Chapter 29: Team Battle (2)

After Dia recounted the whole story to Jiang Zhe, he was stunned.
“Ask us for help? Is that even possible?”
Seeming to notice Jiang Zhe’s astonished expression, Dia smiled gently and whispered to him, “It took us a long time to find this aquamarine stone. I certainly don’t want to give it away! Hehe, please, Thors!” She stuck out her tongue, looking extremely cute, which left the two girls beside her in awe.
Faced with the request from this senior who had helped her before, Jiang Zhe, who followed the principle of “repaying kindness with kindness,” couldn’t think of any reason to refuse.
“If it really works that way, I don’t mind… But let me make it clear—I’m only in my first year and don’t know much about magic. Don’t blame me if something goes wrong…”
“That won’t happen!” Dia chuckled lightly. Just as she was about to encourage him further, Lilia, who was taking care of the blond girl beside her, looked up and said, “It’s not just you—it’s the three of you! How can you alone replace Rose?”
Jiang Zhe’s expression became awkward. Anyone hearing those words would feel uncomfortable.
“Us, the three of us?” Jiang Zhe pointed at himself, Scott, and Allen in surprise.
“It seems we’ve been underestimated, Thors!” Scott pushed his glasses up in his signature manner, speaking with a hint of sarcasm.
Even Allen, who was usually cheerful, became serious. He looked at the dark-haired girl and said earnestly, “If these words came from someone else, I would consider it an insult. But… beautiful lady, I was wondering if I’d have the honor of inviting you for a cup of tea after the event. You know, Scott makes delicious tea!”
“You jerk!” Scott frowned.
“I’m not some beautiful lady,” Lilia said with a giggle as she stood up. “You should call me senior, right? If it’s from a cute junior’s invitation, I don’t think I’ll refuse, hehe!”
“A… cute junior…” Allen opened his mouth, clearly shocked.
“Lilia!” Dia gave her a reproachful look before apologizing, “Please don’t misunderstand. At first, I only wanted to ask Thors for help because there are no familiar companions around here. But…” She glanced at the three senior students not far away and added softly, “Maybe they think the skill gap is too big…”

“Yes, as seniors, they do look down on us juniors…” Scott glanced at Jiang Zhe and added meaningfully, “Or maybe it’s because they’re too confident in their own abilities…”
“Hey,” Jiang Zhe felt awkward and cleared his throat before saying to Dia, “As long as you don’t think we’re in the way, we’d be happy to help. What do you think, Scott, Allen?”
“You decide!” Scott replied indifferently, kicking Allen, who was still muttering to himself.
“We certainly won’t mind! Then please do!” Dia said cheerfully before suddenly noticing Jiang Zhe’s tattered robe and pointing at it in surprise. “Sos, what’s this…”
“Hmph!” With Scott’s cold snort, Jiang Zhe forced a smile and changed the subject. “Actually, we’ve been watching from the side. If I’m not mistaken, one of them is good at fire-based blue magic, another at summoning magic, and there’s also one who’s skilled in…”
“Enhancement and defense magic!” Lilia said, gently patting her companion Rose’s back to comfort her. “So what about you three? What types of magic are you good at? As temporary companions, I think it’s only fair to introduce ourselves. You can call me Senior Lilia. I specialize in wind-based blue magic, excelling in offensive and enhancement spells, but not so much in defense magic.”
“I’m Dia,” she introduced herself with a smile, glancing at Jiang Zhe. “I specialize in water-based blue magic and am confident in defense and mimicry magic… I know Sos specializes in fire-based blue magic. So what about you?”
“Scott? I’m not particularly good at anything specific!” Scott’s answer surprised everyone, but it made sense—he’d learned too many different spells, so he really didn’t have one standout skill.
“Hello, beautiful seniors… I’m Allen. I’m good at enhancement magic!” If Scott’s answer disappointed Lilia slightly, hearing Allen’s reply made her eyes light up for a moment, though only for a second…
“You’re good at enhancement magic?” Lilia said happily. “That’s great! If that sand lizard hadn’t been enhanced, we would’ve taken care of it already. Your name is Allen, right? Later, you’ll help Dia enhance her water elements…”
“But I can only enhance myself…” Allen shattered Lilia’s hopes with an utterly innocent reply.

