Chapter 10

"Kegan, I plan to rest for two days before heading back. You were seriously injured today. Although the wounds were healed by divine magic, you lost a lot of blood and need to rest properly." Henry said to the dwarf while eating mashed potatoes.

"Alright, then we'll rest for two days." The dwarf nodded in agreement.

After dinner, Henry got up to take a bath at the well in the backyard. Kegan continued to sit at the table, vividly recounting the events that happened deep in the cave today, which greatly satisfied Brown's curiosity. After all, such exciting and thrilling events don't happen often in this remote little village.

The temperature in the evening of May was not high. A bucket of cold water poured over his head took away all the heat, making Henry's skin break out in goosebumps. The clothes he had taken off were already soaked with sweat and emitted a sour smell. The battle in the cave replayed in his mind over and over again. Each moment of life and death made him shudder. The world had opened a corner for Henry today, making him feel both excited and afraid. Another bucket of water poured down, and Henry quickly calmed down, beginning to adjust his mindset. He took a few deep breaths, letting his nerves slowly relax. Closing his eyes, he felt the gentle breeze pass by, taking away the moisture and heat. Opening his eyes, reason and composure retook control of his body. He dried himself with a towel, washed his clothes, and hung them on the wooden stick in the yard. He turned and went back to his room. After entering and closing the door, Henry opened the system.

Human, male, 14 years old, absolutely neutral. Class: Mage Level 4 (22813/20000), Druid Level 4 (22812/12500). You have leveled up.

Killing the Burrowing Bug King gained 6000 XP. Killing the King's elite guards (1500 XP each) x 4.

Completing the task to clear the bug cave gained 8000 XP.

No wonder those bugs in the cave were so resilient; they were all mutated monsters. A light flashed as he mentally recited the level-up command.

Mage Level 5 (22813/40000), Druid Level 6 (22812/35000)

1st-level spell slots: 4 + 4

2nd-level spell slots: 2

3rd-level spell slots: 1

1st-level divine spell slots: 5

2nd-level divine spell slots: 5

3rd-level divine spell slots: 3

New 3rd-level divine spells: Contagion, Dispel Magic, Storm Shield, Remove Magic, Superhuman Strength, Hold Person/Animal, Wind Wall, Insect Plague, Call Lightning, Cure Disease, Heal Serious Wounds.

Seeing this, Henry suddenly remembered the two 3rd-level spell scrolls he had obtained during the day. He immediately got up to find them and copy them into the system. The 3rd-level spells also included Mage Armor and Charm Monster. After organizing his thoughts, he began to prepare his spells and divine spells.

1st-level spells: Hypnotic Pattern, Burning Hands, Grease x 2, Shadow Blade x 2, Magic Missile x 2. The Ring of Wizardry provided him with double the 1st-level spell slots, making the limited number of spells he could cast much more flexible.

2nd-level spells: None. It seemed he needed to buy some spell scrolls at the Friendly Arm Inn.

3rd-level spell: Charm Monster

1st-level divine spells: Entangle, Faithful Shield, Cure Light Wounds x 2, Flame Blade.

2nd-level divine spells: Barkskin x 2, Delay Poison, Cure Moderate Wounds, Flame Blade.

3rd-level divine spells: Dispel Magic, Hold Person/Animal, Heal Serious Wounds.

After preparing, Henry looked at his spell list and was a bit puzzled. In his view, the spells he had prepared were weak in attack and too strong in control. It seemed he really needed to get a recommendation letter and find a mentor to relearn. For a mage, any minor weakness could be fatal.

The two days passed quickly, and the dwarf's body had largely recovered. After spending 30 gold coins to buy two wagons, the Burrowing Bug shells were loaded onto the wagons. After saying goodbye to Brown, the two set off for the Friendly Arm Inn. On the way, they greeted the half-elf lady at the treehouse. The druid lady gave Kegan a bottle of homemade fruit wine as a parting gift, and Henry received a bag of strange seeds, which were said to grow rare magical plants.

Driving the wagons along the southwest road, they arrived at the Friendly Arm Inn in the afternoon of the second day. After settling the wagons and luggage, Kegan sold all the diamonds at the market for 4200 gold coins. After splitting, Henry's wealth reached 2570 gold coins. At the Temple of Oma, the God of Knowledge, he bought some spell scrolls (1st-level spells: Identify, Magic Shield, Protection from Petrification. 2nd-level spells: Stinking Cloud, Silent Image, Web, Invisibility. 3rd-level spells: Haste, Fireball) for a total of 1943 gold coins. 1st-level scrolls cost 67 gold coins each, 2nd-level scrolls 134 gold coins each, and 3rd-level scrolls for Haste and Fireball were as high as 603 gold coins each.

