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On the hill outside the branch of the Freemasons’ Association, a dreadful Morris, Windsor, and the rest of the crowd were dumbfounded. They stood there watching as the magnificent castle was engulfed in an incomparably massive pillar of light that emerged. The figures of those who did not have enough time to flee could still be seen in the distance. They wailed as they kneeled in the violent floating runes. Alongside the screams, they decomposed into dust and disappeared.
Windsor trembled and whispered in terror as the pillar of light that was reaching the sky gradually fading away, "Everything is gone. All of it."
The original magnificent castle was no longer there. It was as if ice cream had been scooped out of a piece of flat surface, forming an extremely curved circular sunken ground. Everyone was hesitant to speak in this strange silence. Odovic, the dragon, exchanged glances with the mysterious warrior. Then, the two just quietly left.
Paladin, who was far away, had no way of knowing about the great turmoil in the Freemasons’ Association. At the time, he was still drunk on developing and comprehending his own power. After discovering that he could capture the golden light element using his own element, Paladin had to acknowledge a fact. When darkness fell and there was no hint of sunlight in the night, it was impossible for him to replenish the magic elements. In other words, during the night, Paladin was very vulnerable. Once the three hundred magic elements surrounding his body had been depleted, unless daylight came, he would be nothing but an empty shell.
This fact made Paladin sigh. On the other hand, if he chose to develop the use of the magic elements in the daytime first, he could capture the magic elements endlessly. If so, wouldn't he have unlimited magic power in the daytime? The temptation was too great. However, Paladin had to learn the hard way that once he used the elements to coalesce magic to the limit of what they could hold, they could no longer absorb the elements.
The reason was that his own limit at this moment was three hundred. He tried to make light arrows with three hundred magic elements while continuously absorbing magic elements when the spell was activated. However, absorbing and using magic elements at the same time wasn’t possible. The amount of magic elements he could have at one time was limited. The previous attempt to replenish thousands, if not tens of thousands, of magic elements failed.
There were some gains even if there were losses too, Paladin tried to console himself.
Paladin also discovered that absorbing magic elements through the Philosopher's Stone would greatly consume his life essence. He must use an equal amount of Philosopher's Stone to restore the life essence, or he’d revert to his previous miserable state, in which he nearly died of old age. The good news was that the number of magical elements gained from the Philosopher's Stone would not diminish with age. At least, it provided him with some solace.
At present, Paladin still had little contact with the outer world. As a result, he had no idea that a mage with over a thousand elements, such as the great ice mage Nasura, was a rare and unreachable high-leveled person on the continent. Simply put, those who attained a thousand magic elements would become great mages. Common mages possessed less than a thousand magical elements. While the mages required magic props to determine how many magic elements they possessed, Paladin only needed to see with his eyes.
The magic guide was a level higher than the great mage. The maximum number of magical elements that one could possess to still be considered as a great mage was 5.000 magic elements. However, the maximum amount for a magic guide was considerably higher. The maximum limit was a whopping 50,000 magic elements. The magic power was so strong it could destroy an entire army. They were feared and fawned over by major monarchs, enough to turn someone into a legendary figure.
Currently, only the leaders of the Three Grand Masters had reached the level of Archmage. The exact extent of their powers were unknown. Just like the mythical St. Magellan, who was bestowed the title of Saint by the Holy See. Although it was unknown how powerful he was, it was said that he alone directly overpowered the spell cast by ten great mages.
Unfortunately, Paladin could only see the magic elements. As a result, he could only see the mage's or caster's ability at a glance. He wouldn’t be able to see the power level of different kinds of fighters and assassins—for example, magic swordsmen, barbarians with bloodline power, assassins from Assassin Association, and some powerful warriors or knights.
Their power level could be classified using the ten classes established by the soldiers themselves. Just as mages had mages, great mages, magic guides, magic mentors, and archmages. The five lower ranks of fighters could fight against mages. The next four levels were strong enough to fight against the great mages. Meanwhile, the highest level of fighters could barely deal with magic guides. It was just that the power of magic was too strong. No matter how hard someone trained their body, they couldn't resist the power of this world.
This would result in the current situation in which justice was expensive while war was cheap. Because of this, countless warriors sought out various powers in order to strengthen themselves against mages. The magic swordsmen's dual practice of magic and martial arts, barbarians' bloodline method, Assassin Alliance's power based on instant burst, dragon knights' ability to make friends with dragons to strengthen himself, Paladin's use of divine power, and so on were a few of them. It was a pity that they would all be unable to resist the powerful and wise group of mages.
Although the power of his 300 magic elements was only comparable to that of an ordinary mage, the elements he had mastered were too strange. In addition, his elemental control was so good it made people feel suicidal. There was no danger even if he went up against a mage with combat power twice his own. Deep in thought, Paladin waved his hand casually. The three hundred light elements hovering around him immediately gathered in his palm.
A tiny ball of light was formed, emanating a dazzling luster. These days, Paladin devoted himself to studying divine magic. Not only did he learn how to make the Arrow of Light, but he also learned other two magics that required less than three hundred magic elements.
There was a sacred chain designed to bind enemies. The effect was mediocre. Paladin wasn’t that impressed. Instead, it was another tasteless lighting technique that brightened Paladin's eyes. As the name implies, the lighting technique consisted of creating a magical lamp to illuminate the surroundings. When Paladin used it at will, he discovered that it was one of the few magics that could be used without any magic structure! It was different from a fireball technique. Although a large number of elements could be used to boost its power, once the number of elements exceeded the limit of the magic frame, the magic would vanish due to the structure being squeezed out.
A wooden barrel would be a good analogy. You could take a bath with a half-full wooden barrel, but you could also add more water. However, once the amount of water exceeded the capacity of the wooden barrel, it’d overflow, wasting the water. The lighting technique, on the other hand, didn’t have this flaw because it simply added condensed magic elements to increase the density and generate light and heat. Because there was no frame constraint, you could use up all of your magic elements. It didn't look much. At best, it’d become brighter. But, it was important to mention that Paladin's golden light magic elements were violent and aggressive. Thus, the end result was quite different.
Paladin smiled as he looked at the ball of light in his hand. Immediately, all three hundred golden magical elements surrounding him went crazy and became condensed. The light ball, which was only the size of a soybean at first, quickly swelled up like a sponge absorbing water. It continued to grow bigger. When Paladin used all of his magic elements, the light sphere had grown to the size of the mouth of a bowl. Paladin was pleasantly surprised to hear the faint crackling sound of energy collision coming from the light sphere.
Without further ado, Paladin intercepted the extremely dense elements on the ball’s surface. Just like piercing a small hole in a balloon with a needle. He then extended his hand and aimed it out of the window. Instantly, the light sphere burst. Forming a golden light beam as thick as a finger with a buzzing sound that made ears ring.
This golden light beam darted across the church, through the houses, and struck a large tree hundreds of meters away. It was as simple as slicing thin paper with a knife. This large tree, at least a hundred years old, was easily sliced down the middle. High-temperature sparks radiated from the cut. The nearby houses collapsed with a bang. The emptiness felt when Paladin’s magic elements were used up in an instant didn’t bother him. Right now, he was looking at the disaster he had caused with a crazed face. The corners of his mouth formed a sinister arc.
"This is exactly what I’m looking for!"