Ivan stared in shock at the [Wood Spirit’s Ambush] beneath his feet, visibly thrown off balance.
“When did this happen?”
“Did you truly believe this young lady only activated [Ice Armor] for a full five seconds simply to evade the scorching damage from your Multi-Flame Shot?”
A bright gleam flickered in Qing Bai’s eyes. Ivan was undeniably powerful, and it was precisely his strength that ignited such excitement within her.
The immense satisfaction of defeating formidable opponents was the very reason Qing Bai found such delight in PvP.
“This young lady was merely waiting for [Wood Spirit’s Ambush]’s cooldown, allowing you to waste that entire combo.”
“Just before activating [Wood Spirit – Swap] a moment ago, this young lady anticipated your displacement, and so I laid down [Wood Spirit’s Ambush] here in advance.”
A hint of triumphant smile graced Qing Bai’s delicate features.
“This young lady is a nimble mage; the time it takes to cast these two spells consecutively is incredibly brief, leaving you no chance to defend.”
“Well? Both are Wood-attribute spells, their casting glows quite similar. You didn’t notice, did you?”
Upon hearing this, Ivan’s brow furrowed.
“Even if I can’t displace, I refuse to believe I can’t reach you from a mere 25 yards.”
“Flame Acceleration!”
As Ivan spoke, flames ignited beneath his feet, instantly boosting his movement speed as he sought to rapidly close the distance to Qing Bai.
“Flame Acceleration!”
Qing Bai mirrored his action, also increasing her movement speed by 150%, circling around him within the confines of [Wood Spirit’s Ambush].
As Qing Bai retreated, she simultaneously managed to unleash magical counterattacks, and far from closing, the distance between them only widened.
“Damn it, what’s going on?”
Anxious frustration etched itself onto Ivan’s face; his raised fists simply couldn’t land a blow on Qing Bai, leaving him no choice but to pursue her relentlessly.
“Give up. You won’t be able to catch this young lady.”
Qing Bai offered a helpless smile, wondering why the young boy before her was so intent on a decisive victory. He possessed such a powerful innate skill that would make him invincible on a 40-yard arena, yet he insisted on fighting on an 80-yard one…
“This young lady’s innate skill is [High-Speed Chant]: All skill casting times are reduced by 50%, and Dexterity points are equivalent to Agility points.”
Qing Bai’s crimson lips parted slightly as she revealed to Ivan why he couldn’t catch her.
“In other words, this young lady, like you, has specialized in two attributes!”
“My Dexterity attribute, naturally, specializes in chanting speed, while my Swiftness attribute’s chosen specialization is…”
“Specialized movement speed!”
With that, Qing Bai quickened her pace, suddenly widening the gap between them.
“She still has strength left?”
Ivan faltered for a moment, his movements subtly slowing.
Qing Bai did not let this opportunity slip by.
“Ice Prison!”
Qing Bai flipped through her grimoire, and an icy prison erupted from the ground, trapping Ivan in place.
“Multi-Wind Blade!”
“Multi-Flame Shot!”
She swiftly conjured two multi-cast skills. Her specialized chanting speed had seen a significant increase, allowing her to now chain two first-tier multi-cast magic skills within the brief control duration of Ice Prison.
Trapped and controlled, Ivan had no means to dodge or block, forced to grit his teeth and endure Qing Bai’s relentless magical barrage.
His health plummeted to only a quarter of its original total.
“Wood Spirit’s Bind!”
Granting Ivan no respite, Qing Bai unleashed another crowd control skill. Green vines burst from the earth, coiling around Ivan and binding him in place.
“Multi-Wind Blade!”
“Multi-Ice Lance!”
Seeing two more multi-cast skills about to strike him, Ivan gritted his teeth, steeling his resolve.
“Ice Armor.”
He cast the magic skill, encasing himself in an ice coffin.
“Oh, so you’re going ‘Golden Body and wait for death,’ (TL Note: A Chinese slang term referring to a state of invincibility or temporary immunity in games, often used as a last resort.) are we?”
Qing Bai adopted a helpless expression.
“You must be running low on mana, aren’t you?”
With Qing Bai instantly exposing his dire predicament, Ivan’s frozen expression within the ice coffin shifted to one of embarrassment.
“While I’ve unleashed quite a few skills, only [Wood Spirit – Swap], [Wood Spirit’s Ambush], and [Ice Armor] are high mana-cost, fourth-tier skills. The rest are low mana-cost first and second-tier magic.”
Qing Bai shrugged with a smile.
