Starting Unlimited Evolution from Grinding

Chapter 330: We are the champions

"What is that?!"

The audience below the stage were all stunned.

"Magic?"

"It seems like it... but why is there Qi and Blood energy mixed in?"

"That's not pure magic."

On the viewing platform, Aaron stood up directly, his expression incredibly complex as he uttered a word: "Spellsword!"

The Imperial Academy instructors around him all showed shock on their faces.

"A Spellsword... do they really exist?"

"Didn't the Mage Association's research prove that was impossible?"

An old man wearing a mage robe was equally astonished but helped explain: "All research conclusions are drawn based on current data and systems. Being able to simultaneously advance both the Warrior and Mage professions to a high level, mastering magic of multiple elements, even including Space Magic—this has long surpassed the scope of the Mage Association's research.""This is too unbelievable..."

The old man who just explained had a gleam in his eyes: "Dean Aaron, we must invite him to the Mage Association afterward to assist with research!"

"Yes." Aaron was also very excited: "What he has displayed goes beyond the existing magic system. If his success has reference value... it might open a brand new door for the Mage profession!"

On the field, the battle continued. Both sides tacitly withdrew temporarily.

Shirleyas returned to Noren's side to check on her condition.

Noren waved her hand, indicating she was fine, took out a mana potion, drank it quickly, then looked up at Lin Mo with a face full of shock.

As Lin Mo had guessed, what she had just used was indeed a skill called "Curse Interference," capable of disrupting an enemy's skills, dispersing energy, deflecting direction, or even directly reflecting it back.

But the prerequisite for all of it was mana.

She never imagined that Lin Mo's move would be so powerful. To deflect his skill, Noren's mana was instantly drained by a large chunk.

How could the power of a skill from someone who hadn't even reached Transcendent Level be this strong?

The mana she just consumed was even more than when she blocked attacks from Transcendent Level professionals during practice!

If she hadn't blocked it... Shirleyas would likely have been severely injured by that move.

In other words, if he and Shirleyas were fighting one-on-one, wouldn't that move just now have already secured victory?!

Noren truly found it hard to believe.

Shirleyas, who had always been the one to challenge those above her level, actually had a day where she was defeated by someone below her level.

Fortunately, there were no "ifs" in this world. The fact was she helped Shirleyas block that near-"certain kill" strike, and the match was still ongoing.

The mana potion took effect, and Noren's mana became full again. She raised her staff and forcefully struck the ground. The next moment, a huge magic circle appeared on the ground, almost covering the entire arena.

Then, that surging mana all rushed toward Lin Mo's side.

The next moment, Lin Mo felt as if his body was under immense pressure, becoming incredibly heavy.

This was a completely different feeling from the "Slowing Spell." It wasn't a delay caused by magic but rather...

Gravity?!

This gravity pressed down on him, making it hard to breathe for a moment and difficult to raise his hands.

Sweat beaded on Noren's forehead again. The mana required to suppress Lin Mo far exceeded her imagination.

Why were this guy's attributes so high?

Gritting her teeth, she persisted and urged: "Shirleyas!"

Watching Shirleyas charging toward him, Lin Mo's expression darkened.

The buxom maid held her swords with both hands, crossing them, concentrating all her Qi and Blood energy into a single point. Her figure was like a ghostly shadow, instantly arriving before Lin Mo.

"Future Eternal Severance Slash!"

This move was clearly exceptionally powerful, and the opponent was also going all out, while Lin Mo was currently suppressed by gravity, almost unable to move.

No matter how you looked at it, this seemed like a dead end.

Including the spectators below, they also breathed a sigh of relief.

"Whew! That scared me... I really thought this kid was going to win one against two."

"That would have been too outrageous. Miss Noren of the Oxivis Family is already one of the strongest professionals below Transcendent Level, plus Miss Shirleyas who has already been promoted to Transcendent Level. If the two of them combined couldn't defeat someone who hasn't even reached Transcendent Level, then the world would truly be going mad."

"It's over. But it must be said, this young man named Lin Mo has already left an incredibly brilliant image in this Grand Competition. Even in future records, they will specifically write about him, recording his name."

Elvish let out a sigh. The emotions contained in that sigh were very complex.

There was regret, relief, gratitude, and pride...

Yes, he had already done well enough.

Without him, without the girls by his side, they wouldn't even have made it past the elimination round in this Academy Grand Competition.

However, just as everyone, including Aaron, a peak Heroic Realm expert, thought the match was about to end, a rift suddenly appeared beside Lin Mo.

