by Zhuang Bifan
Lin Li listened quietly. He knew that this was indeed his shortcoming. His hunter profession in the Endless World had brought him a good sense of rhythm, but it also brought him a lot of deep-rooted bad habits.
For example, retreating before the battle out of habit.
For example, adding the Hastening Spell on himself during combat and using the Delaying Spell on his enemy to slow them down in order to maintain his advantage in speed.
For example, placing too much emphasis on the distance between himself and the enemy.
Et cetera, et cetera… For a mage, there was no need at all to do such things.
"You must remember: in a mage's battle, there'll always be two kinds of rhythm—control and outburst."
"I'll keep that in mind…" Lin Li nodded thoughtfully. At the same time, a shot of wind blade tore through the air. This time, he did not retreat at all.
"Heh heh. You've learnt fast." Old Grimm could only use the power of a Magic Shooter, and it was no longer possible to block the wind blade with his mana alone. But the old man still looked unhurried, and almost as soon as the wind blade roared, the Ice Armor Spell was summoned.
The wind blade cut through the glittering ice and made a shrill noise.
Old Grimm's counterattack was quite different from Lin Li's. Under the protection of the ice shield, the old man began his recitations. His recitations were not fast, and even were slower than Lin Li's to some extent. But there was a sense of skill and fluency, with no pause in the middle. By the time the last spell fell, seven Arcane Missiles had coalesced into shape.
With a wave of his hand, the seven Arcane Missiles fired at Lin Li at the same time.
In an instant, the ice armor was shattered, and the Elemental Shield that was just propped up was reduced to a thin layer. It would only take one spell from Old Grimm to break it completely.
Lin Li was barely maintaining the functioning of the Elemental Shield, but there was no panic on his face. He retaliated with Mana Feedback that interrupted the casting rhythm of Old Grimm; at the same time, he began to recite the spell for Delirium, hoping to drag the combat into a match of pure mental strength.
Chapter 69 - Classic Deceit
The surging mana of Old Grimm slowed down abruptly following the Mana Retroaction from Lin Li. The seven Arcane Missiles lost control and vanished in an instant. Old Grimm still remained unhurried; his thin arm rose slightly and a mental protection field rose. Under the safety of the mental protection field, Lin Li's Delirium Spell was like a stone thrown into a pond, merely creating ripples on the calm water.
Both had amazing casting speed—one was swift and the other fluent. Lin Li was constantly challenging the limits of magic counter-reaction by virtue of his superior mental strength; Old Grimm relied on years of experience to minimize the length of the spell. Gerian, who watched from the side, exclaimed countless times in his heart. These two fellows—young and old—behaved nothing like a normal human being.
It was a dazzling combat with a tremendous rate of casting. The transition between attack and defense was often made in the blink of an eye. Often, they cast a spell and would cast protection on themselves before the spell could even fall on the opponent.
Old Grimm was a legendary mage after all. Although he was using only the power of a Magic Shooter, the legendary level vision and experience were still there. The choices he made in between the counterattacks, seemingly casual, often hit Lin Li's vulnerable point. Not to mention that, in his long life, he had acc.u.mulated a huge amount of spell-casting skills. In the face of such skills, any genius could not help but appear feeble and futile.
After the failure of the Mana Retroaction, Lin Li, who had been grappling for long, gave out at last.
At the moment the Mana Retroaction failed, Lin Li knew it was a trap.
Old Grimm first used a lot of low-level spells to suppress Lin Li, and when Lin Li was so overwhelmed that he couldn't even lift his head, Old Grimm departed from his usual style and cast a Flaming Storm instead. Lin Li was all too familiar with this level-nine spell—it had power comparable to that of the Magic Shooter and a horribly long recitation.
Lin Li, who had completely lost the opportunity, had only two options in the face of this level-nine spell. One was to force out the Elemental Shield, and be in a state of no protection from the Elemental Shield for about 30 seconds; the second was to risk being tricked again and carry on with another Mana Retroaction.
