Chapter 163: The Textbook
The battle erupted abruptly before Gawen’s eyes.
This young girl, who was merely a casual player in the game, showed no panic. Instead, she carefully maintained her Stealth while coldly observing the ‘battlefield’ and instinctively analyzing the situation.
“The opponent holds an overwhelming advantage. That Mage named Luther and Konda Bohe have no hope of turning the tide. However, if all assumptions and possibilities are maximized, that Prince should still have a slim chance of survival…”
Gawen had almost instantaneously judged the direction of the battle, and the facts quickly confirmed her guesses.
In just a single exchange, the battle had already entered a heated phase. Countless deep green wind elemental scythes spun around Garros. He held a crystal short staff in each hand, and each swing conjured gusts of fierce wind around Luther. He rapidly chanted difficult and obscure syllables, and the spatial storage equipment on his right wrist, the ‘Azure Silver Gemstone Ring,’ continuously released spices, blood, crystals, and a large quantity of casting mediums made of unknown materials…
Various Mid-Tier and High-Rank attack spells like Hunting Hawk Spiral Arrow, Wind Thunder Cannon, Flashing Wing Reversal, Vacuum Torrent, and High-Frequency Cutting bombarded Luther with high density, as if they cost nothing. Garros deliberately controlled his casting range, making this round of spells, primarily long-range attacks, explode tightly around Luther. At the cost of sacrificing a bit of intensity and special effects, he firmly suppressed him in place.
Every second, several spiraling gusts of fierce wind continuously burst forth from around Luther. Their intensity was not too high, but they possessed extremely insane penetrating power. Although they couldn't break through the large-area defensive spell composed of High-Rank Arcane arrays, they acted like sharp drills, punching holes in it, forcing the opponent to divert his attention for a few breaths of time to respond, buying time for those few layers of defensive magic to automatically recover.
Four simple and stable wind elemental magic arrays floated behind Garros. Every five seconds, they would uniformly unleash a ‘wall’ of highly compressed wind elements. That’s right, that storm pushed forward like a small city wall. If Luther didn’t break through this ‘wall’ within a short time, he would be immediately pushed out of the ‘magic formation ground’ beneath him, in which case he wouldn’t survive much longer.
In addition, Grand Duke Garros would occasionally chant several extremely powerful spells. The staves in his hands were like two conductor’s batons, each rhythm carrying a murderous beat. Sometimes it was two green wind wings sweeping out like guillotine blades, sometimes silent tremors, and occasionally interspersed with a few ‘kind’ jokes, such as summoning an extremely dazzling but powerless light and shadow effect to throw at Luther, and simultaneously lightly harassing a certain Prince the moment the opponent took countermeasures.
Elegant and powerful, ethereal and magnificent, Garros had perfectly demonstrated what it means to be a ‘true Mage’ to everyone present in just a few minutes. It wasn't about standing still and chanting dull incantations, nor was it about super-large-scale magic, nor was it like playing chess, taking turns to exchange blows with the opponent.
He seemed to have transformed into the concept of ‘wind’ itself. Every movement was fluid and light, every spell was varied and complex. Garros didn't often use those instantly effective large-scale spells. Instead, he constantly demonstrated various applications of Mid-Tier and low-tier spells, such as using Gust to accelerate staff swinging speed, unleashing a blast of cold wind to interrupt or delay an opponent’s casting the moment they opened their mouth, casting a uniquely angled Wind Tremor beside himself to move his body and dodge attacks, utilizing overlapping low-tier magic Tornado spells to deflect an opponent’s High-Rank attack spells, and so on…
But this didn’t mean Garros couldn’t or wouldn’t use High-Rank magic. It was just very difficult to guess when and in what form he would use them.
For example, after loudly chanting a ‘Hurricane Spell,’ he might raise his hand and release a ‘Twisted Vacuum’ instead…
“This is art…”
Gawen, observing in the dark, couldn't quite understand, but she still sincerely marveled in her heart. For those with sufficient appreciation, as long as something is truly valuable, even if it’s unfamiliar, they will instinctively develop a sense of admiration.
Garros brought the characteristics of wind elements into full play. The constantly flickering magical lights were either sharp or wild, continuous, and unpredictable.
