Su Cheng: "..."
When did the two of them get here?
If they had been following them the whole time, it must have been hard on them. To watch her entire miserable process of climbing up and down the mountain and actually manage to hold back their laughter.
Of course, they might have laughed and she just didn't hear it.
"So," Su Cheng gave a dry cough, her gaze darting between the two men, "do you guys want to go inside the ruins to take a look too?"
"If you get trapped inside, it will be very troublesome," Camus said in a deep voice.
His steel-blue eyes looked especially profound in the night shadows, his gaze locking firmly onto her. "That is, assuming the two of you can even get in."
Sasha rolled his eyes at him. "What's so hard about that place? Just admit that you want to go too."
"Actually," Su Cheng said as she slowly edged backward, "even if we can't get in, looking from the outside is pretty nice too. After all, this place and our direction of travel..."
The blood mage pressed a hand to her shoulder. "I don't think our previous conversation is over yet."
"No way," Su Cheng said in disbelief. "How are you being this childish too?"
Did he really care about her answer?!
Su Cheng turned her gaze to the Commander.
Kai didn't look nearly as aggressive.
"If you don't have an answer, don't force yourself..."
He paused slightly as he spoke. His beautiful golden eyes were cast in shadow, but they still held a gentle smile. "Though I am a little curious myself."
His voice was low, his tone softening a bit more, even giving off an illusory sense of acting spoiled.
Su Cheng: "..."
Aside from those bizarre training regimens, Kai actually rarely made demands of her. Most of the time, he seemed to be accommodating others.
So whenever he acted like this, she found it very hard to refuse.
"If we're going by preconceived notions," Su Cheng stammered, "according to common sense, vampires are usually the oldest..."
Sasha let out a heavy sneer.
Although judging by his expression, he wasn't angry at all and even seemed to be gloating. "I suggest you forget about common sense."
Su Cheng: "...Then you're the youngest, because you're always making a scene over nothing, and the Commander should be older? Because he's more emotionally stable."
The three men fell silent for a few seconds.
"So," Camus spoke slowly, "I am emotionally unstable."
Su Cheng met his eyes for two seconds. "The Commander would never say something like that in that kind of tone like you just did."
Camus: "..."
The blond man turned and walked away.
Su Cheng: "See! See! That's not something an emotionally stable person would do!"
The blood mage paused his steps. "Weren't you going to Mythros? We're supposed to be walking in this direction anyway!"
Su Cheng: "..."
Su Cheng turned her head, threw her hands up, and mouthed silently, "I told you so."
Kai looked like he wanted to laugh, but he waved a hand slightly at her and pointed to his temple.
Su Cheng suddenly remembered the blood mage's ability. Even without looking, he could sense the movements of living creatures nearby.
She couldn't help but lower her hands.
"Hah," Sasha said sarcastically, "Even so, I'm somehow still the most unreasonable one."
Su Cheng rolled her eyes hard at him.
You have the nerve to say that! You're the one who caused all of this!
And so, the vampire walked ahead of her as well.
Su Cheng fell slightly behind, leaving only Kai walking beside her. The Commander seemed to be in a pretty good mood, with a hint of a smile in his eyes.
"Wait a minute," Su Cheng suddenly whispered. "You've forgotten your past. Do you actually not know how old you are either?"
"Hmm?"
Kai also lowered his voice, even though doing so was pointless when it came to the other two.
"You're right," he slightly curled the corners of his lips. "But speaking seriously, I might be a little bit older than them... a bit, yes."
Su Cheng couldn't help but be a little curious, but since he didn't even remember it himself, she couldn't exactly ask him his exact age.
They continued forward until they arrived directly beneath the floating ruins.
Here lay a massive crater stretching for over a dozen miles.
The edges of the crater were jagged, as if some brutal force had violently torn a chunk of flesh straight out of the earth's veins.
The rock walls displayed a bizarre, vitrified texture, as though they had been scorched by extreme heat, and the soil contained hardened stones and strange folds.