I was such an idiot to rely on a first-year student! With a sigh, Lilia weakly covered her forehead.
“Have you decided?” came Sam’s question from across.
“Okay, let’s go with this!” Lilia sighed helplessly.
After helping the blond girl Rose rest under a tree, Dia stepped beside Jiang Zhe and asked softly, “Sosu, could you hold off that senior who studies fire magic?”
Jiang Zhe instinctively glanced into the distance and saw the senior named Bobby frowning at him. Shrugging, he replied, “I’ll do my best!”
“Mm,” Dia smiled gently, glancing at Scott and Allen before asking secretly, “Are your two companions really as they say? Don’t hide anything from me!” The familiarity in her last words made Jiang Zhe pause.
“Huh,” puzzled by the strange sense of familiarity, Jiang Zhe answered truthfully, “Scott takes almost every course; he’s good at illusions, curses, and arcane magic. As for Allen, he’s indeed as described—he can only strengthen himself for now, but… don’t underestimate him; he’ll surprise you!”
“Really?” Dia bit her lip cutely, winking as she pointed at Scott and Allen. “Scott, please hold them off!”
Scott, standing in front, frowned and turned to see Jiang Zhe and Dia together. Realizing what was going on, he pushed his glasses up and said calmly, “I’ll do my best!”
“What about me, pretty Senior Dia?” Allen interrupted with a laugh.
Before Dia could respond, Jiang Zhe smirked and pointed at the sand lizard in the distance. “That one’s yours!”
“Hey! No way!”
Watching the chaos across, the senior Sam found it amusing. Glancing back casually, he saw one of his companions, Bobby, looking very serious. “What’s wrong, Bobby?” he asked.
“That boy with dark golden hair…” Bobby stared intently at Jiang Zhe and said gravely, “Because the elements here were too chaotic, I didn’t notice earlier, but that guy has a very strong aura of fire magic. Is he really a first-year?”
“…” Sam glanced at Jiang Zhe with a strange look and said in surprise, “Judging from the symbols on their chests, they are indeed first-years. Could it be his aura of fire magic is stronger than yours?”
“That’s impossible!” Bobby laughed at Sam’s joke.

“Isn’t that enough?” Sam smiled and sent the sand lizards and sand snakes back onto the field. At that moment, he saw one of the opponents’ first-year students walking toward the center of the field, aiming at his own sand lizards. What was he doing? Sam was puzzled—shouldn’t a magician stand at the back? Out of curiosity, he observed the opponent’s formation. At the back were the two girls who had fought earlier, along with a first-year student who seemed to specialize in fire-based blue magic, just like his companion Bobby. About four or five yards in front of those three was another first-year student wearing glasses, while at the very front stood a guy with a cheeky grin… Didn’t he know how dangerous sand lizards were? Worried, Sam asked, “Are you ready?” Dia nodded and replied, “Ready!” “Then let’s continue?” “Okay!” Glancing at the opponent’s formation, Sam took a coin from his pocket and shouted, “The moment this coin hits the ground, it’s the start signal. Did you hear that?” With that, he flicked the coin off his thumb, sending it flying high into the air. Out of habit, Bobby instinctively raised his fire-red stone wand in front of his chest. Just as he thought his action was amusing, he suddenly saw the boy on the other side, who seemed to specialize in fire magic, pulling his right hand out of his pocket. Interesting! Bobby smiled slightly. It was well known that in a magician’s battle, the speed of casting magic was crucial. Even a slight delay could put one at a disadvantage for a long time, especially in team battles. That’s why at Rexox Academy, students learning fire- and wind-based blue magic not only had to be the main attackers but also had to suppress their opponents and disrupt their spells to secure victory for their team. If the main attackers were overwhelmed, the team was likely to lose. The coin was thrown high into the air, hovered for a moment, then plummeted, landing on the rocks below with a soft clink. With that sound, Dia suddenly saw a fireball forming in Bobby’s chest on the other side, heading toward her team. “Thors, aim—” Before Dia could finish her warning, a gust of hot wind blew by, and she realized that her team had also launched a fireball. The two fireballs collided head-on, exploding with a loud bang and releasing a wave of scorching heat.

