A light breeze rustled the stubborn weeds that had forced their way through the barren earth.
The adjutant and the arriving Puchi legion stood on one side of the weeds, while Inanna, surrounded by a swarm of storm elementals like a queen among her court, stood on the other.
Gazing at each other from afar, between the two sides there was already a lamentable thick barrier.
The adjutant broke the silence first: "Miss Inanna, what... what is going on here?"
“I have no idea!” Inanna’s voice carried the same bewilderment. She stared at the docile storm elementals around her, hazarding a guess. "Perhaps... it's because of my talent?"
Lin Jun could see it clearly though.
[Elemental Spirit's Favor: Elemental spirits assist the caster in controlling spells]
A permanent status Inanna had gained upon reaching level 30, not a skill.
Its effect had always been to make all of Inanna's skills intelligent—automatic enemy targeting, automatic defense, automatic following.
The talent itself was quite formidable. Lin Jun had even imagined what a terrifying sight it would be if it appeared on a max-level archmage.
Unfortunately, Inanna was a weakling.
And a weakling who had no worries about food and clothing, with almost no pressure.
Norris started later. From copper-bottom to now LV39, about to reach gold.
Inanna? Left dungeon silver. Now LV34. Her slacking spoke for itself.
Of course, this speed probably wasn't too slow among ordinary humans.
Lin Jun felt this was mainly thanks to his "advanced" cultivation system that far exceeded a mere duke's manor!
Anyway, powerful talent on Inanna? He figured it’d just mean fun spell tricks. No big impact.
Now it seemed there was actually a special use for it!
Thinking carefully, the status name did explicitly mention "elemental spirits."
But Lin Jun had always assumed preconceptively that it referred to the omnipresent, formless and substanceless elemental medium used in spellcasting.
Who could have imagined that storm elemental spirits—these big hulking things you could see, touch, and that could even physically beat people up—were also included?!
Following this logic, then elemental lords at that level of existence... were they also included?
There was still one left beneath the Northern Territory!
Tsk.
He felt the long-absent urge to devour pink Puchi again.
Lin Jun was often troubled by his excessively high moral standards, which severely limited his path to becoming stronger at will...
Sigh, being a mushroom of high moral character was truly difficult!
Here, three storm elementals formed a wind-and-lightning barrier around Inanna.
The adjutant tried approaching several times, only to be repelled by stray arcs.
Although the storm elementals had restrained their edge, if you squeezed into their bodies, you'd still get shocked.
The current situation left the adjutant somewhat at a loss.
It was fortunate that they hadn't been torn apart by the storm elemental army, but with Miss Inanna trapped inside by hundreds or thousands of storm elementals, with only three Pujis accompanying her—what should they do?
If it were anyone else in this situation, even if he, the adjutant, were trapped...
But leaving the commander behind was a bit much.
Not to mention Inanna commanded eight thousand elite mushrooms. After several days of observation, the adjutant felt these eight thousand were probably stronger than the remaining forty thousand combined!
In short, public or private—Inanna had to be rescued.
But how?
The adjutant didn't quite dare attack these storm elementals. Once chaos broke out, Inanna would be in danger.
Facing this situation where they couldn't fight and couldn't leave, the adjutant could only hope Inanna would create another miracle.
He shouted from afar, "Miss! Can you try walking out yourself?"
"How am I supposed to get out on my own?" Inanna spun in place. Everywhere she looked: swirling wind and lightning elements. Not a single gap.
She tested a step forward. The encircling storm elemental spirits immediately shifted in sync. The wall of wind and lightning remained seamless, keeping her firmly trapped in the center.
Inanna: …
To completely escape these elemental spirits, there was theoretically one method.
Born from elemental chaos, their structure wasn't stable.
As long as Inanna could stay in a normal area far from the chaos zone long enough, these storm elemental spirits would gradually weaken until they dissipated.
But that process was too slow. They couldn't wait.
Lin Jun’s voice rang in her mind. “Little Pink, try channeling mana?”
“What spell?” Inanna asked instinctively.
“No spell,” Lin Jun clarified. “Just guide your body’s mana. And resonate with the surroundings.”
Lin Jun's reason for this suggestion was simple. If a mage wanted to "communicate" with elements, it would undoubtedly be through mana!
Inanna didn’t get it. But boss said so…
She raised her staff. Focused. Cautiously circulated internal mana. Tried syncing with environmental magic.
The instant the mana rippled, the previously quiet storm elemental spirits suddenly stirred!
They shifted positions. Clustered. Traced mana flow… but no target. Hesitated. Settled back into encirclement.
After all, Inanna hadn't actually cast a spell.
Seeing this, Lin Jun suggested again: "This time try a light spell! Hurl it far!"
This was also because Inanna didn't know wind magic. Otherwise he'd suggest that.
Seeing the elemental spirits' reaction just now sparked excitement in Inanna. Without hesitation, she raised her staff. Its tip quickly condensed a warm, bright orange glow—the most basic light spell.
The moment the light orb appeared, all surrounding storm elemental spirits eagerly wanted to approach that pure mana light source, yet seemed to worry about hurting Inanna so close by. They hesitated.
Fortunately Inanna moved quickly. The instant the light spell formed, she vigorously swung her staff, hurling the light orb like a projectile toward an open area away from the crowd!
The next moment, a spectacle occurred!
Those hundreds and thousands of storm elemental spirits, like a pack of dogs spotting a frisbee, transformed into a surging thunderous wind-lightning tide, rushing after the departing light ball one after another!
That mighty scene was both majestic and somewhat ridiculous.
The adjutant, who'd been watching closely, couldn't care about being stunned. He seized this fleeting opening. Leapt forward in one stride. Grabbed Inanna's arm. "Miss! Now—run!"
"Ah... right! Right!" Inanna snapped back to reality and ran outside with the adjutant.
Minutes later, the elemental spirits returned. Encircled Inanna again. Pushed the adjutant and others outside...
…
Meanwhile, northeast of Redstone ruins.
"You say they retreated into Dragon's Roar Valley? Good! Good! Good!" Watching his old rival follow the funeral script he'd arranged step by step under his clever schemes, Sigismund couldn't hold back three consecutive "goods."
He drained the delicious blood he carried in one gulp. Felt this was the most satisfying day in recent decades!
If not for the voice that followed...
"Why did you drink my half too?"
(End of Chapter)
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