Chapter 28: Team Battle (1)

“Does it still hurt?”
A very gentle voice asked beside his ear.
Jiang Zhe let out a weak sigh and said to the guy winking at him, “I’m about to vomit, Allen!”
“What?” Allen winked and chuckled. “You should reply, ‘Please don’t worry about me, beautiful lady. Compared to the pain in my heart, this is nothing… I’m already deeply fascinated by you. Thinking I won’t see you for a while, I…’”
“Can you be any more disgusting?” Jiang Zhe interrupted him irritably.
“I was just joking,” Allen shrugged nonchalantly, stroking his chin thoughtfully. “But I think that girl has a bad temper. That kind of line might not work on her. How about changing it to, ‘Please accept me as your captive of the heart?’”
“…” Jiang Zhe sighed weakly and shook his head as he watched Allen talking to himself.
“Speaking of which,” Scott asked, leaning against a tree and wiping his glasses. “Thors, I think with your current skills, you shouldn’t be in such a mess, right?” He glanced up at Jiang Zhe, staring oddly at his magical robe.
Indeed, compared to before they set out, Jiang Zhe’s condition was far worse than just “terrible.” Not only was his magical robe covered in holes from the fire, but his left white glove had turned gray, and several strands of his dark golden hair were curled from the heat. On top of that, his entire body was covered in black dust.
“That’s right, buddy,” Allen said as he walked over while Jiang Zhe looked grimly at his robe. He propped his chin and examined Jiang Zhe, saying, “You weren’t this messed up when you practiced magic with Professor Hod last day. What happened?” He narrowed his eyes and chuckled. “Could it be…”
“Underestimated her?” Ignoring Allen’s frustrated look, Scott shone his glasses in the sunlight, then wiped them carefully with a handkerchief before saying indifferently, “I originally thought you’d win easily. With the speed and power you showed when casting fireballs, I couldn’t imagine it would turn out like this… Hah!” He smiled neutrally.
“She’s strong!” Jiang Zhe said calmly. Suddenly noticing Allen’s strange gaze, he corrected himself, “I mean that girl named Ravia!”

“Mm-hm, I know,” Allen nodded pretentiously, placing a hand on Jiang Zhe’s shoulder and speaking in a feigned serious tone. “I understand how you feel, buddy. If it were me, I wouldn’t have the heart to use magic on a cute, beautiful lady… That goes against our chivalry!”
“We?” Jiang Zhe’s eye twitched slightly. Before he could speak, Scott said calmly, “Drop those silly remarks! Anything that hinders our progress is an enemy. Being kind to enemies is extremely foolish! Especially when they possess strength on par with yours…” He paused then asked in a very odd tone, “Thors, you’re not underestimating them just because they’re a woman, are you?”
“Huh?” Jiang Zhe was stunned and shrugged awkwardly. “Maybe…”
Seeming to notice Jiang Zhe’s expression, Scott shook his head with a wry smile and said lightly, “Thors, there have been female archmages in the history of magic. In the realm of magic, the gap in strength might depend on mana, mental strength, affinity, or experience—but never on gender…”
“Heh, you’re right!” Recalling the several advanced spells Lavia had cast, Jiang Zhe covered his forehead awkwardly.
Perhaps it was really because she was a child and a girl that he unconsciously showed mercy. But then again, he never liked this kind of battle anyway…
“Alright, alright,” Allen said to defuse the situation as Jiang Zhe remained silent. “We’ve already won, haven’t we? Though it’s not the kind of victory I wanted, it’s still better than leaving in shame…”
Realizing his tone might have been too harsh, Scott said calmly, “I’m just reminding you, nothing more…” But when his gaze fell on Allen, his brows furrowed again. “By the way, Allen, what was that just now? Playing games and having afternoon tea with a little girl? This is Riox Academy, not some noble’s backyard!”
“Yeah, yeah…” Allen tried to appease him since he had been caught off guard.
“Let’s go,” Scott said, standing up and brushing dust off his waist. “If we stay here, we might encounter another team. Allen and I don’t mind, but Thors… I’m sorry for my tone earlier!”
“It’s okay. You’re right; we really shouldn’t judge by appearance…” Jiang Zhe shrugged nonchalantly.