Lin Li chose to take the risk, and then he was tricked…
This was a classic example of deceit that was worth including in magic textbooks. As early as the moment the spell sounded, Old Grimm had already cut off the mana output. Breaking off a spell was a skill that every mage needed to learn, let alone Old Grimm, who was already a powerhouse in the legendary realm. For him, it was no more difficult to break off a Flaming Storm than to eat and drink.
At this time, although the spell was still being recited, there was no mana output at all.
Mana Retroaction, of course, could only react against mana. For a magic spell that did not produce any mana, the Mana Retroaction was like a punch in the air and had no effect at all…
Apart from a few low-level spells such as the wind blade, icicles, and the delaying and hastening spells, most other magic spells had their own cooldown time. After one use, one had to wait for the cooldown time to pass before one could use it again. This process was called the Spell Cycle.
Everything had its rise and decline, and magic was no exception. When a spell was used, it would surely go into depletion, and then await the next cycle. This was the law of things.
Of course, the time was not definitive. Many mages were able to compress the cooldown time with skills and mental strength, but such compression was almost negligible in most cases. Even a legendary mage as powerful as Andoine could only compress the cooldown time of Mana Retroaction by two seconds at most.
And Lin Li, who possessed a sick mental strength, was in fact close to the legendary level in this aspect. He could almost do as much as Andoine could.
But as far as the current situation was concerned, let alone doing what Andoine could do, even if he surpassed Andoine, it would be equally useless. Old Grimm didn't even give him a chance to wait for the next cycle and proceeded to drown him in a large number of Arcane Missiles. In a zero-interference spell-casting state, it was similarly terrifying even with the strength of a Magic Shooter. The Arcane Missile shot down incessantly and the Elemental Shield on Lin Li's body was extremely fragile. In a twinkling, the Arcane Missiles broke through the protection of the Elemental Shield and landed directly on Lin Li's body…
Lin Li was barely hurt under the protection of the elements annihilation field, but there was a look of disappointment on his face.
Since transmigrating, due to lack of actual combat, Lin Li had never been so miserable as he was today. The previous match with Old Merlin was more of mental strength, not to mention it was an absolute suppression of an Archmage. Though Lin Li had lost in the end, it could be said to be a glorious defeat.
But this time, Lin Li had lost, with nothing else to say.
Throughout the battle, Old Grimm did not use force beyond level-ten. Even when he was using magic, he chose some of the lower level ones as much as possible.
And the deciding factor—the Mana Retroaction deceit—left Lin Li chagrined. If he had been more composed then…
"Are you thinking you could have won if you had been more composed then?" Old Grimm's eyes seemed to be able to see through people's hearts; as soon as he opened his mouth, he said what Lin Li was thinking.
"Yes."
"No…" Old Grimm shook his head. "You were composed enough. I could feel that you were struggling between Elemental Shield and Mana Retroaction, but it doesn't matter at all. Whether it was the Elemental Shield or the Mana Retroaction, anyone who enters the depletion cycle will undoubtedly lose.
"So… this has nothing to do with composure." There was a smile of admira
tion on Old Grimm's aged face. "Actually, you're doing quite well at your age. Whether in skills or rhythm, you've already reached the limit of your age. I know you still possess an enormous amount of mental strength. Even I almost suffered with that Delirium Spell. In this spar, you've lost due to the lack of experience…"
"Experience?"
"That's right, experience." Old Grimm nodded and bagan analyzing the fight for him. "I was actually affected by that Delirium Spell. But you were engrossed in the mental protection field and failed to judge the situation right. Didn't you realize? After casting the mental protection field, my casting speed was slower than usual, and why was that? That is because I had to divide some of my mental strength to suppress the negative effects brought by the Delirium Spell…"
Lin Li pondered over it carefully and realized it was indeed as Old Grimm said. The latter's spell-casting speed had decreased significantly. If he had used a large number of low-level spells to suppress him then, the whole fight would have been a different story altogether…
"And that failed Mana Retroaction. If you have enough experience, it is entirely possible to judge quickly whether I was really releasing mana when I was reciting the spell…" At this point, Old Grimm paused for a while before delivering the conclusion, "President Gerian is right, you need actual combat!"
