Grinding EXP From Fireball Skill-Chapter 118: A Lamb Among Wolves

Allen asked Reina about the mysterious Mage.

"What kind of Magic did he use to severely injure the Ant King?"

Reina answered, "I’m not entirely sure, but it looked like Fire Element Magic."

"After the Magic hit the Ant King, there was a huge explosion. The site of the blast should still be there."

Allen’s eyes flickered as he said, "Take me to see it."

Reina nodded. "Alright. Wait just a moment."

A little while later, Reina emerged, riding a new warhorse.

She looked at Allen and asked, "Grand Mage Allen, do you need a horse?"

Allen shook his head. "No, I don’t."

"Let’s go. I can keep up," Allen said.

Seeing this, Reina rode off toward the blast site.

After riding for a bit, she glanced back.

Allen was sitting on the back of a Rock Puppet, following closely behind without falling back.

At this sight, Reina quickened her pace.

CLIP-CLOP-CLOP!

Before long, the two arrived at the scene of the explosion.

After surveying the blast site, Allen fell silent for a long time.

He felt the scene before him was somewhat familiar.

’Where have I seen this before?’

After a moment of thought, Allen remembered.

The scene where the Rock Demon Beast had died was remarkably similar to this one.

Allen’s heart skipped a beat. ’Could it be that mysterious Fire Element Mage?’

He thought, ’It seems I’ve underestimated that mysterious Fire Element Mage. His Power is even greater than I anticipated.’

According to Reina, the Ant King had still been alive after taking the blast; it hadn’t died completely.

Just by looking at the scene, Allen could tell how powerful the explosion had been.

From this, he could also gauge the Ant King’s Power and Defense Power.

If it were him, he might not have been able to severely injure, let alone instantly kill, the Ant King in a single blow.

On one hand, this was because Earth Magic was less destructive than Fire Element Magic.

On the other hand, it was likely a matter of their respective Power levels.

Unconsciously, Allen began to regard the mysterious Fire Element Mage with great importance.

He now saw him as an expert on the same level as himself.

’He has to be a Grand Mage at the very least. Otherwise, it would be impossible to injure the Ant King so easily.’

While Allen was lost in thought...

Li Wei was already preparing to leave.

He had found a piece of Secret Silver Ore. It wasn’t much, but it was a harvest nonetheless.

A man can’t be too greedy; it’s best to quit while you’re ahead.

Besides, he also had the Ant King’s carapace and Demon Core.

This trip had already been a huge score.

Time to get out of here.

Passing through the forest, Li Wei entered a treacherous area overgrown with jumbled rocks.

As he rounded a massive boulder, he came face-to-face with a group of people completely shrouded in black cloaks.

The black-cloaked figures were gathered together, seemingly holding a meeting.

Li Wei’s sudden appearance interrupted their proceedings.

Everyone turned their heads to look at him.

No one spoke.

The atmosphere was a little tense.

The air was thick with tension.

Thinking quickly, Li Wei said, "Sorry, I got held up on the way. I’m late."

At his words, everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief.

"Hurry up and get over here. Any later and we would’ve started the operation."

"Quick, I’ll go over the plan with you again."

Li Wei was now in a situation he couldn’t back out of. He had no choice but to walk into the group and listen as the leader, also in a black cloak, explained the plan.

"Allen, the chief instructor of Maple City’s Mage Tutoring Corps, has arrived. I hear he’s become a Grand Mage. If we can successfully assassinate a Grand Mage, the Kingdom will surely give us a handsome reward."

"Won’t assassinating a Grand Mage be too dangerous?"

"Relax. Even if he’s a Grand Mage, he’s still a Mage. As long as an Assassin gets close to him, it’s a one-way ticket to death."

"After Allen enters the mine, we’ll first wear down his Mana. Once his Mana is nearly depleted, we’ll launch the assassination."

"Otz wants to split the Macher Kingdom, betray the King, and establish a kingdom of traitors. We must stop him."

"Allen is his right-hand man. Killing him will stop Otz’s plot!"

"For the Kingdom! We must succeed!"

"Next, we’ll split up. Your group will infiltrate the mine first and blend in with the teams of Professionals. Seize the opportunity to launch a surprise attack, create chaos, and lure Allen deeper into the mine."

"After that, we’ll shadow Allen continuously, looking for an opportunity to assassinate him."

"Begin the operation!"

The group dispersed, breaking off into teams of two and three.

Li Wei was completely dumbfounded.

’Holy shit, what have I gotten myself into?’

He never expected that he would accidentally stumble upon the very enemies Reina had been looking for.

And they even mistook him for one of their own.

"What are you standing around for? Get a move on."

"Oh, right."

Li Wei followed one of the figures.

He was a bit puzzled. ’Don’t these people have any suspicion about my identity?’

Li Wei decided to test the waters.

He quickened his pace.

"Hey, brother, what’s your profession?" Li Wei asked.

"Assassin. Why?" the cloaked man said, glancing back at him.

"I’m a Knight. Just trying to understand our professions so we can cooperate better," Li Wei said.

The cloaked man thought for a moment, then nodded.

"Fair enough. But it makes no difference. In a bit, we’ll take off these clothes, blend into the crowd, and no one will know who’s who. There’s not much cooperation to speak of."

Li Wei showed a look of surprise.

"What if we accidentally hurt one of our own?"

"Then you can only blame bad luck."

"After all, when you’re going undercover like this, it’s best if nobody knows your identity."

"Heh heh, it also makes it convenient to switch sides at any time."

"We’re only helping the King for the reward. If the pay is high, we’ll work for him."

"If things go south, the smart move is to run. Who cares about completing some mission?"

"They said it when they were recruiting: we work for money. If the money’s not there, we don’t do a thing."

"Didn’t the person who recruited you tell you that?" the cloaked man asked, looking back at him with suspicion.

Li Wei’s mouth twitched. "The person who recruited me said it was to devote our Power to the Kingdom."

The cloaked man scoffed. "Believe it or not, there are quite a few fools like you in this group who actually buy that ’sacrifice for the Kingdom’ nonsense."

"Alright, you fools can go play by yourselves. I’m not sticking around with you."

"See you around, maybe."

SWISH!

The cloaked man activated stealth and vanished before Li Wei’s eyes.

He was afraid of being dragged down by Li Wei.

Fools who believed in sacrificing for the Kingdom were the most likely to do something stupid.

Surrounded by black-cloaked figures, Li Wei had no way to leave even if he wanted to.

He could only follow the group into the mine.

The cloaked figures were following a naturally formed crevice.

From the crevice, they had dug a path leading to the mine tunnel.

Li Wei sensed his Shadow Attendant following behind him, which put him at ease as he blended in with the pack of wolves and moved along with them.

He planned to find a moment when no one was around to slip away.

Looking back, he saw the leader of the group and a few others trailing at the rear of the procession.

Li Wei guessed they were probably guarding against someone trying to slip away and report them.

Otherwise, they wouldn’t be following from the back the whole time.

With no chance to escape outside, Li Wei had no choice but to follow the group into the mine.

Li Wei deliberately slowed his pace to fall to the very back, then entered the mine.

Seeing no one behind him, he turned around, ready to leave.

RUMBLE!

A deafening roar came from above. The ground shook violently, and the mine tunnel collapsed.