End of the Magic Era

“Eh…” Lin Yun was stunned. How could there be such a hot-tempered Master Alchemist? How could someone like this study alchemy, which required patience?

At this moment, the mana shackles forming in the air let out a sharp sound, just like a tense bowstring being suddenly released as they snapped down and bound Lin Yun.

“I said, who is your teacher? Is it Casey? Or Kenchi?” The middle-aged man didn’t do anything else after restraining Lin Yun with the mana shackles. He only looked at Lin Yun. “I want to see who disregards the rules and lets their disciple casually burst into this laboratory.”

“Eh…” Lin Yun helplessly shook his head after being shackled.

He slightly exerted himself and freed himself from the bindings of the mana shackles.

Indeed, very slightly.

Based on these mana shackles, Lin Yun estimated that this middle-aged man was a High Mage that was at least 5th Rank or higher. Lin Yun would have had a very difficult time if he had been an ordinary 1st Rank High Mage. He would even have had to use Runic Shield immediately. After all, the pressure of having a higher rank was quite huge.

Unfortunately, he met none other than Lin Yun.

To Lin Yun, mana shackles made only of pure mana were the same as nothing. The Magic Array revolved, showing Lin Yun the structure of the mana shackles and their vulnerabilities. Lin Yun only had to release a wisp of mana, stimulating a few weak points, which led to the mana shackles collapsing.

He only had to slightly shake them off afterwards.

But it looked different in the eyes of that middle-aged alchemist.

“Battle Mage?” The middle-aged alchemist squinted as he looked at Lin Yun with alarm and hostility.

From that alchemist’s point of view, the mage in front of him holding a magic staff hadn’t let out the slightest bit of Aura. In other words, he was a mage and not a warrior. But how could he free himself from the mana shackles purely through force despite being a mage? And with such ease… He had to be from Gaugass, he had to be one of those Battle Mages that focused on the martial path and the magic path at the same time.

This situation would be a lot more complicated if it involved a Battle Mage.

In the past, the King of Gaugass and his Battle Mages almost collapsed the rule of the 3rd Dynasty Empire. Although the Emperor defeated the Gaugass leader in the Tulan Mountains, forcing the Battle Mages to remain silent for millennia, as recently as three hundred years ago that disaster made the relationship between the Black Tower and the Gaugass Battle Mages burst apart. From that point on, the Battle Mages became an isolated race.

That disaster was truly too painful for the Black Tower.

It was to the point that the Black Tower’s hate for them had yet to be quenched to this day.

By approaching the Black Tower, once could see hunting boards posted outside. According to those, one could obtain a Magic Tool on the same level as any Battle Mage they kill. The bounty never changed in the past hundred years, and this was the result of three hundred years of hatred.

The attitude of the Black Tower, one of the most powerful forces, was naturally influencing other factions. Over time, even forces like the Cloud Tower and the Mercury Tower naturally also started avoiding contact with the Battle Mages. It was due to the combination of the Battle Mages indeed being a different race, and also the fact that they didn’t want to provoke the Black Tower.

Over the last three hundred years, the Battle Mages almost completely disappeared from Noscent, and even if they did appear, they would soon hide their tracks.

“I truly didn’t expect a Battle Mage to be hidden within our midst. I want to see who was blind enough to let a Battle Mage infiltrate the Mercury Tower…” The middle-aged alchemist’s expression turned rather gloomy. His gaze did nothing to hide his hostility as he glared at Lin Yun.

This was no joke… There would be huge troubles if the Black Tower got information that a Battle Mage infiltrated the Mercury Tower. They might even suffer from the retaliation of the Black Tower.

The consequences were too grave.

The first thought appearing in the mind of that middle-aged alchemist was to hurriedly make that Battle Mage disappear while this matter had yet to spread and to then erase every trace.

Thus, the middle-aged man didn’t even wait for an answer and instantly started casting a Frost Ring. A blue radiance flickered in front of Lin Yun followed by the sound of an explosion as the ice elements within the Frost Ring erupted. That instant burst of power was formidable enough to force any 5th Rank High Mage to cast a Runic Shield.

But not Lin Yun.

