Chapter 152 : Chapter 152

Chapter 152: The Battle Begins

With the referee's order, I reacted swiftly, and so did Tan Han.

The enhancing effect of the Witch Hat made my mental power more solid and my reactions quicker.

The body-enhancing spell on my wrist guards activated, and the rapid, all-around enhancement made my whole body feel light.

As my attention focused on Tan Han, I was also subconsciously activating my protective spell.

But Tan Han's opening move at this moment was just to cast a shield on herself.

However, from the perspective of Spirit Vision, I saw her activate several spellbooks in that instant.

The technique of multi-casting not only tested one's control over mental power but also tested the terrifying application of multitasking.

But for such rapid casting, unless her spellbooks were modified, or the spells released by those spellbooks were lesser spells without rituals.

Lesser spells without rituals for activation rely purely on transcendent laws to function.

By omitting the complex ritualistic activation, they can achieve rapid casting at the cost of power and effect.

But up until now, I still hadn't seen what the effects of these spells were.

There were no offensive spells among them either.

Could they be spells similar to body enhancement?

Didn't seem like it either…

Just as I was wondering about Tan Han's next move, the energy on her magic wand surged, and a scorching ray shot out towards me without any warning.

At this moment, on the live broadcast screen for Arena No. 1, the commentator in charge began her work.

Being a commentator was not an easy job.

It not only required excellent eloquence but also quick on-the-spot reactions and commentary skills, and even more so, a rich reserve of spell terminology.

Otherwise, if you couldn't even name the various spells released by the contestants, how embarrassing would that be?

“Alright, the battle in Arena No. 1 has begun!”

“We can see that No. 14 instantly activated the mental power enhancement effect of her Witch Hat. The wrist guards on her wrists are also an alchemical item.”

“Let's look again… oh! That was a beautiful sneak attack!”

“She dodged it! No. 14 actually dodged it! We can see the rippling fluctuations of the protective spell on her body. With such a swift reaction, the wrist guards must have a body-enhancing spell solidified on them. What agile movement.”

“This sneak attack from No. 1 was very unexpected. I didn't think her magic wand would actually have a stored energy ray solidified on it, but solidifying a spell is something that takes up a lot of the wand's performance.”

“However, a surprise attack with a stored energy ray is indeed very powerful, but it failed on the first try. It seems this method will become a burden on the magic wand later on.”

“Let’s take a look at the Earth Vein Information records. Forgive my poor eyesight, some spells just can't be seen with the naked eye, but the Earth Vein Information will record it for us faithfully.”

This commentator explained the situation on the scene to the viewers watching the live broadcast very quickly and cheerfully, even pulling up the Earth Vein Operating System.

The Earth Vein itself was a force that had always carried information.

By utilizing and decoding this information, one could grasp many things that were happening in real-time, including the release of spellbooks.

“We can see No. 1… wow Look at that, quick casting, spell enhancement, elemental affinity, focus concentration, strength enhancement, vision enhancement, this whole series of spell buff effects are being cast on herself as if they were free.”

“But that's not the main point! Contestant No. 1 has actually mastered multi-casting!”

“Let's look again at contestant No. 14's… hmm, energy shield, it seems to be just one spell.”

“It appears that contestant No. 14 doesn't have as many tricks as No. 1. The body-enhancing spell isn't showing up in the spellbook column, so it should be the effect of an alchemical item. Let's look again…”

At this time, I had just barely dodged the ray's attack on the arena.

If my reaction hadn't been fast enough, a sneak attack of this speed could have instantly and seriously injured me.

Fortunately, I had cast body enhancement and an energy shield on myself beforehand.

Even as that scorching ray grazed past my body, it caused the energy shield to ripple with energy, which showed its power.

This kind of sneak attack reminded me of the American quick draw.

In a spell duel, the next moment is a sneak attack.

It would be even more fitting if the magic wand in Tan Han's hand was replaced with a firearm.

But sometimes, the sneak attack capability of alchemical items could be even more terrifying than thermal weapons.

This was even more true for spells.

Even the speed at which a Fireball was shot could be faster than the naked eye could follow.

“You dodged it. It seems I still need to practice my aim.”

Tan Han didn't hold out much hope for this sneak attack of hers.

Instead, she continued to complete the casting of the last few enhancement spells.

I naturally had nothing to say about this.

In this gap, I also quickly shot out a Fireball at a very high speed.

But Tan Han didn't try to block it head-on with her shield.

This distance was enough for her to evade it with her movements.

The speed of a Fireball could not compare to the speed of the ray.

After a simple round of spell probing and pulling, the distance between Tan Han and me was also closing.

Because the distance was not enough, a spell bombardment would just be a simple consumption of magic power.

Tan Han could naturally choose to fight a battle of attrition, after all, she had an absolute advantage in the amount of her magic power source, but her powerful spellbooks also had a high consumption.

If she used a powerful spell, she wouldn't be able to cast it many times.

So closing the distance was the next thing she had to do, but not now.

Since she had an advantage, she naturally had to make use of it.

She had many spellbooks, which naturally covered many aspects, such as summoning spells.

Giant Stone Golem Summoning Spell, nothing could compare to this thing in close combat.

