As the golem stood tall before him, Victor was more than ready to face it. Drawing upon the Pyro elemental particles in the surroundings, he began chanting an incantation and hoisted his hand above his head. With a surge of energy, a long blazing spear materialized above his hand, radiating intense heat that shimmered in the air. This was the spell {Volcanic Spear} — a Bet-tier spell — and it would be his first time using it in battle.
Taking advantage of the opening created by Rowan’s earlier all-out attack, Victor aimed his spell with precision. Then, he launched the spear, watching as it sliced through the air and struck the mechanical golem squarely below its head, erupting into a blinding explosion upon impact. A veil of hot white smoke that could be felt from his skin billowed out, shrouding the golem from view.
A smile formed on Victor’s lips. A Bet-tier spell was indeed at least a dozen times stronger than even the strongest Aleph-tier spell!
As the smoke settled, Victor could see the damaged mechanical beast. The attack had fried the internal structure of the golem, but it was still able to move. Despite emitting weary creaks, the golem was regaining its functionality. Nevertheless, what truly intrigued Victor about this golem was its design. For example, the golem was like a steampunk mechanical construct.
Before long, the mechanical beast fully regained control and initiated its assault. It charged at Victor with formidable speed and power like a train on the loose, seeming capable of destroying anything in its path. However, Victor faced it head-on without a single shred of fear.
With a swift incantation, Victor activated the spell {Blink Step}, disappearing from his initial position and reappearing on the other side of the chamber like a specter. In the past, he had to chant the spell for a second or two before it could be activated, but now, it was almost instantaneous. Not only was he capable of launching powerful spells, but even the efficiency of his basic spells had been enhanced as well.
“{Warpblade}.” Flicking his finger, Victor conjured several ethereal blades able to cut the space itself and hurled them toward the golem.
Because of the recoil of the charge, it was unable to dodge nor defend against the blades, and they penetrated through the exterior of the mechanical beast, creating a network of gaping holes reminiscent of a beehive, further exposing and destroying its internal structure.
Not stopping there, Victor cast {Volcanic Spear} two more times, throwing them at the golem. The mechanical beast attempted to deflect the incoming projectiles with a sweep of its hammer-like tail, but the force of the explosions shattered its tail into pieces. It could no longer be used as a weapon.
It’s weaker than expected… Or am I just that strong now? It had to be noted that it took Rowan his all to just puncture a hole in its neck, but he could achieve an even better result with just two spells. Victor smirked at these thoughts and decided to finish this once and for all.
Subsequently, he extended his palms, summoning flames and whirlwinds on each of his palms. “Your performance ends here — {Blazing Burst}!” He fused the two elements into a raging cyclone of scorching fury and unleashed it toward the golem.
The golem, at the end of its wits, was powerless to do anything and got engulfed by the scorching cyclone, frying it in the process before being flung to the wall. In comparison to the combination spell that he had cast on the queen arachnid, the power of this spell was at least ten times stronger because he was using {Tempest Gale} and {Volcanic Spear} as the two foundational spells instead, which practically turned {Blazing Burst} into a top tier Bet-tier spell. What had once been an imposing and indestructible, five-meter-tall golem now lay in ruins, reduced to nothing but scraps and debris.
With that, the match was decisively concluded, and Victor emerged victorious.
“Phew. Guess it only amounted to that much,” Victor mumbled, shaking his head in mild disappointment.
Still, as underperforming as it might be, with enough of them, he believed that they could even threaten higher-ranked Magi. Alas, there was only one here. Nonetheless, the main reason that Victor easily defeated it was that he didn’t give it a chance to unleash its energy attack, or else it would have caused him a bit of trouble.
He felt that with Rowan’s strength, he shouldn’t be so powerless against it. In fact, Victor identified several factors contributing to his defeat. The first one was because the environment had not favored him; lacking places for hiding or to be utilized as traps, Rowan would find it difficult to mount an effective offense.
The second reason lay in Rowan’s weapons. At the end of the day, although his axes were of decent quality, they were made of iron. Hitting a metal several times harder and tougher than steel using iron was akin to striking a rock with an egg. Perhaps if he was given an enchanted weapon, the result would have been drastically different.
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Speaking of him, Victor inspected his prone form against the wall. To his surprise, he found signs of breathing from him. In spite of the severity of his injuries, Rowan was still alive — a testament to his resilience and fortitude. Truly one heck of a miracle.
Of course, Victor had no intention of ending Rowan’s life here. It wasn’t a matter of being soft or anything; rather, Rowan could be exploited in a particularly vicious way. Unfortunately, the necessary “spell” for such exploitation was still under development, leaving Victor unable to act on it at the moment. Nonetheless, he anticipated its completion by the time he returned to the academy.
