Versatile mage c1 2021, p.492
Versatile Mage c1-2021, page 492
It was impossible for life to return after it was lost. Despair and pain of death could easily wipe out the meaning of life.
As such, the significance of the Spell of Resurrection surpassed everything!
"Hall Master Kendi announced that Andi had always suffered from a genetic disease. She had devoted her limited life to helping the world, but the gods had taken pity on her, and were not willing to let her suffer further. He has received her in Heaven… she did not leave us, she only went closer to the gods, she no longer has to speak on behalf of the gods, or listen to the gods. She will be praying for us beside the gods..."
"The world is saddened by the death of Saintess Andi, but the Holy Judgment Court has been questioning the truth. They believe Saintess Andi committed suicide to escape punishment. Essendale had committed an unforgivable crime, and he was once very close to Saintess Andi."
"Saintess Andi's remains were not allowed to be viewed by the public. The sorrow that Hall Master Kendi, her father, is going through is understandable. She was a good Candidate, and had done many great things for Greece, for Europe, and for the other continents..."
The news spread rapidly. Mo Fan kept seeing news about Andi whenever he looked at his phone or had a conversation with someone. Mo Fan did not really care about politics or religion. Andi's death did not really matter to him. He was struggling to understand why the people were making a big fuss about it...
On the other hand, Mo Fan was puzzled after learning that the Master of the Shadow Element, Essendale, was captured and executed.
Considering how strong Essendale was, only a few people in the world could possibly defeat him. Essendale was the Master of the Shadow Element; if he was determined to run away, it was almost impossible to catch him!
"You don't seem to care about Andi's death? Let me tell you, I have some insider information; Andi actually committed suicide. She jumped from the highest place of the sacred mountain n.a.k.e.d and fell onto the Ten Thousand Stairs without any protection. Imagine how bad she would look...tsk tsk tsk, a Candidate with such an alluring physique smashed into minced meat like that… I bet she hadn't even tasted a man before..." Zhao Manyan kept saying how much of a pity it was.
Zhao Manyan was someone from the upper class of society, thus he would know a lot more than ordinary people.
"Her death has taken everyone's attention away from what happened to Essendale. I don't care how she died, I just f**king don't understand how the Master of the Shadow Element ended up being caught!" Mo Fan sighed.
"You really want to know?" Zhao Manyan said in a mysterious voice.
"Aren't you talking nonsense? I'm passionate about magic, about power, not some fight over influence!" Mo Fan replied.
He could easily tell that Andi had lost the fight for power in the Parthenon Temple, and so she had been disqualified. Mo Fan was clueless about the complicated situation, nor was he interested in learning about it!
"Here, I have something incredible to show you. It's a clip of Essendale's arrest and death. Are you interested in it? It's forbidden to watch it, and the Holy Judgment Court has declared that every person that watches it is committing a crime. Are you still sure you want to watch it?" Zhao Manyan said.
"Are you sure its source is safe?" Mo Fan raised his brows.
"Yes."
"Then just play it."
---
Mo Fan had no idea how Zhao Manyan was able to get his hands on the recording. Since most spells would emit brilliant lights when they were cast, it was almost impossible to use a mobile phone or device to record a magic battle. The broadcast of the World College Tournament through the Observer Eagles was specially handled to make it viewable. If anyone tried recording the fights with their phones, it would only end up as a white screen.
As such, the clip that Zhao Manyan got his hands onto was most likely recorded with some unique military equipment. The Holy Judgment Court would severely punish anyone that broke the rules!
"It seems like a member of the Holy Judgment Court recorded it. We can't really see Essendale from this angle," Mo Fan mumbled, staring at the clip's strong interference.
Mo Fan was fairly curious about the power of a Mage like Essendale. Pang Lai was already one of the strongest Mages in China, yet he was still no match for Essendale. The battle that the Holy Judgment Court had fought to catch Essendale was surely going to be spectacular!
