His eyes were drawn upwards when he noticed that the cracks were spreading rapidly. There was no way his earth fortress would last much longer… Hell, it was a miracle that it even survived.

Silas cast a sinkhole spell while tapping the ground, sinking him a few meters underground. While he could have used this earlier to run away from the stone cannon, it would have been more of a temporary solution. With their excellent sense of smell, there was no way they would have fallen for that.

However, even though it wasn’t an effective method of hiding, it was a very effective method of running away. Of course, he couldn’t get very far with it, especially with the limited air supply. However, it was an excellent way for him to get the drop on the beasts and have the upper hand for once.

‘There’s no oxygen left…’ Silas thought as he suddenly felt dizzy.

Casting the spell “tunnel,” Silas burrowed through the earth with magic.

Eventually, he reached a few meters from his starting point, and dizziness set in. Opening an air vent would have pointed out his position to beasts with stronger noses.

On the other hand, his control over the air element and its tier 1 runes was not nearly good enough to create a current of air that would somehow keep his scent from reaching outside.

‘I swear to god, if I don’t somehow find a way to revamp these magic circles I might just end it all again.’ Silas thought half-jokingly while extending his hand out and creating an orange-red magic circle in front of him.

The beasts and monsters didn’t have enough time to react to his sudden appearance.

A sphere of flame appeared before his fingertips. It was as large as his body, but since he was still technically a 5-year-old, it wasn’t that big.

Suddenly, the sphere spun before compacting into a tennis-sized ball.

‘Fire bolts.’

*BANG*

The flame bolt ripped through the air and shot into a large crowd of monsters. Silas was running out of mana, and even though using a tier 2 spell of this caliber seemed stupid, it was a wise investment.

*BOOM*

The fire bolt exploded on impact, vaporizing all creatures under the garnet core. It also killed or severely injured all monsters in the dull and solid stages of the garnet core.

Sure, draining that onyx core earlier helped him create the earth fortress spell, but 80% of the mana used in that spell was his own. Comparing an onyx core to a pristine garnet core was like comparing coal to diamonds. Of course, it helped him cast the spell. However, draining the entire core was worth only ⅕ of a tier 3 spell. This was even when Silas reduced the amount of mana needed to create it.

As the effervescent flames and smoke from the explosion extinguished, Silas created an air blast spell behind him. This was to catapult him toward the mountain of ashes and corpses. Sure, the fire bolt spell barely scratched a titan like the earth bear, but the other beasts were no match.

For the first time since the beginning of the battle, Silas could see fear in the eyes of the beasts; however, they weren’t the ones he had to worry about anymore.

He thought of running away, but when he looked back, all he saw were winged beasts circling the battlefield. In addition, he saw dozens of monsters glaring at him from afar. This made it almost impossible for him to run away even if he tried.

Landing in the middle of the beast graveyard, Silas glanced around before closing his eyes.

‘One and a half seconds until they move again.’ He thought and felt the mana around him.

His mind quickly highlighted all the mana signatures around him. These included the leaking mana crystals on the ground that were almost completely shattered in the explosion, to the ones still inside the mangled bodies of the beasts nearby.

Silas breathed in and felt the energies of the mana crystals around him react to his cultivation technique.

All mana crystals within a 2-meter radius glowed slightly. As Silas breathed in, the mana within those crystals moved toward him. They slowly coursed through his body, but instead of breaking down impurities inside his mana core, they simply filled it. This influx of mana empowered Silas, making him feel like the exhaustion that had weighed him down this entire time was slowly disappearing.

Suddenly, a loud bang shot through the forest and rattled the leaves.

Silas heard the bear create and shoot its earth cannon spell. However, instead of dodging like he usually does, Silas lifted his hand and created a spell of his own.

A torrent of water in the shape of a drill shot out of his magic circle and slammed into the incoming earth cannon. Silas knew that while he might have been able to create an earth cannon spell just as strong as the bear’s, it would have taken a larger percentage of his mana than the bear’s. So, he used a water drill instead.

It was basic physics. The smaller the surface area at the point of contact, the more damage will occur.

*BOOM*

The water drill and earth cannon clashed, yet no party won. Yet, after seeing what had happened, Silas could not help but grin. Before, even a wind bullet could not break through the earth cannon or slow it down. However, for some reason, a simple tier 2 spell could crumble the earth cannon with moderate ease.

‘Is my magic getting stronger too?’ Silas thought.

Suddenly, a layer of mist covered the battlefield.

‘Shit… A mistwalker.’ Silas cursed.

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