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nLacus Minerva's creation of the popular Blazing Thunder Ring wasn't a fluke. It was thanks to her enlightenment towards the study of lightning and thunder under her master, Slaine Allusia.

nWallace was curious about the identity of the Grand Arcanist but he didn't dare to use his Divine Sense to check him out.

nAs the man reached the center of the stage, a huge pressure came down to the thousand examinees putting most of them on their knees.

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"Guh-!

"

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"T-This...

"

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"What kind of magic is this?!

"

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"Help! I can't breathe-

"

nMany of them were unprepared as they couldn't catch their breath.

nThey were unable to comprehend how did it happen so they were at a loss in what to do on this sudden change at the building.

nAt the very least, none of the thousand examinees gave up as they tried to endure the pressure bearing down on them.

nWallace wasn't sure if the gravity was multiplied several times or there was just an invisible force pressing down on each of them. He couldn't find the source of power yet.

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"Is it really different magic?

"

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"A Sealed Mana Artifact perhaps?

"

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"Or a Natural Mana Artifact?

"

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"I didn't even see him activate an artifact at all.

"

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"Perhaps it was really that thing...

"

nThe magicians who don't have a recommendation could only guess at this point.

nThe pressure doesn't seem to be from the invisible mana as it felt completely different. The struggling mana technicians could only guess in their hearts.

n'Unfathomable. So this is a Grand Arcanist.'

nWallace could only praise this master in front of them for doing something that even his Divine Sense was unable to comprehend. Anyway, he could only suppress his Divine Sense for about three meters in radius to avoid being detected by the Grand Arcanist.

nSo that was probably the reason why he couldn't find the source of power. One he sent the Divine Sense around the place, he'll surely locate the source.

nAfter all, Wallace and all the others couldn't believe just yet that this powerful pressure really came from the Grand Arcanist alone.

nThey felt that it might actually come from a mana formation or array they had placed before they were gathered here. But they were very familiar with these and didn't found any magic markings that can identify it as magic formation or array in any place.

nThey just couldn't imagine how could a magician release this pressure alone for an hour just for the test.

nThey can only think that the Thunder Emperor instead activated one of his artifacts and this one might actually be one of his very own...

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"Arcana!

"

nAll the magicians that were recommended by an Arcanist exclaimed the same word upon realizing the power that was pressing down on them. Although they weren't a hundred percent sure, they believe that this can only be done by an Arcana.

nWallace heard them exclaim the word and immediately asked the A.I. to give him brief information about the Arcana.

nAvalon was already in the form of an earpiece. Its main body was still in the spaceship, a full copy was on Wallace's house within a secured basement and another copy was at the new factory in Cove City. The earpiece was just one of its computer terminal just like the armguard before.

nAlthough he was still wearing a thinned and simpler armguard for the A.I.'s terminal, it was still convenient to have another one as an earpiece.

nAnyway, all electronic devices in this world can be easily hacked or meddled by the A.I., so he wouldn't really lack a form of communication as long as he was in an urban place.

nA few moments passed as he managed to stabilize his body from the pressure, a notification came from the Avalon as it provided him the information about the Arcana.

nAs the information gathered wasn't from a data storage memory crystals, Avalon had only found few details about the Arcana.

n Arcana - It can be a genuine object, knowledge, or even a living being that was created through the powers of an Arcanist. They are normally being mistaken from a Sealed Mana Artifact or Natural Mana Artifact due to the incredible and incomprehensible power they possessed.

n Only limited information can be found about a genuine Arcana appearing in the public.

nThe first Arcana that was revealed in Zairus was Arial's Electromagnetic Constructs and Terrence's Soul Summoning.

nWallace would like to further learn about the two Arcanas but his situation does not allow him to do so.

nNot even 10 minutes had passed as about two hundred examinees had already sprawled on the floor as they couldn't bear the heavy pressure coming somewhere.

n'Oh? It seems that the people who were unable to last and gave up had their pressure disappear. Interesting.'

nWallace said in his mind as he observed everyone in his vicinity. He noticed that whenever a magician was already sprawled over, they would stand up after a few seconds and walk away as if nothing happened. Only after a bit of thinking did he realized that they were being sent home.

nAt twelve minutes mark, Wallace discovered something as he had completely adapted to the pressure and was no longer having difficulty in his breathing and felt that he could even easily stand up. Of course, he just kneeled just like the others for now as it might be too shocking for everyone even to the examiner if he could ignore the pressure.

nAnyway, as defeated magicians walked away, everyone who wasn't having too much trouble bearing the pressure noticed those people being sent home.

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"One hour, huh. I guess I can bear this pressure even for two hours.

"

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"That's boasting, you were just lucky with your muscular body.

"

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"Mhm... You're more suited than a warrior.

"

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"Shut up. Just reserve your energy.

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"Don't be too nervous. This pressure won't defeat us.

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"Urgh... This is weird.

"

nSome of the magicians even had time to chat during this test. Even with the pressure from Slaine, they could somehow feel that they could last an hour if it's just like this.

nIt was amazing but it was still taxing to their body.

nWith the other's performance, it only means that their Mana and Physical prowess was something not to be taken carelessly.

nAfter 20 minutes, the pressure being release was doubled. This made all those who were chatting caught off guard and sprawled on the floor and eliminated on the examination.

nRhine Wimbledon was also checking out all the other contestants. Especially those who have some spare energy even after talking a lot.

nHe noticed Wallace's unconcerned expression while withstanding the pressure. It almost feels like Wallace wasn't feeling the pressure at all and was only kneeling down so he wouldn't be different from the others.

nJared Faust III had also noticed Wallace's calmness on the situation. Even after doubling pressure at the 20 minutes, Wallace was still very positive about their situation.

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"It seems that having an Arcane Link and Soul Arts would give the examinee an advantage at this stage.

"

nWallace realized his advantage after using his Arcane Link to feel out the pressure coming from somewhere.

nThis pressure wasn't some kind of invisible mana pressing them but instead another form of energy that Wallace was a bit familiar with. This made it easier for him to cope up with his current situation.

nAs they reached the 40 minutes mark, only 200 were left from the thousand examinees. But this mark was another problem as it also corresponds to additional strength coming down at them.

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"Guh! this pressure was a bully. They increase the difficulty whenever they found the reason.

"

nAt 15 minutes mark, he had actually realized that the pressure was targeting not their flesh bodies but their spirits. Although it differs on his Soul Arts or Divine Sense. The Spirit Arts that Slaine was showing wasn't too far from his Divine Sense.

nWhat saves Wallace from the effort of withstanding the pressure was that whenever he tried to connect with his dimensional storage space, the pressure was disappearing completely. It was magical but this also implies it's the profoundness of this Arcana that the Grand Arcanist was possibly using.

nAnyway, with this discovery at hand, even after 55 minutes had passed that only he was left standing, he was still not tired at all.

nThat's right, only Wallace lasted at 55 minutes after Slaine released his maximum strength to bring down the examinees at 50 minutes mark. So the Grand Arcanist decided to stop since Wallace had already proven himself to be ahead of them.

nWallace was basically the top 1 followed by the 13-year-old Merlin Hermes, then Jared Faust III. The fourth was Ren Tao from Virgan and Rhine Wimbledon. And the sixth one who lasted until the 50 minutes mark was the young magician that Wallace had seen in New Era' Magic Shop.

nThe tenacity of the young mana technicians was truly admirable considering his very young age.

nThe Grand Arcanist, Slaine Allusia, applauded the remaining six kneeling on the ground. He was amazed at these people who lasted until the 50 minutes mark.

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