Only Win One Round

Warren didn't have as many friends as Edmund, who had a large group of friends waiting for his match result.

The mage friends he made were all seasoned duelists who could score over 100 points in the Preliminaries.

Magic Duel at this level have higher requirements for rankings. Unlike those duelists below 100 points who occasionally fight a couple of matches and then play with friends for a few days, they are not like those duelists who only have 100 points.

At their level, they need to train every day to maintain their condition, and each training session costs them a sum of Gold Coin.

Therefore, very few mages would be willing to waste time at the entrance of their friend's competition just to chat with their friend a little longer.

Warren had entered an hour early, while his two friends, calculating the time, only saw Fran appear with Philly's figure on her head ten minutes before the duel was to begin.

"Is that Warren's opponent today?"

"I think it's a short, female mage with purple hair..."

"But this is just too young!! I've never seen Magic Duel who looks this young before!"

Since newcomers usually can't climb up to their rank, they've never seen such a young mage in the Magic Duel arena before.

How old do you think she is?

"I think she's at most fifty years old? She probably advanced to the First Order when she was a teenager, then became the second rank when she was in her twenties, and then fought in Magic Duel for decades before achieving what she has now."

One monk speculated that this was most likely the case, suggesting that the person had cared a lot about their appearance in their early years, which is why they still looked so young at fifty.

"A second-tier mage in their early twenties? You really dare to say that. Wouldn't it be better for a mage with that kind of Talent to advance to the third tier through other channels? Why would they need to participate in the Champion Mage Challenge?"

"The Champion Mage have won this time are all at least two hundred years old. I remember last time, that old man was almost three hundred years old. He was always taking potions, which made him look so old."

Another mage complained that, starting about two hundred years ago, most of the final winners of the Champion Mage Challenge were old men, and the average age of the mages who made it to the Main Tournament was almost two hundred years old.

While the two mages were talking outside, Warren had already prepared inside the arena.

He carefully observed the Duel Arena and deliberately chose a low-lying pit so that when he stood inside, no one could see his knees from a distance.

"I only need to win one game."

Warren kept reminding himself that his goal wasn't to win the game; it was simply too difficult.

His only goal was to fight with all his might and win a game against Fran, which would be enough to make a name for himself.

With this reputation, he can receive more funding when he needs it.

Fran arrived late, and after learning that she was always dueling in the same Duel Arena, Fran made sure to arrive right on time.

This time, when she came in, there was only one minute left before the duel was to begin. She had arrived at the preparation room long ago, but lingered there for quite a while before finally entering.

She glanced at her opponent.

"I think it's from the Alchemy School, and this guy seems to be losing a lot lately, only winning three games so far."

Fran recalled the match logs she had seen, scratched her head, and began preparing for the match.

Warren had no interest in saying anything to Fran; his heart was pounding, and his mind was preoccupied with what to do next.

The headlights suddenly blazed on, and the signal to begin the duel appeared in their pupils.

As usual, Fran first channeled Greater Fireball into her hand, then observed her opponent's movements.

But what she saw stunned her. Warren was slowly Channeling Spell, and judging from his gestures, it appeared to be a shield.

This puzzled Fran; had her opponent not known anything about her battle beforehand?

This shouldn't be happening! The news should have already reached most of the mages who challenged her to duels recently.

But Warren in front of him seemed completely oblivious, still foolishly casting his shield.

Shouldn't you equip a ring that triggers First Order shield, and then attack Fran while she's casting Greater Fireball?

This was an attack pattern that Fran deliberately displayed to the outside world. In fact, she had already prepared an additional plan to induce her opponent to fall into this mindset—to use the Shield Spell Ring to block the first Greater Fireball, thereby gaining an advantage.

This way, when Fran changes her tactics in the last two rounds, it will be difficult for the enemy to react, and she will not reveal too much of her strategy.

Fran's Greater Fireball flew through the air as expected, then exploded in front of Warren. The dark green shield that appeared before Warren rose up as scheduled, and at the same time, the voice indicating the end of the duel sounded.

"That's it, we win."

Fran's face was full of surprise. She hadn't expected to win this round so easily. In the previous two days, her opponent had used First Order Shield Spell Ring as a precaution, which had forced her to spend more time.

How come this opponent doesn't even know this much?

