After hearing what Antonya said, Zhao Xu was shocked.
Hit her?
How was that even possible?
Zhao Xu was only a Level 1 Wizard, and he had to use a Level 1 spell to hit Antonya?
He didn't act rashly and increased his vigilance instead. He looked at Antonya with wary and defensive eyes.
If there were spectators around, they would have thought that he was the one being attacked.
Antonya looked at Zhao Xu and nodded her head slightly. She was quite pleased with how Zhao Xu was behaving so carefully.
"You don't have to worry; I'll set rules. Every time you attack me, I'll use a different method to defend."
The entire round arena was echoing with Antonya's voice now.
She wouldn't use the same method twice.
"What about saving throws?" Zhao Xu continued to ask.
For some negative spells to work, the target had to be unable to roll a saving throw, like Fortitude, Reflex, or Will.
Antonya was already at a very high level, so her saving throw score was very high. It wasn't something that a novice at Level 1 like himself was able to beat easily.
"It doesn't matter if your spell is effective or not. If you actually do something that requires me to use a saving throw, I'll consider that a hit."
After hearing that, Zhao Xu realized what Antonya was saying. She wasn't trying to make him display how much damage he could actually cause her; she just wanted him to experience how many different methods high-level wizards had to offset or reduce an attack from an opponent.
Once he realized this, Zhao Xu didn't feel as worked up or worried anymore.
Suddenly, Antonya thought of something and said, "Also, you used a Level 1 spell earlier, and now you're left with one other Level 1 spell slot. To make it fair, catch this. It's the scroll for the Magic Missile spell you used just now."
A scroll followed a beautiful arc to land neatly in Zhao Xu's palm.
After Zhao Xu gripped it firmly, he took a deep breath.
He now had three cantrip spell slots, one Level 1 spell slot, and one Magic Missile scroll.
After a while, his breathing became more even. Zhao Xu pushed aside any other emotions that could affect his thought process, and all those thoughts about the pros and cons had disappeared.
He just continued to stare straight at Antonya, who was now standing several meters away from himself.
In an instant, Zhao Xu felt a little like he was in a daze. It was as if Antonya had cast a spell on him.
He immediately blinked but didn't see anything happening.
The eight schools of magic were Abjuration, Evocation, Conjuration, Necromancy, Illusion, Transmutation, Enchantment, and Divination.
Besides Zhao Xu's cantrips that covered all the different schools of magic, his Level 1 spells only covered six of them.
He didn't have much to choose from if he wanted spells that could hit Antonya.
After taking a deep breath, Zhao Xu pulled out a bag of magic materials from inside his robe and grabbed some powder with his hand. It was red, yellow, and blue in color.
As he held the magic material in his hand, he started to chant the necessary incantations to cast the spell.
Color Spray!
A blinding flash of seven colors immediately formed a conical shape and covered the area in front of Zhao Xu.
This spell had a casting time of only a standard action, but Zhao Xu had completed it in the blink of an eye, and it didn't even take as long as it took for him to pull out the materials required.
The shape of a fan with a radius of nearly five meters covered the area and encapsulated Antonya.
Even though Antonya was already over Level 20, it also meant that her Hit Dice was now higher than 20HD.
But the reason why the spell, Color Spray, was able to remain so powerful was that even if one was a living creature with a Hit Dice higher than 5HD, as long as the spell was effective, it could stun the target for one round.
If one couldn't move for an entire round, then one would lose the majority of one's defensive power, and this spell made full use of this affected state to dominate the target.
But when the blinding lights faded, Antonya still didn't seem to show any reaction and just stood there like she didn't care at all.
"Spell Resistance. It negates your spell altogether. I will not use Spell Resistance anymore. Continue."
Antonya's words were very calm, as if nothing had happened at all earlier.
Zhao Xu shook his head and tried to wake himself up.