In the meantime, he employed a basic magic sealing spell to restrain Rowan. It was a very rudimentary spell that didn’t even reach Aleph-tier status and something he had learned during his time at the academy. Victor found it effortless to apply the spell to a helpless individual like Rowan, who remained unconscious and unable to resist. With his severe injuries, Victor didn’t fear that Rowan would be able to break free from the spell’s restraints.
Having attended to all necessary matters, Victor strode into the passage leading to the next chamber. Graviel and the others lay ahead, and it was time for Victor to exact his vengeance.
***
Inside the chamber of the second trial, Graviel stood alone. His face and body were riddled with injuries that were slowly being healed by the healing potion in his hand. However, an incredulous look crossed as he stared at his comrades. Former comrades.
Jared and Dorian, these traitors, were both encased in ice. After they suddenly turned against him, Graviel used a valuable Cryo magic scroll on them. Unable to avoid being hit by the powerful spell contained in it, they thus became like that. By now, Graviel had no more than three magic scrolls left, and it pained his heart to use such a valuable item. In the outside world, each of these magic scrolls could be worth hundreds of mana crystals.
“To think even you would turn against me.” Graviel clenched his teeth, tightening his grip on the potion’s bottle until cracks appeared. His gaze was focused on Elara, who was on one knee, half encased in ice and shivering uncontrollably.
“Didn’t you see it coming?” Elara said, her eyes holding a fierce glare. “With the way you’re treating others, it is only natural that the three of us would turn against you. What Merlin family? They’re nothing but a bunch of arrogant pricks.”
“Elara! You dare!” His voice raised in anger, but she didn’t budge in the slightest.
A meek acolyte whom he had once regarded as his possession, Elara showed her deep hatred toward him, unlike anything he’d ever seen. Graviel had already expected betrayal from Jared and Dorian, but he never had expected that Elara would have the courage to do the same. How did this situation come to be?
At that moment, Graviel felt a strange sensation — a tingling at the base of his neck where the cross-necklace magic tool rested. It was glowing, indicating that some unknown force was affecting his mind.
“So that’s how it is. We’ve been had.” A self-mocking smile appeared on Graviel’s face as he came to a realization. It was likely to be the true nature of this trial. What the overseers said to them had been a lie.
But Graviel found no issue with the situation and addressed the injured Elara with a cold stare. “Oh well. It seems my initial plan to dispose of you three is unfolding sooner than expected. Now that the chance has presented itself, don’t blame me for seizing it.”
Just as Graviel prepared to cast a spell to finish it all, Elara suddenly smirked and hurled a potion taken under her robe at him. Reacting swiftly, Graviel anticipated her move and launched the potion bottle in his hand to intercept hers. However, as Elara’s potion shattered, it released a cloud of green gas that coalesced into thorny vines, rapidly ensnaring Graviel.
“Bitch!” Graviel cursed, wincing at the sudden pain. Worse still, he felt slightly paralyzed by the thorns that pricked his skin. The vines were poisonous!
The potion that Elara had used was a spell potion. Functioning similarly to a magic scroll, it contained a spell within its liquid contents. However, unlike scrolls, spell potions were considered less potent and more limited in scope. Plus, they required a certain level of expertise in potioneering to be effectively utilized, although they were cheaper to be made in comparison to magic scrolls.
“Be frozen in ice!” Graviel gripped the thorny vines and cast a Cryo spell to freeze his surroundings, enveloping the chamber in a frosty haze. The ice quickly spread toward Elara who was near him, trying to encase her just like what had befallen Jared and Dorian. Even though vines began appearing around her to protect against the ice, it was no use. She was powerless to stop it.
No matter what, Graviel was very close to the rank of Elemental Adept, and he was stronger than the three of them. With the countless treasures at his disposal, it was only natural that he would be the last one standing.
Still, encasing them in ice didn’t mean their demise. Killing acolytes this way would take time, and he had some time left; only twenty minutes had passed since the trial began. But he couldn’t afford to waste any more time, so he withdrew a magic silver dagger hidden under his robe, intent on dispatching them swiftly.
“A pity. You three have served your purpose well. Now die,” Graviel declared coldly, raising his silver dagger to strike at the closest target to him — Elara.
And yet. Right at this moment, a loud applause rang out, halting him in his tracks. It left him completely baffled, but he quickly spun around with his guard raised, only to find a figure emerging from the darkness behind him.
“Splendid! Marvelous! To think you would try to kill them. What a twist. Truly, I am impressed,” the voice praised as the footsteps drew nearer.
“Who’s there?!” Graviel demanded, his pulse quickening with apprehension. Then, recognition dawned on him. “This voice. It can’t be!”
Stepping into the light was a young man not even in his twenties with blue hair and a sharp demeanor, clad in an acolyte’s robe. Graviel clearly recognized this person; this was none other than Victor — the man that was supposedly dead, killed by him.
“Long time no see. Did you miss me?” Victor taunted, a chilling smile playing on his lips.