However, another observer did not focus too much attention on Garros…
Mo Zheng, seated in his wheelchair, watched the High-Rank Arcane Mage Luther King, who was now completely at a disadvantage, with great interest. A light of approval flickered in his eyes behind the mask.
If Bart Gallos’s magical offensive could be called ‘art,’ then Luther King, who had resisted until now, could already be called a not-so-small ‘miracle.’
Luther, whose talent, foundation, and level were far inferior to that of the Grand Duke, was now covered in wounds, yet he still had not lost his fighting capability.
Unlike the former’s unrestrained and brilliant fighting style, Luther’s performance in these few minutes gave people a feeling of monotony and dullness.
Even someone with no experience in magic could, after observing for a while, draw conclusions about him that were far from complimentary, such as dogmatic and rigid.
This High-Ranking Mage, who had been an apprentice for decades, seemed not to be fighting, but rather solving problems…
That’s right, solving problems!
Three overlapping four-color magic arrays flickered beneath Luther’s feet. These were the Mid-Tier Arcane arrays he had obtained at the cost of three bloody wounds on his side at the start of the battle—‘Elemental Perception.’ This spell could neither be used for attack nor defense; it was merely a single-purpose auxiliary spell. Its effect was the same as its literal meaning: to temporarily enhance the caster’s perception of elements and magic within a certain range.
Then he brandished his staff and began to ‘solve problems.’
“Three spiral arrows, below average intensity, but about twice as fast as before. Not enough time to cast a Crystal Wall, but a Prism Shield can barely cope. Of course, due to insufficient time, refraction and deflection are not possible.”
A fierce wind, spinning rapidly like a drill, suddenly appeared not far away and, in the next second, was already behind Luther. However, the latter had already lightly waved his staff, using a prismatic light shield to barely block the three consecutive Mid-Tier spells.
Blood splattered. Luther’s already injured side gained another wound. Garros, with his unbelievably skillful magic control, made one of the spiral arrows curve at the last moment.
“He’s too strong. In that situation, he still has the spare capacity to change the angle through magic resonance. Although a magic like Spiral Arrow isn’t difficult to control, if you consider that he’s currently in the process of chanting Flashing Wing Reversal… Alas, my teacher was right. Grand Duke Garros is indeed a true genius. I’m so envious.”
Luther sighed silently. In the brief interval, he constructed a layer of Arcane Shield on each side of his body, smooth and shimmering like glazed glass. The three magic nodes on it were formed by the convergence of earth, wind, and water elements, possessing defensive, neutralizing, and counter-shock effects. From any angle, it was the best choice to deal with Garros’s subsequent attacks.
Two thin, cicada-wing-like green lights flashed and disappeared. The Crystal Wall on Luther’s side shattered in response. Garros had adjusted the angle several times at the very last moment of casting the spell. Luther, completely unable to keep up with his reaction speed, could only watch helplessly as a total of six magic nodes on his pair of Crystal Walls were simultaneously shattered.
“His observation and perception are also formidable. Even without using perception-type magic, he’s much more acute than me. In that case, I can only use Arcane Barrage now…”
A barrage of colorful low-tier Arcane Missiles shot out from in front of Luther, just enough to neutralize the two wind wings whose power remained undiminished.
Analyze as much as possible, resist as much as possible, struggle as much as possible, respond as much as possible, counterattack as much as possible.
Luther’s casting looked rigorous, rigid, stiff, and somewhat strained.
But he stubbornly persevered until now in front of Garros, who was superior to him in every aspect. Not only that, Luther even had to protect Konda, who was being continuously attacked by Ji Xiaodao!
The two Twin Stars that were previously used to protect His Royal Highness had long been cut into pieces by the frosty-faced Dark Elf. Although the latter’s strength was not very strong in Luther’s eyes, he could see that the young girl’s combat intelligence, reaction speed, and adaptability were all outrageously high. Her two jet-black longswords clung to Konda Bohe like shadows, and the various negative elements swirling around them intertwined into a cold and chilling sword curtain…
If Luther hadn’t done his best to lend a hand every time, that Prince, who only had the strength of an apprentice warrior, would have died countless times over by now.
