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Chapter 169: Flamme: I'm Very Curious
At this critical moment.
A pure white light, more dazzling than any of Flamme's previous spells, shot out from less than a meter away from her, arriving first despite being launched later, and flew directly into the monster's open maw.
Thump!!!
There was no violent explosion, only a jarring sound that made one's teeth ache.
The monster's enormous body stiffened abruptly in mid-air, and the light in its mouth instantly dissipated.
The next second, starting from its mouth, its entire head, along with half of its chest, silently annihilated.
The massive body, having lost its entire upper half, continued to surge forward for a few meters due to inertia, then crashed down not far in front of Flamme, kicking up a cloud of dust.
Flamme's heart almost stopped beating. She slowly turned her head.
Kurtz stood beside her, slowly lowering his raised finger.
A trace of pure white magical light, still lingering on his fingertip, seemed to send shivers down her spine, but the light vanished in an instant, as if it had been merely an illusion.
"Don't be afraid! No matter what, I am right here beside you."
His words carried a strange penetrative power, instantly dispelling all of Flamme's fear.
"Master Kurtz!" Flamme's voice trembled with the relief of having escaped a close call, and tears welled up.
An immense sense of gratitude and a more complex dependence emerged in her.
"Th-Thank you! Teacher Kurtz."
She was incoherent, almost instinctively taking a step forward and grabbing Kurtz's sleeve for support.
After all, Flamme was still an underage human girl, and it was understandable for her to be scared in such a situation.
Kurtz naturally understood this; he gently patted Flamme's shoulder: "No need to thank me, Flamme. It is also a teacher's responsibility to protect his disciple."
However, this brief moment of warmth was instantly shattered by a cold voice.
"Responsibility?"
Serie had arrived not far from the two of them at some unknown point.
The magic lingering around her had not completely subsided, and her piercing gaze made Flamme's already calm heart uneasy once again.
Even the small hand clutching Kurtz's clothes tightened a bit.
"If you can't even handle this much difficulty, then this so-called responsibility is meaningless!"
Flamme's body stiffened. Her smile froze on her face, then was replaced by shame.
She lowered her head, not daring to meet Serie's gaze.
Serie's gaze swept over the giant monster remains on the ground, then coldly fixed on Flamme: "I taught you that a single magic shield cannot withstand this kind of monster."
Her tone carried undisguised disappointment. "Why didn't you create more layers of magic shields? Why didn't you use magic to interrupt its attack? Standing still was simply utterly foolish!"
Every word added to the shame on Flamme's face. Yes, she panicked. Completely lost her composure.
Before, she had kept her distance, constantly ambushing those monsters, so she hadn't felt how terrifying they were.
But once she was targeted by the opponent, facing that dark aura up close, all her magic and adaptability vanished without a trace, leaving only instinctive defense.
If it weren't for Teacher Kurtz...
"I was wrong, Teacher Serie." Flamme's voice was very soft, tinged with shame and self-reproach. "I was—too scared at the time. I'm sorry."
"Fear is an excuse for the weak." Serie's tone did not soften in the slightest.
"On the battlefield, fear will only make you die faster. What you need is calmness. Your ability is enough to cast instant spells faster than it, but you panicked and became unconfident in your magic, thus not doing so."
Seeing that Serie seemed about to continue her stern criticism, Kurtz stepped forward at the opportune moment, shielding Flamme.
"Alright, Serie. For her first experience with this intensity of life-and-death combat, Flamme's performance has already far surpassed most mages. As for the final panic, it's a normal human reaction and requires the accumulation of experience."
Flamme hadn't even killed a single monster; for this period, the two of them had protected her too well, to the point where she hadn't had any actual combat experience.
It might also be related to the fact that after rescuing Flamme, Serie had completely cleared out all the monsters and demon races within dozens of miles.
In any case, this was Flamme's first real combat, and it was such a large-scale battle.
In Kurtz's opinion, Flamme's performance was already quite good.
"Moreover, I believe that when you just took action to clear out the monsters surging towards the breach, you weren't entirely calm either, were you?" He hinted with a pointed glance at the large crater blasted out by Serie in the distance.
He had naturally seen the elf miss riding across the battlefield, with a smile on her face.
She and Flamme were two extremes.
The latter panicked when facing the monsters directly, while the former was so engrossed in the thrill of battle after a thousand years that she couldn't control herself.
So, in Kurtz's opinion, Serie also needed to remain calm.
After all, the real big boss hadn't appeared yet.
Serie's eyes flickered slightly, as if Kurtz had hit a nerve.
She snorted coldly, her gaze shifting from Flamme to the battlefield below, tacitly agreeing with Kurtz's words.
"I'll go clear out the remaining small fry. You two," she paused, her gaze sweeping over Kurtz and Flamme, finally resting on Flamme's tear-stained face, her tone still cold, but with less criticism, "stay here."
After speaking, without waiting for their response, her figure once again transformed into a streak of light and rushed towards the most densely populated area of monsters.
Wherever she passed, all monsters turned to ash, with astonishing efficiency.
Flamme watched Teacher Serie's retreating figure, and her taut nerves finally relaxed, letting out a long sigh of relief.
She secretly wiped away her tears, her gratitude towards Kurtz deepening.
It was him again, protecting her just in time when she was being severely reprimanded and felt utterly humiliated.
"It's alright now." Kurtz turned around. "Serie is just—um, quite strict. She has high expectations for you, so her demands are exceptionally harsh."
"I understand, Teacher Kurtz," Flamme said softly. "I didn't do well enough, and I disappointed Teacher Serie."
She tightened her grip on her magic staff. "I'll go help now—"
"No, Flamme." Kurtz stopped her from continuing to fight. "What you need now is rest, not to force yourself."
"But, Teacher, I can still—" Flamme wanted to say she could still endure.
"Your magic consumption is already near its limit." Kurtz's gaze seemed to see through her condition. "Forcibly overdrawing your magic will not benefit your future, and—" He looked downwards.
There, Serie's figure was like the eye of a storm.
Her figure weaved through the chaotic battlefield; wherever she went, bursts of bloody flowers erupted.
It seemed the elf miss had learned more interesting magic.
"Do you see? With Serie there, the outcome of this battle is already decided."
His tone was very calm, yet it contained immense trust in Serie's strength.
At this moment, standing before these monsters was Serie, a Great Mage who had lived for over a thousand years.
Flamme followed Kurtz's gaze, and shock once again surged in her heart.
Teacher Serie's power was terrifyingly strong.
[End of Chapter]