After pointing out Lin Li's shortcomings, Old Grimm identified the mistakes and highlights of the spar, then proceeded with a detailed analysis. It was almost evening by the time he finished. Old Grimm saw that it was late, so he fixed a time with Lin Li for the next day before he left the Emerald Tower and disappeared into the darkness.
Chapter 70 - Forbearance
Old Grimm came every day in the days that followed.
While Lin Li continued to make up for his lack of practical experience, the chaos carried on in Jarrosus City.
The victory that day had put Gerian in a good mood. He insisted on taking a few bottles of Awakening Potion from Lin Li as a reward for the group of mages who burned the two merchant sh.i.p.s down.
Under the incentive of the Awakening Potion, the crowd's enthusiasm surged. Almost every day before dawn, the group of mages would depart from the Emerald Tower straight to the Merlin Family's businesses in the city.
Unfortunately, the Merlin Family had shrunk completely because of the devastating blow that day.
Dozens of Magic Shooters and more than 100 mages were searching around Jarrosus City like a pack of hounds. Eventually, only a few abandoned businesses were found, as well as a few members of the Merlin Family oblivious to the situation that dared to roam about at this s.e.n.s.i.t.i.v.e moment.
Under the threat of this horrifying force, the forces in the city were all the more miserable. They were living in fear everyday, afraid that one of their men would offend the people from the Guild of Magic. This group of bastards was driven by bloodl.u.s.t now; anyone who provoked them would be poking at a hornet's nest. They were a group of real bandits—barbaric and unreasonable.
Especially those of the six underground forces. Except Old Odin, who had maintained a good relationship with the Guild of Magic all along, none of the remaining five forces were not in a state of apprehension. When the Guild of Magic was down-and-out, they had each done their fair share of treading upon them. Although not as arrogant as the Merlin Family to the point of directly interfering in the guild's affairs, those wicked things done behind the scenes had long been remembered by all the mages.
These days, the leaders of the several forces were praying every day. They had never been so devout before. They were just hoping that the madness of the Guild of Magic would pass over soon, or the Merlin Family quickly wiped out; otherwise, if it continued like this, they would be driven to insanity.
Almost everyone was cursing—not only that the Guild of Magic was a bunch of bandits, but also that the Merlin Family was a herd of cowards.
The most reviled of them all was Aaron Matsis of the Blood Brotherhood. He was really driven to the wall. Because of them running a few casinos with the Merlin Family, it directly led to the people from the Guild of Magic smashing the casinos as soon as they saw one, regardless of whether the casinos were jointly run with the Merlin Family or not.
Aaron Matsis felt that he had been wronged. The bastards, Merlins, had offended the Guild of Magic but somehow he was hurt as well. More than a dozen casinos controlled by the Blood Brotherhood were smashed in the week. Aaron Matsis' heart ached when he thought about it, and whenever his heart ached, he couldn't help but curse, "F*ck you, Merlin Family. Your whole family was transformed from tortoises. You guys are at ease in hiding, while my casinos were smashed to ruins. If you have the guts, then hide forever, see how that old bastard, Gerian, is going to smash all your tortoise shells…"
Aaron Matsis' words were blood and tears, almost spitting onto the Merlin Family's face. But even so, there was still no news from the Merlin Family.
The forbearance was absurd to all the Jarrosus forces. The Guild of Magic now was as arrogant as if someone had stepped on your head and peed in your face, and the Merlin Family could still endure. This was just like the endurance ninja from legends!
