Chapter 32, Final Round 1: How many people did you actually give the necklace to? ...
The stands were packed, even the VIP seats were full.
As Ancia passed by the noble seats, she saw Aurora winking at her from the back row.
The two preparation areas were not far apart. Eve's team of three was already in place, while Ancia's team only had two people, and Herigalo was still nowhere to be seen.
Gaia: "Today is the long-awaited final of the Freshman Showdown. The red team consists of four-star Wind Mage Velien, four-star Wood Mage Simin, and two-star Wind Mage Eve. Their performance in the previous rounds has been remarkable, especially the Wind Mage's offensive skills and the Wood Mage's crowd control, which have left a deep impression on us. The blue team consists of four-star Warrior Skark, two-star Light Mage Heligalo, and two-star Priest Ancia. As a team that was not favored from the beginning, it is nothing short of a miracle that they have made it to the finals. Regardless of today's result, both teams are the best participants in this year's showdown! Ellan, which side do you support?"
Airland: "Over there with Ancia."
Gaia laughed heartily, "Elran always supports different teams than me. I think the Red team has a higher chance of winning in terms of team composition and star rating. Now let's look at the map for the final team battle—the Forest of All Things! This is a map that is extremely favorable to wood-type mages, further expanding the Red team's advantage!"
Airland: "Shall we bet?"
Yesika: "Gambling is prohibited."
In the final match, Yesika, who had been commentating in place of Erlan, finally appeared, making it a three-person commentary team.
Gaia: "Okay, teacher! Now, please let the contestants connect to the stage!"
Heligalo only arrived at the preparation area when Gaia uttered those words.
"Sorry I'm late." Heligaluo smiled at Ancia and Skark, his face pale.
“It’s not too late, it hasn’t started yet, you’ve come at the perfect time.” Skalk sniffed, “This smell is…” Even Skalk could smell the blood.
“Ancia, I’ll explain everything to you properly after the competition.” Heligalo had only appeared in their class this week, and Ancia had remained silent during their time together; she no longer wanted to talk to him.
Ancia placed her hand on the magic device, without saying a word to Heligaluo, and directly closed her eyes to connect her mental energy to it.
Heligalo sighed softly and connected his mental energy. No matter what, he would finish the competition first.
As soon as Ancia's spirit descended onto the arena, she quickly opened her eyes and used her mental power to explore her surroundings.
The Forest of Myriad Things is filled with giant trees and various plants. Even the damp soil is full of seeds and underground plants. This map can be described as a paradise for wood-type mages.
Unfortunately, the opposing team had a four-star Wood Mage.
“According to the rules of the deployment, their landing point won’t be too far from us,” Heligalo said softly, opening his eyes as well.
“Let’s use a triangular formation to probe outwards, with me at the front,” Skalke said.
Ancia nodded and stood at the right rear of the squad.
Skark's wolf ears twitched incessantly, picking up on other unusual sounds in the forest. His ears turned in one direction, towards which were footsteps different from those of his teammates.
Their movements were also noticed by the other party's Wind Falcon, who brought them their message.
Countdown – 08:00.
Skalk instantly entered battle mode, swiping two fingers across his scimitar, his blood immediately igniting on the blade. He leaped into the air, using the tree trunks around him as footsteps, shattering all the incoming wind blades.
Gaia: "The first wave of combat! Blue team fire warrior Skark used Blood Blade Technique to imbue his weapon with flames, while red team wind mage Velion launched the first attack with wind blades, but all of them were blocked by Skark. Neither side suffered any damage in this attack!"
With a flick of his staff, Heligaluo sent the light rope flying toward the very front of the opposing triangular formation. The light rope and Skark arrived in front of Velien at the same time.
As a mage being approached by a warrior, Velion frowned, took a step back, and a huge wind shield blocked his way. Several wind blades flew from behind and blew away the light rope.
Skark's fierce blade shattered the wind shield, and the remaining blade energy rushed straight towards Velien's face. Velien tried his best to turn his head to the side, and the gray hair tied behind his head was cut off by the blade energy and scattered.
The giant trees beside Verion came to life, and under the command of Sven, they bent down their thick branches and swept them across Skalk.
