Chapter 1004: Moonlight Deer
The Henry Family seemed highly experienced in dealing with this kind of magical beast. As soon as they appeared, several mages would lure the Gale Wolf into a pre-set trap.
Once the Gale Wolf stepped into position, someone would immediately activate the barrier, trapping it inside.
Afterwards, Morgan Henry and Arno Henry would personally take action.
Morgan Henry specialized in dark magic, his forte being a barrage of Shadow Arrows—over a hundred at once, each arrow carrying potent corrosive energy. Individually, their power was modest, but together, they could relentlessly erode the Gale Wolf’s fur and defenses.
Combined with explosive Dark Orbs, the battered Gale Wolf quickly became covered in wounds.
Controlling the Wraith, Leon watched everything clearly. Morgan was a ninth-rank Title Archmage—his casting speed was fast, but all his spells were low-level, relying on the corrosive nature of dark magic for offense. His high-level spells took far too long to cast, and in real combat, this casting speed was a liability.
Recalling for a moment, Leon remembered that all the magical accessories Morgan wore were designed to boost his casting speed.
The other mage, Arno, surprised Leon. This guy was actually a water magic specialist. Normally, among the four elemental schools—earth, fire, water, and wind—water magic is mostly frost spells, and few people truly master pure water magic.
Most water spells are healing, and the offensive ones aren’t particularly strong. Water magic has always been considered the weakest of the four.
But in front of him, when Arno cast his spells, the sky was filled with torrential rain. The downpour grew heavier and heavier, lasting a full three minutes before transforming into water dragons that surged toward the Gale Wolf.
By five minutes in, thick torrents of water continuously battered the Gale Wolf, and by then, even it could barely withstand the assault.
At seven minutes, it was as if a hundred-meter-wide river crashed down from the sky, pinning the Gale Wolf to the ground, unable to lift its head. In the end, it was drowned and crushed beneath the flood.
Leon was a little surprised. Although water magic would eventually be developed into powerful spells in the future, with higher levels bringing greater power, and at Sky Rank, water spells could rival fire magic in large-scale warfare.
Over ten thousand years later, there would be a renowned legion of mages, all specializing in water magic. In battle, it was like fighting within the plane of water itself—their area of coverage far surpassed the all-fire mage legions.
Especially when the Endless Sea was being explored and conquered, water mages were even more sought after than frost mages. Any force hoping to profit from the Endless Sea offered the best recruitment benefits to water mages. That era marked the meteoric rise of water mages.
But in this era, seeing a mage specializing in pure water magic—and not just healing spells—was truly rare.
As long as Arno had enough time, or if the battlefield had abundant water sources and active water elements, his combat power could easily double. And his strength would keep growing with time, like a raging river descending from the heavens—unstoppable, relentless. Even a pseudo Sky Rank beast could be crushed to death, and ordinary ninth-rank Title Archmages couldn't hope to match that kind of force.
Through the Wraith’s careful observation, Leon noted that everything Arno carried was designed to enhance his mana reserves—even an artifact resembling an alchemical vortex, boosting his mana by at least fifty percent.
That fighting style consumed far more mana than an ordinary mage, but the setup was surprisingly efficient.
Morgan’s combat style was all about rapid spellcasting—constantly boosting his speed and spell count to establish suppression and buy time for Arno.
The other mages of the Henry Family fought the same way: relentless spellcasting for suppression, barely caring about mana consumption. Every spell was cast to give Arno more time. If Morgan and the others couldn’t kill the pseudo Sky Rank beast outright, then the longer the fight dragged on, the more it favored them. In the end, victory was inevitable.
Once the battle ended, Arno would immediately unleash a wave of shimmering water. Pale blue liquid enveloped everyone, and in just seconds, those with minor wounds were healed. Even the more seriously injured recovered fully within a minute and stepped out of the water spheres.
With plenty of potions, their spent mana was quickly replenished. In less than three minutes, the Gale Wolf’s Mana Crystal was harvested. The Henry Family’s mages froze the remaining corpse and packed it away, not bothering to dissect it on the spot.
The entire sequence was practiced and efficient—everyone knew their role. Once the fight was over and wounds were healed, they moved on without wasting a moment, continuing their hunt for the next magical beast.
Along the way, the Henry Family didn’t bother with large-scale resource harvesting. Only when they encountered something truly rare did they stop for a short while to collect it.
