Mage Manual

Chapter 105: Chapter 98 Uninvited Guest

Arsen said this while quickly pulling Sonia to a seat next to the commentator’s booth.

Sonia obediently shut her mouth.

As long as no one addressed her, she could control herself and refrain from speaking.

At the moment, her heart was filled with both concern and relief. The concern was naturally because she had managed to offend two professors in a row, but her relief stemmed from the fact that one of those she had offended was the ‘Rhythm Sword Saint’ Nidara—Trozan had always been at odds with Nidara, so she hoped that Trozan would protect her, his little Apprentice.

As for the ‘Weapon Master’ Oreron, that was even simpler. As long as Sonia did not go to Truth University, would Oreron really go out of his way to trouble her across schools?

The only problem was that her path as a host, the dream of being a star, might have come to an end here…

By this time, the two competitors had already stepped onto the stage. Lauren was that senior who had troubled Sonia earlier, a relative of Celia.

Although not as strong as Reonie, Lauren was still a member of the Sword Flower competition team, and his strength was definitely not lacking. At that time, he had been more than capable of handling Sonia and Gabriel on his own.

“Lauren, I’ve heard you’ve fallen so far as to bully a first-year freshman,” Rigang pulled out a vicious-looking longbow. “Taking out your frustrations on a junior because of your own lack of progress, the customs of Sword Flower University are really something.”

“Rigang, don’t forget who was the one that cut your bowstring,” Lauren retorted with a sword in one hand.

“I also haven’t forgotten who got shot in the butt by my arrow.”

Arsen, looking at the information, said, “Both competitors also faced off in last year’s league; a year has gone by, and they must have made more advancements. Miss Sevi, what do you think?”

Here Arsen wasn’t stubbornly refusing to admit a mistake, but the script called for Sonia to introduce Lauren and Rigang’s Technique Spirits and the record of their past battles, so he chose to trust Sonia once again.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated on ƝονǤ0.ᴄᴑ

However, he forgot that the script said, ‘Please introduce the two young Mages,’ not ‘what do you think’.

Facing Sonia’s helpless gaze, Arsen realized he had made another mistake.

“I think the two of them are wasting everyone’s time with their trash talk. They’d better start fighting quickly so everyone can have some fun watching.”

Lauren’s mouth twitched and he decided to strike preemptively. He pushed off the ground and his body shot forward like an arrow.

Rigang, calm and composed, took a step back and conjured a silver Magic Arrow on his bowstring, instantly switching from defense to offense!

“Swordsmanship Miracle Meteor Strike, beautiful! But Carol’s actions are equally fast. As everyone knows, Bow Technique is usually a group battle magic, and the fact that Carol dares to participate in a solo competition using it shows his expertise in close combat. Lauren should be cautious.”

“Ow, a Steal Arrow dodge – Carol is best at this Miracle. He shoots a powerful steel arrow in the midst of dodging, repelling Lauren’s defensive Technique Spirit!”

“What an impressive preemptive attack! Too bad for Carol, with just one arrow he dismantled the attack and once again put distance between them!”

After continuous commentary for a while, Arsen couldn’t help but feel thirsty. Before taking a drink, he asked subconsciously, “What do you think of the current situation?”

Heaven help us, this was purely Arsen’s professional reflex—someone had to fill in the gap with commentary while he drank.

“Lauren has more losses than wins; he is a speed-type competitor, but his opponent excels at endurance battles and keeping distance with Bow Technique,” Sonia analyzed with a professional eye. “But Rigang lacks the Miracle for sudden outbursts. If Lauren dares to sacrifice an arm to block an attack, he might create an opportunity to turn defeat into victory.”

“But Lauren seems very confident in his backup plan; he must possess a powerful Miracle. However, given his swordsmanship Realm, the Miracle he uses probably won’t be faster than Rigang’s response.”

No sooner had she spoken than many surprised glances were cast her way—including those of Nidara, Oreron, as well as Rigang and Lauren on stage!

Lauren’s eyes flickered, and suddenly he lunged forward, drawing a cross with his longsword in front of him!

Magic Power converged into shape, the huge cross of Sword Qi almost filled the entire stage, sweeping towards Rigang like a Guillotine!

“Is this your trump card? That’s it?”

Rigang laughed coldly, stepped aside, and turned, deftly passing through the Sword Qi unharmed!

And at the same time, he nocked and drew his bow, firing an arrow at the rushing Lauren!

However, this time Lauren did not dodge or block, but instead stretched out his hand to intercept the silver Magic Arrow, trading a minor injury for distance!

Rigang got a bit flustered, hastily retreating and releasing three arrows in quick succession. The three arrows shot out almost simultaneously, like a Meteor falling, breaking the air with their roars—a clear sign they were powerful enough to blast a person in half.

But Lauren was relentless, not attempting to dodge and instead furiously summoned his defensive Technique Spirit, using his left arm to intercept all three arrows!

Clang!

When both stopped in their tracks, people saw Lauren’s left hand covered in freely flowing blood, the entire hand twisted and deformed, as if it would snap in half with a gust of wind.

Yet Lauren’s sword point was right against Rigang’s neck!

In just a few seconds, Rigang went from having the upper hand to being defeated!

Arsen announced loudly, “Lauren·Z is the winner of the first friendly match!”

