Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 1377: Section 1378: The New Potential Seed

After leaving Fangling Hall, Angel arrived at the Infinite Battle Tower.

Angel had originally intended to bid farewell to Serum.

However, to his surprise, when he arrived, according to the battle schedule, Serum was still in a match.

Having spent some time in the development institute and then so long at Fangling Hall, could it be that Serum’s sixth-floor promotion match still hadn’t ended?

It was only upon closer inspection that Angel discovered Serum’s current match wasn’t a sixth-floor promotion match at all, but had already reached the seventh floor of the Infinite Battle Tower.

Filled with curiosity, Angel wondered if Serum was fighting back-to-back matches. Yet even more baffling to him was why this seventh-floor match was an open spectator event?!

Angel remembered that matches in the Infinite Battle Tower weren’t open to spectators unless they were of significant importance. If a promotion match was open for viewing, that would be understandable, but why would Serum’s first match upon reaching the seventh floor be open to spectators?

With his questions in mind, Angel bought a ticket and entered the spectator zone.

When Angel entered, the match was already halfway through. He only noticed after entering the spectator zone that the audience was quite large, almost packed to capacity.

Angel looked up at the situation on the arena. It was clearly divided into light and dark—Serum was in a world of darkness, his figure flickering in and out of visibility.

In the world of white was a domain of ice; a man in a silver-white overcoat, standing atop a frozen dragon, with frost and snow speckling his body. As the biting cold winds fluttered his clothing, he looked exceedingly dashing.

Settling into a seat towards the back, Angel perked up his ears and listened, finally understanding why this match was made public.

This had to do with Serum’s promotion match.

Serum was exceptionally lucky; in the sixth-floor promotion match, his opponent, for some unknown reason, failed to show up on time. Consequently, Serum was lucky to advance directly.

Having advanced so effortlessly, Serum decided to fight another match, to test the waters of the seventh floor.

Perhaps his luck during the promotion match had already run out, for in this match, Serum met a particularly strong opponent—

Sauhir, known as the “Pure White Nightmare,” a top apprentice of the ice magic series!

He was from the Winter Academy, a Wizard Organization under the Frostmoon League.

Although this was not a promotion match, the reason so many people were drawn to it and spectators were allowed was chiefly due to Sauhir being labeled as a potential seed by Diescher, the chief editor of “Glowing City Night Talk”!

Sauhir was only twenty-five years old at the time, having reached the peak of apprenticeship in just ten short years. Diescher had judged, given his talent, it was highly likely that Sauhir would become an Official Wizard before the age of thirty.

In some gossip magazines that love to stir interest, he was ranked twenty-first on the potential list for this New Star competition!

With his powerful talent and promising future, combined with Sauhir’s refined appearance, it goes without saying he attracted a large number of fans.

For a match that would assuredly sell a large number of tickets, the officials of the Infinite Battle Tower would certainly open it to spectators.

After understanding the inside story, Angel also took an interested stance in watching the match.

After observing for a while, he noticed that Sauhir, true to his reputation as a seed of potential, was indeed powerful. Not only was he proficient in ice magic, but he was also quite skilled in other types of tricks. The solidity of his basics might even be slightly better than what Angel could muster.

Each of his responses could almost be described as textbook-perfect.

Angel couldn’t help but express continuous admiration.

However, despite Sauhir’s very steady performance, the fans in the surrounding seats were still downcast. The main reason was that Sauhir’s opponent was somewhat unfathomable.

Serum hid in the shadows, and Sauhir was unable to launch effective attacks, only able to react when Serum attacked.

After yet another ineffective attack, Sauhir said coldly, “You can become darkness already?”

Laughter from Serum echoed from the darkness, but no one could pinpoint the exact location of his body hidden within.

After a series of frustrated counterattacks, Sauhir seemed to have made up his mind and began to gather a large amount of Magic Power.

Seeing this, Angel realized what Sauhir was planning to do. He intended to use a wide-range trick to forcefully confront Serum’s darkness embodiment.

Sauhir’s approach was rational after some thought. Because Serum was currently only a Second Level Apprentice, he was well aware that there was a difference in Magical Core volume between himself and Sauhir. If the fight could not be ended in a short time, Serum’s strategy was to exhaust Sauhir’s Magic Power.

This had been his approach until now.

But when Sauhir used a wide-ranging attack trick, enveloping all of Serum’s dark embodiments, Serum had to face Sauhir’s attacks head-on.

Any Transcendent who wasn’t resistant to dark attributes would probably make a similar choice.

