Above the mage!

Chapter 595 A Challenge! A Challenge!
Instant defeat.

Not only Roim inside the arena, but even most of the other guardian mages outside the arena were still reeling from the surprise of discovering that God had actually used [Flight], when they were astonished to find:
The French Open has ended; Gaode emerged victorious, easily passing the level.

"You flatter me." A faint smile appeared on Gao De's lips, without the slightest arrogance, yet it made the expressions of the Solon County mages present even more complicated.

Seeing this, Deacon Edmund took a deep breath to suppress his anger and held back his curses.

In his view, losing is acceptable; the battles in the defense of the Soren Gym are inherently about winning and losing, and the outcome of the first round is indeed not that important. However, losing so badly is unacceptable.

But since there were other people present, and it was a public place, he couldn't directly reprimand Roym.

Roim left the fighting arena somewhat dejectedly.

Discussions spread among the monks guarding the temple.

"How could we have lost so badly?"

"This is embarrassing."

"Is there really such a young Third Ring Mage? How come I've never heard of such a thing before?"

"If such a genius had emerged among the Sea Sentinels, wouldn't it have been widely publicized by now?" Some intelligent people realized something was amiss and raised the question.

“I think you’re right. Although he can indeed fly, it doesn’t necessarily mean that he relies on the ‘flying technique.’ Maybe it’s some kind of special skill of his?”

"Look at the spell he just cast; neither its level nor its power resembles that of a third-ring mage."

The mages present were all elites, whose strength and insight were far superior to those of ordinary mages.

So after the initial shock, they quickly realized something was wrong and gradually pieced together a conclusion that was close to the truth.

Upon hearing their conversation, Roym paused for a moment, then shuddered.

The confusion in his eyes was instantly replaced by sudden realization.

Yes, Gaode is definitely not the Third Ring Master!
He clenched his fist tightly, his nails digging deep into his palm.

If Gao De is indeed a third-ring mage, then with the enhancement of ascending ring casting, even if his Stone Wall spell has amazing defensive power thanks to his own specialization, it would be extremely difficult for him to block this spell, unlike before when it was so easy.

Realizing this, Roim bit his lip.

He scared himself, and the sudden ability to fly broke down his mental defenses, causing his combat performance to plummet.

If we had handled it normally, even if we were to lose in the end, we would never have lost so miserably, without even a chance to fight back!

Regret gnawed at his heart like a venomous snake.

Gao De, suspended in the arena, heard everything, but his expression remained calm, as if the discussions had nothing to do with him.

There are actually three key reasons why he won so easily.

One reason was the impact of his flight into the arena; it was so great that it prevented Roim from entering combat mode.

Secondly, his casting speed is simply too fast.

Although he had the advantage of striking first, it is an undeniable fact that he cast three spells while Roim only managed to cast one.

Finally, and most importantly, his spellcasting choices are extremely targeted and fluid.

【Thorns】strikes first, forcing out Roim's 【Stone Wall】, then uses a first-level non-combat spell 【Quick Dig】 to achieve a big win with a small investment, and finally follows up with a 【Frostbolt】.

The stone wall summoned by [Stone Wall] is enormous. Gao De took advantage of this and used the opponent's spell to his own advantage, successfully concealing the traces of [Frostbolt].

After the stone wall was breached, the Frost Arrow was fired immediately afterward, giving Roim no time to react.

In a normal battle, a first-circle spell like Frostbolt, cast by ascending ring, would not be enough to instantly incapacitate a second-circle elite mage.

Because Roim must have protective magical artifacts on him that can withstand the attack of [Frost Arrow].

However, in order to prevent the magic duel from turning into an arms race, the use of all supernatural items other than weapons is restricted during the gym challenge.

Gao De recognized this and chose the Frostbolt, which has weaker power but faster casting speed.

Ultimately, this seemingly "shortcut" victory was actually a triple crushing victory in terms of tactics, strength, and understanding of the rules.

In the eyes of these monks guarding the temple, his easy passage this time was somewhat due to cheating.

