Chapter 2755 Beibei Takes the Stage <TOC> Chapter 2757 Seamus
Translator: SumTLMan
At the instant of the sheepdog’s sneak attack, Kael’s mind went blank; the only thing reflected in his eyes was the sheepdog’s shameless grin.
By the time Kael came back to himself, two seconds had already passed.
What happened in those two seconds was a bit blurry to Kael, or rather, his eyes had seen it…… but his brain had not yet understood.
For Kael, those two seconds were a daze.
For the sheepdog, those two seconds were bewilderment. It remembered that it had clearly seized the chance and struck that fool who falls for it whenever someone plays the victim, so why…… was the one in pain, in the end, itself?
Yes, the sheepdog was now writhing on the ground in pain. All the claws on its forelimbs were broken. Even though, nourished by the wind energy, they would regrow quickly, the pain did not lessen one bit.
Howling while straining to recall, its eyes held both worry and hot tears.
「As expected, it’s all that bastard’s fault! I never should have answered its summons! I suffer so!」
Curses aside, the sheepdog still couldn’t figure out how exactly it got hurt.
This wizard apprentice was far too strange: clearly turned with its back to it, with no guard set behind, yet its attack felt like it slammed into something incomparably hard…… no, even harder than stone!
Bear in mind, its claw strike was wreathed with a special sharp wind; the point-focused destructive power was terrifying. Even with defensive spells employed, it could easily pierce through, truly a「guard-breaking spell」.
The only drawback of the claw strike was that it wasn’t easy to land on a person. Before this, as long as the sheepdog’s claw strike hit, it was basically the wind dog delivering death. Yet this time, though it clearly landed, the once-invincible guard-breaking spell met its crushing defeat.
Don’t mention burying someone else, its own funeral nearly had to be arranged.
The sheepdog’s misery was seen by all. None of them were narrow-sighted; it was easy to see that this time the sheepdog’s pain was not feigned.
This time, it had indeed been injured by the backlash of its own attack.
As for the cause, the sheepdog did not know. But apart from it, everyone else, including Shepherd, understood clearly.
From where everyone’s gaze fell, one could tell——
Almost all eyes were fixed upon the gray-black robe on Kael’s body.
Before he had this robe, Kael’s defensive power and casting efficiency were never this fast. Now, with the robe donned, it was as if he had been reborn.
What sort of magic did this robe possess?
Not only were the onlookers curious, even Kael himself was puzzled.
Before the apprentices’ duel began, Angel had given him three trump cards. The first was an alchemyl puppet possessed by Speedling; the second was a set of costly potions and rune scrolls; and the third was this robe.
Of the first two trump cards, Speedling was the main offense, potions the primary support, and the rune scrolls the main control. Applied properly, they could basically decide the battle. As for the final trump card, it was a card specially prepared against Mammoth. Angel had described its function to him thus:「Once you put it on, you can basically stand on an unassailable footing.」
At the time, Kael had curiously asked the reason, and Angel’s answer was straightforward:「This robe’s defensive power is extremely strong; even a True Knowledge Wizard might not be able to break it in a single blow.」
The implication was that even a True Knowledge Wizard might have to spend some effort, let alone an apprentice like Mammoth. Even if Mammoth was of the bloodline branch, he still could not damage this robe.
This is why Angel said that wearing it would place one on an undefeated footing.
Back then, Kael did not feel much about the robe; he merely sighed inwardly that Lord Super Dimensional truly deserved to be a member of the Research Institute. He had never heard, previously, of a robe that could withstand the attacks of a True Knowledge Wizard; not even at the greatest auctions in Mesomiya had such a treasure appeared. Perhaps only the Research Institute of Sky Mechanical City could craft such an item?
Though he marveled, he lacked an intuitive concept. Not until Kael donned the robe did he realize that the effect Angel had described was probably only the robe’s basic effect.
Earlier, when Shepherd summoned the sheepdog Beibei to interrupt Kael’s casting, Kael had seemed to still be gathering power, but in truth, he had already finished casting. The reason he did not move was that he had been stunned by the robe’s effect.
Angel had only said the robe’s defense was strong, but never mentioned that this robe actually buffs space cantrips!
At that time, Shepherd sensed that Kael’s casting fluctuation was stronger than ever and thought he was casting some powerful space cantrip…… In reality, Kael was only casting the most utterly ordinary「Spatial Fissure」.
Just a spatial fissure, and nothing but a spatial fissure.
Yet the final effect utterly shocked Kael: not only was the casting efficiency buffed to the point of near-instantaneous, the effect produced was amplified to a terrifying degree!
