The Road Ahead

"Equipment is part of your strength too. Nothing wrong with that."

"Of course. Who's next?"

"Then let me have a go against you."

"You've got a death wish, volunteering like that... Wait, it's you? You..." Soth felt he hadn't done his homework. How could a low-tier association have a High Elf among its members? If he'd known how wealthy High Elves were, he'd have realized their gear would crush his without even trying.

"Don't worry. As long as you can last ten seconds, these are yours." Karen took out a handful of Magic Crystals.

"You said it. It's only ten seconds." Magic Crystals had a wide range of uses and were the hard currency among mages. Soth didn't even have a single one at the moment. His eyes lit up at the sight of so many. He'd last ten seconds even if it killed him.

Both sides began applying buffs and activated their magic shields. Karen also used his staff's enchantment skill to cast Advanced Wisdom on himself, nearly doubling his spell damage. Soth's expression immediately darkened.

The match began. Karen used a staff skill to cast the advanced spell Meteor. Dense fire elements gathered above the arena.

Soth's expression brightened when he saw the spell. Meteor dealt top-tier damage even among advanced spells, but it had a weakness: once the spell took shape, its trajectory was fixed. It was useful in large-scale Legion battles, but in a one-on-one match, it was like using a cannon to kill a mosquito. All he had to do was watch for where it would land and dodge once the spell had formed. Even if he didn't get far enough away and was caught by the edge of the blast, the damage wouldn't be too bad. And with the arena's magical barrier in place, the spell could only be cast within the barrier, which limited its height.

Meteor's damage was closely tied to its height. The powerful gravitational potential energy converted into kinetic energy was a major source of its damage. With its height reduced, its damage would naturally be lower too, and its range would shrink, making it easy to dodge.

Soth immediately felt that lasting ten seconds wouldn't be a problem. He didn't plan to interrupt Karen's casting and prepared to dodge out of range at any moment.

Actually, interrupting him would have been difficult. As an intermediate mage, Soth had no counterspells or silence abilities. He could only interfere with a spell by hitting the caster with a damaging spell.

This was another enchantment skill. Karen didn't need to draw magic runes; he only needed to provide mana. No, even the mana came from the Magic Crystals. All he had to do was channel the spell. It was impossible to interrupt.

The two of them were far apart. There wasn't enough time for Soth to run close and use Blast Wave or Dragon Breath to interrupt the spell with their control effects. Choosing to dodge out of range was a smart move that saved him effort. But could it really be that simple?

Three seconds later, the spell took shape. A huge fireball fell from the top of the magical barrier toward Soth.

The fireball's center was set to land around Soth's back heel, so he ran straight ahead to escape its range as quickly as possible.

Just as Soth was about to escape the spell's most damaging area, Karen smiled. A magical barrier appeared in front of Soth, blocking his path. He immediately tried to go around it, only to find that the barrier was curved, its two ends bending toward him.

To get around it, he had to run back, closer to the area of greatest damage.

In the end, he couldn't escape the blast's most damaging area. The fireball hit the ground and exploded violently. Soth was right in the middle of the blast. His magic shield shattered instantly, and the explosion flung him against the magical barrier.

When Antonidas had been hit by Dragon Breath earlier, only his magic shield had shattered. The magical impact had left him with internal injuries. Soth, on the other hand, had taken the full force of the fire-element explosion. He looked as though he'd been roasted, and only the rise and fall of his chest showed that he was still alive.

"Ah, you were nowhere near lasting ten seconds. Looks like I overestimated you. Someone take him for treatment."

"Brother, do you know much about Battle Mages?"

"Why do you ask all of a sudden?"

"My level hasn't improved at all. I want to see if I could become a Battle Mage and break through my current bottleneck."

"Where should I start? Hmm. How do we mages advance in rank?"

"By perfecting the magic runes in our mental sea."

"Right. As mage apprentices, we only need to use our mental power to draw magic patterns to cast spells. But those are only level-zero cantrips, and they're relatively simple.

"Once we become full-fledged mages, spells become harder to draw, so we need to solidify magic runes in our mental sea.

"Magic runes are universal patterns, with interconnected pathways. The patterns for every spell can be found within them.

"Traditional mages advance by constantly studying and improving the patterns in their magic runes, building up quantity until it brings about a qualitative change.

"Battle Mages simplify this process. Drawing on the experience of those who came before them, they discard the other patterns and focus on the patterns for a few spells from just one branch.

"Because they specialize, they don't know many spells, but advancing is easier.

"They devote more of their time and resources to a small number of magic patterns, so they can cast spells faster.

"But specialization narrows their path too. Very few make it to the Master stage, and I've never even heard of one reaching the Hero stage."

"Why?"

"Few reach the Master stage because they lack a tradition to draw on. Battle Mages are a discipline humans developed on their own. Without anyone to guide them, they can only figure things out for themselves.

"Without a tradition to inherit, those who come after them have a harder road.

"They've started teaching their knowledge on a larger scale and establishing academies, hoping to preserve their tradition.

"The fact that they have no Heroes is a fatal flaw of this discipline."

"What flaw?"

"This concerns the key to becoming a Hero."

"What's the key to becoming a Hero?"

"Rules. Depending on the rules they master, those beyond the Hero stage are divided into Heroes, Epic Heroes, Legendary Heroes, demigods, and gods."

"Gods?"

"That's right. Anyone who fully masters a rule becomes a god. Anyone can become a god."

"Then what's the fatal flaw of Battle Mages?"

"They haven't learned and understood magic in its entirety. They're like a bucket full of holes and weak spots. They have virtually no chance of attaining perfection, so naturally, they can't touch the rules.

"For humans, whose lives are short, there's a demand for Battle Mages who can become powerful quickly. But for us long-lived races, there's no need for it at all."

"Then could I switch to a different profession?"

"Mage is the best choice. As for magic professions like Priest or cleric, are you interested in worshipping a god?

"As for physical professions: Warriors and knights require strength. Rogues and rangers require agility.

"Don't rush. You've only just come of age, and you still have a long time ahead of you.

"Besides, we tested your talent when you were little, and it was pretty good. There must be a reason things have turned out this way.

"I believe every problem can be solved. Don't worry."

"But I have a feeling there isn't much time left. If I can't advance, I won't survive the disasters to come." Karen decided to play the prophet for once. "I have a feeling a calamity will strike soon."

"What calamity? Whatever happens, I'll protect you.

"Even if it's a calamity I can't withstand, you still wouldn't have time to grow stronger even if you advanced now.

"And if there really is a calamity I can't withstand, it would definitely be a world-ending disaster. In that kind of disaster, the world's will would open up its permissions, making it much easier to break through." So that was how it was. No wonder Heroes had sprung up in droves after the Black Gate, more than there had been in the previous tens of thousands of years.

So it was all because of the world's will, Karen thought. That made sense. He had no cheat of his own, so there was no way he could grow to that level quickly.

Never mind. For now, he'd do some quests and enjoy life in this new world.