Zhao Xu didn't think that there would be another wizard hiding in the arena.
The male wizard wasn't all wrapped up, like Antonya, and his face was entirely exposed to reveal an Asian face that was probably around 30 years old or so.
But what caught Zhao Xu's attention was that the other party seemed to be in absolute shock.
Zhao Xu himself had just recovered from the feeling of having all the energy drained from his body.
He hadn't expected to actually be able to cast two spells in one round.
"Reyan, I haven't passed him to you yet, so what has this got to do with you?" Antonya glanced at the young wizard with an annoyed expression on her face.
"Oh come on. Zhongxia will be passed to me in a while, so why don't you just explain it to me first?"
"How was he able to jump levels and cast Quicken Spell on Ray of Frost?"
"But it's not possible to learn feats that have not been allocated to him. So, technically speaking, he doesn't even know Quicken Spell, right? On top of that, I was counting and he should have already used up all his spell slots."
Reyan looked very impatient and anxious, and he asked a whole slew of questions in one shot.
"You're just ignorant." Antonya sneered at him. "A rookie like you, not even a Legendary, couldn't understand the way we use Action Points."
Reyan didn't look awkward or embarrassed to hear these words at all.
He turned to look back at Zhao Xu and asked, "I'm supposed to take him as a student, so surely I should know about his situation, right? So your Action Points aren't just able to restore spell slots?"
"I could tell you, Reyan, but the information I'm going to tell you is classified. If you leak any of this, you'll have to bear the consequences yourself," said Antonya in a huff of irritation as she glanced at him.
Reyan had now become even more curious than Zhao Xu. He was acting more like a beginner than Zhao Xu's next teacher.
He quickly nodded. "I understand, I understand. Don't worry, once I've satisfied my curiosity, I'll delete my memories of it."
After that, he walked toward Antonya and stopped when he was three meters away.
At the same time, he waved Zhao Xu over as well.
Zhao Xu looked confused as he walked over. But, when he had just reached the same distance from Antonya as Reyan was…
Reyan's expression suddenly changed and he immediately started chanting incantations in a stern voice.
The incantations were very quick and Zhao Xu was barely able to take a few breaths before the chanting was complete.
Within the circle that the three of them formed, with Reyan as the center, a glowing opaque ball appeared.
The outside of the ball was covered with colorful sparkles that shimmered as if someone had blown a very large bubble.
Suddenly, Zhao Xu breathed very deeply and the memories from his previous life immediately came pouring out.
He stared in amazement at Reyan and asked, "Prismatic Sphere?"
"Young man, you're learning too much in advance for nothing. You're only at Level 1 and you know these Level 9 spells?"
Zhao Xu could only laugh awkwardly.
This was the strongest defense spell among Level 9 spells. Prismatic Sphere was a really famous one among the players.
You couldn't get a spell in, and weapons couldn't break it either. Once a wizard donned this sphere, it was more invincible than a tortoise shell.
But what would make them need something of this level?
Reyan immediately understood that Zhao Xu had no idea why he had cast the spell in the first place.
He laughed and said, "I just knew it, you only understand this spell halfway. Nothing that happens within a Prismatic Sphere can be tracked down by detection or divination."
Zhao Xu raised an eyebrow. So this was done in order to maintain secrecy. But this was too high a price to pay.
In his previous life, he hadn't seen many high-level spells being cast, but in this life, he kept seeing one after another while he was still a beginner.
When it came to the difference in spellcasting, those who were too low level were seriously pathetic, while those who were high-level were just drowning in spells.
After Antonya was sure that Reyan had completed his spell, she finally spelled it out, "Action Points can emulate metamagic feats.
"He used one point to restore one spell slot, then used another to emulate the feat of Quicken spell, and the last three action points to make the spell slot go from Level 4 down to Level 1."
Reyan's eyes almost fell out of his head when he heard this. "All of you with Action Points are really too powerful, aren't you? It's one thing to have unlimited spell slots, but now you're telling me you can even emulate metamagic feats? You guys get all the good stuff?"
"Are you very upset about that?" replied Antonya coldly.
Zhao Xu had started to sense that, regardless of whether Antonya was facing that elderly wizard, Mocar, or this young wizard, Reyan, her attitude was the same.
She always kept on that icy and aloof attitude with them.
There was none of the friendliness she displayed toward him.
"I wouldn't dare to. The Chairman is terrible as well. Since he's given me this mission, then he should at least give me a rundown of everything. I ended up having to expend a Level 9 spell slot because of this," Reyan grumbled unhappily.
"So you're passing this fellow to me, right?"
The cover of the Prismatic Sphere around them had slowly begun to fade and disappear.
"Yes, I am. Zhongxia, your initial wizard course ends here. You can follow Reyan from here on."
"He is our contact with the temple, so he'll bring you over to begin your Cleric training. Also, your Action Points should have all been used up, but it doesn't matter because you'd get more later."
Zhao Xu immediately froze for a moment and couldn't be bothered with the fact that his character stats read Action Points: 0/5 anymore.
He quickly asked Antonya, "Mentor, you're not going to teach me anymore?"
"Your mentor bashed up some of the old men in the temple next door, so they're not on such good terms," Reyan cut in. "That's why I'm the one bringing you over to become a cleric, and I'll bring you right back after that."
Antonya didn't bother to explain herself. She glared at Reyan, then used a teleportation spell to disappear.
Zhao Xu knew that he would still see Antonya in the future, but he still felt as emotional as if they were parting forever.
After he watched Antonya disappear, Reyan turned around and looked properly at Zhao Xu as he said, "Let me introduce myself first. My name is Reyan, a Level 20 Wizard. My first role is as the Contact Officer of the Temple of the Goddess of Magic for Arthur's Wizard Association. My second role is as a member of The Final Scroll, and I'm also a Contact Officer there."
As Reyan spoke, Zhao Xu just nodded along. Antonya had passed him along to Reyan without any sort of explanation or goodbye.
But, of course, that also implied something else that she didn't say— Reyan could be trusted.
"Zhongxia, Level 1 Wizard, Double Elite, an affiliate of Arthur's Wizard Association and a member of The Final Scroll."
"Hello there, Zhongxia. So first off, let's confirm your next few steps," said Reyan as he looked at Zhao Xu.
"The next thing that's going to happen is that the organization will send you to become a cleric. Your wizard course is complete now, short of familiarizing yourself with weapons and getting skills. These things are included in your cleric training, so we'll just do them at the same time over there. There are more things to grasp when it comes to weapons and armor for clerics, so we've also arranged for your skills to be placed right at the end.
"Do you have any questions about the path ahead?"
Zhao Xu shook his head. "No, I don't. But Mr. Reyan, I would like to ask a question."
"What is it?"
"The battle earlier. What was the reason for designing it this way?" asked Zhao Xu.
Reyan raised an eyebrow. The casual look he had kept up all this time started to look a little serious now.
"It was just for you to train up."
"I don't think it's that simple," insisted Zhao Xu.
"Alright now, but you must promise to keep this a secret." Reyan looked over his shoulder and peered around.
He was using his own eyes to check if there was anyone else around and seemed to have forgotten that he was a wizard.
"This is a secret, and I only learned it after I became a senior in the association…oh forget it, you might see right through me. This is actually something that only the middle ranks know about. The Final Scroll will always go through this ceremony for everyone going down the battling path.
"It's mostly to let you see for yourselves that high-level wizards have more than enough methods to kill you. So if you ever run into a high-level wizard, run or hide as far away as you can, and call on a wizard who's at an even higher level to thrash him."