Chapter 23: The Contest Between True Magicians (1)

Three days earlier, when Jiang Zhe and the others were just about to replicate the map…
In the dormitory, Jiang Zhe and Allen were gathered around the desk, staring intently. Scott, who was drawing the map, found it hard to concentrate.
“Hey,” Allen interjected after watching for a while, “your drawing doesn’t match the original…”
“I know!” Scott frowned and explained, “Do you think replication is that simple? I still haven’t figured out the pattern of this map. As I said, it’s made using a method similar to drawing scrolls. It shows the holder’s current location—it’s not an ordinary map. I…” As he spoke, his distracted hand trembled, causing the lines he drew to deviate slightly.
“Stop interrupting!”
“…” Allen pouted in frustration, but his short memory meant he only stayed quiet for a moment before speaking up again.
“Hey Scott, the ink and parchment should be fine, right…”
Scott paused with his quill in hand, pushed up his glasses, and said in a cold tone, “Thors, don’t you want to test the power of fireballs? Well, this guy is pretty tough—take him!”
“No, no,” Allen waved his hands frantically, seeing Jiang Zhe’s “mischievous” smile. “Come on, buddy, can’t I just shut up?”
Smiling bitterly, Jiang Zhe shook his head and asked softly, “Is there anything we can do?”
“Hmm,” Scott hesitated for a moment before putting down his quill. “Here’s what we’ll do: Thors, you draw the basic framework of the map. It’s okay if it’s slow, and it’s fine if there are slight differences. Just take your time. Then I’ll write the spells and magic circles on the map—I’ve only learned the basics, so I’m not sure if it’ll work, but I’ll do my best. Finally, Allen, you’ll color it. It’s simple, right? But be careful—if you waste all our hard work, I’ll make you eat all these parchments!”
“Sure, sure!” Allen said carelessly, yawning.
“Draw it?” Sitting down at the desk, Jiang Zhe picked up a quill and examined it. Somehow, he suddenly thought of the girl with pale blue hair…
She… must be in the library now, right?
Probably browsing through documents on water magic…
Speaking of which, her hair was really beautiful, just like the color of the sea…

“Cough cough!” An awkward cough interrupted Jiang Zhe’s thoughts. When he looked up, he saw Allen and Scott with strange expressions, smiling at him oddly. He said awkwardly, “W-what are you doing?”
“Hehe, nothing!” Allen replied in a peculiar way. Scott, on the other hand, was more straightforward. He pushed his glasses up and smiled, saying, “It just seems strange that you’re staring at a quill pen—you usually stare at the fireballs you cast… Well, let’s get started. We don’t have much time left!”
“Mm!”
“Okay…” Jiang Zhe and Allen replied.
It must be said that crafting magic scrolls is a very dull and tedious task. Like enchanters, every magician skilled in scroll creation is an extremely valuable talent.
Among magicians, those who specialize in either role make up a small proportion, yet they are both indispensable and form one of the core forces in assembling the imperial army.
To become a powerful magician, or even a grand magician, one needs outstanding talent and hard work to achieve success. However, scroll creation is different—it doesn’t require great magical power from the magician, but it demands an extremely high level of memory.
Firstly, scroll creation requires certain magical knowledge, including memorizing a vast number of spells and magic circles. Lower-level scrolls are written in modern human languages, but for higher-level scrolls, the requirements are even stricter. To enhance the power of the scroll, the magic circles drawn on it are numerous, with dense lines. Even the slightest mistake can render everything useless. Moreover, the language used is no longer just modern human languages but also the more ancient Elvish or even Draconic languages.
Sometimes, it might take an entire day to create a single high-level magic scroll, as the process is extremely complicated and requires great patience and attention from the creator.
In addition to these, there are other requirements for making magic scrolls. First, the ink used is not ordinary ink—it usually contains the sap of alchemical plants, such as common madder, and sometimes animal blood. For example, the scroll for [Strength of the Bull] uses cow blood. For high-level scrolls, creators might even use the extremely precious dragon blood.
Of course, animal blood isn’t always used. For instance, for the scroll [Witchcraft: Frog], the creator usually grinds frog skin into powder, mixes it with plants, and boils it into a liquid, which is then used to write the spells and magic circles on the scroll.

Generally speaking, magic scrolls and enchantments are both classified under alchemy, a highly profound field of study. The materials used in it are extremely varied—papyrus, dragonhide, gems, blood, and so on—far beyond what Jiang Zhe and the others can create using ordinary ink and parchment, as such scrolls would lack any real power.

