Ch. 36 - Bardic Inspiration?

"Fire gel, fire gel... found it!"

The roaring and screeching sounds continued unabated in Tang Qi's ears.

The trolls' strength was immeasurable, but their massive size made their movements relatively sluggish.

Explosivewolf's mercenary company was also seasoned battlefield veterans. Apart from the mercenary who had been knocked flying early on due to a careless dodge—

They cooperated in formation, splitting into three groups. While keeping the goblin skirmishers in check, they first surrounded and killed one of the trolls.

After casting Longstrider and Grease, Starshine then immediately spread a milky-white sticky spider web in the forest grove to better assist the mercenaries in exterminating the trolls. He hung it from the treetops, trapping a troll on the adhesive webbing.

When Explosivewolf severed the head of one of the trolls, the mercenaries promptly threw fire gel and ignited the interwoven webbing.

Flames climbed along the spider web, burning toward the troll's neck, turning its pulsating tumor-covered wound into charcoal.

The dead troll had no head—they couldn't even hear its wails.

When he no longer needed to maintain concentration on the Web spell, Starshine finally used a Fog Cloud to sweep white mist through the forest grove.

The goblins' line of sight was thereby obscured, and their arrows no longer had clear targets.

This divided the battlefield into two separate fighting grounds for the mercenaries' extermination, relieving much of the pressure.

"Well done, Starshine!"

Explosivewolf couldn't help but praise.

Being able to invite this spellcaster along was one of the few strokes of luck in this commission.

There was a good reason this young man had leapt to prominence as a rising "star" among adventurers—

As a mercenary captain who had participated in the southern defensive campaign and truly crossed blades with orcs, Explosivewolf had cooperated with many spellcasters before.

Unless they were high-level archmages who possessed earth-shattering forbidden arts that could summon meteors from beyond the heavens onto the battlefield—

A battlefield mage's responsibility should be to provide the army with more advantages and opportunities.

But obviously, he couldn't demand that those spellcasters—who mostly researched academics and studied ancient texts in their ivory towers—maintain even the most basic judgment of the current battle situation.

Having the wisdom to parse formulas and study spells was one kind of talent.

Having the battlefield instinct to take in the whole situation and adapt to local conditions was another kind of talent.

For adventurers and mercenaries who frequently found themselves in perilous situations, they much preferred the latter.

"Cut the chatter and hurry up and finish off these remnants!"

Praise couldn't replenish Starshine's depleted mental energy, so it was meaningless.

In this brief engagement, he didn't believe anyone was more exhausted than himself—

The goblins weren't idiots either. How could they possibly allow a mage to manipulate the battlefield situation without any pressure?

Besides the several spells supporting the battlefield, he even had to dodge arrows shot at him.

Even though he'd evaded most of them, he still had to use a Shield spell to create a force field shield for himself to deflect one.

He had four first-level spell slots, one second-level spell slot.

The successive expenditures gradually left Starshine feeling overwhelmed.

His current state could only support him casting the one remaining second-level spell.

Although he could still endure the headache for now and throw out a few cantrips to muddy the waters while running around the battlefield—

He really needed a good rest—

"One's dead, the other is on its last legs, and the remaining goblins aren't worth worrying about.

As for the last one..."

His gaze flickered. He'd actually noticed the skirmish on the side of the camp early on.

It even gave him some peace of mind.

As long as a troll didn't charge out from the flank and interrupt his spellcasting, this battle could end safely.

He'd never deny Black Snake's capabilities—

Anyone who could walk out of the Great Wasteland couldn't be too bad.

But Black Snake was increasingly feeling the strain.

He had first dealt with several goblins firing from concealment and now relied on agile footwork, seemingly dancing around the troll's feet and fighting it back and forth...

But the iron chisel in his hand couldn't inflict any real damage on his opponent.

Even though he'd already blinded four of the troll's eyes—

Those were practically the softest organs exposed on its skin.

The eye sockets, which had now sprouted eight pitch-black pupils, seemed to mock his wasted efforts.

