On Hussein's Blood Claw, multiple curses were attached. These curses penetrated Locke's magic resistance through the blood trails on his scratched skin and entered his body.
They began affecting his condition.
The Thousand Blades Curse covered Locke's body with wounds, the Bleeding Curse made him hemorrhage continuously where even minor cuts bled profusely, and the Pustule Curse caused boils to erupt across his skin.
These curses steadily reduced Locke's mobility, allowing the half-vampire controlled by Hussein to bring its claws ever closer to Locke's throat.
But at that moment, the barrel of the Rot Earth Konjac Mayfly Flower Cannon floating behind Locke aimed directly at the half-vampire's face.
Hussein considered briefly before deciding not to dodge—after all, this wasn't his real body. 'The Mayfly firecracker is a rare plant-based Spell. I didn't expect this young First Class Wizard Apprentice to know it, but its effects are more supportive than offensive. It won't immediately kill me.'
'At worst, the fungi will damage my nerves and impair coordination, but vampire physiology has high resistance to such effects.'
A glint of murderous intent flashed in Hussein's eyes. 'He must think I'll dodge, but I won't. Trading injury for injury—this puppet might get hurt, but he will definitely die.'
'I'm still coming out ahead.'
'His lack of combat experience shows.'
The half-vampire's Blood Claw tore a chunk of flesh from Locke's neck just as the Mayfly firecracker struck its mark.
Clutching his throat, Locke staggered back, sensing a more potent curse taking root through the wound, rapidly spreading within him.
"But I did hit him."
"The Magic Plant paired with my Mayfly firecracker isn't the standard Corpse Soil Konjac—it's the Rot Soil Konjac King. Corpse Soil Konjac is rare enough, let alone my upgraded version. He couldn't have anticipated the enhanced toxicity of these fungal spores."
Locke noticed the half-vampire had stopped attacking.
In reality, the moment the spore projectile struck, the fungal spores immediately invaded the half-vampire's nervous system.
The spores began altering its perception, inducing hallucinations—effectively reprogramming the puppet's control interface, inverting all directional inputs. Were it not for the vampire's partial magic immunity, the puppet might have lost all ability to distinguish enemies, allies, and objects.
Even Hussein needed time to adapt to this scrambled control scheme.
Thus, while he had blinded the seven First Class Wizard Apprentices present, Locke's Mayfly firecracker had equally disoriented his puppet's cognition.
A stalemate ensued.
As time passed silently, Locke's vision gradually returned. He exhaled in relief—he had won.
The Spell Poison from the Rot Soil Konjac King's unique fungal spores had overpowered the enemy's vision-depriving magical trap.
What shocked Locke was that he saw the puppet, whose cognition had been completely altered, had now almost regained the ability to walk normally and possessed relatively accurate directional awareness.
Given another ten seconds, it would likely fully adapt to the cognitive changes caused by the fungal spores' Spell Poison.
Hussein, this Black Wizard, possessed terrifying combat talent.
The next moment, the six First Class Wizard Apprentices who had reacted immediately attacked the puppet controlled by Hussein, whose mobility was greatly reduced. Several Spells landed on it.
Most were plant magic designed to restrict movement, such as root entanglement, along with dispelling magic.
Seizing the opportunity, they completely immobilized the puppet and used dispelling magic to halt the ongoing effects of the Vampire Transformation Curse.
Angulo strode forward and poured the specialized potion for the Multiple Self Curse—the Dryad Dispelling Potion—into its mouth.
The apprentice from Holly Tower immediately threw his head back in agony, letting out a pained scream.
His shadow cast on the ground suddenly split into two, each with subtly different facial features.
Clearly, one shadow belonged to him, while the other was Hussein Quinn's.
Hussein Quinn's shadow burst into laughter. "Alright, alright, you medicine peddlers aren't completely useless."
"I've never suffered such a loss at the hands of White Wizards before."
"This time, you've actually managed to drive me out and save a First Class Wizard Apprentice who had fallen victim to my curse."
"Medicine peddlers, every last one of you deserves to die."
"Sooner or later, no one will be able to break my curses." The shadow then turned to Locke. "And you, interesting White Wizard, I'll remember you."
"Your combat talent is... passable. Next time we meet, I'll personally take your brain as a trophy for my collection."
Angulo sneered. "You Black Wizards are doomed to fail."
"Just like this time. Lilith's Cottage will wipe out you pests from the Blood Curse Court for good."
"I'd love to see you sheep manage that. I'm not too fond of the Blood Curse Court either." Hussein's shadow laughed uproariously. "Before I go, I'll leave you a little gift. Breaking my curse comes at a price."
"You know, the most fascinating thing about magic is that it always finds another form to persist."
The energy of the Multiple Self Curse, dispelled and scattered into the air by the Dryad Dispelling Potion, suddenly converged into Hussein's shadow.
The shadow opened its mouth as if swallowing the curse energy, gathering it in its throat. Then, in the next instant, the shadow exploded, attempting to unleash a collective curse on everyone in the office.
"He's self-destructing! Drink the Bear Spirit Bile now!" Locke had already retrieved all his stockpiled Bear Spirit Bile from his Astral Ring and was frantically pouring it down his throat.
The exploding shadow surged across the floor, attacking the shadows of everyone in the office, instantly enveloping them all.
A minute later, Locke was bent over, coughing and spitting out the excessive Bear Spirit Bile potion he had just consumed, which had triggered his gag reflex.
The other First Class Wizard Apprentices weren't faring much better than Locke.
Everyone had been frantically gulping potions earlier, and now they were all retching and vomiting.
Locke raised his head and saw Angulo and Essie approaching him. The three exchanged glances and couldn't help but laugh wryly.
During the battle, the three of them had contributed the most. Being the closest to each other, they had developed a camaraderie that only forms through shared combat.
Essie smiled helplessly. "What a mess we are. I'm Essie Perra. Thank you both, especially... you." She looked at Locke.
Angulo nodded as well. "Let's be friends. I'm Angulo Grah. Both of you are carrying quite a few curses—you'll need to speed up your treatment. By the way, brother, I don't think I've seen much of you before."
Locke replied, "I'm Locke Augustine. I just became a First Class Wizard Apprentice and Potionology assistant this year."
Angulo nodded. "I see. That's impressive. Essie and I have been First Class Wizard Apprentices for nearly ten years."
"But if we had been the ones targeted like that earlier, things would've gotten messy."
Locke said, "I was just lucky."
Also, Hussein had mistaken the effects of his two new Magic Plants for two he was familiar with, leading to a miscalculation.
Information itself is power.
Suddenly, Essie grew serious. "The Formal Wizards are coming. Our battle must have drawn their attention."
"We've made such a mess here. A scolding is unavoidable—let's just hope they don't make us pay for damages."
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