As the spellbook activated, I also took the initiative to close the distance with Tan Han, but this also gave the opponent the opportunity to cast a spell first.

From that far away, I naturally couldn't interrupt that spell, and I didn't know what its effect was.

Just from the ritual constructed by that spell, I seemed to see some ritual structures similar to the Spirit Cat Summoning Spell.

I quickly realized that this was probably some kind of summoning spell.

Just after I made my judgment, a huge stone man up to three meters tall appeared in front of Tan Han, also blocking my path forward.

It seemed I would have to speed up my judgment in the future.

The huge stone man's body was composed of giant rocks, and its movements were accompanied by the creaking sound of stones colliding.

If I got hit by this, wouldn't it be a serious injury at the very least?

I immediately threw an enhanced Fireball to test it.

The Fireball accurately hit that clumsy big guy, and the terrifying explosion instantly took away one of its limbs.

It seemed its defense was only at the level of ordinary stone, but the reconstruction after injury was a bit troublesome.

It could actually reconstruct?

Even if this process was very slow.

I backhanded another Fireball to destroy its lower limbs, turning it into a stone pier that couldn't obstruct me.

This was enough to buy me time.

And at this moment, the commentator was also very passionately analyzing the battle situation for the audience.

“It's obvious that No. 1 is preparing to rely on her vast magic reserves for long-range attrition, but unfortunately, the Giant Stone Golem Summoning Spell used to hold back No. 14 doesn't seem to have worked.”

“Now it's just an immobile stone pier.”

“No. 14's performance is very eye-catching. Two Fireballs to end the fight. Trading a two-point consumption for the opponent's ten-plus magic consumption summon is still very worth it.”

“However, the casting time for this Fireball is a bit off, its power is too great.”

“It's strange, there's no status like quick casting or spell enhancement on No. 14's Earth Vein Information, and the alchemical items column is also empty.”

“It seems this Fireball spellbook is a precious modified spellbook!”

The commentator was also constantly flipping through the Earth Vein Information.

Although this was a newcomer competition, she felt that it was challenging her knowledge reserves.

It was one thing for No. 1 to have so many spells, but No. 14 even had a modified spellbook.

If she didn't know about this concept, she might have made a fool of herself during the commentary.

“So how will our contestant No. 1 respond? If she doesn't intercept, then the war of attrition might turn into a close-range spell bombardment. This situation is not very favorable for either side. Even with body enhancement, they might not be able to react in time.”

“However, No. 1 has not given up on intercepting. Cold Crow summon, Swamp Spell, a double interception from the ground and the air. Let's see how No. 14 responds.”

“The speed of the Cold Crows is very fast. Although their attack power is not high, they still bring a lot of trouble to No. 14.”

“The corrosive swamp generated on the ground is still spreading. It looks like it's going to trap No. 14. The situation is very unfavorable.”

“Eh! Wait! What happened to the Cold Crows? A black shadow just flashed by. What did No. 14 throw out from her hand that shot down the Cold Crows so efficiently?”

“Wait… let's check the Earth Vein Information. It's the Spirit Cat Summoning Spell. I didn't expect No. 14 to also have a summoning spell, and it's used so simply yet efficiently!”

“There's nothing to be done, who made the Cold Crow part of the cat's diet? Let us have a moment of silence for the Cold Crows.”

“Alright, let's bring our attention back to the contestants. How will No. 14 deal with this predicament? No. 1 is not leaving any room to breathe.”

In the arena.

The battle platform constructed by spells was being eroded by the corrosive swamp.

Although that crow was accurately pounced on and killed by the Spirit Cat I threw out, Tan Han clearly did not give me a chance to breathe.

She had a great many spellbooks.

Even now, she had already displayed several types of summoning spells.

And now she had summoned a swarm of poison bees.

Although they were called poison bees, each one was the size of a fist, and there were a great number of them.

It was hard to imagine how big the welts on my body would be if I were touched by this thing.

Moreover, these poison bees were extremely fast and soon blocked off all directions.

But I was very excited about this.

The more I faced this kind of predicament, the more I could stimulate myself to understand how spells were used.

Back in the lab, I was constantly trying various modifications of spells.

Apart from the few clear directions Teacher Ji Niang proposed at the beginning, my subsequent modifications were like a headless fly without direction.

I could only make all kinds of attempts, experimenting with many laughable effects.

But when I encountered a predicament, I would think of a way to deal with it, which would also provide me with new ideas.

How should Fireball be used to deal with so many targets?

Isn't that simple?

It's just a choice between precision strikes and covering the area with firepower.

My magic power can't compare to Tan Han's, so I have no choice.

The rich use overwhelming firepower, while the poor rely on precision strikes.

They're just poison bees.

Their body structure dictates that their defense is not high; they are the type that wins by numbers.

Then the power of the Fireball doesn't need to be too high, as long as there are enough of them.

Of course, spell modification is not something that can be used just by slapping your forehead.

There has to be a modified prototype.

I have experimented with so many Fireball effects, and there are naturally some that can cope with the current situation, and many at that.

So many that for a moment, I didn't know which one to choose.

But in the end, I still had to choose one, for example… the variation I named "Mayfly Fireball."

Since I could give it a name, it meant that this spell modification effect was a type worth remembering.