by Zhuang Bifan
Almost everyone on both viewing decks had prepared to watch the battle. They were all very sure that the young human mage, Lin Li, would be horribly defeated by the Legendary elven mage with just a simple and effortless spell.
Wilkinson and the other pharmacists were the only ones who were nervously staring at the middle of the square, though Wilkinson had already made up his mind to go back immediately and seek Balbo for help if anything were to happen to Lin Li. He was bent on making Castellan Arathor and Vidas pay for what they had done.
After spending time learning from Lin Li, Wilkinson and the other pharmacists had long been convinced by Lin Li's pharmaceutical knowledge and respected him for it. They absolutely believed that he knew everything about pharmaceutics, but they were not confident in his magical skills.
No matter how gifted one might be, his energy would still be limited, especially since Lin Li had just turned 20 years old. Since he had already attained so much knowledge and accomplishments in pharmaceutics at such a young age, how could he have had the energy to learn magic properly? Those pharmaceutics Masters who had legendary abilities did not pick their skills up over just one or two days. Most of them started by learning magic first and used their magical abilities to bring them to the Legendary-realm, where they enjoyed increased longevity, after which they started to learn about pharmaceutics.
Wilkinson and the other pharmacists could not bring themselves to watch the battle any longer. However, they could all tell that the elven mage Vidas was out to kill. They were certain that Lin Li would lose the battle; hence, they were considering how they should take revenge for him.
Sienna was the only person who had faith and immense confidence in Lin Li, and, unlike the rest, felt that Lin Li would win the battle.
He thought, Damn it, so what if he's a Legendary figure? Does he know that Mage Felic had already destroyed a Legendary Lich and a Humerus Wyrm one year ago? He can definitely take on a Legendary elven mage! Yet, all of these people are betting on how long it will take for Vidas to destroy Felic. What a bunch of fools!
In Sienna's opinion, the combination of a Legendary Lich and Humerus Wyrm was the most powerful one in the Legendary-realm. Hence, he felt that no one would pose a threat to Lin Li, even if he was a formidable elven Legendary-mage.
Everyone had a common opinion—there would ultimately be a distinct winner in the battle, though Sienna's candidate was different from the rest. Hence, when someone he knew asked him if he wanted to bet how long Lin Li would last, Sienna asked, "Can I bet on Mage Felic winning?"
Despite feeling the tension of being in the presence of a strong and dominant Legendary-mage, everyone who heard Sienna's words burst into laughter as if they had never heard a funnier joke. They actually forgot about their stress and began guffawing loudly, garnering the attention of others who were also curious. Sienna's words then spread like wildfire throughout the viewing deck.
"Leader Sienna, you are too humorous. We were all feeling oppressed at first, but you really cracked us up!" said the person next to Sienna.
"My foot. I'm for real. Is there such a bet? I'll bet on Mage Felic winning," Sienna said in annoyance.
"Wait… What… what did you say?" that person said while suppressing his laughter and staring at Sienna in shock.
"Cut the crap. Do you dare to take on the bet or not? I'm betting 500,000 gold coins. Mage Felic will win!" Sienna exclaimed, disregarding the power of Vidas. After witnessing and experiencing the power of a Lich, he could take more shock than others.
In everyone's opinion, Sienna was just acting like an idiot! They could not figure out how a fool like him managed to win the favor of Castellan Arathor, who even appointed him as the leader of the top mercenary corps regiment in Roland City! There was such a stark contrast between Vidas and Lin Li, yet Sienna failed to see it. He ought to have sensed the formidable aura of the Legendary Vidas.
Chapter 558 - Legend VS Legend
"500,000 gold coins. You said it yourself," said Jefferson, a gambling addict who monopolized several gambling dens in Roland City. He was initially just joking. However, after hearing that Sienna was willing to bet 500,000 gold coins, he decided to take on the bet without hesitation. "Fine, I'll hold you to your word and start the bet for you."