“But you, on the other hand, have not only used both fist and magic-type skills but also unleashed a multitude of defensive and displacement skills. If I’m not mistaken, your current mana can, at most, cast two third-tier spells or two first-tier multi-cast spells, right?”
“You’re not exactly in a better position than I am in that regard, are you?”
Ivan retorted defiantly from within his ice coffin.
“At most, it’s enough mana for three second-tier spells.”
“Though I am a mage, I’m also considered a pugilist! Once I run out of mana, I can still recover it by relying on basic attacks.”
Ivan’s tone suddenly lightened as he realized Qing Bai’s weakness.
“But big sister, once you’re out of mana, what can you do? Are you going to whack me to death with your staff?”
“Oh, right, big sister, you’re using a grimoire. It seems you can’t even whack me with that, can you?”
Ivan’s innocently adorable voice echoed from within the ice coffin, causing Qing Bai to suppress a chuckle.
“Pfft~ Don’t worry, you won’t see big sister in such an embarrassing mana-less state~”
“Why?”
Ivan questioned, his voice laced with confusion. Simultaneously, his [Ice Armor] duration ended, and he strained to close the distance to Qing Bai from within the range of [Wood Spirit’s Ambush].
“Because…”
A smile bloomed on Qing Bai’s face, her feet remaining utterly still.
“Multi-Thunderstorm!”
She raised her grimoire high, and a purple glow, emblematic of lightning magic, surged forth from the book in her hands. Ominous, dark thunderclouds began to gather in the sky, swiftly covering the area above Ivan’s head.
“This is!”
Ivan looked up in stunned disbelief at the roaring, exploding thunderclouds, momentarily forgetting to flee.
“A multi-cast of a second-tier [Thunderstorm] spell!?”
Boom!
Three overlapping, pitch-black thunderclouds simultaneously erupted, coalescing into an incredibly thick bolt of lightning that poured down upon Ivan.
“My apologies.”
Qing Bai offered a demure smile.
“After specializing in Swiftness, this young lady’s chanting speed, combined with the effects of this [Bick’s Grimoire] (TL Note: A magical spellbook owned by Bick.) which grants +1000 chanting speed and +20% chanting speed, has surpassed the chasm of 4200. This allows for multi-casting of second-tier skills without cooldown.”
“You are the very first person to witness this young lady’s second-tier multi-cast. Consider yourself honored!”
In the blink of an eye, the lightning struck Ivan, instantly depleting his health to zero. His slender, adorable boyish figure was incinerated into a pile of charred remains.
“Victor: Qing Bai”
These words materialized in the sky, and Qing Bai let out a soft sigh, gazing at the spot where Ivan had once stood.
“Incidentally, Multi-Thunderstorm’s effect is a stacking critical damage bonus, totaling a formidable triple critical damage. Your luck, it seems, was quite poor.”
“If you were to come back for a PK match once you can also multi-cast second-tier magic skills, this young lady might not be able to withstand a single [Multi-Thunderclap Punch] from you. What a pity.”
After all, Ivan was a melee mage specializing in spell critical hits, possessing significantly higher critical effects and damage than Qing Bai. If his [Multi-Thunderclap Punch] had truly landed a critical hit, it was doubtful any squishy DPS class could have endured it.
Qing Bai glanced at the empty arena, a helpless smile touching her lips.
The system fully restored her status, and she stood there quietly, awaiting the next challenger to enter the ring.
****
“Big Sister Qing Bai is so amazing…”
Having just finished reporting her Cleric profession to Alice, Tian Jiu returned to witness Qing Bai’s victory. Standing beside Yan, she couldn’t help but gasp in awe.
“Indeed. That one certainly has some tricks up her sleeve.”
Yan offered a helpless smile.
That Qing Bai could multi-cast second-tier magic was something he was only just learning himself.
“She didn’t even tell me. This one really knows how to hide her capabilities.”
He muttered, half-jokingly.
“Huh? What didn’t she say?”
Tian Jiu’s expression turned inquisitive.
“About her ability to multi-cast second-tier magic.”
“Eh? She didn’t tell Yan?”
Tian Jiu said, sounding a little surprised.
“I thought she’d told Yan ages ago…”
“Oh? Could it be she told *you*, Tian Jiu?”
Yan’s face twisted into an unreadable expression.
“Mm-hm.”
Tian Jiu nodded honestly.
“She told me ages ago.”
“Ages ago…”
‘It seems… I’ve been left out…’
Yan pressed a hand to his forehead in resignation.