If Luther were replaced by a High-Ranking Mage of the same caliber, under these circumstances, the latter probably wouldn't even last a minute!
Are Arcane spells particularly powerful?
Not really. Although this school of magic indeed has no significant weaknesses, its advantage lies only in its comprehensive functionality. It has no blind spots, but also no particular strengths.
Is it due to Luther’s own strength? Is he also a genius in some sense?
Also not true. This not-so-young High-Rank Arcane Mage has no outstanding qualities. Neither his talent, comprehension, nor thinking patterns are extraordinary.
Then why is he capable of such a degree?
It’s simple: it’s because Luther King hasn’t made a single mistake from the beginning of the battle until now. All his responses, all his choices, all his actions have been as precise as a rigorous textbook.
This standard academic Mage didn’t have much combat experience. His casting was neither elegant nor magnificent. There were no ingenious arrangements, no sudden bursts of inspiration, no stunning strokes of genius, only rigor and correctness.
How many ways are there to deal with spiral arrows that trade intensity for speed? How much magic output and consumption are needed? If complete defense is impossible, how can damage be minimized?
What spell is the opponent chanting? How long will it take? What can I do during this time? Should I attack or defend in advance? How many choices are there? Is there a most efficient answer? How exactly should it be done?
For the same defensive magic, when choosing three sets of elements among six magic nodes, how should I make trade-offs? How can efficiency be maximized? Which ones should be excluded first? Which ones are most effective? Which elemental combinations among them can produce additional effects?
How long can the defensive magic on His Royal Highness last? What method can be used to prevent Grand Duke Garros from interfering with my enchantments for Konda for a period of time? If this condition cannot be met, how can risk be minimized?
When forced to engage in a direct exchange of blows with the opponent, what spell should be used to compensate for insufficient control and magic? In the same environment, can I barely achieve the same level of detailed adjustments as the opponent? If not, what aspects should I sacrifice?
If this battle were a test paper, then the above content would be the questions, and the reason Luther could persist until now is that he didn’t get a single one wrong!
…
Unfortunately, correctness does not mean victory.
Under Garros’s unceasing offensive, Luther was finally gradually forced into a desperate situation. Although he still hadn’t made even a single wrong choice, he ultimately couldn’t create a miracle or turn the tide.
A textbook-like offense, a textbook-like defense, textbook-like choices, textbook-like responses. Even Fara would not be able to find any fault with Luther.
But, that was the extent of it…
Two unpredictable wind pressures broke through the defense, violently pushing Luther’s body out of the Elemental Perception magic array.
“You are excellent.” Garros waved his hand, and several green chains suddenly appeared in mid-air, suspending Luther’s battered body.
“Thank you.” Luther, whose magic was completely depleted, was too weak to resist. He sighed with a bitter smile, pouring his remaining magic into the few shields around Konda.
“Too bad you have no talent.”
Garros held his staff upright in front of him and bowed to Luther in a Mage’s salute: “It is an honor to cross paths with you. I am Bart Gallos, Grand Magister.”
…
“You are very good, child, but unfortunately, you have no talent, just like me.”
Luther’s eyes were a bit unfocused. He remembered his first meeting with his mentor, and the brief, ambiguous assessment he received.
“It’s alright, Mr. Ossis, I just like studying magic. There are many geniuses, one less of me won’t matter.”
This was the answer he had given Fara with a giggle at the time.
Then, a year later, he became Fara’s apprentice, and the first and last apprentice after the latter became the God of Law.
…
“Actually, I still envy those geniuses. My answer back then was probably just because saying that was ‘correct’…”
Luther murmured softly, then forced his eyes open and nodded to Garros, saying in a deep voice: “It is an honor to cross paths with you. I am Luther King, a High-Ranking Mage, and a disciple of Faraosis.”
“May the light of magic be with you and me.”
“May the light of magic be with you and me.”
…
The chains dispersed.
Several invisible winds had shattered Luther’s heart.
His body fell to the ground, head tilted back as if staring at Garros before him…
His unfocused eyes were filled with yearning and envy.
Chapter 160: The End
