Chapter 396 - - 393 Magic Genius_1

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Judgment?

If there was anyone in this world qualified to judge Duke Linqi, then Holley, with his ten-star Martial Spirit, was indeed a suitable candidate…

Previously, Old Gao had stepped in to assist Duge simply out of a sense of shared misfortune, wishing to gain an ally for himself and take the opportunity to escape prison.

Only by escaping prison would he have the chance to avenge himself.

But Holley had given him too many surprises…

Few people had ever seen a ten-star Martial Spirit in action, and Old Gao was no exception; thus, he couldn’t accurately assess Duge’s combat prowess.

In Old Gao’s fixed impression, a recently awakened ten-star Martial Spirit could not possibly be a match for a Great Sorcerer.

After a moment of silence, Old Gao spoke tactfully, “Holley, the strength of one person is ultimately limited. I know a ten-star Martial Spirit is powerful, but you have just awakened. Once I recover my Magic Power and lift the Martial Spirit seal for everyone, then we can act against Duke Linqi with greater confidence.”

“Old Gao is right, King Holley,” Li En said, “Among us, the only high-end combat power is you and Levi, who has a seven-star Martial Spirit. And facing Duke Linqi, it’s very likely that Levi won’t make a move, so you could end up isolated and without support…”

The prison warden glanced at Li En, then silently lowered his head. Although he was reluctant to admit it, Li En was right — he would absolutely not act against Duke Linqi.

It had nothing to do with justice or goodness.

It was purely because Duke Linqi’s political power was too great.

Even just injuring the Duke could affect every aspect of the Lucerne Kingdom.

He and his family could not bear the wrath of Duke Linqi.

Until now, the prison warden, Levi, still hoped that because of Holley’s ten-star Martial Spirit, Duke Linqi would forgive his crime.

Like Old Gao, he also lacked a correct understanding of a ten-star Martial Spirit.

The Pope, with a ten-star Martial Spirit, also grew step by step and had encountered countless life-threatening assassinations during his growth.

In fact, individuals with an eight-star Martial Spirit and above were destined to influence the world; the growth of each high-tier Martial Spirit was a challenge at every step, and many perished along the way.

Even him, if not for his family’s protection, would have likely not survived to this day.

“King Holley, it’s better to keep the green hills intact — there’ll be wood to burn later on. It’s not dawn yet and we still have this opportunity to leave…” someone else advised.

Duge saw through their thoughts and smiled faintly, “Old Gao, Li En, you may not understand much about twin Martial Spirits. Previously, although my Martial Spirit awakening failed, the accumulated Soul Power was always there, and it directly affected my Sea God Martial Spirit, which is why I have my current strength. Just now, when I was fighting with Levi, I was worried about him getting hurt and did not use my full strength.”

“…” Levi’s expression stiffened, and the wounds that had been healed by Holy Light began to throb again.

“Moreover, if I were to run away, it would look like I’m fleeing out of guilt,” Duge surveyed the crowd and continued, “Then, Duke Linqi could arbitrarily impose crimes upon me. Only by getting Saima Lynch to admit his frame-up against me before the execution could I walk in the world with my head held high.

The most critical point is, if we leave, disaster will befall these poor prison guards and their families; for both public and private reasons, I must choose to face Duke Linqi directly…”

“Old Gao, I think King Holley makes sense,” the prison warden Levi, not understanding the meaning behind Duge’s words, chimed in to support, “Duke Linqi must know the importance of a ten-star Martial Spirit; he wouldn’t risk the censure of Lucerne King by rashly killing a powerful warrior with a ten-star Martial Spirit. I think Holley really has a chance to clear both his and your names…”

“That’s because you don’t know what kind of person Bard Lynch is,” Old Gao retorted.

“Old Gao, come with me,” Duge interrupted him.

“Where to?” Old Gao asked.

“Wait for me a moment,” Duge replied with a smile, then turned to Simon, “Simon, can you tell Levi what kind of person I am?”

“As you command,” Simon saluted Duge, excitement barely concealed in his voice. Having to bear a scoundrel’s reputation without being able to explain it to others was driving him nearly insane.

He looked first at the prison warden, Levi, “Levi, although you’ve had very little contact with the King, do you really think he’s a scoundrel?”

“…” Levi looked at Duge, his voice uncertain, “I’m not so sure anymore.”

“Then let me tell you the truth,” Simon said, shaking his head as he faced Levi, “If you knew what King Holley has been through, you would realize what a great person he is.”

…

Duge led Old Gao to a secluded corner, where he extended his spiritual power, monitoring every corner of the prison.

With his high spiritual power, doing these things had become second nature.

“Old Gao, tell me, what is the principle of magic?” Duge looked at Old Gao and asked.

