Chapter 317

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Chapter 317: Hurting Each Other

Coming out of Malin’s room, Jesse breathed a sigh of relief.

He felt ready for everything he could do, so the next thing was to meet the king tomorrow morning.

In fact, after learning about being affected by the strange Deathmantle magic, he suddenly lost the nervousness of meeting the king in the palace.

After all, when facing death, what could be more troublesome than this?

It’s still morning now, and the rest of the day seems idle.

Oh, he still hasn’t tried his Shadow Magic yet, the Shadow Protection Spell of Nathrezim that Molofeel found.

Jesse had lunch at The Blue Recluse, then in the afternoon he went to the basement with a paper bag of sweet potatoes, planning to use them to restore his mana.

Once he felt exhausted, he would go home after finishing everything.

Jesse put the sweet potato on the table in the hall, then he took out the spell paper he had written and went to the practice room.

Passing by the small room next to the practice room, he heard the sound of a squeaky wooden bed inside. He thought there was no one in the basement, especially since even Ursula wasn’t in the Alchemy Room.

Arriving in the dark practice room, Jesse lit the candle in the small lighted bowl and took out Zardeth’s Shadow Magic gestures guide. He sat on a small chair on the side, recalling fragments of Teron Gorefiend’s memories engraved in his mind, that moment when he heard the spell being cast.

After it quieted down, there was only a faint unclear chanting around. However, for the current Jesse, this kind of seductive thing no longer affected him.

After all, who at home is worse than Surena and Erlan, just small fry.

Gorefiend’s memories were like watching a movie with a constantly buffering progress bar and severe lagging, only able to vaguely remember some of the most impressive elements in the unclear scenes.

And most importantly, this movie was in the first person perspective, even if he vaguely remembered a few scenes of casting spells, he couldn’t quite see the gestures clearly.

He only remembered that Teron Gorefiend seemed to clench his fist in front of him, but this guy did that for almost every Shadow Magic, including when he saw Gorefiend grabbing Kaffir in Dalaran.

In other words, hand gestures were not important for Teron Gorefiend’s shadow manipulation abilities.

Actually, for Jesse, it’s the same. When he uses Shadow Magic, he often doesn’t chant the spells very correctly. Compared to the precise recitation of spells for arcane magic, it’s more like doing whatever feels right for him.

However, it’s obvious that he’s not familiar with this protective magic this time. He needs to be more serious when practicing in the beginning.

Jesse looked through the spell gestures written down by Zardeth and found one called Unending Breath.

Zardeth knows Unending Breath? There’s no record of this spell here.

In the game, Unending Breath is a magic that allows the caster to breathe underwater. If the effect of Unending Breath here is the same as in the game, does it mean he can learn it and then go to the port to catch crabs and lobsters?

After thinking for a while, he remembered that he was already in the official mage reserve team. Would people make fun of him if they found out he was going to catch lobsters to make money?

Hold on, he’s thinking too far ahead.

It seems like only Unending Breath among these gestures is for enhancing his own magical abilities. Jesse decided to try using this one.

Standing in the center of the room, Jesse closed his eyes and felt the surrounding Shadow Power.

Tom Soga, Veholysia, Wasdaion.

Slowly reciting the spell word by word, trying to channel the power of shadows gathered by the spell with the hand gesture of Unending Breath, he noticed his gestures were gradually becoming incorrect.

Reciting the spell once again, this time, in addition to the initial gesture, he began to manipulate the shadows gathered by them according to his subconsciousness and the strength of the guiding force of the shadows.

After fussing around for a while and countless attempts, Jesse seemed to have found the most comfortable and suitable feeling. Reciting the spell again, following the guiding method he had continuously pondered and summarized before, after completing the recitation, a strong flickering black-purple halo suddenly enveloped him, flickering violently for a few moments before disappearing.

Is it successful?

Jesse clearly saw the flickering appearance of the halo, but at this moment, he couldn’t think of any similar magic existing in any game…

After continuously trying with this particular spell and various messy casting gestures for an hour or two, Jesse felt that his energy was starting to wane.

Even if the magic is not successfully cast, the process of guiding magical energy will also consume mana.

Sitting down, catching his breath, Jesse quieted down and pondered for a while, suddenly remembering a magic effect in the game that was very similar to this one, which is when a warlock summons a Voidwalker minion and then sacrifices it to gain the effect of a Shadow Shield.

And just as Molofeel said, this kind of Shadow Magic can defend against both magic and physical attacks, and the absorption shield after the Void Walker’s sacrifice is the same.

But how do we test it?

He walked into the hall while thinking, and saw Erlan sitting at a table eating.

"Where’s Surena?" Jesse asked.

"Asleep," Erlan picked up a sweet potato and said, "In this world, no woman can leave a room standing after being with me, Seso."

"My sweet potato," Jesse pointed to the half piece left in the plate, "You’re eating mine…"

"Ah…" Erlan looked at what he was holding, "I thought it was bought by Surena."