Meanwhile, Warren canceled the second-tier Alchemy School spell [Steel Skin], which he had never intended to cast.

He channeled the spell simply to test whether Fran's casting speed was as fast as those who had given him the information had said—so fast that it would prevent him from even casting a shield.

"What they said was actually true."

Before experiencing it firsthand, Warren couldn't believe that a mage could cast spells at such a speed.

"Is it some kind of special Talent, or did they pay a price in some way to achieve such a high casting speed when advancing to the second tier?!"

Warren made some preliminary guesses, but the important thing now was not to guess why the other party's casting speed was so fast.

The important thing now is to prepare for his final all-out effort. He planned to concede the first two rounds in order to gather more information.

After Warren equipped the new shield trigger, he waited for the headlights to come back on.

This time, Warren didn't stand still to prepare to channel the shield. Instead, he took out a small, upright potion bottle filled with light green liquid from the pouch at his waist as soon as it started.

He threw the medicine bottle directly into his mouth. The glass-like outer wall instantly merged with the medicine upon contact with his mouth, and entered his body as he swallowed.

This is a specially designed medicine bottle. Simply put the bottle in your mouth to easily drink the medicine, eliminating the complicated steps involved.

The potion's effect was quite simple: it merely granted him speed comparable to that of First Order Swiftwind White Wolf, renowned for its agility.

In the second round, he was thinking about Fran's aim, which is also an important issue in mage battles.

Many mages can cast ranged spells, but whether those spells actually hit their target depends heavily on the current environment and the mage's accuracy.

Mages possess powerful Mental Power, enabling them to instantly pinpoint an enemy's location and discern which actions are feints and which are the enemy's next move.

At the same time, strong Mental Power will also enhance the mages' aiming ability, allowing them to point their fingers at the corresponding locations with almost no error.

But why is it said that the mages' accuracy needs to be tested?

This is because mages have different physical abilities. When their Mental Power is strong but their physical abilities cannot keep up with their speed, even if they know when to cast a spell and how much to adjust the angle, it is still difficult to do so.

But what can you do if your body can't keep up?

Moreover, a mage's opponent is also a mage, and the mage can use their Mental Power to observe the opponent's actions, judge when to cast a spell, and in what direction.

Therefore, in Magic Duel, a mage's accuracy is a very important personal metric, which is often determined solely by Talent.

Before the second Fireball arrived, Warren happened to lightly tap his left foot to the left, and the reaction force sent him flying to the right. Only a few Blaze from the exploding fireball landed on Warren's collar.

This level of damage is naturally insufficient to trigger the shield and end the match.

Next, Warren used the agile tactics he had employed before, beginning to form a shield in his hands.

Fran noticed Warren's speed, and after a moment's thought, she began to gather [Enhanced Wind Blade] in both hands.

Before Warren's shield was even halfway through its channeling, two Enhanced Wind Blade shot out from Fran's hands, heading straight for Warren's sides.

Warren used his Mental Power to sense the two Enhanced Wind Blade hurtling towards him. His Mental Power rapidly calculated, but he was shocked to discover a fact.

One of the two Wind Blade was aimed at his choice to continue advancing without slowing down, while the other was aimed at his choice to turn around or stop immediately.

Unless he can control his speed or manipulate inertia to turn quickly, those two Enhanced Wind Blade will send him flying.

He was aware of this, but his body was completely unable to perform complex actions, a congenital disadvantage of a mage's physique.

Therefore, he had no choice but to give up, stop on the spot, and let the dark green shield rise.

"Her accuracy is terrifying. If she hadn't been using magic and there hadn't been any fluctuations from the spell scroll, I would have thought she was one of those agility Profession pretending to be a mage..."

Warren reviewed Fran's performance in the previous game, noting her fast casting speed and extremely high accuracy, leaving him with almost only one tactic to prepare.

He slid three Spell Ring from his robes; these were special tools he had prepared for this battle.

When he was quickly defeated in two games, he believed that his opponent must now be full of contempt.

He doesn't need to prepare for the entire battle; he only needs to win one. Therefore, all three of his Spell Ring will trigger in the third round, buying him time.

The price he paid was that he couldn't use spell scrolls for the entire game and even the next two.

But it doesn't matter; the magic of the Alchemy School is enough for him to defeat his opponent.