Chapter 256: Showtime
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
There was a great disparity in strength, and with the Mana Retroaction from the start, everything that came afterwards was well within expectations. After the Mana Retroaction, Gryffindor didn’t even bother to take another look at his opponent; he raised his hand and released a Flaming Storm. In an instant, numerous fire dragons were seen charging towards Fedrick…
Fedrick’s chubby face was filled with despair in the blaze of fire. It was followed by a loud crash that silenced the entire Aurora Square.
The mages sitting on the stands were flabbergasted. All these youngsters were too strong. Felic, the young man in the previous round, was ruthless enough. He was only in his twenties and had given all the experienced mages a lesson on spell-casting. And at present, Gryffindor was worse. His battle style was simply unreasonable and brutal. He was destroying the level-11 with his strength. There were neither skills nor tricks, only the most direct attacking spells. The battle could simply be summed up in three words—fast, aggressive, precise.
“No wonder Orrin couldn’t win against him…” Lin Li frowned as he watched Fedrick being carried away from the arena. Gryffindor was strong indeed. Although the match didn’t take long and his opponent was weak, Lin Li could see a thing or two from it. At least in terms of mana control, Gryffindor could be said to be on par with him.
Even Lin Li had to admit the Mana Retroaction was brilliant. It was precise and concealed, without any sign at all. It was like a snake hiding in the grass, dealing the most fatal blow to its prey at the most critical moment.
As for that Flaming Storm at the end, Lin Li couldn’t think of any reason to use it other than to display power.
As expected, Gryffindor stood in the middle of Aurora Square, but his eyes—full of challenge and disdain—were fixed on Lin Li, who was in the distance.
“Moron…” Lin Li pursed his lips and spat coarsely on the ground while cursing inwardly. I wonder what this fellow is thinking. I haven’t settled the scores with you, yet you’re looking at me with those vengeful eyes. Do you really think I owe you?
“The winner of the second round is Gryffindor from the Alanna Guild of Magic!”
“Clap, clap, clap…”
Applause thundered in the square. It was even more deafening than when Lin Li had won.
“How’s that, Hoffman? The young people we’ve groomed at the Guild of Magic ain’t bad at all, eh?” said Herza proudly. The two young men from the previous rounds had taken him by surprise. One had demonstrated a flawless spell-casting technique; the other had brought his strength into full play. At their present age, Herza could assert the future of these two young men to be definitely boundless.
“So-so…” Hoffman pouted distractedly. He began to doubt his decision to drop Gryffindor and place his bet on Felic.
The strength displayed by Gryffindor was terrifying. Even a figure like Hoffman couldn’t help but lose heart. This little bastard was too inhuman to possess such strength at such a young age. Perhaps in a few years’ time, even Hoffman might not be his opponent.
Hoffman’s head began to pound. If he knew things better, he would have done an even more thorough check. The last time he’d seen this little bastard, the latter had been just a level-14 Magic Shooter. How could he become stronger so much in just one month? Not only had he broken through the Archmage realm, but also had shown signs of approaching level-16. Is this how a bloody 20-something-year-old young man should be?
“Master Felic, it all depends on you now…”
The third round commenced as Hoffman was muttering to himself. The two contestants for this round were Mason from Chevan City and Larry from Marianna Guild of Magic. Both of them had fought back in the Shadowglen. Larry was just a level-eight mage then; he was still a distance away from Mason, who was the weakest out of his teammates.
But on this day, he had made it a tough fight for Mason.
Macklin wasn’t kidding. Larry was at least a level-11 Magic Shooter at present. Even if Mason had made a breakthrough recently, they were almost on par nevertheless. The two rivals of equal power naturally made the match an exceptionally drawn-out one. Although it wasn’t too exciting, it was still intense.
This time, Mason had to prove to Macklin that he was not a novice mage anymore. Larry, in contrast, seemed to be naturally good at this kind of battles. Mason was suffering under the various tricks he used. Their clash lasted for half an hour. It was a rare sight in a century of battle of the Magic Shooters. It was fortunate that they were both resilient. Otherwise, the pressure stemming from the exchanges would be sufficient to drive anyone crazy.