Scott wore a faint smile as he said, “So what if we fight again? Judging from the way she looked at you when she left just now, I think it’s inevitable in the future…”
“Well…” Jiang Zhe hesitated for a moment before saying, “Let’s talk about that later. Since we’re both students of Riox, it wouldn’t be good to make things too awkward…”
“I get it!” Scott smirked, pushed his glasses up, and whispered, “Just don’t imitate that idiot! Let’s get out of here quickly…”
“Hey!” Allen pouted in dissatisfaction, only to see Scott leave without looking back. Feeling frustrated, he glanced at Jiang Zhe beside him, and a smile quickly appeared on his lips. “By the way, buddy, why did she hit you like that? Was it because you… hehehe!”
“Nothing like that!” Jiang Zhe rolled his eyes and followed in Scott’s footsteps.
“Hit you for no reason? Hey, don’t walk so fast, buddy!” Allen persistently followed behind.
No reason at all…
Jiang Zhe looked down at his tattered robe, burned beyond recognition, and sighed bitterly.
If he hadn’t forced his way through those flames and grabbed her hand, she might still have kept going, right?
Even his robe, printed with basic defensive magic arrays, was in such bad shape from the burns…
He was clearly on the verge of giving up…
“You lost!” Holding onto Ravia’s arm, Jiang Zhe said these words in a deep, serious tone.
Ravia fell silent, biting her lip as she stared at Jiang Zhe, who was emitting heat all over his body after dispersing the flames right in front of her. She had thought about dodging…
But with her limits already reached, where did she have the strength to dodge? Even lifting her hand felt incredibly difficult.
“Let go of me…” Ravia whispered.
“Then are you willing to admit defeat?”
“I…” Ravia hesitated, biting her lip, her expression clearly showing her inner struggle.
“Still not willing to admit defeat? You have to fall before you’ll admit it? Fine!”
Before Ravia could react, she suddenly felt a tremendous force on her shoulder. How could she, who was so weak, withstand such force? She felt her body tilt and then fell backward.
She still lost in the end…
Ravia closed her eyes and sighed quietly.
But to her surprise, the first thing her back touched wasn’t hard ground—it was a hand supporting her back.
“Even if you don’t hit the ground, you still lost!” Jiang Zhe’s voice, neither too loud nor too soft, reached her ears.

Lavia was stunned for a moment. She opened her eyes and looked at Jiang Zhe before her. Her cheeks, reddened from the flames, flushed even more, her eyelashes trembling slightly as she said softly, “Let go…”
No sooner had she finished speaking than a light laugh came from not far away. “Oh!”
Lavia quickly turned her head and saw four people standing by the trees—two of them were her companions. Feeling inexplicably annoyed, she whispered to Jiang Zhe, “Let go!” Then, she struggled to stand up.
“Let’s call it a draw. Anyway, we’ve both used up all our magic…”
“What’s this? Pity?” Lavia snorted lightly, raised her head, bit her lip for a long time, and finally said in a tone tinged with regret, “I admit defeat, Thors…” Then, her tone changed, “But after admitting defeat…”
“What?” Jiang Zhe frowned in confusion as he saw Lavia raise her hand…
“Slap!”
“You…” Before Jiang Zhe could react, Lavia lowered her head and said, “This is for your insult to me earlier… And thank you.”
“You…” Feeling the burning pain on his face, Jiang Zhe was speechless for a moment.
Looking at Jiang Zhe’s frustrated expression, Lavia said seriously, “I’ll come for you again… Next time, it won’t end like this!”
With that, the girl turned and left in the direction of the ancient castle.
“Go back, Lailira, Lisa…”
“Oh, oh…”
What a truly powerful yet unpleasant girl…
Watching the girl’s retreating figure in the distance, Jiang Zhe sighed inwardly.
Next time…
Sigh! It seems my intuition was right. How troublesome…
“Thors?!” A soft reminder interrupted Jiang Zhe’s thoughts. Before he could recover, he felt a strong force pulling him forward.
“Shh!” Allen covered Jiang Zhe’s mouth and, with a rare serious expression, said, “Don’t make a sound!”
What’s going on?
Glancing at Scott, who was also hiding behind a tree, Jiang Zhe pushed Allen’s hand away and asked softly, “What’s going on?”
“Don’t you feel it?” Scott looked at Jiang Zhe doubtfully and reminded him, “There are two groups fighting ahead!” As he spoke, Jiang Zhe suddenly heard the ‘boom’ sounds and voices he had ignored earlier.
“Should we go take a look?” Scott turned to discuss with Jiang Zhe and Allen.
Jiang Zhe and Allen exchanged a glance and nodded in unison.
So, the three of them carefully walked over.

