Shelter of Refraction

The casting time for Scorching Orb is seven seconds, but a Fire Mage, with their affinity for flame, can forcefully suppress the casting time to under five seconds. This is already within the normal casting time for a Tier 1 spell.

The flames condensed into a massive fireball almost instantly. Then, on the third second, the fireball was launched at an abstract angle. By the fifth second, the fireball had reached Li Wen's head. With a deafening roar and an infinite release of heat and light, the fireball exploded, turning the front of the stone bridge and the base of the spire into a sea of fire in an instant.

However, despite such a commotion, the seemingly ordinary spire and stone bridge remained completely unfazed, allowing the flames to burn quietly.

The Fire Mage didn't bother to confirm the opponent's death; it was unnecessary. Scorching Orb was known for its destructive power even among Tier 3 spells. Anyone below Phase 2 Transcendent would instantly evaporate within the spell's range.

He fumbled in his pocket for any useful Magic Potions. However, the potions that could restore life, heal injuries, or even remove curses and potent poisons had all been used up. Only some insignificant elixirs remained in his pocket.

But if he didn't detoxify soon, he feared he wouldn't last much longer. The curse was a minor issue; it wouldn't endanger his life by itself. But the potent poison... if his guess was correct, the mercenary had likely used a toxin extracted from belladonna. Such a poison could cause hallucinations and could be fatal within a mere three to six hours.

The Fire Mage collapsed powerlessly onto the ground. He felt his heart pounding wildly, yet his brain felt starved of oxygen, his vision blurring.

He could even hear footsteps approaching.

Looking up, he could barely make out the figure of the sorcerer who should have died in the Scorching Orb, staring at him.

Was this an illusion? Had the poison taken effect so quickly?

"You're going to die."

The voice of the illusion seemed to come from a great distance... No, this wasn't an illusion.

The Fire Element was frantically warning him, but the Fire Mage now lacked the strength to even raise a hand to cast a spell.

"How could you possibly be alive... That was Scorching Orb..." he said with difficulty, his voice filled with disbelief.

"Just lucky."

Li Wen glanced at her empty palm and then said calmly.

The state she gained upon advancing to Supplicant, "Melt into Light," was used by her through a special process as a component to create a ritual called "Shelter of Refraction."

This was precisely why she was able to survive the Scorching Orb.

Shelter of Refraction was a short-duration ritual belonging to the Guardian Path of the Radiance Spectrum. While the ritual's effect lasted, the protected individual's damage taken from non-Radiance Spectrum sources was reduced by 20%, and this reduced damage was entirely reflected back to the caster.

Simply put, Li Wen wouldn't have survived. However, the Shelter of Refraction ritual granted the caster a temporary extraordinary trait: Radiant Shadow Refraction.

When the trait's owner was about to take damage, Radiance had a chance to refract a projection. This projection would bear some or all of the damage, limited to Phase 3.

This was essentially a luck-based trait. Li Wen had seen the statistical data for this trait from the strategy group. The probability of the trait triggering a refracted projection was around 30%. The damage borne by the projection was divided into 10%, 50%, and 100%, with probabilities completely reversed: 70%, 25%, 1%, and a final 4% chance of no effect.

At the time, facing the Scorching Orb, Li Wen's most ideal scenario was for Radiant Shadow Refraction to trigger, with the projection bearing 50% of the Orb's damage. Combined with Shelter of Refraction, this would be a 70% damage reduction. Then, by expending health to cast Prayer Incantation, relying on her shield and recovery, Li Wen's final health would remain at around 1%-10%.

This was the most ideal situation. If Radiant Shadow Refraction hadn't triggered, or if the damage borne by the projection was less than 50%, Li Wen would have been dead for sure.

But no one could have predicted that fate would be so coincidental. Not only did the Radiance projection trigger, but it even randomly selected the lowest probability of 100% damage reduction, causing Li Wen to take the full direct damage of the Scorching Orb, only suffering some burns at the very end.

But was this truly a coincidence?

Li Wen didn't dwell on the question. After a moment of thought, she asked the Fire Mage, who had no remaining power to resist, "How did you learn about Amber City? And how did you get in?"

"Amber City?" The other party's face changed drastically, turning pale. His tone also became much more agitated. "What do you mean?"

"It seems you don't know." Li Wen looked at him, losing her desire to ask further.

"Amber City... Twilight Lineage... So that's it!" For some reason, the Fire Mage seemed to understand. "Hahaha... Those old geezers, they couldn't find the Eternal City even after spending their entire lives. I never expected it to be in Black Dragon Territory. They definitely wouldn't have thought of it... Hahaha..."

After laughing for a while, the Fire Mage suddenly said, "My arrival here was just a mistake, a failed spatial jump, nothing more."

He continued, "Is this why you want to kill me? No, I have no interest in the Twilight Lineage! I'm not your competitor; there's no need for you to kill me... I will keep this secret for you, I swear on the name of the Bernier Family.

"Not only that, if you're willing to spare my life, I can serve you, and even tell you the secrets of the Sunday Secret College. You're definitely not a student of the college; I'm absolutely certain of that... But I can help you join the college, and let those old geezers share forbidden, terrifying knowledge and magic with you... as long as you let me live!"

Li Wen shook her head. "I don't need the loyalty of an Elemental Mage, and my reason for wanting to kill you isn't solely for this. Although it is the primary reason... Tell me, why did you attack the caravan and steal the goods?"

"Caravan?" The Fire Mage paused for a moment. "You mean those mercenaries? Haha, they were all scum who deserved to die. They just happened to run into me, and I delivered righteous punishment!"

Li Wen certainly didn't believe this explanation.

"Tell me the real reason."

The Fire Mage remained silent, unwilling to speak further. It wasn't until the potent poison flared up again, causing him to cough violently and spit out foul, bloody phlegm, that he looked at Li Wen and spoke with difficulty, "Do you know what goods they were transporting?"

"If you want to die immediately, keep asking questions like that."

The Fire Mage grinned. "Fine, I will... They were transporting nothing more than some valuable spices, fabrics, and luxury goods... but that was just a cover. Their true objective was to transport a Magic Potion called Moonlight Potion to the capital."