Even so, Jiang Zhe and his team were utterly exhausted. Scott, who was responsible for most of the process, and Jiang Zhe themselves were nearly blinded from strain. Even Allen, who was usually full of energy, kept yawning. Nevertheless, they managed to replicate a considerable number of magic maps.

※※※

When the magic maps replicated by Jiang Zhe and his team spread throughout Rexox Academy, Lavia also heard about them. She wasn’t particularly interested in magic artifacts, as she came from a ducal family and had a loving grandfather. She merely happened to pass by the Fountain Garden and saw Allen… She had seen Allen before and knew he was “that guy’s” roommate. With that in mind, she grabbed her companion and the two stepped forward.

But obviously, Allen didn’t recognize Lavia. He was surrounded by a crowd, busy “selling” those magic maps. “…Activity maps! One gold coin each. Limited supply—first come, first served… Don’t regret it if you don’t buy one! Look at the markers on the maps—they were prepared by the academy professors for the activities. If you’re lucky, you can use these maps to find the prizes the professors hid… What? What prizes? Wands, magic staves, aquamarine, rubies, obsidian…”

In truth, Allen himself didn’t know what magic artifacts were hidden in the woods, but his nonsense still convinced many lower-year students. Even some upper-year students who heard about it bought some, as the magic maps designed by Scott were indeed quite well-made. At first glance, it was hard to tell the difference from the real ones.

“Do you know that guy? Avi?” Lavia’s companion, Lailira, noticed her companion staring at the boy in the crowd with a teasing expression. Seeing her friend lost in thought, she became curious and said softly, “Avi? Avi? Lavia!”

“Hm?” Only when her companion switched from using her nickname to her full name did Lavia snap out of her daze. She shook her head and said, “No, I don’t know him…”

“Really?” Lailira teased.

“Of course,” Ravia said with a slight frown, “I know them. Don’t you know them all?”
“That’s true,” Lelira nodded in agreement, glanced in Allen’s direction, and said with a smile, “What he said sounds pretty interesting. Avi, let’s join too. Invite Lisa as well…”
“Well…” Ravia hesitated, bit her lip, then nodded and said, “Okay!”
“Hee!” Lelira giggled, “I really hope we can find some obsidian. It would greatly improve the illusions I can cast. What about you, Avi?”
“Me?” Ravia was momentarily stunned before smiling and saying, “Then… scarlet stone!”
Actually, whether it was scarlet stone or other magical items, she didn’t really care much.
There was only one thing that mattered to her…
She wanted to see just how much of a gap existed between her and that guy, under the same professor’s guidance in the same class!
That guy named Thos!
※※※
“Achoo! Achoo!”
What’s going on these past few days?
I don’t feel like I have a cold…
Or is someone thinking of me?
Hey! That’s impossible!
Scratching his head, Jiang Zhe felt puzzled. He sniffled, glanced at the person in front of him, and yawned, saying, “Professor, I’m really tired. I’ve stayed up for several nights…”
In front of Jiang Zhe was, of course, his professor for Fire Blue Magic, Professor Hod.
“I heard about it,” Professor Hod said, shaking his head with a smile as he patted Jiang Zhe’s head. “You guys are really bold—daring to copy the magic maps issued by the academy. Do you know this could get you punished?! If the academy deducts ten points from your annual evaluation, where will you find that ten points to make up? You can’t advance to the next grade if your score isn’t enough!”
“It hasn’t been deducted yet,” Jiang Zhe said, scratching his head in frustration. “Professor, you didn’t call me out just for this, did you?”
“Hee!” Professor Hod chuckled and pointed at the empty training ground around them. “Aren’t you usually quite clever? Can’t you figure out such a simple thing?”
Jiang Zhe was stunned for a moment, looked around, as if realizing something, and asked doubtfully, “Do you mean to teach me a new magic? Didn’t you say you wouldn’t teach me any new magic unless I satisfied you?”
“That’s right!”
“Well then…” Jiang Zhe was confused.
“Hee,” Professor Hod smiled and rubbed Jiang Zhe’s head. “Weren’t you guys interested in participating in this activity? You’re too confident. Do you really think you can find the magical items hidden in the woods from the seniors?”

