Chapter 112: The Secret of the Gnomes

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio  Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

At Yang Ling’s command, the barbarians and elves retreated quickly. But there were still a number of people who were hit by the rain of fireballs, and their hair and eyebrows were quickly singed.

Yang Ling’s personal guards had retreated, but the Magical Beast army displayed their might. The Gnomes that were charging toward him were eliminated by the Evil Eye and spider armies, while the rest were targeted by the Horned Bee Beasts and Gargoyles.

Without sturdy armor and sharp arrows, the Gnomes were unable to defend themselves against the speedy Horned Bee Beasts. The ground became littered with numb Gnomes after they were shot by a rain of poisonous stingers.

The Horned Bee Beasts displayed their might, but the Gargoyles did not disappoint Yang Ling either. After descending from the sky, they either smashed the heads of the Gnomes or picked up the Gnomes like eagles, tearing their prey in two in the air.

Caught off guard, the Gnomes fell into chaos. Some of them ran in all directions, wishing that they had two more legs. Some had dazed expressions, motionless as if scared silly. Some clenched their teeth and tried to retaliate, flailing the weapons in their hands to no avail. They were torn to shreds by the swooping Horned Bee Beasts and Gargoyles.

Under the protection of their clansmen, the Gnome Spellcasters launched a quick counterattack. Unlike last time, they now split up and acted individually, shooting out fireballs in an instant without having to recite an incantation. The fireballs weren’t powerful but they were fast, and a string of fireballs instantly appeared.

The Gnome Spellcasters tried their best to fight back, but unfortunately, both the Horned Bee Beasts and Gargoyles were as fast as lightning. They were able to easily avoid the fireballs by stopping abruptly or moving their tails before a new wave of attacks could be thrown at them.

( NovelFull )   Faced with the unavoidable attacks of the Horned Bee Beasts and Gargoyles, the Gnomes soon lost their will to fight, each one of them running away faster than the last.

But they soon realized that it didn’t matter. The faster they ran from the speedy Horned Bee Beasts and Gargoyles, the faster they met their end.

White brain matter, fresh red blood, twitching corpses…

Looking at the demon-like enemy, the Gnomes that were lucky enough to survive completely broke down! All of them wisely stopped in their tracks and surrendered, and even the few strange Spellcasters were no exception.

A count at the end of the battle showed that only about five hundred of the Gnomes were left from the original eight hundred. They had suffered heavy casualties in such a short amount of time. If not for Yang Ling giving the timely order, the attacking Gnomes might have been exterminated in just an hour, all of them falling to the Horned Bee Beasts and Gargoyles.

“Sir, spare us, spare us!” Looking at Yang Ling on his Unicorn, the elf elder knelt on the ground and pleaded for his life, incredibly regretful. He wanted to slap himself so badly.

If he had known that this was a trap, if he had known that the caravan possessed this many terrifying Magical beasts, if he had led his clansmen in a timely retreat, if… How could his clansmen end up like this?

If he had known that it would end like this, he would not have been willing to step into Yang Ling’s trap even if he had to starve to death. Yang Ling’s abilities were too terrifying. Hordes of flying Magical Beasts that blanketed the sky, bloodthirsty warriors, and those frightening Evil Eye and spider armies…

Over the past decades, whenever they found it hard to bear with their hunger, the Gnome Elder had launched surprise attacks on heavily guarded merchant teams, ferocious Ogres, and even a large group of Wind Wolves with his clansmen. But he had never seen such a terrifying Magical Beast army. He had never seen Magical Beasts that could launch such a coordinated attack!

“I am the leader of Wissen Town. If you can tell me what use you have and serve under me, I might be able to spare your lives. Otherwise, you can either hand over a ransom to atone for your sins, or else…!”

Yang Ling shook his head as he looked at the short and weak Gnomes. With their height and strength, they might not even make the cut as farmers, much less as miners or lumberjacks. Other than the few strange Spellcasters, the rest of them were not much better than trash.

The leader of Wissen Town?

After a moment’s surprise, the Gnome Elder Omir swallowed with difficulty. He would never have expected to be this unlucky, falling for a trap of the so-called Lord of Magical Beasts in Wissen Town.

Recently, the name of the leader of Wissen Town had spread all around the Ladak Mountains. Almost all of the tribes now knew that there was a leader in Wissen Town that they could not afford to mess with.

A leader who had scattered a Banto army, who could summon a large group of Magical Beasts to do battle, who killed without batting an eyelid… The news that came from Wissen Town swept over the entire Ladak Mountain Range like a cold wind. Even the powerful Ogres and numerous Beastmen were fearful, much less the weak races like the Gnomes.

( NovelFull )   As he looked at Yang Ling high above, the Gnome Elder had a thought and pleaded loudly, “Sir Leader, we can help you make practical tools! Please take us in!”