It was as good as free money. Is Sienna's brain fried? Everyone surrounding him was actively discussing him. Hundreds of thousands of gold coins were bet on Vidas winning. They were not trying to earn any money, but rather were trying to embarrass the nouveau riche of Roland City.
Actually, there was no longer a need for the bet anymore. Sienna was the only one who bet on Lin Li winning. Those who bet on the Legendary-mage Vidas winning were expecting to gain more than 2,000,000 gold coins effortlessly. Sienna obviously knew that they were staring at him like a fool. However, he sneered, and thought to himself, C'mon, keep placing your bets. We'll see who really is the fool!
The news soon spread like wildfire on the stage, and the stakes were continuously rising. In fact, Sienna hoped that Lin Li would dawdle before launching his attack. By the time they were done, he could perhaps win 10,000,000 gold coins.
Lin Li had seen and dealt with plenty of Legendary powerhouses before. In fact, he even got insulted by Apophis, a figure of the Sanctuary-realm, on the day that he became the chairman of the Guild of Magic. However, regardless of how Burnside, Apophis, or Sendros undermined him, he would often be confident about how much he could take.
Although the Lord of Darkness was fierce, he had lost his sentience, after all, and the Crimson Dragon had been imprisoned in the Underground palace for more than 1000 years. When faced with the aura of a level-22 Legendary-mage, Lin Li could clearly sense the huge impact on the transfer of his magical power, which was far less smooth than usual.
However, Lin Li was not a normal level-20 Legendary-mage, after all. He didn't study the Book of Eternity for so long for no reason. Besides, he had extraordinary mental strength that would allow him to exhibit his powers when faced with an oppressive level-22 Legendary-mage.
Just as everyone was placing their bet and mocking Sienna, there was a sudden burst of energy in the Harvest Square, and everyone instantly fell silent. Apart from Sienna, everyone was dumbfounded. Since there were only two people in the square and Vidas had already exhibited his power, whom could that energy come from?
William stood up with surprise written all over his face. It was definitely the aura of a Legendary figure. Could it be that the young Mage Felic is also a Legendary-mage, in addition to being an accomplished pharmacist!? Unbelievable. He's only 20 years old! It was way beyond their imagination.
At this moment, Arathor, who was still feeling rather worried, thought differently from William. He did not stop worrying just because of Lin Li's sudden outburst. He frowned and stared blankly at the middle of the square. No matter how formidable Mage Felic might be, he still wouldn't phase Arathor even if he were a Sanctuary Master.
Lin Li's sudden outburst made Vidas feel rather astonished. He'd initially thought that Lin Li was just trying to use a potion to increase his abilities. To his surprise, the human mage Felic managed to hide his power very well; he turned out to be a Legendary-mage. However, even then, Vidas still did not feel any less confident about winning.
"There are still differences between legends!" Vidas remained calm and composed as if he were speaking to himself. He then waved Helios' Scepter in his hand and caused waves to form in the surface of the water.
The Harvest Square was paved with hard and durable lapis lazuli, though there were small gaps in between the tiles. The ground of the square was smooth like the surface of rivers during winter. However, the smooth, hard, and flat ground was quickly stained with green after Vidas released his Nature Domain. The tender grass grew wildly on the hard lazuli tiles and covered the entire square in the blink of an eye.
Everyone in the Breezy Plains was not new to such a sight. However, they could not help but feel shocked to witness it in the Harvest Sq
uare. The elves were undoubtedly lovers of nature as evidenced from their beautiful natural magic and domain.
The grass stopped growing when it reached waist level. However, there were several shoots which grew in the patches of grass rapidly. They seemed to have shot up from the ground and grown into huge trees. At this moment, the Harvest Square turned from a patch of grass into a dense forest. All it lacked was some birds and bees.
When Vidas showcased his Nature Domain, it was just like a wet blanket for William whose heart sank to rock bottom. Legendary-mages who could create their own magical domains were at least level-21 and above. Vidas' natural domain was clearly not newly created. In other words, he had to be above level-21. What about Mage Felic who had continuously been suppressed by Vidas' aura?
