’If it weren’t for this Magic Book, I wouldn’t have been able to learn any Tier Three Magic even after becoming a Level 3 Mage.’

The Mage Profession is different from the others.

When a Warrior reaches Level 3, they experience an immediate, qualitative transformation. Their physical strength immediately jumps a whole level. Their combat schools unlock new forms, and with their enhanced physique, the power of these forms also rises a notch. There are basically no roadblocks.

But Mages are a different story.

The power of Magic is fundamentally tied to Skill Proficiency and Tier.

Leveling up grants a decent boost to Magic Power and might slightly increase Casting speed, but there are no other significant improvements.

To see any significant improvement, you have to learn High Tier Spells.

’But High Tier Spells cost money...’

Only a Mage with spells is worthy of the name; a Mage without them is just a scrub.

’No wonder... there are so few unaffiliated High Tier Mages. Almost all of them have to enroll in an academy.’

’I’ve heard that academy Magic Books can be borrowed for free, and that professors personally teach crucial techniques. A single lecture on a spell is supposedly worth more than a full day of arduous practice.’

’Any Mage worth their salt has to study for at least a few years at an academy.’

’Otherwise, they can’t even afford to learn new Magic...’

"Yes, I’ll be back if you get any new spells in stock."

Lu Cang put away the Storage Ring.

Lu Cang wasn’t concerned with how much the shop owner made. At this point, spending a few tens of thousands of Gold Coins was nothing to him.

In a single Dungeon, killing ten Nation Destruction Level Demons would net him two million.

The time he would waste haggling over trivialities could be better spent casually clearing a Tier Four Dungeon.

"Spiritual Resonance Shield, Thunder Wave, Daylight Technique, Dark Vision..."

Tier Three Spells were clearly a significant step up from Tier Two.

First, there were Spiritual Spells—a category that didn’t even exist at Tier Two.

Spells for both spiritual offense and defense.

Additionally, the various Elemental Spells were starting to show field-clearing potential.

They had large areas of effect and dealt respectable damage.

Furthermore, starting from Tier Three, these Elemental Magics were no longer single-element, showing a trend toward dual-element fusion.

Starting from Level 3, a Mage was finally no longer some useless practitioner who chanted for ages just to cast an Ice Cone that could barely break a Demon’s leg.

’Perhaps because his main Profession is Mage, Lu Cang always felt like complaining about how weak the class was.’

’It always felt like... ordinary Mages were so weak.’

’Why is their Casting so complex, yet their Power so low?’

As for other Professions, he hadn’t had much contact with them, so he didn’t have a strong opinion.

In fact, his encounter with Atelindo in the Battle Arena had given Lu Cang a rather good impression of Warriors; he felt it was a strong and excellent Profession.

"By thunder of betrayal, by waves of quaking..."

Lu Cang stopped halfway through the chant and looked around.

’Never mind.’

’Casting Magic on the street wouldn’t be a good idea.’

After wandering for a bit, he eventually found himself back at the Battle Arena.

Lu Cang decided to get his 500 wins first.

He entered the Gate of Battle once more.

[You are currently a Level 3 Athlete]

[You have achieved a 200-win streak—World Quick Match unlocked.]

[Begin Quick Match?]

[You will be matched against Athletes from war zones outside the City in the Circle.]

"So there’s a feature like this... This War God’s Miracle is surprisingly flashy."

"Let’s do a quick match, then."

’I wonder how many Battle Arenas there are in the world.’

The Lorren Kingdom had three in total, located in the City in the Circle, the Lorren Capital of Kernoya, and Baihan City.

The Lorren Kingdom’s sworn enemy, the Ruijia Kingdom, had four.

He had heard that Battle Arenas were scattered all over the world. They weren’t just on the Ruelun Continent; a Miracle like the Battle Arena supposedly existed even in the legendary Hell and Celestial Realm.

Of course, whether Hell and the Celestial Realm even existed was a subject of much debate among the populace.

[Match Found]

VMMMM—

A beam of light descended.

A creature with black wings, crimson skin, and a pair of horns on its head appeared before Lu Cang.

’Oh?’

’The first one isn’t even human?’

"ROAR!"

The instant it appeared, it let out a roar! A faint, blood-red aura emanated from its body.

It was already dual-wielding two scimitars.

’A Warrior...?’

’You can’t judge different races by common standards. I’ve heard that different races have different Professions.’