The lush green vegetation came to an abrupt halt at the edge of the crater, forming a stark dividing line.
Outside were normal bushes and weeds, but inside was nothing but scorched black earth.
A thick, viscous darkness shrouded the crater, swallowing even the moonlight that fell upon it.
Su Cheng squatted down to take a look. "...This is the power of magic, right?"
"Yeah."
Sasha crouched beside her, tapping the hardened earth and stone with his dagger, producing crisp clinking sounds.
"Human magic, too. At least, they were human at the time."
The floating ruins, equal in mass to the crater, drifted silently above their heads like dark clouds blotting out the sun, almost completely obscuring the night sky.
It was hard to imagine that this was the work of human hands.
And the wreckage of the city itself was frozen in midair in a posture that defied all logic.
Severed bridges, collapsed bell towers, slanted houses, and wooden planks and bricks scattered across the sky all remained frozen in the moment of their destruction.
Su Cheng took a moment to identify the location of the city gate, or rather, the gate closest to them.
"In my name, I call upon the spirits of the wind..."
She began to chant softly, word by word.
"Gather here to form feathers, and lift me to the edges of the sky..."
Pale green wind spirits came surging forth with joyous laughter, twirling and dancing around her feet to form a translucent cyclone.
Her body began to slowly rise.
This was the Wind Levitation spell.
It was the most commonly used Tier 3 Wind magic, capable of slowly elevating the caster.
As proficiency with the spell increased, some people could also use it to move horizontally or diagonally.
In principle, the elevation height depended on the spell's duration, and the duration depended on the caster's maximum mana.
Therefore, this spell carried a certain degree of danger. If one ran out of mana high in the air, they might fall to their death.
It was just that anyone with a brain wouldn't normally let that happen.
And because of its limited speed, the spell's practicality in combat wasn't very high either.
Su Cheng had actually never been certain of her own magic level. During the entrance exam, there were environmental factors at play, but right now it was different.
Under the condition of chanting aloud at a slow pace, she had successfully cast a Tier 3 spell.
Based on this alone, she could pass the Junior Mage assessment.
In a cheerful mood, she continued to ascend.
The city of Mythros was quite large and was divided into four main gates: East, South, West, and North. Every single gate had been destroyed, and the surrounding city walls had collapsed into ruins along with them.
Scattered in the midair around the outskirts of the ruins were some stone blocks. They looked like the remnants of an arched bridge, varying in size and suspended sporadically around the perimeter.
Su Cheng dispelled the magic, landed on one of the stones, and then cast Wind Step on herself, leaping nimbly between the floating rocks.
They were all spaced quite closely together. The farthest gap was only two or three meters, which was very easy to cross with the enhancement of magic.
The fierce winds howled past, whipping up the hem of her clothes.
Heavy night fog shrouded the foot of the mountain, concealing the vast crater. She glanced down, feeling as if the depths below were a man-eating abyss.
Su Cheng felt her legs go slightly weak.
Fortunately, they had arrived.
This was likely the western gate of the city. The heavy bronze doors had been reduced to rubble, and broken hinges were entangled with an eagle statue on the gate. Below the statue were a few blurred letters.
"...Montagne," Su Cheng read with some uncertainty. "Is this another way to write 'Miscelos'? It seems a bit too different, doesn't it?"
"No," Sasha's lazy voice sounded out. "This is clearly the lord's family, my dear."
Su Cheng took a few steps forward. The broken path trembled slightly, and an old, mottled altar rose from the ground.
Frightened, she stopped in her tracks. Only after a few seconds did she begin to examine the bronze altar.
The quadrilateral altar was about two meters square. Its four walls were densely covered with intricate incantations, and at each of the four corners stood an animal statue.
A proud lion with its head raised, a coiled snake, a bear swiping its claws, and an eagle with folded wings.
The base of each statue was engraved with an obscure inscription, and a white, polygonal crystal hovered directly above the altar.
