Chapter 200 How It Feels To Be The Loser (9)
It didn't take Cray long to arrive beside Basil; none of the Demons even blocked his way as he traveled through the air. He could immediately witness the burning trench that he had only seen from afar right in front of him.
"Uwah! This is nastier than I thought!"
Of course, being close to it also means that he he got to taste the air in the surrounding; his nose was assaulted with the smell of a burning skin, and the scent of the Demons' evaporated blood that was foul enough to make one empty the content of one's stomach.
Luckily, Cray wasn't just anyone; he could ignore the gruesome smell right after. "What are we going to do next?" He turned to Basil. "None of the Monsters are coming at us ... Not yet, at least."
"We are going to extinguish the fire."
"Huh? Are you going to use Water Magic merely to extinguish the fire that you made?"
Ignoring Cray's slightly disappointed look, Basil raised his left hand and channeled his Mana that was imbued with Water Element to it. The air surrounding him turned moister, as a ball of water that was 10 meters in diameter was conjured in the air.
He brought his hand down, and the ball of water was dropped on the raging fire in trench.
Hiss!
Like what any water did to fire, the ball of water quickly extinguished the fire in the trench. Unlike just any water however, the vapour that came from the evaporated water was so thick, it started to cover the area around the trench to the point of perfectly concealing Basil and Cray.
Cray squinted his eyes to look through the mist, only to find he couldn't. "This is ... What is this mist? I can't see anything at all. Is it one of your Art? I'm pretty sure we have no Spell that does this."
"Art? Spell?" Basil chuckled lightly. "It is none of them; it's physics. A basic knowledge."
"I'm not that well-versed in basic knowledge, but I know that water vapour is usually not this dense. I can't even look pass through it with Magic!"
"I will not deny that this mist is different."
"What does it do?"
Basil briefly turned his head to Cray, before returning his gaze to the front. "This mist calls them who haven't showed theirself."
"Which is...?"
"Figure it out yourself." Basil gestured to the front.
Although Cray normally didn't like mystery, he didn't pester Basil for the answer; he did as what Basil gestured him to do, and looked at his front intently. Just like before, he could only see the dense mist, and hear nothing.
As soon as he realized he couldn't hear anything, Cray turned to Basil. "Holy cow, Basil! Since when did you isolate us within your Barrier?" He was equally terrified and amazed.
Even up till now, he hadn't felt any Mana fluctuation from Basil that signified his usage of Magic. "Darn it! Aren't you too scary to be a Fourth Circle Mage?"
Basil merely smirked lightly at Cray's rather dramatic reaction. Although he liked quietness, Cray's reaction strangely had never annoyed him even once—it was slightly amusing. 'I think I somehow know why Iliana treasures them so much.'
Focusing to his front once again, Cray looked at the only visible thing in front of him—the ground. As a Mage, he normally could easily notice the activation of a Magic Barrier within an area, but he could only notice Basil's late.
Turning his gaze to the dark sky, he even thought whether he was just too stupid to notice such thing or Basil was just too good in utilizing his Spell. After all, any bright individual would question why the surrounding was still bright with the dark sky.
Cray was about to continue his musing, when something caught his attention.
Scrape. Scrape.
He could see something was trying come out of the ground. He didn't know what it actually was, but he was sure the thing that was trying to come out of the ground was using a sharp metal tool to open the ground.
"Hey, Basil ... I think—"
"Keep your voice down," Basil muttered.
Cray didn't question Basil in the least bit; he shut his mouth, and took a few steps back until his back almost touched the cage that was filled with 99 scared civilians. Turning his head to them, he grinned widely, and motioned them to not make a noise.
Of course, for the currently frightened people, they became even more frightened upon seeing that gesture from Cray. Not only was the aura within Basil's Barrier frightened them, but the smile Cray showed them was too bloodthirsty to give a calming effect!
Nonetheless, the crowd managed to not make any sound in the end; they had come to the point where they were so scared they couldn't make any noise. The reason was, of course, the scene in their surrounding.
Countless of human-like figures had emerged from the ground, and now were observing the people from behind the mist. The figures didn't have a clear form as they were visible and invisible at the same time.
"Uwah... What are these abstract creatures? They don't even have a definite form."
