Ascension To Divine Throne

Chapter 14: Contest

Morning, Cain Manor

Waking up from a good night's sleep, William climbed out of bed and stretched lazily, the joints in his bones cracking as he did so.

Last night, he had a few drinks with that guy Mora. The slight buzz was pleasant enough, and he went straight to sleep without meditating upon returning.

The fatigue from several days of intense training seemed to have vanished, leaving him feeling refreshed.

Today's breakfast was vegetable cheese pancakes with blueberry oatmeal porridge. It seemed Joyce knew he had eaten a lot last night and instructed the kitchen to prepare something simple and refreshing.

"Master William, here are today's letters. There's a formal letter from the Fis Royal Magic Academy, it might be important."

Joyce stood by William's side as usual, handing him the letter.

"A letter from the school? What could it be?" William looked at the letter with puzzlement, unable to recall any reason why the school would be contacting him.

The Fis Royal Magic Academy, where he studied, was named after the kingdom, indicating it was the best magic academy within the kingdom.

William entered the academy at the age of ten. The Fis Royal Academy didn't have a fixed teaching method; it followed a philosophy of free development. Students of the same year were considered classmates and could choose courses they were interested in, somewhat similar to the elective system in universities in his previous life. The only restriction was that one had to achieve the rank of Intermediate Mage to graduate.

So, it wasn't uncommon to see a ten-year-old sitting in the same class as someone in their thirties or forties.

But he hadn't been to school in months, so what could it be about?

William opened the letter and found the handwriting neat and tidy, indicating it was an official communication from the school. However, it didn't mention anything specific; it just invited William to visit the Fifth Magic Workshop at the academy.

William knew about the Fifth Magic Workshop; the academy had many magic workshops, but only the top ten were highly sought after, with top-notch resources. The Fifth Magic Workshop was already quite prestigious. After all, the workshops preceding it were reserved for the dean and vice-dean respectively.

But why invite him to visit? He hadn't applied for anything.

Oh well, he thought, he might as well go and see what advanced experimental equipment and intriguing research projects they had there.

William stuffed the last of his pancake into his mouth and suddenly felt a craving for the pancakes with stuffing from his past life. He would have to figure out how to make them once he had taken care of his current concerns.

The morning training flew by, but what puzzled William was the change in his accompanying guards.

Dison was the same as always, respectful and patient.

But his chief guard, Welf, was acting differently. He used to be somewhat reserved and proud, but now his attitude was identical to Dison's. William even felt a hint of... fear in Welf's eyes?

William didn't know what kind of damage his steward had inflicted on Welf's young mind last night, but he decided to joke about it, attributing it to Welf suddenly recognizing the wisdom and charm of his lordship, the Viscount.

Jokes aside, William was genuinely curious. However, Welf refused to talk about it, especially with Bill, who claimed to have fallen out of bed while sleeping, sporting a black eye.

But it was a good opportunity for William to ask Welf about some combat techniques he was interested in, such as taunting, blocking, and other warrior skills, as well as some very practical strengthening techniques like secondary attribute enhancement and danger prediction.

By the way, during these days of practice, William found that his game system was still able to detect information about enemies, just like in his previous life's games. Unfortunately, Welf's level was too high, so he could only see a few lines of information.

---

[Based on your level, you receive the following information.]

Name: Welf

Race: Human

Level: 102

Health Points: ???

Mana Points: ???

Primary Occupation: Shield Warrior

Secondary Occupation: Treasure Hunter

Talent: Rock (Gold-level talent: When using a shield, gains a 30% increase in blocking effectiveness, and a 30% increase in strength attributes.)

Attributes: ???

Danger Level: Extremely Fatal!

Evaluation: He relies more on brute force, while you rely more on intelligence and strategy.

---

It seemed Welf had recently broken through to become a Gold-tier warrior. Still, William was confident in his own abilities.

Although he had gained quite a bit of experience from his meditation during this time, using it all for leveling up would only result in an increase of about three levels, hardly a significant change.

As expected, was the fastest way to level up still grinding monsters and completing quests?

William found himself nostalgic for the days of hardcore gaming in his previous life.

Indeed, despite the comfortable and luxurious life of a nobleman, complete with fragrant maids, he still preferred the adventurous life full of surprises and excitement!

Evaluation: Geeky pursuits like being a homebody are out of the picture now!

'As soon as I master the Expertise in Various Martial Arts, I can proceed with the next plan.

Although I've sparred with the guards these past few days, it's been more about learning martial skills and improving proficiency, rather than serious combat.'

With this in mind, after a moment of rest, William turned to Dison standing nearby and said:

"Dison, let's have a little contest. Let's see how strong I am."

After hesitating for a moment, Dison agreed. Being honest, he didn't think he would lose, but he pondered how much force would be appropriate.

'Should I let the young master win by exposing a flaw later?'

Seeing Dison's somewhat conflicted expression, William knew what he was thinking.

"I can use magic, you know. It wouldn't look good for you, a mid-level warrior, to lose."

Upon hearing this, Dison's face grew serious as he assumed a defensive stance with his sword, waiting for William to make the first move.

'I've never fought a mage before; after all, among all extraordinary professions, mages have the highest entry difficulty.'

In the bronze and silver stages, compared to the large number of warrior professionals, mages are quite rare. I've only faced the bombardment of their talent spells during monster hunting missions and haven't had the experience of battling formal mages yet.

[Ding~]

[Limited Challenge Mission Triggered]

[Objective: Defeat Silver Warrior Dison]

[Reward: Depending on the completion of the mission]——

Oh? A limited challenge mission has been triggered, so I must win!

Seeing that Dison was already prepared, William grasped the long knife at hand and began chanting his magic.

Although he wasn't using a magic wand and didn't have the corresponding power bonus and assisted casting, William smoothly released the spells.

"Minor Deflection Field"

"Spirit Armor"

"Magic Brilliance"

"Empowerment: Precise Strike"

"Bear's Resilience, Cat's Grace, Ox's Strength, Fox's Cunning, Owl's Wisdom"

Regardless of whether they were useful or not, William bestowed all the enhancement spells he could cast upon himself, causing his entire body to shimmer with the hues of various magic for a moment.

Dison made no move, silently waiting for William to finish casting, but what William did next changed his expression.

William raised his knife and muttered to himself, a faint white light representing martial skills flashed across his body.

"Martial Technique: Minor Attribute Boost"

"Martial Technique: Resistance Enhancement"

"Martial Technique: Danger Prediction"

There are fewer protective and enhancement martial skills compared to magic, but using this set of magic and martial techniques made William feel a bit drained. The practice just now consumed quite a bit of mana, leaving William's mana pool considerably depleted. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

After all, my mana value is not much right now, and I don't have the corresponding magic props and equipment.

Dison looked at the young master, who was almost fully protected from head to toe, and couldn't help but feel a bit uneasy.

He never expected that in just a few days, the young master would learn and use martial techniques, which was a bit terrifying.

Dison knew that some special transfers could use skills from two basic professions, such as a spell-sword, who could simultaneously use magic and martial techniques, but only those with extraordinary talents could achieve this. Most people, once they've determined their primary profession, are basically impossible to learn skills from other professions.

Could it be that the young master has that kind of top-tier talent?

Dison didn't dare to be careless and dispelled the intention of not using martial techniques, also bestowing himself with enhancement status.

"I'm ready!"

William's figure flashed, charging towards Dison.