering bandits.
Since he hadn’t joined the battle yet, Li Wei seized the time to meditate and recover his spent Mana.
’Huh? My Mana recovery speed has increased.’
As Li Wei meditated to recover his Mana, he discovered that the surrounding Fire Elements were automatically surging into his body.
This was much faster than using his Spiritual Power to capture the Fire Elements.
The retention rate for the Fire Elements had also reached an astonishing ninety-nine percent.
Even when his Basic Meditation Method reached the Perfection Level, the retention rate was only eighty percent.
After awakening the Fire Elemental Body, the retention rate of Fire Elements skyrocketed, increasing his Cultivation efficiency by 25%.
His Cultivation speed increased, and his Mana recovery speed increased.
Most importantly, his Mana limit had increased.
After cultivating the Basic Meditation Method to the Perfection Realm, his Mana had nearly reached the limit for an Apprentice Mage.
Further increasing his Mana through meditation was a slow process that yielded little result for great effort.
Now that he had awakened an Extraordinary Trait and become a Tier One Mage, the Mana limit his body could bear had increased dramatically.
Li Wei grew even more excited about the power of the Fire Elemental Body.
The battle cries outside the walls shook the heavens. Li Wei stayed huddled by the wall, following Rota’s lead.
Whatever Rota did, he did.
He had understood this principle from the very first day.
THWACK!
A soldier next to them was struck by an arrow and fell to the ground, crying out in pain.
Li Wei lent a hand, dragging him to the corner of the wall.
The soldier gasped for breath. "Thank you."
During a brief lull in the assault, the wounded soldier took the chance to retreat from the wall and seek aid.
Li Wei looked up and saw that the Beastmen were no longer charging forward.
The Beastman Army had stopped fifty to sixty meters away, using arrows and Wooden Spears for ranged attacks to deplete the Archers’ arrows on the wall.
This distance was just outside the effective range for a Mage.
Rota stood up, glanced over, then sat back down with a sense of relief. "Looks like we’re done for today."
After a while, the attacks from both sides slowed down; the consumption of ranged ammunition was getting a bit high.
BOOM!
"Charge!"
Li Wei felt the city wall beneath his feet tremble. He stood up and took a look.
He saw that the city’s defenders had seized the opportunity to charge out and counterattack the besieging Beastmen.
The Beastmen immediately turned and fled, successfully retreating after suffering minor casualties.
The battle had started quickly and ended just as fast.
Li Wei and Rota were heading back to the tower when a messenger stopped them halfway.
"Master Mages, the commander-in-chief orders all Professionals remaining in Cold Sand City to assemble at the barracks."
"Alright, I understand."
The five of them headed toward the barracks. Li Wei asked, "Why are they having us assemble now?"
Rota said, "I’m not sure either. We’ll find out when we get there."
When they arrived at the barracks, more than two hundred people had already gathered on the training grounds.
There were people from Maple City as well as local Professionals from Cold Sand City.
Cold Sand City was a small city with a population of only thirty to forty thousand.
However, because it was close to the border, it had attracted many resident Professionals.
Disputes were common on the border, which gave rise to many missions.
Orn stood on a high platform, surveying the crowd. He spoke in a deep voice, "I have summoned you all here to ensure the safety and stability of Cold Sand City."
"From now on, the Merit System will be active. By completing missions, you can earn Merit, which can be exchanged at the quartermaster’s office for cultivation resources, Magic Items, Cultivation and Combat Techniques... The exchange list at the quartermaster’s office has been posted. You can go take a look and choose the items you need."
The Merit System was a mission framework designed specifically for the battlefield.
Unlike the universal currency of money given as rewards by the Professional Association, Merit could only be used to exchange for items during this war.
The goal was to incentivize Professionals to contribute to the war effort.
"High Level Fighting Qi Technique, Fierce Lion Fighting Qi Technique! Purchase price: thirty thousand Merit. Unlimited quantity."
"Tier Three Magical Weapon, Gale Sword! Purchase price: ten thousand Merit. Limited to 1."
"High Level Combat Skill, Earth-Splitting Slash! Purchase price: nine thousand eight hundred Merit. Unlimited quantity."
"Lifelong Barony of the Macher Kingdom! Purchase price: nine thousand Merit. Limited to 3."
...
"Tier Three Magic Model, Fire Rain Meteor! Purchase price: eight thousand Merit. Unlimited quantity."
...
"Tier Two Magic Model, Fire Resistance Ring! Purchase price: three thousand Merit. Unlimited quantity."
...
"Tier One Magic Model, Fireball Skill! Purchase price: eight hundred Merit. Unlimited quantity."
...
Everyone stared at the exchange list released by the quartermaster’s office, their excitement palpable.
High Level Cultivation Methods, High Level Combat Skills, and rare Magic that were normally hard to come by were now laid out before them, within their grasp.
Everyone was highly motivated.
After seeing the exchange list, many people couldn’t wait to run off and accept missions to earn Merit.
Li Wei looked at the missions posted on the barracks notice board.
They were basically all dangerous missions, such as leaving the city to encircle and annihilate Beastmen, clearing out Beastmen, seizing supplies, or infiltrating Beastman camps to sabotage them.
’Fire Resistance Ring and Fire Rain Meteor are both Fire Element Magic that the Maple City Mage Tower doesn’t have.’
Li Wei was green with envy.
