Chapter 68 - Bad Habit
Gerian was laughing up his sleeve when he saw the look of amazement on Old Grimm’s face, and the thoughts in his mind were more or less sinister. It doesn’t seem to be a big deal being frightened by this freak back then. See… I wasn’t the only one, now even the legendary mage is startled…
“Stop!” When there were about three or four hundred wind blades released by Lin Li, Old Grimm finally called for a timeout. “President Gerian, can you tell me, how long was his mana output when Felic was going through his level certification?”
“This…” Gerian paused for a while and crept beside Old Grimm’s ear. “28 minutes…”
“What!?” Old Grimm almost jumped upon hearing it.
The look on his face was no different from Gerian’s back then. He looked at Lin Li as if he was looking at a monster. In the face of such a freak with infinite mana, there was no difference whether it was an Archmage or a legendary mage. In fact, they did not know that what they were feeling now had been felt by Andoine several times back in the Sunset Mountains…
Old Grimm wavered. He had wanted to find the root of the problem from the strength of the mana, but now it seemed that Lin Li’s mana was infinite, and so that seemed doomed to be in the wrong direction.
“Actually, I feel that what Felic lacks most now is actual combat.”
Both of them were startled at Gerian’s words. Lin Li mulled it over and realized it seemed to be true indeed. When he was in the Sunset Mountains, he was faced with different magical beasts every day—beasts from level-four to level-eight, from Manticores to Wyverns. He was struggling on the delicate line between life and death almost every day. In this struggle, his magic level had improved dramatically. From a mage apprentice to a level-eight mage, it seemed to be just the blink of an eye, without feeling any hindrance at all.
And then he got to Jarrosus City. There were better learning conditions, but the time he used magic was suddenly reduced. The number of real battles was pitifully few—a mere total of three and a half. In three of these, he had gained an absolute upper hand; the only time he couldn’t win was the pure mental strength battle with Old Merlin. But none of them had used any spells, and so, strictly speaking, it should only be counted half a time…
At the same time, Lin Li’s magic level stagnated all of a sudden. If he hadn’t benefited greatly from the battle between the two Archmages, he would still have been at level-eight.
Magic was such a strange thing…
Having a huge mana and mastering a lot of spells did not necessarily mean a stronger fighting capacity. Many things could only be comprehended during actual combat. Just like pharmaceutics—someone who knew a large number of formulas was not necessarily a master of potions. He probably wouldn’t be able to concoct a Sobriety Potion when it came to the application.
“President Gerian is right. Let’s do it this way… I have nothing else to do these few days anyway, why don’t I help you improve your actual combat experience?”
“This… doesn’t seem appropriate?” Lin Li scratched his head and hesitated. “You are the legendary mage. Isn’t it the same as seeking death if I practice with you?”
“Don’t worry about this, I’ll only use the strength of a Magic Shooter, and the spells I use won’t be over level-ten.”
Gerian was like an ant on a hot pan, glancing at Lin Li continuously. This little bastard will be the death of me. The legendary mage wants to deliberately suppress his power in order to give him advice, and he is still dallying there. If it was me, I would already jump on him directly…
“Alright…” Lin Li nodded and took a few steps back.
“Wait!” Old Grimm suddenly called out at this point. “This habit of yours is really bad.”
Lin Li was about to cast an Ice Armor Spell on himself when he heard Old Grimm calling for a pause. He stood there dazed, and asked in bewilderment, “What habit?”
“Retreating before you cast a spell.” Old Grimm pointed to the spot Lin Li stood at previously. “You did the same thing just now when you were releasing the icicles—taking a few steps backward before casting the spell. This is a bad habit. A mage is not an archer—there’s no need to distance yourself deliberately, and even more so there’s no need to make use of the surrounding environment to win a battle. A real mage can take control of the rhythm of the battle in an instant, at any distance, and in any environment. What we use is always our own strength!”
Lin Li listened quietly. He knew that this was indeed his shortcoming. His hunter profession in the Endless World had brought him a good sense of rhythm, but it also brought him a lot of deep-rooted bad habits.
For example, retreating before the battle out of habit.
For example, adding the Hastening Spell on himself during combat and using the Delaying Spell on his enemy to slow them down in order to maintain his advantage in speed.
For example, placing too much emphasis on the distance between himself and the enemy.
Et cetera, et cetera… For a mage, there was no need at all to do such things.
“You must remember: in a mage’s battle, there’ll always be two kinds of rhythm—control and outburst.”
“I’ll keep that in mind…” Lin Li nodded thoughtfully. At the same time, a shot of wind blade tore through the air. This time, he did not retreat at all.
“Heh heh. You’ve learnt fast.” Old Grimm could only use the power of a Magic Shooter, and it was no longer possible to block the wind blade with his mana alone. But the old man still looked unhurried, and almost as soon as the wind blade roared, the Ice Armor Spell was summoned.
The wind blade cut through the glittering ice and made a shrill noise.
Old Grimm’s counterattack was quite different from Lin Li’s. Under the protection of the ice shield, the old man began his recitations. His recitations were not fast, and even were slower than Lin Li’s to some extent. But there was a sense of skill and fluency, with no pause in the middle. By the time the last spell fell, seven Arcane Missiles had coalesced into shape.
With a wave of his hand, the seven Arcane Missiles fired at Lin Li at the same time.
In an instant, the ice armor was shattered, and the Elemental Shield that was just propped up was reduced to a thin layer. It would only take one spell from Old Grimm to break it completely.
Lin Li was barely maintaining the functioning of the Elemental Shield, but there was no panic on his face. He retaliated with Mana Feedback that interrupted the casting rhythm of Old Grimm; at the same time, he began to recite the spell for Delirium, hoping to drag the combat into a match of pure mental strength.