Claude walked in the alleyway that led to the lake. The alleyway was cold and empty without a single soul in sight.
The previous night, he had gotten into a bloody fight with Squinted Kamadi and the others in the same alleyway, resulting in four deaths and four injuries.
That caused the residents of the residential areas on both sides of the alleyway to be filled with fear, afraid that they would be dragged into it. So, they shut their doors early and extinguished their candles, causing the alleyway to become even colder and darker.
Claude was rather shocked. He had tested out the effects of the two magic scrolls back in Hurian's grocery store, but it was a different story altogether.
Feather Fall. He climbed onto Hurian's counter and fell down like a feather, landing without a sound.
As for the long-range arrow protection, he put it on Hurian's body and shot at him with the magic crossbow that he had just obtained from a distance of three meters. Then, he watched as the fine iron crossbow that had been enchanted with the magic effect of Sharpness slid past Hurian's body less than an inch away from his body.
He didn't have a choice. He didn't have to test the effectiveness of the spell Maria gave him because he trusted her.
But since he was going to make a deal with Hurian, he had to test the effectiveness of the two spells to prevent himself from being tricked. Even if it cost him a third of his mana, he didn't mind it.
The two spells were real and could be used.
Hurian said that these two spells were actually wind-type spells, and a mage friend of his wanted to pool money to buy an alchemy magic array, so he took them out to sell.
However, he couldn't find a suitable candidate to take it over, so he had to wait until now to benefit Claude.
Claude asked Hurian curiously, "Why can the long-range arrow protection block the magic crossbow from three meters away but not the flintlock?"
Hurian laughed heartily. It was a conundrum that many magi had been trying to figure out for centuries, but to no avail.
Not to mention the long-range arrow protection spell, even a higher-grade energy barrier wouldn't be able to stop a flintlock from two hundred meters away. Otherwise, magi wouldn't have been chased from Freia to Higros.
Claude had been thinking about that ever since he left Hurian's store.
He had a vague idea that it was probably the difference in the initial speed of the crossbow and the flintlock that led to this result.
However, he wasn't a firearms expert in his past life. All he remembered was that there was a thread on the forum that stated that the initial velocity of a bullet as it left the chamber represented the amount of damage it could cause.
Claude couldn't remember whether the point of the thread was correct or not. He had only skimmed through it back then and wasn't really interested in it. However, there were quite a few comments below the thread. Someone even used the crossbow as an example to justify the necessity of flintlocks being the first choice for long-range weapons. It was said that the difference in the speed at which the weapon was fired would result in the difference in damage output, which eventually led to the replacement of the crossbow.
Claude guessed that the arrow barrier and the energy barrier at the back had a speed limit. As long as the speed limit was broken, the spell would lose effect and true damage would be dealt.
The crossbow should not have broken through this speed limit, so it was effectively guarded against.
The flintlock, on the other hand, had already broken through the speed limit due to the explosive force of the gunpowder. That was why the two spells lost their effectiveness against the flintlock.
As he walked, he quickly exited the alleyway and entered a small forest with only a few dozen trees.
Similarly, there were no traces of pedestrians here. At a glance, there were only tree trunks and the shadows of the trees forming patches of shadows under the illumination of the silver moon.
Something's not right!
Claude suddenly felt his guard up.
On their way here, they could even hear the sounds of insects and frogs croaking.
Even though the weather was starting to turn cold, it wasn't the season for snow yet. There were still birds and a few insects in the forest.
But now, it was completely silent. There was not a single sound. Something was not right …
Claude dodged and hid behind a tree. He heard the soft sound of a trigger being pulled. Bang! A crossbow bolt grazed past his shoulder and nailed itself into a tree behind him.
It was a hunting bolt. The arrowhead was triangular and the shaft was made of poplar wood.
Claude recognized the origin of the bolt. Welikro's house had a hunting bolt and he had played with it quite a few times.
But the question was, who ambushed him in the forest?
The first person he thought of was Blacksnake, but that didn't seem very likely. If they wanted to take revenge, the forest would've been completely surrounded long ago.
Blacksnake had a lot of people and as long as they surrounded him, they would charge at him. It wasn't like there was no movement in the forest after he shot the bolt.
Looking at the bolt stuck in the tree, he suddenly realized that the arrowhead was pointing downwards. The entire bolt was slanted downwards.
That meant that the person who fired the bolt was high up and the enemy was hiding in the trees.
It was almost November and the leaves on the trees were starting to fall.
Claude peeked out from behind the tree and looked up. As expected, there was a shadow moving on a tree about ten meters away.
He raised the magic crossbow in his hand and fired at the shadow. A cry of surprise could be heard from afar, but Claude didn't know if he hit it or not.
He didn't, because another bolt stuck into the trunk of the tree he was hiding behind. It was less than an inch away from his eyes.
Claude nervously nocked his crossbow and thought back to the defensive spell formation he drew in the secret room in Hurian's shop. There was only one person ambushing him and he was using a hunting crossbow. Heh, he definitely wouldn't have guessed that I just bought a defensive spell scroll for long-range arrows.
