Elite Mages’ Academy (Web Novel)
chapter-218

Chapter 218: Landfall (2)

As an amphibious humanoid creature, merfolks looked like they had a fish’s head but a human’s body. They had large, yellow eyes, and skin that was covered in mucus and seaweed. Their large mouths were full of yellow and sharp teeth, and some unknown liquid seemed to be dripping from the corner of their mouths. They had small and muscular limbs. Thanks to the fact that their bodies had scales that were quite hard, they did not wear any armor, and only had weapons.

The merfolk race was extremely weak, and they initially had no way to produce their own weapons. They tended to use bones as their weapons, and even when they had better weapons, they were likely salvaged from sunken ships. However, ever since the orcs started to provide them with resources, the relative power of the merfolks started to rise.

All twelve classes, making up a total of eighty to ninety landing crafts, managed to silently close the distance to the beach at dawn. Xiao Lin had been worried that their enemies would start to launch long range attacks at them on the way, but it had been abnormally quiet throughout, so much so that he could not help but get suspicious.

According to the reports, it was supposed to be the largest supply depot for the orcish brigade. The supplies that were sent out from the depot comprised two-thirds of their whole supply chain. How could such an important location be so loosely protected?

However, he did not have too much time to deliberate. As they approached the shore, they suddenly heard a loud shout from atop the hill. Xiao Lin could not make out what language it was; it could have been either orcish or mermish, but that did not matter. Following that shout, other shouts could be heard throughout the shore.

The magical scroll that the captain gave to Xiao Lin was still in effect, so with his enhanced vision, he noticed there were suddenly a lot more merfolk on the beach. God knew where those ugly things came out from, but it was obvious they had been noticed.

Woosh! Woosh! Woosh!

A flurry of sounds was suddenly heard in the skies as a rain of arrows suddenly descended upon them. Following that, cries of misery could be heard among their ships, followed by splashes. It was not clear how many people had been shot into the seas.

It was not the time for hesitation; staying idle on the boats would just make them sitting ducks. Thanks to his enhanced vision, he determined that the majority of the arrows came from atop the hill.

Xiao Lin used his hand to try and gauge how deep the waters were. They were still a few dozen meters away from shore, but he immediately shouted, “The water isn’t too deep here, everyone get down and charge for the shore!”

Immediately after saying that, he led the way by jumping in first. The cool water only reached his knees, but it was not the time to be fixated on the water temperature. Xiao Lin did not have any shields on him, nor was he sure if his armor could withstand the barrage of arrows.

Xiao Lin summoned all his strength and started to charge forward, his sword dancing around him. With his current level in Blocking, he was able to deflect some arrows away.

After jumping off the boat, everyone spread out and drew their weapons, greatly decreasing the chances that they would be hit. When the other classes saw what Class Seven was doing, they quickly dropped their hesitation and followed suit.

The amphibious assault was finally beginning.

A few hundred of them started to charge toward the shore, braving the arrow storm. At that time, the nearby warships finally started their attacks. Even as Xiao Lin’s focus was on the shore, he turned around to look toward the warships. That was when he noticed streams of fire soar toward the air, landing on top of the hill, causing numerous explosions to be heard.

Everyone shouted and rallied, and Xiao Lin could clearly see that those flaming objects were not artileries, but a large arrow, probably fired by something like a ballista, accompanied with the magic of Planet Norma. That was probably the main means of attack from the warships.

The attack had tremendous impact, but seemed to require a long time to charge up. Xiao Lin noticed that, after they fired the first shot, the ship they had boarded was quiet for a long time. However, they had a great number of other warships firing as well, and the hill was quickly engulfed in flames.

With the long-range assault suppressed, their charge became much easier. After a few minutes, they finally engaged the merfolk on the beach. That was not their first battle, but some of the students could not help but be frightened. The merfolk looked extremely fierce, and charged at them with weapons in hand while shouting in mermish.

The merfolk mainly used blunt weapons, such as barbed staves or hammers. They were very agile, which was expected, since Professor Dai had drilled the fact into their minds, but they were not particularly strong.

Xiao Lin was at the helm of the charge, and finally encountered his first opponent. It was a merfolk that was only half as tall as he was. The merfolk was speaking in a language he did not understand, but was still incredibly annoying to listen to. Xiao Lin did not want to get careless, so he immediately used the full extent of his Phantom Steps, using his complicated footwork to completely evade the merfolk’s attack.

The merfolk was immediately forced off balance, almost falling down as Xiao Lin stabbed his Holy Soul Sword right down its back. Xiao Lin was worried about the defensive properties of the merfolk’s scales, but his blade was a lot sharper than he had thought, and he pierced through the merfolk like butter.

The merfolk was not stupid, and managed try and avoid his strike, so the blade did not pierce its heart, missing just by a little as red and greenish fluids started to gush out of its body.

However, the merfolk did not lose all its strength as it suddenly latched its claws tightly onto Xiao Lin’s blade. It suddenly lunged backward toward Xiao Lin, aiming its spiky scales at him.

Merfolks were not intelligent, but it did not mean they possessed no intelligence at all. It was obvious his opponent knew how to utilize its body in a fight.

Xiao Lin did indeed get hit, but his Warbear Leather Armor definitely deserved its Bronze-rank as all Xiao Lin felt was a prickling sensation. However, he was agitated and angry, so he gripped the hilt of his sword tightly as he converted all his other attributes into strength, raising his foot and sending the merfolk flying with a kick. The creature shot through the air like a bullet, flying for a few dozen meters before forming a crater in the sand.

Despite the intensity of the battle, everyone else suddenly looked toward Xiao Lin in shock.