Garlean, second floor of the Sword Flower University training hall.
Compared to the first floor, the second floor appeared much simpler, with a spacious scene and almost no equipment. However, the walls and floor were covered with a layer of Thunder Snake meteorite floor, and the surface’s deep blue snake pattern could effectively disperse and resist any attack. After being strengthened by the magic array, it could even withstand the destruction miracles of the Holy Domain level. It could be said to be a place that would not be damaged no matter how much it was used.
The only drawback was that the Thunder Snake floor caused severe light pollution.
This was a stage specifically designed for Artificers to battle. Because most miracles caused severe damage to the surroundings, Artificers had to engage in full combat in a dedicated dueling area. Dueling in public places would result in fines and a deduction of three points from the Artificer’s license.
It was already past 11 o’clock at night, and most Artificer apprentices had either returned to their dormitories to sleep or entered the Virtual Realm for adventures. In the vast second floor, there were only two Swordsman engaged in a duel, and the released sword aura left white marks on the Thunder Snake floor!
Hiss—
Hearing the sound of a thread being pulled, Felix quickly retreated and withdrew her sword.
The “Red Sword Girl” Sonia’s original miracle, Water Moon, had already made a name for itself among the Artificer high schools in Garlean. It had recently been included in the “Starry Miracle Catalog” and was rated as a shining silver intermediate miracle. Countless Swordsman were eagerly waiting for Sonia to open up the authorization restrictions, so they could witness the brilliance of the counterattack miracle.
In the Starry Miracle Catalog, miracles were evaluated in a very detailed system. They were divided into four levels based on Artificing power: Silver, Gold, Rainbow, and None. Each level was further divided into three grades based on performance: Dim, True, and Shining. Each grade had upper, middle, and lower ranks, totaling 36 levels.
If Sonia could continue to optimize Water Moon, a shining silver intermediate miracle, by replacing the precious Artisans with common Artisans or further compensating for its casting defects, then Water Moon could be rated as a shining silver upper miracle, becoming the highest-level miracle accessible to Silver Artificers!
Even the family had unprecedentedly entrusted Felix to spare no cost in purchasing a long-term authorization for Water Moon from Sonia. Water Moon, a miracle based on the fluctuating sword and known for the fluctuating sword system of Fusoya, had to be included in the family’s complete miracle collection just to increase the diversity of miracles, not to mention its status as a precious shining silver intermediate miracle.
Generally speaking, shining-level miracles represented “trump cards that could challenge higher levels,” true-level miracles were “excellent achievements to show off,” and dim-level miracles were “average.”
What? You’re asking why miracles have such a complicated evaluation system? Of course, it is to better price miracles, so that buyers can recognize reasonable prices and consignors can feel that the prices are fair.
After all, the Starry Miracle Catalog, which was responsible for compiling the catalog, had hundreds of Artificer staff members and thousands of Artificer part-time consultants. They all served this miracle evaluation system, making it the livelihood of thousands of Artificers.
Water Moon was activated quickly, had great power, and was even a defensive and counter-attack miracle. It fully deserved its shining silver intermediate rating. However, after several days of sparring, Felix already knew how to deal with it—retreat and launch long-range attacks immediately upon hearing the sound of the thread, easily cracking this miracle!
However, just as Felix forcefully interrupted her attack and withdrew her sword, she realized that her opponent was not surrounded by moon threads. Instead, she took the opportunity to attack, aiming at Felix’s opening!
It was a trap!
But Felix retreated too quickly and didn’t have time to defend!
The red-haired swordswoman’s wooden sword swept up a crimson fluctuating sword, lifting Felix from bottom to top!
Fluctuating Upward Slash!
Sinister Light Slash!
Rift Wave Slash!
Felix was hit and suspended in mid-air, unable to land. The fluctuating sword had two major characteristics: “diffusion” and “vibration.” The former enhanced the striking surface, while the latter increased the killing power. However, if a Swordsman fully mastered these two characteristics, they could extend to a third characteristic—forceful launching!
Using the upward slash, a Swordsman with the fluctuating sword could launch the enemy into the air, depriving them of all points of force and turning them into a fish on the chopping board!
Felix had always been careful to avoid Sonia’s upward slash, never giving her a chance. Unexpectedly, she looked so ordinary and beautiful on the surface, but her heart was so dirty. She actually played tactics, pretending to force Felix to retreat with Water Moon and then taking advantage of the situation to launch an upward slash, creating an excellent opportunity for output.
If this continued, Felix would be beaten to death!
However, being suspended in mid-air was almost a fatal state for a Swordsman, as most sword techniques required force to be exerted on the ground. Therefore…
In the moment when Sonia was about to launch another Sinister Light Slash, Felix suddenly spat at her, and with the blessing of a sinister and gentle evil wind, it instantly turned into a shower of foul-smelling rain!
Miracle: Bitter Wind Eroding Rain!
“Oh?”
Sonia exclaimed in surprise and joy, casually using a fluctuating sword to block all the rain.
Felix, who landed steadily, no longer concealed her strength. She blew three times in a row, unleashing three mid-air wind blades!
Miracle: Tooth Wind!
Then, she lightly wiped her lips with both hands, crossing them to create ten interwoven webs of corrosive water!
Miracle: Poison Blade Net!
“Interesting, really interesting!” Sonia gradually tore apart Felix’s miracles step by step, her lips curling slightly, and her faint red eyes seemed to turn into vertical pupils. “Felix, you—”
Crack!
