Chapter 14: Digital arena

After proudly announcing her return from the middle of the cafeteria, Bleia moved her hand forward, pulling Leon along and positioning him in front of her."From today on, know that he is my subordinate. Anyone who causes trouble for him will have me as their enemy!"

Once she finished speaking, she released Leon and swiped her right hand through the air. Her claws moved so quickly that they seemed to leave afterimages in the air. As the faint trails of light disappeared, five sharp sounds could be heard by the crowd.

"What?!"

"What insane agility, and what terrifically formidable strength."

"With that kind of speed and attacking power, who would have time to recite a spell if they were attacked by her?"

After estimating the attack power of Bleia's casual strike, everyone who witnessed this scene was filled with fear, covering their faces.

Leon couldn't help but smile wryly at the current situation. For the first time in his life, he felt a headache caused by "good luck."

As much as he could, he was a man striving to live a low-profile life, but in the end, he was helplessly dragged into what could only result in a fight among the strongest Apprentice Mages. Although Bleia did this with good intentions, could a simple threat of violence really deter Apprentice Mages who feared nothing?

In this Tower of Mages, where men's hearts were incomprehensible and everyone was scheming against one another, there were almost infinite methods to kill someone without being noticed.

In the library, a wide variety of knowledge about evil spells and poisonous potions was available. As long as someone was willing to put in the effort, it wasn't exactly difficult to make an Apprentice Mage meet an "unfortunate death" without anyone knowing.

Within this mysterious and terrifying Tower of Mages, Leon would never dare let the slightest drop of blood or even the tiniest hair fall into another person's hands. After all, there were countless bizarre spells that could be used against a person. The slightest mistake could end with him becoming a puppet controlled by someone else.

This was also why most Apprentice Mages lived in seclusion in their own rooms, rarely having intimate physical contact with anyone else.

Feeling the hostile glares shooting at him from all directions, Leon felt mute once again, and a bitter smile spread across his face.

It seemed he had found a great way to make many enemies at once.

In the past, he was merely a harmless low-level apprentice in the minds of others. Even if he had some minor arguments, no one would try to find a way to kill him. But today, he had nearly offended all the Apprentice Mages in the tower without saying a single word.

Without needing to think twice, he knew that from today onward, he had become a different kind of bird among all the Beginner Apprentice Mages. If anyone attempted to reach out to him, they were either investigating Bleia's information or planning his death.

Although Leon was grumbling in his mind, at that moment, he had no choice but to put on an impassive face and face these new difficulties.

After saying what she intended, Bleia, who had established her authority, grabbed Leon and hurried out of the cafeteria. A moment later, the proud and elegant Bleia reappeared in front of Pedro, who was still reeling from the shock of being thrown into a room.

"Give me the Arena card!"

Bleia revealed herself to be surprisingly domineering and tyrannical. When she slammed her small palm on the table, everything around her was knocked over. "Pow~~" A slimy, ugly toad squeezed out from the pile of books while continuously grumbling, quickly hopping onto Pedro's shoulder and glaring angrily at Bleia, the one responsible for its discomfort.

It was a small frog, but it had an enormous head, which was quite strange. It was slimy and covered in bumps and bubbles, all filled with green sludge. It had a huge mouth, and its eyes were situated on two prominent tentacles, giving it a truly bizarre appearance.

Afraid, Pedro gently patted the strange head of the frog, tilting his head and speaking softly. Reluctantly, the frog opened its mouth and spat out a special card that shone with a golden sheen.

Bleia coldly huffed, snatched the golden card from the table, turned around, and dragged Leon away.

Before leaving, Leon couldn't help but examine the strange frog.

An associated beast!

Perhaps this frog was Pedro's associated beast?

Apprentice Mages like them, who were still struggling on the lower floors of the Tower, were always trying to strengthen themselves. Without a doubt, increasing Spirit was the most difficult path. Without a Magical Medicine to boost Spirit, a first-level meditation method, and without a formal Mage to answer all their questions, they could only rely on themselves to progress.

Therefore, any method that could possibly help a person improve their own power was worth pursuing, and Associated Beasts were undeniably a good supplementary method for increasing strength.

Associated Beasts were also known as Parasite Beasts. They were a unique type of demon whose race had been altered by magic. Through a special magical ceremony, an Apprentice Mage could establish a bond between their soul and one of these beasts.

Of course, a method like this came with its own pros and cons. On the positive side, an Apprentice Mage could borrow the innate abilities of the demon, granting them some special skills that others did not possess. On the downside, during the bonding process, the Apprentice had to cut off part of their soul and transfer it to the Associated Beast.

Consequently, if the Associated Beast were seriously injured or died, the Apprentice would suffer the same fate.

If the Beast were gravely wounded, it could lead to a permanent depletion of Spirit for the Apprentice, as their soul would be harmed; there were known cases where the Mage's soul had shattered, causing them to become a complete fool.

It was a general rule that an ordinary Apprentice Mage could only establish a bond with one Beast. But, as with anything, there were always exceptions. The worm controller, one of the three strongest Apprentices, took the path of bonding with an Associated Beast. However, he truly broke the supposed limit, and somehow, he had many strange insects within his body.

