Chapter 95: Ryan Meets Leah

The young man leading them held a long spear, and the identification badge on his chest showed that he was a Level 16 professional. Of the other two, one was a Level 15 fire mage, while the other was a Level 14 warrior wielding dual blades.

The three were visibly surprised to encounter someone in such a remote corner.

Their gazes lingered briefly on Leah before quickly shifting to the storage ring on her hand.

"Found her." The dual blade warrior suddenly grinned. "You’re the holder of the first badge, aren’t you?"

"No."

Her answer was extremely calm.

The young man wielding the spear was slightly stunned. He had assumed that someone capable of obtaining the first badge during the opening would be somewhat arrogant. Leah’s curt response caught him off guard.

But that did not affect his judgment.

"Whether you are or not, we’ll find out after fighting."

As soon as he finished speaking, the young man took a fierce step forward, and the tip of his spear began glowing with pale blue mana.

He lowered his spear to seal off Leah’s escape route on the right while signaling the other two to flank her from both sides.

It was a fairly standard triangular encirclement formation.

One person applied pressure from the front, while the other two restricted the target’s movement. Once an opening appeared, whoever occupied the best attacking position would deliver the fatal blow.

Against ordinary mages, this tactic often worked without fail.

Unfortunately, they had chosen the wrong opponent.

Leah calmly held her position.

The first [Astral Chain] rose into the air behind her, wrapping around a tree trunk precisely to the right of the young man wielding the spear. The second chain swept horizontally, anchoring to another tree and forcing the dual blade warrior on the left to stop in his tracks.

Both of their routes were forcibly altered.

At that very moment, Leah lightly retreated two steps.

The movement widened the distance between herself and the three opponents again.

"A control type profession?" The fire mage frowned. "No wonder she managed to get the first badge."

The young man wielding the spear snorted coldly and thrust his spear forward.

This time, he was serious!

The spear’s glow tore through the air, heading straight for Leah’s shoulder. At the same time, the other two launched their attacks. A fireball and intersecting flashes of blades nearly sealed off every direction in which she could dodge in a straight line.

Leah raised her hand.

Fwoosh! Fwoosh!

The remaining two silver chains appeared simultaneously.

One intercepted the fireball’s flight path, forcing the fire mage’s attack to explode prematurely. The other lashed forward, wrapping tightly around both of the spearman’s feet.

Boom!

Flames exploded in midair.

The young man hurriedly withdrew his spear, only to discover in horror that the chains had somehow wrapped around both of his feet.

His expression changed, and he quickly circulated mana around his body, attempting to break free by force.

However, restraining him was merely part of Leah’s plan.

A mass of highly compressed astral mana had already condensed in her palm.

[Starfall]!

She blasted the attack fiercely into the empty ground beside the young man.

Bang!

The ground exploded, and the violent shockwave from the explosion sent the young man staggering several steps sideways, instantly tearing a gap in the previously tight encirclement.

Without the slightest hesitation, Leah turned into a blur and dashed through the opening.

The entire process took less than three seconds.

"Chase her!"

The dual blade warrior roared.

But just as the young man wielding the spear was about to move, he discovered that the two silver chains that had yet to dissipate were still wrapped around the tree trunks ahead.

If he wanted to pursue her by force, he would first have to go around the area blocked by the chains.

By then, Leah had already disappeared into the depths of the dense forest.

"Damn it!"

He violently swung his spear, cutting through the branches beside him. His expression was so gloomy that it seemed as though water might drip from his face.

The fire mage, however, had already recognized the futility of pursuing her.

"Stop chasing."

"What?"

"She just controlled at least four directions simultaneously, and she could instantly cast her astral skills while moving. Her mana control is extremely stable. Continuing to chase her would only be a waste of time."

The young man remained silent for a moment before finally putting away his spear.

What they wanted was the badge.

There was no need to fight desperately over something as meaningless as pride.

...

Northern Forest.

Leah had no idea what the pursuers were discussing.

She was rapidly assessing the mana consumption from the brief confrontation just now.

The consecutive skill releases had consumed a noticeable amount of mana and affected her endurance. If she continued using [Starfall] frequently, she would only be able to endure another two or three battles of similar intensity before needing to find a safe place to recover.

The problem was that there was no absolutely safe place right now.

Ever since the third badge appeared, the number of students in the northern region had been increasing sharply.

The rumbling of battles could already be faintly heard in the distance. Explosions rang out one after another, occasionally mixed with the roars of magical beasts.

This meant that the situation nearby was becoming increasingly complicated.

Leah stopped beneath an enormous ancient tree, steadied her breathing, took out a bottle of ordinary recovery potion, and drank it in one gulp.

After drinking the potion, she closed her eyes and carefully sensed the flow of mana within her astral core.

She recalled something Victor had once told her.

Being able to control an enemy doesn’t mean you have to control every single person.

Sometimes, the truly efficient way to fight is to guide your enemies into moving to the wrong positions themselves.

Leah opened her eyes again.

If she continued along her current route, she would most likely run straight into the densely crowded area surrounding the third badge. By changing direction and avoiding the main roads in the north, she could avoid the largest crowds while secretly observing who was actually qualified to compete for that badge.

Her goal was to obtain the result she wanted with as little unnecessary fighting as possible.

With her thoughts clear, Leah turned and headed northeast.

However, just as she passed a low rocky slope, a figure suddenly leaped down from above.

A silver white sword light, carrying a fierce gust of wind, slashed straight down toward her head!

Leah’s pupils contracted slightly, and her body instinctively leaned backward.

The sword blade brushed past her shoulder and struck the ground heavily, sending fragments of stone flying.

She quickly widened the distance between them, and her four [Astral Chains] rose from the ground almost simultaneously, sealing off every route the other party could use to continue pursuing her.

The other party stopped there, put away his longsword, and raised one hand to indicate that he had no hostile intentions.

"Not bad reflexes."

Leah kept her guard up, her eyes narrowed.

"Ryan Carter."