Chapter 105: Asding the Ladder

  In the days that followed, Alex stayed within the mage tower, learning spells at the fastest possible pace.

  Though he uood the proverb “haste makes waste,” right now, a high-profile dispy of power was the best way to make the White Tower take him seriously. If they deemed him unworthy of cultivation, Alex might face the prospect of returning to the sanctuary. So he held nothing back, hungrily abs every bit of magic he could learn.

  Watg Alex’s rapid progress, Rex could only sigh in resignation. He’d expected that Alex had exceptional talent, but this rate of adva was beyond imagination. In just over half a month since Rex began teag him magic, Alex had already mastered fourth-level spells—a feat b oraordinary, given he was simultaneously studying four different branches of magic.

  It normally took over a decade for a mage in the White Tower to reach this level through exteudy and experience.

  What frustrated Rex even more… was that Alex’s taleended far beyond spell learning. Every time Rex saw him, he couldn’t shake the feeling that all his years of life experience had been in vain.

  It was not a pleasaion.

  That’s why Alex now stood here.

  “Though I’ve tried adjusting your progress as much as possible,” Rex began, “I have to say, you’ve exceeded what I thought was the limit. But this isn’t enough. A mage isn’t just a bookworm. Even if you master ninth-level spells, without practical experie’ll mean nothing. So, I’m sending you somewhere. It’s a dueling ground fes, a pce to hone skills. Your knowledge is solid, but you ck experience. I suggest you test your abilities against es there, refine your teiques… Once you arrive, someone will expiails. By the way, I’ve prepared a mage’s robe and staff for you—lose that ridiculous outfit. It’s no ballroom, and no young dy’s going to invite you to dance dressed like that!”

  “Is this it?”

  Dressed in a white robe and holding his staff, Alex looked up at the strange space before him. After Rex had practically shoved him into the teleportation array, he found himself transported here.

  It seemed everything floated in midair. He could see stone sbs suspended nearby, a vast pza, and a series of circles moving like elevators. As he looked around, Alex saw clouds hanging like curtains. Despite the bright surroundings, there was no sun, and when he looked down, no ground in sight.

  Was this a demi-pne?

  Thanks to his ret studies, Alex had picked up some basic mage knowledge, one of which was that mages often used demi-po solve problems. Stres could reportedly evee demi-phe size of small tries. Based on what Alex could see, this space wasn’t too far from that level.

  “The spatial structure here is very precise, with signs of manual alteration. Master, I believe this is an artificially structed space,” said Ikaros, who had followed Alex. It was odd—she excelled in spatial skills, yet couldn’t cast even a single spell, a mystery that defied expnation.

  “Let’s go.”

  With a quice around, Alex stepped forward. He stood on a small ptform, behind him a closed stoe carved with an intricate, mysterious emblem. Alex reized it as Rex’s symbol… which was why he was here now.

  Apanied by Ikaros, Alex stepped onto a silver disk ahead of the ptform. Upon activating it with his soul force, the disk carried them swiftly toward the pza at the ter. It felt like something out of a sci-fi movie, and even Alex couldn’t help but marvel. Ikaros, however, appeared unphased—perhaps, in her world, this wasn’t particurly impressive.

  The silver disk brought them to a er of the floating pza, where, as it came to a stop, Alex saw a servant made of runic patterns “float” toward him.

  “Greetings, mage. Is this your first visit to the Sky Arena?”

  “It is,” Alex replied with a nod.

  At his respohe servant promptly took out a scroll and offered it to Alex.

  “Then, please sign your name here, along with your star-marked seal.”

  “Certainly, no problem.”

  After living in this world for so long, Alex had e to uand that this process ractically like “signing one’s name along with a photocopy of an ID.” Skillfully, he took the scroll and quill hao him, signed his hen pced his star seal on the designated spot. A fsh of light followed, leaving a uar pattern on the scroll.

  “Mr. Alex, from the Tower of Thunder… Your number is 876, and your first match will begin in two minutes, so please prepare yourself. Your panion may stay on the disk to watch up close, or, if you prefer, she joitle. The rules are straightforward: regardless of method, knock your oppo off the ptform to win, or force them to surrender or lose sciousness. You don’t o worry about harming other partits; any spell that could cause physiental harm will be strictly limited, so please proceed without .”

  “Uood,” Alex nodded, listening to the invisible servant. He could already hear the cheers from the pza above, along with explosions from spell collisions and other battle sounds.

  It was clear these mages weren’t simply schors unwilling to use force.

  As Alex pohe disk beh him rose again, carrying him to another se. Soon, he found himself silently dropped onto a small, circur arena—about half the size of a soccer field, remi of a Roman colosseum. The spectators were few and scattered iands. Looking up, Alex spotted a man in a red mage’s robe across the ptform, who was eyeing him with a serious expression.

  “Time to climb the dder.”

  Murmuring to himself, Alex stepped off the disk and stood in the designated spot. A wall of light appeared behind him, separating him from Ikaros. A voice soon echoed in the ter of the arena.

  “The match begins.”

  The moment the words were spoken, Alex saw the red-robed mage lift his staff and begin ting, waving his hands dramatically. His staff emitted a radiant red glow, and his ting echoed loudly across the arena. Soon, a bright crimson barrier formed around him, creating a solid shield.

  Alex remained motiohroughout the mage’s casting of his first spell. Seeing this, the red-robed mage smirked in satisfa. As a regur in the arena, he knew well that many novice mages dispyed this type of behavior when they first arrived, clueless about how to battle. Mage duels were not like the brute force of warriors; here, the real game was in the csh of wits. It seemed this young oppo was just as na?ve, so he figured he’d teach him the basics.

  Just as he started eling soul force to jure another spell, he noticed the bck-haired youth raise his staff and point it at him.

  Typical rookie—no ting or spell casting, relying only on—

  Pop.

  But before the thought pleted, his elemental shield burst like a soap bubble with a sharp “pop.” In an instant, a series of fshing missiles shot through the shattered barrier and struck the red-robed mage, ung him backward.

  How was this possible?!

  Shocked by the stinging pain, he widened his eyes. Before he could eve up, the voice echoed once again.

  “Number 812 defeated, Number 876 moves up to rank 812.”

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