Capítulo 81: Chapter 81: A Gap Like a Chasm, an Overwhelming Strength!

The temperature in the surroundings dropped sharply, and a thin layer of frost rapidly spread across the ground and the blades of grass underfoot.

Just as the wind blades were only about a meter away from Luca—

Several crystalline ice shields suddenly materialized mid-air, intercepting all the incoming wind blades.

The wind blades struck the ice shields, causing a series of explosive sounds!

The hurricane roared, and shards of ice flew in all directions. Several ice shields shattered, but the wind blades dissipated completely, vanishing without a trace.

"Whoo~ whoo~" The Wind Elemental's eyes widened, making a low whimpering sound, as if stunned that Luca had actually blocked its attack.

Luca didn't bother guessing what it was saying. He raised the Mithril Mage Spear in his hand and pointed it at the Wind Elemental, a layer of blue light slowly covering his pupils.

The moisture in the air instantly condensed into ice crystals.

In the blink of an eye, over a dozen ice lances, each several meters long, formed in mid-air.

A bone-chilling cold spread through the area. The sharp tips of the lances glinted coldly in the sunlight, radiating a murderous aura!

"Go!" he said indifferently. Behind him, the ice lances sliced through the air with a whistling sound and shot out in an instant.

The Wind Elemental sensed danger and tried to dodge, but found its movements unbearably slow.

Looking down, it finally noticed a layer of frost covering its body at some unknown time.

The Wind Elemental was filled with terror. Even its elemental body had been frozen solid. This human's ice elemental skill...

Before it could think further, the ice lances were already upon it.

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"

The sharp ice lances instantly pierced through the Wind Elemental's body, and a chilling frost spread across its entire form in a split second.

The Wind Elemental's body stiffened, its normally expressionless face filled with shock and disbelief.

In the next moment, its elemental body shattered into countless ice crystals, dissipating into the air.

"What a domineering ice ability!" The spectators outside the field were all in an uproar.

Elemental creatures can transform their bodies into pure elemental forms, making them highly resistant to physical attacks.

Yet this young man had forcibly frozen the Wind Elemental's body, preventing it from escaping.

This showed that his mastery of the ice element was far superior to that of the mid-level Wind Elemental!

With that realization, even the instructors of Red Maple Academy were shocked to their core.

"This level of power is rare even for an ice elemental mage. But he's just a low-level Demonic Rune Mage—how could his ice elemental skills be this powerful?" one instructor muttered, questioning his understanding of the world.

But no one answered his question, for no one present knew how Luca had achieved this.

However, Principal Orf seemed to have noticed something.

He looked at the silvery-white magic runes on Luca's body and sensed the unique fluctuations emanating from them.

Principal Orf suddenly thought of a possibility, and his bushy eyebrows furrowed.

He murmured to himself, "Could it be… that this kid has high-level magic runes?"

The more Orf pondered, the more plausible it seemed. To suppress an elemental creature's elemental form, at least a high-level fixed magic rune would be needed.

Only a high-level magic rune could enable a Demonic Rune Mage to freely wield elemental skills.

With that thought, he became even more puzzled.

How could Luca possibly possess high-level magic runes?

How did he refine the materials and inscribe these magic runes?

Orf's mind was full of questions, but there was no one to provide answers. He could only wait for Luca to come out and ask him personally.

Inside the Trial Tower, after the Wind Elemental was slain, a game prompt appeared in front of Luca.

[Ding! You have slain a level 40 Wind Elemental (Rare). You gained 260,000 experience points!]

[Your level has increased to 26. You have received 20 free attribute points!] Searᴄh the ηovelFire.ηet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

[You have cleared the 15th floor of the Trial Tower. Would you like to proceed to the next floor?]

This time, Luca didn't rest and directly chose to move on to the next floor.

With his "Frostborn" abilities, he should have no problem reaching the 20th floor. Even if he encountered a monster beyond his capability later, he could still use the Ice Pattern Awakening, elevating his strength to a terrifying level—more than enough to complete the trial.

Meanwhile, as Luca stepped into the 16th floor—

Among the other examinees, someone had finally accumulated enough points to enter the 5th floor.

A flash of white light swept across the wilderness, and a young man in a luxurious robe appeared.

He was dressed in finery, handsome, and held a longbow in his hand. His eyes betrayed an uncontrollable pride.

Seeing the towering stone monument not far away, a smug smile crept onto his face.

"Hehe, I knew I would be the first to arrive. It seems that being the top freshman at Red Maple Academy this year is mine for the taking!" he declared with a chuckle.

Leaving the first mark on the Trial Stone was the long-standing tradition to determine the top freshman of the year at Red Maple Academy, and he had been anticipating this moment for a long time.

But just then, a few more flashes of white light lit up the wilderness, and several more youths appeared.

One of them, a boy clad in black and wielding a long sword, sneered. "Rogge, aren't you celebrating a little too early?"

"If you want to be the top freshman, have you considered our opinions first?"