This is indeed the case.

However, these guardian mages did not know that even without using any "tricks," he could still defeat Roim, a mage whose level was only second rank, within three spells.

"Who's next?" The murmurs gradually subsided, and the guardian monks refocused their attention on the fighting arena.

“I’ll do it. His cultivation method is clearly biased towards wood. I am a mage who specializes in wood elemental spells, and I also chose the wood element for my elemental transformation body, so it’s quite targeted.” A gentle yet firm voice rang out.

A female mage walked slowly forward. She was slender and carried a bright green staff decorated with vine-like ornaments.

She stepped forward, walked over to Deacon Edmund, and whispered a few words to him.

"Cecilie, are you confident?" Deacon Edmund glanced at her.
“Deacon Edmund, he didn’t use [Flight], did he?” Cecily asked.

Deacon Edmund glanced at her and slowly nodded.

While Roym was on the field, he couldn't reveal any information as a spectator, but now that the second battle hasn't started yet, revealing this information isn't against the rules.

"So, in the end, he should just be a second-circle mage who has mastered a special means of flight."
Although I've only been promoted to the third ring for less than half a year, I'm still a third-ring mage. Dealing with a second-ring mage is not exactly a piece of cake, but there's absolutely no reason for me to lose.

After receiving an affirmative answer, Cecily's eyes flashed with understanding. Her tone was calm, without arrogance or disdain for Gaode.

“Indeed.” Deacon Edmund nodded in agreement.

Then, Deacon Edmund looked up at Goddard in the arena and announced loudly, "Master Goddard, congratulations on passing the first challenge of the Solon Magic Hall."

"Your second opponent is the mage Cecily."

According to the rules, you can choose to rest briefly and then start immediately, or choose another date to continue.

"Your challenge score will be retained until you complete all three levels or give up voluntarily."

This rule is designed to prevent challengers from being bogged down in a series of battles and to ensure that they are in top condition for every fight.

In theory, Gao De could even pass the first level today and then challenge the second level several months later when his magic power and strength have improved further.

"No need to rest. You didn't use up much magic power just now. Let's begin." God nodded politely to Deacon Edmund. This was the truth.

He has only cast one second-circle spell and two first-circle spells that ascend to the next circle.

Given his current level of power in the late second ring, this amount of consumption is negligible, and he doesn't need to rest at all.

But while it's the truth, it's not something everyone wants to hear.

To Roym, who had just left the stage, these words were like another resounding slap in the face, causing him to stagger and his face to turn even paler.

Cecily also placed her hand on the crystal ball with the rings, and the crystal ball lit up with twenty-two rays of light.

He was exactly twenty-two years old, which met the age limit for the guardian monk.

After passing the age verification, Cecily fastened the guard badge to her robe. With a thought, azure magic surged forth, lifting her figure into the air, just like Gaode had done before, and she flew into the arena.

However, she used the orthodox [flight technique].

Cecily had only been a third-circle spell for half a year, and had mastered very few third-circle spells, or rather, she had only mastered one at the moment, which was the [Flight] spell.

As Gao De watched Cecily fly in, his eyes narrowed slightly.

The Three-Ring Mage is finally getting a challenge.

Cecily had clearly learned from Roim's lesson. As soon as she entered the light screen of the magic arena, she began casting spells without hesitation, determined not to let God seize the initiative again.

God also reacted, activating the spell the instant Cecily entered the field.

Therefore, in the blink of an eye, neither side gained the upper hand.

Since the timing of their attacks is equal, the next contest will be on their casting speed and the power and skill of their spells.

As a third-circle mage, Cecily should be incredibly fast when casting spells with a circle number lower than her own mage level.

However, because of his cultivation of the Leomon Magic Network, which opened up 365 main magic meridians in his body, casting speed was one of his strengths. At this moment, he was using all his strength, so he was not much slower than Cecily.

The next instant, the two completed the spellcasting almost simultaneously.

Two completely different magical energies erupted in the field.