Su Cheng narrowed her eyes at it. "Is this a Spirit Vein Stone?"
"Yes, the Heart of Elements," Sasha tilted his head. "A top-tier material used by elemental mages for their staff cores—"
The characteristic of the Spirit Vein Stone was its compatibility with all attributes. Elemental mages of any affinity could use this stone as a wand material.
Hence, it was also known as the Heart of Elements.
The vampire slightly raised his chin. "Do you recognize this?"
Su Cheng stared at the altar. "The Four Symbols Array?"
"Hm? Your knowledge isn't bad. Very few people nowadays know of it," Sasha raised an eyebrow in approval. "Then go give it a try."
Su Cheng: "..."
She had actually read about it in a storybook about the God-Favored.
Su Cheng couldn't help but look at the Commander.
He had also read those books and naturally knew the truth, but he had no intention of exposing her. Instead, he simply cast her an encouraging gaze.
Camus had come up at some unknown point. He stood in the distance with his arms crossed, frowning at the altar, lost in thought.
The ruins were extremely quiet. The fierce winds raging high above came to a halt here. The surroundings were silent, save for their steady, drawn-out breathing.
Su Cheng raised her hand and touched the crystal.
A strange power surged into her fingertips, then coursed through her body, washing over her like an invisible tide.
Two lines of glowing white cursive text floated in the air. The beautiful, gossamer-like strokes flowed together, the handwriting sharp yet elegant.
"Fools follow the rules; the wise face the truth."
"Choose—will you solve all the riddles, or break just one and welcome the true challenge?"
Su Cheng carefully read the two sentences a few times.
The Four Symbols Array was a testing method from the ancient magic academies.
It tested the examinee's control over the four elemental spirits. They often had to sequentially or simultaneously manipulate spirits of different attributes within a short period of time.
However, there were some issues with the basic incantations of this magic array. If a participant's strength was insufficient, the entire array would become highly unstable, and some people had died as a result.
Later, it was replaced by other methods.
Generally speaking, the four elements represented by the Four Symbols would not be presented plainly; instead, they might be metaphorically expressed in other ways.
This was probably also a habit of ancient magicians.
Su Cheng had read some books and knew some common metaphors. "As for animals, the lion is fire, the snake is water, the bear is earth, and the eagle is wind. Only elemental mages of the four affinities—fire, water, earth, and wind—can pass the test. I don't have the resonance talent for water and earth attributes, so I can only solve a part of it and face whatever that 'true challenge' is?"
On second thought, she realized, "Wait, aren't I here to explore? Why am I doing test questions here? That auntie earlier said the people from the Church couldn't get in. They couldn't have all been deterred by this, right?"
In the distance, Sasha was admiring the eagle emblem of the Montagne family, and Camus was already sitting on the broken bridge reading a book. Only Kai remained standing nearby.
Kai: "You touched it just now. It should have already tested you and determined that you do not have the power of the Light God system within your body."
He was referring to the power of the clerics, blessed by the God of Light.
Su Cheng suddenly understood. "Wait, do you want to give it a try?"
He smiled slightly. "If you want me to go in as well, I will follow you after you pass."
Su Cheng understood. "So only those who pass the test can enter the city. Wait, are you also an elemental resonator?"
"Yes," the black-haired man nodded slightly. "In principle, that is the case. If you don't want to follow the rules, it's not like there are no other ways—"
He paused, as if to reach for the hilt of the sword on his back, but stopped before touching it. "I rarely use elemental magic, but I do know a little."
Su Cheng didn't ask any more questions. "Then I'll try it first."
Kai looked at the eager young girl in front of him and nodded silently.
Su Cheng first went to look at the inscription on the lion's base.
"The coldest wisdom ignites the hottest flame."
Su Cheng: "..."
Oh no.
Su Cheng: "I'm actually terrible at solving puzzles. This kind of thing might be obvious to you at a glance, but I don't quite understand what it means."
