The Undying Magician - Book 5 - Chapter 42
Added 2025-10-09 17:25:05 +0000 UTC----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Don't mind this. It's so that free readers can't see half the chapter.
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Nathan
Year 2851 | Month 8 | Day 23
The day of the trial arrives after I spend the entire week training my mana arcs, studying the other three trial takers’ combat styles, and making a new spell. A spell of which I finish mere minutes before the time I set to head over to the stadium.
Overall, I’m pretty satisfied with the spell. So here’s hoping it works out as I hope it will.
With that in mind, I head straight for the stadium on the underground floors of the Magic Tower. And soon enough I find myself teleporting into the center of the arena itself, which is currently made to just be a large, floating platform at the center of a massive space with no walls or ceiling.
Although I know that it technically does have walls in the forms of barriers and one-sided screens. It’s just covered in an illusion to make it look like there is no end to the arena. To make it look like there is an actual sky down here.
Surprisingly enough though, I’m not even the last one here despite my last minute preparations.
The curse affinity magician arrives a minute after me. Merely two minutes before the set time.
And the moment the time for the trial to begin arrives, droplets of blood appear in the air above us before forming Crimson as he exclaims, “Are you all ready for this trial?!” Making the audience roar in excitement in the process. “Then let’s begin the final trial without any further delay!”
Crimson snaps his fingers after that, making the arena begin to tremble as it completely morphs to look like a vast forest with a large lake at the center. With the four of us on a platform over the lake.
“The rules for the trial are simple,” Crimson continues with his hands in his pockets as he floats around us. “There are no rules. Whoever has the most points by the end of the twelve hour trial and is still in the running without having died or surrendered will be the victor.”
It really is just a face off.
Anything’s allowed. Nothing can break the barrier around the arena made by Crimson. At least, nothing doable by the four of us. So there aren’t even rules to protect the audience watching.
It’s genuinely just a straight up brawl for the crown. Nothing more, nothing less.
“Now, a couple things to note,” Crimson says without pausing in his slow circling of the four of us in the air. “Every hour when the arena changes, all four of you will be teleported at random within the arena. And if the crown is not currently on someone’s head, it will teleport to the center of the arena every time as well. But if it is on someone’s head, then it will teleport along with the crown wearer.”
So everyone will be split up every hour then. And they’ll have to find each other again in the new arena’s environment.
“Last but not least, the wearer of the crown will have a beacon going out over their head every half an hour that will last for five minutes,” Crimson finishes, making me narrow my eyes a little. “Broadcasting their location for the other three to see. And the crown will always have a beacon when no one currently possesses it.”
Well that is going to be annoying.
I was kind of hoping I would be able to hide somewhere after grabbing the crown. Making it so the others won’t even be able to find me.
But I guess I can still hide for a brief period before the beacon gives me away.
“Now, let us begin the final trial to determine who amongst you will become a Tower Master!” Crimson exclaims while finally pulling his hands out of his pockets and pausing in his circling. Then he spreads both arms to his sides and says, “The timer starts now!”
The instant he finishes speaking, he snaps his fingers, following which all four of us are teleported away from the platform and I find myself appearing somewhere on the edges of the forest. With a bright gold beacon shining straight into the sky from the lake at the center of the arena.
To my surprise, it seems I’m far enough away from the others that I can’t smell them anymore. And I doubt it’s because they somehow blocked their smells with their magic.
After all, that would be a waste of their mana to keep a spell like that up all the time.
And wasting mana is a death sentence for them in here.
Not for me though.
That said, I would rather not just burn my mana for no reason. So I begin running straight towards the center of the arena. Taking advantage of my supernatural strength and speed to just charge through everything without pausing.
And it doesn’t take long before I begin to catch whiff of the others’ scents. With all three of them rushing straight towards the center of the arena as well.
But that’s not all I smell.
I blink in confusion without pausing in my charge. Because I smell something rather… rancid.
It smells terrible.
And if it weren’t for the fact that I’m used to smelling the strong scent of blood all the time, I’d probably be gagging from the smell.
What the… hell is this?
I grit my teeth as I continue pushing towards the center. Only to find something rather disturbing long before I even make it to the center.
A large rat standing at two meters in length with disgusting growths across its body and dripping purple liquid jumping straight at me from the bushes. And even if I grab it by the throat and crush said throat, killing it, I still find myself surprised that I didn’t smell it beforehand.
Even if I did hear it at least.
Mutants? Filled with curse mana at that.
The curse magician’s doing no doubt.
This might make things a bit more annoying.
