Chapter 65

With the weapon seized by the enemy, the samurai were momentarily at a loss, the situation at a stalemate. Dorn seized the opportunity, and with the boost from the Oil of Slipperiness and the Haste spell, his figure darted forward, closing in on the enemy. The Stone Fist technique made his fists as hard as stone, and when they struck the human body, even with leather armor, the impact was like an unstoppable hammer blow.

Under the effects of various spells, Mr. Dorn Lannister, whose body glowed in a rainbow of colors, knocked down a whip-wielding samurai with a few punches. Gordon did not remain idle; he aimed at the black knight and began to chant his signature spell.

“Gordon Freeman’s初级飞弹风暴 (初级 Magic Missile Storm)!”

Silver energy missiles, like guided daggers, pierced the enemy’s vital points. The black knight and his two abyssal thralls each took eight magic missiles.

The black knight, with his heavy armor and considerable vitality, was only slightly injured by the force field energy explosion. However, the two large hellhounds, fighting with nothing but their flesh and blood, were left dazed and disoriented by the missile explosions, their dark blue fur covered in dirty blood.

The black knight roared and leaped high, delivering a powerful slash at the blade golem. The construct, weighing over a ton, was forced back two steps by this brute-force-enhanced blow.

Seeing his attack succeed and the troublesome blade golem temporarily forced back, the black knight immediately ordered the two large hellhounds to charge at Gordon.

Though the golem was powerful, the problem would be solved if the mage controlling it were killed.

Gordon, with his vast combat experience, understood the black knight’s strategy. He pointed his hand, and the animated shield rushed forward, blocking the two hellhounds. At the same time, he took the last bottle of mechanical mind potion from his dimensional bag and drank it in one gulp.

The two hellhounds were delayed for a second by the animated shield, then they swept it aside and charged forward with a wild howl. Their eyes, filled with bloodlust, turned a deep purple, and their mouths, filled with sharp teeth, opened wide, ready to tear into the mage’s flesh.

Buzz!

Two blue vortex-like beams shot from the hellhounds’ mouths, heading straight for Gordon.

This was their spell-like ability: Charm Person. In the battle with the blade golem, this mind-affecting spell was useless, but against humans, it could be very effective.

The two hellhounds emitted a low, evil whine, as if the enemy would immediately drop their guard and expose their vulnerable necks.

However, the blue light beams were completely blocked by the mechanical mind potion, having no effect on Gordon.

For Gordon, who had reached level 10 in the Ancient Epoch and had completed countless dungeons related to the Abyss, the common demon hellhounds were nothing new. The number of hellhounds he had killed could circle the Earth three and a half times.

Hellhounds liked to hide in the shadows, ambushing their enemies, first using Charm Person to incapacitate them, then attacking in a group. Inexperienced players often fell to this tactic, but with the right equipment or items to protect against mind-affecting spells, the battle against hellhounds became much easier.

Gordon had taken the mechanical mind potion beforehand to guard against the hellhounds’ attacks.

As the hellhounds used Charm Person on Gordon, he was also preparing a spell. He pointed at the two hellhounds, and the incantation ended with a complex syllable.

“Light of Mercury!”

Golden light burst forth, instantly illuminating the entire dim room like daylight.

The golden energy from Mount Celestia dealt double damage to undead and evil creatures. When the hellhounds were hit by the golden light, they howled in pain as if burned by scalding lava. In a blink, after the magical energy was fully released from Gordon’s fingertips, the two hellhound corpses fell to the ground, nearly half of them charred.

“No!” The black knight growled in anger.

However, no matter how unwilling he was, he could not reverse the fate of defeat.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

The four large blades of the blade golem, like a fan set to the fastest speed, continuously slashed at the black knight. The construct’s attacks were purely brute force and speed.

The black knight inwardly cursed. He had not expected that the small mage, who had fled in panic the first time they met, would have obtained such a terrifying killing machine in such a short time.

Was he one of those protagonists in knightly novels, favored by the goddess of luck, Tymora, who could find treasures wherever he went?

Gordon did not hear the black knight’s inner cries. He chanted another incantation, releasing another Magic Missile Storm.

Silver missiles, like heavy punches filled with penetrating force, struck the black knight’s blood-red heavy armor. A muffled groan came from the helmet, and the explosive force field energy shattered the armor’s defenses.