Shaking Professor Hodde’s hand off, Jiang Zhe shrugged and said, “It’s not for those reasons. We just think this event is really interesting and want to see the magic of the senior students…”
“Heh, that attitude is quite good,” Hodde nodded in approval, but then his expression changed as he said in a serious tone, “However, since you plan to participate, I won’t interfere with others. But if you get easily defeated, Humph! Don’t expect me to give you a high score in the year-end evaluation!”
“Huh?” Jiang Zhe was stunned.
“What’s with the ‘huh’?” Professor Hodde said with a stern face, trying to hold back his laughter. “You barely passed Ancient Magic History, but both Professor Amix and Teacher Koviti have told me that you often get distracted and slack off in class. I think you should be happy just to get a passing grade from those two professors. As for my course, so far, you still haven’t satisfied me…”
“No way, Professor Hodde.” Jiang Zhe looked distressed. Suddenly, he muttered an incantation, and a fireball appeared above his right hand. And that wasn’t all—under his control, the fireball grew larger and smaller, with the orange flames gradually turning purple…
This kid!
Seeing this, Hodde’s brows furrowed in surprise. This boy was probably the most talented child he had ever seen… Exceptional talent, beyond-normal intelligence—he was a natural magician!
He would surely become a magician with great power!
Looking at the fireball emitting purple light, Professor Hodde’s evaluation of Jiang Zhe rose even further, but naturally, his expectations for him also increased. It could be said that Jiang Zhe had “turned cleverness into clumsiness”…
“Is that it?” Suppressing the words of praise that wanted to escape his lips, Hodde glanced at him dismissively and said indifferently, “Just this level after a little over two months? I’m extremely disappointed!”
“…” Jiang Zhe’s smile froze instantly. He looked at Professor Hodde and then at the fireball he had created, feeling it was unbelievable.
Couldn’t even this satisfy the professor? Then wasn’t he…
Jiang Zhe tilted his head, and suddenly a “fantasy” emerged in his mind.
…
“Hello, esteemed magician. I heard you graduated from Heliriox Magic Academy?”
“Mm, yes. My name is Thos…”
“It’s an honor to meet you, esteemed magician. May I ask which type of magic you specialize in?”
“Um, Fire Blue Magic!”
“Oh, that’s a very powerful magic. May I ask which powerful magic you’re best at?”
“…Fireball Magic.”

“Fire, fireball spell? Uh… it seems you place great emphasis on the basics, ha, haha…”
…
I definitely don’t want to do that! Jiang Zhe felt utterly frustrated.
“Professor, then tell me, what exactly would satisfy you?”
“You already satisfy me greatly, child…”
“You’re the most talented and fastest-progressing student I’ve ever seen. But precisely because of that, I keep raising my expectations of you again and again…”
“Ahem!” Professor Hod cleared his throat awkwardly, his face stern as he said, “How can I be satisfied? Shouldn’t you figure that out yourself? Don’t worry, I’ll be satisfied when the time comes… Ahem!” Though he said that, it seemed he would never truly be ‘satisfied’ in his heart…
What does “I’ll be satisfied when the time comes” mean? Jiang Zhe was speechless. He shrugged and said, “Fine! But Professor, since you’re not teaching me new spells, why bring me here?”
“Still not figured it out?” Professor Hod smiled slightly. As his lips moved, a basin-sized crimson fireball appeared on his left side.
“You still have to participate in this event, so you’ll inevitably encounter senior students. Rather than having you return defeated, I’ll show you what a ‘battle between magicians’ is like first! Thank me!”
I’ll thank you later!
Just by seeing Professor Hod’s attitude, how could Jiang Zhe not understand?
As a professor, bullying someone younger and expecting them to thank him?
“What are you thinking! Getting distracted during a duel is the stupidest thing to do!” Uncharacteristically, Professor Hod controlled the fireball to flash in front of Jiang Zhe while shouting sternly, “Put away that expression! Will you just give up without even resisting when faced with a stronger opponent in the future? Thors!”
“Of course not, Professor!” Jiang Zhe, who had been lowering his head, suddenly raised it. His lips kept chanting spells, and several fireballs gradually appeared beside him.
Heh! Professor Hod smiled secretly as he controlled the fireballs to strike at Jiang Zhe, shouting, “Too slow! In a duel, your opponent won’t let you use spells so easily. There are no such stupid opponents! Didn’t I tell you to work hard to shorten your spells according to your own habits? Have you forgotten?”
“Hey!” As the crimson fireballs kept attacking him, Jiang Zhe could only dodge sideways. As a result, his spells were interrupted. Not only were the unsummoned fireballs gone, but even the three already formed fireballs wavered—obviously, he had been distracted.