Chapter 1101 - Dark Mystical Beast, Hayla
Translated by XephiZ Edited by Aelryinth "Holy cow, what is that? The black thing that dove to the ground from the sky... f**k me, is that a Forbidden Curse Mage!?" Mo Fan yelled all of a sudden, staring at the blurred recording. The quality of the recording was very bad due to the interference of the spells. However, he could still see an enormous figure moving rapidly. It was shocking even though he had only seen the tip of the iceberg. It felt like the overwhelming energy was about to burst out from the screen! "Look at that, holy shit, did you just see that? That thing just knocked Essendale flying more than a few kilometers away!" Zhao Manyan smashed on the screen to pause the recording. The recording was a total mess. Mo Fan was unable to tell if the person was Essendale, but the monster that Zhao Manyan was referring to was terrifying, indeed! The people of the Holy Judgment Court were not involved in the fight. They simply surrounded the area. The enormous dark barrier encapsulating the area vaguely resembled the Dark Dueling Groundset up through the Dark Contract. However, it was a lot scarier than the Dark Dueling Ground where Mo Fan had fought the Dark Swordmaster. It seemed like Essendale was trapped within the magic barrier. The clip did not last for long, and Mo Fan and Zhao Manyan were not able to see the existence inside the magic barrier clearly. They only knew that the monster was responsible for tearing Essendale to pieces. "Could it be the legendary Hayla?" Zhao Manyan took a deep breath. He recalled someone telling him some rumors before, that anyone who saw Hayla's true appearance was doomed to be dragged into the Kingdom of Death. He immediately felt his skin crawling. "Hayla, the creature that tore Essendale into pieces?" Mo Fan asked. "The God of Death in Europe! It's like Yama, the King of Hell, is for us. I remember hearing the old folks of our clan mentioning it before. It's a creature on par with the Sphinx," Zhao Manyan said. "Sphinx? The one guarding the pyramids?" Mo Fan remembered the name. "Yeah, the Sphinx was once Egypt's national beast before it started guarding the Great Pyramid of Giza. It was the most symbolic creature of death. The ancient magic records also mention that the Sphinx was actually an ancient beast of the Netherworld. Meanwhile, Hayla was the mystical beast that represented the Realm of the Dead in ancient Greece mythology. It was basically like Rama, the King of Hell in China… but unlike the mythology in our country, the mystical beast of the Realm of the Dead is real!" Zhao Manyan told him. Mo Fan was convinced when Zhao Manyan cited the records about the ancient civilizations. "I bet Essendale would be proud to die at the claws of the mystical beast, Hayla." Zhao Manyan nodded and said, "Yeah, killed by one of the strongest creatures in the world! He didn't bring disgrace to his reputation as the Master of the Shadow Element." "These countries with ancient civilization each has their own mystical beasts, but doesn't China have a long history too? Don't we have any mystical beasts on par with those creatures?" Mo Fan asked. "Of course there are! The Totem Beasts were the ancient mystical beasts of our country, but they were all eliminated… oh, that giant snake in Hangzhou is the only ancient mystical beast that we have left! I used to hear my grandfather mention that China once had the Four Great Totems, which were the Azure Dragon, the Vermilion Bird, the White Tiger, and the Black Tortoise, the four legendary mystical beasts that everyone knows about. I wasn't sure if my grandfather was being boastful, but he did say that if the Four Great Totems are still around. Even the weakest among them, the Black Tortoise, could still end up in a draw against the Sphinx or Hayla," Zhao Manyan replied. "But they are no longer around, so it's meaningless to say that now. I bet they were killed by the people of our country, since most of them believed it was not safe to keep them around," Mo Fan scoffed. "But I think he wasn't lying, I believe you know better than me how strong that giant snake in Hangzhou is?" Zhao Manyan asked. "Of course," Mo Fan said. The Black Totem Snake was a real Totem Beast! "The Black Tortoise had two offspring: one is the Black Snake, and the other is Bixi. The Black Snake is obviously the Black Totem Snake, and it's already so powerful, so I find my grandfather's words rather convincing," Zhao Manyan said. Mo Fan glanced at Zhao Manyan and asked, "Since when do you know so much?" "Well...well, I just checked the information out of curiosity, hehe," Zhao Manyan said nervously, and seemed to be hiding something. He immediately switched the topic, "By the way, your Xinxia has already become a Saintess, why don't you seem concerned at all?" "What Saintess, she has always been a Saintess to me," Mo Fan replied instantly. "Bro, haven't you read the news? They have announced the final four Candidates, who are referred to as the Saintesses. The Goddess will be elected from them! Now that Andi is dead, there are only three Candidates left, meaning that the odds of Xinxia being elected as the Goddess is one in three!" Zhao Manyan exclaimed. Mo Fan was dumbfounded. He