So fast! Dia turned to Jiang Zhe in a daze. Seeing his serious expression as he kept chanting spells and firing one fireball after another, she was stunned inside. Not to mention her, even Bobby across from her was dumbfounded. His speed in casting fireballs was on par with hers—was that guy really just a first-year?! For a moment, everyone except Scott and Allen was stunned, watching Bobby and Jiang Zhe exchange fireballs. In just a few blinks, nearly twenty fireballs were launched by each side, exploding with loud booms and leaving gray smoke everywhere in the center of the field. “Wow!” Lilia covered her mouth, looking incredulous. Suddenly, she saw a series of fireballs shooting out from the smoke—clearly the opponent’s third-level spell, [Chain Fireballs]. “Be careful, Thors!” Dia instinctively warned, only to see Jiang Zhe’s fireball explode mid-air, turning into a massive flame that detonated each of the Chain Fireballs. What kind of magic was this? Dia and the others were astonished, while Bobby, the senior across from them, looked grave. Transformation? That guy… With a bitter smile, Bobby said to his stunned teammates, “Guys, it seems I can’t take care of you for now!” “Understood…” Sam nodded mechanically, glanced at Jiang Zhe, and pointed with his right hand, “Sand Lizard!” At his shout, his teammate Joe immediately cast Petrify Skin and Magic Resistance Skin on the Sand Lizard. With enhanced defenses, the Sand Lizard glanced at Jiang Zhe and scurried over, but the next second, its huge head was smashed hard into the ground. “Hey, though I’m personally unhappy about this, it’s me who’s fighting you!” Amidst everyone’s disbelief, Allen glowed with a red light different from that of fire elements, appearing stronger… [Bull Force]. Was that guy specializing in enhancement? Joe frowned, looking very puzzled. Even with enhancements, it shouldn’t reach this level, right? He clearly saw the Sand Lizard shaking its head constantly—obviously, that punch was extremely powerful. After all, it had just withstood a blow from the Giant Stone Statue without any harm. Was that Allen a monster? Watching Allen send the Sand Lizard flying two yards with a single punch, Joe’s eye twitched.

“Wow! That’s amazing, junior!” Lilia, who had no hopes at first, quickly cast [Chapter of the Gale] on Allen, making his speed even greater. He easily avoided the sand lizard’s bites and continued to deal damage to it.
“Sand lizard…” Sam had a strange expression as he watched his contract beast being abused by a first-year junior. He found it odd—normally, the sand lizard’s movements shouldn’t be that…
Suddenly, he noticed thin, barely noticeable strands of black energy on the sand lizard’s body…
A curse? Was it from that glasses-wearing junior? He really had underestimated the first-year juniors! Sam smiled wryly and pointed with his right hand at the sand snake in the field.
The sand snake seemed to receive some command and swam toward Scott at incredible speed.
“Be careful!” Dia shouted softly. As she uttered a spell, water arrows formed from the floating water droplets around her and shot at the sand snake like crossbow bolts.
It had to be said that the sand snake’s speed was astonishing. It twisted its body and dodged Dia’s water arrows at incredible angles. Even when an arrow struck it, it was instantly evaporated by its seemingly thin layer of flame.
In just a few breaths, the sand snake reached Scott, stood upright, and opened its mouth wide toward the boy, its two venom-covered fangs truly terrifying.
“What’s it doing?” Seeing Scott motionless, Lilia quickly cast two wind blades, intending to force the sand snake away from him.
But to her surprise, the sand snake not only withstood the two wind blades but also acted in a ridiculous manner next—it twisted its body in front of Scott with a silly motion, as if hearing some enchanting flute music.
“Huh?” Lilia was puzzled. Dia beside her explained softly, “That kid might have cast a illusion!”
“Illusion?” Lilia froze for a moment before understanding.

Compared to [Transformation] magic, [Contracted Beasts] don’t require constant control from the caster; just one command, and they will act. Since Contracted Beasts possess intelligence, they are more threatening than Transformation beasts. Yet, because they are physical entities with intelligence, they are still susceptible to various negative magical effects, such as curses and illusions. In contrast, Transformation beasts, which lack physical form and intelligence, are unaffected by any such negative effects.

These three juniors are really strong. Are they really just first-year students? Lilia found it hard to believe.

Not to mention that junior named Allen easily blocked that sand lizard using just ordinary enhancement magic. That kid named Scott even cast curses, illusions, and arcane defense magic at the same time. And then there’s that kid named Thos, who managed to hold off a fifth-year senior?

Are they really just first-year juniors?

It wasn’t just Lilia who wondered this. Sam on the other side also felt things were getting tricky. Hearing the explosions of two fireballs colliding from time to time, he said oddly, “Bobby, can’t you even handle a first-year junior?”

No wonder he said that. Without Bobby’s fire magic, their attack options were limited to summons and enhancements, making their attacks too monotonous.

“Tch! That’s easy for you to say!” The boy named Bobby pouted in dissatisfaction, frowned at his opponent, thought for a moment, and then said to his teammate Joe, “Joe, cover me!”