Rift of Severance!

Rift of Severance (requires mastery of Space Magic): Tear open a rift of severance, banishing enemies or attacks to another space. (Maximum banishment target level is own level -3. If the banished attack exceeds the rift's capacity, it will destroy the rift channel, but the attack itself will also dissipate.)

This was the equipment skill of the Ethereal Ring, tearing open a rift of severance to block enemy attacks.

As a Transcendent Level expert, Shirleyas's attack certainly exceeded the Rift of Severance's capacity. But no matter how strong the attack, at most it would only destroy the rift channel, and the attack itself would dissipate along with it.

Even if Dean Aaron on the platform made a move, this skill could help Lin Mo block one attack.

And that was already enough!

"Breath of the Frost Dragon!"

Lin Mo gripped the Frost Dragon Scale Sword, activating the skill of another Epic-level weapon.

A powerful chill enveloped the surroundings, accompanied by a terrifying draconic aura being released.

Noren's expression changed drastically. The gravity curse could no longer be maintained. Blood suddenly trickled from the corner of her mouth, and Lin Mo also broke free from the restraint, using [Flash] again to create distance, dodging Shirleyas's subsequent pursuit.

"Dammit!"

Noren wiped the blood from her mouth, took out another mana potion, and gulped it down.

"Shirleyas, keep chasing!"

Fighting to this point, both sides were already heated up, taking it completely seriously.

Noren again cast the "Curse Interference" curse on Shirleyas, ready to help her block attacks at any time.

She was, after all, a Level 20 Cursemaster. Her mana value wasn't weak either. Although far inferior to Lin Mo's, with potion consumption, she wouldn't run out of mana just yet.

Including the mana continuously restored by the mana potion, she could at least help Shirleyas block two or three more attacks.

She refused to believe that even like this, Shirleyas couldn't take down this guy.

Without needing Noren's reminder, Shirleyas had been attacking with full force all along.

Lin Mo's speed wasn't as fast as hers. Flash couldn't be used immediately again. The Rift of Severance also needed time to recharge. He seemed to have fallen into crisis again.

But, he suddenly smiled.

Lin Mo tightly gripped the sword in his hand, mobilizing his Qi, Blood, and mana to the extreme. The next moment, he unleashed a frenzy of slashes, countless scorching Sword Energy flying toward Shirleyas.

[Blazing Sword Dance]!

Shirleyas frowned, dodging over a dozen Sword Energy attacks in succession. However, as the distance closed, there was truly no space left to dodge, so she could only grit her teeth and take the hit.

Soon, the final Sword Energy was unleashed. Shirleyas sidestepped to dodge it and was just about to launch an attack when the already-passing Sword Energy suddenly turned back and chased after her.

Shirleyas hurriedly dodged, but the Sword Energy turned at another bizarre angle, landing squarely on her.

Noren felt her mind go blank, almost fainting on the spot.

She clenched her teeth, an angry voice coming through: "Shirleyas, what on earth are you doing?"

It wasn't that she wanted to pressure her. Although Shirleyas was the one fighting on the field, she was the one suffering the consequences!

Shirleyas was equally anxious in her heart, no longer maintaining her initial calmness. She charged toward Lin Mo recklessly, clearly planning to "trade injury for injury." Previously, she was unwilling to let Miss Noren bear the pressure for her, but now, she couldn't care less.

Lin Mo also didn't dodge or evade, slashing out with his sword.

Shirleyas showed no fear at all, even failing to notice for a moment that there was no Sword Energy in front of her.

Noren was already prepared to take another hit, but she felt nothing.

"Huh?"

She looked at the field. The next second, Shirleyas's figure, attempting another attack, suddenly froze. The sword about to pierce Lin Mo's chest also stopped.

"Guh—?!"

The pained sound carried a hint of confusion.

She looked down at her body. From the outside, she was clearly unharmed, but...

"Ugh!"

She vomited a large mouthful of blood, feeling as if her internal organs had been sliced apart.

Indeed...

Lin Mo let out a long sigh of relief.

Noren's attack-interfering curse could only work by interfering with the enemy's energy, that is, Qi and Blood or mana. In other words, it had to identify the enemy's precise attack trajectory.

But Lin Mo had one skill that had no trajectory.

Space Slash!

This skill directly compressed the space inside the opponent's body to launch a slash, attacking the enemy internally, so it wouldn't be interfered with by Noren's curse.

As for Shirleyas, being an Assassin, although extremely fast and, unlike ordinary assassins, her Strength wasn't weak either, giving her considerable frontal combat ability, her greatest weakness was her Constitution.