Facing the frantic ice elements, Lin Yun only took a step back and avoided the scattering ice chunks before conjuring an Ice Fire Shield. Under Lin Yun’s formidable control, that Ice Fire Shield blocked what he hadn’t been able to dodge with ease. The Ice Shield and the Fire Shield worked in tandem. The latter had blocked the previous explosion while the Ice Shield blocked the scattering chunks of ice. If one didn’t pay attention, they wouldn’t notice the appearance of that Ice Fire Shield.

Just like the middle-aged alchemist.

Because he was preoccupied with maintaining the Frost Ring, he didn’t notice the Ice Fire Shield. The first thought flashing to his mind was, ‘Such a terrifying body, if he isn’t a Battle Mage, what is he?’

“You are truly a Battle Mage!” After confirming his conjecture, the alchemist no longer stayed his hand and let out another Ice Ring, followed by a Fire Dragon, a Flame Burst, and Hellish Flames.

Three fire spells blossomed almost instantly.

This was a Spell Combo often used by High Mages. It took advantage of the Fire Dragon Spell’s delay to cast a Flame Burst and Hellish Flames. These two spells would then both burst out at the same time as the Fire Dragon. The instant burst that ensued would completely surpass the caster’s own rank.

“Hmm?” Lin Yun frowned as the middle-aged alchemist cast his Fire Dragon. He hadn’t cared about the mana shackles and the Frost Ring, as they were only control spells. They didn’t carry harsh enmity, so how could Lin Yun get angry? He had kept a good relationship with the Mercury Tower….

But this time…

One Fire Dragon Spell, one Flame Burst Spell, and one Hellish Flames Spell…

The most commonly used High Mage combo.

This also meant that this middle-aged man wanted to kill him.

The past two decades gave Lin Yun the habit of nipping any danger in the bud. If someone wanted to kill him, he would kill that person first. It was a subconscious reaction. Lin Yun also instinctively cast Elemental Incarnation and instantly turned into a ball of flames. He relied on the three fire spells cast by the opponent to Flame Flash over.

It was followed by a Flame Spear piercing down.

The middle-aged alchemist wasn’t slow to react at all. He saw Lin Yun’s Elemental Incarnation and instantly cast an Elemental Shield, because he knew that the enemy was about to counterattack. And sure enough, the Flame Spear appeared right as the Elemental Shield formed.

The Flame Spear dissipated after colliding with the shield.

The middle-aged man had a strange expression, and a sneer could be seen playing at the corner of his mouth. ‘Battle Mages are indeed Battle Mages, how could they truly step on the path of magic when they also have to devote themselves to the martial path…’

But… When the alchemist lowered his guard, Lin Yun who was the embodiment of a fire Elemental, raised his hand once again, sending a very long Flame Burst out.

“Shit…” The middle-aged alchemist instantly cursed. ‘How could it be so fast?’

How could he know…

That Lin Yun could use almost all fire type spells under the effect of Elemental Incarnation while completely ignoring spell cooldowns.

Thus…

One Flame Burst, Two Flame Bursts, Three Flame Bursts, Four Flame Bursts…

The middle-aged man’s forehead was soaked in sweat.

The Elemental Shield was becoming dimmer and dimmer. It was bright at first, but it was a bit faint now. The middle-aged man knew that he wouldn’t be able to take one more Flame Burst.

He knew that he would be suppressed unless he immediately counterattacked, as his Elemental Shield was on the brink of collapse.

The blazing flames then engulfed him.

The alchemist thoroughly panicked.

‘How could a Gaugass Battle Mage have such incredible casting prowess? He used an entire seven Flame Bursts! Even with the power up from Elemental Incarnation, it still shouldn’t be this frightening!

‘Didn’t it stem from me wanting to teach him a lesson? To make him understand the rules? How did it come to this…’

The middle-aged alchemist became clear-headed under the shock of fear, as he had suddenly realized that he might be losing his life in this fight. This made the middle-aged alchemist feel quite morose. He felt as if he just kicked a hat only to find out that a huge stone was hidden underneath, before then finding out that this huge stone was, in fact, an overwhelming monster.

“What are you doing!?” The doors to the laboratory were suddenly pushed open as someone hurriedly came in. He saw the darkened Elemental Shield as well as the Flame Burst being prepared in Lin Yun’s hands. He took some time to figure out what had happened before casting an Elemental Shield to try to save the middle-aged man while hurriedly shouting at Lin Yun, “Stop quickly!”

But he froze just as he shouted.

“Merlin?”