Testing

After years of gradual modifications, this training ground was no longer as rudimentary as it had been at the beginning.

Its interior space had been expanded to more than twice its original size.

The walls and floor were made of a special material capable of absorbing and dispersing energy, ensuring that wizardry experiments would not affect the outside.

The ordinary target at the center of the room had also been replaced by various standard testing targets and simulated-environment devices. The walls contained energy emitters for testing defensive capabilities, as well as three-dimensional obstacles for testing speed and maneuverability.

There were even several controllable elemental energy release points in the corners of the room, capable of simulating different concentrations of environmental elements.

Benjamin first picked up the prototype Attack-Type Rune Artifact.

"First... activation test!"

The Attack-Type Rune Artifact was a palm-sized metal disc, its surface engraved with intricate Talisman Seal patterns that flowed with a faint glow.

He held it in his palm and injected a thread of mental power so weak it was nearly imperceptible.

The attack Talisman Seal activated instantly, and the patterns on the disc's surface lit up with a soft red glow.

Then, the light abruptly gathered, forming a fist-sized fireball out of thin air before the disc.

"Activation successful. Next, attack test..."

Whoosh!

The fireball shot like an arrow loosed from its bow, streaking at tremendous speed toward a heavy metal target in the center of the training ground.

Boom!

With a muffled blast, the fireball struck the target dead-on.

Though it was merely a Wizard Apprentice-level Fireball Spell, this fireball—instantly cast by the Rune Artifact and triggered by drawing upon fire elements from the environment—was clearly superior in both power and speed to a fireball cast by a Wizard Apprentice of the same level.

A deep dent was blasted into the metal target, leaving black scorch marks across its surface. It even began to emit wisps of smoke.

A trace of satisfaction flashed through Benjamin's eyes.

Instant cast! Low consumption! Plenty of power!

"Control test..."

He activated the attack Talisman Seal again. This time, at the instant the fireball formed, he injected a finer thread of mental power into the seal and attempted to control it.

The fireball about to launch gave a slight tremble. Rather than flying straight ahead, it traced an elegant arc through the air, circled around an obstacle beside the target, then turned again and precisely struck the other side of the target!

He continued experimenting, attempting to split the fireball into two smaller flames during flight, or make it abruptly swell just before impact to expand the blast radius...

Although each instance of fine control required additional mental power, overall, the Rune Artifact was far more flexible than an ordinary Wizard Artifact.

Next came the Defense-Type Rune Artifact.

It was a metallic band in the shape of a bracelet. Benjamin put it around his wrist and activated it with mental power.

A translucent energy shield instantly unfolded over the surface of his body. The shield glowed with a faint milky-white light, enveloping his entire body.

Benjamin walked toward an elemental energy release point in the corner of the training ground and first guided a large amount of earth elements toward himself.

As the earth elements poured in, the shield's glow immediately became dense and heavy, making it look like a brown crystal—exceptionally sturdy.

With a wave of his hand, several energy projectiles of varying sizes immediately appeared in the training ground.

"Let's start directly with Level 2 Wizard Apprentice-grade wizardry!"

After pondering briefly, the smallest energy projectile dissipated into nothingness. Immediately afterward, an egg-sized energy projectile flew straight toward the shield around Benjamin.

Puff!

The instant the energy projectile came into contact with the shield, it dissipated almost without causing a ripple.

"The next level. Level 3 Wizard Apprentice."

The second-largest energy projectile flew over.

Thud!

The shield let out a deep rumble. Though it dented slightly, it remained utterly unmoved and blocked the attack.

That heavy, dependable feeling left Benjamin immensely satisfied.

Next, he guided wind elements over, and the shield turned cyan.

Benjamin had the training ground continue firing several energy missiles. The cyan shield did not withstand them head-on completely. Instead, when the missiles struck it, the runes on its surface flowed, producing a faint repulsive force that caused some of the missiles to graze the edge of the shield and veer off course.

Lastly came fire elements...

Benjamin tested them one after another, and the results were all flawless.

After thinking it over, Benjamin removed the bracelet and placed it on the target. While keeping the bracelet activated, he controlled the training ground to release a Level 1 Formal Wizard-grade energy missile.

BOOM!!!

A deafening explosion erupted, and the surrounding protective force field immediately lit up, absorbing the overflowing energy.

Standing behind the protective force field, Benjamin looked at the surging, turbulent currents of energy within, his eyes full of astonishment.

Though there was only a single level separating a Level 3 Wizard Apprentice from a Level 1 Formal Wizard, the gap between them was unimaginably vast.

If a Level 3 Wizard Apprentice had to exhaust every ounce of strength to destroy a three- or four-story building, then a Level 1 Wizard could easily wipe out an entire street. They were not even on the same scale.

As the explosion faded, the target at the center of the attack was revealed.

The target, which should have been reduced to ashes, was now merely somewhat crooked and misshapen. For a short while after the shockwave dissipated, an unsteady, bright shield glow still flickered across its surface.

Only after flickering like an unstable signal did that tottering shield finally shatter.

Sizzle... bang!

With a crisp sound, the Defense-Type Rune Artifact installed on the target also began to emit smoke, declaring the artifact scrapped.

Yet Benjamin was unusually satisfied by the sight.

Under normal circumstances, a Level 3 Wizard Apprentice's shield could never withstand a Level 1 Wizard's attack, no matter what. Even a shield modified by Benjamin was no exception.

The reason this bracelet had barely managed to block it lay in the most fundamental capability of Rune Artifacts—and the primary purpose of Benjamin's research into them: continuous casting.

Layering shields had its limits. Wizardry energies also conflicted with one another; the more enhancement spells of the same type were stacked together, the more obvious the conflict became.

Ordinary low-level wizards could generally layer no more than two or three shields, and those shields had to be different types of defensive spells. The shields' defensive strength would also decrease due to interference between their energies.

On the other hand, spells that controlled physical matter for protection did not have such restrictions.

This Rune Artifact, for instance, could apply three shields of different attributes at once. But because of the energy conflicts between them, its actual protective effect was roughly only equivalent to two layers of shields.

Thus, the principle behind this item blocking that previous attack was simple: the moment one shield broke, it immediately released a new one. In theory, as long as the shield-release speed was fast enough, even the lowest-level shield could block an attack from a high-level wizard.

Of course, in practice, almost no one could achieve that. Most people simply tried to pile more layers of shields onto themselves like a turtle shell.

Yet this Rune Artifact had done it. Though the price was its own destruction, that was already more than satisfactory.

"But this does remind me. Just in case, when taking part in the trial, I should produce a few extra Rune Artifacts of every type as backups." Benjamin quickly committed the thought to memory.