A red-haired girl with a staff in her hand also snorted coldly, "The top spot at Red Maple Academy this year can only belong to me. Anyone who dares to snatch it away should first ask if my staff agrees!"

Seeing the tense confrontation among the group, Susie quickly distanced herself from them.

She definitely didn't want to get splattered by blood.

Noticing that some examinees had reached the fifth floor, the external spectators shifted some of their attention to this scene.

"The first to arrive should be Young Master Rogge of the Illamundi family. I've heard before that this little fellow's talent is exceptional, and now it seems the rumors were true. To think he was the first to reach the fifth floor."

"That boy wielding the long sword looks like Rainer from the Howard family. He just turned eighteen this year and is already on the verge of breaking through to the Gold Grade. Truly remarkable."

"There are quite a few promising talents in this assessment. That young Summoner girl's abilities aren't bad either."

"It's just a pity… they had the misfortune of encountering such a monster…"

Not many people were discussing these examinees.

Although the speed at which several of this year's examinees reached the fifth floor was faster than last year's top freshman.

But unfortunately, with Luca in the lead, these achievements—which would have undoubtedly caused a sensation last year—seemed insignificant in the eyes of the spectators now.

Watching Luca rapidly closing in on the 20th floor, and then glancing at Rogge and Rainer, still confronting each other on the fifth floor—

Some couldn't help but feel a sense of pity for them.

As the saying goes, comparing oneself to others can only lead to frustration. The gap was simply too overwhelming.

At this moment, Luca was completely unaware of the situation outside.

After activating the Frostborn ability, the pressure he had to bear was drastically reduced, allowing him to clear the floors at a speed several times faster than before.

With his overwhelming ice-elemental abilities, even rare monsters at the Platinum Grade could barely cause any ripples in his presence.

Under everyone's watchful eyes, the runes on the Trial Tower lit up floor by floor.

Luca bulldozed his way through, quickly approaching the 20th floor.

[Ding! You have slain a level 40 Rock Guardian (Leader). You gained 355,000 experience points!]

[Your level has increased to 27. You have received 20 free attribute points!]

[You have cleared the 19th floor of the Trial Tower. Would you like to proceed to the next floor?]

In the scorching desert, Luca pulled his ice lance out of the eye socket of a massive Rock Giant.

"Finally reached the 20th floor," he murmured, letting out a long breath as he looked at the prompt and the glowing portal before him.

The higher one ascends in the Trial Tower, the stronger the monsters become. Even with the assistance of the Frostborn ability, after battling at high intensity for such a long time, his mana and stamina were beginning to show signs of exhaustion.

Finding a rock to sit on, Luca took out a potion Franklin had prepared for him, drank it, and then closed his eyes, starting to replenish his strength.

The monster on the 20th floor would certainly be at another level of power. He needed to use this time to restore himself to peak condition and be fully prepared.

"This kid… he actually made it to the 20th floor!" Fred was so shocked when he saw the glow of the 19th-floor rune that he didn't know what to say. This kid was simply unbelievable!

"Youngsters these days… truly terrifying!" Kruse wiped his glasses, his tone filled with emotion.

It wasn't just them—even Orf hadn't expected this.

Initially, he only wanted to give Luca a small setback to curb his arrogance and make him focus on his studies.

Who would have thought that Luca would turn around and give him a huge surprise by actually reaching the 20th floor of the Trial Tower!

The stadium was abuzz with excitement.

If they hadn't seen it with their own eyes, they wouldn't have believed it—a mere Silver-grade youth had managed to force his way up to the 20th floor of the Trial Tower!

The instructors of Red Maple Academy were especially astounded.

They knew the difficulty of the Trial Tower very well. Even for second-year instructors at the academy, only a handful could reach the 20th floor.

And yet, a teenager who was only in his teens had achieved it!

Melissa felt a sense of awe welling up within her.

Only now did she understand what true genius looked like!

"Passing the 20th floor's trial won't be easy. I'd wager this kid has reached his limit," an instructor, who had been skeptical of Luca from the beginning, shook his head.

He didn't hold any particular grudge against Luca; it was just that the difficulty of the 20th floor was on a completely different level than the previous ones. Clearing the 20th floor without Platinum-grade strength was almost impossible.

Everyone present understood this fact, and most of them believed that the 19th floor was likely Luca's ceiling.

"Even if he can't clear the 20th floor, once today's events spread, this kid is going to become famous throughout Southwind City!" Fred laughed heartily, his face full of genuine admiration.

Back when they were in Riverfall City, he had taken a liking to Luca's personality.

Though his strength was lacking at the time, he had the courage to fight against all odds, daring to challenge a monster horde while still at Bronze Grade—he had the heart of a warrior.

Now that Luca had achieved such an impressive result, Fred naturally felt a great sense of joy.

The people around him heard his words and looked on with envy.

Once the story of this young man spread, many powerful factions would undoubtedly try to recruit him.

Even the Marquis of Bronte might hear his name.

For a young man who had just arrived in Southwind City, that would be the highest honor imaginable!