Just as the cult leader was about to retreat, a new sound echoed from behind them, approaching footsteps.

His face darkened, "F*ck… the Royal Guards," he muttered.

Panic spread among the cult members. Some couldn't handle the pressure and tried to flee.

But the moment they broke formation, arrows pierced their skulls, dropping them instantly.

The cult leader knew he couldn't take any chances. With a look of madness in his eyes, he pulled out a potion and gulped it down.

His body began to transform, growing to three meters tall, his shape shifting into a feral werewolf form.

"ROAR!!"

The roar was so powerful, it shattered the vice cult leader's rationality, causing him to attack his own people in a frenzy.

Aaron was stunned. His expression turned angry, he didn't want anyone else stealing his experience points.

He increased his arrow-firing speed, each shot precise and deadly.

Meanwhile, Elina, leading the Royal Knight group, heard the roar and immediately said in a solemn tone, "Quick, we need to hurry!"

She pulled out her wand from the storage bag.

"Light Body!" she chanted.

The knights behind her held glowing stones, illuminating their path as she buffed each one.

Together, they rushed toward the source.

Time passed.

When Elina reached the scene, she saw the forest ahead bathed in light. She was stunned.

"Is there another apprentice here on the same mission?" she wondered aloud.

Then she heard a miserable howl.

She turned toward the sound, the werewolf was lying on the ground, its body burning in radiant light.

Her eyes widened.

"No way… how can light spell produce such an effect? It's just a tier 0 spell."

Then she recalled a passage from a book:

"If a person has light affinity, engraving the light spell into the sea of consciousness may cause a mutation. This mutation can suppress dark creatures."

"But this suppression… it's overwhelming. That was a Tier 3 werewolf. Wait, my teacher once said, when someone masters a spell to perfection, its power is greatly amplified." She said to herself.

In theory, it was possible to master a spell to perfection

but no one dared to attempt it. Or rather, no one had the time.

Take Elina, for example. She had learned Light Body in two days, but it took her a full month just to begin casting it reliably. In battle, she had to first deploy the one-time shield on her magic ring before she could even begin chanting.

This was why mages were always protected by knights

they needed time to cast spells, and their bodies were far more fragile than those of knights.

Just then, Aaron leapt down from the tree. With a swift motion, he plunged his bone dagger into the struggling werewolf, ending its life for good.

He exhaled in relief. Earlier, the werewolf had located and attacked him. His arrows had barely made a dent. But when the beast got close, he had unleashed the Light Spell, and to his surprise, it had dropped the creature instantly.

He realized he had underestimated the power of light.

Now that the threat was gone and with a massive haul of 840,000 experience points, he finally felt like he could take a nap.

But then he heard the clanking of armor.

He turned and saw a group of armed figures approaching, each holding glowing stones that lit up the night.

He quickly opened his map, they were marked as green dots.

Allies.

He relaxed slightly, then crouched beside the werewolf's corpse, searching its belongings.

He found a storage bag and tucked it away. Then he moved to the other corpses, remembering the blood barrier spell some of them had used. It might prove useful.

Meanwhile, Elina spotted him rummaging through the bodies. She quickened her pace, she had questions.

Aaron, using his mental strength, located two rings and two more storage bags.

Then he stood and called out, "Who are you people? What are you doing in my territory?"

Melina frowned. As far as she knew, Green Fort was under the Verdia Kingdom's rule. Since when had a mage taken over?

But she held her tongue. Mages were mysterious, and their tempers, unpredictable. It was best not to offend them.

Elina, still puzzled, stepped forward. She took a deep breath and said, "Hello. My name is Elina, a witch from the Light Academy. May I know your name, and which school you belong to?"

Aaron blinked, confused. "What school are you talking about? I'm Aaron, the Baron of Green Fort."

His words made the group exchange curious glances.

Before they could respond, Aaron added, "Hey, why don't you come to my territory? We can talk there."

Elina nodded. "Of course. But first, we need to deal with the corpses."

Melina stepped forward. "My people will handle it."

"Okay," Elina agreed.

Aaron gave a nod. "Please, come with me."

Elina followed behind Aaron, with Melina and one guard walking side by side.

Along the way, Elina asked, "Aaron, are you a wizard apprentice?"

Aaron glanced at her. "Does it matter?"

Elina was momentarily speechless. "Well… of course it does. So we can exchange knowledge of equal value."

Aaron stopped. His eyes lit up with sudden interest. He looked at Elina with a spark of hope maybe now he could finally gain access to wizard knowledge or books. He could use them to decode the texts he'd found in the cave and accumulate more understanding.

"Well, my strength is at wizard apprentice level," he said smoothly. A lie, delivered with a straight face. In truth, his strength had already reached formal wizard level, but his theoretical knowledge was barely elementary. It was better to keep that hidden.

Elina felt a wave of relief. Then she asked, "Aaron, I saw you cast the Light Spell. Do you have light affinity?"

Aaron looked puzzled. "Affinity? What does that even mean?"

Elina was stunned. "Aaron… where did you learn the Light Spell?"

"Oh, that? I found it on a corpse in a cave," he replied casually.

As they approached the torch, Elina finally got a clear look at Aaron's face.

She froze.

He was young no older than sixteen. She was shocked, stunned, and speechless.

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