Kael knew that Gravity Spell alone could never restrain the Golden Lion – but how could his arsenal be limited to just one spell?
"Qi Burst!" Layer upon layer of battle aura erupted as the Golden Lion threw a punch, his body charging forward like a tempest. The ground trembled beneath his stomp, his fist tearing through the air with a piercing roar as shockwaves shattered the atmosphere. Even the sheer momentum of this strike could shatter the resolve of weaker mages.
"Nine-Layered Qi Burst!" The audience erupted in gasps and exclamations. Qi Burst was a fundamental skill every warrior mastered – the act of condensing and layering battle aura. The number of layers directly reflected the purity of one's combat energy.
A glint of gravity flashed in Kael's eyes. Nine layers… Even Amelia had only reached this level in her prime. Of course, now that she had advanced to the seventh rank, her limits surely lay far beyond.
As the Golden Lion's punch streaked toward him like lightning, Kael retreated swiftly while tapping his scepter.
"Deceleration Spell!"
His mastery over these spells had grown instinctual. Each day of the Martial-Magic Tournament sharpened his skills, revealing new possibilities.
The spell activated the instant his scepter moved, instantly encumbering the Golden Lion's hulking frame.
"You think this can hold me?" The Golden Lion's eyes burned with disdain. Hadn't this brat realized yet? Low-tier magic was utterly futile against him!
As the warrior strained to break free, Kael raised his Sacred Flame Scepter again and pointed.
"Root Binding!"
Another immobilizing spell from The Book of Immortality. Emerald light coalesced at the scepter's tip before erupting across the ground. Thick vines, each wider than three grown men, burst forth and coiled around the Golden Lion with crushing force.
Guided by Ethan's teachings, Kael's spellwork had transcended mere technical execution. Though none were high-tier magic, their synergy unleashed extraordinary effects.
"Damned pest!" The Golden Lion snarled, surprised by Kael's tenacity. This mage's tactical weaving of spells bordered on divine inspiration.
"Qi Burst!" Battle aura detonated, shaking the arena as energy blasted through the vines. Though the Deceleration Spell lingered, the Golden Lion's charge remained unstoppable – a thunderous spear aimed straight at Kael.
Kael stood ready, already casting another spell. "Frostbind!" Massive ice crystals erupted beneath the Golden Lion's feet, their glacial chill freezing his legs solid. Shards of ice exploded outward, further hindering the warrior's momentum.
"I'll tear you apart!" Roared the Golden Lion, crimson eyes blazing as Kael's relentless spell barrage finally shattered his composure. Battle aura erupted from his body in a shockwave, blasting away the ice encasing his limbs.
Though none of Kael's spells caused true damage, their infuriating persistence transformed the battle. This was no fumbling first-year apprentice - the mage moved like a slippery eel, evading every decisive strike.
Kael watched the warrior's rage mount, cold calculation in his eyes. Rage on. The fiercer your fury burns, the swifter your downfall.
"Bonecrush Strike!" Breaking free at last, the Golden Lion became a golden blur. He knew better than to linger - delay meant more entangling spells. A dozen afterimages trailed his charge as he closed the distance, fist glowing like a molten forge-hammer poised to crush Kael's skull.
To masters like the Golden Lion, their bodies were weapons rivaling steel. Save for legendary arms, none could surpass their honed flesh.
Anticipating the assault, Kael shielded himself while raising the Sacred Flame Scepter. "Flamefiend's Grasp!"
Silver light flared as the mutated spell took form. Frostfire roared to life, coalescing into a massive spectral claw that slammed downward. The attack fused searing heat with crushing gravitational force - even the Golden Lion faltered momentarily.
"Mutated magic, is it?" The warrior growled. Channeling battle aura into both fists, he met the descending claw head-on.
Collision of titans.
Their powers detonated in a corona of frostfire. Acrid smoke filled the arena, flames licking at the barriers. When the inferno cleared, the Golden Lion remained standing - but now bore charred skin and smoldering armor, his proud mane reduced to cinders.
The frostfire's mutation proved far from decorative.
Yet beyond superficial burns, the Golden Lion remained virtually unharmed – the first opponent to so casually withstand Kael's mutated magic.
As expected of last tournament's runner-up.
Kael's eyes narrowed. Without summoning magic, this battle would drag on endlessly. But the Golden Lion clung to him like shadow, denying any chance to invoke creatures. Both knew the truth – unleashed summons paired with Kael's spellcraft meant certain defeat.
"Die!" The Golden Lion's roar shredded his remaining armor, revealing a torso carved from bronze, scars mapping countless battles.
"Wave Surge!" His battle aura shifted violently, deepening into aquatic cobalt – water-attribute energy. The revelation struck Kael even as tidal force gathered. Surging layers of aura crested like tsunami waves, shaking the arena's foundations as they crashed toward him.
Kael remained unfazed by the display. His scepter rose, incantations spilling forth at machine-gun pace.
Silver starlight blazed as he completed the spell. "Frostfire Meteor Shower!"
Ominous clouds coalesced overhead, frostfire comets streaking downward. The paradoxical flames radiated soul-numbing cold even as they detonated with searing fury – a lethal paradox that drew gasps from distant spectators.
Without pause, Kael launched into another chant. "Tornado!" Though his compressed incantation lacked Silver Star Sigil's perfection, the speed alone would shame veteran mages. A swirling vortex materialized, its howling winds intertwining with the falling meteors in catastrophic synergy.
Magic Academy students in the audience burned with shame. How could a first-year wield such power, rendering their seniority meaningless?
The Frostfire Meteor Shower collided and intertwined with the Tornado.
Gale-force winds fanned the flames into an apocalyptic inferno. The arena became a swirling maelstrom of frostfire – a lethal kaleidoscope of freezing flames that engulfed the Golden Lion completely. Kael's magical onslaught dwarfed the warrior's earlier aura display in both scale and terror.
In the VIP seats, seasoned mages straightened attentively. One elder rose to his feet, exclaiming with barely contained excitement: "Composite magic! No... not fully realized, but certainly its embryonic form!"
Composite magic – the forbidden art of merging disparate elemental spells. This was the very concept Ethan had hinted at during Kael's training.
"His wind spellcasting lacks refinement – likely a recent acquisition," Austin observed sharply.
None bore greater shock than Ethan himself. His initial "guidance" had been intended as a mere challenge to stump the boy. Yet here stood Kael, through sheer madness or genius, breathing life into theoretical magic within days.