Gaia: "The Blue Team has launched another offensive! Light Mage Herigalo's Binding Spell and Warrior Skark charged into the Red Team's ranks, but a wind blade from the Red Team's new Wind Mage Ife deflected the light rope, and this time the control was ineffective! Skark's attack shattered the wind shield, and we can see that Velien's health has dropped somewhat!"
The countdown and everyone's mana and health were displayed on the screen, except for Skark and Verion, who had lost some health.
But soon, Ancia's healing spell fully restored Skark's health bar.
Countdown – 07:00.
Skalk dodged the giant tree's attack, leaping down from its branches. The increased speed made his blade even more terrifying. Facing the whirlwind erected by Velion, he jumped in without blinking. The hurricane cut small wounds into his skin, from which blood slowly seeped.
This style of fighting, which involves trading injuries for injuries, makes no attempt to conceal his aggressiveness. He would rather risk getting injured himself than let his opponent suffer a loss.
Ancia, her face grim, took a few steps forward and cast a healing spell on Skark, while also applying the Mark of Light, which struck Verion squarely in the chest.
Vilian's eyes darkened; he couldn't bring himself to take off his clothes like the assassin had done.
Skark's amber eyes had completely turned into vertical pupils. His scimitar grazed Valian's heart, taking away most of Valian's health.
A beam of light green light flew over, and Skark nimbly dodged it, only to see that the green light landed on Velien, making his expression much better.
Gaia: "Skark has entangled Verion. I can't imagine what a terrible fate would occur if a mage were to be approached by a warrior, especially such a valiant warrior! We can see that with the aid of the Mark of Light, Verion's health is dropping very quickly! Wait, Wood Healing Spell! The Wood Healing Spell from the West has healed Verion's wounds! Verion's health has recovered!"
Ailan: "We didn't see Xiwen use the healing spell in the previous matches. It seems the blue team put a lot of pressure on him, forcing Xiwen to use the healing spell he had been hiding until now."
Yesika: "Oh right, Wood magic can also learn healing magic."
Countdown – 06:00.
Xiwen is not a wood magic practitioner specializing in healing; his core focus is still on attack. This healing spell is not high-level, but it is sufficient for temporary recovery.
Heligaluo's staff hovered in front of him, his hands loosely gripping it. He finally unleashed his ultimate attack, which he had been building up for a full minute. A giant waterfall of light descended upon Valien's head, enveloping even Eve.
The brother and sister looked grave when they saw the waterfall about to cascade down. They both chose to fight it with wind blades and raised wind shields.
Unlike physical light ropes, the light waterfall is an illusory existence. Wind blades pass through the light stream and disappear without a trace.
The waterfall cascaded down, even the wind shield was eroded by the light and vanished instantly. Verion and Eve, who were touched by the waterfall, fell into a state of silence, or rather, a state of magic suppression.
Gale: "The Light Mage Heligalo has once again demonstrated his crowd control ability, using the Silence Light beyond his level! Now both of the Red Team's Wind Mages are silenced for ten seconds, and Warrior Skark is right in front of them. The scales of victory are about to tip in the Blue Team's favor!"
Skalk had already raised his scimitar, but then came Ancia's shout from behind.
"Skark, come back!"
The curved sword he had raised in the air paused. Even though the ten-second magic-suppressing state could eliminate Verion, Skalk still returned to Ancia's side without hesitation.
Just as he once said, he would always trust Ancia.
"What's wrong?" Skark asked.
"Don't go, it's a trap," Ancia said in a low voice.
"You only realize it now? It's too late." Xiwen finally stepped out from the back of the formation, smiling as he blew away a dandelion in his hand.
The ten-second spell-suppressing state had ended, and Verion and Eve stirred up the wind, sending more dandelions flying towards Ancia.
It was overwhelming and impossible to escape.
“I know you have a damage reflection shield and an amazing healing spell. If it were a head-on confrontation, we probably wouldn’t be able to take any of your lives. But this is a mental strength arena. Besides being eliminated by serious injury, there is another way: exhausting your mana.”
"Go, Demon-Eating Dandelion."
Gaia: "Demonic Dandelions?! The biggest twist has come! The red team's player, Mufasiwen, somehow obtained Demonic Dandelions! Now the blue team is surrounded by Demonic Dandelions, and their magic power is decreasing little by little!"
