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n“Top-quality gemstones? How did you get them in the first place?”

nAbel showed Wizard Morton two stones just now. There weren’t a lot of top-quality magic gemstones on the Holy Continent. Because of this, Wizard Morton was even more certain that Abel would eventually become a prodigy amongst the wizards.

nThe intermediate gemstone in the middle suddenly shattered into pieces. With a tap of his finger, Wizard Morton produced a rune in the middle of the air. One of the stones in Abel’s hands was teleported to the middle of the hexagon-shaped magic circle.

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nWhen the intermediate gemstone was replaced by a top-quality gemstone, the outer layer of the magic defense circle changed its color. It was white before, but now it has changed into a shade of bright red.

nWizard Cliff hasn’t stopped casting “blizzard” this entire time. When the falling snow and hail dropped on top of the red barrier, they suddenly evaporated into mist. Soon, they disappeared and lost all the impact that they carried.

nTop-quality gemstones were often used to power up large-sized magic circles. For magic circles about the size of a, say, headquarter of a big organization, they would usually be powered with intermediate gemstones. When the situation became extreme (e.g., in the middle of an invasion), that’s when the intermediate gemstones were replaced with top-quality gemstones.

nTo put things in perspective, If one big defense circle was enough to cover up an area as big as a city, how thick would it be if it was only covering around the Morton Magic Tower? Wizard Cliff could try to break through it as much as he wanted to, but he would probably die of exhaustion first.

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nWizard Cliff decided to stop casting the “blizzard” spell. He knew exactly how the defense circle worked. While the people made some improvements to it, the system was still the same one that Wizard Union provided.

nBut the Morton Magic Tower was still there. How could it be? Did Morton get some extra help from his disciple? Wizard Cliff wasn’t sure, so he took out at magic scroll from the portal bag on his waist.

n“Magic Scroll! Has Cliff gone mad?” Wizard Morton gasped.

nAbel was watching as well, “Sir, what’s a magic scroll?”

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n“Magic scrolls are made from high-ranked spiritual beasts using their skin like paper and their blood as ink. If you’re an advanced wizard or above, you can duplicate one of your spells in a magic scroll. Every time you duplicate the same spell, the level of that spell would be reduced by one, and the spell level that’s on the scroll would be the same as that wizard.”

nAbel was very surprised that something like this existed. So, for every time that a spell was duplicated, the wizard that made it would have his level reduced by one. For the amount of time and effort that was needed to increase your level by one, that just seemed like a terrible trade-off.

nHowever, low-level spells tend to have little to no effect at all. Because of this, no one would bother using a magic scroll to replicate low-tier spells. Because of how rare high-ranked spiritual beasts were, magic scrolls like these were often reserved for the very, very old wizards.

nYes, the only wizards that would use a magic scroll were the ones that were so old that they were on the verge of dying from natural causes. Apart from sacrificing themselves to protect their underlings, old wizards might also use this method to extend their lifespan for just a bit longer (from their enemies, of course).

nJust when Wizard Cliff was about to use his magic scroll, he was petrified by a powerful, imposing pressure not far from him. Someone was approaching him, and there wasn’t much of a distance between them.

nAbel called out as he recognized the man, “Head commander Hoover!”

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nWizard Morton sighed in relief, “Great. Now that Hoover’s here, Cliff isn’t going to attack the magic tower anymore.”

n“Sir, is head commander Hoover just as powerful as an advanced wizard?” Abel asked dubiously.

n“If you’re talking about a one-on-one scenario, then no. Hoover won’t have a lot of chances against Hoover, but he is a representative of the Duchy of Carmel. He’s also the representative of the Blacksmith Union, which means that if Cliff is brave enough to take him down, he will be targeted by the dwarves until the end of time.”

n“Wait,” Abel raised his brow, “One on one?” You mean knights still have a chance against wizards?”

nNow that’s an interesting question. While Abel was already an advanced knight, his defensive ability was nowhere enough to withstand the attack of an intermediate wizard. To be blunt, the word choice that Morton was using was, well, it felt kind of unreal to him.

n“Well, you tell me. How many knights are there in the Duchy of Carmel? And after you’ve told me, tell me: how many of these knights could become a head commander?”

nWizard Morton continued after pausing for a bit, “Here’s the answer to the first question: If we’re including both novice knights and official knights, there are over ten thousand knights in the Duchy of Carmel. Out of all these men, only Hoover managed to become a knight’s head commander. He became one many years ago, mind you, and for the last few decades, there hasn’t been another head commander throughout the entire duchy.”

nAbel continued to ask, “Yes, I understand. But a knight’s attack is very weak against a wizard’s defense.”

