A powerful wind stirred the sparse trees across the plains. Blades of grass swayed violently in the gale, rustling in wave after wave.
Driven by the wind, cloud banks tumbled and sank continuously.
It felt as though a downpour was imminent.
Amidst the howling wind, Lanqi's coat fluttered noisily, yet his figure remained unmoving.
"Phew—I told you our synergy was great."
Lanqi let out a breath, the corners of his mouth curving slightly upward.
Hyperion had managed to draw most of Ferrat's attention, leaving Ferrat no room to concern himself with the backline support far in the distance—working out far better than Lanqi had anticipated.
Now he could cast his spells in peace without having to reposition.
"Next, it's my turn to heal you."
Lanqi chuckled softly as a new magic card appeared once more upon his palm.
With the infusion of mana, the spell matrices inscribed on the magic card unfolded layer by layer like a scroll, activating!
A faint, gentle healing energy swept across the plains like a spring breeze, enveloping the distant figure.
This was a pure healing spell.
...
Everyone watching within the Shadow World and the conference room back at the rear felt slightly surprised.
Lanqi had not brought out another utility magic card at this moment.
Instead, he had played conservatively, casting a healing spell specialized for his primary class.
"Counterattacking from defense is a bad move."
At the edge of the conference room, a professor with arms folded looked at the screen and spoke with a grim expression.
With a teammate like Hyperion, who was sharp as a blade, Lanqi should not have chosen to fight a war of attrition against a positional mage like Ferrat.
A mistake in strategy, as well as in team coordination.
This could not help but bring deep disappointment to the instructors in the School of Sages conference room who had hoped the two freshmen might work a miracle.
Yet in the very next second.
Every instructor who witnessed Lanqi's play froze in disbelief.
Their expressions turned bizarre as they struggled to find words, as if they had just witnessed a move that took their breath away in sheer bewilderment.
Lanqi had targeted the wrong person with his spell!
Not only had his healing spell failed to land on Hyperion, it had been cast onto the enemy, Ferrat!
"What the hell...?"
"He can miss-aim even a healing spell?"
Murmurs of confusion arose in waves.
"Could he have cast it on Ferrat on purpose?"
"That can't be right. That's a pure healing spell without any utility, nor is it the toxic healing unique to the priest branch. Ferrat clearly received the healing effect."
The instructors gathered around the healing group's circular table frowned, speaking with certainty.
They were all too familiar with the kind of spell Lanqi had used.
It was a basic Tier 2 healing spell called Slow Heal.
Its effect granted the target a status that continuously restored health.
Healing spells were generally targeted.
Even the greenest novice of a white mage would find it hard to misplace a healing spell.
If they were Hyperion, their blood pressure would probably have gone through the roof by now.
Only now did they realize that Lanqi was the real saboteur.
The anticipation Lanqi had worked so hard to build up shattered in an instant.
"Wait."
Vice Dean Ron's voice came, thick with doubt.
Soon after.
Instructors began noticing that Ferrat on the screen was gritting his teeth, looking as though he wanted to roar something, yet no sound came out.
At the same time.
The backend terminal successfully appraised the properties of the healing spell Lanqi had just cast—
[Flawed Slow Heal]
[Card Type: Spell Card]
[Rarity: Purple Rare]
[Tier: 2]
[Effect: Continuously restores target's health. Casting range greatly increased; healing effect weakened; accompanied by a negative side effect of severe pain while restoring health.]
[Note: A discarded failure.]
"Is this... an upgraded card crafted from the Blue Precious-quality Slow Heal?"
murmured an instructor reading its effects.
This sort of upgraded card was not that uncommon.
It was a classic failure.
While greatly enhancing the casting range, as a cost, it came with a negative effect that rendered it utterly useless.
Similar junk cards often surfaced on the market, always sitting at the absolute bottom price for cards of the same rarity.
They were almost exclusively bought by card makers to dismantle for raw materials.
"Right, Lanqi's own mana attribute is low to begin with, and these junk cards all carry the penalty of weakened healing..."
Seeing the meager healing Ferrat had received, the observing instructors finally began to understand why Lanqi could heal the enemy with such bold confidence—because there was practically no healing effect at all.
"Then... what is the point of this card?"
an instructor finally asked after hesitating for a long while, voicing the biggest question on everyone's mind.
What kind of strategy was it to heal an opponent with a discarded healing card? What was the point?
Vice Dean: "...The point is torture."
The instructors: "..."
"Furthermore, he can keep the opponent in constant pain. His healing spell has incredible range to begin with—there is no dodging it."
"What's more, the continuous healing he applies is considered a buff, meaning you can't even purge it with a purification spell."
"As long as you can't kill him, he will torture you endlessly."
Just as the vice dean offered his commentary on this inexplicable healing spell,
on the magic screen,
Lanqi produced several more defective healing cards of different types, stacking them all onto Ferrat.
Mid-battle, Ferrat was already in such agony from the negative effects of several different heals that his eyes nearly burst from their sockets!
Midair, Ferrat trembled all over, eyes bloodshot, his voice raspy as he could only let out low groans of torment.
He wanted to roar, to curse.
Yet he could not even make a sound.
Meanwhile, in the distance across the grassland,
Lanqi gazed toward Ferrat from afar.
"Heh."
Lanqi gave a smug smile.
Such was the charm of Friendly Communication.
As an anti-toxicity vanguard, there was no way he would let anyone swear!
...
"..."
After an unusual silence fell over the conference room, they finally understood why Lanqi was a white mage!
The world had never seen this brand-new concept of a white mage before—
Instead of healing allies, he "healed" his enemies,
thereby achieving stable mental pollution and disruption.
What an utter menace—purely out to tilt people!
To a certain degree, the instructors also gradually realized:
Lanqi Wilford naturally possessed a unique and potent taunting talent.
He hadn't even used a single taunt skill, yet he could effortlessly make someone lose their mind with rage, driving them to do whatever it took just to kill him!
...
Artificial Shadow World, Eleven Great Plains.
Clouds tumbled and shifted continuously across the sky under the wind's urge.
Distant thunder rolled ever closer. Streaks of lightning flashed across the sky from time to time, illuminating three flickering figures all at once across the plains beneath the oppressive dark clouds.
With rumbling booms, a torrential downpour seemed ready to plunge at any second.
Ferrat was like an enraged beast, stripped of every shred of his former elegance.
His teeth were clenched tight, his expression warped with madness and fury. The rage within his chest was like a plugged volcanic crater—unable to erupt, only burning hotter and hotter.
Enduring the excruciating agony, he wished nothing more than to flay Lanqi alive!
Chapter 27