Ashley: I Surrender

Ashley was truly drenched in sweat.

She stared at Liszt as if he were a demon.

He brandished his staff, his expression solemn, serious, and divine, like a water god from a myth, or a deep-sea mermaid stirring the tides. His pale purple swallowtail coat billowed in the air, his long hair blowing in the early winter sun, dancing with the surrounding water element.

The audience in the stands saw Liszt's posture and all revealed expressions of admiration.

He was indeed the man ranked second among the Saints that the Seaside Morning Post most wanted to associate with. Just his ascetic face alone was captivating.

However, the dancing water element, why was its color a bit yellowish?

Perhaps it was due to the sunlight's reflection, they thought.

This demonic glasses user must not be allowed to complete his magic!

Absolutely not!

It was only the initial stage of the magic, the gathered urine was just a trickle, but if he were to complete this spell, it would be a massive twelve bottles of urine bombs!

I must stop him!

I absolutely cannot give up.

At this very moment, it was undoubtedly the most crucial and perilous moment in Ashley's life.

Since he was using a vortex to gather water elements...

Ashley raised her staff and also chanted [Water Element Gathering], but she created a water element vortex completely opposite to Liszt's and hurled it at his.

She wanted to show these borderland barbarians what true genius and true nobles were!

The two opposing vortices collided, rubbing against each other, grinding each other down, and were slowly canceling each other out.

She was indeed a rare magic genius, and at this most critical moment, she finally unleashed her magical potential.

Ashley was still chanting [Water Element Gathering], but she had created an anti-spiral.

The few rare drops of urine element stopped spinning and splashed onto the ground, quickly drying in the wind.

This time, they were at a stalemate.

Only one magic spell remained.

Seeing his magic canceled out, Liszt wasn't angry. On the contrary, he was incredibly calm, even feeling joy from the bottom of his heart.

Precisely, it should be like this. A smile split his lips as he looked at his opponent. It should be like this!

What a thrilling honor duel, Ms. Ashley, he praised in his heart.

What a urine-boiling idiot duel, Liszt the beast, Ashley wailed in her heart.

Looking at how focused she was on casting the anti-spiral, it seemed... she had leaked a drop or two. Ashley's face was ashen, as if she were dead.

She glanced at the remaining exam time. Seven minutes had already passed.

Three minutes left.

There was one last magic spell, the final test.

And the most difficult test.

This last magic spell was not a water-element spell.

It was a Holy Light element spell.

This time, Ashley had finally caught up with the thought process of these born elites. She immediately understood what this Holy Light spell was intended to do.

[Sensory Blessing]

[Low-tier Magic, Buffing Spell]

[Consumes 3 Mana Points]

[Holy Light blesses living beings, increasing all senses by 100%, including hearing, touch, sight, etc., for five minutes]

This was an all-purpose support magic, usable for detecting enemies or assisting swordsmen in combat.

However, increasing all senses...

Naturally, this also included the urge to urinate.

The exam had finally entered the climactic closing stage.

Liszt used his magic first. He waved his staff, and holy light burst forth around him, its radiance so brilliant and sacred, as if it could transcend all worldly suffering. This Blessing Spell landed directly on Ashley.

Bastard...

Ashley could no longer stand. She leaned against the ground, curled up, her pupils trembling violently.

Ashley felt all her senses amplified. Every pore on her body was breathing, and her vision was incredibly expansive.

The river, already on the verge of bursting, had reached its peak with the enhancement of the water flow and ripples. Now, under the illumination of the Holy Light, that urge had surpassed the limits of human endurance!

Only willpower, a will that transcended humanity, could maintain rationality in this torrent!

Ashley also used Sensory Blessing on Liszt, but to her dismay, the man before her remained unfazed.

He remained elegant, still calm, his back straightened as if nothing in the world could shatter his grace.

How did Liszt do it?

Could it be, as he claimed, that he was the true noble, the man who truly possessed noble quality?

The surrounding audience, though unaware of what had transpired, saw Ashley kneeling.

They guessed she had suffered severe internal injuries.

They knew the two must have engaged in the most profound and intense magical duel, and their inability to comprehend it was simply because it was too profound; their own levels weren't high enough to see through it.

Truly a profound confrontation.

"Two minutes."

With two minutes left, the exam would be over.

Regardless, Ashley had persevered; she was on the verge of victory.

"One and a half minutes."

A faint smile began to appear at the corners of her lips.

Ashley knew her situation was dire, having reached the limit of her endurance. Any slight disturbance could make her collapse.

Just one more straw was needed to break the back of the rational donkey.

But fortunately, Liszt had used up all four of his memory slots and had also depleted his ten mana points.

There was nothing more he could do.

"Examiner Ashley," Liszt slowly adjusted his glasses and said calmly, "Congratulations on holding out this long."

"I respect your will."

"But your struggle ends here."

"I am about to use the ultimate technique of 'Nezha's Turbulent Sea Stream' on you," Liszt declared, his voice sacred and solemn, "the ultimate magic taught to me by Brother Ansu--"

"[Tidal Song]"

Ashley's pupils trembled violently.

Tidal Song?

She had never heard of such a spell before.

Could it be a magic Ansu created himself?

What kind of genius was he?

The most Ashley could do now was adapt existing magic; she was incapable of creating spells herself.

Furthermore, Liszt had already used up his mana points.

She stared intently at Liszt's movements.

He looked solemn and divine, his left hand on his lips, his right hand covering his left. His lips parted slightly as he recited the sacred incantation:

"--Hiss~ Hiss~ Hiss hiss hiss~ Hiss hiss~."

"Hiss hiss~ Hiss hiss, Hiss~"

?

What was this?

But for some reason, upon hearing these sounds, Ashley's body reacted involuntarily.

It was an instinct, a conditioned reflex, copied from this body!

An instinct she couldn't escape, couldn't resist.

This was the final straw that would break the donkey's back!

Liszt even walked up to her, whistling into her left ear, then her right, back and forth, a 360-degree surround of "hissing" sounds, as if she were at the sea, with the melodious sounds of the tides all around her ears.

The moon was calling the tides, and Ashley could no longer resist!

Before the vast ocean, she was as helpless as a little girl.

She was about to wet herself!

"I..." Ashley was on the verge of tears. She whimpered softly, "I surrender. I'm sorry. I was wrong."