Ch. 54 - Buying Time

The devil curled up in fear in Adam's mind. They could've helped Adam by devouring the negative magic radiating from Peter, but Peter radiated an extremely ominous aura, enough to make the devil tremble.

Adam stood his ground, remaining silent.

This was his greatest challenge -- he had been smooth sailing for more than a year, cultivating himself. However, no matter how strong he was currently, he was no match for Peter.

He remained silent, waiting for Peter to make the next move. If Peter is arrogant, a weakness will reveal itself.

"It's a real pity that you decide to hide yourself in the Mage Continent after murdering my grandson. I don't have the time to torture you for years to come -- no matter, I will snatch your soul away and torture it day and night until the end of time!" Peter Aum bellowed. With a single incantation, a spray of fire flew towards Adam.

"This is what magic truly is! Drawing power from the natural ether around us and conjuring it with incantations -- isn't it wonderful? You mages decide to corrupt the purity of magic -- I don't care about your runes and knowledge! This is the natural way of using magic!"

Adam immediately summoned a curtain of water, and the spray of fire dissipated into steam, "So, you've become a remnant of time, unable to cope with change."

Adam taunted Peter, trying to buy time for himself to escape.

He started to conjure a teleportation spell behind his back; antimages, like mages, were sensitive to magic, so Adam had to distract Peter so he wouldn't notice.

Space started to unfold on itself behind Adam, and gravity itself started to bend towards the space. Once Adam steps on this space, he'll find that he has teleported great distances in an instant.

This is called unstable teleportation.

Adam needed to calculate in order to gather gravitational forces to converge onto a single point so he could teleport away, but Adam didn't have the knowledge to use magic that defies space and time. He could only manipulate the gravity around him by calculating tedious and complex operations in his system.

"A remnant of the time?" Peter said in a low voice. "A mere apprentice like you dare to taunt me -- do you not fear what I could do to you? Do you not respect my natural manipulation of ether around me? Blasphemer! Time is on our side! I am not a remnant of the times; the commodity of magic will come to an end, and so will you!"

Adam smirked, "Time is but a relative concept. You don't understand the principles behind time, so how could it ever be on your side?"

Peter lifted his hand and muttered a few short syllables, and different elements of magic hit Adam's psychic shield. Adam immediately lowered his psychic barrier, letting the magic penetrate his body.

"You're too emotional. Fool," Adam taunted. His teleportation spell was almost complete.

"Emotional? No. I am merely punishing you for blaspheming the true nature of magic," Peter was no stranger to Adam's taunting, but it still pierced through his heart.

A mage is a realist, while others are idealists. The realist proves the phenomenon around them with knowledge, knowing the principles behind the phenomenon; idealists describe the phenomenon through observation and personal feelings, so they don't know the principles behind them.

An idealist like Peter thinking that the knowledge of magic should be gatekept is incredibly ridiculous.

"Maybe the pain will make you sober!" Peter bellowed, striking Adam's body with various magics. "What's the use of your knowledge now? You're dying! It can't save you! Don't worry -- I will spare your soul so that I can claim it as my own!"

Adam's psychic powers continuously healed his wounds -- Adam wasn't listening to Peter anymore, his systems going into overdrive to solve the runes for teleportation.

Adam smiled through the bombardment of magic, and Peter was stunned.

"You're wrong. Knowledge is useful, no matter the situation."

Adam let his psychic energy burst, instantly destroying Peter's magic suppression. He grasped the natural ether around him, and gravity bended towards his body; the space around his body distorting.

Adam took a step back and stepped into the singularity.

In Peter's perspective, Adam's body began to blur, and only then did he realise Adam was distracting him. His mouth was agape seeing that a mere apprentice like him could manipulate time and space with no magic items. He snapped out of his daze and sent a dark crescent slash towards Adam, but Adam had already disappeared.

Peter walked to Adam's initial location and praised, "A natural genius. You can't escape me."

...

Adam was spat out into a forest clearing, his clothes tattered. Scars littered his body; he was unable to withstand impromptu teleportation.

"Agh."

He knelt on the ground and vomited blood. The pain pierced through his body, bringing him into a fetal position on the grass.

The devil popped out and looked at Adam worriedly, "Master... you'll be fine, right?" If Adam dies, so will the devil.

Judging from the surrounding environment, he was still in the trial grounds, which means Peter could still hunt him down. Adam limped towards a tree and took out a new set of clothes from his portal space and started to drain the power stones to replenish his mana. He couldn't die yet. He needed to survive this trial.

"I don't care what you do, don't let anything near me."

He has never felt this weak before, any monster could simply stroll by and kill him. He needed to attract the attention of the mages outside to save him.

...

"Kerry, be careful. Someone casted some powerful magic here recently -- Prometheus knows what magical beast is near us." Meanwhile, not far from Adam, a group of three apprentices crept through the rainforest cautiously.

The leading person parted the plants hindering their way, and it's clear he had the ability to manipulate the flora near him, which greatly increases the chance of survival in the rainforest.

"Don't worry. Just follow me. With our strength, we'll be safe."

The other two behind him were shivering in fear. They had just witnessed a colony of bugs forming a dense colony, devouring a crowd of apprentices, leaving nothing behind.

"I can't -- I don't want to think about what happened just now," one of them cursed. "Wait! Run! They're here!"

Kerry, the apprentice who can control flora, turned his head swiftly. He saw an overwhelming number of white ants crawling towards them like a flood, devouring everything in their path.

"No!"

He screamed, and ran straight into the trees, leaving his companions behind.

The last person was petrified, and her legs were unable to move. However, the pendant hanging on her neck glowed a soft blue light, soothing her mind. Her eyes glowed a soft blue, and she found that there were no monsters at all.

"You idiots! Come back, it's an illusion!"

She put her hands together and imbued magic above the two apprentices, showering them with a torrent of water. Their eyes glowed a brief blue light, and the ants were no longer there.

They gasped for breath, and one of them roared, "Damn it! If I find that beast, they're done for!"

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