The crowd was abuzz with a mix of surprise, admiration, and criticism.
"That Nephilim young man isn't weak… but he was careless!"
"How could he fall for such an obvious trick?"
"That unranked acolyte is clever… much smarter than he appears."
What most of the crowd didn't realize was that Hardy's flashy move with the beads had been a carefully layered strategy, concealing a much deeper secret. While the beads had served their purpose of creating a distraction, Hardy had also used them to mask his true trump card: his time spell.
Cultivating the rare time-based light elements was no easy feat. The complexity of these spells required immense focus and innate talent, which Hardy had struggled to develop.
Despite years of relentless training, he had only managed to form his third pillar. Facing a genius Nephilim acolyte who had reached the peak of rank 9, Hardy understood that he needed to rely on misdirection and an element of surprise.
