Continue Testing

The mages then conducted the tests one after another.

Nora of the Elemental School and Cole of the Transmutation School opened Fran's eyes to a whole new world, showing her what a true University Association all about.

Although none of them passed the Trial, they all defeated the second puppet before finally failing against the last one.

When facing the first puppet, they all used a surprisingly consistent method: using Spell Ring to instantly cast a spell.

Then came the second puppet, and the two puppets responded in different ways.

The moment the second puppet landed, the black spots on Cole's neck seemed to come alive, spreading across his skin and instantly reaching both sides.

The black area quickly developed some wrinkles, like gills, opening outwards.

Then Cole opened his mouth wide at the doll, and an invisible attack rushed towards it. Almost in the next second, the doll was smashed to pieces, and many parts fell to the ground.

Then it seemed that his skill didn't allow him to do this continuously, so he didn't unleash the attack until the countdown of the third puppet ended.

As for Nora, she used one of Fran's most proficient Arts — Wind Blade —to attack the puppet.

However, no matter how powerful Wind Blade is, it is still just an apprentice spell, and it is no match for the cloth of the puppet.

However, the Wind Blade Nora used was not the apprentice spell Fran used. Fran could tell that this spell was much more powerful than a normal Wind Blade.

This is abnormal. Under normal circumstances, the power of a spell is locked by its own spell structure. No matter how much Mental Power you pour into it, the power of the spell will remain the same in the end.

This is the mages' predicament. They also want to use the same spell structure from apprentice to Fifth Order, but there's no way around it. The spell structure updated at each rank is far stronger than the spell structure of the lower rank.

If it weren't for their lack of Mental Power, the mages would all want to use higher-level spell structures ahead of time.

However, the Wind Blade spell Nora used was different from the spell structure Fran had seen. Other spell structures almost only had one input option: Mental Power.

The Wind Blade Art Nora used—no, it should be called [Enhanced Wind Blade]—had a key element that none of the elemental spells Fran had learned had: the infusion of Wind Element.

That's right, Fran also has an affinity for the Wind Element. She can sense that Nora is channeling the Wind Element into her spells to make them more powerful.

"How is that possible?" Fran was very puzzled. She was completely ignorant about this subject, and only today did she learn that elements could be incorporated into spells to enhance them.

Even the enhanced Wind Blade Art is only slightly stronger than most apprentice spells; in terms of power, it may still be inferior to a First Order spell.

Nora was aware of this, so she made adjustments to her spellcasting accordingly.

Since one Wind Blade wasn't enough, let's use three more. To Fran's astonishment, Nora unleashed three Wind Blade at once.

This wasn't the end of it; Nora continued to unleash Wind Blade at an unstoppable pace, and Wind Element continued to gather in her palms.

The puppet could not withstand the seventh Wind Blade strike, and its entire main frame was shattered, with some fragments and debris falling to the ground.

Logically speaking, given Nora's speed in unleashing her Wind Blade Art, she should have easily defeated the third puppet and passed the attack test.

Nora's casting speed was fine; her wind Wind Blade were still sharp and extremely fast, but they just weren't accurate enough.

For some reason, after Nora fired her seventh wind Wind Blade, her accuracy dropped drastically. The Wind Blade she fired after that barely grazed the edge of the cloth and did not cause any damage to the doll.

As for the Wind Blade, they all struck the silver-gray wall behind them, leaving many hideous scars.

Zane frowned, not expecting the test chamber, which had just been repaired, to be damaged again. However, it didn't matter; the damage wasn't enough to prevent testing, it was just a bit unsightly.

Next up was Fran, the last one. She walked towards Nora as she came out, their shoulders brushing past each other.

She could see the smug look on Nora's face, as if to say that the magic of their Elemental School was truly powerful.

Fran ignored her and went straight in, waiting for the dolls to be automatically removed before confirming the start.

Zane didn't pay much attention to her, assuming she would fail at this level like the previous two, so he pressed the start button directly.

The doll immediately fell from the ceiling and then flipped the hourglass used for the countdown, causing fine sand to fall down.

Fran began casting spells as soon as the sand started falling, but she didn't instantly kill the first puppet using her Spell Ring.

Instead, he remained where he was and began to channel his magic.

In the first second, the doll falling from the ceiling had not yet stabilized and its body was still swaying.

Fran's hand only emitted a rather intense magical fluctuation; otherwise, nothing else happened.

Fran stood still, focused on channeling her magic.

Zane, standing above, saw through the deception. He knew Fran was currently channeling a First Order spell, but could this really work?

As far as Zane knew, the shortest time it took for a First Order Mage to channel a First Order spell without the aid of any equipment was about two and a half seconds.

This achievement was made even when the mage was in peak condition, had already cast multiple spells, and was highly focused, and specifically chose a spell with a short channeling time.

This is the limitation of First Order Mage's Mental Power; First Order Mage only has so much Mental Power, so no matter how fast they go, they can't go very fast.

Most mages who pass this test rely on the power of their equipment. They either use the equipment to instantly destroy the puppets or make good use of the timing, starting to Channeling Spell on the previous puppet, destroying it with Spell Ring, and then using the channeled spell to destroy the next puppet.

In the second second, the puppet's swaying stabilized slightly, and the cloth covering it clung to the puppet, allowing a glimpse of its structure behind the cloth.

Fran's spell was still being channeled, showing no sign of being released.

At this point, Zane estimated that Fran would most likely fail. Even if Fran did release the spell and make it fly to the puppet's area, it would still take some time. He didn't think Fran could destroy the puppet before the time ran out.