’For example, the Human Race has a Profession called Demon Hunter, but surely a Demon can’t be a Demon Hunter.’

’Hunting myself?’

Lu Cang became a little more cautious.

[Countdown—2]

’Still, there’s no special title above my opponent’s head. It doesn’t seem to be some character like an Extreme Intent Warrior.’

’But I can’t get complacent.’

’I should take this seriously from the start.’

[Countdown—1]

[Battle Start!]

SWOOSH!

Lu Cang’s Perception picked up the opponent appearing behind him almost instantly.

’Not a Warrior, but an Assassin?’

But at that same moment, Lu Cang’s body was instantly covered in layer after layer of Shields!

Thousand Waves Resilient Water Protection (Tier Three) (LV: 301)

Encircling Lava Layer Protection (Tier Three) (LV: 301)

Absolute Repulsion Storm Protection (Tier Three) (LV: 301)

Corrosive Black Shield (Tier Three) (LV: 301)

...

A Thirty-Six Layered Shield instantly enveloped Lu Cang. At the same time, the outermost layer was a four-fold Source·Body-Protecting True Barrier—an upgraded version of the Protective Barrier.

CLANG!

The scimitar hadn’t even landed.

Lu Cang had already raised his hand.

Instantaneous Wind Burst (Tier Three) (LV: 301)

The upgraded version of Rejection Wind Roar.

BOOM!

A compressed storm instantly exploded in front of its body!

Unlike the previous linear blast, the wind from this attack detonated directly on its body, blasting it away like a physical explosion!

The repulsive force was on a completely different level than before.

As the wind blasted it, spikes erupted from behind the creature!

They instantly pierced straight through its body as it was sent flying!

Crystalline Black Spike (Tier Two) (LV: 301)

A Crystalline Wooden Spike, it was extremely hard and sharp, and also poisonous.

Earth Spikes for Hardness, Ice Spikes for freezing cold, and Wooden Spikes for sharp poison.

This was the evolutionary path Lu Cang had chosen for his Spike-type Magic.

[Victor: Lu Cang]

’Huh?’

’It’s dead?’

’I actually one-shot it? And here I thought it would be strong.’

Since it was his first time encountering an Alien Race, Lu Cang had actually been quite serious.

But from the looks of it, the Alien Races weren’t all that powerful.

An easy win.

Amidst his surprise, Lu Cang took the opportunity to learn the spells he had just bought.

Then he started matching again.

As expected, it was much faster. What used to take several minutes to find a match now happened almost instantly.

[Opponent—Free Void: Swallowing Night]

’What the hell?’

’That name’s got some serious flair.’

The creature that descended before Lu Cang was pitch-black. Its hair writhed like Medusa’s snakes, only they were black.

It stood with its hands clasped together.

"Human Race?"

"Interesting..."

"I’ve never faced an opponent from the Human Race before. I was starting to think there were none of you left."

’Oh?’

’This one actually has a title in its name.’

’What is Free Void?’

’But those words... pretty arrogant.’

’None of you left... So it’s looking down on the Human Race, huh.’

’Is it really that strong?’

Lu Cang didn’t have a habit of talking to his opponents during a fight, unless the situation was special.

[Countdown—1]

SWOOSH!

’Appearing behind me again. These guys never learn. Can’t any of them just charge me head-on?’

The Thirty-Six Layered Shield activated instantly!

The Wind Roar shot out in an instant!

However, at almost the same instant, a hand extended from the opponent’s body, a dark sphere resting in its palm.

BOOM!

The dark sphere collided with the Wind Roar!

A look of shock appeared in the single eye on its forehead!

In the next instant, it was sent flying backward!

’What kind of Magic was that?’

’It couldn’t be nullified?’

Yet, just an instant before it could crash into the Wooden Spikes, its body vanished once more.

The next moment.

It reappeared at Lu Cang’s side!

Instant White Flash (Tier Three) (LV: 301)

SWOOSH!

The very instant it appeared, four white flashes of light pierced through its body!

’Such fast Magic!’

’Something’s wrong!’

Thwarted twice in a row, Swallowing Night’s figure vanished again, this time hastily putting a large distance between them!

But even after it retreated a full kilometer, the flashes of light still pursued it!

WHOOSH—

And following those flashes came a world-ending torrent of Magic—scorching the earth and freezing the heavens!

In a sudden flash of Perception.

It was...

’Hundreds of spells, all blasting toward me at the same time?’

’Is this a human?!’