I am the Enchantress!

Wilder squeezed through the crowd and sat down opposite Talia.

She should have been back for a while; the plates on the table were almost empty, and the meal was being finished.

Her appetite was especially good today.

We ordered three main dishes: charcoal-grilled pork ribs, herb-roasted chicken, and pan-fried beef sausages, and we didn't miss any of the side dishes either.

This amount of food is almost three times his usual amount.

It was only after Wilder had been sitting down for a while that Talia noticed someone else sitting opposite her while she was enjoying her meal.

"Wild, you're back."

She looked up, blinked her pale blue eyes, and her expression remained largely unchanged.

"Yeah, just got back." Wilder nodded. "How did your mission go today?"

"It's not going well."

She slightly pursed her lips.

"Fewer samples were collected than usual?"

Wilder was somewhat surprised. Given Italia's personality, if she didn't collect enough, she would probably keep collecting until much later.

She shook her head again: "I didn't collect any today."

Not a single one?

"Yes." She nodded, saying confidently, "They're all gone."

"Did you see the forest on fire?" Wilder pressed.

She paused for a moment, then asked, "You saw it?"

"Yes, did you see it in area A.19, the area you surveyed?"

"no."

Talia shook her head quickly. "I was already gone by then."

She then lowered her head and continued to put food in her mouth.

Wilder mentally went over what had happened.

Talia didn't find any of the plants she needed to collect in the mission area, so she turned back immediately, perfectly avoiding the fire.

Reasonable.

This was the third time that dragon breath had appeared at her mission location, and she had managed to avoid it all three times.

"Well……"

I don't know whether to call her unlucky or lucky.

Seeing that Wilder was no longer asking about the fire, Talia raised her head and slowly spoke:

"How did your mission go?"

"Successfully." Wilder nodded. "A burrowing worm was hunted down in less than a minute."

"How much is the reward?" she asked curiously.

"There were twelve gold coins in total, and the three of us each took four."

"many."

She blinked enviously.

"That's not all."

Wilder felt a sense of relief. "Like I said, after the mission, we unexpectedly discovered a forest fire..."

The topic of conversation inevitably returned to the fire, and Talia lowered her head again.

"We reported this to the association, and they say they'll reward us with ten gold coins after verification," Wilder continued.

"What?!"

Talia suddenly looked up. "Ten gold coins!"

"A lot, right?" Wilder nodded. "I thought so too. I didn't expect a single piece of intelligence to be worth so much money."

"So... if the forest catches fire, I can get ten gold coins by telling the association?" Talia asked.

"Yes, that's how it is in theory."

Wilder nodded, realizing that Talia was quite interested in this reward.

But the problem is, forests are not so easy to start fires.

Moreover, the border forests are vast, so even if a fire breaks out in one place, the chances of encountering it are not high.

"Thank you, I understand."

Talia nodded seriously, looking thoughtful.

After dinner, the two went back to their respective rooms.

Wilder was exhausted after a long day and did nothing more. He didn't even bother to turn a couple of pages of that damned book, "The Relationship Between Alchemy and Spells," before going to bed early.

……

The next morning.

Wilder got up a little late, and when he arrived on the first floor of the hotel, Talia was just about to leave.

"Are you going to the association to pick up a mission?" he asked.

"Um!"

Although she gained nothing yesterday, she seems to be in high spirits today.

It felt like victory was within reach.

After saying goodbye, Wilder ate a simple breakfast by himself and then went out.

Adventurers, whose profession is so dangerous, should pay more attention to balancing work and rest. He didn't go to the guild today and planned to take a day off, so he wandered around the streets.

The town of Tiewen was lazy and pleasant in the morning.

The pub, which was open until midnight last night, was still closed. Through the window, you could see the staff wiping the tables and chairs.

On the other side, a blacksmith shop and a clothing store had just opened, and the two owners stood together smoking and chatting.

Several children ran through the middle of the street, chasing each other, hurrying to the town's school.

The bard sat on the steps, fiddling with his old lute, his lighthearted tunes becoming the perfect background music for the town.

Wilde wandered through the streets like a traveler, stopping and starting.

Finally, it stopped in front of the magic trading supplies store.

I'll take a look at the spell scrolls.

He pushed open the door and walked in. There weren't many people in the store yet. He went straight to the counter that specialized in magic scrolls.

He had already bought from her twice; the young sales clerk behind the counter seemed to remember him and asked with a smile:

"Hello, would you like to choose a reel?"

"Hmm, are there any members of the deception/control group?" Wilder replied.

"Is it still level two?"

"right."

"Hold on."

She turned around and rummaged through the cabinet, finally taking out three rolls of paper and placing them one by one on the counter.

"Eloquent speech" refers to the ability to increase others' trust in your words within a certain timeframe.

"【Immobilize Humanoid】: Immobilizes a humanoid creature within a designated area for two seconds."

"【Crazy Crown】Control a humanoid creature within range and make it launch an attack on a target you designate."

The shop assistant was clearly professionally trained and gave a very fluent presentation.

Wilder, however, stood there dumbfounded.

How strange...

The descriptions of the effects of the first two spells sound so familiar.

[Eloquent speech] seems to be a substitute for his specialty [actor].

The former aims to increase the credibility of the spellcaster's words, while the latter is even more exaggerated in its ability to always convince people.

【Stand still humanoid】 is a branch version of the 【Commands】 specialty.

The controlled object can only be humanoid creatures; reptiles like shark-lizard beasts and burrowing worms are not allowed, and the control time is reduced by one second.

However, these reductions are actually nothing.

These two spells and his specialty have another crucial difference, which is where the specialty truly has an absolute advantage.

"Excuse me……"

Wilder looked at the smiling shop assistant. "Do these spells need to have their structures outlined before being cast?"

The shop assistant blinked, seemingly surprised that he would ask such a question.

If Wilder hadn't come here twice to buy spells, she might have thought this rather handsome young man was a complete novice.

"Of course we need it."

She explained, "All spells must complete their corresponding spell structure before being cast, which usually takes between a few seconds and tens of seconds, depending on the individual."

Wilder's eyes lit up upon hearing this answer.

really!

These spells are no different from other spells we've learned before; preparation is required before casting them.

However, the abilities provided by the specialty are based on the Spirit Frame!

In other words, that's something even the high-ranking mage instructor, Hollen, couldn't do—

Instant cast!