As for why he was ambushed, Claude didn't want to make wild guesses. As long as he caught him, he would be able to get to the bottom of everything.
After covering himself with the defensive spell, Claude charged out from behind the tree with the crossbow in hand and headed for the tree with the shadow.
Another bang sounded as an arrow suddenly changed direction in front of Claude and hit the ground.
The ambusher's arrows were rather quick, but it was all for naught.
A voice came from the tree, "Eh, damn it!"
The black shadow stood up on the tree, and then gently floated down from the tree like a feather.
Claude stopped in his tracks and furrowed his brow. The shadow was actually a magus and knew how to use Featherfall. It was obvious that the ambush was premeditated.
Darned Hurian, he must have leaked my information. The magus was definitely here for the bag of magic ingredients I'm carrying on my back.
Claude raised the magic crossbow in his hand and pressed the trigger at the shadow.
Only, when the fine iron crossbow bolts reached this shadow's body, they similarly changed directions, flying diagonally to who knew where.
It was exactly the same as what happened when Claude fired at Hurian in the grocer's shop to test out Long-Range Arrow Guard.
Damn, the shadow that ambushed me also knows long-range defensive spell.
It was as if Claude had been forcefully fed a handful of sh * t. His mouth was wide open in shock.
"Darned Hurian, he actually sold my spell to this brat …" The shadow cursed as he tossed the crossbow in his hand to the ground and drew a shortsword as he approached Claude.
"This … this long-range defensive spell was … was it you who asked Hurian to sell it to you?" Claude finally managed to keep his jaw from dropping.
"Of course, kid, don't be so paranoid. Yesterday, when you went to Hurian's shop, I was drinking at the stall outside. I heard Hurian mention that you bought a set of alchemy array formations. You are very rich, aren't you?
I happen to be lacking a set of alchemical formations as well. What a coincidence, I'll gladly accept it then.
You just came out from Hurian's place, right? The transaction went smoothly, right? Hand over the item now and I'll spare your life. "
Moonlight shone through the gaps in the trees and shone on the shadow.
Only then did Claude notice that the shadow was dressed rather similarly to him. He wore a dark-colored robe and a black mask over his face. He seemed to be taller than Claude at around 1.8 meters. However, he seemed much more muscular than Claude and even his voice was rather coarse.
Even though they were both wearing robes, Claude gave off the impression that he was tall and slender, while the masked magus gave off the impression that he was burly. He even pointed a short sword at Claude and looked like a well-trained robber.
Claude didn't panic. He tossed the magic crossbow in his hand to the ground.
Even though the other party was wielding a shortsword, he still had Magic Missile and Mental Shock to rely on.
"You want my alchemical formation? That'll depend on your capabilities.
You want me to hand it over with that broken sword of yours? I can only say that you're dreaming, aren't you? "
Claude didn't believe the nonsense the other party spouted about sparing his life. Ever since he was ambushed, the other party's crossbow had been aimed at his vitals.
Putting himself in the other party's shoes, he knew that there was no way the other party would let him go, especially since he had his teacher and fellow disciples behind him. To avoid future trouble, silencing him would be the best choice.
Not to mention, the other party had already said that he learned about Claude's transaction from Hurian. If Claude was let go, Hurian would know who the other party was.
If Claude really had a teacher and fellow disciples behind him, the other party would be forced to flee for his life.
Under such circumstances, killing Claude was the only way to cut off any clues. At the very least, the other party would have enough time to prepare for his escape.
Claude raised his hand and fired two Magic Missiles, which he believed would be more than enough to deal with the robber.
However, when Claude saw the two Magic Missiles explode on the masked man's body, leaving him completely unscathed, he was shocked once more.
"Hehe, hahaha," the masked man laughed. "Kid, would I rob you if I didn't know your background?
This isn't some long-range arrow shield. It's an energy shield that protects against magic damage.
You'd better obediently hand over the item and kneel down to beg for mercy … "
The masked man charged at Claude. Flustered and frustrated, he had no choice but to dodge.
Now that he was unarmed, he could only rely on the cover of the trees to buy time in the face of the masked man who was slashing at him with his sword.
The only thing that Claude felt fortunate about was that the robber didn't have any other offensive spells apart from Featherfall, long-range arrow shield, and energy shield. He could only rely on the shortsword in his hand to attack Claude.
Claude, on the other hand, wasn't able to use his Magic Missiles and was being pressured too much. He couldn't use Mental Shock either and could only rely on the trees to stall the robber.
Other things aside, the masked magus' stamina wasn't much inferior to Claude's. The two of them were like shadows that didn't leave each other's side. The shortsword brushed past Claude's body quite a few times.
Claude, on the other hand, was carrying a backpack that weighed more than ten kilograms. Dodging was becoming more and more difficult.
"Kid, hand it over and tell me the rune formation for the Magic Missiles. I-I'll let you go …" The masked magus was a little tired, but he still chased after Claude reluctantly.
"Ptooey!"
Claude ignored him. That one word was more than enough to show his attitude. He ran around the tree to avoid the magus's pursuit.
"Hey!"
He didn't pay attention to his feet and tripped on a tree root that protruded from the ground. He fell sideways and left the tree that was covering him.