"Isn’t Surena always in your bed?!" Jesse immediately took a bite of the remaining half piece, saying, "No, you… oh right, come here, Erlan, come make up for your mistake with my sweet potato."

Erlan frowned, saying, "Get lost, little brother, I’m not gay, and most importantly, this bit of sweet potato isn’t enough to buy me off."

"Go away," Jesse said, "come help me try a magic spell."

"That won’t work either," Erlan said. "I can try Surena’s little magic, but not yours. I still want to have more fun."

"It’s not me hitting you, it’s you hitting me," Jesse pointed to the long iron tongs by the fire pit against the wall and said, "Bring that along."

Erlan picked up the tongs and asked, "Are you serious?"

"Come on, come on…"

Jesse led Erlan to the practice room and said, "I am going to cast a spell later, you will see a dark halo appear around me, then you just use these tongs to hit me. Of course, don’t poke me with the pointed end, just grab it and hit me."

"Do I hit hard?" Erlan asked. "Where do I hit?"

"Hit…" Jesse looked down at his body, then patted his arm and said, "Just hit my arm, be gentle, don’t hit too hard."

"No problem," Erlan said. "So basically, don’t hurt you badly, just make it sting, right? I’m a pro at this."

Jesse glanced at him when he heard the word "professional", swallowed nervously, and said, "Okay, I’ll start now!"

Erlan held the pliers like a baseball player, nodding seriously.

The burly muscles and fierce appearance of the enforcer from the Masons Guild made Jesse feel a bit intimidated, but after all, he was just a regular person.

If this Shadow Shield couldn’t even withstand a full force blow from a regular person, it might not be of much help against his future opponents.

Thinking this, Jesse skillfully chanted a spell, and suddenly a halo shimmered, causing Erlan to step back in surprise and stare motionless at the halo.

"You, come on, fight!"

"Oh, right!"

Erlan suddenly snapped out of it, gritted his teeth, and swung the pliers fiercely, but halfway through the swing, the halo suddenly disappeared!

"Oh!?"

The iron pliers made a loud sound as they tightened around Jesse’s arm. He yelled and jumped, startled. Erlan widened his eyes and quickly took the pliers off him. "Are you okay? How did the magic work so quickly?"

"Wait, don’t move yet," Jesse tried to move his arm and felt a dull pain.

After a moment, he lifted his arm and said, "I’m okay, it’s not broken."

"I must say, you have strong bones," Erlan breathed a sigh of relief. "I forgot to control my strength."

"Oh darn it," Jesse sighed. "I said I would strike as soon as the spell appeared. Why were you so slow to react?"

"Who knew you would transform so quickly, and the way the magic appeared was indeed a bit scary," Erlan scratched his head. "In the past, when I practiced with Surena, it took her ages to chant the spell properly."

"Alright," Jesse said, "Remember this time, you need to react faster."

"You’re back for more? Alright then, this is what you asked for. Don’t cry later," Erlan cracked his neck, making a series of clicking sounds. He rolled up his sleeves, picked up the pliers, and got ready again.

"Just grab it right," Jesse sighed, hoping the magic would last longer once they mastered it.

After all, in a real fight, the opponent won’t wait until they see your magic defense to make a move.

He chanted the spell again, and when the light halo flashed, Erlan decisively struck the halo with a stick!

Unexpectedly, the originally dark purple halo suddenly lit up with this blow, accompanied by a dark shadow explosion that spread out violently with a loud bang, throwing Erlan against the wall behind. The big guy slid from the wall to the ground, not even making a sound.

"Erlan!" Now Jesse was anxious. He immediately ran over to help Erlan up. His face and arms were covered in purple marks from shadow damage. He tried to speak but could only manage a weak gasp.

Jesse quickly ran into Ursula’s Alchemy Room, grabbed some Healing Potion and Shadow Protection Potion from the cabinet, and rushed back to feed Erlan.

After a while, Erlan Drudgemoor finally took a breath and stared at Jesse, whispering, "Jesse Seso, I need to … you…"

Jesse said, "I don’t know either…"

"You… did it on purpose." Erlan suddenly grabbed Jesse’s hair and said, "You just can’t stand me, are you… eager for my death?"

"Oops, I’m sorry." Jesse winced, grabbing Erlan’s wrist, "I just learned this magic recently, and it’s indeed too dangerous. I’ll teach you how to compensate with Curse of Weakness, alright?"

"You dare mention the Curse of Weakness, you pesky thing…"

Erlan widened his eyes, then suddenly started coughing several times in a row.

"Well… fine, let’s talk about the Curse of Weakness… Anyway, I can’t learn it myself." He sighed, touched his face, smelled his fingers, and frowned.

Judging from the strength of Erlan grabbing his own hair, Jesse believed Erlan’s injuries were not too severe. So, was this some kind of shadow retaliatory shield? It was truly unexpected. And clearly, its greatest power had not yet been fully realized.