Black Snake wasn't a construct—he couldn't keep exhausting his stamina like this:

"Damn it, I told them to get me a blade, why are they so fucking slow..."

He tucked the chisel into his boot. What he held now was a rusty goblin short- blade.

But short weapons were barely adequate for him.

If he'd been wielding any handy weapon at all, he wouldn't have been this exhausted.

"The key's here!"

Tang Qi's shout finally lifted his spirits. He yanked the short blade firmly from the troll's throat, then leapt up and caught the thrown key.

By the time he landed, the shackles on his hands had already been thrown to the ground:

"Where's my blade?"

"It's in that mage's tent. I sent Kuru to look for it."

"Where the hell is he!?"

"Kuru, Kuru—"

The shouts grew distant, but the kobold's figure still hadn't emerged from the fog.

Black Snake gritted his teeth, understanding what had happened:

"Fuck, did that kobold run off in the chaos!?"

Considering kobold nature, this was all too normal.

Before he'd finished speaking, a club swept horizontally toward him.

He leaned backward, his waist flexible as a snake's. As the cudgel swept past his navel, he pushed off with both hands and kicked one of the troll's heads on the chin.

While airborne, he twisted his waist, and the short blade struck true in the other head's crown—

"Get back!"

Hearing Tang Qi's shout, Black Snake instinctively chose to trust him.

His boot stomped on the troll's chest and kicked hard. It didn't budge the roaring troll an inch, but it let him pull back several body-lengths.

As he retreated, a glass bottle filled with amber gel was thrown at the troll's crown.

"ROAR!"

The two-headed troll instinctively swung its club to smash it, but the solution inside erupted in a burst of flame the instant it touched the air!

The solution splattered on its forehead and arms ignited with a "whoosh," directly climbing up its entire body.

"Pain, PAIN!!!"

Only then did the two heads change from their previous ferocity, their heavy roars like wails.

Black Snake's sharp eyes gleamed with savage light as he hurled the short blade.

It flashed silver, tracing a snow-white arc through the dim night sky.

Both trolls and goblins possessed the ability to see in darkness.

But it was still slapping at the flames on its body—

The short blade pierced straight through one of its skulls!

"Bard, sing something!"

Black Snake remembered Tang Qi's identity as a wandering bard.

Since the kobold had chosen to flee, he couldn't afford to care about much else now and instinctively barked the order.

Tang Qi froze, then understood—this Black Snake seemed to be expecting him to cast a spell.

He swept his hand across the strings. After a crisp "twang," Black Snake charged like a ghost to the troll's front, and a rich baritone suddenly rang in his ears:

"I'll bury you on the high, high mountain.

Ah, farewell my friend, farewell, farewell—

When tomorrow morning comes and I wake from dreams, I'll plant beautiful flowers for you!"

"What the fuck!?"

Black Snake's foot slipped and he nearly spat out the ale in his stomach.

The expected enhancement didn't transmit through the music. He could only yank out the short blade and roll to dodge the troll's sideways swing of its massive club.

After pulling back some distance, he finally couldn't help but curse:

"What the hell are you singing? A funeral dirge?

Have I pissed you off that many times? You trying to send me off, is that it!?"

Tang Qi stopped playing and asked hesitantly:

"Didn't you feel, in that instant just now, a surge of inexhaustible strength?"

Hearing Tang Qi's earnest inquiry actually made Black Snake less confident.

Reviewing the moment he'd heard that ballad, he did seem to feel somewhat excited... like his blood was boiling?

But Tang Qi understood—Black Snake needn't doubt himself at all—

Though he counted as one of the few bards on this continent capable of spellcasting—

He really didn't know yet how to use music's magic to inspire others and uplift hearts.

So he could only choose an immature method—

When a person feels pain or anger, their body secretes a hormone.

It causes their heartbeat to quicken and blood to flow faster, producing more energy.

On this continent, there might not yet be an appropriate name for it.

But scientifically speaking, it's called adrenaline.

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