Chapter 180 - You're A Wizard, Merlin

"So yeah, some people imagine water flowing through their bodies, others find that lightning is a better alternative, those are two of the more common methods but there's plenty more than that... And some are really strange." The wizard said, "But the rest is up to you, I'll come to check on you after a few minutes."

The wizard then threw Merlin the magic orb before walking over to the other players who seemed to still be struggling.

'And for me, the answer is blood.' Merlin thought to himself while clenching the orb, causing blue light to form almost immediately within the crystal.

「You have completed the quest, "You're a wizard I.", visit the magic instructor to receive your rewards.」

Merlin quickly stood up and made his way over to the wizard, the magic instructor, who was looking rather frustrated with one of the students.

"You've been at this for the last twenty minutes, either finish the task or accept that you're not cut out for this and leave." The wizard taunted the student, who looked as though they were either going to break down and cry or punch the wizard in the nose.

Merlin was curious as to which one she'd choose, and he subconsciously let out a small chuckle under his breath when he noticed the student's fist clench.

The wizard noticed Merlin hovering nearby, seemingly laughing at his student's failure and struggles, so he turned his attention back on to Merlin.

"What are you doing? Are you giving up already?" He asked, "If not, you should be focusing on producing your own results, rather than just watching othe--"

Merlin's crystal orb suddenly glowed a bright blue, which immediately silenced the wizard's rant.

"I'm here to receive the next task," Merlin said while handing the magic orb back to the wizard.

The wizard grabbed the orb and stuffed it back into their sleeve before clearing his throat.

"Right, well then you pass the first task," The wizard said, "Now the next one is for you to showcase your ability to utilise magic. For this task, you will be using a staff or wand that you've brought with you to destroy all these targets."

The wizard clapped his hands together while muttering, and six floating stone targets suddenly appeared in the distance, alongside a quest notification that appeared before Merlin.

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[Common Quest]

You're a wizard II.

The second step for enrolling into the wizard college is to showcase your ability to use basic magic.

Six floating targets must be hit using magic from a distance. Destroying the targets is not necessary, a solid hit will suffice for proof of competency. Successfully complete the task to move on to the final task.

Hit all six targets with magic.

Targets hit with magic: 0/6

• Reward: +1 Intelligence

└───────────────────

"Alright, I'll get started then," Merlin said, accepting the quest.

He inspected the staff that he had in his hand, causing an information window to appear before him.

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[Goblin Hexer's Staff. (Uncommon)]

A knobbly wooden staff that appears to be rotting at the tip.

• Attuned spell: ⟪Corrosive Bolt⟫

• 10 second cooldown.

• Mana cost: 12

• Required level: 7

└───────────────────

And then he inspected the attuned spell, causing another information window to appear.

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⟪Corrosive Bolt⟫

By channelling magical power into this staff, you can fire a black bolt of energy that corrodes non-living material and causes living material to decay.

• Fires a bolt of energy that deals 20 corrosive damage, damage is doubled for non-living materials, armour and constructs.

• Mana cost: 12

• 10 second cooldown.

└───────────────────

Merlin pointed the tip of the rotting wooden staff at one of the floating targets in the distance. He imagined his blood flowing into the staff, his vitality coalescing at the end of the staff.

Small black sparks began forming at the tip, growing in size until they suddenly shot out in a single black bolt of energy. The energy bolt tore through the air before colliding with the first target.

Merlin watched as a large chunk of the stone target corroded and crumbled away, what little remained of the target plummeted towards the ground.

「Targets hit with magic: 1/6」

"First try... And with dark magic no less," The wizard muttered, "Very good, continue."

Merlin lowered the staff and waited until ten seconds had passed before he aimed at another target in the distance and fired the next bolt.

「Targets hit with magic: 2/6」

Merlin released yet another bolt after the cooldown ended and then continued again until all six targets had been destroyed.

「You have completed the quest, "You're a wizard II.", visit the magic instructor to receive your rewards.」

"All six in a little over a minute..." The wizard muttered to himself.

'And that brings my intelligence up to 10,' Merlin thought to himself before lowering his staff.