had just come out from seclusion, and had not had time to contact Xinxia yet. He was utterly clueless that something so serious had happened. "What is it? Why do you look so gloomy?" Zhao Manyan said. "I don't really think that's good news. I know her situation better than anyone else. It's already a surprise that she joined the Hall of the Goddess, but it simply did not make sense going this far!" Mo Fan said grimly. "The Parthenon Temple's election isn't just about influence. Maybe her temperament and her character suits the role of the Goddess perfectly, or maybe the Soul of the Goddess is fond of her? Who knows, but I think Xinxia is a worthy candidate; at least her heart is the purest that I have ever seen," Zhao Manyan said. "What the hell is the Parthenon Temple up to?" Mo Fan was even more confused about what the Parthenon Temple was trying to achieve. "Forget about it, the finals are starting tomorrow. Are you ready?" Zhao Manyan asked. Zhao Manyan was obviously trying to ask if Mo Fan had fully refined the good stuff that he had acquired from the treasure hunt. Mo Fan was easily the biggest winner out of everyone on the team. The man was already so strong before the treasure hunt, and with the awesome loot, his strength was surely going to reach another height. "Do you know about the levels of mental strength?" Mo Fan asked. "Yeah?" "I'm at the fourth level now!" Mo Fan grinned. "Holy crap, you're basically unbeatable!" "Hehe!" --- The format of the duels was different than the knockout round. Even though it consisted of team battles, the teams were allowed to substitute members in the middle of a match. The number of participants in a match was still ten, but if a student was knocked out, the team could immediately send another student onto the stage. A team could only substitute members three times, meaning that eight people could represent their team in a match during the finals. It was a test of the entire team's strength, since eight out of the ten representatives of a national team were expected to fight in a match. It was the simplest way to test the strength of each country, allowing them to implement different combinations of the members and strategies based on their Elements. --- As the finals of the World College Tournament were about to start, the people soon forgot about Andi's death. The bars and pubs in Venice were hung with the portraits of the students of different national teams. The students were ranked based on their strength. The ranking was based on the performance of the students during the knockout round and the treasure hunt. Without surprise, Mo Fan was ranked fifth. Mo Fan did have some words to say to the person that came up with the ranking, "Are you f**king blind or what? How am I only ranked fifth when I took out six people by myself during the treasure hunt?" Mo Fan found it hard to accept. In his opinion, no one around his age could possibly stand a chance against him. If he really needed to pick someone that could defeat him, it was going to be Mu Ningxue with her bow. Mo Fan was not pleased with the ranking. He swore to beat the crap out of the four participants that were ranked higher than him! "Rank one is the captain of the English team, Zorro. He has green hair, and dark green eyes… even now, no one knows what his primary Element is, since he has only used his Summoning Element so far in both the knockout round and the treasure hunt. His Summoned Beast and Contracted Beast have simply crushed all his opponents. Rumors say he is a Lightning Mage, with a remarkable Innate Talent." Jiang Yu had gathered the information and revealed it to the rest of the team. "Lightning Element... he's managed to get my attention!" Mo Fan harrumphed coldly. "Rank two is from the American team. She's closely related to the Sacred Hall of Liberty. Her name is Jessie. She's already a member of the Sacred Hall of Liberty even though she's still studying. She has taken down lots of wanted criminals. Her nickname is the Cold Face Magistrate. Her primary Element is Plant, secondary is Curse, and tertiary is Light. She's a control-type Mage. Apparently, she was on her own throughout the treasure hunt, and ended up with resources summing up to 1.3 billion," Jiang Yu said. Jiang Yu showed Jessie's picture to the team. Zhao Manyan and Mo Fan immediately whistled and exclaimed, "She's at least E! Oh mama, look at that picture, that's f**king insane. She's like a character from an anime!" "This woman, I believe she's really impressive!" Jiang Shaoxu knocked on the heads of the perverts and purposely stuck her c.h.e.s.t out, "Her b.o.o.b.s are clearly sagging, mine clearly look better!" "But she has E!" "Die!" "Enough, you guys! The third rank is Reed, from the German team. He's a destructive Mage, with similar Elements to Mo Fan. His primary Element is Fire, secondary is Lightning, and tertiary is Space. "Rank four is known as the Iron Bucket mage, Bilton of the American team. He is tall and huge. His primary Element is Earth, secondary is Summoning, and third is Light. He's a defensive-type Mage. He was surrounded by five members of the Swedish team in the knockout round, but they failed to penetrate his defense. He's the nightmare of a destructive Mage!"