Yet Angel harbored a thought: Serum must have known Sauhir would do this, so why would he still use this tactic? Or was it that Serum was actually waiting for Sauhir to use a wide-ranging trick?

After all, Serum’s goal was to deplete Sauhir’s Magical Core, and using wide-ranging tricks would certainly drain Magic Power in large amounts.

If Sauhir used it a few more times, his Magical Core would naturally be exhausted.

However, all of this presupposed that Serum could withstand such a wide range of attacks.

As Angel was thinking this, the ice dragon at Sauhir’s feet shattered into countless pieces of ice, striking towards the dark incarnation like a torrential downpour.

Once, twice… five times.

Serum withstood them all, but his dark incarnation had begun to falter. At that moment, Sauhir’s complexion turned pale as his magic power was almost depleted.

“How is this possible, why can his dark incarnation endure so much?”

Surprise filled the spectator stands.

Angel was actually curious as well, but he knew that it probably wouldn’t be long before the battle was decided. It was a matter of whether Sauhir could win or if Serum could hold on.

Clenching his teeth, Sauhir unleashed another wide-range attack.

As countless pieces of shattered ice fell, Serum’s dark incarnation finally crumbled. Sauhir initially had a look of surprise and joy, but as the dark incarnation vanished, his pupils suddenly constricted.

The reason Serum could withstand six attacks finally became apparent—numerous patterns had emerged on Serum’s body, forming a semi-transparent shield that withstood the ice shards.

When Sauhir saw these patterns, his eyes filled with astonishment, “Sage’s Shield? Is this the talent of a Sage Body? You are a Sage Body?!”

Sauhir’s words made all the spectators look towards Serum in astonishment.

A body of a Sage was an extremely specialized and rare constitution. Had one truly appeared in this New Star Tournament, and moreover, a person who previously had no fame whatsoever?

Instantly, the venue was filled with an uproar!

Some journalists who had come specifically to report on Sauhir’s matches now had gleaming eyes, having not expected that following a potential seedling would lead to the discovery of a contestant with a Sage Body!

Leaving the spectators’ reactions aside for a moment, the focus returned to the stage.

Ultimately, Serum was outclassed by Sauhir. Even though he had withstood the attacks, he was unable to move any longer.

Sauhir stood up, looking at Serum with a complicated gaze, never expecting to be pushed to such lengths by a Second Level Apprentice.

However, at least he had not lost.

Sauhir extended a finger, originally intending to release a finishing trick to defeat Serum completely. But after thinking it over, he curled his finger back in—after all, Serum was a body of a Sage, and no one knew if he had a powerful backer. There was no need to offend him to death.

Changing his extended finger to a palm, Sauhir sent a gentle breeze to push Serum out of the arena.

However, just as Sauhir released the breeze, a beautiful female voice suddenly sounded from behind him, “Oh my, it seems I’ll have to be the key to victory.”

Sauhir spun around and saw, to his surprise, that behind him, floating in the air at some point, was a thick-shelled book. Suddenly, the book began to flip pages, and when it landed on a certain page, an elegant lady emerged halfway from the book. She extended her hand directly towards Sauhir’s chest.

“The match is over—”

Light flickered!

The announcement of the match’s end echoed after the burst of light.

Black Classic, confident of his victory, ultimately found the result to be Sauhir’s victory.

This was because, at a critical moment, Sauhir had used the Ice Prison Technique to firmly trap himself in the middle of the stage.

This Ice Prison was a trick on Sauhir’s witchcraft slot, thus capable of instant casting.

As for Serum, he was carried off the stage by the persistent breeze, suffering an unfortunate defeat.

Sauhir had not expected that a technique intended to be used against enemies would end up being the key to his victory. However, his magical core was now completely drained, and he was unable to leave the Ice Prison for the time being, awkwardly stranded on stage, subjected to the onlookers’ gaze…

This match might not have been thrilling, but it revealed a previously unknown potential seedling who suddenly made an impact.

It was foreseeable that after this battle, Serum’s reputation would certainly spread!

The Sage Body alone was rare, but he also came close to defeating Sauhir in the process.

For Serum, what seemed like a doomed match—if seen from the perspective of a boost to his reputation—might not be such a bad thing after all.

Of course, that was for the future to tell.

After the match, Angel intended to bid farewell to Serum in person, but as he had exhausted his magic power, he fell into a healing slumber the moment the match ended.

According to the medical team, he was likely to sleep for two or three days.

With no other choice, Angel relayed his farewell to Black Classic, asking him to pass it on to Serum when he awoke.