Spell Resistance and saving throws were like the twin nemeses of Arthur's magic. In general, most spells that were targeted at attacking or controlling the enemy would first need to get through the opponent's resistance to spells, then get past the saving throws in order to have an effect.
But resistance to spells was something that only some monsters or other races had. Humans didn't naturally come with the ability to resist spells.
So, from the looks of it, Antonya had cast a spell to give her the ability to resist spells.
Or, rather, from the moment she stood there, she had already cast the spell of Spell Resistance on herself.
Zhao Xu's actions didn't stop either. He grabbed the scroll that Antonya had given him just now and started chanting the incantations written on it directly.
A missile of magical energy appeared once again in his hands and started flying straight for Antonya.
He was already very familiar with how to cast this spell.
A Magic Missile had to get past any spell resistance, but it could ignore saving throws.
However, as Zhao Xu watched for himself, as the Magic Missile was just about to get close to Antonya, it suddenly seemed like a giant, invisible wall had appeared in front of her, and the Magic Missile dissipated on the spot. It didn't even manage to hit the corners of Antonya's robe.
"Level 4 spell. Globe of Invulnerability, Lesser. It can block any Level 1 to 3 spells, and I will not use this spell next time. Continue."
After hearing these words, Zhao Xu finally felt how much of an advantage a high-level wizard had over a low-level wizard.
That meant that the spell that was protecting Antonya right now would be effective against him until he reached Level 7 and was able to cast Level 4 spells.
But Zhao Xu wasn't going to be discouraged or give up.
He focused his attention again and started to analyze Antonya once more while he thought about what other methods he could use.
Because of the spells he had cast earlier, he had finished using both his Level 1 spell slot as well as the Level 1 spell scroll.
Now, he was only left with three cantrips.
But this also meant that he had three chances.
With that in mind, Zhao Xu immediately continued chanting incantations to cast a spell.
Acid Splash!
A small ball of acid gathered in Zhao Xu's palms out of nowhere, then flew straight towards Antonya.
This cantrip was able to hit any living creature within a short range. It could cause 1D3 of acid damage and both saving throws and resistance were useless against it.
But for spells that involved a flying object, they had to go through ranged touch attack checks. That was equivalent to Zhao Xu flinging an object over, and there was the possibility of opponents either being able to block it with their armor or simply being able to avoid the attack.
Yet Antonya continued to stand in place like a wooden statue. When the little ball of acid was just about to hit her, it suddenly deflected in a different direction.
It went straight and crashed onto the floor, releasing a soft sizzling sound.
The arena's floor had been treated specially, so the little hole caused by the acid eating into it immediately returned to normal.
Meanwhile, Antonya stood there as if she hadn't been the target of the spell in the first place.
"That's impossible," murmured Zhao Xu to himself.
If the little ball of acid had just disappeared, then he didn't have anything to say.
But now it had actually been deflected?
"Level 4 spell. Ray Deflection. It makes me immune to any ranged touch attacks, including spells that involve rays or attack moves that make use of rays to attack living creatures. I will no longer use this spell either. Continue."
After hearing what Antonya said, Zhao Xu had to admit defeat for that spell.
She didn't need to go through a check and was just immune to the effects.
The latter part of the sentence was to advise him against using any other spells that involved rays.
Zhao Xu noticed that there was some perspiration on his forehead, and the droplets were large enough to fall anytime. The way Antonya was just standing there and waiting for him to attack was too much pressure.
Zhao Xu suddenly had an idea.
He wiped away his sweat and held equal amounts of magic material in his hands to cast the Touch of Fatigue spell.
Even after he had finished casting the spell, the blue gleam of light was still gathered within his palms.
Zhao Xu immediately made a dash forward. If he didn't touch Antonya within one round, the spell would lose its effectiveness.
When he had come close enough to Antonya to touch her, he swung his arm towards her.
Antonya was immune to ranged touch attacks, so what would happen if he decided to launch a melee touch attack?