Raun Guerrero suddenly shouted at Locke, "Locke, behind you!"
"Watch out!"
By then, the horde of zombies had completely separated the Wizard Seedlings on the Wizard Ship. Most of the Wizard Seedlings had spent all their time studying, leaving them with little practical combat experience.
Only Black Wizards would prioritize cultivating the actual combat abilities of Wizard Seedlings from the very beginning, rather than starting with ancient language studies.
At that moment, Locke turned his head just in time to see a blue-skinned zombie with empty white eyes lunging at him. It slammed into his chest with tremendous force, sending him crashing from one side of the ship to the other—nearly knocking him off the deck and into the sea.
"Kras—" At the critical moment, Locke forcibly chanted the incantation and activated Vine Hand. The five branches of the Mandala Vine coiled around his right arm slithered out from his sleeve like vine pythons.
Two branches stabbed into the deck of the Wizard Ship, anchoring him in place.
The other three branches wound up his arm and wrapped around the zombie clinging to him, forcibly prying it away. Then, they coiled around its head—crack—and with a single twist, the zombie's head was severed from its body.
Before Locke could even catch his breath, he saw the headless zombie still moving. Its right hand stretched toward his neck like an iron clamp.
I'm such an idiot, Locke realized. This thing is just a corpse animated by necromancy. Ripping its head off won't stop it.
Locke glanced at the navy-blue gemstone gold rings on his right thumb, index, and middle fingers. With three navy-blue gemstones, he had 30 more Mana than an average third-class wizard apprentice.
Now was not the time to be frugal with Mana.
Locke rapidly chanted the incantation twice, casting Vine Hand in quick succession. The Mandala Vine, serving as the Spell's medium, received two bursts of Mana in an extremely short time—temporarily enhancing its mobility.
The five branches of the Mandala Vine transformed into a massive hand, seizing the zombie in front of him and flinging it away.
Then—crack—the zombie's entire body was crushed in the Mandala Vine's grip, its bones fracturing. Its limbs and spine twisted and splintered, rendering it immobile.
Locke exhaled slightly—only to see the deck swarming with zombies, all attacking the Wizard Seedlings.
They weren't going for the kill.
But many Wizard Seedlings had already been shoved overboard by the zombies, only to be captured by the Black Wizards lurking in the dark mist above.
Now, more blue-skinned zombies were charging toward him—at least five in sight.
Sweat trickled down Locke's forehead. These zombies were dropped by those Black Wizards… Maybe even a Formal Wizard's doing.
"They are numerous, their bodies stiff yet impervious to blades. Each one is a powerhouse, and even dealing with a single one takes considerable effort."
A zombie charging at Locke was struck on the back by Raun Guerrero's silver cross-shaped sword, causing it to scream in agony as its back rapidly melted away.
Raun Guerrero swung his two-handed cross sword like a spinning whirlwind, landing over a dozen consecutive blows on the zombie blocking his path. Soon, the creature collapsed to the ground, the runes on its body gradually dissolving.
Raun Guerrero fought his way to Locke's side and said, "In a situation like this, it's hard for one person to defend alone. Let's stick together."
Locke stood back-to-back with him, facing the remaining four zombies. "Makes sense."
"Raun, thanks."
Locke glanced at the silver-glowing cross sword in Raun's hand. This must be what the books called an Enchanted Item.
A masterpiece of the Alchemy school, these were the most effective treasures for wizard apprentices to enhance their combat prowess before becoming Formal Wizards.
Every Enchanted Item was a crystallization of Alchemy.
Yet, there wasn't a single one on the island of Corfu.
This was the first time Locke had seen such an item, and it was on Raun Guerrero, a prince from the island of Schleswig.
It seemed that even within the mortal world, there was a significant gap between Corfu and Schleswig.
With his Enchanted Item and his physique as a grand knight, Raun was holding his own against two zombies. Meanwhile, Locke, leveraging his Mana reserves that surpassed those of an ordinary wizard apprentice, summoned a vine hand, transforming the Mandala Vine into a massive tendril that repeatedly hammered the other two zombies, keeping them at bay.
Locke eyed Raun's glowing silver sword. "Raun, your sword is incredibly effective against these zombies."
Raun slashed open a gash on a zombie's chest, and the wound immediately began to rot, rapidly disintegrating under the sword's silver light.
Raun quickly explained to Locke, "Yes, my sword is an Enchanted Item. It has a Cantrip from the Enchantment school—the Lesser Undead Resistance Barrier—specifically designed to counter undead creatures and negative energy Spells. That's why it's so effective."
"Unfortunately, there are too many of them, and they're strong and fast. Even with this sword, it's hard to clear them out."
Suddenly, Locke dropped to one knee on the deck, ignoring the two zombies charging at him and a new one joining the fray. "Then let's change our approach. There must be an optimal solution."
Chanting an incantation, he punched the deck with his right fist. Instantly, five branches of the Mandala Vine burrowed into the wooden planks and emerged from the surrounding floor, wrapping around the left legs of five nearby zombies.
The five zombies were forcibly immobilized by the vine hand. No matter how they struggled, they couldn't break free from Locke's Mandala Vine.
In the heat of battle, Locke's mastery of the vine hand Cantrip grew increasingly fluid and precise.
Locke called out to Raun, "Now, Raun! Cut them down!"
After a brief pause, Raun burst into laughter. "Good. This makes things much simpler. One slash each."
He raised his silver sword and plunged it directly into the chest of a zombie restrained by the vine hand. The zombie let out a beast-like roar.
Soon, the runes on the zombie's body dimmed one by one, rendering it motionless.
After slaying five zombies, Raun grinned. "Locke, if this keeps up, with the two of us wizard apprentices working together, we won't have to fear these zombies anymore."
"I'm sure the Wizard Mentor on the ship will come to our rescue soon."
But when Raun turned around, he saw Locke's expression was deathly serious. He froze. "Locke, what's wrong?"
Locke pointed ahead. "Look around us…"
By then, at least thirty zombies had surrounded Locke and Raun.
The sheer numerical advantage was overwhelming!
The sheer density of their numbers was enough to make most third-class wizard apprentices lose all will to resist.
Raun gulped. "This…"
A black mist descended from the sky like a meteor, crashing onto the deck of the Wizard Ship. From within the mist emerged a witch clad in a black robe, wearing black leather high heels, with a full fox pelt draped over her shoulders.
On the witch's chest hung a pentagram-shaped emblem. Within the pentagram was a white skull, and in each of the skull's eye sockets was another pentagram.
The emblem was eerily unsettling.
Witch Barbara chuckled. "Little ones, the [White Bone Order] has taken an interest in you. One of you has exceptional combat experience, while the other shows rapid growth and decisive judgment—precisely the kind of talent our [White Bone Order] seeks."
"So, I—Witch Barbara Wayne—hereby invite you to surrender and join the [White Bone Order]. If you continue following those hypocrites, you'll achieve nothing. The dark world is the ultimate destination for all of you."
(End of Chapter)