Leon kept the Wraith tracking the Henry Family, and the more he observed, the more certain he became: the number and density of pseudo Sky Rank beasts here was staggering—far more than in the world of Northrend. Within a few dozen kilometers, you could run into two of them.
The magical beasts here were easy to spot: huge in size, no demi-plane, level forty but lacking the combat power of true transcendent beasts. And most of their species shouldn’t even reach level twenty, yet here they all were, level forty transcendent beasts.
It was as if a low-level beast had suddenly become a level forty transcendent. Aside from the instinctual destructive energy spheres, which had some real power, their combat style was just like low-level beasts. None of them had awakened intelligence; compared to Sky Rank beasts, they were practically mindless.
Once he confirmed the Henry Family was specifically collecting these strange Mana Crystals, Leon started his own collection process—following the crystals’ guidance and killing every pseudo Sky Rank beast he encountered.
The facts confirmed Leon’s suspicions: these Mana Crystals were identical to the first one he’d obtained from the Crimson Flame Fox. Deep within each crystal, a powerful spatial force was hidden.
As Leon pressed forward, the frequency of encountering pseudo Sky Rank beasts increased. Before, he’d only find one every two days. After hunting six, he started running into one every single day.
A week later, on a barren cliffside, Leon and his companions hid quietly at the edge, peering down into a dense forest below. The forest stretched at least ten kilometers, and within it, three colossal deer—each sixty meters tall—roamed apart from one another.
The deer’s bodies were pure moonlight white, their skin covered in a faint glow. Countless luminous runes formed intricate patterns across their bodies, and from a distance, each one looked like a full moon.
Their antlers were over thirty meters long, branching like trees. Hanging from the branches were glowing orbs, each radiating a gentle light—but the magical energy they emitted was terrifying.
At the moment, all three deer had their heads lowered, grazing. With a single bite, they could shear off the crowns of giant trees tens of meters tall. The trees here were ancient, their trunks and branches as hard as refined iron, but to the deer, they were no tougher than grass. Even several kilometers away, you could hear the sound of iron being crushed in their jaws.
"These are Moonlight Deer. Under normal circumstances, they can only reach level twenty—their combat power isn’t impressive, but they’re incredibly fast. Back in the Nesser Dynasty, pureblood elves adored them, training them as mounts. The dynasty’s laws even forbade hunting wild Moonlight Deer.
Of course, that’s just the usual case. No one can say for sure about these ones. At the very least, normal Moonlight Deer don’t have so many energy orbs with such intense magical fluctuations hanging from their antlers. Merlin, should we take them out?"
Andefa floated in midair, peeking over the edge of the cliff like a thief, his eyes fixed on the leisurely grazing Moonlight Deer in the distance.
Leon’s brow furrowed slightly. The Moonlight Deer’s combat power was indeed weak, but their speed was unmatched. Yet these three were anything but ordinary.
The Moonlight Deer could devour the crown of a thirty or forty-meter-tall tree in a single bite. Yet, the tree didn’t die; under the glow from the deer’s antlers, it rapidly regrew its branches. Bare limbs sprouted leaves at an accelerated pace—dozens of times faster than normal.
What’s more, those moon-like orbs on their antlers consumed mana but only grew stronger, gathering even more magical energy.
"Master Merlin, this is a golden opportunity! It’s rare to see three of them together, and they’re not even that strong. Let’s take them all down!"
Shuban’s eyes widened, his lips licking eagerly. Moonlight Deer were nearly extinct in Northrend, prized for their delicious meat and purifying effects. Eating it could improve a mage’s constitution and purity, while warriors gained enhanced strength and cleaner battle energy.
The benefits were tremendous. Even someone as inexperienced as Shuban had heard of Moonlight Deer. With three this size, they’d be eating well for a long time…
Andefa and Shuban urged Leon to take out the Moonlight Deer, but the usually silent Reina objected.
"Moonlight Deer are rare, non-predatory magical beasts, but that doesn’t mean they’re weak. These three are all level forty. Even the weakest level forty is beyond us. Moonlight Deer are fiercely united—if threatened, they’ll never flee alone. The odds of us killing all three are slim, and the price could be steep."
None of the mage legion spoke. Kurum simply looked at Leon, his expression calm, clearly waiting for Leon’s decision.