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n“It’s very simple, actually,” Wizard Morton explained, “For knight’s head commanders, it is very common for them to possess a few special offensive abilities. For Hoover, it’s a powerful move that allows him to charge towards his enemies.”

n“If a wizard doesn’t use an “instantaneous movement” spell within Hoover’s twenty-meter range, he would have no way but to be forced into melee combat. Not just that, but once you get in Hoover’s range, he could attack you with his “resolved attack,” which is his normal attack that’s guided with his power of will. To put it simply, because of how strongly he feels for the occupation that he is in, he is granted the ability to convert his power of the will into a more efficient form of attacking.”

nAbel finally understood now. Not just that, he understood Hoover’s ability much better than Wizard Morton. The charging ability that Morton described was called “charge,” which was a technique that belonged to the paladins.

nAbel wasn’t sure how Hoover managed to learn “charge,” but there were two different possibilities that he could think of. One, he either learned it through practice or two, he got lucky one day and managed to pick it up on the spot. Nevertheless, it was one of the few paladin abilities that did not require one to worship the Holy Light.

nCome to think of it, “charge” was kind of similar to the attacks that Abel’s skeletons could do. Since all of Rib Bones’ attacks would be buffed with death qi, there might be a chance to switch that into some kind of resolved attack. After all, while the two did not share the same attribute, their properties were almost congruent.

nIf Abel could learn Hoover’s “charge,” the skeletons he summoned could also learn it as well. When the time came, the Rib Bones would be the same as a weaker version of Hoover.

nWhile Abel was having a chat with Wizard Morton, Wizard Cliff had a serious staredown with Hoover. He was about to use the magic scroll just then, but now he’s decided to put it back into his portal bag.

n“Greetings, Wizard Cliff,” Hoover smiled, “My name is Hoover. I’ve come to send you my regards on behalf of the Blacksmith Union.”

nJudging from the way Hoover spoke just then, he didn’t come here as a knight’s head commander. Instead, he was talking as a representative of the Blacksmith Union.

nThat was very sneaky of him. If you were to judge him only by his expressions and the way he was talking, you would never think that it was the same man that displayed so much murderous intent earlier.

n“Master Hoover,” Wizard Cliff said with a stiff smile, “You probably know this already, but Abel is our main suspect for the Keyen Magic Tower incident. I assure you, the Wizard Union will not give up on capturing him.”

nDespite the smile that was on Hoover’s face, the tone of his voice conveyed nothing but disapproval, “Abel is a Master Blacksmith from our association, Wizard Cliff. If he was the culprit that you’ve claimed him to be, I’m sure that we would know about it before anyone else does. With all due respect, sir, I must say that this conclusion you’ve reached is very questionable.”

nHoover spoke in a light-hearted tone, “I mean, a level three wizard breaking through six magic towers? Or, if I were to word it differently, you’re talking about an incident where an amateur of magic, for whatever intent and purposes he might have, decided that one day, he’s going to destroy six magic towers all by himself. And not only did he want to do it, but he’s also managed to pull it off. Forgive me for asking, but is that really what the Wizard Union thinks?”

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nWizard Cliff said sternly, “The intelligence sector of the Wizard Union has conducted a full investigation on Abel. We have already come to a conclusion, Master Hoover. Please, do not challenge our decision.”

nThe air was starting to get tense. As a withering leaf flew between the two men, it was crushed by the imposing pressure that was released.

nWhile watching, a strong emotion started surging up inside Abel. It wasn’t just Wizard Morton now. Even Hoover was protecting him with his own life. A decision had to be soo. Otherwise, all these people would be affected because of him.

nAbel turned to ask Wizard Morton, “Can you bring me out of the magic tower, sir?”

nWizard Morton sighed as he saw the determination in Abel’s eyes, “Okay, fine. It’s your decision anyway. Remember this, though: don’t be afraid of Cliff when you see him. He’s a dying old man, like me. A few days. A few weeks. It doesn’t matter. It won’t be long before his days are due.”

n“Yes, sir. Sorry for the trouble,” Abel said.

nAs Hoover was having a stand-off against Wizard Cliff, Wizard Morton and Abel teleported themselves behind him.

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