The sound came from a small lake. The two sides in battle were one team of fifth-grade male students and another of third-grade female students. Unlike the one-on-one fights between Jiang Zhe and his opponents, this confrontation was a team battle, also serving as the academy’s standard for assessing the magic skills of senior students. At Rexx Academy, starting from the fourth grade, the requirements for students changed from individual assessments to those for teams, which usually consisted of three students. The most stringent assessment was the age evaluation; beginning with the end-of-year assessment in the fourth grade, Rexx Academy no longer relied solely on final scores but also considered actual combat performance. The opponents in these battles were the academy’s professors. Unlike traditional classroom teaching, although the professors in charge of assessments could only use level four magic at most, none of them would show mercy during the tests. If the first and third grades were periods of learning or getting to know each other, then starting from the end-of-year assessment in the fourth grade, true education in magic application began. As a result, some students were held back each year for failing to meet the academy’s standards. It was not uncommon in Rexx Academy’s history for students around fifteen or sixteen years old to still be in the fourth grade. Graduates from Rexx Academy generally ranged in age from nineteen to twenty-four, but there was once a student who graduated at eighteen, and to this day, no one has broken that record. This shows that Rexx Academy sets very high, even demanding, standards for its senior students. Yet every qualified graduate is a powerful dark magician, which is why the empire has always sought to recruit graduates from Rexx Academy. It’s worth noting that the score in a team battle is counted as the total score of all three team members. In other words, if the team fails to meet the standards, all three students will face the same consequence of being held back. In summary, lower-grade students typically engage in one-on-one duels, while senior students prefer team battles. Compared to individual fights, team battles are the preferred method among Rexx Academy students, as a person’s strength is limited—no matter how powerful a dark magician may be, they still need companions.

But team battles have extremely high requirements. It’s not as simple as three people fighting at the same time; it relies on seamless coordination among teammates, something that’s clearly unattainable unless you’ve known your teammates for a long time and trust them deeply.
And the current battle was just like that…
The team of three girls—one specializing in water-based blue magic, one in wind-based blue magic, and one in earth-based blue magic—wasn’t weak in the eyes of Jiang Zhe and the others. Yet due to poor coordination, they were almost completely overwhelmed by the three senior male students.
“That third-year girl…” Jiang Zhe narrowed his eyes at the girl with light blue hair in the distance, feeling a sense of familiarity.
Wasn’t that Dia?
“You know her?” Scott asked in surprise.
“Mm,” Jiang Zhe nodded and said softly, “I met her in the library before…” He then briefly explained his encounter with Dia. As he spoke, he couldn’t help but feel puzzled.
In his mind, Dia was a knowledgeable, serious, and highly skilled senior sister, though she appeared delicate on the surface…
It was hard to imagine her being at a disadvantage…
Was the strength gap between grades really that large?
While Jiang Zhe was thinking, Scott spoke up.
“Their attack methods are too limited. All three girls specialize in blue magic, and it seems they haven’t learned any spells to hold back their opponents. If one of them knew curses, there might be a slight chance… They’re going to lose!”
“Hold back opponents?” Jiang Zhe wasn’t quite sure.
“Yeah,” Scott nodded and explained softly, “No matter how powerful a spell is, it’s useless if it can’t reach the opponent. For example, if you face someone skilled in wind-based blue magic, your fireballs won’t keep up with the speed of wind magic, while they can apply various buffs to themselves and cast spells on you. In that case, someone who’s not good at defensive magic will be at a disadvantage.
In a team battle, as your teammate, I can cast curses and restrictions on that guy, while Allen, who’s good at enhancements, can block their attacks and apply buffs to you… With me and Allen holding them back, it’ll be much easier for you to deal with them… Of course, in a team battle, the other side also has two teammates, so it comes down to coordination and teamwork… And what those three girls lack is the ability to hold back their opponents!”
“I see…” Jiang Zhe nodded half-understandingly and continued to observe the battle.