A dim, yellowish magical light surged from God's hand, transforming into dozens of solid, binding energy rays that, like living vines, swiftly coiled around Cecily's legs and waist.

He cast a second-circle transformation spell, [Earthbind]:
Select a creature you can see within a certain distance; yellow magical energy lines will wrap around that creature.

If the spell takes effect, its flight speed will decrease to 0 feet for the duration of the spell.

Flying creatures affected by this spell will land safely at a speed of 60 feet per turn until they hit the ground or the spell ends.

Gao De's strategy in this round is to first seize "air superiority" and try to use [Earth Bind] to forcibly pull Cecily from her flight state and imprison her on the ground.

Cecily, however, cast the [Thorns] spell that Gaode had just chosen.

However, when casting spells at the level of a third-ring mage, the visual effect and power are much more noticeable than those of a high-ranking mage.

A ball of light, far more vibrant and full of life than when Gaode used it before, fell to the ground.

In an instant, the earth churned, and with a rustling sound, dozens of dark brown thorny vines covered with sharp, poisonous barbs burst forth from the ground, and began to grow and spread at a frenzied speed visible to the naked eye.

At first glance, Cecily's choice of a ground spell when both sides are in the air is truly puzzling.

However, her next move immediately revealed her true tactical intentions.

The instant [Thorns Overgrown] took effect, Cecily didn't stop, and swung her right hand, which was holding the staff, upwards with a sudden motion.

The surging magical power within his body surged forth once more, transforming into countless magical particles shimmering with a light green glow. Like a life-giving rain of light, it precisely sprinkled upon the wildly twisting and growing thorns!

Wood elemental spells, especially those related to plants, often possess a unique characteristic:
Once a spell is formed, its form and power can be further enhanced if it is continuously infused with mana or properly guided.

What Cecily is doing now is using her higher mage level and precise control over magic to forcefully catalyze this thorny area.

Nourished by this new force, the previously isolated vines seemed to be infused with a wild soul, growing with even louder crackling sounds.

They wriggled, intertwined, and merged violently, instantly weaving an upward-rising web of thorns beneath Cecily.

However, just as the web of thorns began to take shape and grow ferociously, the energy lines of [Earthbind] cast by God had already wrapped around Cecily's waist and legs.

A force as heavy as a mountain suddenly came.

Cecily felt a sudden heaviness around her, as if an invisible hand was pulling her from the free sky into the heavy earth.

The light lifting force generated by the [Flight Technique] clashed fiercely with the heavy pulling force of the [Earth Binding], causing the blue glow around her to flicker violently and erratically.

Her body inevitably began to fall.

However, Cecily showed no sign of panic in the face of this situation.

She only felt so confident and bold enough to continue her spells and cause the growth of "Thorns" after seeing that Gao De was using "Earth Binding".

Just as Cecily's figure had fallen a dozen feet, several thorns in the thorn net intertwined and merged into a thick main vine, which suddenly shot upwards.

Its tip is not a sharp thorn, but under Cecily's precise control, it coils and weaves as if it were alive, forming a relatively flat thorn platform large enough for one person to stand on.

Cecily landed firmly on the swaying thorny platform she had created herself.

In the [Earthbound] judgment, this is considered as hitting the ground, and will no longer pull her body down.

In reality, she was still suspended in the air and had not lost air superiority.

At this moment, she stood atop the constantly writhing thorns, looking at Gao De, who was also suspended in the air not far away. With a slight wave of her left hand, several thorny vines beneath her sprang out like venomous snakes, biting at Gao De.

Gao De watched this scene with a hint of surprise in his eyes.

In its normal form, the [Thorns Overgrown] spell's effect is simply to create difficult terrain and deal damage to enemies within it.

But Cecily took this simple second-circle spell and made it work in a completely different way.

By simply casting a spell, he could both break his "Earth Binding" and overcome the limitations of the spell itself, thus launching an offensive.

As expected of the guardian monk, he truly possesses great skill!

(End of this chapter)