Chapter 78: The Ranking Advancement Match

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Chapter 78: Ranking Advancement Matches

“Um, can I ask a question?” Ye Tian spoke meekly.

“Speak!” Lantus replied haughtily.

“Why must you take me as your disciple?”

Lantus was instantly at a loss for words, unable to explain himself for a long moment. Of course, he couldn’t say, “I want to take you as my disciple to keep you away from Lady Li,” could he? If he said that, what dignity would he have left?

“It’s because you’re gifted, a promising candidate for a mage,” Lantus finally managed to squeeze out.

Ye Tian couldn’t help but chuckle. Gifted—he could accept that. But a promising candidate for studying magic? He couldn’t even sense magic! Was he supposed to learn magic with his mouth?

Seeing Ye Tian laugh, Lantus’s face flushed red. There was nothing he could do; even he couldn’t convince himself with that excuse. “You’ll accept, whether you want to or not!” Lantus snapped, exasperated at Ye Tian’s lack of appreciation.

Boom! Flames erupted at Lantus’s feet. Pity the door Ye Tian had just fixed—it began burning again.

“Hey, hey, Professor Lantus! I just fixed that!” Ye Tian cried out in alarm, hurriedly taking off his clothes to beat out the flames.

The fire conjured by magic was different from natural fire; it carried the caster’s own spiritual power. As long as the caster’s energy remained, the flames could never be extinguished. Of course, such an act also harmed the mage, so it was done sparingly; otherwise, mages would simply cast their spells and ignore the consequences.

Ye Tian tried to beat out the flames, but the fire climbed up his clothes. He tossed them aside, and instantly, the flames devoured them. The door, too, was reduced to a pile of charcoal.

With a kick, Ye Tian sent the burning door flying; as it landed, the fire slowly died out. “Hmph,” Lantus sneered, waiting for Ye Tian to speak. But Ye Tian didn’t even glance at him; instead, he gathered his belongings and left, leaving behind a room full of scorch marks.

“You!” Lantus was utterly enraged. He was used to looking down on others—when had he ever been treated this way? And by a lowly male servant, no less! The urge to kill this insolent brat surged within Lantus. That was the only thing on his mind.

Boom! A fireball more than ten feet wide formed in his hand. “Die!” Lantus snarled, hurling the massive fireball at Ye Tian. Sensing danger, Ye Tian turned to see the enormous fireball hurtling toward him. “Oh no!”

“Ice Wall!” A shout rang out, and a crystalline wall of ice shot up before Ye Tian. Crash! The fireball slammed into the ice, sending shards flying and leaving the area in chaos.

The thunderous noise roused the nearby male servants. They all came out to see what was going on. When they saw the furious Lantus, the pile of ice shards before Ye Tian, and the equally enraged Lady Li beside them, everyone understood at once. With a sigh, they quietly retreated. These were not people they could afford to offend!

“Respected Professor Lantus, care to explain what’s going on here?” Lady Li enunciated each word, her tone so cold it seemed to freeze the air. In fact, if one looked closely, tiny ice crystals were beginning to form—a sign that an ice mage was on the verge of losing control, her magic leaking out. Lady Li was truly furious. Very, very furious!

After what had happened yesterday, Lady Li’s anger hadn’t subsided. She hadn’t even attended the ball last night and had come to Ye Tian’s room early this morning to catch him and use him as a target for her students. But she hadn’t expected to arrive just in time to see Lantus attempt to kill Ye Tian with a giant fireball!

Ye Tian couldn’t use magic, and even if he could, he was no match for a mage of Lantus’s caliber. What’s more, Lantus’s intent was clearly to kill. That was what made Lady Li most furious—how dare he try to take a man’s life!

“Give me an explanation!” Lady Li’s voice was as cold as the surrounding air.

“It was an accident! An accident!” Lantus stammered awkwardly, glancing around. Although both were master mages, Lantus was no match for Lady Li, which was why he always ended up at a disadvantage.

“Another spar, yes, a spar!” Lantus forced a laugh. “Lady Li, why are you up so early?”

