How come this arcanist is invincible?

Chapter 85 Fighting the Carrion Crawler Alone

"These giant rats are incredibly prolific," he sighed, shaking his head.

The dark, damp sewers and abundant food allow the giant rats to reproduce year-round; a single pair of giant rats can produce more than fifty offspring in a year.

If left unchecked, they could form a population of thousands within three years.

Therefore, the Night's Watch, the city guards, and even the Lanternmen have a long-standing task of cleaning up the giant rats in the sewers.

Kane frowned slightly after checking the experience bar.

"I killed more than forty of them, but only gained a third of the experience... The level penalty is too much, but at least there are enough of them."

Having recovered his strength and injuries thanks to his immortality, Kane continued his journey deeper into the sewers of the Third District.

The pipes in the third district were even older and deeper, the walls covered with moss and cracks, and the air carried a stench of rotting flesh.

He was not surprised, as the expansion of the war-torn city of Shantar was a gradual process that began in the first three districts and continued outwards.

The history of the first three districts can even be traced back to the time when the Underdark invaded the continent; the older it is, the more dangerous it often is...

Suddenly, he stopped in his tracks.

Because the Water Manipulation technique suddenly sensed something unusual coming from the ceiling, a slimy creature was rapidly approaching using its spider-like movement ability, emanating a corrosive, slimy odor.

"Carrion crawlers?"

Kane sensed the size of the other creature—it was only 8 feet long, a size smaller than the one he had encountered before.

"It seems we've trespassed into its territory."

He deliberately slowed his breathing, letting the other party approach, intending to wait until it entered his attack range before making a move.

hiss--!

A sharp screech pierced the silence as the carrion crawler leaped down from the ceiling, its eight slimy tentacles wrapping around Kane's limbs and torso like a hunting net.

Kane reacted swiftly, slashing horizontally with his scimitar. The blade grazed the crawler's tough skin, leaving a shallow bloodstain.

Before he could exert any more force, two tentacles had already wrapped around his right arm.

The icy venom pierced the flesh along the tentacles, and a tingling, numbing sensation instantly spread to the fingertips, only to quickly dissipate due to the immortality effect.

Seeing that he didn't move, the carrion crawler assumed the venom was taking effect and suddenly pulled him toward its mouthparts, preparing to chew and swallow him.

Just as the two were extremely close, Kane suddenly erupted, his blood circulated at its maximum speed, and his arm burst forth with astonishing power, forcefully breaking free of the binding tentacles.

He seized the crawler's slimy body, plunged his left hand into its rotting muscles, and began hacking wildly with his scimitar.

Tentacles broke off one after another, splattering dark green blood that dripped into the sewage, creating tiny bubbles.

The carrion crawler let out a painful roar, and its remaining tentacles frantically pounded Kane's back, tearing his black robes to shreds and leaving his flesh and skin covered in blood.

But to its horror, Kane's wounds healed instantly, as if he had never been injured.

Kane held onto its body tightly, ignoring the tentacles' thrashing, and continued to slash with his scimitar until all the crawler's tentacles broke off and it lost the ability to struggle.

A man and a monster fell from the ceiling and plunged into the murky sewage.

The water resistance weakened the power of the scimitar, while the crawler's body became stickier and more resistant to cutting due to the water. It finally became completely terrified and struggled to escape into the depths of the waterway.

"Trying to escape?"

Kane quickened his pace, his left hand plunging the dagger deep into the crawler's body, gripping it tightly, while his right hand, wielding a scimitar, slashed repeatedly at its vital points.

The sounds of splashing water, the monster's howls, and the muffled thuds of knives cutting through flesh mingled together, chilling all the lurking creatures in the vicinity.

After slashing countless times, Kane finally stopped, looked at the crawler's corpse floating on the water, and slowly breathed a sigh of relief.

The experience points jumping on the panel brought a look of joy to his face.

This carrion crawler had more than twice the experience of the previous group of giant rats.

To his even greater surprise, a notification popped up quietly:

[Hint: Your Susas Scimitar skill mastery has reached 100%, advancing to level 10]

[You have acquired the trait "Cutting Blade Expert"].

The Curved Blade Expert trait represents the ultimate recognition of skill proficiency.

Once this trait is unlocked, his speed in learning any scimitar technique will be greatly increased, and his damage and accuracy when using a scimitar will also be boosted.

"Once we've dealt with the War City, we can go to Susas to look for the original version of this scimitar technique."

Kane had a fleeting thought, but then suppressed it.

Right now, stopping the demonic experiments on the drow descendants is the top priority.

Judging that it was getting late, Kane cleaned off the dirt and bloodstains on his body and quietly left the sewer.

The following morning, Kane, dressed in his Night's Watch uniform, took a carriage to headquarters.

As he arrived in the fifth district, the solemn atmosphere in the air made his heart sink.

The streets were lined with soldiers in armor, and a long queue stretched out in front of them.

Most of them were ordinary people with blank expressions, and a few were low-level adventurers carrying weapons.

At the front of the procession, several conscription officers held rosters, and on the propaganda board beside them were conscription notices written in bold black characters and pictures of soldiers in armor fighting.

"The army has started recruiting reservists; this is an expansion of the army."

Kane frowned, already understanding the situation.

The purpose of expanding the army was to capture drow descendants on a large scale and use them as test subjects for the Stigmata Ritual in preparation for the formation of the demon legion.

The carriage moved slowly forward. Suddenly, the coachman turned around, his gaze falling on the Night's Watch insignia on Kane's chest, and asked respectfully:

"My Lord Night's Watch, may I ask you a question?"