“Magic?” Old Gao was taken aback.

He looked at Duge, puzzled, seemingly unable to understand why Holley would care about the principles of magic at such a moment. He had thought Holley would ask about his grudge against Duke Linqi!

“Yes, I want to learn a little about magic and give it a try, to see if I can learn it, and also do some preparation for the upcoming battle with Duke Linqi,” Duge said.

In this world, mages are able to stand toe-to-toe with warriors who have awakened their Martial Spirits.

After failing to awaken his Martial Spirit, Holley had considered switching to the study of magic and had undergone tests to see if he had any talent as a mage, but unfortunately, he had no magical talents whatsoever.

But just because Holley didn’t have it, didn’t mean he didn’t.

Even if he really didn’t have it, he must still awaken a talent in the Water Series magic to conceal the Sea God’s Power—after all, he couldn’t be showing his Martial Spirit at every moment.

Constantly displaying one’s Martial Spirit consumes Soul Power, with more powerful techniques using up more Soul Power.

Therefore, apart from when in battle, most samurai would not reveal their Martial Spirits.

However, using the Sea God’s Power cost Duge next to nothing.

So, using the Sea God’s Power to pretend to be a mage of the Water Series was more useful than fighting with his Martial Spirit on display.

The most crucial part was that it would increase Old Gao’s confidence in him.

Duge had long seen through the fact that this old man appeared cunning but was actually quite naive, rather similar to Li En and completely lacking Lass’s circuitous methods.

Even without Old Gao stating his reasons, Duge could more or less guess that there was probably some so-called academic dispute between Old Gao and Duke Linqi.

If Old Gao had been a little smarter, he would never have ended up in prison—perhaps he might have even risen to high status as easily as climbing a ladder to the clouds…

“Holley, everyone’s Martial Spirit is random and related to luck, but magic relies more on talent. Without talent, you’re destined to have no connection with magic for your entire life,” Old Gao shook his head and said, “You’ve already awakened a ten-star Martial Spirit, and you should focus all your efforts on cultivating your Martial Spirit, rather than delving into magic. Throughout history, many who have tried to cultivate both magic and Martial Spirit ended up achieving nothing.”

“I know, I just want to learn a bit about it,” Duge smiled and said, “After all, our next opponent is Duke Linqi. I’ve never had the experience of battling a mage before.”

A normal person who opposes a mage needs to understand the opponent’s preferred magic, not the principles of magic!

Old Gao muttered to himself, looking at the persistent Duge and said, “Mages and Martial Spirits actually share common ground; your Soul Power and a mage’s Magic Power can both be collectively referred to as spiritual power.

But unlike Martial Spirits, a mage’s Magic Power helps the spellcaster perceive the magical elements scattered throughout the world. I don’t have the instruments to test your affinity for these magical elements.

But perceiving magical elements is the first step to becoming a mage.

The second step is to control the magical elements that you’ve perceived.

The more magical elements you can control and mobilize, the stronger the magic you can cast.

Holley, since you have awakened the Sea God Martial Spirit, you can sense the Water Element and even condense it into a water ball. In a way, that is already an entry into Water Series magic.

Usually, to practice control, mages will choose a type of magical element they are closer to for practice and control and then master it, and hence comes the origins of mages of different series. If you truly want to practice magic, you can choose Water Series spells as a supplement. Many warriors with magical attributes do so.”

Old Gao paused for a moment, then continued, “After becoming a Magic Mentor, you will practice some compound magic, which requires controlling more types of magical elements. To control more elements, you need more spiritual power…”

Control, huh?

Duge closed his eyes.

Because of the Sea God’s Power, he easily sensed the presence of water molecules—or more accurately, Water Elements—in the air.

Then.

He carefully distinguished, and beyond the Water Element, he perceived other different elements: the red Fire Element, the yellow Earth Element, the cyan Wind Element, and the white Light Element…

Previously, he hadn’t sensed these things because his sensitivity to the Water Element was too high, completely overshadowing the presence of other elements.

Duge tried to control his spiritual power to capture the Fire Element in the air.

His powerful and vigorous spiritual power easily separated the Fire Element from the multitude of other elements and condensed it with his spiritual power.

A blue fireball just appeared out of nowhere, suspended in front of Duge.

Old Gao, watching the sudden appearance of the fireball, stopped talking abruptly and his eyes bulged wide in astonishment, “A fireball?”

But quickly.

Next to the fireball appeared a clod of earth, a swirling gust of wind, a bouncing spark of electricity, and a dazzling ball of light accompanied by a pitch-black sphere…

Gulp!

Old Gao watched the various concentrated elemental forms that Duge had conjured, swallowed hard as if he saw a ghost, and looked at Duge, unable to utter a single word.

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