Even within the Merlin Family, perhaps only a handful of confidants—like Evan—knew that Old Merlin endured only to wait for the duel that would take place a few days later.
All the problems would cease to be problems after Cromwell killed Felic.
The Guild of Magic's arrogance seemed to be stinking to the heavens, but in fact, they were nothing without the young mage. What about Gerian? Old Merlin was an Archmage as well. The battle before the Emerald Tower had already proved that the two men were neck and neck.
And with all the equipment hidden in the family, Old Merlin was even more confident of defeating the most powerful mage of Jarrosus.
Only Old Merlin who had personally experienced the battle knew how terrifying the young pharmacist was. It took only a bottle of blue potion to wipe out all his efforts. It was as if the winning ticket was held, but suddenly someone had struck you with a loud slap. What was most devastating to Old Merlin was that, after Gerian had regained his mana, the young pharmacist had even brought out an extra bottle as a backup…
The feeling of despair was still etched in Old Merlin's heart.
From that time on, he knew that to destroy the Guild of Magic, he had to kill the pharmacist first.
So, Old Merlin had been enduring. He did not even say a word when the two merchant sh.i.p.s in the canal were burned down, because he knew that the chance he had been waiting for was coming…
Old Merlin constantly had faith in the coming duel.
Because his only son, Cromwell, had broken through to level-thirteen this morning!
This breakthrough finally gave the guilty Old Merlin a glint of relief. Level-thirteen was a height that most mages could not achieve after a lifetime of hard work.
Although this height was bought with no further progress for life…
Looking at the confident Cromwell, Old Merlin kept a twinge of guilt in his eyes.
"Cromwell, how do you feel now?"
"Very good, Father." There was a faint trace of hysteria in Cromwell's confident eyes. The Waterfall Strike at the Emerald Tower was engraved in his mind. For Cromwell, it was a disgrace for life. He remembered vividly how he could not resist in front of the mage named Felic and how he was thrown out of the Emerald Tower like a piece of garbage.
So when Old Merlin asked him if he would like to carry out the family's secret ritual after he came back, Cromwell agreed without hesitation.
He knew that once the ritual was held, he would run out of his full potential and would not be able to make any further progress in his life.
But Cromwell knew well that this would bring him a powerful strength—enough to easily kill Felic.
Cromwell was imagining the whole time during the ritual—when he appeared with a powerful strength, would the hateful mage also show a look of fear in his eyes like how he did when h
e was lying on the steps of the Emerald Tower, looking up at him?
Chapter 71 - Leap
Cromwell was absolutely confident about winning this duel.
He was intoxicated with the unprecedented powerful feeling after breaking through to level-thirteen. He believed that no one in Jarrosus' younger generation was his opponent—including Felic, who once made him feel fear.
The shame in Emerald Tower had to be cleansed with blood.
When he was answering Old Merlin, Cromwell began to plan in his heart how to kill his opponent as cruelly as possible. The humiliation through words alone was inadequate; it was not enough to wash away the shame on himself. The mage named Felic had to shed the last drop of his blood before he could die in endless pain and remorse!
"There are two pieces of equipment in the bas.e.m.e.nt, in the third compartment on the right side of the door. I've told you before how to open it. Now go and take them out."
"Yes, Father."
Moments later, Cromwell returned to Old Merlin with a mage robe and a staff.
"These two things were meant to be given to you after you became a Magic Shooter. Little did I expect…" Old Merlin looked at the two pieces of equipment and remembered that Cromwell would never be able to progress in his life. He couldn't help but feel dejected.
"It's alright, Father. I am also a Magic Shooter now."
"Mm." Old Merlin nodded. He stretched his hand and picked up the staff. "Even I have never used this Aether Staff before. It has been passed down in the Merlin Family for more than ten generations and can be said to be the most powerful piece of equipment in the family hoard. Look at this magical crystal, what do you feel?"
"A powerful mana, at least level-fifteen or above."
