The image of the Giant Winged Bat unleashing its power flashed through his mind again, and Valles focused intently, trying to capture that feeling of harmonious resonance between wind and bone.

’It’s not a crude push.’

’It’s an intertwining... a fusion.’

Valles drew another arrow and channeled Fighting Qi to his fingertips once more.

Intertwining... Fusing...

The Fighting Qi started to flow from his fingertips, carefully creeping from the nock and gradually spreading over the entire arrow.

It was an extremely mentally taxing process. The slightest mistake would render all his previous efforts worthless.

Valles took a deep breath, doing his utmost to remain calm. Even as sweat trickled into his eyes, he didn’t flinch.

Finally, the Fighting Qi and the arrow achieved a delicate balance.

The arrow let out a HUMMM, vibrating as if it had developed a will of its own and could no longer be restrained.

He drew the bowstring once more!

Valles took a deep breath and released the bowstring.

BOOM!

This time, it wasn’t the ordinary sound of an arrow cutting through the air, but a high-frequency roar that echoed throughout the entire forest!

Arcs of electricity leaped and danced in the air. The entire shaft of the arrow, enveloped in a pale blue glow, tore through the space before it!

BANG!!!

The moment the arrow struck, its terrifying kinetic energy blasted a bowl-sized hole straight through the tree trunk!

The edges of the hole were scorched black, as if torn apart by lightning—a brutal sight.

"Heh..."

A smile spread across Valles’s tense face. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and lifted his chin slightly.

Years of accumulated effort, combined with this sudden flash of inspiration, had finally borne fruit.

From this moment on, Valles had officially crossed the threshold to become a Middle Level Ranger!

He was both delighted and a little surprised.

Valles hadn’t expected his Fighting Qi to take on lightning properties. He’d thought it would be something like Wind Blade.

’Still, this isn’t bad at all.’

Valles got up, preparing to head back to Black Stone Town, but his ears twitched as he suddenly caught a faint sound.

BANG... BANG...!

’Sounds like something’s exploding?’

Valles looked in the direction of the sound, his mind filled with questions. After a moment’s thought, he decided to go check it out.

After passing through a final row of dense bushes, a winding river came into view. A few large, black rocks were scattered along its bank.

The one making the noise was next to the rocks, and their identity surprised Valles.

It was Zelir.

Right now, he was holding the White Wax Wood Magic Storage out in front of him, a faint light flickering across his body.

At the tip of the staff, wisps of light gradually converged, condensing into an ever-purer form. A prismatic energy missile had taken shape, containing a startling amount of terrifying energy.

Valles’s eyes widened slightly.

Finally, when the missile was compressed to its absolute limit, a blue light flashed!

Like a cannonball fired from its barrel, it exploded with a roar and shot straight toward the black rock on the riverbank!

BANG!!!

The sound of a loud explosion followed.

In an instant, a surge of Magic Power dispersed, blasting a fist-sized crater into the rough surface of the black rock.

Stone fragments splashed into the river, sending up a spray of water.

"Man, that’s exhausting..."

Zelir gasped for breath and plopped onto the ground.

What he had just cast was the Arcane Missile he witnessed earlier in the Martial Arts Arena.

After half a month, he had finally finished analyzing the Arcane Missile.

As a Level Three Single-layer Spell Structure Magic, the Arcane Missile’s Power was greater than that of the Flame Breath Skill.

At least in terms of single-target destructive power, Arcane Missile was superior to the Flame Breath Skill. Its only inferiority was perhaps its area of effect.

However, just as Bev had said before, the Mana Consumption for Arcane Magic was much higher than for Elemental Magic. With his current Mana, Zelir could cast Arcane Missile three times at most.

Furthermore, the channeling time for Arcane Missile was even longer than the Flame Breath Skill’s, requiring nearly nine seconds to cast.

He had also finished analyzing the Ice Cone Skill he’d seen Lante cast. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

The Ice Cone Skill’s piercing ability was greater than the Wind Blade Technique’s. On top of that, after hitting a target, it would create a small Ice Burst, similar to an explosion, making it another decent Attack Magic.

There was another piece of good news recently.

Because his Intelligence Attribute had increased, his analysis speed had quickened, and he had successfully reproduced the Spell Structure for Embrace of the Mist Veil.

But at the same time, there was also bad news.

Zelir couldn’t use it.

[Embrace of the Mist Veil]

Magic Faction: Arcane Magic System

Structure Type: Single-Layer Spell Structure

Magic Level: Level Four

Description:

The Caster mobilizes their Magic Power to weave a mitigating Force Field around their body.

This Force Field guides, deflects, and dissipates any high-speed physical kinetic energy that enters its range.

From the outside, the Force Field appears as a blurry halo. When a physical attack makes contact, it is like sinking into a quagmire; the enemy’s Power is instantly dispersed, making it difficult to deal effective damage.

However, this Magic only affects physical kinetic energy. It offers no Defense Power against attacks of pure energy, which will instead disrupt the mitigating Force Field and cause the spell to fail.

As a Level Four Single-layered Spell Structure Magic, the complexity of its Rune Circuits was extremely high.

No matter how hard Zelir tried, he found it impossible to complete a single cycle with his Magic Power.

This was the limitation of his Magic Manipulation Level.

If one’s Intelligence Attribute isn’t high enough, it’s impossible to cast a High Level Magic even if you know its Spell Structure.

Zelir pondered to himself.

’As for Level Four Magic... maybe I’ll be able to cast it smoothly once I’m officially promoted to Junior Mage.’

The scene of his battle with the Fog Demon was still vivid in his mind. The thought of having a Special Ability that could negate physical attacks was thrilling.

Zelir had spent all this time trying to optimize the Spell Structure, but he had made no progress. Even after his Intelligence had increased by another four points, the invisible barrier remained.

"What was that Magic just now?"

Valles’s voice rang out suddenly, startling Zelir.

He turned his head. "Oh, it’s you... What are you doing here?"

"Same as you. Honing my skills." Valles walked over and sat down beside Zelir.

Zelir studied Valles for a moment.

He noticed that, compared to before, there was a subtle, indefinable change about him.

’He’s gotten stronger?’

"It’s a pretty aggressive spell. Compared to Magic that relies on elemental attacks, like the Fireball Skill or Wind Blade Technique, that missile was formed from pure Magic Power, which is why it’s stronger."

Zelir explained briefly, then asked a question of his own.

"Looking at you... it seems you’ve had a breakthrough?"

Valles had mentioned something about this during their last meal together.

’Wasn’t he inspired by the Giant Winged Bat’s attack style?’

"Yes. I’ve mastered a way to combine my Fighting Qi with my arrows. I suppose that makes me a Middle Level Ranger now." Valles nodded.

"Congratulations," Zelir said with a smile.