Chapitre 32: Radiant Shield (II)
Long Haochen slightly lowered his brows and, without trying to dodge, he approached the Ice Ball, intending to meet it head-on.
However, as if it knew what Long Haochen was trying to do, the Ice Ball suddenly sank. With a cracking sound, the attack targeted the ground. A blue halo of light immediately covered an area within a two-thirds of a meter diameter, and Long Haochen's charge was interrupted simultaneously.
With a chilling sensation on his foot, his steps halted. Long Haochen's body stumbled as if he had lost his balance.
Lin Jialu's face revealed a smile filled with self-confidence as she chanted another incantation, and a thin blue light enveloped her. That was the 2nd-step mage spell Ice Mantle.
But her smiling face quickly became filled with surprise.
Long Haochen had arrived before her in an instant, and, suddenly, a golden radiance appeared below her with a cracking sound. A layer of the ground was unexpectedly frozen below his foot before being broken by his foot stepping on it, letting his body return to a steady state. He resumed his charge, but his speed, surprisingly, was not dramatically reduced. Instead, it had tremendously increased. His hand began executing a Thorny Charge, as he prepared to pierce the cover of ice with a stab.
A 3rd step Knight!
Regardless of whether it was Lin Jialu or the two retainers, all of them became flabbergasted. To be able to use the Sacred Light element internal spiritual energy was something only a 3rd step knight was capable of. Was that youth, who looked like he was probably not even fifteen yet, unexpectedly already a 3rd step knight?
Puu! Puu! Puu!
A series of sounds of something hitting ice echoed.
Although Lin Jialu was extremely frightened, she did not stop her actions.
Nonetheless, an Ice Ring made of white ice appeared all around her body and Long Haochen's formidable thrust merely pushed her back.
The Ice element spell Ice Ring was the spell most commonly used by Ice Mages to deal with close combat vocations. Even without using her magic wand, Lin Jialu could still cast the spell swiftly and consistently; that made her well suited to her title as a genius.
Long Haochen, who was just released, became startled. He realized how different a fight against a mage was compared to fighting a warrior.
At that very moment, ten icicles rose at lightning speed by his side, blocking his route from the left as well as the right. The frozen air made Long Haochen feel a chill and he felt as if the speed of his internal spiritual energy had slowed somewhat.
Lin Jialu's forté was her calm mind. She was almost equal to Li Xin. What she didn't know was that, although this little fellow was a 3rd step knight, she would not necessarily be a match for a person as gifted by the Heavens as him.
From the point of view of Li Xin, who was standing at the other side, it appeared that while being caged, Long Haochen would definitely be restrained by ice magic, thus reducing his combat ability. And, even before he could escape from the surrounding barrier, Lin Jialu would have probably beaten him.
However, at that moment, Long Haochen had already jumped up.
"This silly kid." Li Xin could not help but whisper. While dueling a mage like her, why did you jump up while you are still within her range? Isn't that making yourself a perfect target?
Lin Jialu's purpose when casting Ice Cage was to make him jump up. It seemed that he really didn't have any experience in combat against a mage.
Seeing the boy predictably leap into the air, Lin Jialu showed a knowing smile. She started bombarding Long Haochen with Ice Balls aimed straight at him. She was already going easy on him. Had she not used the first rank Ice Ball but the second rank Ice Edge or Ice Cone instead, the attack would have been even more powerful.
However, the next move of Long Haochen surprised the audience once again.
Long Haochen's body emitted a pale-gold aura which spiraled upwards. He held the heavy sword with both hands to lift it over his head, setting off a golden aura that added a kind of divine feeling to his already handsome face.
Every single Ice Ball that was flying at Long Haochen disappeared around 33 centimeters away from him. Even the cold air that each of them released was unable to pass through that golden aura.
Lightning Cut, two words instantly popped up in Lin Jialu's mind. Her smile immediately froze. She then cast another Ice Mantle without hesitation.
Long Haochen dropped down from the sky. Brandishing his heavy sword, the pale-gold aura suddenly became more intense, forming a 33-centimeter-wide light-edged blade around the sword.
Lightning Cut was a 3rd step knight skill practised by both Retribution Knights and Guardian Knights and consumed 50 units of spiritual energy. By withdrawing holy power from the body, one can condense it into a blade to attack enemies. The attacking distance and power are proportional to one's own level of spiritual energy.
This was the first long-range offensive ability relying on internal spiritual energy that knights could use. Even though it consumed the same amount of spiritual energy as Shining Solar Strike, its power was a lot less comparatively. The reason was that Lightning Cut was a long-range ability that could be used as both an offensive and a defensive measure.
Even so, only Genuine Knights who were 5th ranked or above could use Lightning Cut to its full potential. As a knight ranked up and had more spiritual energy, the power of the skill also increased.
The golden blade of light collided against the icy shield as a snapping sound rang out. The Ice Mantle instantly broke, and, simultaneously, the blade of light emitted by Lightning Cut also disappeared.
Long Haochen's actions did not stop at that. As soon as he landed on both of his feet, he immediately initiated another charge towards Lin Jialu.
As she realized that her Ice Mantle had managed to block the Lightning Cut, Lin Jialu felt relieved. She thought to herself, Fortunately, this kid's spiritual energy level isn't that high. Otherwise, it would have been hard to stop that one attack. I've underestimated him!
However, as she blocked the Lightning Cut, another smile appeared on Lin Jialu's face; she cast Ice Ring once more to stop Long Haochen's assault.
Since Lightning Cut consumed 50 units of spiritual energy, it was obvious that this kid did not have much internal spiritual energy left, so as long as she could stop another one of his attacks, his loss was confirmed.
The Ice Ring appeared in a blink and Long Haochen's stance suddenly changed. His right foot stomped strongly on the ground, interrupting his charge and stopping him, as he lifted the heavy sword up in front of him.
Ice Ring split around Long Haochen; however, he was not pushed back this time. A pale gold-colored layer of light now encompassed his entire body.
The heavy sword arrived, gently stopping right above Lin Jialu's shoulder.
Hiss!
Lin Jialu's retainers both gasped almost at the same time. Lin Jialu, who was prepared to continue, also froze in space.
Although Long Haochen's heavy sword did not hit her, she could clearly feel the touch of its divine aura.
"Sister Lin, please give in." Long Haochen took a few steps back, standing there with his sword withdrawn.
"Impossible… This is simply impossible! Even 4th step vocations would be pushed back when facing against my Ice Ring!" Lin Jialu had a look of disbelief on her face. Looking at Long Haochen, her smile from before had changed into a shocked look filled with incomprehension.
I… Have lost?
Being Haoyue City's genius female mage and losing to someone so much younger than her, how could she continue to live without feeling ashamed?
Even though she had been lenient to the boy by not using any magical equipment, she had lost even with the strength of a 6th rank 3rd step mage.
It wasn't only Lin Jialu herself; even Li Xin was puzzled at what had happened. However, because she knew more about Long Haochen than Lin Jialu did, after a brief moment, she had come to an understanding.
Divine Obstruction! As soon as Lin Jialu used Ice Ring for the second time, Long Haochen had used Divine Obstruction!
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone