"3...2...1...Begin!"
With the referee's gesture from above, all the contestants in the competition rushed to cast magic on the "Dark Element Sphere" dozens of meters in front of them.
Right after it started, I took out my best Purification Spell, because, from experience, Purification Spells can automatically track those Dark Element spheres. It's guaranteed to hit every time, with no chance of missing.
Moreover, the power of Purification Spells is quite strong on its own. It's considered mid-tier magic in Edenmere.
But in comparison, the mid-tier magic I learned from Cyra in the morning felt useless. Although they were both light-based magic, most of the light elements were wasted and went into weird places. Especially when it came to damage against dark elements, the efficacy of Purification Spells was by far the highest.
In about a few seconds, I had already thrown out over a dozen Purification Spells. I felt my energy instantly drained, while the target sphere visibly shrank a tiny bit in diameter from afar.
It seems a bit slow...
While I rested to recover, I observed the situation around me.
That Phoebe was someone I couldn't overlook! As expected, I didn't see her chant at all. Using just that bit of time, she had already released a transparent, milky white light barrier covering her target ball from above. She was now preparing her second spell.
The second spell was high-tier magic. Even a top player like Phoebe needed chanting to help cast it. What concerned me most was that light barrier, because it looked very similar to the "Sanctum of Light" from my high-tier magic book.
According to the magic book, the "Sanctum of Light" is a spell that covers a certain area of ground under massive amounts of light elements. Hiding inside its light barrier can effectively reduce external magic damage, especially from dark elements. At the same time, it provides slight ongoing healing to angels inside.
I see! How did I not think of that earlier?
I immediately realized that even though this spell was classified as defensive and healing, precisely because of the continuous light element supply within its range, it resulted in ongoing corrosion damage against dark elements. Although the damage wasn't significant, its advantage was in being lasting!
Moreover, while the ongoing damage took effect, it allowed time to prepare other big spells at the same time, like the high-tier magic Phoebe was chanting to cast now.
She lived up to being the winner of the previous competition. Her opening move stood out so differently, taking the lead in skill while also very effectively reducing time wasted.
And don't forget, the "Sanctum of Light" was also a high-tier spell. For her to cast it out so quickly, it was either due to the aforementioned lack of need for chanting or she had done the chanting in advance during the countdown.
In contrast, the other eight-winged and six-winged angel competitors lacked experience. They just let their target sphere sit there while chanting spells.
If I hadn't gone through the various gaming skills on Earth, I probably wouldn't have realized this point either. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see how the light elements flowed when Phoebe cast "Sanctum of Light" earlier. Now I could only pin my hopes of learning high-tier magic on observing her next big move.
Due to the environmental influence, the light elements in my body recovered after a short while. This didn't stop me from observing the light element flow in Phoebe's body. I knew the Purification Spells so well I could fire them off instantly without needing to concentrate. Then I quickly drained my reserves again, going back into recovery mode...
After nearly half a minute of chanting preparation, Phoebe's second high-tier spell finally finished casting - it was a spell I didn't recognize. I just saw a dazzling pillar of white light descend from the sky, striking the dark element sphere covered by the "Sanctum of Light," immediately reducing its diameter considerably.
No wonder the organizers used a peculiar grouping method. This spell's range was quite wide. Thanks to the surrounding open space, otherwise it would accidentally blast another contestant's target.
"But it still feels a bit strange. If it's high-tier magic, shouldn't its power be better than this? It doesn't seem as strong as I imagined..."
I muttered doubtfully to myself. I had to admit that one strike was quite impressive, but adding the chanting time, I could have fired off two or three Purification Spells already.
Compared in this way, the target sphere now looked only a tiny bit smaller than mine. It didn't seem like a very big difference. It didn't look much better than mid-tier magic.
After learning and observation, I had grasped how to cast this unknown high-tier spell. But now I hesitated a bit on whether to try it out immediately.
Firstly, this spell consumed a lot of the light elements in my body. Phoebe was drained after using it, now in the same recovery state as me.
Although she had used the "Sanctum of Light" before, as an eight-winged angel her rank was higher than mine, so the light elements in her body should be more abundant too. If she didn't stop to recover, she could probably use such a high-tier spell continuously three times, while I estimated at most twice in a row as a six-winged angel.
Secondly, although I roughly memorized how the light elements flowed in her body during the spell's chant, it would be hard to recreate it myself. Because the flow of elements was simply too complicated, with countless twists and turns. I feared what consequences might result if I got any part of it wrong.
In short, it definitely couldn't be fired off instantly like Purification Spells. And I didn't know how to use chanting to assist like Phoebe. Giving up now after spending time learning it would be a waste, so I struggled to decide.
"Why don't you keep using Purification Spells?"
While I hesitated, the assistant referee behind me suddenly spoke up softly and asked.
"Huh? You can talk?"
I was startled. I had assumed their duties forbade speaking during the competition.
But looking around, the other opponents were chanting and casting away, while I was the only one chatting with the staff here. How embarrassing.
Seeing me hurriedly throw out another dozen Purification Spells, and then enter recovery mode again, the assistant referee continued speaking.
"Me talking doesn't affect timing, I was just curious and wanted to remind you since you weren't doing anything. At least cast some lower-tier spells, don't waste time!"
"It's nothing, I was just wondering why Phoebe's high-tier spell seems weak in power..."
I casually replied. By now Phoebe had recovered very quickly, in less than 10 seconds. She immediately started repeating the chant for that spell again.
"That spell is called 'Blast of Paradise Lost.' Didn't you see she had cast a layer of the 'Sanctum of Light' over her target sphere? The reduced power is because of that protective spell."
"!!! I see!"
Reminded the assistant referee, and I immediately understood. Although the "Sanctum of Light" had ongoing damage, it was also a double-edged sword that would hinder the power of subsequent attack spells.
Now the "Sanctum of Light" had disappeared. So it was foreseeable that Phoebe's next "Blast of Paradise Lost" would have considerable might.
Since I no longer had this concern, I could fully try out the new spell!
But before casting, a flash of inspiration suddenly reminded me of a spell I had overlooked all this time.
Since the "Sanctum of Light" would affect attack spells' power, was there a spell that wouldn't hinder power but could still inflict lasting damage?
The answer did exist! It was the "Light Puppet" I had learned from Selene before.
This Light Puppet, though made of light elements, had no physical form. It also met the condition of lacking a protective effect. What's more, the light element concentration inside was much higher than the "Sanctum of Light", so the damage dealt was greater too.
Although its range was far smaller than the "Sanctum of Light", I didn't need such a large area to begin with. Moreover, I could freely change its shape, making it optimal against the dark element sphere!
"Oh, what spell is that?"
Seeing me immediately pinch out a bright light clump floating in midair without a word, the assistant referee behind me asked, rather puzzled.
"'Light Puppet'"
I replied embarrassedly. Just like when I first cast it, the end product looked nothing like a puppet at all. But it was already more than enough...
When I manipulated the "Light Puppet" to the target's position, completely overlapping with the "Dark Element Sphere", the assistant referee finally understood my intention.
"This method is very clever. I didn't expect the 'Light Puppet' could be used like this. It's much more effective than Phoebe's 'Sanctum of Light'!"
It was obvious that after being invaded by the "Light Puppet", the "Dark Element Sphere" was slowly but visibly shrinking. Although still very slow overall, it was already much faster than the "Sanctum of Light".
"It's also thanks to your reminder!"
I modestly said, of course not daring to relax yet.