Chapter Thirty-Two: The Fearsome Water Ghost

  According to the witch's records, the water ghost's power is only equivalent to that of a normal person, but it is very fast and agile in movement, unlike general undead creatures. Moreover, due to the characteristics of undead creatures, they have extremely strong defensive capabilities against knife cuts, sword stabs, fist strikes, etc. Therefore, when a normal person encounters a water ghost, unless they are extremely lucky, they basically have no chance of winning. Even formal knights and warriors who engage in one-on-one combat with water ghosts often end up failing and dying.

  However, since the water ghosts are extremely afraid of flames and positive energy, they can be completely restrained. As long as it is set up properly, fire can also be used to burn them to death.

  Of course, this is the case when encountering water ghosts on land or by the river. If encountered in the water, the water ghost's power, speed and agility will be greatly enhanced, and it can also use the environment to resist flames. Only sacred light and other positive energy attacks can still produce effects without being weakened.

  "I wasn't ready to go find it, but it came right to my doorstep. However, in unofficial magic, there's no such thing as flame and positive energy attacks! And this water ghost doesn't seem like an ordinary one, at least its power far surpasses!" As soon as Lucien saw the two pale flames dancing in the eyes of the water ghost, this bitter thought emerged in his mind.

  In the study of positive energy, mages have always been inferior to clerics. The positive energy attack magic "Holy Light Ray" in the first ring of magic is only at the level of informal divine magic, and there are only auxiliary magics such as light techniques in informal magic.

  In elemental magic, flames are the most violent and difficult to control, requiring a high level of skill from the magician. As such, there were almost no flame-based spells in formal magic, with the only exception being "Marie's Little Flame", which was created to help those apprentice magicians who had forgotten their tinderboxes and were unable to start a fire for warmth or hot food while out in the wilderness.

  The witch was collecting materials to prepare a kind of alchemy called "Blazing Fire Glue" in order to deal with the water ghost. When the time came, even in the water, the "Blazing Fire Glue" could burn for a while, enough to deal with several ordinary water ghosts.

  Lucien had just started learning magic for only one day, planning to quickly master the magic, slowly gather materials, and wait until the "Blazing Glue" was successfully brewed before finding an opportunity to go to the Beren River. However, now, without any preparation, Lucien encountered a "Variant" water ghost.

  "Plans don't change as fast as circumstances!"

  "Run away?"

  This was the thought that immediately appeared in Lucien's mind, but at this time, the variant water ghost had finished eating the gangster's brain and threw away the corpse. It suddenly jumped up and pounced on the cultist with a speed that almost left an afterimage.

  Although the cultist was originally a beggar and his body was not strong, he had only joined the cult for a few days and had not yet received the blessing of the "divine spirit" he believed in. When the water ghost grabbed him with both hands, he didn't even have time to stretch out his hand to block it, and was directly clawed open by the water ghost, his neck snapped.

  What an astonishing speed! What a terrifying power!

  Lucien's mind cooled down as soon as he saw this scene: "If nothing is done, just running away, it's possible that before escaping far, the mutated water ghost will pounce from behind."

  "Ah!" The cult beggar's painful cry rang out and then stopped abruptly.

  It wasn't the first time Lucien had faced such a perilous situation, and with his recent experiences, he managed to suppress his fear and apprehension, maintaining his focus on casting spells, calmly dismissing the idea of fleeing.

  "The water ghost is afraid of flames and positive energy, but it's just past midnight now, and there's still a long way to go before dawn."

  "But using flint to ignite the torch and attack, with this water ghost's speed and agility, I simply can't hit it!"

  "In informal magic, there is only 'Marie's small flame' fire spell, but it just produces a 5cm long ordinary flame on the fingertips, which also requires close combat to hit the water ghost, and I haven't even started analyzing and learning this magic yet."

  Lucien watched calmly as the water ghost licked up the brain matter and pounced on Scáth, thinking quickly and quietly of various methods before coldly dismissing each one.

  This is an excellent quality of a good miller!

  When Scare saw the cult beggar being caught and his skull opened, he seemed to have finally woken up from a nightmare. The extreme fear made him feel like there was something extra in his body, his heart beating extremely fast, thumping, thumping, thumping, instantly shaking off the influence of the "Fear Halo" caused by the mutated water ghost's innate ability, and recovering his strength, he ran forward on all fours from a limp on the ground.

  Unfortunately, the water ghost's speed was too fast, and Scare had only run two steps before being pounced on by the water ghost, who grabbed his feet.

  "The only magic I can use now is: 'Ring of Uncontrol', 'Stellar Eye', 'Mage's Hand', 'Prohibition of Light', 'Acid Splash', 'Frost Ray'."

  "The 'Out of Control' effect is still in place, and it's not much help against the Water Ghosts that are far faster and stronger than a normal person."

  "The Water Ghost has immunity to sleep-inducing effects, possesses dark vision, and is unable to use 'Stellar Eyes' or 'Seal of Light'."

  Lucien thought quickly and analyzed his own strength.

  The water ghost lifted Scáthach up with both hands, and a heart-pounding cracking sound suddenly rang out. Scáthach was directly torn in two, his heart, intestines, liver, and blood splashing onto the ground one after another. His mournful and painful wails echoed for a long time in the sewer.

