"We"re not beating him up yet; we"re scaling the tower first." Kra.s.su pointed toward a couple of open doors nearby with a smile, and said, "Once you get in there, climb to the fifth floor of the tower as quickly as possible.""Alright then." Amy withdrew her little fists with a disappointed expression. It appeared that she wouldn"t be able to beat Kola up for now.
"Let"s begin," Richard proposed in a calm manner.
"Sure." Kra.s.su nodded in a calm and collected manner.
"Take care in there, Amy." Mag patted Amy"s little head. A trial like this most likely wasn"t very dangerous. Otherwise, there was no way that Kra.s.su would Amy take this risk.
"Yes, Father, I"ll be sure to win!" Amy nodded obediently before handing Ugly Duckling over to Mag, and then made her way toward one of the open doors.
Kola paused in front of his door and turned to Amy with a disdainful look as he whispered, "You had better look out in there; don"t get full of yourself just because you beat those two idiots, George and Hank. They"re no match for me, and I"m going to show you the gulf between you and a true prodigy like me!"
"You also think that Hank and George are idiots?!" Amy exclaimed with a surprised expression.
Kola"s expression immediately stiffened. He had simply wanted to taunt Amy, but hadn"t thought that she would suddenly yell in such a loud voice.
George"s and Richard"s expressions both darkened upon hearing this.
"Hmph!" Kola harrumphed coldly and clenched his fists as he strode into the door on the left. He was determined to emerge from the exit on the fifth level in half the time as this little brat did at most. Of course, she most likely wouldn"t even make it to the fifth level at all.
Master Kra.s.su told me to just punch everything I encounter in there, but won"t that be unfair to Master Kra.s.su? Amy thought to herself as she entered through the door on the right.
The heavy black metal gates slowly closed, and a minute timer appeared above the doors. There was also a surveillance system set up to inform everyone of the two contestants" progress.
"Surely there"s no way that little half-elf girl will win; Kola managed to get to the fifth level half a year ago, and he"s only been getting quicker and quicker in the past half a year. Not long ago, he set the record for the fastest to reach the fifth level."
"If he loses here, our Magus Tower"s reputation would be completely swept to the ground. He"ll win for sure."
"I feel like if that little girl was also 12 years old, she"d be able to easily crush Kola."
Even though many people were feeling sympathetic toward Amy due to the age gap between her and Kola, they were still rooting for Kola to attain victory and uphold the dignity of the Magus Tower.
Among the crowd, there was a tall and thin magic caster staring intently at the two black metal doors. A smile appeared on his face as he murmured to himself, "I"ve never seen a pure melee magic caster attempt the tower ascending trial. Perhaps she"ll put on a good show."
Looks like this one should be in the bag. Mag could see the nonchalant expression on Kra.s.su"s face, and he was feeling quite rea.s.sured.
Everyone was looking at the countdown timer with rapt focus on their faces. Even though most of them were sure of the result already, they still couldn"t remain completely calm before the actual conclusion of the contest. Even Richard was looking at the timer with a hint of anxiety in his eyes.
"Three, two, one…"
The countdown concluded, and a new timer was started as a layer of green light appeared over the surfaces of the black metal gates.
"10 seconds! Kola only took 10 seconds to pa.s.s the first level!"
The number above Kola"s door had already increased to two, while Amy was still stuck on the first floor. Expressions of excitement appeared on all of the faces of the magic casters in Richard"s faction. This was a good start.
"20 seconds! Kola has pa.s.sed the second level!"
20 seconds had pa.s.sed, and Kola had already reached the third floor, but Amy was still on the first floor.
"30 seconds! Kola has pa.s.sed the third level!"
Half a minute had gone by, and the number above Kola"s door had already increased to four. In contrast, there was no difference in number above Amy"s door.
"There"s such a ma.s.sive gap between them; I wonder what gave Master Kra.s.su the confidence to issue this challenge."
"Heh, at this rate, I reckon she"ll still be stuck on the first level when Kola emerges from the fifth level."
"Could it be that melee magic casters are at a disadvantage when it comes to the tower ascending trial?"
"The first level tests one"s ability to evade elementary spells, the second level a.s.sesses one"s spiritual power, the third level tests one"s magic control, the fourth level tests one"s proficiency in intermediate spells, and the fifth level tests one"s ability to use manifestation magic and ability endowment in battle. All of these trials place melee magic casters at a severe disadvantage, so this was never fair from the start."
The magic casters from Richard"s faction were already preparing to celebrate.
Meanwhile, the spectating magic casters were all rather disappointed. They had thought that this would be a heated and evenly matched contest, but it appeared that this was merely going to be a landslide victory for Kola.
A smile had also appeared on Richard"s face. He had been searching for a Water Spirit Jewel for many years in order to help him recover from a chronic spiritual ailment; never had he thought that Kra.s.su would be the one to offer a Water Spirit Jewel to him.
"Did she get lost in there?" Kra.s.su murmured to himself with his brows furrowed in confusion.
"Did she forget that there"s more than one level?" Mag was also feeling quite perplexed. Even though melee magic casters were at a disadvantage in the tower ascending trial, Amy had learned ice-type long-range magic from Urien, so there was no way that she wouldn"t even be able to get past the first level.
"Can I start now?" Amy extended her little hand and tapped the door before her with a confused expression. As soon as she made contact with the surface of the door, it vanished, and she appeared in another room. She thought to herself for a moment before patting her own head as she exclaimed, "Oh no! Master told me to climb the tower as quickly as possible!"
A pair of wind fire wheels appeared beneath her feet as she disappeared on the spot.
"She finally pa.s.sed the first level after 61 seconds!" someone in the crowd exclaimed.
The number above Amy"s door had indeed changed from one to two.
However, even the most mundane 4th-tier magic casters in the Magus Tower could easily pa.s.s the first level in a faster time. Some of the magic casters were getting rather bored, and were already preparing to leave.
"She went up another level at 62 seconds!"
Everyone"s eyes widened upon hearing this. They turned to the number above Amy"s door, and then to the timer on the wall, to find that they were registering three and 62, respectively.
"She pa.s.sed the second level in one second!"
"How is that possible?!"
The entire crowd erupted into an uproar as their jaws dropped to the ground. They felt as if the world had been tipped on its head.
"T-that"s impossible!"
Richard was also in complete disbelief. How could a 4th-tier magic caster possibly be capable of pa.s.sing the second level in one second?
"She pa.s.sed the third level at 65 seconds! My G.o.d, am I dreaming right now?!"
In the blink of an eye, Amy had scaled another level.