NOVGO.NET Chapter 560: Neighbors [1]
Chapter 560: Neighbors [1]
With even fewer defenders than they’d started with, the opposing castle couldn’t stop its destruction.
When the pillar—the castle’s lifeline—finally shattered, Michael’s badge chimed.
[+100 Academy Points credited.]
He didn’t know how big that was yet or how important those points might prove to be, but he was pleased all the same.
With the minimum to pass this round secured—and never truly worried about failing in the first place—Michael decided to head back to his own keep. He’d planned to spend the rest of the time taking it easy, letting the exam wind down while he lounged in safety.
He was just about to move when a ripple brushed the far edge of his sense range.
There was movement.
It turned out to be the two neighboring castles to the one he’d just toppled; they were still fighting. The reason he hadn’t noticed earlier was a brief period of peace between the two forces before they resumed from where they left off.
Michael hesitated. Then a few seconds later, he pivoted toward the distant commotion. First, though, he sent a silent order to the ten undead l to return to Castle 37 and hold the line.
He, by contrast, would go alone.
Michael just wanted to see the situation with his distant neighbors and decide what to do from there.
He would have taken his undead along, but doing so also meant losing sight of his own castle—a risk that could lead to some unexpected twist and possible disqualification.
And while he had already secured enough to pass this round, a quiet pride within him demanded he hold that success to the very end.
Michael crossed the forest in silence, his form blurring from tree to tree until the clash of steel and roars of magic grew sharper.
He slowed at the crest of a ridge and peered down into the valley below.
What he saw drew him up short.
It wasn’t the four figures locked in combat, scattered in pairs across the uneven ground, that held his attention. Not the flash of fire colliding with a wall of stone, nor the whistle of arrows splitting wind currents into jagged blades.
No, what seized his focus was the castles.
Two keeps stood barely a few hundred meters apart, their pillars glowing faintly.
They were practically neighbors, close enough that Michael suspected they had been the first to clash the moment the round began.
Michael crouched lower, eyes narrowing.
With all four locked in battle, none of them noticed another figure quietly observing from the shadows.
Michael’s eyes swept across the field. There were four combatants ahead of him: an Earth Mage and an Archer on one side, facing off against a Fire Mage and a Knight on the other.
Among Awakeners, mage classes were considered rare-grade, but slightly uncommon compared to the many common classes. In contrast, Knights, Archers, and Hunters were among the most widespread, the very definition of common-grade. Their abundance was proof that they truly deserved the label of “common.”
Ironically, some classes like the Martial Artist that were graded common too were encountered less often than mage classes.
So the lineup before him didn’t surprise Michael in the slightest.
And as for how he could tell their classes without using [Detect]? The way someone moved, the rhythm of their attacks and patterns often revealed their specialization just as clearly as any system panel.
The four fought with everything they had.
The Knight’s shield rang like a drum as he met the Fire Mage’s roaring inferno head-on, his aura-coated steel bracing against the tide. Beside him, the Archer moved with precision.
The Earth Mage moved as well, arms sweeping wide as the ground rippled and surged under his control.
Walls of stone burst up to block flame, jagged spikes lanced outward to cut off the Knight’s charges, and tremors shivered through the soil to break balance.
Against them, the Fire Mage’s fury was relentless—columns of searing heat burst from his magic circle, fireballs arced overhead and detonated like artillery, and the air warped with shimmering waves of heat.
Every clash sent shockwaves rattling through the valley.
This was how battles between supernaturals usually played out—messy, grinding, and uncertain. Victory was rarely decided in a single blow. Instead, it was chipped away, second by second, spell by spell, until one side broke.
A fight like this could drag on for hours with no resolution. Only freaks like Michael could crush opponents above their level and end battles quickly. For the rest, it was a brutal contest of endurance, skill, and attrition
Michael watched from the ridge, calm and detached. His lips curled faintly.
So much effort… for so little ground gained.
*
Down below, the Knight lunged forward, his spear thrusting like a comet. The Earth Mage timed it, raising a slab of stone that caught the weapon mid-thrust. Sparks flew. In the same breath, the Archer loosed two arrows that streaked past the Knight’s shoulder, aimed straight at the Fire Mage.
But the Fire Mage was no amateur. He spun, flames wreathing his arms, and slapped the projectiles aside in twin bursts of fire. The arrows disintegrated midair, ash fluttering to the ground.
Watching the mage fight with their elements even without having to use spells though with weaker power made Michael somewhat jealous..
“Push!” the Knight barked, muscles straining as his spear ground against a wall of stone. Cracks spread like lightning across its surface under the weight of his aura-hardened thrust.
Beside him, the Fire Mage snarled, eyes bloodshot from the unrelenting clash. He didn’t waste words—flames burst from his arms in a torrent, crashing against the Earth Mage’s defenses. The wall groaned under the heat, its edges glowing red, and sweat poured down the Earth Mage’s brow as he funneled more mana into reinforcing it.
The Earth Mage struck back. He slammed both palms into the ground, and the battlefield shuddered. A fissure ripped open, dirt and rock geysering upward to swallow the Fire Mage whole. The mage leapt back at the last moment, aura flaring to harden his footing on the fractured earth.
High above, the Archer climbed to a jagged outcrop for a better angle. She drew, breath steady, and released.