Her defensive capability was lacking.

That's why she wore Epic-level armor and had Noren's curse to help protect and provide a safety net.

But all these methods lost their effect in the face of "Space Slash."

The reason he hadn't used this move earlier was, first, uncertainty about the mechanism of Noren's curse, and second, because Space Slash acted on space. During combat, the opponent's movements were hard to predict, especially against agile opponents like Shirleyas. If his judgment was off, it could miss.

But just now, after the series of previous battles and the setup from [Blazing Sword Dance], Shirleyas had gradually lost her calm, and her actions became more straightforward. Only then did Lin Mo decisively strike, successfully hitting her.

Her inherently fragile Constitution made Shirleyas utterly unable to withstand the damage from Space Slash. With this strike, victory was decided!

Sure enough, soon, Shirleyas's stubborn figure uncontrollably collapsed to the ground.

"Shirleyas!"

Behind her, Noren looked anxious, dragging her weakened body as she hurriedly jogged over.

Lin Mo didn't hesitate, directly casting a "Greater Healing Art" on her, helping to alleviate her injuries and pull her out of danger.

The rest would be left to the Empire's Priests to handle.

"...Imperial First Academy, Noren, Shirleyas, injured and leaving the field!"

After quite a while, the stunned referee announced this news.

Instantly, the scene erupted into an uproar.

He really won!

Just moments ago, it seemed perilous, yet in the blink of an eye, Lin Mo reversed the situation, defeating the two strongest students of the Imperial First Academy in one fell swoop!

"Brilliant, truly brilliant!"

Aaron looked at Lin Mo on the field with deep emotion. Having taught for many years in his life, he had seen far too many geniuses, yet not one was as stunning as the young man before him.

Outstanding talent, powerful strength, calm judgment, clear thinking...

Apart from his moves still being somewhat unpolished and lacking combat experience, he was almost perfect.

"This match, our academy has lost."

He stopped the two remaining instructors who were preparing to take the field, directly representing the Imperial First Academy in conceding defeat.

"Dean, I..."

One of the Transcendent Level instructors wanted to say something, but Aaron shook his head: "His mana and Qi and Blood are still quite abundant. Are you sure you want to continue fighting?"

That instructor was stunned for a moment, glanced at Lin Mo, then looked at Noren below the stage who was taking care of Shirleyas, a bitter smile appearing on his face.

As a fellow Transcendent Level, his strength was inferior to Shirleyas's. His companion beside him was even less capable than Noren and didn't have Noren's miraculous methods either. Just as Dean Aaron said, if the opponent truly still had ample mana, they indeed weren't a match.

Over on Flora's side, the other Imperial Academy students and instructors who had just defeated Sherfilia and Amy and were preparing to press their advantage also stopped.

Because they had been busy with the battle before them, they didn't know exactly what had just happened. They only suddenly heard the news of Noren and Shirleyas's defeat and their own dean's decision to concede.

Now, each of them wore an expression of disbelief.

"How could Big Sister Noren lose..."

"And Miss Shirleyas, she's a Transcendent Level expert!"

The sudden defeat left them at a loss.

Before this Grand Competition even started, they had already confidently reserved the championship in advance. Before coming to the match today, they had even booked a venue for celebration.

Yet they actually lost... lost to a team from a small kingdom!

This was hard for these highly self-regarding Imperial Academy students to accept.

But the fact happening before their eyes forced them to acknowledge it, and no one had the courage to challenge Lin Mo.

How were they supposed to fight an opponent that even Noren and Shirleyas couldn't defeat?

Seeing the Imperial Academy concede, Lin Mo also breathed a genuine sigh of relief.

The fight against Noren and Shirleyas just now was truly not easy. It could be said it was his most difficult recent battle.

Indeed, he still had more than half of his mana and Qi and Blood left. But continuing to fight, taking on the remaining two instructors alone, he could win, but it would definitely be very strenuous. Moreover, Flora and the others over there were already struggling to hold on. By then, he'd have to fight even more...

By the time the match ended, he'd probably be exhausted.

If the other side was willing to concede, that was naturally a good thing.

The referee came back to his senses and loudly announced: "The final overall champion of this Academy Grand Competition is—the Royal National Academy from the Doria Kingdom!"

Even now, hearing this sentence shouted out still gave the audience present a strong sense of unreality.

Not just the audience, even the people from the Doria Kingdom themselves wore expressions of bewilderment.

Champion... who?

Us?!!

Author's Note