Firepower Suppression

Whoosh!

Flames gathered into an arrow and shot toward Seth.

He first swung his sword to block Frost Ring, then twisted his body and easily dodged the arrow.

But before he could swing Thunder Sword again to cleave at the ice ring, another streak of orange-red fire tore through the air.

No—how does he still have magic!?

Amid his shock, Seth barely dodged the second Fire Arrow.

Then he had no room to breathe at all. A third shot, a fourth...

The three Initiate Mages watching from the side were already dumbstruck. Lynn was throwing out Fire Arrow cantrips as if they cost nothing, one after another.

One had to know that although 0-ring cantrips consumed extremely little magic, that was only relative to other circle-ranked spells.

With the meager magic pools of low-level mages, there was no way they could withstand this kind of expenditure!

Barton's expression gradually began to slip out of control as well. "He can release this many Fire Arrows while maintaining a concentration spell? That means his understanding of this concentration spell is quite deep, and his control is also rather remarkable. Even more astonishing is his magic. Just how deep is this child's magic pool? I remember he's only seventeen, right?... With this talent, even I feel somewhat ashamed."

A caster's magic pool was closely tied to the amount of magical knowledge they possessed, which also meant significant accumulation was destined to require the tempering of time.

Yet at such an age, Lynn had actually displayed such an unfathomably deep magic pool!

His future was limitless...

At first, he had only noticed Lynn because Elaine had praised him. Later, after observing him for a while, he had also felt that Lynn's talent was decent.

Looking at it today, however, he realized he had underestimated him by far!

He glanced at Adolph beside him. In terms of talent and understanding of magical knowledge, the other man was a cut above him, and he very much wanted to hear his opinion.

But Adolph's expression was like this, as if he had not been affected at all. He merely watched Lynn with a calm gaze.

Under this level of fire suppression, if Seth did not use second-ring magic, he had no possibility of breaking the situation.

In front, Frost Ring restrained and attacked him; from behind, Fire Arrows shot out continuously as if they cost nothing. Seth relied on Agile Maneuver to barely cope, and even so, the Absorption Magic barrier on his body was constantly being whittled down.

He was being beaten until his mind was starting to drift.

Who am I? Where am I?

What's going on? Why hasn't his magic run out yet?

He seriously suspected Lynn had brought a sack full of magic potions onto the stage.

But that was not very realistic either. The money for so many magic potions would be enough to buy property in Colin Town.

Finally, under the repeated bombardment of Fire Arrows, the magical barrier on his body, whose light kept changing, quietly shattered.

The Absorption Magic barrier disappeared. I... lost?

Seth's mind was filled with disbelief. He was a regular at the training ground, and his combat experience had already crushed everyone else's. He had believed himself invincible among those of the same rank.

Moreover, today, he was fighting Lynn, this Apprentice Mage, as an Initiate Mage!

Even without using second-ring magic, the gaps in magic pool, spell proficiency, and combat experience were still enormous!

Yet he had truly lost... and practically with no power to fight back at all!

Seth's legs immediately went weak, and he collapsed onto the ground. The Thunder Sword in his hand fell to the floor with a clang, lost its radiance, and returned to its original form.

"I lost," he said with a bitter smile.

The side effects brought by Agile Maneuver were extremely strong. For a short time, he was somewhat powerless to move.

This scene was truly somewhat sorry.

Even the three watching from the side had rather complicated expressions. On the one hand, they were all defeated subordinates of Seth, so naturally they were happy to see him lose in such a sorry state.

But on the other hand, the dignity they shared as mages, plus the fact that they were all Initiate Mages, made them even less willing to see him actually defeated by an inexperienced young Apprentice!

They could not help feeling shocked and confused, while also developing a kind of fox grieving when the rabbit died, empathy born of shared peril.

"My teacher often tells me, 'There are people beyond people.' Among mages, there are plenty of monsters with outstanding talent. Today, I can say I've truly witnessed it..."

The blue-robed man who had just lost to Seth earlier shook his head with a bitter smile.

The other two also agreed with what he said and silently nodded, their gazes toward Lynn becoming a little deeper.

On the field, Lynn was still savoring the battle just now.

This was his first time going all out. Of course, in terms of tactics, it had still been too simple and crude, because the spells he had mastered were only those few in total, and it was also very difficult for them to coordinate with one another.

Basically, he had won purely by crushing him with his magic pool.

But concentrating his mind and throwing himself into battle, rapidly and continuously chanting incantations to use magic, had still brought him a different experience.

So this is a caster's battle...

He began to look forward to what kind of combat experience he would have after mastering more and more complex magic in the future.

Coming back to his senses, Lynn canceled Frost Ring and quickly walked up to Seth.

"Mr. Seth, thank you for being willing to be my opponent. I learned a lot from you."

He said sincerely, "Your skills are very good, and your combat experience is also richer than mine. If we had another serious match, I'd definitely lose very quickly."

In his view, Seth had mainly lost because he had underestimated his opponent and failed to seize the rhythm of the attack in time. That was why Lynn had managed to pull away and win by suppressing him with firepower.

If Seth had launched a fierce assault right from the start, Lynn very likely would have been worn out from constantly casting "Shield Spell," had his mana drained dry, and ended up defeated.

As he spoke, Lynn reached out a hand toward Seth.

Seth did care about his pride. Being defeated in public by an Apprentice Mage made his ears burn and his scalp tingle, and he hardly dared face anyone he knew.

But seeing that Lynn's manner was polite and proper, and that he was extremely friendly as well, his mood immediately improved quite a bit.

He grabbed the hand Lynn offered and used the leverage to stand up.

Suddenly, both of them sensed a surge of intense magical fluctuations.

Immediately after, they saw Adolph, who had always carried himself with dignity and the air of an elder, striding over quickly, his broad blue robe whipping and rustling with the force of his movements.

"Mr. Adolph, what is this..." Seth's eyes widened. He had never seen the old man look like this before.

Adolph walked straight up to Lynn and said with a smile, "Lynn, that was a splendid battle. I think we can continue our previous topic."

His voice was low, and in his aged eyes, it was as if endless, profound whirlpools had gathered. "I would like to invite you to join the Blue Tower."

Join the Blue Tower? This... this wasn't right, was it? Seth opened his mouth, looked at the old man, then at Lynn, and suddenly realized those words were no joke.

Wasn't Lynn only an Apprentice Mage? How could he join a Mage Tower?

Lynn was clearly thinking the same thing. Besides, Old Barton had taken quite a bit of care of him before; by rights, he should prioritize joining the White Tower.

Right, where was Mr. Barton?

Only then did he remember, and he looked toward the distant spot where the two old men had just been standing.

That one look was no small matter; it startled his gaze into a slight freeze.

In the distance, a mass of indistinct mana shrouded the entire area, and Old Barton was right in the middle of it.

Yet although he clearly looked as if he were desperately trying to move, his movements were extremely slow, as though they had congealed.

Not even the mouth he was straining to open wide could make the slightest sound.

This was the third-circle [Slow Spell] and the second-circle [Silence Spell]?

When Lynn looked again at Adolph, who was smiling at him in front of him, respect immediately rose in his heart.