When Lin Li exhibited his power, those who were betting on Vidas winning were shocked, and began to doubt their conjecture. They began to wonder just whom they should bet on. Those who bet on Mage Felic would only win 500,000 gold coins from Sienna, while those who bet on Vidas would very likely obtain nearly 3,000,000 gold coins. In other words, if Felic were to win, Sienna would get to keep 3,000,000 gold coins.
However, when they were hesitating, Vidas exhibited the Nature Domain that he'd created, and turned the entire Harvest Square into a dense forest in the blink of an eye. Although birds were missing, he was definitely not inferior to the young mage Lin Li. Hence, everyone felt much more confident. Not only did they increase their bets, they even bet on Vidas winning. They didn't care for a few hundred gold coins, but they felt that it would be a good idea to embarrass the nouveau riche of Roland City.
Sienna was still worried that they might change their minds. To his surprise, the elf Vidas exhibited his Nature Domain, which made them stop hesitating. The bets then increased rapidly to 5,000,000 gold coins like the sprouting shoots in the Nature Domain.
Damn it, how can there be such a wonderful deal in this world? They're actually giving me money voluntarily, Sienna thought to himself gleefully, not at all worried that Lin Li might lose. He was not worried that Lin Li would lose, because he was a ruthless person who had managed to break through even the Legendary Lich's Humerus Domain. What damage could a mere forest do?
All of the bystanders on the viewing deck, including Wilkinson and the rest, were certain that Lin Li would lose, unlike Sienna who remained positive. Back then, Ujfalusi gave him too strong of an emotional trauma; since then, Ujfalusi had become his greatest fear. Since Lin Li could defeat the terrifying demon, the former was obviously deemed invincible by Sienna.
Actually, Sienna was rather similar to Wilkinson and the other pharmacists, who felt that Lin Li could solve all pharmaceutical problems. The only difference was that Sienna saw Lin Li as an invincible mage. He was Lin Li's die-hard fan.
At this moment, Lin Li had already flown up into the sky and was suspended in the air, with the thick and dense forest beneath him. The leaves rustled in the wind, and seemed to resemble waves in an emerald sea. Vidas' power indeed did not disappoint Lin Li, who reckoned that elf should be a level-22 Legendary-mage.
Lin Li's true abilities were actually only at level-20. However, a level-22 Legendary-mage did not intimidate him at all. He felt that if he were to always compare himself to someone weaker, he would never, ever make any progress. Only by competing with a stronger opponent would he train and improve.
Opponents were sometimes rarer than friends, especially for Legendary figures who would rarely be able to find a suitable opponent who could let them exert all their power without consideration. Besides, such opponents would usually be useful only once.
After Vidas released his Nature Domain, the entire Harvest Square was filled with waist-level grass and trees which blocked the view. Had Lin Li not flown up into the air, it would've been impossible for the audience to even catch a glimpse. They felt rather dissatisfied because they could not see anything.
However, at that moment, the dense trees shook vigorously and swayed from side to side before standing up from the ground. They turned into Ancient War Trees which were guardians of the elves. Although they had freshly sprouted, the wrinkled bark made them look aged.
Those trees were deemed as the guardians of elves after the elves fled into the Emerald Forest while being chased by large armies. The hundreds of elves who fortunately survived the ordeal no longer had the means to retaliate. At this moment, the Goddess of Forest showed her miracle and turned century-old trees into Trees of War, which helped the elves defeat the tens of thousands of men of coalition forces that chased them down.
However, there was also another theory, which suggested that the Trees of War were actually indigenous to the Emerald Forest, and had surfaced during the same age as the Dragons and Titans. After the elves entered the Emerald Forest, they broke into the territory of the Trees of War and reached a certain consensus with them. The Trees of War agreed to provide some shelter for the elves. At the same time, that also explained the other theory of Monferra giving the Emerald Forest to the elves.
