Chapter 106: Adva

  Just as Rex had suggested, the Sky Arena proved to be an excellent training ground for Alex. Acc to Rex, the arena was divided into three zones: beginner, intermediate, and advahe beginner zone had teions, the intermediate had five, and the advanced zone had only oo Alex, it felt simir to different servers in an online game.

  Currently, Alex was i “newbie server” of the beginner zone. Most partits here were apprentice mages who had retly joihe White Tower, while those iermediate zone were full-fledged mages who had left their apprenticeship behind. The advanced zone, meanwhile, was reserved for the truly powerful mages.

  Though Alex often heard the saying, “There are no useless spells, only useless mages,” the reality wasn’t so simple. Some spells reveal their strengths and weaknesses only through actual bat, allowing mages to adapt them to their battle style accly.

  Although Alex specialized in evocation, he had ingly chosen divination as his initial bat tool, as its spells plemented his time manipution abilities perfectly. Among the spells, his favorites were the first-level Insightful Defehe sed-level See Invisibility, and the fourth-level Misfortune Suppression.

  Insightful Defense ell that allowed the caster to uand the defensive properties of their oppo. For Alex, who was both a padin and a mage, this was invaluable—it was like a “s” ability in games, letting him identify an oppo’s attributes and then attack their weaknesses. He had incorporated this game tactito his bat style.

  See Invisibility was self-expnatory. Although Alex could use his enhanced seo detect subtle ges, mage invisibility was plex and difficult to perceive. Many mages preferred to secure an advantage before ung attacks, making See Invisibility essential for Alex.

  As for Misfortune Suppression—that urely for Alex’s enjoyment.

  Misfortune Suppression was straightforward: it reduced the target’s luck to the lowest point for a set period, making them enter the most unfortues in every a. Si wasn’t a direct “attack,” it was seen more as a “curse” or “blessing.” Many mages ed to cast protective spells against such effects at the beginning of a match, resulting in them inexplicably stumbling, falling, or even botg spells, causing magical backsh.

  With these tools, Alex’s typical bat routine involved first using Future Sight to gauge his oppo’s opening move—whether offensive or defensive—and then tail his response accly. He would either ter their spell or break through their defenses, followed by a swift cast of Lesser Magic Missile Storm. By the time he’d pleted this cycle, most oppos had already surrendered. For the rare few with unyielding resolve, Alex simply stepped forward and kicked them off the ptform—as a padin, his close bat skills were as sharp as his spells.

  As Alex climbed the ranks in the Sky Arena, word of his prowess spread among the mages, and he became a hot topic of discussion. The reason was simple: Alex’s methods struck them as utterly bizarre.

  Thanks to the bination of Time Stop and Future Sight, Alex’s opening spell was almost always instantaneous. Since he didn’t t, many mages assumed he’d mastered both “instant casting” and “silent casting”—advaeiques generally reserved for senies. Yet, Alex had never shown any spells above the fourth level.

  Furthermore, what baffled the es the most was how Alex perfectly tered their spells at the start of every duel, whether they were attag or defending. While the divination school did have spells like Insightful Defense and Foresee ter, Sky Arena’s rules required everyoo wait until the match began to cast any spells.

  This meant that if Alex and his oppo began casting spells simultaneously, Alex’s would invariably ter their opening move.

  This was intriguing, to say the least.

  Even more remarkable was that Alex maintained an ued streak in the Sky Arena.

  Unbearable!

  A novice mage with an uen record? Among the Sky Arena partits were many senior apprentices of the White Tower, and while they knew Alex wasn’t part of the White Tower, they couldn’t accept him effortlessly besting its members.

  After all, almost all of Alex’s matches ended with quiockouts, which the es found hard to swallow. Were they truly so weak that he could dispatch them with ease?

  Iy, this had much to do with Alex’s bat philosophy.

  Through his study of magic, Alex likened mages to guns, with spells as bullets. Some bullets were ordinary, some armor-pierg, and some indiary for area attacks. In theory, a mage could fire spells endlessly, only stopping when they jammed or overheated. But, practically speaking, a mage’s “carrying capacity” was limited. Like a special forces soldier, they couldn’t carry unlimited ammunition; they had to select specific “magazines” based oicipated fight.

  After all, the human body has its limits.

  Through his battles in the Sky Arena, Alex noticed a on fw among nearly all the mages—they loved to first secure an unassaible position, then slowly and steadily chip away at each other, hoping to ensure victory.

  It was like a movie se where the protagonist and the boss shoot at each other until they’re out of bullets, without a scrat either side, only to wrestle in hand-to-hand bat. Finally, the hero mao grab a gun and deliver the fatal blow to the boss… Who fights like that iy?

  If most mages could be pared to mae gunners, then Alex was more of a sniper—one shot, one kill, and then he’d disappear without a trace. Spraying bullets wildly just wasn’t his style. This efficy meant his battles ended so quickly that it oftehe watg mages stunned.

  “Number 652 defeated, Number 684 advao 652,” echoed the arena annou.

  “Looks like that kid won again,” a mage iands remarked with a smile as he watched Alex turn and leave the arena. He had fiery red hair, slicked back meticulously, giving him an oddly mature air despite his youth. The red-haired mage then g his panion.

  “I heard he came from the Tower of Thunder—seems that mentor of his has found a worthy successor.”

  “But he isn’t a White Torentice.”

  The bespectacled, bck-haired mage beside him snorted, watg Alex’s retreating figure with a glint of disdain.

  “A mere rogue mage—getting this far is already an achievement for him… but this is as far as he’ll go. This arena belongs to White Torentices; we’re not here to be hunted.”

  “Oh?” The red-haired mage looked at his panion, intrigued.

  “Don’t tell me you’re pnning to take him on yourself?”

  “Of course.”

  With a fident smirk, the bespectacled mage stood up.

  “I’ll show him who’s the hunter and who’s the prey.”

  As he turo leave, the red-haired mage chuckled, watg him go.

  “Ah, still as proud as ever… but…”

  A smug smile appeared on the red-haired mage’s face.

  “Since we’ve got ourselves a newer syer, let’s see just what that little mage is truly capable of.”

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