Chapter Twenty-Four: The Shelter of Refraction
The casting time for the Blazing Orb was seven seconds. Fire Mages, possessing the trait of Fire Affinity, could forcibly suppress the casting time to within five seconds, which was already the normal casting time for a regular first-tier magic.
The flames condensed into a massive fireball almost instantly. On the third second, the fireball flew out at an abstract trajectory. By the fifth second, the fireball had reached Li Wen’s head. Amidst the immense sound and the boundless release of light and heat, the fireball exploded, instantly turning the front of the stone bridge and the base of the spire into a sea of fire.
However, despite such a commotion, the seemingly ordinary spire and stone bridge remained completely unfazed, allowing the flames to burn there quietly.
The Fire Mage did not bother to confirm the opponent’s death; it was unnecessary. The Blazing Orb was known for its destructive power even among third-tier magics. Transcendent beings below Stage Two would be instantly vaporized within the spell’s range.
He fumbled in his pocket for a potion he could use. However, the potions that could restore life, heal injuries, or even remove curses and potent poisons had long been used up. Only some insignificant potions remained in his pocket.
But if he didn’t detoxify soon, he feared he wouldn’t last much longer. The curse itself was a minor issue; it wouldn’t endanger his life for long. However, the potent poison… if his guess was correct, the mercenary had likely used a toxin extracted from belladonna. This poison had hallucinogenic properties and could claim a life within a mere three to six hours.
The Fire Mage collapsed onto the ground, feeling powerless. He felt his heart pounding wildly, yet his brain felt starved of oxygen, and his vision blurred.
He could even hear footsteps approaching.
Looking up, he managed to see clearly that the Sorcerer who should have died from the Blazing Orb was looking at him.
Was this an illusion? Had the toxin taken effect so quickly?
“You are about to die.”
The voice of the illusion seemed to come from a great distance… No, this was not an illusion.
The fire elemental was frantically warning him, but the Fire Mage now lacked the strength to even raise his hand to cast a spell.
“How could you possibly be alive… That was a Blazing Orb…” he said with difficulty, his words filled with disbelief.
“Just lucky.”
Li Wen glanced at his empty palm and then said calmly.
The state “Merged into Light,” which she obtained after advancing to Supplicant, was used as a material in a special process to create the ritual “The Shelter of Refraction.”
This was precisely why she was able to survive the Blazing Orb.
The Shelter of Refraction was a short-duration sustained ritual belonging to the Glorious Spectrum Series’ Path of Protection. While the ritual’s effect lasted, the protected individual would receive a 20% reduction in damage from non-Glorious Spectrum Series sources, and this reduced damage would be reflected back entirely to the damage dealer.
Had it only been this, Li Wen naturally wouldn’t have survived. However, the Shelter of Refraction ritual granted the caster a temporary transcendent trait: Glorious Refraction.
When the trait owner was about to receive damage, Glorious Refraction would have a chance to refract a projection. This projection would bear some or all of the damage, limited to within Stage Three.
This was a trait that relied on luck. Li Wen had seen the statistical data for this trait from the Strategy Team. The probability of the trait triggering a refracted projection was around 30%, and the projected damage bore by the projection was 10%, 50%, and 100%. The probabilities were reversed, being 70%, 25%, 1%, and a final 4% chance of having no effect.
When facing the Blazing Orb, Li Wen’s most ideal consideration was for Glorious Refraction to trigger, with the projection bearing 50% of the Orb’s damage. Combined with The Shelter of Refraction, this would be a 70% damage reduction. Then, by expending health to cast Prayer, with the shield and recovery, Li Wen’s final life would be maintained at around 1% to 10%.
This was the most ideal scenario. If Glorious Refraction did not trigger, or if the projection bore less than 50% of the damage, then Li Wen would surely die.
But no one could have predicted that fate would be so coincidental. Not only did the Glorious projection trigger, but it even randomly hit the 100% damage reduction, with the lowest probability, thus causing Li Wen to directly bear the full damage of the Blazing Orb, only suffering some burns at the very end.
However, was this truly a coincidence?
Li Wen did not dwell on the question. After a moment of thought, she asked the Fire Mage, who no longer had the strength to resist, “How did you learn about Amber City? And through what means did you get in?”
“Amber City?” The other party’s face changed several times until it turned pale. Even his tone became much more agitated. “What do you mean?”
“It seems you don’t know.” Li Wen looked at him and lost all desire to ask further.
“Amber City… Twilight System… So that’s it!” For some reason, the Fire Mage had a realization. “Hahaha… those old fossils, who couldn’t find it even after spending their lives, the Eternal City, unexpectedly lies within Black Dragon Territory. They surely wouldn’t have thought of it… Hahaha…”
After laughing for a while, the Fire Mage suddenly said, “My coming here was just a mistake, a failed spatial jump, that’s all.”
He continued, “Is it for this reason you want to kill me? No, I have no interest in the Twilight System! I am not your competitor; there’s no need for you to kill me… I will keep this secret for you, I swear by the name of the Pernier family.
“Not only that, if you are willing to spare my life, I can serve you, and even tell you the secrets of the Sun Cultivation Institute. You are definitely not a student of the Forbidden Institute, I am very sure of this… but I can help you join the Institute, and let those old fossils share forbidden, terrifying knowledge and magic with you… as long as you let me live!”
Li Wen shook her head. “I don’t need the allegiance of an elemental mage, and I want to kill you not just for this reason, although it is indeed the main reason… I ask you, why did you attack the merchant convoy and steal the goods?”
“Merchant convoy?” The Fire Mage was stunned for a moment. “You mean those mercenaries? Haha, they are all scum who deserve to die; they just happened to run into me and were rightfully punished by me!”
Li Wen certainly did not believe this explanation.
“Tell me the real reason.”
The Fire Mage remained silent, unwilling to speak further. It was only when the potent poison struck again, causing him to cough violently and spit out foul-smelling corrupted blood, that he gazed at Li Wen and then spoke with difficulty, “Do you know what the goods they were transporting were?”
“If you want to die immediately, keep asking questions like this.”
The Fire Mage grinned. “Alright, I will… They were nothing more than some valuable spices, fabrics, and luxury goods… but that was just a cover. Their real purpose was to transport a potion called Moonlight Potion to the capital.”
