Chapter 78: Oh My, What a Bold Idea

  "About the mage?"

  The young priestess blinked curiously, looking at Alex.

  "Mr. Alex, are y to learn more about spellcasters?"

  "Exactly. During the st battle, I realized that I don’t really uand how mages operate. So, I’d like to ask you, Miss Fina, about the way mages fight and such."

  Alex wasn’t making this up. In fact, if he had previously thought it unnecessary to fully uand the mage profession, he now had to ge that mihe bald-headed Charles had put him in quite a predit, and if not for Nym’s help, he probably would have had to flee in disgrace. sidering that their uping enemies might include another destructive mage, Alex naturally wao gather some intel on spellcasters first.

  "That’s not a problem at all. What would you like to know, Mr. Alex?"

  "What exactly was that lightning shield? Why did it suddenly appear when I attacked him?"

  This was the part Alex couldn’t his head around. He was sure he had stopped time around the bald-headed mage, which meant the man should have been defenseless. But just as Alex’s sword was about to strike, lightning suddenly materialized, knog him back. Moreover, his trol over time had been interrupted. It was the most puzzling aspe.

  However, Fina quickly provided an answer.

  "Based on your description, I believe that was a triggered spell... It's a teique where the mage stores a spell in advance, and it activates automatically under specifiditions. Most intermediate mages use this skill. I think Charles had set it up to cast a lightning shield when he was attacked, which is why your strike was blocked."

  Are you serious? This is like an auto-hack!

  Hearing this, Alex rolled his eyes. It reminded him of those automated programs from online games—auto-heal when HP drops below a certain threshold, or auto-restore MP. Damn, mages in this world really were OP!

  "Miss Fina, you use this teique as well?"

  "Well..."

  Fina looked a little troubled by Alex's curious question.

  "Triggering spells is a skill for intermediate her-level spellcasters, though there are simir effects in divine magic. However, those require being cast in advance..."

  "So, how do you typically ter something like this?"

  Hearing Fina’s expnation, Alex frowned. From the sound of it, mages were nearly invincible—immuo sneak attacks, capable of fighting head-on, and able to flee if things went south. Fortunately, he had Nym, who could had take trol of enemy spells. Otherwise, he might as well give up fighting any mage and just go home to sleep.

  "In battles between spellcasters, they often prepare spells specifically desigo break through an oppo’s defehere are also ons that disrupt magic. Alternatively, using overwhelming force to shatter the defense is another option..."

  "Hmm..."

  Alex frowned even more at Fina’s answer. He didn’t have any magic-disrupting ons at the moment, and while using raw power to break through was one solution, the truth was that his final atta Charles had only succeeded because Nym had celed the mage's defensive spell. As the saying goes, know your enemy and know yourself, and you'll never lose a battle... It seemed...

  "Miss Fina."

  "Yes? What is it?"

  "If I wao learn magic, would there be aris?"

  "Restris?"

  Fina was momentarily stunned by Alex’s question, then shook her head.

  "Not really... The temple doesn’t impose aris. However, Mr. Alex, magic is a very plex and difficult craft. It requires a great deal of effort, and it’s not easy to master. This is why very few people choose to study magic alongside specializing in swordsmanship..."

  "That’s true. I’m being a bit too hasty. Thank you."

  Hearing this, Alex finally calmed down from his earlier frustration. As Fina had pointed out, he hadn’t even fully mastered swordsmanship yet, so thinking about magic might indeed be premature. Still, Alex wasn’t about to give up on learning magic. Just from his enter with the bald-headed mage, he could see how useful magic could be, far more versatile than just relying on sword skills alone.

  And... damn it, I’m a dimensional mage. What kind of mage doesn’t know magic? Just buffing ons and casting light spells—that’s a Gandalf tempte.

  Now, only one question remained.

  "Miss Fina, you mentioned earlier that divine magic has simir effects... Could you cast it for me? I’d like to run a small experiment."

  "Ah, of course, no problem."

  Fina readily agreed to Alex’s request. Although she hadn’t known him for long, the intelligend wisdom he had demonstrated had already earned her trust. He had not only mao trick Charles into revealing their spiracy but also used the st clues to deduce their move. Fina was quite impressed by this a inferior in parison. So, even though she didn’t fully uand why Alex wao do this experiment, she quickly nodded in agreement, raised her staff, and a beam of light suddenly appeared, enveloping her body before dissolving into sparkling particles.

  "This is Divine Armor. It automatically mas to block attacks when I’m assaulted, simir to a mage’s triggered spell... but it o be cast beforehand."

  "Got it."

  Alex nodded as he stared at the glowing aura surrounding the young priestess.

  The moment, time stopped.

  In Alex's eyes, the young girl froze in pstantly. She stood there motionless, her gaze fixed ahead, looking like a wax statue.

  Alex extended his hand aly patted her shoulder. The touch was warm and soft, but Fina didn’t react at all.

  Hmm... At this moment, I suddenly have a bold idea.

  Looking at the priestess before him, Alex couldn’t help but swallow. For some reasoain ses from those old movies he had watched before fshed through his mind… Now that he thought about it, stopping time does have that kind of potential use!

  Cough cough… I’m overthinking it, overthinking it. Let’s focus.

  Shaking his head to push aside those inappropriate thoughts, Alex began to closely observe the girl in front of him. He then raised his sword and aimed it at her shoulder.

  Ding!

  The strike wasn’t fast, but just before his sword could touch the girl, a golden barrier suddenly appeared, blog his attack. As the barrier maed, Alex immediately sensed his trol over time weakening, and the time freeze he had cast was rapidly depleting. However, uh the bald-headed mage, Fina wasn’t as powerful, allowing Alex to still maintain some trol over the time flow.

  So, if I atta enemy who has an active skill during time trol, my trol over time decreases?

  Alex had suspected this wheiced a simir effect during his bo attacks. Now, after battling Charles and practig with Fina, he was being more certain. His time manipution ability wasn’t invincible—it had many limitations and even risks of beied or nullified.

  Even fag a trainee priestess like Fina, his time trol could be weakened. So, it wasn’t surprising that the bald-headed mage had mao break through it. He had cimed to be a three-star mage... Well, that’s probably sidered a base-level power, better than one- or two-star mages, at least.

  I wonder what a five-star mage would be like?

  With his mind wandering, Alex absentmindedly snapped his fingers, and time resumed its flow. Fina, who had been frozeuro her normal state.

  "Thank you for your help, Miss Fina."

  "You’re wele, Mr. Alex."

  Although she had no idea what Alex had just done, Fina quickly responded politely. And then...

  "Let’s move out."

  As he spoke, Alex gnced around the camp, littered with corpses. This pce certainly wasn’t suitable for camping.

  "Let’s find a safe pce to rest first, theoward the Dark S... I’m also curious about what those cultists are pnning."

  (End of Chapter)

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