"What next?" He asked, turning to the wizard. As he did, he noticed that he seemed to have gotten the attention of all the other students.

The wizard turned around and started shouting at the other students with the same kind of rant that Merlin had gotten to begin with.

"The last test is a wizard duel. You'll be faced against a student of the college and equipped with proper duelling equipment." The wizard started explaining, "This last task will utilise the same skills from the last two tests."

A quest notification appeared before Merlin.

┌───────────────────

[Common Quest]

You're a wizard III.

The final challenge for enrolling into the wizard college is to utilise both skills that were shown in the first two tests in a simulated combat setting, namely a wizard duel.

You will be matched against a student of the college, your goal is to stay in the ring for a certain amount of time. Knocking the opponent out of the ring will also result in a victory, but is not required to pass.

You will be lent two pieces of duelling gear, the use of any other equipment, abilities, spells or dealing physical damage will disqualify you. You're welcome to retry as many times as you'd like.

Win the wizard duel or stay in the ring for 2 minutes.

• Reward: +2 Intelligence, 250 EXP, Class Soul: Wizard

└───────────────────

"Sounds like fun, where do I go for this?" Merlin asked while accepting the quest.

"It's just in the next room," the wizard said before clicking his fingers, causing a door on the other side of the room to swing open, revealing another training room. "Make your way over there and another instructor will find you an opponent."

Merlin nodded and quickly made his way through the door, where he was met with the sight of an elevated platform where two wizards were shooting bolts of energy at each other in close proximity.

The floor around the elevated platform seemed to be padded, and any further than that was just rows of benches where several other students sat and watched the ongoing duel.

An older looking wizard approached him as he entered the room. He seemed to be the instructor that 

"Ah, our next challenger has arrived just in time, let's get you fitted before the match--" As the wizard began speaking with Merlin, one of the students who was duelling had been sent flying onto the padded floor. "... Ends."

The instructor pinched his temples for a moment before he turned towards the stage.

"Everyone take a break, our newest student needs time to prepare." The instructor yelled to everyone in the room before turning to Merlin, "Come, follow me."

Merlin was led into an equipment room full of lockers.

"Please store your weapons and other items away, we have lockers you can utilise, or--" The instructor started talking, but Merlin quickly threw his staff, daggers and cloak into his inventory. "That works too, I suppose."

The instructor then grabbed two pieces of equipment, a glove with an embedded crystal and a thin wand, and handed them both to Merlin.

Merlin inspected the wand as he received it, causing an information window to appear.

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[Beginner Duelling Wand. (Uncommon)]

A sleek thin metal rod with a round blue gem affixed to the tip, useful for friendly wizard duels due to the dampened output and non-lethal attuned spells.

• Attuned spell: ⟪Force Bolt⟫

• 3 second cooldown.

• Mana cost: 4

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And then he inspected the attuned spell, causing another information window to appear.

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⟪Force Bolt⟫

By channelling magical power into this wand, you can fire a bolt of pure energy that applies a pushing force against anything it collides with.

• Fires a weakened bolt of energy that deals 1 bludgeoning damage and applies a weak pushing force against the target.

• Mana cost: 4

• 3 second cooldown.

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He then took a look at the glove that was handed to him, inspecting it and reading the information window that appeared.

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[Beginner Duelling Shield. (Uncommon)]

A soft glove with a small magical crystal embedded in the palm. By channelling magical power into this glove, you summon a thin shield of mana that can assist with protecting against or deflecting incoming magic projectiles.

This glove is useful for friendly wizard duels, it helps protect against simple non-lethal missile spells but it is not very effective against lethal attack spells.

• Conjures a simple magic shield that helps protect against ranged magic attacks.

• 3 mana per second.

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'Ah right, this thing is a trap for new wizards.' Merlin thought to himself while reading the information window. 'Sure, it summons a shield. But it'll still take the pushing force of the force bolt if you take it head-on, and that mana cost is dangerous.'

Merlin quickly did the math in his head and realised that if he kept his shield up without dropping it, he could have it up for a little over half a minute. Roughly a fourth of the time he needed.. But this didn't take casting spells into account either, which would drastically reduce his resources.