Chapter 8: The Terror of a Saint Magus
"Oh?" The beautiful woman was also surprised.
Desri had a smile on his face. When he first saw Bebe on Linley's shoulder, hadn't he been shocked in his heart? The moment he laid eyes on Bebe, Desri had decided—he absolutely had to build a good relationship with Linley. Even if it meant sacrificing a great deal, it was worth it.
Desri still couldn't believe in his heart that Bebe would actually acknowledge someone as his master.
But Desri understood that since Linley was Bebe's master, building a good relationship with Linley was an absolute necessity.
"I want to see what kind of magical beast it is." The beautiful woman, seeing Desri's deliberate mystery, smiled and followed him as they walked forward together. After a while, the couple arrived at the group of Hayward, Livingston, Linley, and the others.
The beautiful woman's first glance swept toward Linley's shoulder.
But... Linley's shoulder was empty.
"On the table." Desri's voice rang in the beautiful woman's mind. At that moment, she also noticed that the cute little Shadowmouse, Bebe, was holding a glass of wine and drinking it very contentedly. "Black fur!" The beautiful woman's heart trembled.
A black-furred mouse-type magical beast was far from being just the lowest-level Shadowmouse.
Many people, like the Radiant Church and the War God's Gate, might not know Bebe's identity, but those from the Chaos Territory and the Ice Goddess Temple were very clear on this matter.
"Father, Mother." Monica was very happy, but seeing her mother, she began to worry about Reynolds. She knew her mother's temper very well.
Desri and the beautiful woman walked together toward the dining table and sat down in the main seats.
"Desri's wife?" Linley looked at the beautiful woman in surprise. Whether it was her hair color or other features, Monica and her mother were almost identical. An outsider might think one was the older sister and the other the younger sister. However, the icy aura emanating from this beautiful woman made Linley's heart tremble.
"Another powerhouse, not much weaker than Miller."
Linley increasingly felt that what the War God had said back then was correct. The War God had said... among the experts who had been in hiding for thousands of years on the Yulan continent, aside from Deity-level experts, the first tier included Fain, Desri, and the other five great powerhouses. The second tier was at the level of the Radiant Pope, and the third tier was at the level of Hedderson. Hedderson's level was merely the most ordinary among the hidden experts.
No wonder Olivia had suffered so much in the Arctic Icefield. After all, he couldn't even defeat Hedderson—who else could he beat?
Desri said warmly, "Linley, let me introduce you. This is my wife, Icelin."
"Greetings, madam." Linley said humbly.
Icelin showed a kind smile on her face. "I'm truly sorry. I was in seclusion training and only came out now. I hope you won't take offense." As soon as she said this, Monica beside her was shocked. Her mother's temper—aside from her father, she didn't care much about anyone else.
But...
Her mother was apologizing? Being polite?
Was this still that icy mother?
This was Linley's first time meeting Icelin, so he naturally didn't know her temper. He thought Icelin was always this warm, so he immediately smiled and said, "Madam, you're too kind."
"Monica, is this the Reynolds you mentioned?" Icelin smiled at her daughter, then turned her gaze to Reynolds. Reynolds had already been warned by Monica, and he was very wary of this future mother-in-law in his heart.
Monica quickly said, "Yes, Mother."
"Greetings, madam." Reynolds was a bit nervous inside.
Icelin looked at Reynolds approvingly. "Hmm, very good. Monica... your taste is quite good. Why didn't you bring Reynolds home earlier?" Icelin's words immediately made Reynolds happy. This future mother-in-law seemed to like him quite a bit.
Monica was stunned again.
Was this really her mother?
Linley also felt a surge of goodwill toward Icelin. At that moment, a hearty voice rang out: "Big brother, I heard there are guests?" A middle-aged man with dazzling golden hair strode in. His gaze immediately fell on Linley, but he also noticed Bebe beside Linley. His eyebrows shot up.
"Higginson, hurry up. You're the only one missing." Desri laughed.
Then Desri looked at Linley. "Linley, Higginson is like Hayward—both came here with me back then. Higginson cultivates the Laws of Light."
"Greetings, Mr. Higginson." Linley immediately said.
Higginson found an empty seat and sat down, laughing. "Linley, don't stand on ceremony. When you're here, treat it like your own home." Linley felt a warmth in his heart. The attitude of Desri and his group toward him was truly beyond reproach.
Inside this cave mansion, there were also some maids.
The maids brought all kinds of delicacies, and the group chatted casually. Reynolds and Monica naturally stayed on the sidelines, not daring to say much. The main conversation was between Desri's group and Linley, occasionally touching on Bebe.
