Chương 69: Cutting Water

While Zelier was lost in thought, the mage assessment in the arena had already begun. Riely took a deep breath and began circulating the mana within his Soul Space. One spell circuit after another took shape in his mind. The first spell—Fireball. The second spell—Water Orb. The third spell—Ice Lance. Zelier clicked his tongue. All spells he had already analyzed... Show me something new, Riely. The fourth spell—Rock Volley!

As Riely finished casting, three stone projectiles formed in front of him, each one created from compressed soil and shattered rock. With a wave of his hand, the three rocks shot forward like miniature meteors.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!" Three consecutive impacts rang out. The ground was smashed open, leaving obvious craters as stone fragments scattered everywhere. Oh? Zelier's eyes lit up when he saw the spell. It's similar to Ice Lance. However, Ice Lance can only launch a single ice spear at once, while Rock Volley can fire three projectiles simultaneously. It lacks Ice Lance's frostburst effect, but the sheer number of projectiles makes up for it. It would be useful for suppressing enemies with overwhelming firepower.

Not bad. The fifth spell—Illuminate. The sixth spell—Stone Wall! Riely slammed his palms together. The ground began to tremble. With a series of cracking sounds, a rough stone wall several dozen centimeters thick and roughly two meters tall and wide erupted from the ground. Standing behind that wall would instantly make anyone feel a lot safer. Zelier nodded slightly. Another highly practical spell. If I had known Stone Wall back when we fought the Giant Winged Bat, things would have been much easier.

It could effectively block ranged attacks and stabilize the frontline for the team. In narrow environments like caves, it could even be used to block passages at critical moments. The seventh spell—Gale Step! This time, Riely didn't target anything else. He cast it beneath his own feet. A rapidly spinning current of air quickly formed, causing his robes to whip violently in the wind. Using the momentum, Riely lightly jumped.

His entire body shot three to four meters into the air, as if he had broken free from gravity itself. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. After reaching the peak of his jump, he controlled the remaining cyclone and gently descended back to the ground. The entire process was effortless. This spell gave Zelier quite a surprise. A very useful utility spell.

When facing complicated terrain, it could allow someone to cross obstacles with ease and greatly increase mobility. And with greater mana output, it might even be able to blow away smaller monsters, providing a form of crowd control. The eighth spell—Wind Blade. The ninth spell—Vine Entanglement! Beneath the Stone Wall Riely had created earlier, several tough green vines burst from the ground. They rapidly climbed around the stone barrier, wrapping around it tightly within seconds. Another excellent control spell.

The tenth spell—Frostbite Curse! Just like before, Riely chose the Stone Wall as his target. After completing the spell circuit, a layer of frost silently spread across the surface of the stone wall. The ice crystals continued expanding, quickly covering more than half of the structure. Although it carried some frost damage, the spell was still primarily focused on control. With all ten Tier-2 single-layer spell circuit spells completed, Riely's performance earned a small wave of applause from the audience stands.

Zelier nodded in satisfaction. He had witnessed five new spells all at once. That alone would save him more than a dozen gold coins worth of spell scrolls, and every single one of them had practical applications during adventures. Beneath Matrix Deduction, a string of new analysis tasks appeared one after another, creating an unprecedentedly lively scene. Thankfully, all analysis processes happened simultaneously. He didn't have to wait in line and process them one by one.

With his Intelligence already reaching 86 points, his analysis speed had improved even further. Spells of this level would take him no more than two or three days to complete. Zelier had been watching carefully. Among the ten spells Riely had used, only seven had been cast within three seconds. The remaining three exceeded the time limit slightly. Furthermore, Zelier noticed something else. All ten of Riely's spells were Elemental spells. Not a single Arcane spell.

A normal mage wouldn't be this heavily biased toward one branch of magic. So there was only one possible explanation. Just like Mentor Manlin had said, Riely's brain was naturally rejecting Arcane spell circuits, making them impossible for him to learn. Not every mage could cultivate both Elemental and Arcane magic like he could. Zelier thought about it for a moment. This probably had nothing to do with Matrix Deduction. Could it simply be his own innate talent?

Below the arena, sweat had already appeared on Riely's forehead. His chest rose and fell heavily from his deep breathing. Clearly, continuously casting spells had consumed a great deal of his mana.

"Not bad." Marven handed Riely a crystal emitting a gentle glow.

"Rest for a moment." Riely accepted the crystal and immediately closed his eyes to meditate. The light within the crystal flowed into his body along his mana pathways. Less than a minute later, he opened his eyes again. Most of the mana he had consumed in his Soul Space had already recovered. Next came the most important—and most difficult—part of the assessment. Within five seconds, successfully casting a Tier-3 single-layer spell circuit spell. Zelier focused completely, unconsciously leaning forward slightly.

A Tier-3 single-layer spell circuit spell. What will you use, Riely? Please don't be Flame Breath.

"Hu..." Riely exhaled softly, calming his mind. Spell charging began! The moisture in the air started spinning at an unprecedented speed around Riely's palm, gradually extending outward. In only a few seconds, a water blade shimmering with crystal-clear light took shape. The blade was only the width of a palm. Although its thickness was as thin as a cicada's wing, violent mana surged within it.

Water, something normally soft and harmless, had been compressed and accelerated to the extreme, transforming into the sharpest and deadliest blade.

"Hah!" Riely's eyes snapped open. He swung his hand diagonally. The water blade hovering above his palm moved with him, slicing downward.

"Shing!" A sharp sound tore through the air. The Stone Wall Riely had summoned earlier split apart along the path of the blade. A perfectly smooth cut appeared across its surface. The upper half of the wall slowly slid downward.

"Boom!" It crashed into the ground, sending dust rolling into the air. The cut surface was so clean it sent chills down one's spine. It was easy to imagine what would happen if that strike landed on a monster... Or a person. Zelier's eyes widened slightly. Beneath Matrix Deduction, a new analysis task appeared exactly as expected. [Cutting Water — Analysis Progress: 1%] After briefly pausing, the progress bar began rapidly climbing. It eventually stopped at 32%.

It must be borrowing the foundation from Water Orb's spell circuit... Zelier guessed inwardly. Riely's Cutting Water had truly broadened his horizons. Both were Tier-3 spells, but Flame Breath focused more on surface burning. It could never achieve this level of armor-piercing destructive power.