Chapter 137: The Eldest Prince's Summons (Bonus Chapter for Reaching 8,500 Recommendation Votes)

The Blazing Flame Grimoire had the Tier 3 Fire Elemental Summoning spell solidified within it, allowing Chu Yun to cast it rapidly in a short amount of time.

Between ice and fire elements, there is little restraint effect when the two forces are evenly matched. However, as soon as one side gains a slight advantage, the suppression effect increases exponentially. Before the Ice Spike Storm could fully strike Chu Yun’s Mage Armor, the fire element had already taken form. Bolstered by the Fire Elemental Commander’s bonus, the summoned entity was an elite-grade Fire Elemental Giant.

Its massive body intercepted the remaining ice spikes, and the surrounding icy mist rapidly evaporated under the intense heat. Selena, true to being a child of a wealthy family, saw that the Fire Elemental Giant was difficult to deal with and immediately pulled two scrolls from her spatial equipment and tore them open. Then, under Chu Yun’s speechless gaze, two smaller ice elemental giants instantly took shape.

"It’s a good thing I have elemental giants, otherwise I’d definitely be swarmed," Chu Yun thought, deciding it was necessary for him to study scrolls as well, as they could prove quite useful in critical moments.

The Fire Elemental Giant possessed much greater strength than the ordinary-grade ice elementals, and with every punch, it left one of them half-crippled. Selena attempted to cast a new spell, but due to the high temperature, the effect of her Ice Mirror was severely diminished, and Chu Yun pinpointed her location.

"Annihilation Divine Lightning!"

The lightning, imbued with a spell-annihilation effect, arrived in an instant. Although Selena’s shield blocked the strike, the new spells she had been preparing were disrupted, and their spell models failed to construct effectively.

"Blow her up!"

By now, the Fire Elemental Giant had eliminated the ice elementals. Hearing Chu Yun’s command, it lunged at the flustered Selena and detonated itself beneath her layers of defensive spells. The self-destruction of fire elementals was their signature ability; the explosion of a Tier 3 elite-grade fire elemental could rival some Tier 4 spells. Selena’s barriers collapsed one after another.

Although it didn't kill her, it left her severely wounded and collapsed on the ground. Finally, a spear of flame pierced through her.

The experience points dropped by Selena could not be replicated. Chu Yun returned the experience points to her, then approached her translucent mirror image to perform Mirror Replication.

[Replication successful. Obtained Tier 2 spell: "Ice Spike Storm."]

Ice Spike Storm was the spell Selena had just used, capable of releasing a large number of ice spikes in an instant. Overall, its effect was quite impressive. Having now replicated the Tier 3 Meteor Shower and the Tier 2 Ice Spike Storm, Chu Yun had met the basic requirements for the Tier 3 Mage examination in terms of spell count.

After this battle, Chu Yun realized his own shortcomings. Compared to a true Tier 3 mage, his number and variety of spells were lacking, making it tricky to handle complex combat situations.

Chu Yun had been a mage for too short a time, and to overcome this weakness, he needed to learn more spells. Traditional spell learning was too slow and ineffective, becoming increasingly troublesome at higher tiers. Both absorbing dropped items and replicating spells to study via the spell blueprints provided by his "Gamer" specialty were far more efficient.

The two-day replication effect was not enough to complete the learning of a Tier 3 spell, so Chu Yun decided to take advantage of the remaining time to try learning Ice Spike Storm. For the next period, he began practicing the Ice Spike Storm spell in the Mirror World.

He could cast the replicated spell well, but the effect would vanish after two days. However, as long as he practiced constantly during this time and raised his proficiency to a certain level, he would be able to use the spell even after the replication effect faded. This proficiency was hard to gauge in the replication state, but fortunately, his "Gamer" specialty provided a progress bar; every time he cast the spell or carefully memorized and studied the spell model, the progress would increase. As long as he filled the bar within two days, it meant he had mastered the basics of the spell, and he could subsequently use the blueprint to assist in casting and deep research into the spell model.

Chu Yun possessed vast mental power. After exhausting half of it, he used his Life Conversion ability to replenish it, and once that was drained as well, he began meditating to recover. As for the recovery of life force, it could be accelerated by eating monster cuisine. Unfortunately, Life Conversion could only be used once a day; otherwise, his learning would have been even faster.

Repeated casting made him increasingly proficient with the spell, and his research into the spell model led him to notice something different. Although Selena was a spell-slot mage, the Magic Net only used simplified models to assist in casting; once the spell was truly released, it was the complete model. Chu Yun was studying not the simplified model, but the complete one, and it was this complete model that revealed the anomaly.

The spell models learned through leveling up were more refined, as if they had been optimized by countless experts, making them perfectly smooth to use. While the Ice Spike spell was okay, there were still many areas that could be improved. If spells had quality tiers, what Chu Yun learned was "perfect" quality, whereas most spell models in this world could only be considered "ordinary," or at best "excellent," falling far short in power and casting speed.

Although Chu Yun took a shortcut in learning, he was also a hardworking and persistent person. From the moment he replicated the Ice Spike spell, he never stopped practicing. He practiced from evening until noon the next day, meditating when tired and continuing when his mental power returned. Through this hellish, repetitive study, he finally pushed his proficiency to about 70%.

Just as he intended to continue, a staff member from the Mage Academy knocked on his door. Chu Yun had no choice but to pause his cultivation and open the door.

"Is something the matter?" Chu Yun asked, puzzled. His exam was tomorrow morning; it shouldn't be time yet.

The staff member explained, "Lord Chu Yun, it is like this. The First Prince arrived at Blackrock City this morning and is currently touring the Mage Academy."

"After learning of your Flying Wings' performance during the battle to suppress the Earth-Eater Beasts, the First Prince seems very interested in you and wishes to see you."

The staff member’s words were actually quite diplomatic. In reality, the First Prince was displeased that Chu Yun had not come to welcome him, and this was essentially a summons to appear before him.

"By the way, the Dean also said that he could be a bit more lenient regarding the exam."

When Nelson had asked Anna to pass on the message yesterday, he had asked if Chu Yun wanted to join in welcoming the First Prince. Chu Yun had naturally refused out of total disinterest, and Nelson had assumed it was to prepare for the exam and hadn't thought much of it. He hadn't expected the First Prince to specifically name Chu Yun, leaving Nelson with no choice but to send someone to invite him.

"For matters regarding the Flying Wings, he can just go find Selena and Lysa himself." The agreement Chu Yun signed focused mainly on profit-sharing; he had no interest in wasting time on the production and management of the wings.

The staff member continued, looking somewhat embarrassed, "Lord Chu Yun, it seems the First Prince does not wish to see you solely for the Flying Wings."

The current situation was unstable, and Chu Yun did not want to get involved in such matters. If this fallen First Prince had visited in person, Chu Yun might have given him some face and chatted for a bit, but for him to actively go and pay a visit? Out of the question.

"By the way, what is the attitude of the City Lord and the Dean toward the First Prince? Is there any intention to take sides?" Chu Yun continued to ask.

The staff member shook his head. "The City Lord’s daughter seems to have fallen gravely ill and is currently being resuscitated; the City Lord did not appear."

Chu Yun had seen the healthy, lively, and cute little Keli not long ago. It seemed the City Lord had no intention of supporting the First Prince and had used this as an excuse to avoid accompanying him.

"Lord Chu Yun, let us go quickly; do not keep His Highness waiting," the staff member urged.

"I won't go, I won't go. I'm busy. Tell him not to bother me."