But Bebe spoke very little today. In Linley's words, he was—acting cool.
During this process, Linley also noticed that among this group, the leader was naturally Desri, followed by Hayward and Higginson, who had come to the village with Desri back then. Finally, there were Miller, Livingston, and Ferman. It was obvious... Miller, Livingston, and Ferman all addressed Desri as "Lord," while Higginson and Hayward called him "Big Brother."
After the meal.
With full stomachs and satisfied palates, they naturally wanted to do something.
With a group of experts like this, what they wanted was to spar and compete.
"Linley, Ferman also cultivates the Laws of the Earth like you. How about you two spar a bit?" Miller said with a smile from the side. Ferman's chubby face broke into a grin, revealing two dimples. "Miller, there's no need for Linley and me to do that. My path in the Laws of the Earth is similar to Hedderson's. Since he's already sparred with Hedderson, there's no need for him to spar with me."
Livingston glanced at him. "Ferman, are you scared?"
Desri laughed. "Ferman is right. His strength is about the same as Hedderson's, so sparring with Linley again wouldn't be meaningful. How about this... Hayward, you spar with Linley." Desri looked at Linley. "Linley, you need to be careful. Hayward's strength is very formidable."
"He's a Saint Magus." Linley remembered Desri's introduction.
"What about being a Saint Magus?" Hayward said with a smile.
Linley smiled awkwardly. In Linley's eyes, a Saint Magus without a magical beast, fighting openly against a Saint-level warrior, would be at a great disadvantage. Linley asked, "Mr. Hayward, don't you have a magical beast?"
"I did, a Saint-level magical beast, but unfortunately, it died." Hayward sighed.
Desri also nodded. "That was over two thousand years ago. That Saint-level magical beast died protecting Hayward. Another good brother of mine also died back then. We wanted to save them but couldn't in time. Alas..." Desri, Hayward, and Higginson all seemed to recall that event.
Linley was shocked.
Even with Desri present, a Saint-level magical beast still had to die protecting Hayward. How brutal must that battle have been?
"Why bring up magical beasts? Do you think a Saint Magus without one is useless?" Hayward looked at Linley with a smile.
Linley could only smile back.
In Linley's view... sparring with a Saint Magus, he could rely on his speed to charge straight at him and kill him before the other party could cast a spell. Wouldn't that be easy? If he let the other party cast a spell, he probably wouldn't even have a chance to escape.
It all came down to speed. Was there even a need to spar?
"Linley, after you reached the Saint level, you lived in the O'Brien Empire, right?" Desri suddenly asked.
Linley nodded. "Yes, why?" Linley was puzzled. Why would Desri suddenly ask that?
Desri said with a smile, "That explains it. The O'Brien Empire is famous for its warriors, while the Yulan Empire is famous for its mages. I'm guessing that the Saint-level experts you encountered in the O'Brien Empire were all Saint-level warriors. You've never truly fought a Saint Magus, have you?"
Linley was stunned.
Indeed, all the Saint-level experts he had sparred with were warriors, not mages.
Master Longs was a Saint Magus, but he had never sparred with him.
"Saint Magi are rarer than Saint-level warriors, but it's not as extreme as in the O'Brien Empire." Desri sighed. "On the continent, generally, out of four Saint-level experts, one is a Saint Magus, and three are Saint-level warriors. But in the O'Brien Empire, out of a dozen Saint-level experts, maybe only one is a Saint Magus. The ratio is too low."
"The Yulan Empire is different. On average, out of two Saint-level experts, one is a Saint Magus." Desri's words made Linley's heart skip a beat.
One to one?
The Yulan Empire truly deserved to be called the cradle of mages. Desri continued, "The Holy Alliance is also famous for having many mages. But the Holy Alliance is known for basic magical education, while the Yulan Empire, because of the High Priest's existence, has so many Saint Magi. Generally, anyone who becomes a disciple of the High Priest has a chance of becoming a Saint Magus."
Linley felt a chill in his heart.
Two freaks!
One was the War God, the other was the High Priest.
One taught a bunch of Saint-level warriors, the other taught a bunch of Saint Magi.
"A Saint Magus isn't as simple as you think. Let me tell you, when a Saint-level warrior fights a Saint Magus, the Saint Magus actually has a higher chance of winning." Desri said with a slight smile. "Saint Magi are harder to train than warriors. Even in a place like the Yulan Empire, where mages dominate, the ratio is only one to one."
Linley nodded.