It directly amplified a spatial fissure up to the degree of a spatial rift!
Though it was only a half-length spatial rift, it was still astonishing! A spatial rift is a space school top-tier cantrip nearing a true spell, while a spatial fissure is a second-level cantrip, the most basic of space cantrips. By analogy, it was like the difference between Wind Blade and Crescent Linked Blade, fundamentally not the same thing.
Though called a「fissure」, it does not truly touch the「essence of space」; it is more like leaving an「imprint」in the air, an imprint that possesses a certain spatial quality.
A「rift」, by contrast, is genuine spatial capability, it can tear open a passage leading to interstitial space.
Of course, this interstitial space is only the very surface layer of space; there remain innumerable strata separating it from the Void and from walkable interplanar passages. But at least space has been torn.
For Kael to cast a spatial fissure and have it amplified to the degree of a spatial rift, this was simply outrageous!
What’s more, beyond the half-length spatial rift there was also an extremely long, thin spatial fissure, long enough to construct the fissure into a three-dimensional birdcage!
This was a length Kael had never before approached.
One basic cantrip triggered two effects: one qualitative change and one quantitative change.
Even in his dreams, Kael would not dare dream of something so wonderful. Let alone that it wasn’t a dream, it was happening right now, in the real world!
For that reason, when Kael finished casting, he was directly stupefied. He froze for quite a while, and only when the sheepdog Beibei’s attack reached his front did Kael come back to himself.
Perhaps also stunned by the robe’s terrifying effect, Kael forgot what Lord Super Dimensional had said about its「astounding defensive power」. When the sheepdog later launched a sneak attack from behind, Kael was almost frightened.
Facts proved that the emphasized effect truly was fearsome: this robe’s defensive power was remarkably shocking.
Not only did the sheepdog’s sneak attack have no effect at all, it broke its own claws in the process.
Most importantly, Kael himself felt nothing whatsoever. He didn’t even feel the impact when the sheepdog struck.
It was as if all the force had been absorbed and rebounded by the robe. To Kael, it was like being brushed by a light breeze, no pain, no itch.
Now, the outsiders’ conjecture, including Shepherd’s, was that the robe augmented defensive ability and the casting efficiency of space cantrips. But the truth was far more astounding than their assessment.
Therefore, knowing the truth, Kael was even more curious: what magic did this robe possess, and where did it come from?
……
「Beibei, are you all right?」Shepherd’s voice came.
From behind Kael came the sheepdog’s curses:「You bastard, good things you never call me for, bad things you always throw me up front for!」
Shepherd’s expression grew slightly awkward, but from Beibei’s vigorous shouting, Shepherd indirectly concluded that Beibei’s condition should be fine.
Just as Shepherd let out a breath, a breeze laced with whispers blew in from not far away.
He glanced toward where the breeze came from, it was the position of the four black-faced sheep.
Listening to the whispers, Shepherd’s expression slowly sank; thought flickered in his eyes…… Two seconds later, Shepherd seemed to have made some decision and lifted his head to look at Kael.
Ignoring Beibei’s grumbling, he looked at Kael with an apologetic face:「I apologize for Beibei’s sneak attack.」
Kael said nothing, merely knit his brows slightly. In his view, as long as the rules allowed it, a sneak attack was no big deal; rather, it was Shepherd’s sudden apology that left Kael somewhat puzzled.
It was the same earlier: when the sheepdog Beibei tried to ambush him, Shepherd had actually warned him first to be careful of his back. Wasn’t that equivalent to backstabbing his own companion, the sheepdog?
Seeing that Kael did not respond, Shepherd didn’t mind; he placed a hand to his chest and bowed lightly.
Then, under Kael’s surprised and doubtful gaze, Shepherd said:「I concede this duel.」
With that, Shepherd raised his hand and signaled to the Sovereign of Wisdom in midair.
「Are you sure you want to concede?」The Sovereign of Wisdom did not question Shepherd’s choice, merely asked as a routine.
Shepherd glanced beyond the dome: he saw Pink Jasmine with eyes wide, disbelief written on her face; he also saw Mammoth give a gentle sigh.
He then looked toward Gray Merchant and Shrew. Those two were not as shocked as Pink Jasmine. Gray Merchant gave Shepherd a slight nod, as if in support of his choice; Shrew did not set her gaze on him at all, but instead fixed it on Kael.