As for how he did this, no one knew. Any Apprentice Mage who was taking the path of bonding with an Associated Beast would kill for that knowledge, but none of them had the courage to spy on his secret. Because, in the end, anyone who attempted to spy on him would end up dead in an "accident."

Pedro, who only had the ability of an Intermediate Apprentice, chose a Poison Dart Frog, which could, unsurprisingly, shoot poisonous darts, as his Associated Beast. Besides firing poison, it also had a good regeneration ability. Perhaps this was the main reason why Pedro chose it.

...

When the main door of the stone room closed, Bleia and Leon were left alone in a large room.

This Arena was much larger than the stone room that Leon had previously rented, occupying a total of 200 square meters. Thus, this was not a place for Apprentice Mages to practice their magical spells, but a miniature fighting arena.

If Apprentice Mages needed to settle disputes, they would usually use this Arena as a last resort. Although this place came with a rule prohibiting them from killing each other, if an "accident" were to actually occur, the killer would not have to pay with their own life. All they would have to do was pay a large fee as compensation.

Because of this, many Apprentice Mages had a great fear of this Arena, and it earned the nickname 'Death Arena'!

Bleia's slender figure stood in front of Leon. She wore a strange smile on her delicate face, which Leon thought was both seductive and cruel.

"I don't need a useless subordinate. Show me what you're capable of!"

After announcing this, and without giving him time to prepare, her delicate-looking body swayed, leaving behind a trail of afterimages. Her real body was mixed in with those afterimages, rushing toward Leon at an incredible speed.

Did she really mean that? This Bleia was truly a girl of action!

Although Bleia had been a rather frosty beauty in the past, she had still maintained the careful and low-profile character of a standard Apprentice Mage. How had she become so arrogant and aggressive after being dethroned by the Eclivel Mage?

Unfortunately, Leon didn't have time to ponder this any further because Bleia's attack was quickly closing in.

"Alert!"

"Initiating combat mode!"

"The digital Arena has been activated!"

A series of rapid warning tones resonated in his brain, almost causing him to lose focus.

When expanded in all directions, the range of the bioChip grew like a vast digital domain.

'Digital Arena? What?' Leon thought to himself, but with no time to reflect, he was flooded by notifications.

"Attention!"

"Attention!"

"Target approaching at high speed…"

"Initial assessment shows that the target has agility greater than 13."

"Host, move two steps to the left."

"After dodging, counterattack with the Burning Hands spell…"

Since the solidification of the Fire Arrow was still in progress, Leon could only use one spell, Burning Hands.

The speed of the attack was extremely fast, and Leon couldn't even see where the real Bleia was. What he could do was put all his hope in the guidance given by the Chip, move his feet, and sidestep, quickly preparing a Burning Hands spell.

However, as they say, no plan survives contact with the enemy.

Leon awkwardly fell to the ground while only halfway through dodging. His shirt was completely torn at the chest, revealing three cuts. He cast Burning Hands, but his attack hit nothing.

Leon pressed his hand against his wounds, disturbed by what had just happened. He lifted his head and shot Bleia an irritated look. Meanwhile, Bleia stood off to the side, flicking her long, flexible tongue and licking the blood from her claws.

"So it seems you have worthy reflexes… But your body is too weak. If this speed is all you've got, you might just suffer today!" Perhaps it was because she had tasted blood, but her completely blue eyes began to take on a shade of red, making her appear much more dangerous. "If you don't want to die, you better move faster…"

Bleia quickly crouched down after finishing her words, making her look like a leopard preparing to pounce. The next second, she was shooting in his direction.

Damn, if that hit him, he would really die.

As her eyes began to turn red and her fangs started to show on her lips, the warning tones vanished like crazy in his brain. Unable to tend to the wounds on his chest, Leon let out a roar.

He struck both palms together with force, opened his mouth, and began to chant.

"Burning Hands, come forth!"

"Burning Hands, I summon thee!"

"Burning…"

Three seconds later, two large fireballs erupted in both of his hands, causing Bleia to retreat.

"This is what I'm talking about! Hehe… you'd better watch out!~"

Bleia's voice was filled with excitement. She even let out a little laugh. The next second, she leaped forward, transforming into a blue streak.

Even within the confines of the digital arena, Leon was only able to see Bleia's afterimages. He couldn't find her actual position. Therefore, to prevent her from getting too close, Leon kept moving his body and adjusting his stance to keep most of her afterimages in front of him. Meanwhile, he was frantically waving his hands, trying to use the burning flames to block all possible attack routes. Searᴄh the ηovelFire.ηet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

"Zoshhh~~"

"Zoshhh~~"

"Buzz~~"

Both fireballs made noises as Leon waved them around, sending sparks flying around his body. Unfortunately, it seemed that his defense attempt was futile. No matter how hard he tried, he simply couldn't figure out where she was. Instead, he would occasionally feel a sudden, sharp pain emanating from a new spot on his body, and all of this only fueled his growing anger.

....

2041 Words