Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 1551: Section 1552 Book of the Sage Chapter 1551: Section 1552 Book of the Sage The Supernova competition can be divided into three stages. The first stage is the advancement competition, where everyone climbs the Infinite Battle Tower. Reaching the 30th floor and accumulating 100 points means advancement.

The second stage is happening now. It can be considered the official start of the competition, also known as the repechage or elimination round.

The third stage is naturally the final round to determine the rankings.

Currently, the repechage has entered an intense phase, with more than fifty matches held every day, and sometimes even close to a hundred. In such a multitude of matches, choosing which ones to watch is a critical point for the audience.

Generally, competitors would watch the matches of opponents they might encounter. As for the spectators, they choose based on preferences or simply by the popularity of the competitors.

However, there are exceptions, like the match today.

“Spectral Light VS Book of the Sage”

When buying tickets, some audience members noticed that as soon as this match appeared on the external light screen, the number of tickets sold skyrocketed. Among the ten matches starting simultaneously, the number of viewers for this match instantly jumped to second place.

It’s worth noting that in the other hottest match of the same slot, both competitors are potential seeds.

But in this match, though Yuiko Spectral Light is powerful and has been performing well recently, she’s still a newcomer. Even if she has the potential of a seed, her fame is somewhat lacking.

As for the Book of the Sage, it’s even more puzzling, having almost no fame at all.

Why then would so many people want to watch this match?

Though it’s unclear why, a large number followed the trend. When these followers arrived at the arena, they soon discovered the reason: seated at the judges’ table was a wizard with blond hair and blue eyes, capturing everyone’s attention.

It was none other than Chaowei Angel.

Angel’s popularity kept soaring, also thereby unexpected created a trend for this match’s ticket sales.

“Have you heard? Your admirers, infatuated with you, bought tickets blindly. But those who followed the trend only realized it was because of you after purchasing their tickets, now they’re starting to doubt whether this match will be spectacular.” said a man with a wide back and a sturdy build, leaning in close to Angel: “Aren’t you worried?”

“What should I worry about?” Angel looked puzzledly at the man beside him.

This man was “Crazy Bear” Sabo, Midora’s disciple, and one of the judges for the match. Apart from special guest judges, Sabo was a rare Wizard Level judge.

“What if your popularity drops? People thought this would be an exciting duel, but instead they watch a dull match.”

Angel replied irritably: “I’m not a wizard from the Extinguished Torch Academy who needs applause and attention to fuel creativity. I’d actually prefer if nobody came at all.”

After a pause, Angel added: “Besides, is this match really uninteresting? Not necessarily.”

Sabo was about to tease Angel more, but when Angel mentioned the match, his attention quickly shifted: “Oh, do you have expectations for this match?”

While speaking, Sabo picked up a stack of documents. It was a ranking of competitors conducted by the permanent judges over the past few days, different from the rankings published to the public; it included some special comments and insights.

Sabo: “This girl named Yuiko Spectral Light is quite strong and shows the potential of a Supernova. But from her initial advancement matches, we noticed something – all her losses were by forfeit, seeming to hide something. Some speculate she might be avoiding someone.”

“As for Serum. He might be the reason why you came to watch this match, right? Heard you joined the Barbarian Cave with him? He’s said to have a Sage Body, reasonably good among Second Level Apprentices. But his strength is a whole level below Yuiko, and based on past battle performance, his chances of winning don’t exceed 20%.”

“Such a one-sided match, do you think it will be exciting?”

Angel didn’t deny Sabo’s opinion: “I do believe there’s a large gap in strength. But one-sided doesn’t necessarily mean it won’t be exciting.”

“Are you suggesting a comeback from John?” Sabo asked.

John’s counterattack is a widely circulated plot in a novel within the Southern Domain, featuring a character named John who, whenever facing insurmountable challenges or opponents who are difficult to defeat, would give himself a long pep talk to stir up his passion. Then, mysteriously, the problems would sort themselves out when he faced them again.

Later, “John’s counterattack” became a phrase mocking those hot-blooded individuals who think they can turn the tables when cornered.

Angel, however, just smiled and did not answer, leaving Sabo in suspense.

Whether John could counterattack, he didn’t know. But if Serum really took that path, Angel felt that the match should not be too dull.

As the countdown on the light screen entered the last ten seconds, the audience also began to quiet down.

Whether they were here for Angel or simply followed the trend to buy tickets, their focus now converged on the match, even though they believed the match might not be very interesting.

In fact, it was true.

At the beginning of the match, Serum almost fell off the arena.

Because of the countdown setting at the start, both parties could clearly estimate the time and construct their trick models in the Mind Space in advance for the initial clash.

Typically, this initial casting of tricks really showcases the contestants’ attitudes.

The first trick, because of the longer brewing time, is usually powerful enough, and those who choose to attack are people confident in their own strength. Those who choose to defend are either specialists in defense or consider themselves in a comparatively weaker passive position.

Xi Li chose to attack, and Serum chose to defend, indicating that Serum also knew he was likely on the back foot and was preparing to play steadily.

While murmuring “hope” under his breath, Xi Li unleashed “despair.”

Dark Impact. A Third Level trick. Though not very powerful, as long as the trick model is well constructed, its casting speed outperforms all similar tricks!

The speed could clearly be seen from the opening of this match.

Serum had also constructed his trick in advance, releasing it instantaneously as the countdown ended, roughly equivalent to a Witchcraft Slot trick. However, his dark shield was still forming in front of him when Xi Li’s Dark Impact had already reached Serum, showing that even though both were instant casts comparable to the Witchcraft Slot, the speed of Dark Impact surpassed the formation speed of the dark shield.

Caught completely off guard, Serum was hit by the Dark Impact.

Although the Dark Impact did not cause significant damage to Serum, the force of the impact was sustained, and Serum was propelled toward the edge of the arena like an arrow hit.

Just as Serum was about to fall off the arena, in that critical moment, a breathtakingly beautiful man dressed in a white thin shirt, looking as graceful as a cathedral angel with pristine wings at his back, suddenly emerged from the book in Serum’s hands. Flapping his wings, he wrapped around Serum and carried him out of the range of the Dark Impact.

Finally, amidst a flurry of white feathers, he held Serum, who was nearly about to hit the ground, and brought him back to the stage.

All spectators were stunned; they had no idea where this winged being had come from. Some people who were unaware even thought Serum might be cheating.

However, there were also keen-eyed ones in the audience. They quickly identified that this winged person was not a real human but a Book Spirit.

Like Magic Pets, if a Spirit is unique to the contestant, it is permissible on the arena.

Moreover, they turned their attention to the judges’ panel. All the judges showed no sign of surprise, as if this was nothing unusual, indicating that this winged person was indeed within the rules.

This came as a surprise, given that Spirits are rare, notably one that emerged from a book.

Is the nickname “Book of the Sage” possibly referring to the book he holds?

And, since he is from the Barbarian Cave, could he have a connection with the Book Elder, reputedly the most learned in the Southern Domain Wizard World?

If truly related to the Book Elder, then this contestant might indeed be worth looking forward to.