Chapter 49 Captain Bob

At this most perilous moment, a faint smile flickered across Roland’s face. He communicated through his soul, “Blackie, hold off that light wolf leader for a bit. I need time to cast a group attack spell!”

“Roland, I can handle that big dumb wolf, but I can’t stop the other second-level light wolves,” Blackie replied anxiously.

Roland waved his hand dismissively. “Just keep the leader busy. I have a way to deal with the others!”

Blackie agreed and charged straight at the light wolf leader, raising its forehoof to strike. The leader lifted its paw to block the blow and let out a low growl toward the other wolves.

The remaining forty or fifty light wolves, hearing their leader’s command, did not rush to its aid. Instead, they all bounded toward Roland. Clearly, the leader had realized that between the man and the donkey, Roland was the weaker and the dominant one. It ordered its minions to take him out first, knowing the donkey would be easy to handle afterward.

As the pack of snarling light wolves advanced step by step, Roland remained unflustered. His lips moved slightly, and a flash of light appeared before him, summoning a pristine white skeleton—Brian, the little skeleton. At this moment, Brian had transformed: the once mottled white bones were now flawless, glowing faintly in the sunlight.

A year ago, after Roland mastered the ‘Necro Ray’ spell from Thomas’s notes, Brian had persistently persuaded him to channel the necro rays onto himself. Each time, Brian seemed to relish the attack, and after half a year of this ‘cleansing,’ he eventually fell into a deep sleep in the undead space. He had only just awakened.

Roland noticed immediately, and to his astonishment, Brian had ‘leveled up,’ jumping from a first-level skeleton straight to a third-level one!

That was why Roland had arranged for Blackie to block the fourth-level light wolf leader, leaving the third-level Brian to hold off the rest.

“So… there really are ‘mutant undead’!” came Kus’s shocked voice.

“Mutant undead?” Roland asked, puzzled.

“Boy, you should know that undead controlled by necromancers never upgrade on their own. But mutant undead are an exception. Though still controlled, they can level up, limited by their master’s rank,” Kus explained.

Roland nodded, suppressing his surprise at Brian for now, as their situation was dire. He wasted no time and quickly chanted the incantation for the third-level spell, ‘Bone Spike Array.’

Brian, seemingly sluggish from his time in the undead space, stretched out his long bone arms and arched his back, then cracked his bony fists together, as if eager to test himself against the wolves before him.

The light wolves were startled at first by the skeletal figure blocking their path to Roland. Seeing it perform such strange movements, they grew furious and charged at him, howling.

Brian responded in kind, spreading his bone claws and rushing to meet them.

“Bang!” “Bang!” Blinding energy exploded against Brian’s body, making his bones creak and groan, but Brian, feeling no pain, remained unmoved. His claws tore into the nearest wolves, rending their flesh and leaving several grievously wounded and unable to rise.

“Boom!” “Boom!” “Boom!” With Brian and Blackie blocking the pack, Roland was able to unleash three consecutive ‘Bone Spike Array’ spells, slaughtering over thirty light wolves. Only seven or eight remained able to fight.

For these few scattered wolves, Roland refrained from using another Bone Spike Array, as the effect would not be worthwhile.

Surrounded by crackling electric arcs, Roland’s lightning speed was fully unleashed. Brandishing his staff, he charged forward, facing a light wolf head-on. He wasted no time in firing a necro ray, which immediately corroded a deep wound into the wolf’s body. It howled in pain, nearly collapsing, and as it tried to attack Roland, another necro ray struck, bringing it down.

Though Roland dared not plunge directly into the pack, his lightning speed allowed him to stay at Brian’s side, launching attacks—be it death rays or lightning spikes, all second-level spells. For a third-level mage like him, these spells required little mental or magical energy and could be cast quickly, causing significant damage to the second-level beasts.

Roland’s constant ambushes incited the wolves’ fury. Disregarding Brian’s assaults, they unleashed a volley of light bolts directly at Roland.

“Hiss…” Six or seven blinding bolts shot toward him. Even with lightning speed, Roland couldn’t evade them all. But just as the bolts were about to strike, a layer of white, bony armor materialized around him.

Undead defense magic—Holy Undead Armor, a spell that upgrades with the caster’s level. At Roland’s current rank, the armor was of white bone; as he grew stronger, it would become jade, bronze, mithril, or even harder materials.

“Bang, bang, bang…” A barrage of light bolts hammered the Holy Undead Armor, making its glow flicker rapidly, but it held firm.

From then on, the battle became much simpler. Roland, relying on lightning speed and his Holy Undead Armor, darted around, seizing every opportunity to cast spells at the wolves. Brian, in perfect harmony with him, delivered crushing blows to the unlucky wolves struck by magic—most of them did not survive.

In no time at all, the remaining wolves were dispatched by Roland and Brian.

Turning, both joined the fray on the other side, where Blackie and the wolf leader were locked in combat. With their help, the leader was soon overwhelmed, suffering kicks from Blackie and savage blows from Brian’s claws, not to mention Roland’s relentless spells.

The wolf leader held out for a moment before whimpering, tucking its tail, and fleeing. Blackie was about to give chase, but Roland stopped him—first, their opponent was incredibly fast, and second, caution was paramount in the treacherous Maya Mountains. Since the leader had fled, Roland saw no need to pursue.

Roland put away Brian and his staff, gazing at the dozens of wolf corpses strewn around. He rubbed his hands in excitement; each contained a magic crystal core worth two gold coins. Altogether, he could sell nearly a hundred gold coins’ worth—more than his father, Gergil, would earn repairing clocks in a year. Having made such a fortune in such a short time, how could he not be delighted?

Sadly, the wolf leader had escaped. Otherwise, its magic core alone would fetch fifty gold coins. As Roland’s eyes gleamed at the bounty before him, a sudden, piercing howl echoed from the jungle ahead—the very wolf leader that had fled moments before.

Roland immediately grew wary. “Why is the wolf leader crying out? Was it attacked by other magical beasts? If so, Blackie and I could be in danger too!”

Just as Roland was preparing to leave, footsteps sounded in the woods. Soon, a burly young man emerged, his left hand gripping a large blade, his right dragging the massive corpse of the wolf leader.

“Captain Bob, so it’s you!” Roland cried out in delight upon recognizing the newcomer.