Ye Xika: "Oh right, there are all kinds of plants in the Forest of Myriad Things. Although the Demon-Eating Dandelion does not grow on the surface, there are dormant seeds underground."
Airland remained silent, only watching the three people retreating in the screen with nervousness.
The giant tree surrounded Eve and her two companions, with all the gaps filled by vines, putting them in a state of absolute safety. Breaking through this barrier would require a large amount of magic power.
Ancia assessed the situation and retreated in the opposite direction.
Countdown – 5:00.
"At this rate, my mana will be depleted in four minutes," Heligaluo said softly, sensing the rate at which his mana was decreasing.
"No wonder it took so long to encounter the enemy at the beginning; turns out they were looking for the seeds of the Demon-Eating Dandelion," Skark exclaimed, pounding his fist in amazement.
Ancia took a deep breath and looked at her two teammates beside her, "Do you still have the necklaces I gave you before?"
“Yes, I always wear it close to my body.” Skulk opened his collar and pulled out the amber necklace.
Heligalo placed his hand on his collar as well. "Yes."
Ancia held out her hand. "Give it to me, quickly."
Without asking why, Skalk simply tore off the necklace and placed it in Ancia's hand.
Ancia held two necklaces in her hands, one made of amber and the other of radiant crystal.
Erlan clutched his collar, wanting to rush onto the field and ask Ancia:
How many people did you give the necklace to?
They even have the same style, only the gemstones are different, and she still claims she's not a bad woman.
Anciya calmed herself down and began to etch the amber stone directly with her magic!
The etching of the magic array thousands of times had given her muscle memory, allowing her to complete the array even with her eyes closed.
Gaia: "What is Ancia etching? Is this kind of operation possible inside the competition arena? Can any teacher explain this?"
"If I'm not mistaken, it's a magic gathering array that can accelerate the recovery of one's magic power." The dean's voice resounded through the stands via sound transmission magic.
Gaia: "Doesn't etching magic circles require extremely high concentration and skill? Can Ancia etch two magic circles in four minutes?"
The dean remained silent, and everyone watched Ancia rapidly etching the magic circle on the screen.
The immense pressure and intense focus immediately pushed Ancia into a state of flow. In just one and a half minutes, she etched a miniature magic circle and tossed the necklace to Skark.
Skalk caught the necklace that flew through the air and put it on himself. He was a warrior, and his magic power was not as much as that of two mages. Right now, he needed a magic array the most.
The second necklace also took a minute and a half, and Heligalo put it on.
Countdown – 2:00.
“Why don’t you etch one for yourself?” Skulk took off the bracelet from his wrist. “It’s also a magical material used for decoration, and it can hold magic circles.”
Ancia shook her head, her forehead beaded with sweat from the depletion of her magic power. "Spending another minute and a half etching isn't worth the magic power consumed compared to the recovery. It's alright, my mental strength is strong, and I have enough magic power."
"They're really cunning. They used the Wind Mage as a punching bag to delay until the Wood Mage could nurture the seeds, and now they're hiding behind giant trees and vines, avoiding a direct confrontation," Skark said, annoyed.
“That’s just their style, cunning and cautious,” Heligalo said calmly.
The wind carried their conversation back to the other side.
Xiwen frowned. "Anciya can also etch magic arrays? And they just happen to be magic gathering arrays."
Eve bit her lip. "Ancia knows a lot of things, except dancing."
Verion calmly analyzed, "Etching magic circles also consumes a lot of magic power, and her current magic power is not much, even the lowest among the three people on the other side."
Xiwen calculated, "Well, even with the mana of a three-star mage, she can only last five minutes under the Devouring Dandelion, not to mention that she has etched two magic circles. Once Ancia's mana is exhausted, the match will be over."
The monk had an innate sensitivity to time, and Xiwen began to count silently.
"The last ten seconds, ten, nine, eight, seven, six..." Xiwen's smile grew wider, "five, four, three..."
"two."
"Match over! A draw!" Gaia stood up and shouted excitedly, "The first ever team match draw in the history of the competition! No one is eliminated!"
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