Chapter 34: Spell Exchange

Since the cards were already on the table, Gao De had no need to hide anything.

This is a fight to the death; every trick must be used without reservation.

The emerald-green acid balls flew at incredible speed and carried devastating destructive power.

But just as the acid balls were about to strike Master Seda, an invisible barrier blocked them, causing the balls to explode prematurely.

Intense acidic substances scattered instantly, forming a small zone of acid rain.

Yet not a single drop of acid could get near Master Seda.

“This magical alchemical item must be a first-circle one,” Gao De said, his expression grim, making his judgment.

The fact that Master Seda had so easily blocked his two attacks without any casting motion meant it was almost certainly not a spell he knew himself, but a supernatural item he wore.

As a potions master and senior apprentice, Master Seda owning one or two first-circle magical alchemical items was only natural.

Gao De had considered this possibility during his pre-battle rehearsal.

But the world of spells was too magnificent; with his shallow knowledge, he could not identify what spell this was, what effect it had, or where its weakness lay.

“Acid Splash.”

Compared to Gao De’s complete ignorance, Master Seda’s knowledge was far deeper—he recognized the spell Gao De had cast at a glance.

His ashen face turned slightly green; he drew a deep breath and muttered, “I underestimated you, my good apprentice. I haven’t even mastered this spell, yet you’ve learned it.”

“I truly don’t know where you got the spell formula or when you learned it.”

“But that’s all you’ve got.”

As he spoke, Master Seda finally moved.

To strike without repaying is impolite.

For this apprentice who dared defy his authority, his fury had reached its peak.

Master Seda extended his hand, dry and gnarled as dead wood.

His index finger pointed at Gao De.

A visible vortex formed in his palm, transforming into brilliant red-orange light, radiating intense heat.

A fire arrow, forged from flame, had taken shape.

The fire arrow shot through the air like a meteor, trailing a fiery tail straight toward Gao De.

Flames burned fiercely, moving at tremendous speed.

The distance between them was so short, and Gao De had no spell to increase his agility.

It was obvious that even a tough ground-born creature like a wolf rat couldn’t dodge this attack—he had nowhere to escape.

The truth proved exactly that.

Yet Gao De remained eerily calm.

Facing the blazing fire arrow racing toward him, he didn’t flinch—not even attempting to dodge, for that would waste precious battle time.

Master Seda’s fire arrow spell was known information to Gao De.

He would never have failed to prepare a countermeasure.

In the next instant, a faint glow surrounded his body, spreading like ripples, enveloping him.

The glow appeared precisely one moment before the fire arrow touched him.

【Increased Resistance】! The barrier constructed by the spell revealed its power—the fire arrow, which should have delivered a fatal blow, instantly lost most of its force upon impact.

When it finally struck Gao De, it was only a mild burst of flame.

It burned through his clothes and scalded his chest skin, but no further damage was done. “Good lad!” Master Seda, startled, lost all contempt from his face. “You’ve hidden quite a few tricks!”

He was astonished both by the new spell Gao De had cast and by Gao De’s skill.

The stronger the mage, the shorter the casting time required.

Logically, Master Seda’s offensive spell should have been cast before Gao De’s.

Yet the two spells—the fire arrow and the glow of Increased Resistance—appeared almost simultaneously.

This was because although Gao De didn’t know exactly what spell Master Seda would use, he was certain that after casting 【Acid Splash+】, Master Seda would retaliate immediately.

So right after casting 【Acid Splash+】, Gao De immediately activated the 【Increased Resistance】 spell model.

Thus, even though his casting time was slightly longer than Master Seda’s, he had begun channeling the spell before Master Seda even started—combined with the flight time of the fire arrow—it resulted in both spells being cast at nearly the same moment.

In Gao De's previous fighting games, this had a technical term.

Prediction.

This was a scenario only veteran mages would display—yet it had occurred on a first-rank apprentice he had completely dismissed. How could Master Seda not be stunned?

Gao De’s current condition was far from good.

A strange flush colored his face.

Even though 【Increased Resistance】 had blocked most of the fire arrow’s power, the residual energy still struck him hard.

More importantly, his mana was already more than half depleted!

—Beyond the difference in the number of spells known and casting speed, the greatest gap between Gao De and Master Seda lay in the total number of spells they could cast.

Though both appeared to be apprentice mages with seemingly similar ranks, Gao De was merely a first-rank apprentice, while Master Seda was a third-rank apprentice.

Gao De’s current mana could support only five spells before being exhausted.

As a third-rank apprentice, Master Seda’s mana could support over twenty spells.

A mage without mana is no better than a common soldier.

This was a universally accepted truth across all worlds.

Including the initial 【Mage Hand】, Gao De now had mana left for only two more spells.

Gao De exhaled deeply, stayed calm, clenched his teeth, and forced himself to ignore the persistent burning pain in his chest.

Huh! Another acid ball appeared in his hand, launched toward Master Seda with a flick of his arm.

When facing Master Seda’s fire arrow, he had made no attempt to dodge.

He knew he couldn’t dodge it, so he placed all his hope on 【Increased Resistance】.

This was also to buy time, ensuring he retained the initiative in the next exchange.

Gao De gambled that Master Seda would be overconfident in his fire arrow spell, believing it alone could defeat him, and wouldn’t immediately prepare his next spell.

He won the bet.

So in this round, the initiative still belonged to Gao De!

Gao De’s third spell was again 【Acid Splash+】.

“This is ridiculous!” Master Seda watched it all, silently cursing inside.

Despite his clearly faster casting speed, in all three spell exchanges, except the second which ended in a draw, Gao De had seized the initiative twice.

Where could he even complain about this?

(End of Chapter)