Chapter 20: Gained 300 Experience, The Ashamed Rock Squad
A smell of something burnt wafted through the air.
The two Ogres, who had seemed incredibly dangerous and had cornered the Rock Squad, were effortlessly defeated by a single lightning strike.
The atmosphere became quiet.
Even Captain Dosali, who was howling in pain from his crushed ankle, quieted down at this moment.
*Third-tier Magic, Lightning Strike, detected. Requires Basic Mage profession, level requirement "15–21". Current conditions not met...*
The message on his status panel appeared before Tang Zheng.
The Basic Mage profession could be converted through his Genius talent, but he clearly didn't meet the level requirement yet.
"What a pity," Tang Zheng muttered to himself.
Then, noticing the quiet atmosphere, Tang Zheng could guess the complex emotions currently churning within the Rock Squad.
The Ogres they had struggled against with all their might were so easily dispatched by their own client.
It was hard for them not to feel conflicted.
What's more, someone capable of using third-tier magic was considered a platinum-rank, or even mithril-rank, adventurer.
The Rock Squad struggled even to reach gold-rank, let alone those of higher ranks.
After a brief silence, Tang Zheng was the first to break the atmosphere, quickly heading toward Captain Dosali.
He looked at Captain Dosali, who lay on the ground, his expression contorted from severe pain.
Tang Zheng squatted down. Seeing the ogre's dismembered hand still tightly gripping the captain's ankle, he said, "Captain Dosali, I'll help you remove the ogre's hand."
Captain Dosali subconsciously nodded, then his face flushed.
It was unclear if it was due to the pain caused by Tang Zheng forcibly prying the ogre's hand off his leg, or for some other reason.
After prying the ogre's rough, sallow-skinned hand off, Tang Zheng casually tossed it aside, his gaze falling upon Captain Dosali's calf.
The entire calf was completely crushed, dangling on the ground in a twisted shape. As for the bones inside, it was undoubtedly a comminuted fracture.
An injury of this severity would have resulted in a permanent disability in his previous life.
But in this world, while somewhat severe, it wasn't a major issue, especially since even resurrection magic existed.
"Lesser Heal!"
Tang Zheng extended his hands toward the calf and spoke softly.
A soft white light enveloped Captain Dosali's calf. Under the effect of the healing magic, the previously flattened calf slowly swelled up as if being inflated, and its twisted shape was gradually repaired.
The calf, which had just lost sensation, began to throb with intense pain again, making Captain Dosali suck in a sharp breath, though he forced himself not to cry out.
As the light dissipated, the calf, which had been unrecognizable, now vaguely showed its original shape.
Seeing this, Tang Zheng cast Lesser Heal again.
By the time the second healing spell finished, Captain Dosali's entire calf appeared to have returned to its original state.
"On the surface, it's fine, but the bones inside have a comminuted fracture."
"Two spells can only perform a simple repair. For a complete recovery, it will probably take a few more. I'll heal you again once I recover some of my magic power."
Tang Zheng exhaled and spoke softly.
Throughout this journey, the Rock Squad had been quite good to him. Since he could help them, Tang Zheng naturally wouldn't be stingy.
Captain Dosali's face was covered in sweat and his lips were pale, clearly from the intense pain during the calf's recovery. "Thank you, Tang."
"No need to be so polite, Captain Dosali," Tang Zheng said.
At this moment, the archer, Bask, supporting the injured brothers Rand and Ler, also rushed over. Seeing the captain's current condition, he breathed a sigh of relief, his eyes glancing at Tang Zheng with gratitude.
"Are you two all right as well?" Tang Zheng stood up and looked at the two brothers being supported.
"Don't worry, we won't die," Ler grimaced. Aside from his equally pale face, there were no obvious injuries on his body.
However, since he was being supported by Bask the archer, even if there were no visible injuries, he had likely suffered some internal ones. Tang Zheng remembered that the other Ogre had kicked him.
"A few broken ribs," Rand said, a trace of blood at the corner of his mouth. "But we won't die either."
"Once my magic power recovers, I'll help heal you," Tang Zheng nodded.
Rand chuckled. "Alright."
"Huh?" Bask the archer's ear twitched, and he sharply turned his head to look at the Ogre lying on the ground, its arm severed by the lightning. "It's not completely dead yet?"
At his words, the faces of the Rock Squad members turned cold.
Tang Zheng's eyes, however, lit up. Without waiting for the Rock Squad to react, he had already moved, walking over to the Ogre lying on the ground.
His shortsword swung!
Following the wound left by the arrow in the Ogre's eye, he sharply stabbed into its brain and twisted forcefully.
The Ogre, which had only a breath of life left, completely perished.
The clean, precise movements surprised the members of the Rock Squad.
Perhaps Tang Zheng himself hadn't noticed, but his movements had unconsciously gained a ruthless edge.
*Gained 300 Experience!*
Tang Zheng saw the message flash across his status panel, and a hint of pleasant surprise flickered in his eyes.
Such a large amount of Experience! It directly raised Tang Zheng by one level. Combined with the scattered Experience he had gained before, his current level had now reached 5.
"Are you all right?!" Nfirea Bale jumped down from the carriage, his face full of worry as he quickly ran over.
The members of the Rock Squad instinctively exchanged glances and looked at Nfirea Bale with respect as he approached.
"Don't worry, we definitely won't delay the rest of the journey," Captain Dosali said quickly, propping himself up with his hands and standing on one foot.
"That's not what I meant," Nfirea Bale said, his cheeks flushing. He waved his hands, and just as he was about to continue, he suddenly saw the members of the Rock Squad looking past him, their faces filled with awe.
"You should rest up first."
Grandma Lijie walked over with her hands behind her back, her face devoid of expression.
"Understood, Lord," Captain Dosali said with a solemn expression, though his one-legged stance looked somewhat comical.
A magic caster capable of third-tier magic was not someone a squad like theirs could afford to offend, especially since that person had just saved their lives.
The other three members of the Rock Squad lowered their heads, their faces a bit flushed. As adventurers, being saved by their client was truly humiliating.
They simply couldn't have imagined it.
That someone with such strength would hire an adventurer team for an escort mission. No, perhaps from the very beginning, this person had only intended to hire them as manual labor.
Grandma Lijie ignored the Rock Squad, her gaze fixed on the direction where the Goblins and Ogres had appeared.
That location was the Touv Great Forest, south of the Angelicisia Mountain Range. Its area was not only immense but also extremely dangerous, and E-Rantel was right on the edge of this forest.
"It seems it's time to clear out the monsters again," Grandma Lijie murmured to herself.
Goblins are monsters that reproduce very quickly. Combined with the wild beasts and other monsters in the forest, they attack humans almost every year.
Therefore, the Adventurer's Guild in E-Rantel constantly had tasks for clearing out monsters.
(end of chapter)