Outbreak

The battle erupted just like that, without warning.

And Saine and Lina were the ones who struck first.

There was a reason the other apprentices called Lina the "madwoman"—she actually dared to attack without restraint on Black Street!

The enormous fireball blazing with deep blue lightflame differed from the Minor Fireball Saine could cast in far more than size; its power was on an entirely different level!

The fireball shot straight at Scarface Qiao Ke's face. Lina had attacked too quickly, and Qiao Ke had been completely unprepared. It seemed that in the next second, a scene of brains bursting and explosions would unfold.

Mages were all frail by nature. Without a Magic Shield, a magic apprentice's ability to withstand blows was not necessarily much stronger than that of an adult man.

The main reason was that no one had expected Lina to attack!

A pale white radiance suddenly appeared among Scarface Qiao Ke's group.

Saine had magical equipment, so naturally Scarface Qiao Ke's group had people who possessed it as well.

This was an emergency warning-type item. The pale white radiance came from a short Silver Staff, whose appearance was rather similar to Saine's Strong Acid Scepter.

The owner of the staff was a male Intermediate Apprentice with a deathly pale face.

It seemed he had not intended to involve himself in this battle between Advanced Apprentices, much less waste this precious magical item of his for nothing.

The Magic Shield formed from pale white magical radiance failed to hold for even two seconds before Lina's Greater Fireball shattered it into pieces!

Yet those two seconds bought everyone within the Fireball Spell's range a sliver of time to react.

At the same time the pale white Magic Shield fractured, Lina's Greater Fireball also split apart.

However, that deep blue Fireball did not vanish outright. Instead, it broke down where it was into nearly twenty smaller Blazing Yellow Fireballs.

This was an unforeseen change!

Every spell was unique. Even Fireball Spells would develop corresponding differences depending on their caster.

Lina's deep blue fireball was a special technique she had modified and strengthened herself. A fireball exploding and scattering into twenty Minor Fireballs was not how the Greater Fireball recorded in the magic academy's library was supposed to look.

The formidable strength of an Advanced Apprentice was plain to see!

Moreover, given the talent and exceptional aptitude Lina had always displayed, even though she had only just advanced, she was by no means an ordinary Advanced Apprentice.

The burst Minor Fireballs inflicted considerable damage on Scarface Qiao Ke's group.

Those most badly hurt were the Entry-Level Apprentices. With their insufficient strength, getting swept up in an Advanced Apprentice's magical barrage was nothing short of a disaster.

Beyond that, two low-level apprentices who had reacted a beat too slowly were also caught by the Minor Fireballs and suffered severe burns.

In the blink of an eye, with a single move, nearly half of Scarface Qiao Ke's group had been taken out.

It was also then that Scarface Qiao Ke and the others finally launched their counterattack.

The first to act was a female apprentice with light red short hair. As an Intermediate Apprentice, she was greatly displeased by Lina's unannounced attack.

At Black Wizard Academy, male apprentices had always made up a far greater proportion. This stemmed from the magic academy's incomparably cruel system of competition.

And in such an environment, women who could grow into intermediate-level apprentices or above were almost never weak.

At times, they were even more ruthless than male apprentices.

Without sufficient cunning and ruthlessness, one simply could not survive in the Black Wizard Academy, a place that devoured people without even spitting out their bones.

With a shriek, Sound Wave System magic burst from the female apprentice's mouth.

This was Saine's first time witnessing Sound Wave Magic. Its speed had already surpassed everything Saine knew of ordinary spells.

Sure enough, Black Wizard Academy was a crouching tiger, a hidden dragon.

The incredibly swift Sound Wave Magic quickly enveloped Saine and Lina. Facing this intermediate spell, Banshee's Wail, Saine, with only low-level apprentice strength, could not help but stagger.

Fortunately, the weak Mental Strength recovery effect from the Strong Acid Scepter in his hand prevented Saine from being too greatly affected by the spell.

And Lina beside Saine was actually Banshee's Wail's primary target.

Though she did not possess a Strong Acid Scepter like Saine's to ease the strain on her Mental Strength, Lina, as an Advanced Apprentice, endured it through sheer force with her higher Mental Strength.

As an intermediate spell, Banshee's Wail inevitably consumed a great deal, and with that intermediate female apprentice's strength, it would be difficult for her to cast a second one in a very short time.

Thus, the initiative once again fell to Lina.

At some point, a Jet-Black Bracelet had appeared in her hand. As her live-in boyfriend, Saine knew this was one of Lina's magical items, though he rarely saw her use it.

The hurried sound of chanting once again came from Lina's lips. As the Jet-Black Bracelet emitted a dim black glow, another magical attack was clearly about to arrive.

At that very moment, Scarface Qiao Ke and the others' attacks followed one after another.

This was the consequence of being ganged up on. Even though Lina was stronger than everyone present, she was ultimately just one person, while Scarface Qiao Ke and the others alone had eleven apprentices of low-level strength or above.

Not to mention that four of them, including Scarface Qiao Ke, were Intermediate Apprentices.

The one who acted after Lina and the female Sound Wave System apprentice was Qiao Ke.

Rather than choosing the conventional method of spellcasting and chanting, he drew a Short Sword from his robes and charged directly at Saine and Lina.

This was Qiao Ke's own unique fighting style. Light red flame patterns spread from the base of the Short Sword in his hand.

It was not because Qiao Ke's Short Sword was magical equipment, but because he had infused his own Fire Element power into that refined steel blade.

In the world of magic, this had another professional term—Fire Element Enchantment.

Qiao Ke moved swiftly. It came from years of tempering himself in the underground world of the Underdark. The scars all over his body were proof of his strength.

Saine's close-combat skills and reflexes were not poor either, but compared to Qiao Ke, he still fell a little short.

That was because they followed different paths. Saine specialized in magic, while Qiao Ke divided his focus into physical conditioning.

But no matter how fast Qiao Ke was, he was not faster than Saine!

The enchanted longsword in his hand had already locked onto Lina. Since Lina had struck first, Qiao Ke now intended to grievously wound her—or even kill her.

In a one-on-one fight, Qiao Ke would certainly be no match for Lina.

But one must not forget that he had more than a dozen companions here.

Especially after Lina's nearly indiscriminate Fireball Spell barrage just now, the madwoman had offended everyone.

Lina had clearly not been an Advanced Apprentice for long. This was Qiao Ke's only recent chance to grievously wound her, or even kill her.

The one who becomes Master Andis's apprentice can only be me!

This year's academy reward will be mine too!

You ignorant madwoman, just go die! Qiao Ke roared inwardly, revealing the true source of the conflict between him and Lina.

But before Qiao Ke's ambush could succeed, three streams of Corrosive Acid suddenly appearing in front of him made his face turn white and sent a chill through his entire body.