It seemed Scott had noticed it, and Dia had as well. With urgency on her face, she shouted at her two companions, “Rose, transform! Lilia, empower!” After saying that, she took a slight breath and, unfazed by the fireballs flying rapidly toward her, muttered a series of quick spells.

As she chanted, a large mass of water surged up from the small lake behind her and slowly coalesced in front of her.

With a hissing sound, the fireball crashed straight into the mass of water. The intense heat turned some of the water into steam, but thanks to the continuous supply from the lake behind her, the mass gradually took on a humanoid shape.

[Transformation: Water Element]

At that moment, the petite blond girl beside Dia had also finished chanting her spell. She crouched down, touched the ground with her right hand, and immediately a mound of earth rose up, then took shape into a human form.

[Transformation: Stone Golem]

“It’s my turn,” said the dark-haired girl, who appeared the tallest among the three, with a delicate laugh. After a series of rapid spells, greenish-white light emanated from the Water Element and the Stone Golem, making their movement speed increase dramatically.

[Chapter of the Gusty Wind]

“Hm?” The boy holding a fiery red magic wand not far away frowned before letting out a light laugh. “Sam, it seems we’re at a disadvantage in terms of terrain…”

“Stop complaining and be careful, Bobby! If we lose, all three of us will be humiliated! Joe!” The speaker was a boy wrapped in an ink-green magic cloak. As he spoke, a two-yard-long [Sand Lizard] in the field hissed and stuck out its tongue.

“Got it, got it,” said the last brown-haired boy, shrugging. He pointed his wand, inlaid with a pale yellow gem, at the Sand Lizard in the field and silently chanted a spell. “Petrify Skin! Magic-Resistant Skin!”

Just as he finished chanting, the Stone Golem swung its fist to swat away the Sand Lizard and then slammed down its huge, heavy fist.

“Boom!”

“Too bad, just a little short!” Allen, who was rubbing his hands in anticipation from afar, looked disappointed because he saw that the Sand Lizard had managed to withstand the blow with its back without any injury.

Indeed, after the Stone Golem pulled back its fist, the Sand Lizard merely shook off the sand from its body and resumed attacking the Stone Golem.

Compared to the bulky Stone Golem, the Sand Lizard was much more agile. In just a few blinks, pieces of earth began to fall off the Stone Golem’s body.

“Swish!” Suddenly, a water arrow hit the Sand Lizard’s head, stopping its movements as it turned to look at the Water Element on the other side.

The Water Element was much more agile than the stone statue. With the support of the water from the small lake behind it and Dia’s magical power, it could continuously fire water arrows. At that moment, the blond girl named Rose reformed the stone statue once again, making it taller than before—roughly six or seven yards high. With the combined efforts of the Water Element and the stone statue, the Sand Lizard found itself in a tough fight. “Two against one isn’t good,” said Sam, glancing at his companion Bobby, who was busy exchanging spells with Dia and clearly unable to help. His other companion was focused on casting defensive spells to ward off incoming boulders, water arrows, and wind blades. With no other choice, Sam crouched down, placed his right hand on the ground, and recited a spell. “Stop him!” Dia, clearly seeing Sam’s actions, quickly fired three water arrows. “It’s not that easy!” Joe laughed as he stepped in front of Sam. With a slight lift of his right hand, a black shield appeared before him. The three water arrows were deflected upon hitting the shield, turning into droplets of water. By then, Sam had finished his spell. A small black magic circle appeared on the ground beneath his right palm, which then exploded with a burst of smoke. As the smoke dissipated, a red-brown giant snake, three or four yards long, emerged. Its sharp teeth dripped dark green venom, scorching the ground black. This was a desert-dwelling snake called a [Sand Snake], which loved heat and was venomous. Upon seeing the snake, Bobby, who was still battling Dia with magic, pointed at it. After a short spell, a thin layer of flame covered the Sand Snake. Once lazy, it became energetic, hissing with flaming fangs. Not only did Dia frown, but even Jiang Zhe felt uneasy—he truly hated all snakes. With the Sand Snake joining the fight, the three girls seemed even more struggling. After all, their opponent was a trio capable of attacking, summoning, enhancing, and defending, while the three girls clearly lacked means to hold them back. The water element and stone statue, being mere manifestations without intelligence, required control by their users. How could they compete with a Sand Snake and Sand Lizard that possessed the wisdom of beasts? Just four or five minutes later, somehow, the stone statue collapsed with a loud crash, leaving only the Water Element struggling to hold on. “Rose?” “I… I’m fine…”

Glancing back at her companions, Dia recited a few spells to cast a water shield for the three of them. She then created a water element, but this put even more pressure on her—she had to divert her attention to control the water element, use water magic to attack the opponent, and still find time to cast defensive spells for them. With her attention split, the boy on the other side, who specialized in fire magic, faced much less pressure. He not only used magic to suppress Dia but also began attacking the other two girls.