"Go ahead," Kane nodded.

The driver tightened his grip on the reins, his voice tinged with apprehension: "Is... war about to break out?"

Kane looked at the gray hair at his temples and the wrinkles on his face, and said calmly:

"It's not really a war, just a routine sweep targeting the descendants of the Drow, a standard operation."

The driver shook his head, his tone filled with doubt:

"But in previous years, the sweeps never required such a large-scale recruitment of soldiers; the standing city guards were enough."

Those descendants of the Zhuoer were, in the end, nothing more than scattered, disorganized soldiers.

The phrase "scattered soldiers" filled Kane with a sense of melancholy.

The Drow elves, who swept across the continent a thousand years ago, were slaughtered by the human alliance. The remaining forces were forced to intermarry with other races, thus giving rise to the Drow descendants we know today.

As time passed, for the ordinary citizens of the war-torn city, the threat posed by the Drow descendants was no longer as real as the taxes to be paid tomorrow or the hunger and cold of winter.

"Sir?" the coachman called softly when he saw him remain silent.

Kane came to his senses, but instead of revealing the truth, he simply said:

"This is a necessary preparation for the peace of Nord."

The driver nodded as if he understood, hesitated for a moment, and then tentatively asked:

"So, what do you think... is it feasible for me to send my two sons to join the army?"

Kane looked at the coachman—the man was about fifty years old, with a hunched back, clearly the result of years of hard work.

"War kills people, have you thought this through?"

The driver gave a wry smile, his tone full of helplessness:

"Sir, I am employed by the Chamber of Commerce. Most of the money I earn driving a horse-drawn carriage goes to commissions, so I live a very frugal life."

The two sons are already adults, but they don't even have a house of their own. If this continues, they may have to move from the sixth district to the even more dilapidated seventh district.

Joining the army is the only way out; at least you can earn military merits and receive a salary, and if you're lucky, you might even be allocated housing.

And since they're just reserves, they shouldn't be in too much danger, right?

Kane remained silent.

He knew all too well this situation—for the lower classes of Nord, the channels for upward mobility were desperately narrow.

Just as aspiring sorcerers are willing to take unknown potions to challenge a formal spellcaster, commoners can only break free from the shackles of the lower class by joining the army and earning military merit.

He couldn't tell the driver what kind of darkness lay behind this expansion of the army, and could only nod in silence.

Seeing that he wasn't in a good mood, the coachman wisely kept quiet, and the carriage continued on its way in silence.

Upon arriving at the Night's Watch headquarters, Kane immediately sensed that something was wrong.

The once busy yet orderly camp was now filled with people hurrying about and looking solemn.

He strode toward the Thirteenth Team's encampment and saw Reed holding a mission log, his brow furrowed.

Sienna, Gavin, and others gathered around, and even the usually carefree Gavin had lost his usual playful smile.

"You've come." Reed looked up at him, his voice low. "The mission has begun."

"At this time?" Kane's expression remained unchanged, but he guessed that the mission was related to the demon cult.

Reed nodded and explained:

"The ghoul we captured earlier, after being influenced and given a potion by a bewitching mage, revealed all its hidden strongholds."

There are at least a dozen outposts of the evil cult hidden in our city.

Our team will cooperate with Hans's team to attack a stronghold in the Seventh District.

"So fast?"

Kane frowned.

The ghoul had been interrogated by the Night's Watch for many days, but remained silent. However, after being handed over to the mage tower, it immediately opened its mouth.

This not only highlighted the Night's Watch's outdated interrogation methods, but also made him feel that the matter was deliberately staged.

Reed seemed to see through his thoughts and said with a wry smile:

"A task is a task, don't overthink it."

A week later, we will launch a general offensive in conjunction with the city guards and the lantern bearers.

Not only must we eradicate the demonic cult, but we must also eliminate the strongholds of underground forces and foreign spies to prevent chaos in our rear when we send troops into the Dark Forest.

"I understand." Kane nodded, and Reed added:

"Use up the merits you've accumulated as soon as possible."

This sweep is on a much larger scale than ever before, with too many variables. It's safer to exchange for resources or intelligence in advance.

Kane accepted the suggestion and went to the Night's Watch library that afternoon, where he met Lord Albrecht by presenting his certificate of merit.

After submitting the credentials, he took out the arcane mage's notebook obtained from the High Dome Tower and respectfully asked:

"Sir, do you know where I can get this book translated?"

Albrecht took the notebook, flipped through a few pages, his fingertips brushing against the ancient characters on the pages, and said softly:

"This is the ancient Elven script of Susas, and currently only scholars from Susas can translate it accurately."

Kane wasn't surprised—he had already asked the Susas Scimitar teacher in the dungeon, and the teacher didn't recognize him either.

Suppressing some disappointment, he asked:

"In that case, I'd like to borrow some books on spellcasting theory to prepare for my second-tier advancement. Which section should I browse?"

He is now a first-tier arcane mage. If he wants to advance to the second tier, he must delve into a particular school of magic and master the corresponding advanced knowledge.

The spellcaster paths for arcane and mage are the same.

There are a total of eight official schools of thought: Evocation, Prophecy, Protection, Conjuration, Illusion, Necromancy, Transfiguration, and Bewitching, each with its own focus.

Reed's school of Evocation specializes in the power of elemental destruction; Flynn's school of Necromancy excels at manipulating corpses and their energy.

Albrecht gave him a deep look, his gaze seemingly penetrating his body and sensing the surging ether around him, and suddenly asked:

What are you pursuing?

Kane met his deep gaze without the slightest concealment:

"It is power—power that can control one's own destiny and even change everything."