Leo frowned slightly. He didn’t even try to dodge. He moved straight ahead to meet the Rime Orb.
But as if the orb knew what he was about to do, it suddenly dropped.
*Crack!*
It hit the ground. A circle of blue light spread out in an instant, about two-thirds of a meter wide. And in that very moment, Leo’s attack stopped.
A cold tingle shot through his feet, and his steps froze. His body wobbled, as if he’d lost his balance.
A confident smile spread across Liora’s face. She chanted another spell, and a thin blue light wrapped around her.
It was a second-stage Mage spell. Frost Mantle.
But her smile quickly turned to shock.
Leo was already in front of her in the blink of an eye!
*Crack!* Golden light burst under his feet. He stamped down hard and broke the layer of ice on the ground, steadying his body again.
Then he attacked once more. And shockingly, his speed hadn’t dropped. It had become even faster.
A Thorny Charge burst from his hand. He was ready to tear through her ice armor with a single strike.
A third-stage knight!
Liora and her two Warriors were all stunned. Only a third-stage knight could use the Inner Spiritual Energy of sacred light.
So was this boy, who didn’t even look fifteen, already a third-stage knight?
*Clack! Clack! Clack!*
The sound of something hammering against ice rang out.
Liora was badly scared. Still, her hands never stopped.
A white ring of ice burst out around her whole body. Leo’s powerful strike hit it and could only push her back.
The Rime Ring was the most common spell of ice Mages, used in close combat. Even without her staff, Liora cast it fast and without pause. It clearly showed why she was called a "genius."
Leo, who had just broken free, was startled. Now he understood how different fighting a Mage was from fighting a Warrior.
Just then, ten sharp rods of ice shot up at lightning speed on both his sides. The Glacier Cage closed off both his left and right.
Cold air slammed into Leo’s body. It felt like his Inner Spiritual Energy had slowed down a little.
Liora’s greatest strength was her cool head. In that, she was almost equal to Mira.
But she didn’t know this. Even though the young knight in front of her was only at the third stage, a talent like his wasn’t something she could handle.
On the other side, Mira thought Leo had walked into a trap. If he got caught in the ice magic, his fighting power would drop. Before he could break free, Liora might have beaten him.
But in that same moment, Leo had already jumped.
"That foolish kid!" Mira blurted out. "When you’re fighting a Mage like that, and you’re inside her range, why jump up? You’re just making yourself a target!"
And it was true. When she cast the Glacier Cage, Liora’s whole goal was to force him into the air. It seemed he had no experience fighting Mages at all.
Seeing him in the air, just as she’d hoped, Liora smiled cleverly.
She aimed straight at Leo and unleashed a volley of Rime Orbs. She felt a little sorry for him already. If she had used a second-stage Icicle Lance instead of a first-stage Rime Orb, her attack would have been even stronger.
But Leo’s next move shocked everyone once again.
A soft golden glow rose from his body and curled upward. He held the heavy sword in both hands and raised it above his head. Golden light burst out, giving his beautiful face a divine glow.
Every Rime Orb flying toward him vanished about 33 centimeters before reaching him. Even the cold air from them couldn’t cross that golden aura.
Lightning Cut!
Those two words flashed through Liora’s mind. Her smile vanished in an instant. Without hesitating, she cast another Frost Mantle.
Leo dropped from the sky. He swung the heavy sword, and the faint golden glow suddenly grew brighter. Around the sword formed a blade of pure light, 33 centimeters wide.
Lightning Cut was a third-stage knight skill. Retribution Knights and Guardian Knights both practiced it. It cost 50 units of Spiritual Energy. The knight pulled out sacred power from his body, gathered it into the shape of a blade, and sent it at the enemy. The range and power of the attack depended on the level of his Spiritual Energy.
It was a knight’s first long-range attack skill, powered by Inner Spiritual Energy. Daybreak Cleave cost the same amount of Spiritual Energy, but Lightning Cut was far weaker than Daybreak Cleave. That was because Lightning Cut could be used for both attack and defense.
Even so, its full power could only be drawn out by Genuine Knights of the fifth rank or higher. As a knight’s rank and Spiritual Energy grew, the skill’s power grew too.
The golden blade crashed into the ice shield.
*Crack!*
The Frost Mantle shattered in an instant. And the Lightning Cut blade vanished with it.
But Leo’s steps didn’t stop. The moment both feet touched the ground, he attacked Liora again.
Liora let out a breath of relief. The Frost Mantle had managed to stop the Lightning Cut.
*Good thing this kid doesn’t have much Spiritual Energy,* she thought. *Otherwise, stopping that attack would have been hard. I underestimated him!*
A smile returned to her face. To stop his next attack, she cast the Rime Ring again.
Her calculation was simple. Lightning Cut costs 50 units of energy. That means this kid hardly has any Inner Spiritual Energy left. If she could block just one more attack, his defeat would be certain!
The Rime Ring rose in the blink of an eye.
And that was when Leo’s movement suddenly changed.
He stamped his right foot hard on the ground. His attack stopped, and he held still. Then he raised the heavy sword in front of him.
The Rime Ring scattered around Leo. But this time, he wasn’t pushed back. A thin layer of golden light wrapped around his whole body.
The heavy sword moved forward and stopped gently right above Liora’s shoulder.
*Hiss!*
Both of Liora’s Warriors held their breath at the same time. Liora, ready to keep attacking, froze where she stood.
The sword hadn’t touched her. Still, she could clearly feel the touch of the divine aura filling it.
"Big Sister Liora, please give up."
Leo pulled his sword back and stepped away a few paces.
"Impossible... this is absolutely impossible!" Liora’s face was full of disbelief. "Even fourth-stage Warriors get pushed back by my Rime Ring!"
She stared at Leo. Her earlier smile had turned into confused shock.
*Did... I lose?*
A talented Mage of Moonhaven City, beaten by a boy so much younger. How could she ever show her face again?
She had shown mercy by not using magic equipment on him. Even so, with the strength of a sixth-rank, third-stage Mage, she had lost.
It wasn’t only Liora who was stunned. Mira couldn’t understand what had just happened either.
But she knew far more about Leo than Liora did. After a moment, she understood.
Divine Obstruction!
The moment Liora cast her Rime Ring a second time, Leo had used Divine Obstruction!
And across the open space, Liora’s eyes narrowed. She had seen the golden shimmer fade from his body, and a name she had only ever read in books crept into her mind.