“A spar? A master mage against someone who can’t use magic? You really know how to pick your opponents!” Lady Li erupted in fury. “Starfall!” In an instant, countless ice shards shot toward Lantus.

Lantus was dismayed. Lady Li was usually eccentric and paid no attention to his distillery, but he hadn’t expected her to be so enraged this time. He hurriedly cast a Flame Shield to cover himself.

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A mage’s strength depended on their level, the grade of their spells, and the amount of magical power they possessed. The Flame Shield was a higher-level spell than Lady Li’s Starfall, so the barrage of ice shards evaporated on contact, making Lady Li’s expression even colder.

“No, that’s not—” Lantus panicked and tried to withdraw the Flame Shield, but Lady Li whispered a few syllables, and a massive ice spear materialized.

“No!” Lantus cried in terror, quickly dispelling the shield and chanting a few lines. A fiery bird appeared and met the descending ice spear.

Crash! Ice shards flew everywhere. Lady Li stood proudly to the side, while Lantus spat out a mouthful of blood. “Damn it, I’ll get my revenge for this one day!” he vowed. With a snap of his fingers, he cast “Flaming Carpet,” soaring into the air on a wave of fire. He shot Ye Tian a look, then turned and fled.

“Hmph!” Lady Li, though still angry, didn’t pursue him since he had chosen to run. She looked up at Ye Tian, who stood there stunned. When he saw her looking, he hurried over. “Thank you for saving me, Lady Li.”

Seeing Ye Tian’s face, Lady Li’s anger suddenly flared up again. She stomped hard on his foot, then turned and left, leaving Ye Tian hopping on one foot in pain.

Strangely enough, after finishing his day’s work, Ye Tian found that no one came to bother him. “That’s not right,” he muttered, a sense of foreboding in his heart. Sometimes, the calmer things seemed, the greater the storm that followed.

After cleaning the training ground, Ye Tian straightened up and, with his tools in hand, headed to the last training area. Once he finished cleaning it, his work would be done for the day. To his surprise, someone was still training inside—it was Layton.

“Not heading back yet?” Ye Tian looked at the sweat-drenched Layton and smiled. “Training can’t be accomplished in a day. You need to balance work and rest.”

Panting, Layton looked at Ye Tian helplessly. “I can’t afford to stop. If I don’t make it to the semifinals of this year’s advancement tournament, I’ll really be expelled!”

“Why so strict?” Ye Tian exclaimed. The academy held a ranking advancement tournament roughly every six months, and the bottom ten were expelled, making the competition fierce. At first, Ye Tian didn’t understand, but later realized it was the school’s way of maintaining student quality.

Every year, many students entered the academy, but their abilities varied widely. If the weakest weren’t weeded out, the overall quality would suffer. Training a top mage wasn’t easy—it required the careful guidance of instructors, and too many students would spread them too thin.

“What was your ranking last time?” Ye Tian asked.

“Eleventh,” Layton replied with a wry smile. Those ahead of him had all left, and if he didn’t work harder, he’d be next. He was reluctant to leave.

“How much time is left?” Ye Tian inquired.

“Two months,” Layton said, still smiling bitterly.

“I see.” Ye Tian stroked his chin. “From tomorrow, don’t go to class. You already know everything the teachers can teach you. Be my servant for a while—I guarantee you’ll advance!” Ye Tian declared.

“Really?” Layton had received guidance from Ye Tian before, but only in theory. For someone like Ye Tian, who had no magical power, promising to get him through the advancement tournament in two months sounded dubious.

“Don’t believe me? How about this: if I can take the badge from your chest, will you believe me?” Ye Tian pointed at the student badge on Layton’s chest.

“Go ahead,” Layton said. Ye Tian set down his tools and slowly walked toward him.

Whoosh! Several fireballs shot toward Ye Tian. Layton wasn’t high-level, but his basic spells were well-practiced. Take fireballs, for instance—though only first-level spells, he could cast several at once, which most students couldn’t manage.

The fireballs circled Ye Tian but didn’t attack. Layton then stepped back, sending a small whirlwind to fan the flames, increasing their power.