This time, Sonia didn’t hold back at all. Before Felix could cast her miracle, she preemptively launched a Sinister Light Slash, and the crimson sword light cut through Felix’s left arm, revealing deep red blood and a wound that almost reached the bone!
Seeing the blood, a gleam of light appeared in Sonia’s eyes, and her grip on the wooden sword tightened. However, she quickly regained her composure, threw away the wooden sword, and anxiously said, “Let me take you to the infirmary—””No, no need.” Felix hid her left hand behind her back, shaking her head repeatedly: “It’s just a minor injury, I have a water therapy Sorcery Spirit, I can heal myself slowly, and it can also help me improve my water sorcery realm.”
Is this what a noble young master is like? Even though she isn’t pursuing a career in healing, she still carries a water therapy Sorcery Spirit with her.
The farm woman expressed her astonishment at the wealth of the city dwellers. She peeked at Felix’s left hand and noticed that she was always wearing a glove, perhaps it was an artifact that could enhance the effect of miracles.
As for the injury… her hand was still intact, so it was just a minor injury not worth mentioning. Sonia let Felix handle it herself with peace of mind.
“But why didn’t you call a halt when your star robe was broken?”
“It probably broke in the air, I didn’t notice it at the time.”
Both of them had a thin layer of membrane on their bodies, like a dreamy bubble. When they were attacked, the membrane would absorb all the damage, protecting the life of the duelists.
This was the benefit of the academy’s Artificers, the ‘Star Robe’. Before the duel, they could find a mentor to add it, and then they could enjoy the fun of full-force fighting without worrying about accidentally blowing up a classmate’s head.
“It seems we have to stop here for tonight,” Felix sighed, “Although fighting with you, Sonia, has been very beneficial…”
“Then let’s continue.” Sonia was still very energetic and said enthusiastically: “Your other hand isn’t broken yet.”
“But! I! Am! Injured!” Felix gritted her teeth and said, “Let’s rest for a while, and I’ll take care of my injury.”
Recently, Sonia had been challenging her to Artificer duels every night. At first, Felix was happy to learn from a genius, but Sonia became more and more violent every night. On the first night, Felix could handle her injuries herself, but on the second night, she had to seek a healer. From the third night on, she was barely able to say goodbye to Sonia, and as soon as Sonia left, she immediately called for someone to take her to the treatment room. Every day, she cursed Sonia in her heart, ‘Hasn’t this farm woman’s moon tide come yet?’
If it weren’t for the little face she had left, and the unwillingness to lose to her peers, Felix would have long wanted to refuse Sonia’s one-sided bullying.
But she didn’t believe it. She was a revenger who had been carrying burdens since she was a child. How could she be afraid of a vulgar farm woman who had nothing but talent?
She could lose, but she couldn’t even have the courage to show her sword to the farm woman!
However…
Felix sat down and looked at her bleeding left hand. If this accident hadn’t happened, they probably wouldn’t have finished until 12 o’clock. According to past combat experience, this farm woman often became more excited and violent as the fight went on, and the last half hour was a storm of destruction. Felix’s wooden sword had been broken several times.
Injuring one hand and getting off work an hour early seemed… not a loss?
“Your wind, water, and poison sorcery have all reached the silver realm, right?” Sonia suddenly asked, “Did you start learning from a young age, or did you just start learning these three factions recently?”
Felix hesitated for a moment, “Recently.”
“…You should have given up on swordsmanship a long time ago.”
“That’s not true,” Felix said as she used her water therapy Sorcery Spirit to heal herself, “Swordsmanship is the key to Fusoya, and it’s also the basis of my survival. Sometimes you have to compromise for survival. If you can’t survive, you won’t have the chance to let your talent shine. It’s clear which is more important…”
“I’m not listening, I’m not listening, I’m not listening.” Sonia covered her ears, “I refuse to get involved in the love, hatred, and interests of the noble circle.”
“You were the one who brought up the topic.” Felix also relaxed and snorted, “I won’t come to duel with you tomorrow.”
Sonia looked at her in surprise, then grabbed the corner of her clothes in confusion, lowered her head and didn’t know what to think.
Felix was quite pleased with Sonia’s posture. She didn’t expect the farm woman to know how to be embarrassed. She thought the farm woman would mock her for running away when she heard this.
“What about… the newspaper?”
“What?”
“I’ll roll up the newspaper,” Sonia made a gesture of rolling up a newspaper, “I’ll fight you with the newspaper, how about that?”
Felix was stunned for a moment, her face flushed with anger, “I’m not afraid to duel with you!”
“Not even a newspaper? I can use one finger, I can also activate the sword Sorcery Spirit with one finger!”
Felix felt that if she continued the conversation, she would be annoyed to death by the farm woman, so she simply said, “My soul has recovered, and I can enter the Virtual Realm tomorrow. I don’t have time to duel with you!”
A few days ago, after Felix passed through the vortex channel in the Virtual Realm, she was blocked by the door and was taken a blood by the slashing fish dragon. However, the slashing fish dragon was immediately robbed by Sonia, so Felix’s killing sword ended up in Sonia’s hands, and the two began their formal contact of interests.
Felix, who had experienced death, didn’t ask for help from her family in order to hide her Artificing cultivation, but after so many days, her soul had healed naturally.
So Felix was so bold tonight to show her bottom line and fight Sonia – if she lost, she lost, but if she won, she had a reason to run away and not give the farm woman a chance to turn the tables!