A Medical Practitioner quickly took the winner Lauren to the backstage for treatment, while the defeated Rigang was unharmed and naturally did not require treatment. The latter seemed to have a hard time accepting his defeat, standing on the stage, tasting this unspeakable shame.

“Next up, the competitor is…”

“Hey, you!”

Rigang suddenly interrupted Arsen’s words, pointing at Sonia and cursing, “Just blabbering from below the stage without participating in the competition—I hate people like you the most—”

“Rigang!” Oreron’s face darkened as he loudly reprimanded the disgraceful student.

“If it weren’t for her nonsense distracting my mind just now, I would never have lost!”

Rigang, unconvinced, retorted, “I hate it the most when others nitpick while I fight. If you’re so great, why don’t you come up here and fight me? After all, isn’t it just—”

“Fine, then.”

“See, I knew she was that kind of person… Huh?”

Rigang paused for a moment in surprise.

“Let’s have a match. I won’t lose anyway.” Sonia stood up from the commentator’s seat. “I also feel a strong urge to beat someone like you who blames the heavens, the earth, the air—anything but yourself—when you lose.”

“Not lose? With your ability?” Rigang sneered. “I didn’t see you last year. Are you a freshman? Do you even have as much Magic Power as a feather?”

As he spoke, Rigang flicked his hand and his nearly fully condensed Silver Wings appeared on his back!

Even though not fully spread, it was missing only a few feathers. Rigang, a second-year student, had two years before graduation—it was entirely possible for him to advance to Two-winged and step into the Time Continent before then!

Arsen quickly grabbed Sonia, “Miss Sevi, there’s no need—”

The next second, an even more complete set of Silver Wings unfolded before his eyes.

That dazzling silver light, even brighter than the night sky filled with stars, captivated everyone’s attention!

Fully spread Silver Wings!

Sonia, a first-year student, a Mage not long after her awakening, had already become an official One-winged Mage?

“Want to compete in Magic Power? I’ve been looking for an opportunity to show off to everyone.”

Sonia gently caressed her Silver Wings, proudly stating, “You should be proud to be my stepping stone.”

“Next, your defeat will pave the way for my glory!”

At this point, Sonia no longer knew whether this was a rant forced out by the summoning ritual or a true statement she willingly made.

All she knew was that this feeling of utter recklessness felt really great!

Watching Sonia approach the stage, Rigang inexplicably stepped back.

At this tense and bizarre moment, suddenly, everyone felt a stir in their hearts and simultaneously looked up.

Above the unfolded dome, under the cover of night, a starlight that hung in mid-air suddenly burst with waves of Magic Power. Immediately after, a person fell from the starlight, landing right inside the Star Fall Auditorium, in front of Sonia.

The person jumped up the instant he landed, noticing many people around, and made a split-second decision to rush at the nearest woman, attempting to take her hostage to escape—

Whiz!

Sensing the intruder’s intense killing intent, Sonia’s hand became a blade, emitting a Sword Qi slash that forced the unwelcome guest to retreat. The intruder was shocked. How could a randomly chosen girl turn out to be a Mage?

He immediately abandoned the hostage-taking plan, attempting to use his speed to break through the crowd. He was an Earth and Wind dual-element Mage, once a notorious thief in possession of the Miracle “Floating Boat,” capable of easily escaping a siege by thousands!

However, two hands suddenly appeared on his shoulders, pressing him firmly in place.

“Your neck, hands, and feet are all shackled in starlight,” Oreron commented.

The intruder looked down to realize that his neck and limbs had unknowingly been encircled by deep blue rings, looking like heavy chains, but he felt no weight.

“This means you’re an invader from the Foreign Domain, marked by the Kingdom of Stars as an invader, and ‘Starlight Shackles’ prevent you from jumping through space,” Nidara looked up at the starlight that seemed to be a gateway to the Void Realm above the dome.

“Interesting, there’s a passage to the Foreign Domain directly above Sword Flower University? Tell us, which realm do you come from? Do you understand our language?”

At that moment, the intruder realized that everyone around him was a Mage.

He had already secretly activated a Miracle, but it had no effect at all. Furthermore, his whole body was suppressed and immobilized—this indicated that the two Mages holding him were at least Three-winged Holy Sanctuary Mages, directly suppressing his Technique Spirit with their Holy Domain!

Sensing danger, the intruder’s vision filled with a Light Screen, flashing a series of red warnings: “Life-threatening detection, initiating self-destruction mode!”

“Hmm? We can’t just let you die like that.”

The red information suddenly became disordered into unreadable chaos, and finally, the Light Screen snapped and disappeared—the body chip was forcefully suppressed!

With a bitter smile, the intruder knew that to prevent him from leaking information about the Void Realm passage and realm secrets, his blood, bones, flesh, soul, and even memory were engraved with more than one Miracle. Deactivating the chip only extended his life by a few seconds.

“Hmm? A curse that even the Holy Domain can’t purify? Nidara, can you prevent his suicide?”

“Yes, by killing him first.”

The invader felt his body dissolving, his blood boiling, his skull singing, his eyes fleeing. The intense pain drowned his senses and just before completely losing consciousness, he felt deep Despair for his own misfortune, yet a malicious smile appeared on his lips.

For he knew his misfortune would shatter someone else’s happiness.