A Chain of Schemes

Mage Seda could not tell whether he felt jealousy or admiration. His emotions were complicated, but he still held victory in the palm of his hand.

"Your methods have indeed exceeded my expectations, but judging by your mana alone, how many more spells can you cast?"

Mage Seda was supremely confident.

"This robe I wear comes with the First Circle Spell, Shield Spell. Even if I stand still and let you attack, you can exhaust all your mana and still fail to harm a single hair on my head."

Shield Spell. Gao De silently committed the spell to memory.

Mage Seda had not been bluffing Gao De.

Just as before, the acid orb burst apart before it reached Mage Seda. The splashing acid was blocked by the spell barrier.

Mage Seda was completely unharmed.

"Give up. Tell me where you learned your spells, and perhaps I'll grant you a swift death," Mage Seda said, shaking his head.

Things had come this far. Even if there was no hope in sight ahead, how could he possibly turn back?

Gao De ignored him, sweat beading on his forehead.

Partly because the burn on his chest stabbed at him with pain, and partly because the excessive mana expenditure was becoming too taxing.

Acid Splash+ was more powerful than Acid Splash, but it also consumed more mana.

Had he not persisted in cultivation over the past month and gained a little more mana, he would not even have been able to cast five cantrips.

Another acid orb condensed in Gao De's palm.

His last spell was still Acid Splash+!

Though Gao De said nothing, his actions made his meaning perfectly clear.

Mage Seda's expression darkened further.

Seeing Gao De provoke him again and again like this, he finally could no longer suppress the fury in his heart.

"You don't know what's good for you!"

The third acid orb was once again blocked by Mage Seda's Shield Spell.

However, after blocking several cantrips in succession, even though Shield Spell was a First Circle Spell, most of its power had now been spent.

Mage Seda had no intention of placing himself in potential danger. He acted decisively, intending to take Gao De down in one stroke before the Shield Spell's power was completely depleted.

He suddenly stepped forward and raised his right hand. A blinding radiance, bright enough to blind an ordinary person, burst forth.

It was precisely the method Mage Seda had used against the Wolf Rats before.

Gao De had no time to close his eyes.

This was not something one could react to in time.

The light was incomparably intense, flooding Gao De's vision in an instant.

He felt a searing heat in his eyes, followed by overwhelming soreness in his eyeballs as tears involuntarily streamed out.

His vision vanished at that very instant.

Gao De finally understood what it felt like to have one's eyes blinded by a flash.

He did not spare a moment to wipe his tears, nor did he try to open his eyes and look outside. He made no blind attempt to dodge, either. Instead, he decisively reached into his clothes.

He pulled out a bronze object shaped like a fang.

Veilmist Fang.

Gao De gave Veilmist Fang a light wave.

A dense mass of fog instantly poured from it and rapidly spread outward.

At the same time, a powerful energy circulated around Veilmist Fang, making it tremble as though it had come alive.

The energy flowed into Veilmist Fang like molten lava.

It gave a faint hum in response, its surface glowing dimly, announcing that it had been bestowed with supernatural power and would deal even more lethal damage to enemies.

Enchant!

The entire process flowed as smoothly as quicksilver spilling across the ground.

On the other side, the mist spread through the room in the blink of an eye, silently filling every corner and plunging the entire chamber into hazy obscurity.

The scene that had been clear only moments ago became blurred in an instant.

Only things close at hand could be made out by their outlines.

Anything beyond five feet was obscured by the dense fog.

And from beginning to end, Gao De had kept more than five feet between himself and Mage Seda. He had even spent his limited mana to use Mage Hand to retrieve the potion for this very reason.

You made it so I can't see you, so I'll make it so you can't see me either.

Now the two of them were effectively tied again, back at the same starting line.

But the flash lasted only an instant, while Veilmist would last for an entire minute.

The advantage is mine!

The next stretch of time would be Gao De's stage.