“Think carefully, Thors—what exactly would you do in such a situation? Thors, I’ve already summoned a second fireball!”
“…” Glancing at Professor Hod while dodging, Jiang Zhe naturally noticed a second floating fireball appear on his right side, inwardly groaning.
“Can simply dodging defeat your opponent? While you’re dodging, I’ll summon a third, fourth, fifth fireball!”
“…” Hearing Hod’s words, Jiang Zhe was shocked. Gritting his teeth, he waved his right hand, controlling three fireballs to attack Professor Hod.
Smart!
Hod silently praised him before raising his hand to scatter one of the fireballs aimed at him. With a loud boom, through the mist, Professor Hod said mockingly, “Fireballs of this level can at most stir up dust!”
“Is that so, Professor?” came Jiang Zhe’s light laughter from the other side.
Professor Hod was stunned. Once the mist cleared, his gaze turned sharp—he clearly saw seven fireballs floating around Jiang Zhe… no, eight!
This was Jiang Zhe’s current limit!
Without shortening the incantation, it would be impossible to summon eight fireballs in such a short time…
Hod nodded in satisfaction, waved his hand, and the two crimson fireballs vanished. Smiling at Jiang Zhe, he said, “Thors, do you think fireballs of this level can hurt me?”
“Of course not,” Jiang Zhe said, controlling the eight fireballs to surround Professor Hod. With a smirk, he added, “But they can definitely leave you in a mess…”
“Oh?” Professor Hod smiled and waved his finger. “Then let’s give it a try!” His confidence in his words made Jiang Zhe momentarily distracted.
Impossible… It seems unprepared—how can he block eight fireballs at once?
Even in terms of ‘quality,’ it’s insufficient, but this ‘quantity’… even for a professor…
“What? Hesitating? If you’re already dead by the time the battle starts, Thors!”
Jiang Zhe frowned, gritted his teeth, and clenched his right fist. Instantly, the eight fireballs rushed toward Professor Hod at different angles at high speed.
“Boom!”
Before those eight fireballs hit Professor Hod, a ring of red energy erupted around him, blowing Jiang Zhe’s eight fireballs apart…

“Really?!” Jiang Zhe was stunned, looking at Professor Hod with disbelief. Professor Hod brushed off the dust from his clothes, shook his head, and said regretfully, “It’s a shame, Thors. You could have done as I said and left me in disarray, but you hesitated—confidence is crucial for a magician. Even if your opponent is strong, you must not give up hope! You need to find an opportunity to defeat them… Being cautious is good, but it shouldn’t lead to hesitation! Even the slightest hesitation can give your opponent a chance to turn the tide or even cost you your life! Try again!”
“…” Jiang Zhe opened his mouth but eventually summoned eight more fireballs. Without Professor Hod’s interference, this time it was much faster.
“Not fast enough!” Professor Hod frowned and said, “As a magician, the longer it takes to cast a spell, the more likely you are to be interrupted by your opponent! In a duel, no fool would just watch you cast a spell—this isn’t a classroom! Your opponent isn’t a professor! You need to be faster. Before your opponent reacts, you must have your spell ready, otherwise, it will end like before! Alright, don’t hesitate this time. Control your fireballs well! Don’t waste your innate talent, Thors!”
“Yes, Professor Hod,” Jiang Zhe replied weakly. As before, he made eight fireballs hover around the professor, waiting for an opportunity. But no matter how he looked, he saw no sign of Professor Hod chanting any spells.
Seemingly reading Jiang Zhe’s thoughts, Professor Hod smiled and said, “Thors, have you forgotten? Spells are just a means for magicians to gather magic power—they’re not necessary. I can chant silently or not at all! In a duel between magicians, if one only focuses on the other’s mouth movements and ignores everything else, let me tell you, that’s not a true magician. A true magician doesn’t need to watch their opponent’s mouth movements when observing them! So tell me, how else can one detect their opponent’s movements?”
No need to watch mouth movements?
Jiang Zhe was stunned. If he didn’t need to watch mouth movements, how could he know his opponent’s intentions?
That’s impossible… Wait!
Could it be…
This child has outstanding talent and intelligence, but he’s still too young. Can he understand?
While saying those words, Professor Hod was also secretly worried.
Suddenly, he smiled, a relieved smile, because he saw Jiang Zhe slowly closing his eyes…
Smart!
What a smart child!

That’s right! True magicians don’t need to watch their opponent’s lips to detect their movements; instead, they sense the fluctuations in their magical energy. To cast a spell, there must be fluctuations in magical energy! By carefully analyzing the proportions and density of various elements around the opponent, as well as their arrangement, one can estimate the spell they are about to use… This is the true competition among magicians!