The Female Mage

Chapter 30: The Sorceress

Zhao Xu turned his head slightly to look at Antinoa beside him after hearing that.

She remained cloaked and mysterious, showing no sign of objection.

Zhao Xu felt something was a bit off about the old mage, but without much hesitation, he stepped forward.

At this moment, all the mage apprentices below were sitting obediently, their gazes constantly sweeping over him, the first one to take the plunge.

Even the most rebellious players, after two weeks of training under Arthur's tutelage, had either deleted their accounts or left. Those who remained were never lacking in patience.

It was just that many players couldn't help but murmur, saying how Arthur's game was supposed to have no pay-to-win elements and rely solely on personal skill.

Why did Zhao Xu, who looked unremarkable and showed no particular talent, get special treatment, allowed to go on stage without saying a word?

Arthur's native apprentices, on the other hand, were secretly analyzing the background of the young man before them.

Two weeks ago, news had spread about a group of adventurers from the other world, Earth, being projected into Arthur. Many mage apprentices who came from noble families had received this message.

They hadn't left the Floating City, but they had their own private channels.

Not to mention, in the past ten-plus days of interaction, they had come to realize how these beings who called themselves players could rapidly complete their mage training, achieving what took them a year, or even ten or decades of effort.

Zhao Xu, under the scrutiny of numerous eyes, felt his cheeks flush. He finally understood the scene with the Sorting Hat in the Harry Potter movies.

Finally, Zhao Xu slowly walked onto the stage.

His gaze fell directly upon the entity known as the "Arcane Throne."

The stage floor was not level. The entire stone platform was not carpeted, and various carved,镂空 runes were covered in the marks of time.

In Mistral, countless new mages, like him, completed their studies after a long period of hardship and stepped onto this stage to begin their life's adventure.

When Zhao Xu reached the throne, he discovered that it was already covered in dense, intricate scratch marks.

He wondered what kind of magical impact it had endured.

Suddenly, a look of disbelief appeared in his eyes.

This throne, which was two people tall just by its backrest, was actually entirely made of mithril.

Zhao Xu's mind began to race. Mithril cost over 1000 GP per jin, and this throne weighed at least over a ton.

That meant its value was at least over two million gold coins?

It might even be double that.

Wealth and fortune, all in this one move.

Zhao Xu smiled. He had finally broadened his horizons and touched an item worth millions of gold coins.

Like Antinoa's +12 Legendary Intelligence Headband, which was always hidden under the hood of her cloak, unseen like her face.

"Stop daydreaming about calculating this thing's value and sit down quickly. I still need to take you to witness a mage's battle later."

Zhao Xu's entire body suddenly tingled, and Antinoa's voice directly appeared in his mind.

His composure was good; he didn't turn back to look at Antinoa.

Even though he hadn't interacted with it, Zhao Xu focused his attention on the halo on his character card panel and then thought to himself, as if going mad, "Mentor, can you hear my voice?"

"Nonsense, this is a level five Mind Link. It's definitely two-way communication."

Reassured, Zhao Xu turned around and sat directly on this "Arcane Throne."

His gaze intersected with the new mages below, giving him the illusion of looking down upon his subordinates.

Feeling the faint chill of metal emanating from where he sat, Zhao Xu reached out and touched the armrest of the throne.

"This is the throne of the ancient Archmage Ernest. We later dug it up to use as a catalyst for the awakening ritual. With its function, the success rate of the ritual awakening can be raised to over eighty percent."

"Mentor, you said the awakening success rate isn't one hundred percent?"

"Have you ever seen anything that's one hundred percent certain?"

Hearing this, Zhao Xu couldn't help but curse the misleading information.

In his past life, when everyone was bragging in Arthur, no one had mentioned this detail to him.

If it wasn't one hundred percent, wasn't that a rip-off?

Why hadn't the forums said anything about this in the past few days?

But before Zhao Xu could think further.

A beam of light poured down from directly above his head, its colorful, glazed radiance warmly illuminating his entire body.

The flowing light, like water, gently scattered onto the ground and flowed along the veins of the inscriptions.

Everyone below opened their mouths, staring dumbfounded at the scene.

Even the aged mage's hands trembled slightly.

He kept recalling who, in the past hundred years, had ever shown such an anomaly.

Zhao Xu was unaware of all this. The scene before his eyes directly transformed into a massive, circular library, with countless books stacked layer upon layer reaching into the sky.

In front of those piles of books stood a female mage. A golden brocade, wine-red robe was worn by her, creating an indescribable sense of harmony.

She was like a being bathed in the river of time, being both the beginning and the end.

For the first time in his life, Zhao Xu felt a sense of perfection, of how things ought to be.

The woman slowly walked up to him, as if to bow down and serve at his side.

Zhao Xu suddenly shut his eyes tightly.

He remembered that he was here to undergo a ritual with a chance of failure.

Mage Awakening also had Outer Realm Demons? No, it should be Succubi from the Abyss?

Fearing this was a test, Zhao Xu could only keep his eyes tightly shut, all the while chanting the incantation for the low-level spell "Protection from Evil" that he had copied over the past few days.

He also muttered under his breath, "Don't kiss me, don't kiss me."

Even though he had no spell slots to cast the actual spell, he could only try his best in this desperate situation.

Zhao Xu had participated in the Demon Seal Campaigns against the Abyss and the Nine Hells, and he knew that succubi could transform into pitiable young girls with bewitching appearances to deceive men.

He had a comrade who was lured by a succubus, his level drained from 5 to zero, and his body rotted away.

"How interesting. I will be waiting for you in the future."

The voice was as ethereal as a holy chant.

Zhao Xu remained unmoved. Slowly, he felt a chill on his backside once more.

"Open your eyes, your ritual is complete."

Just as he was about to obey, Zhao Xu's entire body jolted, and he cursed himself for being foolish.

Antinoa had just been communicating with him mentally, so why was her voice now coming from face-to-face?

This succubus projection was truly powerful, even imitating Antinoa's voice flawlessly.

However, Zhao Xu did not mock her aloud.

He continued to guard his inner self, filling himself with various firm beliefs.

"I give up on you, you idiot."

This time, Antinoa's voice appeared directly in his mind.

Immediately after, Zhao Xu felt his hand being grasped, and he felt the warmth of her palm.

A familiar sense of teleportation washed over him, and he chose to accept it.

Only after the lingering sensation of teleportation disappeared did Zhao Xu slowly open his eyes.

Beyond his sight was an endless expanse of sky.

"The Obelisk."

"This is the highest point of this Floating City," Antinoa said, stepping in front of him.

"Before we go into battle, tell me, what did you see just now?"