Of course, it did not matter which theory was real, because the truth was that the Trees of War were strong guardians of the elves, and made it impossible for any other forces to harm the Emerald Forest. Although the power of the Trees of War was extremely strong, they would never leave the Emerald Forest. Otherwise, just with these hundreds of Trees of War, the elves would have enough strength to wipe out all humans.
The Trees of War had been around for tens of thousands of years, and each of them had incredible strength that could compare to that of dragons. However, for the elves, the power of the Trees of War was not the most important. Although the Trees of War had always been bound to Emerald Forest, their long lives allowed them to acc.u.mulate extremely profound knowledge.
The elves were originally the slaves of the High Elves. Although they were not forbidden from learning magic, the magic they had learned was actually the same as what humans learned. However, after entering the Emerald Forest, they were not only shielded by the Trees of War, they even learned the nature magic that was more suitable for their race from the Trees of War.
At this moment, the Trees of War which had been born in Vidas' Nature Domain naturally weren't the actual Trees of Wart that guarded the Elven Kingdom.
Otherwise, Lin Li wouldn't have agreed to the battle even if there was just one of them. He would instantly flee as far as he could. There were limits to training, and he would be a m.a.s.o.c.h.i.s.t if he were to go on and battle them.
The Trees of War in the Nature Domain could only be considered treemen, which belonged to an advanced nature magic that would turn normal trees into intelligent tree people. Moreover, in nature magic, there were also techniques that would turn beasts into orcs.
The spectators began to find it peculiar after feeling amazed. Since Lin Li had already started to hover in the air, what could the Trees of War do? They couldn't possibly fly too, could they? Most of them knew that it would be impossible for the actual Trees of War to be the ones that appeared here, because they had heard that the Trees of War were capable of capturing even dragons, let alone a levitating mage.
Vidas stood on top of the tallest tree and looked up at Lin Li, who was in the sky. He sneered with contempt, and thought, Although this human mage has reached the Legendary-realm at such a young age, which is rather admirable, this genius mage is destined to become only a piece of history because he has met me today.
Chapter 559 - Crimson Dragon
Although the world was peaceful now, and there hadn't been any large-scale conflict between the Elven Kingdom and human nations for almost 1,000 years, Vidas felt that it was his responsibility to decrease the power of humans as much as possible as an elf. That human mage named Felic was indeed a rare genius, but he had only just reached the Legendary-realm judging from his aura. Level-20 and 22 weren't just different in terms of numbers. This also meant the difference in grasping of nomological power. Even a slightly better understanding of nomological power would result
in unimaginable change in power and strength.
Vidas waved his Helios' Scepter, and a series of gigantic tree men which were extremely agile shot towards Lin Li. These tree men's arms were wrapped in thick black vines. When they leaped into the air, they threw these black vines in Lin Li's direction. Lin Li's tiny body was immediately swallowed in this sea of black vines that seemed like giant cobras.
Everyone gasped at this scene unfolding above the Harvest Square. This was the power of a Legendary powerhouse and that of the Magical Domain. Vidas was the king in this Magical Domain that he had created. He controlled everything in this domain. Even though his opponent was also a Legendary powerhouse, a Legendary powerhouse who did not possess a Magical Domain was not "Legendary" enough.
"I'm so sorry, Captain Sienna. Although everyone won't get much, we still thank you for your generosity." The outcome of this bet was clear. Some people were already making their way out. Of course, they didn't forget to mock this newly appointed official of Doland. It just felt too good.
Arathor sighed deeply. William stared above the square mindlessly. Thick vines loomed over the entire sky above the square. That Mage Felic was nowhere to be found. That powerful aura distinct to Legendary-mages was also gone in a split second.
Did everything really end? Wilkinson and his companions looked up and felt a sense of despair. Where else in Anril could they find another pharmaceutics Master as knowledgeable as Master Felic? Though they had only learned from Mage Felic for a few months, all of them had made great improvements. However, the more they improved, the more they felt that Mage Felic's pharmaceutics skill was so great it was immeasurable. Although Wilkinson had almost reached Master level, he still didn't feel like he'd caught up to Mage Felic at all.
