Chapter 32: Masterclass Maneuver

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Under the rules of The Second World, when a mage is attacked while casting a spell, the time required to gather magical energy is extended—in other words, the casting speed is reduced.

Lu Yang had personally tested this in his previous life. Each time a mage was attacked during casting, the spell time was extended by one second, up to a maximum of three times. Against an elite monster, however, the added time was reduced by half.

The reason Lu Yang dared to challenge a level-fifteen elite monster, the Troll Shaman, alone at level seven was that the creature could only attack with ranged magic and knew nothing of close combat.

Seeing Woggins gather flames once more, Lu Yang stood his ground and began chanting. At a rate of one cast every 0.7 seconds, he fired four consecutive Flame Blasts, preventing Woggins from completing the gathering of his fire element.

Only after 3.5 seconds did the fireball in Woggins’s hand finally take shape. Although the spell took less than half a second to cross the air—far too little time for an ordinary person to evade—Lu Yang had already read the shaman’s casting gesture. The instant Woggins raised his hand, Lu Yang shifted sideways without the slightest hesitation and effortlessly dodged the howling fireball.

Unlike the players’ version, the Troll Shaman’s fireball inflicted a terrifying 370 points of damage. Lu Yang had less than 100 health. A single direct hit would kill him.

But Lu Yang had spent ten years of his previous life as a level-two-hundred archmage. How could he possibly be struck by a Troll Shaman’s spell? With his skill, killing the creature was as easy as play.

After attacking continuously for two minutes, Lu Yang had reduced the Troll Shaman’s health by one-tenth. At that moment, only 300 points of mana remained to him. After dodging another fireball, he took a Minor Instant Mana Recovery Potion from his bag.

Minor Instant Mana Recovery Potion

Effect: Restores 500 mana

Cooldown: 2 minutes

Lu Yang had obtained this potion while killing the Golden Wyrmling. He did not have many of them. Including the potions dropped by the half-orc warriors, he had only six Instant Health Recovery Potions and ten Instant Mana Recovery Potions.

He had deliberately saved them for this moment. After drinking one, his mana rose to 805/850, and he resumed his battle with the Troll Shaman.

Twenty minutes later, the Troll Shaman had less than one-tenth of its health remaining.

“You miserable insect. You have enraged me. You will pay the price.” The Troll Shaman’s green skin suddenly turned crimson, and its body seemed to catch fire.

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System Notification: The Troll Shaman has entered a Bloodlust state.

Bloodlust was a racial spell of the trolls. Once activated, it rendered the target immune to all control skills and increased casting and attack speed by 50 percent.

Lu Yang had anticipated this before coming. He was not afraid in the slightest. While exchanging attacks with Woggins, he had been gradually moving toward the red circular house beside the shaman.

Now, with only two meters separating him from the house, Lu Yang faced Woggins’s fireballs, each cast once per second, and displayed the mastery of a top-tier fire mage from his previous life. He strolled leisurely, evading every projectile with ease, until he reached the house. Then he swiftly slipped around to its side.

Woggins lost sight of him and could no longer cast spells. With a roar, the shaman chased after Lu Yang. But the instant it caught sight of him again, Lu Yang—who had been waiting there—timed his attack perfectly and launched a Flame Blast before Woggins could cast.

It was as if Woggins had thrown himself onto the spell. With a bang, the Flame Blast struck him in the head.

“244” (Critical Hit)

Already near death, Woggins’s health plunged even lower. In a fit of rage, he immediately began casting. But before the spell could be released, Lu Yang started running around the circular house. One second later, just as Woggins prepared to launch another fireball, Lu Yang had already rounded the structure and vanished from sight more than two meters away. The fireball could only strike the house’s wall.

With a bang, the wooden wall caught fire.

Woggins continued searching for Lu Yang, but Lu Yang kept circling the house, leaving the shaman unable to hit him. Instead, every time Woggins finished casting and gave chase, Lu Yang—hidden around the side of the circular house—would strike him in the head with another Flame Blast.

After leading Woggins around the house for more than twenty laps, Lu Yang had reduced his health to only 200 points. Two more Flame Blasts would be enough to kill him.

Yet at that moment, Woggins stopped chasing. He remained where he was, muttering an incantation under his breath.

Lu Yang was hiding beside the circular house and waiting. He had already fired two Flame Blasts into empty air, but Woggins still had not come after him. Just as Lu Yang began to wonder what was happening, he suddenly sensed a violent surge of fire energy.

“Great Lord of Flame, accept the faith of your most humble servant. I beseech you to grant me a flame capable of burning all things…”

Lu Yang knew this incantation more intimately than anything from his previous life. It was the sub-forbidden spell unlocked after upgrading the Heart of the Demon God—Meteor Fall.

The incantation required ten seconds to complete. Afterward, a gigantic flaming meteor would descend from the sky, inflicting devastating damage upon all enemies within a ten-by-ten area.

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Setting aside the damage of Meteor Fall itself, Woggins the Troll Shaman possessed more than 300 points of magic attack. If that flaming meteor descended upon him, Lu Yang would certainly die.

Moreover, Woggins was in a Bloodlust state, reducing the incantation time to only five seconds. Two seconds had already passed. Realizing this, Lu Yang no longer had time to consider anything else and charged desperately toward Woggins.

By the time he reached the shaman, another second and more had passed. Less than two seconds remained. Dark clouds had already begun gathering in the sky, glowing with a fiery crimson light.

Lu Yang looked at the savage grin on Woggins’s face without the slightest trace of panic. Fire energy immediately gathered in his hand. Just as a gap appeared in the clouds above and the meteor was about to descend, Lu Yang’s Flame Blast struck Woggins squarely in the head.

“238” (Critical Hit)

The incantation died abruptly in Woggins’s throat. An expression of disbelief and unwillingness appeared on his face, and he collapsed heavily to the ground.

System Notification: You have killed the Troll Shaman Woggins.

You have gained 5,482 experience points, including 2,741 bonus experience for defeating an enemy of a higher level.

Your level has increased by 1.

Lu Yang had already been close to leveling up, but he had not expected Woggins to grant so much experience. It immediately raised him to level eight.

But that was not what mattered most. Overjoyed, Lu Yang hurried to Woggins’s corpse and saw a fiery crimson mark lying on the ground. He bent down and lifted it carefully in both hands.

System Notification: You have obtained a strange mark.

This was one of the materials required to upgrade the Heart of the Demon God—the Demon God Mark. It was a fragment of energy that had fallen upon the earth after the Demon God was defeated in ancient times. Though it was the weakest of the fragments, it was still an extraordinarily powerful object capable of triggering a sub-forbidden spell.

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