The Discarded Son's Skill Market
Chapter 18: Sorceress

Chapter 18: Sorceress

Landon took a step back. "Assassins from the Order of Silence..." he whispered, in shock.

What was the Order of Silence doing here, attacking them? Where had the police officers and staff who had been outside the portal gone?

He felt danger at the back of his neck and jumped backward to protect himself. One of the assassins had attacked him.

His neck was slightly injured, so a trickle of blood flowed out just as he fell to the ground, next to Alice.

"No... we can’t win," he whispered, grabbing her by the arm. "Run!"

Alice frowned, and her skin trembled as he grabbed her.

She didn’t have time to think or react.

She sensed the danger, so she acted instinctively, thrusting her scepter forward as if it were a spear.

BOOM!

Suddenly, her scepter pierced the side of an assassin who had lunged at her. The impact created a magical explosion that sent them both flying backward.

Landon and the other assassins were baffled by what had just happened.

’!’ Zaid’s eyes flashed.

Alice was forced out of Landon’s grip by the force of the shove. Suddenly, her eyes were no longer passive or calm. They were no longer this woman’s typical beautiful yellowish eyes; instead, their color had changed.

A reddish flush spread across their faces, and a fierce look changed their expression. "Attack. We can win," she said coldly.

Speechless, Landon didn’t know what to do. Since when had this woman spoken with such confidence and authority?

The assassins realized there was a dangerous person there. Too dangerous. They couldn’t attack her directly, so they lunged at the person standing next to her.

"Shit!" Landon was caught off guard. He tried to defend himself as fast as he could, but he wasn’t faster than a fire spell that shot from the tip of Alice’s scepter and exploded against one of the assassins.

He was certainly no faster than Alice’s scepter, which swung horizontally to strike the other assassin, creating another magical explosion.

The force seemed to have increased severalfold, as the assassin was knocked back and felt a sharp pain in his eyes.

"She’s a sorceress!" exclaimed one of the assassins, completely shocked.

He wasn’t the only one.

John, Robert, Zaid, Landon... they all looked at her.

’A sorceress? She knows magic!’ The redundancy took hold of Zaid’s mind. Not even he had expected something like that.

The Awakened are not magical beings, even though they use magical energy. Their talents are abilities, not magic.

However, there is a power that cannot be learned through Talents, called Mana Manipulation—or, simply put, "Magic."

It does not depend on "Talent," as it is known in the world of hunters. It depends on a person’s ability to manipulate an invisible force that exists in the world and is considered older than the hunters’ Magical Essences: mana.

Before the hunters appeared, its existence was unknown, but the first hunters were all experienced mages. Not because they had recently become mages, but because they had been mages for hundreds of years.

Magical practices had long been passed down through ancient families.

However, as portals become more widespread, there are fewer and fewer mages. And it’s hard to come across one.

The fact that this quiet girl was one... left them in shock.

"Do I need to say it again?! Attack!" Alice roared.

Even her personality had changed... Landon swallowed hard, but he obeyed her.

Meanwhile, Zaid watched the battle intently, as this girl’s talents shone brightly in his system.

[Duality of the Sleeping Beast – Soul Talent – Rank C]

| Effect: The talent has two states linked to Alice’s nervous system:

| "Rest" State (Passive): Her mind accumulates anxiety every time she feels fear, emotional pressure, or an emotional burden, which her body interprets as an energy burden.

| "Beast Mode" State (Active): Upon entering combat, Alice instantly releases all the energy she has accumulated while at Rest. This heightens her senses and reflexes to the extreme, suppressing her negative emotions and transforming her into a purely instinctive fighting machine. While in this state, she can channel spells through her limbs.

[Price: 20,000 ME.]

[]

’At first, I thought they weren’t magic spells, but apparently they are... This talent allows her to channel real spells.’ he thought, impressed.

The problem was that it cost twice as much as a standard C-Rank talent.

However, there was still another talent.

[Mana Projection – Spirit Talent – C-Rank]

| Effect: Any physical strike carries a condensed mana charge that explodes upon contact.

| Function: When entering "Beast Mode," you can cast or channel spells through your physical or ranged attacks.

[Price: 10,000 ME]

[]

’Talents that interact with each other. If I want one, I have to buy the other. Luckily, this one is only worth 10,000,’ he thought.

However, he now understood why she had been placed in the F-Class and not higher. They had evaluated her in her "Rest" or "Passive" state. Naturally, her ability was much lower then.

’Maybe she herself doesn’t want anyone to know about this talent.’

His field of vision had to shift from the talents to the battlefield in front of him.

Alice had cast a variety of powerful spells. Furthermore, every time someone tried to approach her, they were hit by a burst of mana that sent them flying with an explosion.

"This woman is fierce!" Landon was even more excited than she was and couldn’t take his eyes off her.

It was amazing to watch her fight!

She was a Fighting Goddess!

They both fought so well that the assassins had no choice but to retreat.

Alice ran after them along with Landon.

Just then, Zaid was attacked from behind. A couple of goblins managed to break free from Robert’s grip.

"Agh." Zaid groaned in pain and staggered to the side.

"Watch out, more are coming!" John felt desperate.

There were too many beasts for him to handle alone.

At that moment, Alice stopped dead in her tracks and looked behind her.

Zaid was surrounded by three goblins.

’Damn, I let my guard down while watching the fight.’ Zaid brought a hand to his side. There was a fairly deep wound there. Fortunately, the attack hadn’t pierced his flesh.

’Will I have to increase my strength a little more?’ he thought, watching carefully, waiting for the right moment to react.

His senses were on high alert.

But what he suddenly felt wasn’t the movement of his enemies, but an intense heat from behind.

Suddenly, right before his eyes, a fireball descended and struck, taking out two goblins.

At the same time, Alice appeared on the other side and delivered a powerful blow to the back of the remaining goblin’s neck, creating a magical explosion that sent him flying.

"Now!" she roared.

Landon, who was standing a little ways away, sighed. He didn’t want to go saving some guy who was just a burden while the assassins were making their escape, but he had to. He leaped in behind her and began attacking the three wounded goblins. Between the two of them, they finished them off.

Alice ran over to Zaid. "Are you okay?" she asked. Despite the strange, fierce expression on her face, she seemed concerned.

Zaid nodded. "I’m fine. Just a scratch—I’ll bandage it up," he said, glancing toward the other side of the battle. "Beasts are coming," he said.

Alice looked him over from head to toe several times, and after making sure he really wasn’t hurt, she nodded.

She looked in the direction the assassins had fled, but she couldn’t chase after them. They all began attacking the goblins together. Even Zaid struck a few of them.