Ye Tian strolled forward unhurriedly, completely at ease.

Another small whirlwind hit, and the fireballs’ power multiplied. “Explode!” Layton cried, detonating the fireballs he controlled with his mind at just the right moment.

In a blur, Ye Tian crouched and slipped out of the encirclement, leaving Layton gaping in disbelief. How had he escaped?

“Come on!” Ye Tian called, continuing toward Layton.

“Ice Blade!” Several icy knives flew at Ye Tian, who dodged them easily. Layton smiled and, with a flick of his finger, sent spinning ice blades at Ye Tian from behind. Ye Tian, weaving left and right, dodged them effortlessly—without even looking—leaving Layton in utter disbelief.

“This is impossible!”

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“Starfall!” Layton roared, sweat beading on his forehead. This was the strongest spell he knew—a barrage of ice shards rained down on Ye Tian.

“Watch closely!” Paying no heed to the storm of ice shards, Ye Tian simply shook his head and, without moving his upper body, began to circle in place, his posture relaxed.

To Layton’s astonishment, not a single shard hit Ye Tian! With a dazzling series of steps, Ye Tian walked out unscathed and patted Layton on the shoulder.

“Well?”

“Gray! Gray, my dear Gray, whether I can stay at the academy is all up to you!” Layton snapped back to his senses and threw his arms around Ye Tian as if afraid he’d run away.

“Ugh, let go of me—I’m not into men.” Ye Tian rapped Layton on the head. “Remember, starting tomorrow, you must do whatever I say. If you don’t, your advancement isn’t my responsibility!”

“I understand!” Layton nodded so vigorously he resembled a pecking chick.

“Heh, tomorrow at—hmm—five. Five in the morning, come find me. We’ll start special training. And don’t tell anyone about this—or do as you wish.” Ye Tian said.

“Understood, got it!” Layton replied nervously, afraid that angering Ye Tian would ruin his chances. “Should I go rest now?”

“Heh, not so fast. Clean up here first.” With that, Ye Tian walked off, hands behind his back, leaving Layton stunned.

To his great surprise, Ye Tian slept soundly until Layton came knocking the next morning. Ye Tian, still groggy, saw the equally sleepy Layton and burst out laughing. “Go wash your face and change your clothes. Don’t wear your mage’s robe for now, or you’ll regret it.”

Seeing Layton hesitate, Ye Tian gave him a sharp flick on the forehead, snapping him to attention. “Hurry up!”

“Yes.” Layton yawned and went to wash up.

When Layton had finished, he found Ye Tian waiting for him with a smile, holding two sets of cleaning tools. “What’s this?” Layton asked in confusion.

“Your training tools. Trust me, you’ll never forget this experience!” Ye Tian grinned, baring his teeth in a sinister smile.

“Gray, are you sure this will work?” Layton asked nervously as he stood on a chair, cleaning windows beside Ye Tian.

Layton was on the verge of despair. Damn Gray! Making him clean alongside a servant! He was a proud mage—how could he be reduced to cleaning like a servant? He almost wanted to quit, but seeing Ye Tian’s cheerful smile, his anger flared. Was he being looked down on? Gritting his teeth, Layton decided to stick it out. Cleaning wasn’t so bad—he’d done it before.

Layton’s tuition was free, but he had to pay for his living expenses. It wasn’t much, but coming from a poor family, he could barely afford it, so he often took on odd jobs to make ends meet, spending the rest of his time training.

“Hmm, you’re quite skilled!” Ye Tian teased, watching Layton settle into his cleaning routine. “Keep it up!”

“You’re sure this works?” Layton asked seriously.

“Absolutely,” Ye Tian replied with equal seriousness.

Layton said no more, focusing on his work. After a busy day, he was too exhausted to move. He’d worked before, but never this hard—Ye Tian’s chores were endless.

“How about it, can you still go on?” Ye Tian asked with a smile.

“I can!” Layton gritted his teeth.

“Good, that’s the spirit. Take a break. Want some water? Training is about to begin!”