“Insufficient magic power? Unable to maintain the giant stone statue? What a shame…” Allen, who was watching from afar with great interest, said with deep regret.

“It doesn’t seem to be that…” Jiang Zhe shook his head, as he could sense that the golden-haired girl’s magic power hadn’t run out. What was wrong with her?

Just as Jiang Zhe was puzzled, something unexpected happened—the golden-haired girl named Rose suddenly knelt down in pain, leaving the three male students on the other side confused and instinctively stopping their attacks.

“Rose?” Dia rushed to her companion’s side.

The golden-haired girl was drenched in cold sweat, looking pained as she shook her head and said, “I’m fine…”

The senior students on the other side also came over. Sam, the leader, frowned worriedly and asked, “Could it be magic backlash? We need to contact the professor right away!”

Magic backlash occurred when one remained in a state of high mental stress for a long time, causing fluctuations in their magic power. It had a severe impact on mental strength and could even damage the soul, with the process itself being extremely painful.

“No, it’s not…” Seeing everyone panicking, the golden-haired girl shook her head again, saying with pain, “It’s not magic backlash. My heart has sometimes hurt like this since I was little… It will be fine in a while…”

“It’s good it’s not magic backlash… Just good…” The senior students smiled, feeling much more relieved. After all, if it really were magic backlash, it could affect their future, and they would also face consequences from the academy.

Looking at her companion’s pained face, Dia sighed slightly and said, “Let’s end this duel here. We surrender…” With that, she took out a light blue gem from her bosom—a aquamarine.

“…” The three senior students were stunned for a moment before their expressions relaxed. To be honest, they didn’t want to fight anymore. Continuing would only bring shame to their senior status even if they won.

“No! Don’t…” The golden-haired girl clutched Dia’s arm tightly, shaking her head repeatedly.

Staring at the gem, the three seniors clearly hesitated. After all, for them, this aquamarine stone was of no use at all. Moreover, as upper-year students, they had plenty of ways to obtain such gems; what they wanted were items that could enhance magic, like rings or bracelets.

Besides, they had thought about “teasing” the younger students, as that was how they had been “educated” themselves—it was one of the traditions at Rexx Academy.

Taking it would be extremely awkward in this situation, and even if they did, it wouldn’t be of much use to them. Not taking it would violate the rules of the event and might even be misinterpreted as an insult.

Troublesome…

The three seniors exchanged glances, unsure what to do.

Hesitantly, a boy named Sam said, “How about this? Since it’s a special situation and the event has been paused, are there any acquaintances nearby who you know? Form a temporary team—that way, it won’t violate the rules… Think about it. You specialize in water-based blue magic; this gem would be much more useful to you…”

“Acquaintances… nearby…” Dia raised her head and looked around. To be honest, this quiet and gentle girl didn’t know many people, let alone acquaintances.

Then she spotted Jiang Zhe and the others not far away.

That boy…

“Take him! That boy with dark golden hair!”

“Hm?” Sam and the others turned to look and immediately looked puzzled.

What! A first-year student?

Could a first-year student compete with a third-year student who had already reached the assimilation level?

Even if they won against such a team, it would only bring mockery and ridicule to them.

“What should we do, Sam?” Bobby asked, clearly embarrassed.

“Well…” Sam scratched his head and, meeting Dia’s expectant gaze, said awkwardly, “Maybe they three should team up together. They might have better coordination…” He couldn’t say anything more. First-year students hadn’t experienced team battles—how could they have coordination?

Too embarrassed to notice, he didn’t see Dia’s strange look.

The other two might not know, but that boy… he had a level comparable to that of a third-year student…

Glancing at the gem in her hand, Dia pursed her lips and smiled serenely.

“Okay! Let’s do that!”