Even though he had suffered a heavy loss in this attack, if he could seize the opportunity and join Wissen Town and serve the leader, then it might be a blessing in disguise for the Gnomes. It was better than having to starve and brave the cold every day.

“Sir, we only need a few rations every day. Please take us in!”

“Sir, we can climb trees and pick wild fruits! We can dive into the rivers to catch fish…”

…

Following their elder’s lead, the Gnomes started to plead loudly. They no longer had any food left in the clan, and if they did not manage to snatch any edible food from passing merchants or nearby tribes, their entire clan might starve to death. At this point, they were no longer thinking of Yang Ling as a demon who came from hell, but an angel who came from amongst the clouds.

Pick fruits the trees and catch fish from ponds?

Looking at the Gnomes and their skinny limbs, Yang Ling shook his head. He needed a large number of workers that were as strong as oxen, and not a bunch of trash who would only waste his supplies.

“I am a little curious, how did you launch the fireballs?” Yang Ling said coldly after a pause. “Tell me truthfully and I can still consider. Otherwise…”

“This…”

Seeing Yang Ling ask about their greatest secret, the Gnome Elder started to hesitate. This secret had been passed down in their tribe for centuries. Without this secret, their clan might have been exterminated by the ferocious Ogres and Beastmen near them.

Seeing the elder’s hesitation, Yang Ling shot a look to Argus. Argus understood and led the barbarians to walk slowly toward the Gnomes. Their raging bloodlust and the cold gleam of the giant axes immediately brought the hesitating Gnome Elder to his senses.

Faced with the barbarians pressing forward one step at a time and the massive Magical Beast army, the Gnome Elder Omir understood that he had no other choice left. If he did not explain himself, there might not be a single member of his clan who could leave this place. He began explaining himself slowly.

The Gnomes, as a race, were not fated with magic, and they could not cultivate Battle Energy. But their limbs were incredibly nimble, and their ancestors had passed down a great deal of weird knowledge and many techniques.

According to their historical records, they could heat up a crystal until it became a glass of liquid, and even turn it into a ball of steam. They could send spring water from low ground to higher ground using a windmill and a few stems of bamboo in the air…

A few hundred years ago, a Gnome by the name of Hallard had traveled out of the tribe and encountered a powerful Magical Tutor. After serving the Magical Tutor for many years, he gained a strong understanding of the principles of magic and spell formations, despite still being unable to use magic. In his elder years, he unintentionally discovered an alarming secret.

Hallard realized that he could release the natural magical spells of Magical Beasts without the use of Magical Energy if he drew a specific spell formation using the fresh Blood Essence of the Magical Beast. For example, after drawing the Wind Dagger Spell Formation using the fresh blood of a Wind Wolf, he could instantly release a low level Wind Dagger. If he used the fresh blood of an Earth Bear to draw an earth element spell formation, he could instantly cast a low level Earth Spike, and so on.

The greater the Magical Beasts, the more powerful the spell formation became. If the person using this method had enough Magical Energy and knew the corresponding incantation, they could even instantly cast high level spells. It was very powerful.

After repeated testing, Hallard realized that he could draw the magical spell formation on crystal ores and Magical Beast Essence Crystals. These formations could even be drawn on the caster’s skin. They could use it as a surprise attack at the critical moment to catch their opponents off guard!

They’re using the fresh blood of Magical Beasts to draw magical spell formations?

After a moment’s surprise, Yang Ling recalled the Wizard Amulets in his ring. They were both made of the fresh blood of Magical Beasts, and they both required no incantations to activate.

Could the Wizard Amulets be a special kind of magical spell formation?

In his doubt, Yang Ling carefully observed the fire element magical spell formation on the back of one of the Gnome Spellcasters.

Twisted lines, strange pathways, unexplainable ripples… The mysterious magical spell formations indeed shared similarities with the Wizard Amulets. At first glance, they seemed to be larger Wizard Amulets. But they felt a little different after Yang Ling had observed them closely for some time.

A powerful person, and not just any powerful person!

After understanding what was going on, Yang Ling felt awe toward the Gnome called Hallard. Without exceptional talent, nimble hands, vast knowledge, and exceptional patience, one could never have discovered such a wonder. Now, he finally believed a little that the Gnomes had once had an illustrious civilization and history.

Yang Ling could not help but imagine the various uses for these magical spell formations. If he could draw various magical spell formations at a large scale and set up an army that could instantly cast magic spells of various elements, its battle abilities would be unparalleled.

What would happen if he drew the magical spell formations on the bodies of Magical Beasts like the Horned Bee Beasts and Evil Eyes?

Yang Ling had a thought when he looked at the Magical Beast army around him. He came up with a maniacal idea.

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