FALLEN ORACLE

**Chapter 4: The Special Competition (5)**

Tired from a long day of trekking and fighting, Chen Yi quickly fell asleep.Just as he hovered between wakefulness and sleep, a familiar yet strange sensation returned. Something like a needle pierced his consciousness.In a daze, Chen Yi arrived at the place he had been both longing for and dreading—the transparent prison cell.The goddess was still bound to the cross. Seeing him, she gave the same sweet smile, as if what had come wasn't Chen Yi, but a ray of light shining into the dark cell.The four white-robed men stood outside as before, side by side."Thank you for teaching me Thunderstrike," Chen Yi said, bowing sincerely.But the goddess didn't react. She couldn't hear his words—only vaguely sense that he had made some gesture.Chen Yi now clearly understood that everything happening in the cell was no dream. This time, he had to gather more information, not leave empty-handed.He immediately tried to leave the cell and see what was outside.But as soon as he reached the edge, he found that the seemingly transparent wall—which he had previously been able to pass through—now blocked him. Even though the cell door was open, he couldn't step outside.The goddess seemed to notice his futile attempt and quietly shook her head.Chen Yi understood: for some reason, his range of movement was now confined to the cell itself.As before, the dark cyan stone on the wall glowed. And from the goddess's eyes, mana poured forth once more, gently caressing Chen Yi's consciousness.He knew she was teaching him new magic.Even as he enjoyed the sensation, he saw the goddess writhing in pain again, just like last time.Heartache and helplessness flooded Chen Yi's mind in an instant. But the goddess's eyes—those expressive eyes—were fixed on him.Her gaze was so resolute, it seemed to tell him: during Divine Communion, don't let your mind wander.Only by becoming stronger could he learn the truth. Only by becoming stronger could he save her!Chen Yi forced himself to steady his mind and accept the new spell with a "clear conscience."Unlike last time, the long ten minutes finally passed. The goddess, temporarily released from her agony, glanced sideways at her own injured left ankle."Don't you think she struggled more violently than before?" one white-robed man said.Another replied, "You're imagining it.""Maybe she can't take it anymore. After this whole process, any normal person would have gone mad. Hmph. A witch is still a witch."Chen Yi heard their chatter, but what concerned him most was the goddess's hint—she was clearly telling him to look at her left ankle.While the white-robed men chatted, Chen Yi approached the cross, crouched down, and carefully examined the wound on the goddess's left ankle.The shape of the wound seemed to form a strange pattern. At the center was a deeper cut. Looking at it whole, it seemed like a special mark placed on a diagram.She had used that cruel spell—while struggling—to shape her own wound into a pattern to convey a message!Chen Yi silently committed the pattern to memory, then gazed up at the goddess on the cross, filled with admiration for her indomitable will.But then something even more unexpected happened. Just as the white-robed men were about to lower her from the cross, as they had last time, her left leg suddenly convulsed violently.The cruel spell that restrained her instantly scraped off a large chunk of flesh and skin from her ankle.The movement was completely disguised by the goddess as an accidental muscle spasm. Only Chen Yi, frozen in shock by the side, knew it was no accident.Amid the unbearable pain, the goddess finally let out a muffled groan. Sweat poured down her forehead. And the pattern on her left ankle—as she had intended—vanished along with the scraped-off skin before the white-robed men could notice."No!"Chen Yi jerked awake in his tent. He rarely had nightmares. The worst part was—this nightmare was real.Fortunately, his strange outburst hadn't woken the other three.Chen Yi rubbed his temples. He had never hated Divine Communion as much as he did at this moment. He didn't understand what the goddess was sacrificing everything for.After finally calming himself, he pulled out his spellbook and quill pen and first recorded the spell the goddess had just taught him.Halfway through writing, he could tell it was a Healing spell—something like a protective cover.When he finished the complex symbols, he found it was a spell slightly longer than Thunderstrike.When he first entered the academy, his family couldn't afford a full set of rings. Even now, he only had three rings: Elemental, Strengthening, and storage.Without a dedicated Healing ring, Chen Yi tried to cast the spell using his Strengthening ring, targeting himself.Because the ring was not attuned to the task, after even more fumbling than with Thunderstrike, he felt the spell succeed.Unlike the lightning bolt from that day, nothing special seemed to happen. No shield appeared around him.But Chen Yi wasn't discouraged. After two Divine Communions, he had developed enough trust in the goddess on the cross. She would never fob him off with fake goods.With that thought, he stepped out of his tent. The campfire was still burning. Chen Yi put his hand over the flame—"test-burning himself."To his disappointment, he wasn't burned, but he could feel the durability of the standard-issue robe from Professor Tress slowly decreasing. Noticing this, he quickly pulled his hand back.Having survived the day's magical battles, he didn't want to be eliminated by his own campfire.So the spell didn't provide protection? Chen Yi was disappointed. He began to doubt whether he had even cast the spell correctly.Then a bolder thought crossed his mind. Without hesitation, he took off the standard robe and put his bare hand directly into the campfire.Still feeling no heat, a smile crept across his face.Next, he pulled out his sword from the storage ring and lightly cut the back of his hand. Not a scratch—not even any pain. It was like dragging a wooden stick across his skin.Summoning his courage, he raised the sword and chopped down on his finger. The blade bounced off as if striking iron plate."It even covers my fingers?" Chen Yi was both shocked and delighted. It seemed this spell was a very powerful magic armor. It resisted both physical and elemental damage, and it covered his entire body evenly.Not only that, it clung tightly to his skin—unlike a shield that, once cast, couldn't move, and unlike the usual mage armor that was bulky and restricted movement. By comparison, this magic armor was so light it felt almost nonexistent.Even stranger—after being struck by a sword and burned by fire, Chen Yi didn't feel the spell's durability drop by so much as a single point. It was utterly unbelievable.