Chapter 15: Invisible Armor

Chapter 15: Invisible Armor

In the end, Leina still chose to take a small round shield.

The power of the Firebolt spell truly exceeded her expectations.

It was stronger than the arrow of a first-rank Divine Archer.

A mere zero-rank spell—how could it surpass the attack power of a first-rank warrior?

Leina walked onto the open ground and saw Liv raising his hand, preparing to cast. She quickly called out, "Wait."

Liv looked up at her.

She tore at the hem of her evening gown, ripping it upward until it split at the waist.

She stretched her legs, relieved as the constriction eased, then exhaled deeply.

"Alright," she said. "Begin."

Liv gazed at her long, shapely legs faintly revealed beneath the torn fabric. He wanted to say something, but couldn’t find the words.

Leina urged him, "Hurry up. You wizards are so slow—if this were real combat, I’d have killed you twenty times over by now."

Liv cast slowly, unhurried.

Two minutes later, a fireball shot toward Leina.

As soon as she was locked onto by the spell, she sensed overwhelming danger—and without hesitation, activated *Absolute Defense*.

Golden battle aura erupted from her body, forming an impenetrable barrier. Even her pale skin shimmered gold. The small shield in her hand flared with radiant light, its defensive power surging.

*Boom!*

The fireball struck the shield. Flames exploded outward, engulfing her figure.

Young John, Delilah, Land, and Neil all wore looks of alarm, fearing disaster.

Liv watched the flames, knowing full well the Firebolt had not harmed her.

At the moment of impact, he had sensed the spell’s force collide with an invisible wall—then rebound entirely.

When the fire faded, Leina stood unharmed.

Her golden aura had already dissipated. She glanced down at the shield in her hand.

Even under *Absolute Defense*, the blow had left cracks across the surface.

It was just an ordinary shield, not inherently strong.

Now she understood her limits.

Even with *Absolute Defense*, without a superior shield, she could not withstand a first-rank spell.

That was her ceiling.

Leina strode toward Liv and tossed the cracked shield aside.

"Thank you," she said. "You’ve finally shown me just how powerful mages really are."

Before today, she had only heard her master speak of mages as terrifying beings.

Now, she truly understood.

At the same rank, with no equipment advantage—a mage would crush any other class.

Against a mage, others had only one chance: the casting time.

Liv smiled. "No need to thank me. We’re merely making a trade."

"And once again—I’m not a mage."

Leina glanced at him but said nothing.

Liv asked, "What spell is written in that magic book you mentioned?"

"Invisible Armor," she replied. "A zero-rank spell."

Liv felt a flicker of disappointment.

Even the strongest zero-rank spells had their limits—never matching higher-tier magic.

But then he remembered how Master El had yearned for this very spell.

Perhaps there was something special about it after all.

El could cast *Flame Serpent*—he must be at least a second-rank mage.

For such a mage to covet a zero-rank spell… it must possess some unique quality.

"Meet me tomorrow at noon by the entrance of the Knight Academy," Leina said. "I’ll bring the book."

Liv nodded. "Understood."

Outside, an explosion echoed. "What happened?"

Guzer approached, walking toward them.

"Nothing serious," Liv said. "Miss Leina asked me to spar with her."

Leina turned to Guzer and greeted him first. "Mage Guzer, thank you for taking care of my younger brother these past two years."

Guzer smiled. "It was nothing. So you’re Young John’s sister? I’ve heard you’ve become a full knight."

Leina nodded. "Yes."

Feeling a chill on her exposed thigh, she added hastily, "Excuse me, I must go change. Wishing you a pleasant evening, Mage Guzer."

She hurried back to her room.

Guzer watched her leave, then sighed. "The Goldshield family has truly produced a remarkable knightly prodigy.

A full knight at sixteen—the youngest in Maple City’s history.

Such talent is enviable indeed."

Liv nodded in agreement. "Yes. She’s truly extraordinary."

Guzer glanced at him. "If you can become a full mage within five years, a twenty-year-old mage would far surpass even a sixteen-year-old knight."

Liv smiled, saying nothing.

At his current pace, he wouldn’t need five years.

He had never shown his full strength before Guzer—didn’t want to seem too frightening.

Since mastering the foundational meditation technique to the *lesser perfection* stage, his casting time had shrunk to under a minute.

Now, Firebolt was nearing its next upgrade.

He could already cast it in as little as twenty-two seconds.

Once Firebolt reached *mastery*, he believed he’d meet the standard of an apprentice mage—casting with one hundred percent success within ten seconds.

By January next year, he would become an apprentice mage.

Guzer led Liv toward the hall. "Many nobles in Maple City have heard of your deeds. They wish to meet you. Might as well use this chance to make connections—it’ll help in the future."

Gu Ze sincerely took Li Wei as his disciple, nurturing him with care.

Li Wei possessed astonishing talent, and though his path ahead was long,

if one day he achieved greatness, Gu Ze could proudly tell others that he had once been Li Wei’s teacher.

Under Gu Ze’s guidance, Li Wei met the noble families who had attended the banquet, as well as several non-noble powers within Maple City.

When the evening feast ended, the Gold Shield family arranged accommodations for everyone within their estate.

Special requests were fulfilled one by one.

Gu Ze and Li Wei stayed in rooms facing each other; the surrounding chambers housed fellow mages, so the night remained relatively peaceful—

unlike those clustered noble quarters where shrieks like slaughtered pigs erupted from time to time.

The guest rooms at Gold Shield Manor were indeed comfortable, yet still fell short compared to the spartan apprentice dormitories of the Mage Tower.

No magical fireflies lit the space—only oil lamps and candles flickered.

No temperature-regulating enchantments warmed the air; sitting on the bed to meditate felt slightly cold.

That night, no light was lit.

In the dim room, Li Wei burned a stick of calming incense and began practicing spells.

He shaped spell constructs with his arcane energy, then, just before elemental forces automatically filled them, he shattered the constructs and reclaimed part of the energy.

This was a new method he had devised by merging two different spell-practice techniques.

It strengthened his control over arcane energy while increasing the number of repetitions,

all without compromising the efficiency of his meditation and cultivation.

The only drawback was its high demand on energy control—if too slow, he wouldn’t destroy the construct in time to recover the energy.

Lost in spell practice, it was easy to lose all sense of time.

In the blink of an eye, it was already past midnight.

Suddenly, Li Wei’s weary spirit jolted awake—a deeper understanding of the *Small Fireball* spell construct surged within him.

Seven seconds—the construct completed.

Five seconds—fire element infused.

Twelve seconds—to cast a zero-tier spell.

“Breakthrough!”

(End of Chapter)