Chapter 246 – Amplification

The Lantern was obtained!

Under the Soul Shepherd’s gaze that nearly spat fire, Punk leaped through the air, clutching the Lantern to his chest, then immediately cast “Kinetic Ejection” + “Mana Compression” on himself without hesitation!

Skimming just above the ground at high speed, Punk narrowly dodged a “Negative Energy Finger” released by the Soul Shepherd at maximum velocity!

Clutching the Lantern’s handle tightly, Punk rolled and rose from the ground. His current state was almost unprecedentedly disheveled—his linen clothes were torn to shreds from the high-speed rolling, and the skin on his back had been completely stripped off by the intense friction against the ground. Although there was no dust in this Trial Grounds to leave him covered in grime, being drenched in blood as if he had climbed out of a bloodbath was unavoidable.

But as long as the Lantern was obtained, it was all worth it. As a Formal-Level powerhouse, these superficial wounds posed no life-threatening danger.

In Punk’s view, his current situation was quite favorable. Though covered in blood, the injuries were only skin-deep, neither hindering his movement nor his thinking. Paying such a small price to obtain the Lantern was fortunate enough. As for the pain… Punk considered it utterly insignificant.

The ancient Lantern appeared shabby and rusted, but once in his hands, Punk realized its weight far exceeded that of a lead block of the same volume. Despite being only the size of a small thermos, the Lantern was heavier than an oversized dumbbell. Even Punk found it somewhat strenuous to lift, after all, he was a mage, not a warrior.

“With this weight, carrying one is the limit. Any more would affect my evasion speed. Was it deliberately designed this way to limit possession to one Lantern at a time?”

Punk weighed the Lantern in his hand, quickly calculating the mana consumption required to handle such weight, and reached his conclusion.

Though disappointed that he couldn’t carry two or three Lanterns at once, upon reflection, Punk realized the Soul Shepherd would likely guard the remaining three Lanterns fiercely. Pulling off another clever trick to snatch one would be nearly impossible. Even if the two Fanged Wraiths remained foolish enough to be deceived, the now-calm Soul Shepherd would surely be on high alert!

Since obtaining additional Lanterns was temporarily out of the question, Punk decided to maximize the benefits by studying the one in his possession.

The Lantern’s function was transmitted directly into his mind the moment he grasped it.

This Lantern’s full name was “Hellas Hand Torch,” originally intended to provide Master-Level Casters who had just advanced but hadn’t yet mastered enough Master-Level spells with a means of self-defense.Every “Hellas Handheld Torch” was uniformly enchanted with three “Master-Level Enchantment Spells—Master Amplification Art.” This amplification spell could elevate a Formal-Level spell to Master-Level potency, while continuous spells could maintain their effects for thirty minutes. For those who had just advanced to Master-Level and hadn’t yet learned Master-Level spells, this method of amplifying lower-level spells could effectively alleviate urgent needs. Of course, for Formal-Level casters, this was an outright trump card!

Now, Punk had obtained this trump card, allowing three of his spells to be directly elevated to Master-Level. Although such “pseudo-Master-Level spells” gained through amplification were generally much weaker than genuine Master-Level spells, an amplified attack would at least not fail to breach an enemy’s defenses, and an amplified defense would not be instantly obliterated by a casual Master-Level spell.

With the three “Master Amplification Arts” on this lantern, Punk finally possessed the ability to defend himself and launch preliminary counterattacks against the Soul Shepherd’s assaults. Though he remained at a dangerous disadvantage, he was no longer so fragile as to be unable to withstand a single attack.

At this moment, what Punk needed to deliberate on urgently was how to utilize these three precious “Master Amplification Arts”—or, more precisely, which three spells to amplify.

These spells had to be capable of hindering the Soul Shepherd, at the very least ensuring they could intercept even a single Sharp-Toothed Wraith. They didn’t necessarily have to inflict direct damage on the Soul Shepherd, but they absolutely had to create opportunities and advantages for Punk to seize the other lanterns.

Punk swiftly searched his memory for spells that met his requirements and eventually fixed his attention on one from the Summoning Magic school.

“Formal-Level Summoning Magic—Summon Wind Elemental”: Instantly summons a Level 10 Wind Elemental to fight, lasting for one hour.

“Metamagic—Mana Compression”!

To maximize the Wind Elemental’s base attributes, Punk gritted his teeth and employed Metamagic. Not only that, he also took out a small vial of purified liquid Wind Elemental as a casting material and immediately began chanting the ancient Byron incantation.

Only one second had passed since the Soul Shepherd’s last attack, and the next attack wouldn’t come for another two seconds. The two wraiths had just left the other lanterns at the corner and were charging over, so Punk had ample time to reinforce this spell to its utmost potential.

This single “Summon Wind Elemental” spell consumed two-thirds of Punk’s remaining mana in one go, plunging his mana reserves into an unprecedentedly dangerous low. All his remaining mana was only sufficient for six more spells. In other words, if he couldn’t defeat the enemy after casting six additional spells, Punk would fall into a perilous state of mana depletion.

At that point, Punk would only be able to cast spells by recovering a bit of mana at a time. Given his regeneration rate, it would take at least three seconds to accumulate enough mana for a single spell—during which the Soul Shepherd would have more than enough time to slay Punk outright.In truth, Punk’s mana recovery rate was remarkably fast. At his peak condition, his total mana pool allowed him to cast over fifty powerful Formal-Level spells or countless spells below that tier (Formal-Level experts could recover mana faster than they consumed it when using sub-Formal-Level spells). His regeneration speed ensured he could refill his mana from empty to full in just about three minutes.

It sounded impressive—far surpassing the mages in Earth’s online games. However, one must understand that battles between Formal-Level experts were measured in seconds. The coordination between spells was critical, and wasting any Formal-Level spell constituted a significant loss, let alone the fact that Punk now faced an enemy where any mistake was absolutely unacceptable!

This Wind Elemental was a creation for which Punk was truly gambling his life. If its strength failed to meet his expectations… then all he could do next was pin his hopes on elusive, fleeting luck!

(End of Chapter)