Mage Seda widened his eyes and looked toward where Gao De had been, only to see a murky black expanse. Let alone seeing a person clearly, he could not even make out an outline.

He was both shocked and enraged.

"A First Circle Spell, Veilmist? Where did this brat get a First Circle Mystic Item? Even I only have two First Circle magical alchemical creations."

By now, he had thrown every trace of his previous contempt to the winds.

"This brat has a huge secret!"

After seeing Gao De display so many things, how could Mage Seda fail to realize it?

Whoosh!

A sharp whistle, accompanied by a gust of cold wind, came hurtling at him from directly ahead.

Though his vision was obstructed, his hearing was unaffected.

Mage Seda reacted immediately, hurriedly twisting aside.

Bang! Splat!

Two sounds rang out in quick succession.

A glass bottle and a bag of something unknown burst open beside Mage Seda!

With his vision equally obstructed, Gao De naturally could not aim at Mage Seda with precision. It was only natural that he had dodged.

"Acid again." The pungent smell of sulfur immediately told Mage Seda what Gao De had thrown.

"Hmm, and flour?" Yet the other scent left Mage Seda utterly baffled.

Along with the acid contained in the potion bottle, Gao De had actually thrown a small bag of flour.

Mage Seda simply could not understand Gao De's intention.

A trick like Scatter Ash was clearly useful only the first time, when it caught someone off guard.

Besides, how could flour that could not accurately hit his face possibly affect him in the slightest?

Gao De gave Mage Seda no time to think further.

Another glass bottle and several small bags of flour were immediately hurled from the depths of the fog.

Though they still did not hit Mage Seda, some of the acid splashed from the shattered bottle toward him. Fortunately, Shield Spell was still in effect and protected Mage Seda.

Mage Seda had no time to consider the purpose of the flour thrown alongside the acid, assuming only that Gao De was trying to confuse him.

"Where did this brat get so many bottles of acid?"

He cursed viciously in his heart as he hurriedly shifted his feet and changed position.

But in the next instant, he let out an incomparably agonized, hoarse scream.

He lowered his head to look at his right foot.

There was a puddle of acid beneath it.

And Mage Seda had stepped right into it.

The acid instantly ate through the sole of his shoe, then corroded the skin and flesh of his foot, hissing as it did so.

The skin on the sole of his foot began to melt the instant it touched the acid, leaving behind Charred Black, bubbling wounds and bringing him excruciating pain.

When had Mage Seda ever suffered such an injury?

"Where did this acid come from? It was left by the acid bottles thrown earlier!"

In truth, that was not entirely the case.

Besides the acid spilled onto the floor from the shattered acid bottles, there was also the acid left behind by Gao De's earlier Acid Splash+—additional effect: the acid could remain for up to one day as needed.

Though all three consecutive Acid Splash+ spells had been blocked by Mage Seda's Shield Spell, the acid that had not vanished combined with the acid from the bottles to form a "minefield" around Mage Seda, restricting his movements.

Under ordinary circumstances, acid spilled on the ground would not pose much threat to Mage Seda.

But now, Veilmist had limited his vision, making every step feel impossible.

If he moved, he might step in acid. If he did not move, would that not make him a living target?

The effect of Shield Spell had almost completely faded. Without Shield Spell protecting him, he could no longer face acid unscathed as he had before.

Caught in this dilemma, Mage Seda recalled Gao De's inexplicable use of Mage Hand to retrieve the potion at the beginning and immediately understood that Gao De had been laying the groundwork for Veilmist even then;

He had somehow acquired so many acid bottles in order to set up this "minefield";

Knowing full well that Acid Splash was useless against his Shield Spell, he had still cast it relentlessly.

Mage Seda had thought Gao De had run out of options and could only keep going with grim determination.

Now it seemed that Gao De had been entirely focused on draining the Shield Spell's power, so Mage Seda could no longer ignore the acid bottles he kept throwing.

This chain of schemes had finally trapped even an old hand like him, leaving him caught between a rock and a hard place.