  "'The Monk's Hand' combined with 'Ring of Uncontrol', may be useful against ordinary water ghosts, but this water ghost's power is too great."

  "'Acid Splash' and 'Frost Ray' are acid and ice magic, Water Ghost has a strong defense against them, and after my brief recovery, I can use at most two informal spells."

  "Wait, the casting material for 'Acid Splash' is sulfur, which is a flammable substance and a component of gunpowder. And 'Acid Splash' works by igniting the sulfur and compressing nearby water elements to manufacture acid."

  Lucien's brain spun rapidly as he calmly watched the Water Ghost lift up the half of Scáthach's body that contained her head, and with a powerful swipe of its now-empty hand, it scooped out her skull, its tongue darting out to lick up the white, quivering brain matter.

  Within a distance of nearly twenty meters, Lucien had already felt the "Fear Aura" of the Water Ghost, his heart racing, and he couldn't help but feel a sense of panic.

  However, Lucien forcibly maintained the state of spellcasting concentration and continued to analyze his already mastered "Acid Splash" magic, while his right hand grasped a ball of sulfur.

  "Can't we interrupt the magic right after it's ignited and send it out directly with spiritual power?"

  "A direct interruption, as described by the witch, would result in a backlash from the failed magic, which could thoroughly consume one's spiritual energy, lightly injuring the soul. In severe cases, it could even cause damage to the soul, with a certain possibility of becoming an idiot."

  Lucien quickly analyzed the magical structure, wanting to send out the last one, skip the middle part, and connect it with the front, his brain racing rapidly.

  Analyze, reconstruct, combine, re-analyze, re-reconstruct, and re-combine. Even if it's a structurally very simple apprentice-level magic, Lucien found it extremely difficult to barely combine in a short period of time.

  "This might barely work, but it's untested and likely has major flaws."

  About twenty meters away, the water ghost had finished eating Skar's brain and threw his body aside, running towards Lucien with that terrifying face full of rotting flesh, that foul smell, and that feeling of rising fear, all flashing before Lucien in slow motion, extremely clear.

  Lucien continued to watch the oncoming Water Ghost calmly, suppressing the panic and fear in his heart. The fine sulfur powder in his hand fell point by point, shimmering with a faint light under the fluorescent glow.

  At the same time, a brief, urgent and strange sound came out of Lucien's mouth, making everything around him seem eerie and quiet.

  The speed of the water ghost was extremely fast, in just one second, which was the time it took to finish reciting the incantation, it ran from a standstill to a place one meter in front of Lucien.

  At this time, Lucien had just changed the front part of the "Acid Splash" spell, and flames appeared.

  Lucien immediately forced himself to interrupt the spell, and then felt his brain and soul being heavily struck with an iron hammer, dizzy and confused, hot in his nostrils, and two streams of blood flowed out quickly.

  Can't continue with the spiritual power sending out flames anymore!

  But the Water Ghost's claws were already closing in on Lucien's head!

  Lucien understood that this was a crucial moment, seeing that he couldn't gather the spiritual force to send out the flames, so he suddenly released his control over the spiritual force, allowing the flames to expand on their own.

  In a slow-motion-like calmness, Lucien saw a pale blue flame wall suddenly appear in front of him, burning the water ghost that pounced on his face and also burning his own hand.

  The scorching pain allowed Lucien to barely shake off the dizziness, manipulating the still-effective "Ring of Uncontrol" transformation, causing the pale water ghost's hand to fall prematurely, while his own body became lighter, rolling sideways and backwards in a smooth motion.

  A ripping sound echoed through the air as Lucien's clothes were torn open, narrowly avoiding the Water Ghost's deadly grasp.

  Lucien rolled on the ground and hastily got up when he was about to approach the Dark River, looking towards the Water Ghost.

  The pale blue flame wall no longer maintained by Lucien's spiritual power has disappeared, but the water ghost is like a corpse oil, corpse amine, and it ignites instantly. At this time, it has become a human-shaped torch burning with pale green flames.

  It waved its hands wildly and did not pursue Lucien again, but stumbled towards the Dark River, intending to return to the water.

  Lucien, now spiritually exhausted and unable to cast magic, showed no signs of retreat. With a spirit full of adventure and determination, he picked up his dagger and charged at the water ghost. If he didn't take advantage of its current state and kill it, was he waiting for it to recover?!

  Flames were indeed the bane of the water ghost, as if even its powers were being burned away, moving extremely slowly, allowing Lucien to catch up and stab at its eye socket with his dagger.

  Those two pale flames left a deep impression on Lucien!

  Just as he stabbed, the Water Ghost's arm swung over, but Lucien was already prepared and his speed had slowed down a lot, so he barely dodged it and stabbed out with his dagger again.

  One, two... after a full five times, when the water ghost walked to the edge of the corridor, less than fifty centimeters away from the dark river, the pale flames in its eyes finally went out, and its body was burned empty, collapsing to the ground with a thud, without any movement.

  Lucien finally relaxed, panting heavily, and used his dagger to scoop out the Water Ghost's skull, holding it over the dark river to prevent its brain from being incinerated by the flames.

  Soon, the flames on the Yandao Road went out, and the water ghost turned into a ball of ash.

  But in this mass of gray, there was a bright and shiny thing reflecting fluorescent light.