Chapter 7: (7/9)

"Phew… that almost got me." Arthur sweat as he saw how close he was to being killed by one of the Fireballs. Arthur casted [Shadow Clone] at the beginning of the match and slowly sneaked behind Alek with an attempt of casting [Conjure Fire Demon] at close range so Alek won't have enough time to react. Arthur deemed Alek won't waste mana on randomly casting [Fireball] as he just did due to his mana pool about to be depleted. Lucky for Arthur as he casted [Warp Infusion] on time to switch places with a Skeleton or he would have burned to death by one of the Fireballs.

Because Arthur's [Shadow Clone] spell was still active, therefore he remained invisible.

"How large is his mana pool? Why do I feel like I'm fighting with another Kain Almos?" Arthur asked himself.

"I can't abuse the Blood Pendant, but I can't lose either. I needed to prove myself by winning this tournament. By that way, the Mages Council will recruit and give me a high ranking position after I graduate from the Mages' Academy." Alek thought to himself.

Alek tapped into the blood pool of his Blood Pendant again and casted [Flaming Familiar] toward Arthur's [Shadow Clone]. After Arthur's [Shadow Clone] was destroyed, the real Arthur was revealed standing about thirty feet to the West of Alek's location. Alek casted another [Flaming Familiar] to chase after the real Arthur and exploded on him.

"What?" Alek couldn't believe his eyes when he saw Arthur was unharmed.

"Damn it. I have to use [Soul Bridge] technique after all." Arthur thought to himself while shaking his head after his Soul-Bound creature shot the Flaming Familiar using her Glowing Astral Bow which triggered the explosion of the Flaming Familiar before it could reach them.

Twenty days ago. Inside Kain’s hotel room. Arthur activated [Soul Bridge] technique, a portal was opened and then a creature walked through the portal into Toria Continents. The portal immediately closed after that.

“This… is this…?” Kain was surprised and could not finish the question.

“Yes, it is her. Kain, next time we run into the Blood Mages, they won’t be able to escape that easily.” Arthur smiled as he saw how Kain was speechless against the unique creature he had successfully bound to his Conjurer Soul. It was Imreia, the Phantom Knight of the Nivin tribe.

“Imreia?”

“Hoh? Are you talking to me? Do I know you?”

“It’s me, Kain. I have conjured you… No, you look slightly different compared to Imreia. Girl, what is your name?”

“Arwen.”

“I see. Are you a Phantom Knight of the Nivin tribe?”

“Yup.”

“Did you agree to be bound to Arthur’s Conjurer Soul?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Why him though? I’m stronger than him but another Phantom Knight from your tribe refused to be bound to me.”

“Arthur’s Conjurer Soul is pure and I felt like I could trust him. I think the other Nivinan refused to be bound to you because your Conjurer Soul is… tainted. I sensed evil energy coming from you.” (Arwen meant Kain’s Twin Soul but she didn’t know how to explain it.)

Nivinan means a Phantom Knight of the Nivin tribe.

Arthur laughed as he heard that because he thought Arwen meant Kain’s cocky demeanor. Arthur said, “Kain, I saw you have conjured a Phantom Knight of the Nivin tribe in your battle with Lora Brightwood. After countless failures, I have successfully conjured Arwen. Even though Arwen is not the same compared to the one you have conjured. What is her name again? Imreia, right? Arwen's power is on par if not stronger compared to Imreia. I asked Arwen to be bound to my Conjurer Soul and she instantly agreed. Think about it, I can use the [Soul Mate] spell in the future to increase Arwen’s power to match my power. After I advanced into a Saint-tier magic caster, Arwen could be transformed into a God-tier warrior. Haha… I see it. I see the day you will have to stop calling me a weakling.”

[Soul Mate], level 50 Conjuration spell. This spell will increase the Soul-Bound creature’s power to match with the caster’s power. If the caster is the level 51 Conjurer Mage, then the power of the Soul-Bound creature will be increased to either a God-tier warrior or level 51 Saint-tier magic caster. However, the Soul-Bound creature has to be at least equally strong compared to a Saint-tier warrior on the physical side or Level 31 Legend-tier magic caster on the magical side before the [Soul Mate] spell can be activated. If the Soul-Bound creature was too weak, then activating the [Soul Mate] spell will burn it to ashes. The Soul-Bound creature will truly die from its realm as well. This is not a bad thing either, because it can help the caster to kill his/her weak Soul-Bound creature in order to look for the new one.

Just like Saint-tier Mages that range from level 51 to level 100, God-tier warriors are not equally strong either. A marvelous God-tier warrior that has lived for several calendars can easily kill a thousand rookie God-tier warriors that have recently advanced into the God-tiers.

“Lucky you, weakling. I still have trouble finding the right creature to be bound to my Conjurer Soul.” Kain sadly said while Arthur continued to laugh in happiness.

Back to the final tournament battle between Arthur and Alek.

Arwen shot three astral arrows toward Alek. Alek casted [Flame Wall] to destroy those arrows.

"Should I risk it?" Alek asked himself again about continuing to use the Blood Pendant or not. He doesn't want to expose himself but doesn't want to lose either.

Alek continued tapping into the blood pool of his Blood Pendant and casted [Spiral Flame] spell. Arwen grabbed Arthur while she was sprinting outside the radius of [Spiral Flame] while shooting another three Astral Arrows at Alek. Alek casted [Fireballs] three times to destroy those three Astral Arrows then casted [Flaming Familiar] spell again.

"What the… how large is his mana pool?" Arthur thought to himself. Arthur's mana pool is near depletion that is why he can't cast any other spell and have to rely on Arwen to fight for him. But it appeared Alek's mana pool is at least fifty percent larger compared to Arthur's mana pool. That is ridiculous since Arthur has reached the maximum peak point of the Intermediate-tier. If Alek’s mana pool was ten percent or even twenty percent larger is possible, but more than fifty percent larger is unheard of.

On the audience side. Kain scratched his head and thought to himself, "F**king idiot! It's better to lose the tournament then expose yourself." Kain doesn’t know Alek. But Kain could have guessed Alek is also a Blood Mage because that is the only explanation as to why Alek’s mana pool was so large compared to a level 20 magic caster.