Wizards begin by accessing the Inspiration panel.

Chapter 31: Challenge to a Ranked Match (Please continue reading)

A few seconds later, Richard, who was bending down to pick up his bow and arrow, heard the sound of Davos struggling to get up behind him as his armor rubbed together. He thought to himself, "Huh! It seems his mental strength is not weak. My secret technique, Lesser Mental Upgrade, only made him dizzy for two seconds, but did not make him fall into a coma."

Davos, utterly humiliated, struggled to his feet, pulled the longsword Richard had plunged into his abdomen, and roared angrily, "Damn it! Richard, do you think you've already won?!"

"You treacherous villain, you actually plotted against me!"

Upon hearing what Davos said, the crowd erupted in uproar!

"Davos, that's enough!" A young voice, but with an air of authority, came from the crowd below.

"William! It's William's voice!"

"This is going to be interesting!"

"Do you guys think this weird Richard might go head-to-head with William?" a freshman asked excitedly. He didn't understand how Richard defeated Davos either, so he used the word "weird" to describe Richard.

As William's voice rang out, a path automatically parted in the crowd to allow him to pass.

Richard squinted and carefully examined the blond young man who was walking towards him.

So this was William. He was indeed handsome, imposing, and had an extraordinary presence.

"Davos, go find the witch doctor to treat your injuries first. Richard, you're quite strong, how about a match with me?" William glanced at Davos, then stared at Richard, his deep eyes seeming to try and see right through Richard.

William, who had just returned from a mission in the field, heard from the new students that Davos was dueling someone as soon as he got back to the school's headquarters, so he came over to see what was going on.

Unexpectedly, upon his arrival, he witnessed Richard instantly defeating Davos, which surprised him greatly.

"Let's forget it. You are the third prince of the Kingdom of Heron, while I am just the son of a minor nobleman from the countryside. If it weren't for Davos forcing me, I wouldn't have dueled with him." Richard shook his head, politely declining.

Actually, Richard's main concern was that if he agreed to fight William now, even if he won, he would only gain fame and not a single magic stone. Only a fool would do that!

William glanced at Richard, nodded, and said, "Alright, let's meet during the freshman ranking competition."

After saying that, he left without any hesitation.

"Oh! What a pity, they didn't fight!" a girl said.

"No rush, didn't you see what William said? We'll face each other in the freshman rankings sooner or later!" said a skinny boy next to the girl.

"Yeah, right after the mid-year assessment comes the freshman ranking competition. I heard from the upperclassmen that the rewards are very generous, especially for the first place winner," the chubby boy said.

"You've heard about it too? I heard the first prize includes potions, magic stones, and sometimes even enchanted items. Sigh, never mind, I have to go practice my magic tricks! If I can't get into the top ten, I'll at least try for the top twenty!" the tall boy added.

"You'd be lucky to even make the top fifty!" the freckled girl said dismissively.

As Richard stepped off the arena, the third-level wizard apprentice, who was acting as the referee, handed him a small bag, saying, "This is what your opponent just gave you—fifty magic stones. I've already counted them for you!"

"Thank you, senior!" After saying that, Richard took out two magic stones from his bag and handed them to the other person as a token of his gratitude.

The third-level wizard apprentice smiled and waved his hand. Although he did not accept the offer, Richard's respect for him still pleased him greatly, and he couldn't help but chat for a few more minutes.

"What you just used was probably a mental spell, right? Although it was very subtle, there was still a trace of mental energy fluctuation!"

A hint of surprise flashed across Richard's face. Sure enough, none of the third-level wizard apprentices were simple.

He originally thought that only formal wizards could sense his move, but he didn't expect that the third-level wizard apprentice in front of him could detect it.

But the third-level wizard apprentice in front of Richard was even more surprised than Richard. He never expected that when he came to be the referee for a freshman duel, he would actually see a freshman cast a level zero mental spell.

Keep in mind that even he had only recently begun learning mental magic.

It looks like this year's freshman ranking competition is going to be very interesting!

After chatting for a while, Richard bid farewell to his third-level wizard apprentice and left the dueling arena.

But what no one noticed was that a gray-robed figure who had been standing in the crowd also disappeared.

Unexpectedly, as soon as Richard entered the dormitory area, he saw Stephanie and Ram waiting for him.

"Richard, do you think it's fun to play us like this? You knew perfectly well that Davos was no match for you, but you didn't tell us, making us worry for nothing!" Stephanie said resentfully.

Richard was taken aback; he had never expected that Stephanie and Ram would come looking for him.

But the reason he was in such a hurry to get back to his dormitory was because the gray-robed man not far behind him was the skeleton he controlled.

Currently, he doesn't want anyone to discover his trump card!

Richard immediately said in a deliberately cold tone, "Ram, Stephania, I'm a little tired and want to rest! Let's talk again next time."

The two, who had originally wanted to say something more, saw Richard's expression and backed down.

Back in his dorm, Richard didn't leave the house for several days except to eat, and he devoted himself to studying the books "Introduction to Dark Energy Particles" and "Three Basic Applications of Dark Energy Particles".

Fortunately, Richard had been tempered by mountains of books and seas of questions in his previous life, and after spending a full five days, he finally mastered the contents of the two books!

So Richard couldn't wait to start practicing the level 0 sorcery, Shadow Grip.

[Host detected practicing the level 0 sorcery Shadow Grip. Do/Do you wish to consume energy to gain inspiration for practicing the level 0 sorcery Shadow Grip?]

Looking at the numbers 1 and 1000 at either end of the slider, Richard thought for a moment and decided to try using 500 energy points first, then selected "Yes!"

In an instant, Richard's soul arrived in a quiet study, where a burly figure in black robes was studying the five runes of Shadow Grip at a desk.

The next second, Richard possessed the burly figure.

The first rune was slowly outlined in his mind by his mental power, since Richard had experience in outlining the Rodrigo Meditation Rune before.

This time, he tried to draw the first rune for Shadow Grip, and although he failed several times, he soon managed to draw it.

Next came the second rune. After more than ten attempts, Richard quickly completed the outline.

With Richard's powerful inspiration, the third, fourth, and even the fifth runes were all sketched out one by one. In the end, a complete sorcery model was constructed from these five runes.

Shadow Grip spell model successfully built!

At this moment, the scene shifts, and Richard's soul instantly arrives in a desolate wilderness, where a man in black robes is shouting the incantation of Shadow Grip.

The next second, Richard possessed this person's body.

The black-robed figure possessed by Richard was working tirelessly, day and night, to rapidly construct a model of the Shadow Grip spell in his mind.

At first, I failed to build the model even once out of three attempts. Later, I was able to build it twice out of three attempts. Finally, I was able to build it almost every time.

After spending at least several months in his dream, Richard was finally able to successfully cast the level-zero sorcery Shadow Grip every time!

Suddenly, Richard felt a dizzying sensation as his soul rapidly returned from the dream to his real body.

(End of this chapter)