Chapter 139: Seven-Colored Jet

The leprechaun was by no means slow, yet his short legs were no match for Joann, who possessed the "Belt of Agility." This frenzied creature sprinted while glancing backward; seeing Joann closing in, he felt no panic, but instead flashed an excited grin. He shrieked, waving his arms and pulling all manner of provocative faces, seemingly intent on goading Joann. However, the moment Joann reached a distance where he could launch an attack with his "Greater Mage Hand," the leprechaun alertly cast a spell and vanished into thin air before Joann’s eyes.

Joann reached the spot where the leprechaun had disappeared, peering around, yet he could not discern where the cunning creature was hiding. Forcing himself to suppress his agitation and calm down, he recalled the events leading up to the creature’s disappearance and realized that it must have used a spell like "Invisibility" to hide.

Most fey possess innate spellcasting abilities, and while these talents vary by species, their caster levels are generally low. Taking "Invisibility" as an example, the effect would likely fade within three to five minutes.

Joann had no reliable way to pierce invisibility at the moment, so he stood his ground, waiting patiently for the leprechaun to manifest while pricking up his ears to listen for the slightest movement. Invisibility could deceive the eyes, but it could not mask the sound of footsteps. If the leprechaun intended to flee while invisible, Joann might hear the friction of its body against the grass and foliage, allowing him to pinpoint its general location.

This was a contest of wit and patience.

Joann waited patiently for two minutes until, as he had hoped, he heard a faint rustling behind him. He whipped his head around and saw a small green figure crouching and weaving through the bushes, carrying his storage pouch on its back!

Joann lunged without hesitation, throwing himself at the stealthy figure. He crashed heavily into the thicket, his arms gashed by thorns, leaving bloody welts that stung with a searing heat. Ignoring his wounds, Joann looked down at the ground beneath him, but it was empty. Only then did he realize that what he had seen was merely a false image created by magic.

A familiar laugh echoed from behind him. Joann propped himself up and turned to look; the real leprechaun stood just behind him, clutching his stomach in laughter at the success of his prank.

Shame and fury burned like a wildfire in Joann’s heart. He roared and lunged at the leprechaun, but missed once more. The creature slipped between his legs like a slippery loach, taking the opportunity to deliver a hard kick to Joann’s backside, causing him to lose his balance and face-plant into the dirt.

"Hahaha! Too bad, too bad! You were so close to catching me! Come and try again, you blind, clumsy bear!"

The leprechaun’s malicious mockery only fueled Joann’s rage. Fortunately, he had not completely lost his senses; he realized that continuing to be led by the nose would only result in further humiliation.

Taking a deep breath, Joann forced himself to calm down. He sat on the ground with his back to the source of the laughter, reached up to pull back his cloak’s hood, and used the malformed eye growing at the nape of his neck to observe the situation behind him.

The vision from this eye was sharper than his normal one, and it possessed the supernatural ability to see through darkness. He could clearly see the leprechaun hiding in the dim brush, but the question remained: what now?

Joann racked his brain, pondering how to trap the leprechaun and retrieve his stolen pouch.

Continuing the blind chase was clearly unwise. The leprechaun was adept at "Invisibility" and "Minor Image," and if pressed, would likely unleash "Color Spray." Relying on brute force would never capture this wily creature. Using offensive spells would be equally difficult—the alert fey would enter his invisible state before Joann could finish casting, rendering the effort futile.

Joann’s intelligence score of 22 was not just for show, and he soon devised a feasible strategy. By some stroke of luck, the leprechaun had only taken his storage pouch and had not yet frisked him; Joann’s "Spell Component Pouch" was still hanging securely from his belt.

Joann opened his component pouch, quickly retrieved a small piece of ham rind, and, with his back still to the leprechaun, performed the somatic gestures and whispered the incantations.

The leprechaun perked up his ears, hearing the spellcasting, and quickly retreated deeper into the brush. He stopped twenty yards away, unable to suppress his intense curiosity despite the potential danger. While preparing to flee at a moment's notice, he peeked out, desperate to see what spell the young mage was casting.

The answer was revealed soon enough.

"Púréa!"

Joann uttered the final trigger word. A ripple of magical energy erupted beneath his feet, and a slick, pitch-black layer of grease manifested on the ground within a ten-foot radius of where he stood.

The leprechaun recognized the 1st-level spell "Grease." He knew it created a slippery area that forced those within it to slow their pace or risk falling. However, he could not fathom why Joann would cast "Grease" under his own feet, hindering his own movement. What was the motive?

Could the young mage have been driven so mad by the prank that his spellcasting had backfired?

Just as the leprechaun was filled with confusion, Joann made no attempt to leave the greasy area. He didn't even look back; he simply gave his cloak a casual flick and whispered the activation incantation for "Transposition."

"Yanta!"

The cloak Joann wore was a trophy taken from the "Son of the Demon" Kotar, capable of casting "Transposition" three times per day. This 2nd-level arcane spell had strict requirements: the straight-line distance between the subject and the caster could not exceed 130 feet, and the subject had to be within the caster's line of sight—if the target could not be seen, the spell would automatically fail.

The "line of sight" required for "Transposition" did not specify that it had to be from the eyes on the face. Though Joann was facing away from the leprechaun, the eye on the back of his neck saw the creature perfectly. The spell activated successfully. Joann’s form vanished within a circle of distorted orange light, and simultaneously, the unsuspecting leprechaun was forcibly teleported into the center of the grease, looking utterly bewildered.

"W-what is this?"

Realizing he had inexplicably swapped places with Joann, the leprechaun broke into a cold sweat. He instinctively turned to run, but his feet slid out from under him, and he tumbled into the muck. Covered in grease, he flopped on the muddy ground like a fish out of water, struggling helplessly.