Chapter 85: Clash

"Dragon?"

Rod immediately thought of the legends he'd heard back on Earth.

Before a serpent transforms into a true dragon, it goes through a certain evolutionary process, one stage of which is growing dragon horns.

Li Li shook her head.

"No, this is Bio-Weaving. An evil spell created by some bored and disgusting arcane mage."

Rod flipped over the snake-person's corpse.

On either side of its long neck, he found two more rows of fish gills.

Some were normal snake scales, others were the slick, mucous skin of a frog.

He frowned.

"This stuff — isn't it banned on the continent?"

"The Arcane Control Alliance banned it outright two hundred years ago, but in recent years students at the Bahadur Academy of Magic have dressed it up and called it academic research in the medical field — and, unbelievably, the Alliance actually approved it."

The Arcane Control Alliance, huh.

Though he wasn't a mage, Rod had still heard of the Arcane Control Alliance's great name.

Its full name was the 'Alliance for the Prevention of Magical Anomalies', also called ACMA, though common folk generally called them the Arcane Control Alliance.

It was an organization founded in response to the widespread popularization and in-depth study of spells among humanity, which had led to an increasingly frequent occurrence of various new-type spell-loss-of-control incidents, bringing challenges and crises to society.

It was said that back in the day, a legendary mage had captured a Flame Lord, and during its dissection in a laboratory in the city center, he — being very hands-y — used a storm spell to stimulate the explosive flame essence within its body.

The result was that the entire city was blown straight into the sky, and even the Weaving City above the clouds was affected, with terrible casualties.

The two of them cut their way forward as they walked.

After walking for a stretch.

Rod sensed two auras rapidly approaching from ahead.

"Someone's coming."

"Mm, two high-tier Sixth Order, both mages."

Li Li's perception was sharper than Rod's — she could even tell the other's spiritual accumulation.

Her fighting spirit was high at this moment, a faint smile on her face, eager to throw down.

Very quickly.

A flash of spiritual light, and two young mages in black robes appeared ahead.

One male, one female, both human, with the typically frail mage build.

"Halt ahead, Mr."

The male mage spoke.

His smile was warm, his expression gentle — one look at his bearing and demeanor told you he was the scion of some noble house.

"Ahead lies the Bahadur Academy of Magic's testing grounds. Entry is temporarily forbidden."

Said only to Rod.

Li Li let out a contemptuous snort.

"Since when did this place become your territory? The Open-Air Labyrinth isn't a public latrine — what gives you the right to dump your crap wherever you please? Or is it that the brains of you Bahadur students are made of shit, and what you shit out is actually brains? Well then, congratulations! The Yigo clan will never come after you again! But they will slice open your bellies and pull out your large intestines for study — congratulations again! What a joyous occasion! Because in their Brain Exhibition Hall, your large intestine specimen will be one of a kind!"

Wow.

What a fierce aggression.

Rod was startled.

Li Li's looks and build were the cute type, but when she rattled off that whole passage without pausing for breath, her presence inexplicably grew towering.

The male mage's smile stiffened slightly.

But the female mage beside him was the first to let her expression go cold.

"A dog's mouth can't spit out ivory!"

She raised her staff and instantly cast a bolt of Lei Guang nearly as thick as a bowl.

Crackle—

The Lei Guang struck Li Li De Fa spell-shield, flickering bright and dim, arcs of electricity jumping wildly, crawling tree-shaped scorch marks across the ground.

But the spell-shield was completely undamaged.

The female mage's brows knit slightly.

She had long since stepped into high-tier Sixth Order, her mana abundant, surpassing most of her peers outside of Bahadur.

Judging by the halfling's mana accumulation in front of her, she was clearly only a freshly advanced early-tier Sixth Order.

How could she block her spell so easily?

"【Disintegrating Lightning Strike】? Feels more like a scratch — even when I was five I used it better than you."

Having said that.

Li Li let out a cold laugh, raised her staff, and delivered a 【Disintegrating Lightning Strike】 of the same kind.

Her Lei Guang traveled far faster, reaching the opponent in the blink of an eye.

A spell-shield went up.

Ping!

Then it was swiftly pierced through.

The female mage's face changed drastically, and she hastily raised a second layer of spell-shield.

Only then did she manage to block it.

"Come on, keep going."

Li Li spread her hands, her expression arrogant.

That female mage's face darkened; she stole a glance at the male mage beside her who had begun smiling again, unable for the moment to read the other's thoughts.

Bahadur, to put it plainly, was a fighting pit — win and you earn respect, lose and everyone tramples you.

She had only barely managed to enter this circle; she could not afford to lose it lightly!

In short, she could not lose!

In an instant, her magic surged to its peak.

The dust kicked up from the ground was nearly substantial, and the friction and resonance between the streams of magic roared like an engine!

The next moment, she and Lily vanished from where they stood at the same time.

Boom!!!

A powerful explosion rang out from midair.

The surging shockwave produced a tremendous force that slammed head-on into Rod's face and that of the remaining male mage.

A volley of magic clashes erupted between the two ladies.

Rod looked at the other party.

"Aren't you going to help?"

"Ganging up goes against my breeding. But you — that halfling lady is only at the early stage of the sixth rank, so why aren't you going to help?"

"To tell you the truth, I'm actually a top-tier expert — only I take on many, never many take on one."

Hearing this, the male mage smiled and shook his head.

"How I envy you — young, confident, ignorant, thinking the world is exactly as you see it. Truly laughable, just running your mouth to feel good."

He flapped his black robe.

Then said: "Leave this place. I have always been very tolerant toward humans — however, this halfling lady must stay."

While he was speaking.

The ladies' contest beside them once again erupted with an extremely powerful surge.

One could see that the moment that female mage cast a spell, Lily would cast the same one in response.

The other could barely break through her spell shield, yet every time she herself could smoothly pierce through one or two layers — and yet deliberately held back from landing a hit.

Rod knew Lily was displaying her extraordinary mastery of spells.

Using it to humiliate the female mage without restraint.

Lily laughed heartily.

"Weak incantations, impure magic, scattered focus, slow reactions! What gives someone like you the right to be a student of lofty Bahadur?! Or is this all your lot amounts to?!"

"Bastard!!!"

The female mage flew into a humiliated rage and started cursing.

The magic ring on her finger blazed with light — clearly, she had taken the initiative to abandon the magic clash and switched to using a treasure.

"Cecil!"

The male mage suddenly spoke.

The female mage named Cecil stiffened.

Then, extremely unwilling, she took the initiative to pull back and returned to the male mage's side.

"Useless."

". I'm sorry, Bert — I have brought disgrace to Dragon Interest Society."

"When you go back next month, take the initiative to withdraw. You aren't up to our level yet."

Having said that, that Bert walked toward Lily.

Lily was not injured.

There were only a few new scuff marks on her red leather chest armor.

She cocked a casual smile, and her magic surged once more.

Bert's expression turned vicious.

"Let me show you the true power of Bahadur, you despicable halfling."

The magic churning within him was far purer than Cecil's had been.

"Wait!"

Rod called out to stop him.

"Aren't you leaving yet, Mr.?"

His attitude suddenly softened again.

His manner toward humans and toward non-human races was utterly different.

Rod curled his lips into a grin.

He slowly drew 【Body Sword of Dedication】.

"Shall we have a clash too? A battle of men — you hit me once, I hit you once. We're already here, let's give it a try!"

(End of this chapter)