Chapter 311: Blitz Battle

"Candidate No. 42, enter the arena. Candidates are strictly prohibited from carrying any magical devices or spell scrolls apart from their staff. Violation will result in immediate disqualification and a one-year suspension from retaking the examination."

Outside the simulated combat arena on the seventeenth floor of the Tower of the Scholar, the voice from the transmission array announced the next examinee. No. 42, a young man barely past adolescence, stepped into the circular arena with a nervous expression.

A translucent mana barrier rose around the arena, sealing it off from external interference while still allowing spectators to observe.

The moment No. 42 entered the arena, he was met by a barrage of chained fireballs from the examiner, forcing him into frantic evasions. As he ran, he attempted to conjure magical barriers on his staff to fend off the flames.

But his shields were crude and unrefined—little more than concentrated walls of mana that shattered after absorbing just one or two basic fireballs.

And while constructing a barrier consumed a significant amount of mana, casting a fireball required far less. In the end, his strategy of stalling through dodging and blocking failed because of his limited reserves.

He rolled clumsily across the floor, barely evading another fireball. His conjured shield flickered, struggling to take shape with what little mana he had left.

In that split second, the fireball struck him squarely in the chest. Flames burst around him, engulfing him in a brilliant blaze.

As the flames faded, the candidate stood unharmed but defeated. His outer mana shield, the weaker of the two layered upon him by the examiner, had been destroyed. According to the rules, he had failed.

"Your tactics weren't entirely unsound," the examiner, a stern-looking middle-aged woman in magician's robes, offered with professional detachment.

"You moved well. But your control over defensive magic is far too lacking. The speed at which you burn through mana is simply unsustainable given your reserves. I'm afraid you didn't pass. You'll have to try again another time."

As the mana barrier lowered, No. 42 exited with slumped shoulders. The examiner turned to the next name on the roster.

"Candidate No. 43, please enter the arena."

She repeated the same warnings as she waited for the next spellcaster to step into the ring.

Most candidates for status ascension were scholars first and foremost—academic mages with little real combat experience.

The examiners, who were all at least mid-rank mages, were expected to hold back and pass candidates that could demonstrate the bare minimum of proficiency in combat.

But as No. 43 walked into the arena, the examiner raised a brow in surprise. This young woman didn't look like any spellcaster she'd seen. If anything, she looked more like a ranger.

No. 43, Avia, had shed her traditional magician's robes and was now dressed in a white-and-brown shirt, loose shorts tailored for movement, and boots designed for maximum traction. Her long golden hair was tied back in a sharp, practical ponytail.

"The rules are simple," the examiner said. "Survive ten minutes without losing your outer mana shield, or break mine before then. Either condition is sufficient to pass."

As she spoke, she flicked her staff, conjuring two layers of mana shields over Avia's body.

The entire arena was covered in a suppression field that weakened high-level spells and dulled the strength of all magic. Under these conditions, even breaking the thinner outer shield was considered an accomplishment.

"You may cast non-offensive spells during the one-minute preparation window. The trial will begin thereafter."

The mana barrier rose up around the arena once more.

Avia spent ten seconds acclimating to the heavy pressure of the field. She quickly confirmed that any spell above third-tier would be unusable, and even lower-tier spells would be weaker and slower to cast.

She had observed the previous trial and knew that simple evasion and blocking would suffice to pass—but Avia wasn't interested in merely passing. She wanted to know just how far she could go under these restrictions.

She smoothly channeled mana through her staff as she began her pre-battle preparations. Within seconds, she had already cast a trio of buffing spells: the second-tier Windstep, the second-tier Rock Orbit, and the first-tier Mana Relay.

The examiner nodded approvingly.

These were all practical spells: one for speed, one for flexible defense, and one to accelerate her next cast. The fluidity of her casting was impressive as well. Clearly, this candidate was far more proficient than the last.

The minute elapsed. As the bell signaling the start of the trial tolled, Avia bolted forward like a launched arrow.

The examiner blinked. Was she really going to charge toward her... as a spellcaster? Did she really think that her physical reflexes would be enough to dodge her spells?

But disbelief quickly gave way to urgency. The young woman was fast—far too fast.

Air currents wove around Avia's body, providing her with a subtle burst of speed. This wasn't something any ordinary spellcaster could achieve.

Mana flashed atop the examiner's staff. Several compressed air blades spun into formation—Scatterwind Blades, a second-tier spell ideal for countering speed.

But Avia's focus was razor-sharp. As the blades converged, she dropped low into a sliding crouch, letting them slice harmlessly overhead.

At that precise moment, Mana Relay activated. Her next spell, already halfway formed, was completed instantly.

Flames erupted behind her in a directional blast—Blazing Rush, a second-tier movement spell.

Avia's slim frame, already swift, became a streak of red light as she slid toward the examiner in a fiery arc.

The examiner responded with a barrage of unstable firebombs—the second-tier Volatile Flare Mines. Each sphere would explode at the slightest provocation. This time, the examiner was taking it seriously. She felt the pressure of an approaching knight, not a mere spellcaster.

And in a way, she wasn't wrong. Avia wasn't just a mage. Fighting spirit circulated within her body. She was also a knight.

After consuming a golden apple from the Tree of Life, her potential as a knight had been elevated. Ever since then, she had been rigorously training under a proper knight's guidance.

With elixirs, sheer grit, and an already honed body thanks to Wang Yu's tutelage, she had reached the threshold of a knight-in-training and had successfully awakened to fighting spirit.

As a result, in this trial, the examiner was unwittingly facing a spellcaster whose magic had been suppressed—but whose strength as a knight remained in full force.

Avia raised her staff as she skated forward. The orbiting stones she had summoned earlier collided with the firebombs.

The chain reaction ignited a dazzling spray of flame and light—but the blast had been preempted and rendered harmless.

Avia's charge ended as she closed in on the examiner. She leapt from her sliding position into a rapid sprint, her movement seamless.

The examiner's brow furrowed. This was only a trial, a simple examination—and yet sweat slicked her palms. She had plenty of combat experience herself, and had automatically assumed a combat stance upon recognizing Avia's threat.

𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

She snapped into a high-speed casting mode. Her next spell was Earthspike, ideal for halting foes grounded in close proximity.

Stone javelins burst from the floor around her in a radial formation.

At the same time, she began forming Storm Break, a second-tier displacement spell—standard protocol for disengaging from knights.

But just then, a pulse of foreign mana surged from the fading flames. It disrupted everything.

Only now did the examiner realize her mistake. She had underestimated Avia. Her opponent wasn't just a knight, but a fellow spellcaster.

With precise timing, Avia had fired a Disruption Pulse, a technique specialized in disrupting unstable spell models.

And in her haste to defend against Avia's charge, the examiner had taken shortcuts in constructing her spell models, a glaring weakness that Avia had taken advantage of.

Unstable spell models meant nothing against an enemy knight—it was hardly as if they could take advantage of them. But against another mage? The outcome was nothing short of devastating.

The spikes crumbled mid-rise, and the storm winds were transformed into little more than a breeze.

And Avia had reached the examiner. Gripping her staff—solid metal, humming with force—tightly, she swung it downward, empowered by fighting spirit and reinforced with the full weight of her body. The impact landed squarely on the examiner's mana shield.

Shock Infusion, a spell she had cast on her staff beforehand, was released in tandem with the strike, sending a resonant quake through the barrier. A knight's might, a mage's technique, and a weapon's weight—threefold force united in one devastating blow.

The shield shattered. The trial was over in under a minute.