Chapter 1102 - Just a Rank Higher!
Translated by XephiZ
Edited by Aelryinth
---
Jiang Yu was very thorough with his explanation, but Mo Fan simply lost interest in listening further. He only wanted to know about the participants that were said to be the strongest in the tournament.
The finals were just around the corner. Mo Fan was brimming with confidence. Currently, only his Shadow Element was slightly weaker, but he had always regarded the Shadow Element as a supporting Element. The fifth-tier Fleeing Shadow with the effects of the Dark Noble Mantle granted Mo Fan outstanding mobility and evasive ability compared to the rest of the participants. If he had a chance to establish the Nyx Regime, the unpredictable Shadow Element would be quite deadly, too!
The only pity was that Mo Fan had not learned the Advanced Spell of the Summoning Element yet. Mo Fan did not forget the ridiculousness when Jiang Yu Summoned the tide of beasts. With that, Mo Fan was confident that he could take on ten participants at once!
---
Early in the morning, the loud chime of an ancient bell rang, waking the people of the city on the Mediterranean Sea from their pleasant dreams.
Following the chime, some Italian melodies were played. It felt like the air was fresher when listening to the symphonies.
The opening ceremony of the finals was held. Eight teams with outstanding performances during the treasure hunt lined up in rows in the middle of the spectacular and spacious dueling ground of Venice. Eight colors representing eight nations were surrounded by tens of thousands of people cheering for the participants.
Eight teams, with close to a hundred people. Even though the teams that were disqualified did have some outstanding talents, they were disqualified with the team too. Their reputation and influence in society in the future would be incomparable to the hundred people currently standing on the dueling ground.
When it came to a Mage's strength, although there might be different situations, environments, and opponents that would decide the outcome of a battle, if two Mages were of equal strength, it was the opportunity and glory that would set them apart.
Four matches were scheduled today. Basically, all eight countries would take turns displaying their strength, and the result of the matches would decide the matches for tomorrow, and likewise, there would be four matches then, too.
The teams would no longer be disqualified, but the result of the matches would decide who the champion would be!
"There will be five matches for each team. Basically, we'll be fighting most of the teams, and it's quite obvious that we'll have to give our best when we're up against the top four countries. If we can keep our winning rate at fifty percent against those countries, we'll have a chance to be ranked in the top three in the tournament. There are only prizes for the teams in the top three, and even though I don't want to add more pressure, there's something you should know too..." Feng Li said to the team sternly.
"What is it?" Mo Fan asked.
Everyone knew Mo Fan was as ignorant as an illiterate, so even Zu Jiming, Mu Tingying, Guan Yu, and the other arseholes were too lazy to mock him whenever he asked a foolish question.
Coming from renowned clans, it went without saying that they would know a lot more information than the others. The World College Tournament was the biggest magic tournament in the world, as it was usually how the countries split the scarce resources in a fair manner.
With demon creatures on the rampage, and humans being forced to stay within their cities, there were only limited resources left for the humans. As for the scarce, yet extremely important resources, it was unreasonable for the great powers of the world to simply claim them. They needed a fair, civilized way to decide which country would be getting resources...
The way they came up with was to let students of each country compete against one another. It was why the first World College Tournament was held!
The final ranking of the tournament was extremely important, as it would decide how the scarce resources were going to be distributed among the countries. If a country ended up with an A-grade magic ore vein, the energy was enough for the country to build a new city, a great fortress, or an abundant supply of magic ores to Awaken new Mages. The supply of magic ores each year would allow the country to train tens of thousands of Mages, and regardless of the height that these Mages could reach, they would still greatly improve the strength of a country.
