The two of them quickly entered the alley, pretending to be looking for something, but in fact, they were carefully setting up the battlefield.
Sure enough, moments later, four figures appeared at the entrance of the alley, spreading out in a fan shape, blocking the only exit.
Moonlight shone from behind them, casting four sinister shadows on the ground, slowly extending towards Ron and Andre.
"Looks like our luck is good today." The leading half-beastman let out a low growl, his voice as jarring as a saw scraping over metal: "Two fat lambs have walked right into the wolves’ den."
He bared his bloody mouth, revealing a row of knife-sharp teeth: "I heard you’ve got quite a few nice things. Hand them over, and maybe you’ll get to keep your lives."
"We’re just ordinary travelers passing through."
The hooded boy was somewhat frightened, his voice even trembling slightly, but his feet were quietly closing the distance:
"We don’t have anything valuable on us. Please let us go."
The three half-beastmen laughed loudly, their laughter filled with mockery and cruelty.
The goblin at the back stared greedily at Ron’s waist pouch, licking his lips as if he had already seen the magic stone fragments inside.
"No need to pretend, kid." The half-beastman leader said harshly, stepping forward aggressively:
"We’ve been watching you for a long time, we know you spent a lot of money today. Now, hand over your purse obediently or else..."
He brandished a sinister war axe that gleamed with a cold light, the blade still stained with dried blood: "Otherwise, I’ll chop you into pieces!"
"Ready?" Ron whispered to Andre, the fear on his face vanished, replaced by a calmness almost cruel.
Andre gripped his dagger tightly, nodding slightly: "I’m not sure what you have planned, but I’ll follow your lead."
"You take the one on the left, leave the rest to me."
Ron instructed simply, while quietly slipping a small vial of agility potion into Andre’s hand: "If things get dangerous, drink it. It’ll boost your speed."
The half-beastmen had lost their patience. With a roar from their leader, the three giant figures charged towards them, their massive bodies appearing particularly menacing in the narrow alley.
Seeing the three half-beastmen step into the range of his spiritual power, Ron’s eyes began to emit an eerie cold light.
His spiritual power erupted instantly, forming an invisible ripple that spread outward.
——Spiritual Interference!
This was a basic ability of an elementary apprentice, with limited effect against apprentices of the same level, but against these instinct-driven half-beastmen, it was extraordinarily effective.
The invisible spiritual wave swept through the entire alley like a violent wind.
The movements of the three half-beastmen suddenly slowed, a hint of confusion flashing in their eyes, as if they had been struck on the head.
They shook their heads, trying to dispel the confusion invading their minds, but in vain.
"Now!" Ron shouted, while his spiritual power spiraled into an energy structure.
——Sound Wave Vibration
Invisible ripples shot from his palm, silently penetrating the air and directly hitting the leading half-beastman.
An invisible force tore at the insides of its body, an expression of extreme pain appeared on the half-beastman leader’s face, with dark red blood seeping from its nose and mouth.
A flash of sword light passed, Ron and the half-beastman leader crossed paths, the ironwood sword enhanced with the "sharp" trait easily slashed its throat.
The half-beastman, struck with a fatal blow, released the war axe, grasping its throat weakly with both hands, emitting a twisted gargling sound.
Then, the over two-meter-tall giant fell heavily to the ground, twitching a few times before becoming still.
[One-hit Kill! Basic Swordsmanship Experience Points +2]
On the other side, Andre didn’t waste the opportunity Ron created.
He charged at the half-beastman on the left like a flash of lightning, the dagger slicing through the air like a cold light, directly stabbing at the opponent’s throat.
Although the half-beastman’s skin was tough, under the influence of spiritual interference, its reaction was clearly half a beat slow and failed to completely evade the lethal strike.
The sharp dagger sliced through its neck, bringing forth a spurt of blood.
The half-beastman let out a wail, staggering backward, but did not fall.
These alien species have exceptionally strong life energy, capable of continuing to fight even when severely injured.
Meanwhile, the third half-beastman had already recovered from the spiritual interference, roaring angrily and brandishing a giant axe as it charged at Ron.
Ron remained calm, raised his hand again, condensing his spiritual power.
Another invisible ripple was shot out, this time hitting the third half-beastman directly in the chest.
The effect was the same as before—the massive body suddenly stiffened, then fell heavily, rolling on the ground in agony, letting out beast-like howls.
With two half-beastmen down, the situation was completely reversed.
The last one, though injured, was still struggling to support itself, fiercely attacking Andre with the war axe.
Andre moved nimbly, dodging left and right within the narrow alley, barely avoiding those lethal chops.
Seeing its companions fall one after another, the goblin hiding at the back finally realized the seriousness of the situation and turned to flee.
"Don’t let it..." Andre was preparing to shout a warning while avoiding the half-beastman’s attacks.
Before he could finish his sentence, Ron smiled coldly, quickly concentrating his spiritual power once more, choosing a more stable magic construction to ensure a fatal strike.
The third ripple shot from his palm, traversing space at incredible speed, accurately hitting the fleeing goblin’s back.
The goblin’s body twisted bizarrely in the air, then fell heavily to the ground, never to rise again.
Unlike the half-beastmen, the goblin’s body was far less resilient, and this hit destroyed its internal organs completely, leaving no chance even for a few struggling twitches.
Seeing its companions fall one after the other, the last half-beastman lost its will to fight.
It stared at Ron in fear, eyes filled with disbelief, clearly unable to comprehend how a seemingly frail human boy could possess such terrifying power.
"Wizard..." It seemed scared out of its wits, dropped the war axe, and turned to flee.
"Hmph!" Ron leapt forward, throwing the ironwood sword in his hand, accurately hitting the junction of the half-beastman’s unprotected waist and abdomen.
The massive body crashed to the ground, and Andre stepped forward to deal two more slashes, putting an end to its struggles completely.
In just a few dozen seconds, three tall and fierce half-beastmen and a cunning goblin lay defeated, while Ron and Andre were almost unharmed.
This battle, which should have been fraught with danger, under the terrifying spiritual attacks of the wizard apprentice, became a one-sided massacre.
"Is this the power of becoming an apprentice?" Andre said, panting, his eyes filled with awe:
"I used all my strength to barely handle one, but you took down two half-beastmen and a goblin in just a few breaths..."
Ron didn’t answer immediately, instead, he walked over to check the goblin’s corpse.
The feeling was strange, even though he understood the law of the jungle, this indifference to the bloodshed before him, as though he had lost basic empathy.
"One can overlook killing, but not life..." He reminded himself silently while searching for the spoils.