The battle between the two level-11 Magic Shooters was almost like a marathon. In the end, both of them completely exhausted their mana. They could only fight for time to restore their mana while still working their staves in the stalemate. This time, Mason finally gained a slight upper hand. He gathered the wind blade a second faster than Larry; so, he managed to clinch the victory.
“The winner of the third round is Mage Mason from Chevan City!”
Mason looked like he was about to collapse as he left the arena. He panted heavily and grumbled, “How… how did Larry, that fellow, become so strong?”
“How’s that? Hope you knew better from the start, right? That kid is different now. You were still thinking that I was trying to fool you. Count yourself lucky this time. He’s not that experienced, after all, wasting too much mana in the beginning. Otherwise, he would’ve got rid of you easily…”
Mason was still chided by Macklin despite having won the match. However, he could not refute him. He tried to divert their attention away with the commencement of the fourth round of battle. “Look, it’s someone we know!”
“F*ck!” Lin Li couldn’t help but laugh when he saw the two guys who were entering the arena. “Matthias’ down on luck, isn’t he?”
“Hahaha, Matthias is dead meat this time!” Mason was obviously taking pleasure in Matthias’ plight.
Matthias was indeed unlucky. His opponent for this round was someone whose strength was second only to Gryffindor and Lin Li.
Yes, it was Sarsen…
The present Sarsen was at the peak of level-14. He was only one step from being an Archmage like Gryffindor and Lin Li. How could Matthias match up to such a strength? It seemed like the Marathon Family’s heir was in hot soup this time…
“Eh?!” Just as he was rejoicing in Matthias’ misfortune, Lin Li suddenly sensed something was amiss. Matthias seemed vastly different on this day.
Matthias no longer looked frivolous like before. He looked tanned and thinner as well. When he kept his eyes fixed on someone, he was as if a snake about to devour its prey. His expression was cast in a constant gloom—just like the weather before a thunderstorm.
The magical wave emanating from him wasn’t strong, but it held an eerie power. It was like a giant vortex spinning crazily without control, attempting to draw everything in and tear it to pieces. The feeling made Lin Li frown.
He suddenly recalled Argus saying that Matthias had changed tremendously as if he was totally a different person altogether. Lin Li hadn’t understood the meaning of it then, but he could see for himself at present. It was right—it felt as if it were a totally different person standing there. Apart from the appearance, every other detail—the disposition and strength—was a far cry from the past Matthias’. If Matthias used to be a dandy, then the present Matthias undoubtedly had the qualities for Lin Li to fear him.
“Looks like it’s uncertain who’ll win this time…”
“Ah?” Mason was slightly stunned. When he finally recovered and was about to clarify it with Lin Li, the referee had announced the start of the match.
The two men held up an Elemental Shield each and began their recitation almost at the same time. Both had chosen safer tactics this time—neither had chosen to suppress the other with Mana Retroaction. After all, they were no longer novices, and they had some understanding of each other’s strength.They knew clearly that using Mana Retroaction without thinking could end up with them falling into a trap of the other party. At their level, disguising a spell had long become one of the necessary skills. In a battle like this, a failed Mana Retroaction would mean losing the whole battle.
The pace of this battle was much slower compared to the previous battles. They were merely sounding each other out at the start. Neither made a serious move. Both of them had the same thought. They were waiting for the other to make the first move, and they were waiting for the other party to slip up. As such, the battle between two men who were almost Archmages was reduced to an extremely dull one. The thousands of mages in the stands were getting drowsy watching their antics…
“Come on, Sarsen! Beat him!” Mason stood far from the square. He was in a heightened state of agitation, even more so than Sarsen. The expression on his face changed with the situation of the battle. He was cheering at one time, and sighing at another. “Ai, that was so close. What a pity…”
“Far from close…” Lin Li shook his head. He could see what Mason couldn’t. The previous contact might’ve looked like a missed opportunity for Sarsen to clinch the victory, but in fact, Lin Li knew very well that Matthias had left the opportunity for him…
It seemed that the present Matthias had become a difficult opponent to wrestle.
Perhaps Argus was really right—that fellow had become an Archmage.