Cray looked at his surrounding, and couldn't help but muse whether they could actually face the crowd of the newly appearing creatures. He was sure that even Basil's trench wouldn't be able to help them in this situation.
"Psst. What are we going to do, Basil?" Cray whispered. "Aren't they too many for the two of us?"
"Are you scared?"
"No, but these dorks behind me are!"
Basil faintly smirked. "Just open the cage, so when they make a sound, these Silencers can immediately eat them." A suppressed scream of terror could be heard coming from the people right after Basil finished his word.
"Are you Iliana's brother or something? Your sense of humour is just as bad." Cray chuckled awkwardly. "Anyway, these Monsters are called Silencers? I have never heard anything of them. You really have a broad knowledge, Basil."
Basil merely hummed at Cray's praise. He wasn't surprised that Cray didn't know anything about Silencer; he had never expected his fellow students to know about Silencer either.
Silencers were an Upper Low Class Demon that one could only find at night. They had a special skin that made them invisible and undetectable during the daylight which made them a perfect weapon for a surprise attack when night came.
Despite their advantage during the daylight however, they also had a disadvantage: they were so powerless during the daylight, the only thing they could do was minding themselves. This is also the reason why one could only find Silencers during the night.
Considering the active time of the students, it is normal for none of them to never encounter a Silencer. Even more if none of them had gone to fight in Outer Region which was the area of the Demons yet.
One might wonder how could Basil force the Silencers out during the daylight, and the answer is the trait of Silencers: they like moist air. Whenever they were in an environment where the air was highly moist, they gradually turned visible and regained their power.
Therefore, the mist that Basil had produced from the "clash" of two of his Spells was enough reason for them to come out of the ground.
"If you want to engage in a fight with them, do it inside the mist. They are only visible when they are inside the mist. Once they get out of the mist and are exposed to light, they will be invisible once again. Of course, they won't be able to attack you by then."
"So, the place we are currently standing is the safe zone?"
"Hm."
"Do I just have to charge and slay these shadowy figures? Will I be alright to fight in this dense mist?"
"Are you afraid?"
"Yeah, I'm afraid of getting lost in this dense mist."
[You won't. I will guide you, when you think you are lost.]
"Holy cow! Are you a Mentalist?!"
Basil slightly frowned at Cray's genuine shock. Although he was aware he had never used [Wavelingo] to communicate with any of his fellow students—other than Xiu Li—he had thought that Cray wouldn't be surprised in the least bit.
"Keep your voice down. You will scare the Silencers, and make them reenter the ground with your voice."
"Eh? They are easily scared?!"
Uncaring to Cray's bewilderment, Basil asked about Cray's shock upon his display earlier. "Haven't you seen Iliana utilized [Wavelingo] before?"
"No. I don't even know what that weird named Art is." Cray shook his head faintly, and then exclaimed, "Hold up! Are they really easily scared?!"
Instead of answering Cray's question, Basil addressed the fight they were about to commence. "I will take the front, and you will take the back. Don't use fire, wind, and anything that disturbs the fog; use only Arts that support your physical prowess."
"Doesn't that leave me with [Reinforcement]? You are aware that I rely on Wind Magic, aren't you?"
"So?"
Cray's eyebrow twitched at Basil's nonchalant response. "Isn't this physical task more suited for Knights?"
"I didn't specifically ask you to come." Basil lightly shrugged.
"Yeah, I know. But, at least you can specifically ask—ah, he's gone." Cray couldn't finish his protest as Basil had already stepped inside the mist. He couldn't even see where Basil had gone to. "What is he—"
Screech!
"Bloody hell, Basil! Can't you not kill these Monsters so suddenly? You surprised me, mate!"
Cray's protest went unheard, yet again. Of course, at that point, the surrounding was also filled with the offensive scream of the Silencers; he could see them running around as if they were searching for something inside the mist.
Basil was so good at hiding his presence, even the usually invisible Demons were forced to look for him ... In their own "territory" nonetheless.
Cray sighed lightly, and walked around the cage. "It's time to fulfill my task." He could see the Silencers on the other side were also busy looking for their assailant. "That Basil. Can't he, at least, discuss with me about the strategy first?"
Cray blinked his eyes, as he couldn't believe what he had just said. "Hah! Who needs strategy anyway? That doesn't suit me!"
Punching his palm, he charged at the Silencers inside the mist.