Chapter 551: Post-Action, Making a Name

When Xia Duo had previously banished Priest Ke'er from Rodney Territory, he had already guessed that behind this series of actions by Rodney Territory, it might have been at the instigation of a Great Arcanist.

If the mysterious organization was truly the mastermind behind Rodney Territory, and following what Lord Huo Ke said, there was a Great Arcanist behind the mysterious organization, while Rodney Territory had none.

Looking at it this way, it seemed all the information was connected, but Xia Duo knew deep down that many times, even information that was one hundred percent true could be misleading.

Not to mention that this was only Lord Huo Ke's side of the story.

"Lord Huo Ke, what you have said has left me very shocked." Xia Duo said, while pretending to be deep in thought:

"I need some time to confirm this. Perhaps Rodney Territory, or even the mysterious organization, is our common enemy. The enemy of an enemy is a friend. As for a friend, of course I will no longer keep Aquilain confined, though before that, I still cannot let him leave."

"What a great 'the enemy of an enemy is a friend'! With these words, I fully believe that in the future we will become friends!" Duolaisen appeared very generous, and his words revealed full sincerity.

Combined with his impressive temperament and appearance, if Xia Duo hadn't already been aware of the relationship and positions of both sides, he might have felt a sense of goodwill—an elder, a Senior Arcanist, acting so approachable in front of him.

Now, Xia Duo, being biased, naturally assumed there was a conspiracy involved.

Of course, whether it was a conspiracy didn't really matter; all Xia Duo wanted was to delay some time and wait for the subsequent impact of the communication plan. Furthermore, he would carefully consider the causes and consequences of any decision he made and would not act rashly.

There is a saying in his hometown: "Plan thoroughly before acting." If the other party expected that he would release Aquilain, or even directly confront Rodney Territory or the mysterious organization, based solely on this one-sided information, then Xia Duo could only say that the other party underestimated him.

Afterwards, the two exchanged pleasantries for a while, looking very much like a senior caring for a junior.

It wasn't until near evening that Xia Duo left the Arcane Union.

Returning to Giles Tower, Xia Duo was still thinking about the scene of his meeting with Lord Huo Ke just now; there was no expected tension or confrontation, and it would not be an exaggeration to call it amicable.

This was probably what Archmage Greta meant by "following the rules." It seemed Lord Huo Ke's current situation was truly not very good.

After thinking about it, Xia Duo contacted Savile Territory to have them take some investigative actions first. Afterwards, feeling it was not too late, he did not contact Niya to "Identify" spellbooks with her.

Instead, he continued the measurement and statistics of spell energy consumption. As an Arcanist, as long as one wanted to, there were plenty of things to do; he was never short of work. This was even while Xia Duo was in a guest location, where many research projects could not be conducted.

The next day, the Snow Melting Competition, which had been postponed for three days, finally continued.

The next event to be held was the second item, 【Arcane Maze】. To be honest, Xia Duo looked forward to this item more than any other. It wasn't because 【Arcane Maze】 came from his own hands, but because it was the item he could understand the best.

【Spell Duel】 was unrestrained and imaginative; if Xia Duo could reach the Seventh Layer of the Magic Net, it would certainly be an extremely brilliant performance, but he could not. The duels he could see only involved the fifth layer of the Magic Net, which was, it must be said, very regrettable.

As for 【Grand Illusion】, one could even say there was no direct engagement; the competition was about illusions, which was purely a comparison of imagination and art. If Xia Duo participated, creating some scenes from Earth, while not necessarily becoming the most dazzling person on the field, would certainly make everyone feel refreshed.

In his heart, 【Grand Illusion】 was the least anticipated item.

Aside from satisfying some curiosity, it actually didn't contribute much to real Magic research.

Only in 【Arcane Maze】 did the contestants, besides commanding the chess game, actually serve more as assistants to the pieces, and the abilities of the pieces were determined in advance, and most of them still retained Xia Duo's original design.

This narrowed the scope of the spell duel significantly, making it easier for Xia Duo to watch.

Therefore, Xia Duo called Niya early and went to the Arena together. During the free time while waiting for the match to start, the two deduced the trends of the chess game with each other.

Of course, compared to the formal competition where the abilities of the pieces were mostly around the 8th Circle and the contestants' spellcasting ability was limited to below the 5th Circle, the deductions of Xia Duo and Niya were several levels lower.

It was mostly about using 1st Circle spellcasting ability to facilitate or prevent the hit of a 3rd Circle long-range contact spell.

However, not long after the two started a game, Niya gave up her pieces and stopped playing. "The first-move advantage of the pieces is too great. I think the attacked piece should also be able to counterattack, otherwise it's too difficult to influence high-circle spells with low-circle spells. It's better to just play a pure chess game!"

"If the pieces could counterattack, the chess game itself would have no meaning. It would be better to just have a Spell Duel!"

When Xia Duo designed 【Arcane Maze】, he mainly considered minimizing the influence of the contestants' spellcasting as much as possible, letting the influence of chess skill take the upper hand.

In this way, the Netherese side could occupy a certain advantage with the routines Xia Duo had trained them in beforehand.

"Since we aren't deducing Arcane Maze anymore, and there's still some time before the competition starts, let's play a pure chess game."

"Mm."

A pure chess game, or one could say a "Projection Match"—although Niya's chess skill was not as good as Xia Duo's, she was more receptive to this form. She had already realized that this form of duel could achieve the effect of Focus Training.

Xia Duo and Niya, who were in the state of a Projection Match, easily ignored the situation outside. When they finished a game and prepared to see how much time was left before the competition started, the two were surprised to find that a large number of chess game projections had appeared in the Arena.

"Xia Duo, it looks like everyone really likes Chess!" Niya looked at Xia Duo with a smile, her tone revealing a hint of playfulness.

Xia Duo was also very happy that the crystallization of Wisdom from his hometown could be recognized by the Netherese Mages. Moreover, as Chess spread more and more widely, it would inevitably bring him a large amount of "Belief Power."

Although he said he didn't care whether his bloodline could awaken again, if it really did awaken again, he would still shout "So fragrant."

Even, if Bloodline Awakening had a progress bar that allowed him to clearly see how much "Belief Power" was needed for the next awakening, he felt he would very likely take the initiative to make a name for himself.

Of course, compared to the traceable and logical nature of Magic, Bloodline Awakening was still too ethereal.