Shelter of Refraction

Scorching Orb had a seven-second chant time. Fire Mages possessed an affinity for flames and could forcibly reduce it to under five seconds, which was already the normal chant time for ordinary Tier 1 Magic.

Flames condensed into a massive fireball almost instantly. Then, in the third second, it flew out at an abstract trajectory. By the fifth second, the fireball had reached above Li Wen's head. Amid a tremendous blast and the boundless release of light and heat, it exploded, turning the front end of the stone bridge and the base of the spire into a sea of fire in an instant.

Yet even with such a commotion, the seemingly ordinary spire and stone bridge remained utterly unmoved, allowing the flames to burn quietly upon them.

The Fire Mage did not bother confirming his opponent's death. There was no need. Even among Tier 3 Magic, Scorching Orb was renowned for its destructive power. Anyone below Stage Two would be vaporized the moment they entered its range.

He fumbled through his pockets for any usable potions. However, he had long since used up all the magical medicines that could restore life, heal wounds, or remove curses and deadly poison. Only a few inconsequential potions remained.

But if he did not detoxify himself soon, he feared he would not last much longer. The curse was a minor matter and would not last too long; a curse like this alone could not endanger his life. But the poison... if his guess was correct, the mercenary had likely used some toxin extracted from belladonna. It had hallucinogenic properties and could kill within three to six hours.

The Fire Mage collapsed weakly onto the ground. His heart pounded wildly, yet his brain felt starved of oxygen, and his vision blurred.

He even heard footsteps approaching.

When he looked up, he could barely make out the spellcaster who should have died in the Scorching Orb, staring at him.

Was this a hallucination? Had the poison taken effect so quickly?

"You're going to die."

The hallucination's voice seemed to come from somewhere far away... no, this was not a hallucination.

The Fire Element was frantically warning him, yet the Fire Mage no longer even had the strength to raise a hand and 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, then spoke calmly.

The status she had gained upon advancing to Supplicant, Melt into Light, had been made into the ritual Shelter of Refraction through a special crafting process as a material.

That was precisely why she had survived Scorching Orb.

Shelter of Refraction was a short-duration ritual belonging to the protective path of the Radiance Spectrum. While the ritual remained active, non-Radiance Spectrum damage suffered by the protected person was reduced by 20%, and all damage reduced in this way was reflected back to its source.

That alone would naturally not have been enough for Li Wen to survive. But Shelter of Refraction granted its caster a temporary extraordinary trait: Radiant Shadow Refraction.

When the trait holder was about to suffer damage, Radiance had a chance to refract a projection. That projection had a chance to take part or all of the damage, limited to Stage Three and below.

It was nothing more than a luck-based trait. Li Wen had seen its statistics from the Strategy Group. The chance of triggering a refracted projection was around 30%. The projection's damage absorption rates were 10%, 50%, and 100%, with the probabilities completely reversed: 70%, 25%, and 1%, respectively, while there was a final 4% chance that it would have no effect at all.

When facing Scorching Orb, Li Wen's best-case scenario had been to trigger the Radiance refraction, with the projection taking 50% of the orb's damage. Together with Shelter of Refraction, that would mean 70% damage reduction. Then, by sacrificing health to cast Prayer Incantation, she could rely on the shield and recovery to keep her final health at around 1% to 10%.

That was the ideal scenario. If Radiant Shadow Refraction failed to trigger, or if the projection absorbed less than 50% of the damage, Li Wen would have been doomed.

But no one could have expected fate to align so perfectly. Not only did the Radiance projection trigger, it even rolled the lowest-probability result: 100% damage reduction. As a result, Li Wen completely avoided the direct damage from Scorching Orb and only suffered some burns at the end.

But was this really a coincidence?

Li Wen did not dwell on the matter. After thinking for a moment, she asked the Fire Mage, who no longer had any strength left to resist, "Where did you learn about Amber City? And how did you get in?"

"Amber City?" The man's expression changed again and again until it turned deathly pale. Even his tone grew much more agitated. "What do you mean?"

"So you don't know." Li Wen looked at him and immediately lost the desire to continue questioning him.

"Amber City... the Twilight Lineage... so that's it!" For some reason, the Fire Mage suddenly understood. "Hahaha... Those old bastards spent their entire lives unable to find the City of Eternity, and it turns out it was in Black Dragon Territory. They'll never expect it... Hahaha..."

After laughing for a while, the Fire Mage suddenly said, "Coming here was merely an accident, a failed spatial jump. Nothing more."

He continued, "Is that why you wanted to kill me? No, I have no interest in the Twilight Lineage! I am not your competitor. There is absolutely no need for you to kill me... I will keep this secret for you. I swear it in the name of the Bernier Family.

"Not only that, if you are willing to spare my life, I can serve you. I can even tell you the secrets of Sunday Secret College. You definitely aren't a student of the Arcane Academy—that much I am completely certain of... But I can get you into the Arcane Academy, let those old bastards share their forbidden, terrifying knowledge and magic with you... Just let me live!"

Li Wen shook her head. "I do not need the loyalty of an Elemental Mage. And I want to kill you for more than just that, though it is indeed the main reason... Tell me, why did you attack the caravan and take its cargo?"

"The caravan?" The Fire Mage froze 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 judgment upon them!"

Li Wen naturally did not believe that explanation.

"Tell me the real reason."

The Fire Mage remained silent, unwilling to speak further. Only when the poison flared up again, making him cough violently and vomit foul-smelling blood, did he stare at Li Wen and speak with difficulty. "Do you know what kind of cargo 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 valuable spices, cloth, and luxury goods... But that was merely a cover. Their true purpose was to transport a magical medicine called Moonlight Potion to the Royal Capital."