FALLEN ORACLE

**Chapter 4: The Special Competition (2)**

"Each contestant may carry only one staff. When your robe turns red, you must hand over your staff to the contestant who defeated you."For this competition, Chen Yi was carrying the shield staff Mendes had made. The other three on his team were using their own homemade staves.Although given Phil and Carl's family backgrounds, they could easily have acquired better ones, they would have lost the valuable experience of "making and using your own staff in actual combat." So they chose to rely on themselves.Staves used monster magic cores as their power source. Generally speaking, the more powerful the monster, the more mana its refined core could store.During the staff-making process, you could channel mana into the core, allowing it to cast a specific spell you had mastered.When a mage cast a spell themselves, they absorbed mana from the surrounding space and guided it themselves.But once a staff was finished, it drew mana from its own core to cast the spell. Once the core's mana ran out, the staff became useless.So while staves were more convenient to cast with and could allow someone who didn't know a spell to cast it, they were still consumables. They could only cast a single spell, and they had their limitations compared to a living mage.---"Oh, you actually look the part in that robe. You'd never guess you're just an intermediate trainee."After the four of them put on their robes, Liv sneered at Chen Yi.Her brother Phil couldn't stand it. "Liv, think about why the other three in your dorm didn't want to team up with you for the Special Competition. The only reason I'm letting you join us is that you're my sister.""Because they're too weak? They have enough self-awareness. Unlike some people, who don't."She shot a glance at Chen Yi.Phil looked awkward. Apparently, his earlier attempts to talk sense into her hadn't worked. He was about to speak when Chen Yi stopped him."Forget it, Phil. Your sister isn't wrong. Let's just hope we can cooperate well in this competition."After experiencing Divine Communion, Chen Yi was in a much better mood—nothing like the day he lost the Magic Tournament. He wasn't going to sweat the small stuff.Sometimes, what truly stung wasn't insults but the truth.You don't hit a smiling face. Seeing Chen Yi so humble, Liv didn't have much else to say.---"The competition will last three days. If only one squad remains uneliminated before the three days are up, the competition ends and that squad takes first place.""After three days, if two squads still have members uneliminated, they will tie for second place. If three squads, they tie for third, and so on."*So to get the first-place prize,* Chen Yi thought, *we have to defeat every other squad.*The crowd began to buzz with excitement. They knew the moment they'd been waiting for was coming.Next up: the announcement of the prizes.This batch of trainees had been at the academy for eight years—veterans, among the strongest. Generally speaking, the earlier your cohort, the better the prizes."Now, for the prizes. The members of the fifth-place squad will receive 'Frederick's Spellbook.'""Boo!" The trainees erupted in jeers. Clearly, this prize wasn't popular.Frederick was a famous mage in Rongqi Academy's history, renowned for his achievements in Summoning magic. But trainees couldn't learn his earth-shattering summoning spells from his spellbook.So as a celebrity's spellbook, it had only artistic and collectible value—useless for advancing one's magic.And splitting one spellbook four ways? Obviously, the only option was to sell it for gold."Fourth-place prize: four standard-issue spell-breaking swords, forged by Wade, the Kingdom of Klem's master swordsmith, and personally strengthened by your own Senior Professor Fangting. The strengthening marks on them can reflect some spells."This prize sparked a lot of chatter. For many trainees skilled in physical combat, this spell-breaking sword was clearly a rare treasure."Third-place prize: access privileges to a fragmentary copy of 'The God-Demon War' held in the library archives."Another wave of disappointed boos. Not only was this an ancient book useless for magic, but the prize was just *access*—they couldn't even sell it for money.But Chen Yi's interest was piqued. He wanted knowledge. Any knowledge.Sure, the story of the God-Demon War had been reprinted many times, but he believed a three-thousand-year-old fragment would surely contain something new.In fact, Chen Yi had long been curious. The version of the God-Demon War circulating in the market was a complete story, with detailed descriptions of the war, down to how huge a certain technological construct was and what spells certain great gods had used.But if the original was a fragment, how could later printed versions be complete?Moreover, the common version described technological constructs as just bigger monsters, but Chen Yi had a vague feeling that "technological constructs" and "monstrous creatures" were fundamentally different.And besides, after experiencing this abnormal Divine Communion, he was dying to know what gods actually looked like. Maybe this ancient text had specific descriptions that had escaped the Church's burning thanks to its historical value."Second-place prize: four Thunderstrike staves infused with mana by the great Headmaster Morin himself!"At this announcement, the trainees went silent for a moment, then erupted in thunderous cheers.Owning a Thunderstrike staff meant anyone could cast the most powerful elemental magic on the continent.In contrast to the cheering crowd, Chen Yi shook his head with a wry smile. This was probably the least useful prize for him."But let me add," Professor Tress continued once the crowd had calmed down a bit, "considering that all of you are trainees, the headmaster has intentionally reduced the power of the Thunderstrike in the staves. That also means the staves have higher durability."Each time a staff cast a spell, it consumed mana from its core. The more powerful the spell, the more mana it consumed—and the fewer times it could be used.This news only increased everyone's enthusiasm. After all, for a spell like Thunderstrike—powerful enough to fry an entire tactical squad—the number of uses mattered far more than raw power.