A dark shadow loomed beside her as the tall swordsman leaned in close. He looked down at the line of text, then straightened up.
Kai: "I don't understand it either."
Su Cheng: "Are you sure you're not just comforting me?"
He shook his head slightly. "I just feel that you shouldn't be able to ignite it directly with fire magic."
Su Cheng thought so too. "Taking it literally, does it mean I need to use an ice or water spell first?"
She went to look at the snake statue's inscription. "The wise are like water, winning without contending."
Su Cheng's head was full of question marks. "Could it be that water magic isn't used here at the snake, but at the lion statue instead?"
She went to check the prompts for the bear and the eagle.
Stand upon the unmoving earth.
Dance in the storm.
Su Cheng: "......"
Whenever Lin Yun encountered something similar, he could rely on the old man in his bracelet. But the one among her teammates who looked best at solving puzzles was probably still mad at her right now.
Su Cheng cast Wind Summoning.
A gentle breeze surged from her fingertips, and a pale cyan current of wind blew toward the eagle statue.
The dark bronze statue vibrated violently as the wind element was sucked into it. The eagle, seemingly infused with vitality, suddenly spread its wings and took flight.
Its size expanded exponentially in the air. In an instant, its wingspan exceeded five meters. As its wings flapped, it whipped up gale-force winds, with blue-purple lightning flowing between its feathers.
At the same time, magic array barriers appeared all around, trapping her, the bronze eagle, and the altar in the same space.
Su Cheng hastily cast Wind Step on herself, unleashing every wind spell she could think of.
The wind spirits around her screamed and laughed simultaneously. The air currents crossed and swirled in the air, weaving into layers upon layers of wind vortexes.
They formed an odd-looking barrier that forcefully blocked the violent gales blowing toward her face.
Dazzling lightning roared toward her.
Su Cheng threw herself to the side in a rather undignified manner to dodge it.
If it hadn't been for the enhancement of her battle aura, that strike would have already pierced her heart and scorched her to a crisp.
...Dance?
Even if she wasn't sure what that phrase meant, she knew it definitely wasn't literal. The so-called dancing could be a symbol, or it could be a result.
Did the actions she needed to take look like dancing?
What could that be?
Blue-purple lightning spears, sparking with electricity, shot toward her one after another.
Su Cheng dodged, stumbling and crawling, while also guarding against the winds. After all, their force seemed immense; if they hit her, they might just flip her right into the barrier.
And smash her brains out.
Fleeing continuously amidst the howling wind and roaring thunder, she suddenly realized she was getting further and further from the altar, while the distance between her and the eagle seemed constant.
As long as she retreated, it would advance.
Su Cheng tried dodging back toward the altar, and its attack frequency began to increase, bringing it closer to the altar as well.
It seemed it had to maintain a certain distance from her—roughly ten meters or so.
Panting heavily, she executed a roll. The electrical sparks exploding by her feet caught her outer coat, instantly leaving scorch marks.
Su Cheng stood up and lunged toward the altar.
At this moment, the altar was positioned exactly between her and the bronze eagle statue.
A lightning spear shrieked as it struck the white crystal.
Millions of blue-purple starlights exploded into the air, drifting down in a shower before being absorbed by the Heart of Elements.
The white crystal began to emit a faint blue-purple glow.
The bronze eagle folded its wings and landed back on the altar.
Su Cheng let out a breath and collapsed next to the altar, panting madly.
White light flared up above the altar once more.
The storm has answered your call—
Will you continue to listen to the murmurs of the earth, the roars of the flame, and the whispers of the water?
Or will you face the truer 'me'?
Upon seeing the last sentence, the illusion of a tall silhouette flashed before her eyes.
Su Cheng really wanted to rest a bit longer, but she knew this kind of magic array wasn't controlled by a real person; it operated entirely on runes and magic.
Therefore, it would proceed according to a set process. Oftentimes, if one didn't make a choice in time, the attempt would be voided and she would have to start all over.