“Hm?” Joe was stunned for a moment before seemingly understanding something. With a strange expression, he said, “No problem, but you’re not…” As he spoke, he recited a spell and created a rainproof shield large enough to protect the three of them.

As soon as the shield appeared, three fireballs struck it at high speed. With a loud boom, irregular ripples spread across the shield’s surface.

“That guy…” Frowning, Joe could clearly sense the power of those three fireballs. Was that guy really just first-year?

Damn!

Seeming to notice Bobby concentrating on casting a spell, Dia immediately guessed it was a high-level magic. Before she could warn Jiang Zhe, she recited a spell and created a water-based shield.

The moment the shield appeared, a ball of flame descended from the sky and crashed to the ground with a loud boom, sending red flames flying in all directions.

“What’s this…?”

Amidst Dia’s surprised expression, three snake-like heads slowly emerged from the flame. They opened their mouths and spat out three fireballs, which struck directly at the shield Dia had cast, emitting a hissing sound along witha large amount of of steam.
[Transformation: Three-Headed Fire Snake]
“Transformation?” Jiang Zhe asked in surprise.
“Mm!” Dia nodded, her expression serious. “But it’s not just transformation—it’s enchanted transformation!”
“Enchanted transformation?” Jiang Zhe stared at the three-headed fire snake in confusion.
Enchanted transformation was a more advanced form of transformation technique. While ordinary transformation merely turned an element into the form of a beast, enchanted transformation could endow that form with special effects. For example, the three-headed snake in front of them had the abilities to absorb fire and cast fireballs, a second-level magic spell.
Dia’s earlier use of [Water Element] was also an example of enchanted transformation, as that water element, in addition to its ability to absorb water, could also cast the first-level magic spell Water Arrow.
In general, the elemental beings created through transformation were quite troublesome but not particularly powerful on their own. Yet they were essential skills to master in the Blue Magic curriculum, as they formed the basis of enchanted transformation.
The magic technique of [Enchantment] could be used not only to enhance weapons and armor but also applied to living beings—of course, depending on the creature’s nature. If you tried to enchant a heat-loving sand snake with water-based magic, it would have no effect and might even harm it. Besides nature, enchantment also required a high level of control from the magician.
Simply put, enchanted transformation was a combination of [Enchantment] and [Transformation], falling under the category of [Composite Magic]. Theoretical explanations suggested that it involved taking key parts from the incantations for the desired magic and adding them to the incantations for transformation. However, the caster needed to be proficient in both [Enchantment] and [Transformation]; otherwise, without a thorough understanding of these techniques, it would be impossible to achieve enchanted transformation.
There was also a fundamental difference between the elemental beings created through [Transformation] and [Enchanted Transformation]. The former were merely ordinary “beasts,” while the latter belonged to the category of magical beasts, even though they lacked life.

[Enchanted Transformation] does not confer external defenses or anything else on the [Transformed Beast]. Take the [Trident Serpent] before us as an example: if it’s just transformation alone, its behavior would be similar to the Fire Wave spell. Even if fire-based enhancement magic is applied afterward, it can only change the external appearance of the serpent—put simply, it makes the flames burn more intensely, with no other effects. In contrast, [Enchanted Transformation] involves altering the incantation used for transformation by adding an offensive magic spell to it, thereby changing the internal aspects of the transformed beast, such as its special abilities.

In short, the appearance of the [Transformed Beast] changes depending on the symbols representing beasts in the transformation incantation. By replacing the serpent-related incantation with others, it can turn into a fire horse, a fire human, or even something else, depending on personal preference and the complexity of the incantation. The offensive magic spell used for enchantment also varies, but magicians usually choose shorter, lower-level spells, otherwise, they might not finish reciting it by the end of the battle.

Speaking of this, it should be noted that aside from being affected by enhancement magic of the same type, spells of other types can only cause damage to the [Transformed Beast]. When damaged by spells of the same type, the [Transformed Beast] absorbs some of the elements depending on the mental strength and magical power of both parties. Of course, if the caster’s mental strength and magic power cannot sustain it, the transformed beast will disappear—this applies to both types of magic.

“Huh, it seems the seniors on the other side are serious. We might be in trouble…” After giving a brief explanation, Dia stuck out her tongue playfully. “Sos, do you know any other spells besides Fire Balls?”

Jiang Zhe gathered a Fire Ball with his right hand, which was covered in white gloves, and said helplessly, “I’m sorry, I only know Fire Ball spell…” As he spoke, fire elements in the surrounding air rapidly gathered around him.