Training as a mage was indeed much harder than training as a warrior. Linley had always wondered... if training as a mage was so difficult, and if reaching the Saint level still left them inferior to warriors, wouldn't that be frustrating? But in the O'Brien Empire, all Linley saw was the power of Saint-level warriors.
He had never paid much attention to Saint Magi.
"Linley, let's go outside. Today, I'll have Hayward show you the power of a Saint Magus. In the future, when you encounter a Saint Magus, don't take them lightly." Desri stood up.
Linley immediately stood up as well.
Only through a real spar would he truly understand the terror of a Saint Magus.
Bebe immediately jumped onto Linley's shoulder. The group left the cave mansion. Reynolds and Monica couldn't fly, so they had to stay inside. The others left the cave, flew out of the valley, and headed to another part of the mountain range.
"This is where we usually spar. Let's do it here." Desri said.
Desri, Hayward, Higginson, Miller, Livingston, Ferman, Icelin, and Linley—eight people in total—hovered in midair. Then Linley and Hayward faced each other, about a hundred meters apart.
"Come on." Hayward said with a smile. Linley didn't stand on ceremony. He took off his robe and immediately began his Dragonblood Warrior transformation. The fierce spikes emerged from his forehead, black dragon scales instantly covered his body... and his pupils turned dark gold.
Linley moved. "Boom!" He shot toward Hayward at incredible speed.
"Linley's speed is a bit faster than last time." Miller noticed Linley's improvement. "But still not as fast as Hayward."
Hayward smiled, standing still in the distance, waiting for Linley to charge. When Linley was about ten meters away, Hayward suddenly moved. His entire body turned into a streak of firelight, instantly pulling away from Linley, and the distance between them continued to widen.
In terms of flight speed, Linley was no match for Hayward.
"This..." Linley's face changed drastically. If his flight speed was slower than his opponent's, wouldn't that mean he was letting the other party cast spells and toy with him? Sure enough, in just a moment, a terrifying wave of hot air radiated from Hayward as the center. Countless specks of light gathered above Hayward.
A loud, piercing cry rang out.
A fire phoenix with red and gold wings, a crown-like crest of feathers, and cold, proud eyes—its massive size was even larger than a dragon's. Linley and the others felt like ants in front of this fire phoenix.
"Sizzle..." The surrounding air emitted terrifying sounds. The temperature forced Linley to raise his defenses.
"Forbidden spell, Phoenix Manifestation?" Linley felt a chill in his heart.
Fire magic was said to have the strongest offensive power. This single-target attack spell, Phoenix Manifestation, was only slightly inferior to Dimensional Blade. Linley didn't have the strength to deal with it.
The fire phoenix's volume suddenly shrank, but its form became more and more realistic. Finally, it shrank to only ten meters in length. But whether it was its feathers or its eyes, it looked exactly like a real magical beast. Moreover, the fire phoenix's entire body had turned golden.
The smaller volume put even more terrifying pressure on Linley.
"Whoosh!" The fire phoenix moved and charged straight at Linley. Black-green energy surged around Linley's body—this was his confident Pulsating Defense.
"Sizzle..." Linley's black-green battle qi was visibly annihilated at an alarming rate. "At this rate, I can only last a few seconds at most." Linley immediately retreated, but the fire phoenix flew back to Hayward's side. Linley finally breathed a sigh of relief.
That golden fire phoenix was terrifying.
Hayward looked at Linley with a smile. "Whether you're a warrior or a mage, once you reach the Saint level, you can fly. But flight speed isn't necessarily faster for warriors. For example, wind-system mages and light-system mages... are very fast. Even a fire-system mage like me, having studied to this level, is equally fast. Just by relying on speed, I can keep you from catching me, and I can toy with you easily."
"Of course, some fire-system Saint Magi who have just entered the Saint level, or water-system Saint Magi, are not as fast as you. In terms of speed, Saint Magi are slightly inferior to Saint-level warriors. But there are still Saint Magi who are faster than Saint-level warriors."
Linley understood.
In terms of speed, Saint-level warriors might have an advantage, but they weren't necessarily faster than all Saint Magi. There were still Saint Magi with very fast flight speeds. If he encountered a Saint Magus with incredible speed, it would be dangerous... In that case, the only option was to flee.
"Of course, that method only works against a few Saint Magi." Hayward continued. "Now, keep attacking me. I'll show you the general method a Saint Magus uses to deal with a Saint-level warrior."
At this moment, Linley had a feeling...
Maybe Saint Magi really were more terrifying than Saint-level warriors.
"Are you ready?" Hayward's kindly face was full of smiles.