Although she knew the rules of the wind now, there was no guarantee the trial wouldn't change if she restarted.
The glowing white text grew increasingly dim.
Su Cheng hurriedly jumped up. I choose the second one. Bring it on!
The next second, the other three statues completely collapsed. Black mist filled the air above the altar, swallowing her instantly.
...Commendable courage.
A deep, beautiful male voice echoed in the darkness.
Let us hope your sword is as sharp as your will.
Su Cheng: ?
Su Cheng: Sword?
She began to fall.
The moment the black mist dispersed, the crisp sound of her boots lightly tapping against stone bricks rang out.
Su Cheng opened her eyes to find herself standing in the center of a circular dueling arena. The floor was made of obsidian edged with silver, gleaming with dense, intricate runes, and surrounded by towering, ruined arcades.
Above the fractured dome hung a blood-red crescent moon.
On the other side of the arena, a tall figure slowly stepped out.
He wore his frost-white silver hair tied high. Clad in a half-armored battle robe of interwoven black and silver, a dark red cloak draped down from beneath his eagle-engraved shoulder armor.
The man was very tall, his physique exuding an immense sense of oppression, yet his movements were not at all clumsy. He moved like some elegant predator, quietly assessing his prey.
A sheathed rapier hung at his waist, its scabbard wrapped in chain-like runes.
When Su Cheng got a clear look at his face, she couldn't help but gasp.
The man's features were handsomely sharp. Beneath the shadows of his brow bone hid a pair of eyes that were neither quite blue nor green, resembling crushed turquoise sinking into a frozen midwinter lake.
His nose was straight, his facial bone structure superior, and his thin lips carried a habitual, mocking curve. The line of his slightly raised jaw was fierce.
The silver-haired man stopped five paces away, resting one hand on the hilt of his sword. Choose your weapon.
As his voice fell, the ground in the center of the arena split open, and a row of weapon racks slowly rose.
Longswords, short daggers, scimitars, long and short battle axes, spears, hammers, and so on, along with various rare exotic weapons, and a rapier similar to the one at his waist.
Su Cheng: ...
What should I do? I don't know how to use any of them.
Or, the silver-haired man slightly loosened his fingers, are you more accustomed to using your fists? I do not mind either way.
Su Cheng let out a long sigh. I thought I came in here for a magic duel. Can I choose magic? Are there any staffs? Even though I haven't used one yet, an elemental mage's staff provides an amplification effect—
The silver-haired man watched her, unmoved.
Su Cheng: ...
Silver-haired man: ...
Su Cheng: You're not a real person, right? You can only respond to specific answers and choices? Otherwise, you're just going to stand there?
The silver-haired man still did not move.
Alright.
He really was like an NPC.
Su Cheng suddenly relaxed.
Speaking of NPCs...
Many players have probably done this one thing in games: getting up close to beautiful NPCs to take screenshots and rub against them.
Su Cheng slowly walked over.
The silver-haired man predictably stood in place without moving a muscle.
Her courage swelled, and she leaned in even closer to examine him.
The silver-haired man had a lean, athletic build with an excellent waist-to-leg ratio. A metal belt cinched his narrow waist, and through the slits of his lower robes, the undulating contours of his thighs were faintly visible.
With one hand resting on his sword hilt, his posture held an indescribably noble elegance.
And that broad, thick chest filled out the fine steel armor; the muscles beneath the sleeves covering his gauntlets were full, every inch harboring dormant, formidable strength.
...Anyway, you're not human, right?
Su Cheng tilted her head up.
In fact, she could already feel that she was unable to use magic.
So the place she was in now must be some kind of illusion, and the people inside were all created by magic.
Besides, she didn't plan on doing anything particularly inappropriate.
Reassured, Su Cheng boldly raised her hand.
Just as her fingertips were about to touch the man's chest armor, her wrist was suddenly seized by an icy gauntlet.