After this brief survey, Shepherd withdrew his gaze and nodded to the Sovereign of Wisdom:「I’m certain.」
The Sovereign of Wisdom said nothing more, merely withdrew the dome, and a cool voice reached everyone’s ears:「In this duel, the visitors are victorious.」
After conceding, Shepherd saluted Kael once more, then turned his back and walked down from the arena platform. At the same time, the sheepdog Beibei and the four black-faced sheep all ran back to Shepherd’s side.
The sheepdog no longer howled as before; with the look of a lovestruck fool, it sidled up to one black-faced sheep and kept nuzzling, murmuring「Baby」,「Baby」without stop.
The black-faced sheep it called「Baby」did not reject the sheepdog; rather, another black-faced sheep came over, trying to block the sheepdog.
The sheepdog immediately started to bluster at this latter black-faced sheep. But Baby bleated once, and the sheepdog instantly deflated.
This black-faced sheep that came up afterward was probably the「Black Three」the sheepdog had mentioned earlier, and the one Baby doted on most.
One has to admit, this flock of sheep and dog vying for favor and growing jealous was quite amusing.
Kael, however, paid no attention to these details. As for Shepherd’s choice to concede, from beginning to end he voiced no opinion and did not ask why.
Because when Kael put himself in the other’s shoes, he would, with high probability, also choose to concede.
Once this robe appeared, invincible defense plus amplification of spatial capability, no matter how strong Shepherd was, he had no chance to win.
So conceding at this moment was actually a good choice.
Only, Kael was making this role-reversal judgment from the vantage point of a known outcome. If one ignored the result, Kael would not have expected Shepherd to concede so decisively.
Because Shepherd should only have known that the robe’s defense was very strong; how strong, he did not yet know. As for the amplification of space cantrip power, Shepherd did not know; he only knew it accelerated the casting efficiency of space cantrips.
With so many conditions unknown and unclear, by normal thinking, one should probe further to test the limits of the robe’s capabilities.
But Shepherd did not do so. Why? Was it truly because the sheepdog’s sneak attack made him feel apologetic? That doesn’t quite add up, does it?
Previously, Shepherd had also done things that were illogical, for example, why was he so fixated on confirming whether the wind energy had been released by him?
Kael’s doubts about Shepherd grew more and more……
Only, watching Shepherd’s figure as he walked off the stage, Kael knew that these doubts, in all likelihood, would not be answered.
……
After Shepherd stepped down, Pink Jasmine wanted to say something, but Mammoth held her back.
「If he did this, it must be a decision made after careful deliberation. You have to trust Shepherd’s judgment.」
Though Pink Jasmine still felt somewhat unwilling, she yielded. Yet her gaze did not move away from Shepherd. Since Mammoth said Shepherd had decided after deep thought, Pink Jasmine wanted to know just what matters Shepherd had considered.
Shepherd was silent for a moment. He did not look at Pink Jasmine; instead he looked toward Mammoth:「For the next round, concede as well.」
Pink Jasmine had originally wanted to hear Shepherd’s explanation, but she hadn’t expected him to urge Mammoth to concede; she couldn’t help herself and sprang out to pepper Shepherd with questions.
Shepherd still paid Pink Jasmine no heed. He sat down on the ground, summoned a black-faced sheep as a backrest, and assumed a lazy posture.
Mammoth was somewhat surprised too, but he was more rational than Pink Jasmine.
「What’s the reason?」
Half-squinting, Shepherd said:「No particular reason. Anyway, when you run into that visitor, conceding won’t be wrong.」
Shepherd, of course, had his reasons, only there were some things he could not clearly point out. What he had seen and the intel he had learned could not have been obtained from a straightforward, on-the-surface fight.
Just like how Kael did not understand why Shepherd conceded so quickly without even probing.
Mammoth:「Without a reason, I won’t give up.」
Shepherd pondered for a moment:「…… Suit yourself.」
After those words fell, the mood between Mammoth and Shepherd suddenly turned a bit silent. An intangible yet unsettling sense began to spread in the air.
This stiff atmosphere did not break until half a minute later.
The one who broke the silence was Shrew.
She let out a long breath and spoke softly:「Shepherd taking the initiative to concede was right. And his advice to Mammoth wasn’t wrong either, if he goes up to fight now, Mammoth can’t beat that visitor.」
All looked to Shrew in puzzlement, even Gray Merchant turned his head. He roughly knew the reason lay in that robe, but what exactly the robe was made of, Gray Merchant did not know. From Shrew’s earlier reaction, though, she seemed to know some inside story?
With a light snort, Shrew said:「Because the robe that guy is wearing is stitched from the skin of a Void Demon.」
Chapter 2755 Beibei Takes the Stage <TOC> Chapter 2757 Seamus