The gold coins he had just received were quickly spent, which made Henry a bit depressed. He thought that since he was spending money, he might as well spend it thoroughly. He then bought some blank scrolls and a scroll case from Lady Galana for 422 gold coins.

After returning to the inn, he rented an alchemy lab from the old gnome for one gold coin. He copied all the unused magic and divine spells into scrolls, putting 22 scrolls and a few previously copied ones into the scroll case. This was a magical item that could only store scrolls and could sense his thoughts. The scroll he wanted would always be on top, making it easy to use in battle without fumbling.

After a busy afternoon, Henry was hungry. He went downstairs to eat a special dish of beef stew with potatoes and a piece of bread, then returned to his room to adjust his spells. He replaced one of the Shadow Blades with Identify and one of the Greases with Magic Shield. He recorded Invisibility and Web as 2nd-level spells. He replaced Charm Monster with Fireball as a 3rd-level spell. After these adjustments, his offensive and self-preservation capabilities were significantly enhanced.

The next morning, the two got up early, hitched up the wagons, and set off south. The road today was long, and they had to cross the Coastal Road to reach Belgorst. The Coastal Road was not very safe, as bandits often appeared to rob passing merchants.

Neither of them sat in the wagons but chose to walk. Kegan led the horses, and Henry followed closely behind, holding a crossbow with an arrow nocked, ready to shoot. When they reached a crossroads, they heard the sound of weapons clashing.

"Louis, go and scout." Henry immediately ordered his insect in the Woodland language. The pike imp flew forward to scout. Kegan tied the horses to a tree and drew his axe and shield, ready for battle.

Three minutes later, Louis flew back and said that there were two groups fighting at the crossroads. One group wore black helmets with red stripes and wielded long swords. The other group was a bunch of ogres. The human side had about 50 people, while the ogres had 20. However, the humans were suffering heavy casualties at the hands of the ogres.

"Red-striped helmets? Sounds like the guards of Baldur's Gate. We should help them. Otherwise, if the ogres kill them all, they'll come after us next." The dwarf had no good feelings about the giant creatures and suggested killing all the ogres.

"We'll flank them and you draw their attention to gather them together. I'll use a spell to give them a lesson they'll never forget."

"What are we waiting for? Let's wipe them out completely." The dwarf licked his lips with bloodlust.

Using the trees for cover, the two quietly circled around to the side of the battlefield. They saw the 3-meter-tall ogres swinging huge clubs, and the guards they hit were either dead or injured. Clearly, these guards had no ranged weapons. With long swords, they couldn't get close to these giant monsters. Before the battle, Henry had cast Barkskin on the dwarf and himself, making their skin as tough as wood, equivalent to wearing a light armor.

"I'll go first." Kegan said, then charged into the battlefield with his axe and shield. Taking advantage of the ogres focusing on the guards, he chopped at an ogre's knee. Then he turned and severed its other leg.

"Let you taste the power of a dwarf's low blow!" After disabling one ogre, Kegan began to taunt all the ogres.

"Come on, you filthy maggots, let a strong dwarf fix your legs for you."

All the ogres turned to look at the dwarf. Kegan stomped on the head of the disabled ogre. "Die, trash!" A flash of cold light, and the large head rolled off, blood spraying everywhere. The dwarf kicked the head viciously.

"Roar!" The dwarf's words and actions finally enraged all the ogres. They abandoned the humans they were chasing and charged over. Kegan, seeing his plan succeed, turned and ran.

Well done, Henry couldn't help but praise the dwarf in his heart. He then stood up and began to cast a spell. In a few seconds, the spell was ready: Grease. A large patch of grease appeared behind Kegan. The ogres charging forward slipped and fell, taking down many more behind them. Seeing the spell succeed, he immediately began to prepare the next spell.

As the ogres struggled to stand up, the second spell was ready: Fireball. A small orange flame flew forward and exploded among the enemies. "Boom" The 10-meter explosion ignited the grease on the ground. About ten ogres turned into fireballs, desperately crawling out of the fire. A few in the center of the explosion died instantly.

The remaining ogres, realizing the situation was dire, began to hesitate about whether to flee. At this moment, Henry started to prepare the third spell. The human guards, seeing a mage appear, began to gather to surround and kill the remaining monsters. "Web" The third spell enveloped the last few survivors. A large, tough spider web trapped them on the ground, unable to move.

Henry picked up his crossbow and began to shoot, aiming for vital areas like eyes and mouths. With the Web spell still in effect, a few ogres with bleeding eyes and mouths were already dead.

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