Gordon knew that under the continuous assault of eighteen magic missiles, the black knight had suffered severe internal injuries and might even be spitting blood.

“Full attack!” He gave the blade golem a new command and then used the third Magic Missile Storm without hesitation...

“This freak! I thought my combat style was already exaggerated, but Gordon is even more powerful. He is more destructive than those mages who mindlessly throw fireballs!”

Dorn Lannister punched the last whip-wielding samurai to the ground and looked at the other battlefield. The dazzling magic missiles whizzed through the air, exploding in silver energy on the black knight’s body.

With his family’s extensive knowledge and experience, the young Lannister easily estimated that Gordon’s unique spell had the destructive power equivalent to a third-level Evocation spell, Fireball. Moreover, Gordon’s Magic Missile Storm was a targeted and tracking spell, unlike Fireball, which did not distinguish between friend and foe and could be avoided. A practical and powerful spell like this, invented by a second-level mage, made Dorn feel that the other party was more worthy of the Lannister name. He, who had been called a genius by many relatives and teachers since childhood, felt overshadowed by this friend.

Under the continuous attacks of Gordon’s Magic Missile Storm and the blade golem, even the black knight, with his considerable strength and excellent equipment, could not hold out. Finally, he made a mistake, and the blade golem seized the opportunity, delivering a four-slash combo that shattered the chest armor, already cracked by the magic missiles.

The black knight fell to the ground, blood pooling around him—his armor could now truly be called blood-red.

The battle was finally over.

However, Gordon did not rest. He drew his dagger and stabbed the frozen abyssal ferocious rats one by one.

“You have killed an abyssal ferocious rat, gaining 5 experience points.”

“You have killed an abyssal ferocious rat, gaining 5 experience points.”

...

System notifications kept coming. The experience points scrolling on the screen felt great. The four sub-snake people contributed 200 experience points, and killing the black knight added 1500 experience points to Gordon’s total. Even Dorn, who killed the five whip-wielding samurai, shared 500 experience points—this was probably the system’s way of distributing rewards for a team. Opening the system interface, Gordon saw that the experience pool had accumulated 4196 points.

Finally, he could level up to level 5.

Gordon immediately allocated 4000 experience points to his character.

Only Gordon could see the golden light that enveloped him as he leveled up. A warm current surged through his veins, spreading to every corner of his body. Gordon felt renewed, filled with power. His maximum mana increased to 100 points, and the mana that had been depleted from the intense use of Magic Missile Storm was fully replenished.

He could finally learn third-level spells—though he would have to wait until they left the castle. Gordon allocated all seven of his new skill points to the Spell Focus skill. In the current situation, where combat could break out at any moment, this was undoubtedly the wisest choice, further enhancing his combat power.

Additionally, Gordon gained a feat point.

He examined his options and found that, excluding weapon specialization or defensive evasion feats, there were six choices for the wizard’s metamagic feats.

- Lesser Spell Penetration: Increases the effectiveness of spells against a target’s magic resistance by 10%.

- Lesser Spell Instant: Instantly cast first to third-level spells (mana cost is five times higher).

- Lesser Spell Silent: Cast first to third-level spells without somatic components (mana cost is doubled).

- Lesser Spell Still: Cast first to third-level spells without verbal components (mana cost is doubled).

- Lesser Spell Maximize: First to third-level spells always achieve maximum effect (mana cost is tripled).

- Lesser Spell Empower: First to third-level spells have their effects increased by 50% (mana cost is tripled).

Each of these metamagic feats was useful, but in the end, he hesitated between Lesser Spell Maximize and Lesser Spell Instant, ultimately choosing the latter.

Spell Maximize would ensure that spells with a range of effects always achieved the maximum effect. For example, a Magic Missile in the Ancient Epoch could deal 1-6 points of force damage, averaging 3.5 points. With Spell Maximize, the damage would always be the maximum 6 points, increasing the damage by 1.7 times.

Pairing this feat would significantly boost a mage’s burst damage.

However, Gordon felt that the Magic Missile Storm was sufficient for his attack, and considering the mana cost, he ultimately decided against the Spell Maximize feat.

On the other hand, the Spell Instant feat could save his life in many sudden situations.