FALLEN ORACLE

**Chapter 4: The Special Competition (3)**

"Now for the first-place prize: the ring set left behind by the ascendant Radik before his ascension fifty years ago—'Friendship.' It contains four rings: Elemental, Summoning, Healing, and Psionic."The crowd fell completely silent. Suddenly, the Thunderstrike staves were forgotten.Professor Tress added, "Oh, and your Professor Cobb says there's some kind of faint psionic resonance on the rings."Rings left behind by an ascendant! What kind of caliber was that?A magic ring helped the caster channel mana. Some complex spells that couldn't be cast with a lesser ring might become possible with a better one.For the same spell, a good ring allowed faster casting and could draw mana from a wider area, making the spell more powerful.And unlike staves—as long as they weren't destroyed—rings could be used forever.The source of power for rings was also completely different from staves. A staff's quality depended mainly on how much mana its core could store and the strength of the spell etched into it by its maker.You could say that a staff's effectiveness was determined the moment it was finished.All magic rings were made from a dark metal called "Giftgold." While craftsmanship did affect quality to some extent, the deciding factor was how much mana had flowed through the ring over its lifetime. The more mana that had passed through it, the stronger its ability to channel mana.In other words, a ring might start out ordinary, but it would become extraordinary because of its user's extraordinary deeds. That was why many magical families passed rings down through generations.Because the five schools—Elemental, Psionic, Strengthening, Healing, and Summoning—channeled mana in vastly different ways, a single ring could only attune to one type of mana guidance.Thus, powerful mages wore a full set of rings on their fingers, activating the appropriate ring for each spell.Clearly, a ring set used for decades by a powerful ascendant was the ultimate prize most people could only dream of.There was also a special type of ring called a storage ring. As the name suggested, it could store items for on-demand retrieval—extremely convenient.Storage rings worked by using mana to warp space. Like other rings, the more mana that flowed through them, the larger the warped space.The trainees were now imagining what incredible spells Radik must have cast before his ascension, and how powerful the rings nourished by those spells must be."Did you hear that? An ascendant's rings!" Even Carl, who had seen a lot in his time, was thrilled. "We have to go for first place!""Yeah, let's do this!" Phil nodded solemnly.Liv didn't speak, but she was clearly in a state of "too excited to talk."Though Chen Yi was also tempted by the rings, he wasn't as** as the others.Because Headmaster Morin had told him privately that from their student days all the way up to his ascension, Radik had never been as strong as Morin in any aspect.By that measure, this ascendant's rings were probably only about as good as what the academy's senior or special-grade professors currently used.The other students obviously didn't know this. They assumed that anyone who had ascended must be far stronger than someone who hadn't.After all, only a few people—like Chen Yi—understood that magic was the law of chaos.Still, however you looked at it, this ring set called "Friendship" was certainly better than the set he was wearing now.Chen Yi wasn't from a magical family, and he couldn't afford other inherited rings. The rings he wore now had been newly made just before he entered the academy.An intermediate trainee who only knew basic magic, wearing rings for eight years—there was no way they could compare to something an ascendant had used for decades.---Once they were ready, Chen Yi and his squad, filled with eager anticipation, entered the White Sand Rainforest from different starting points, each squad at a different location."After we get first place, we'll divide the rings by our specializations," Carl said dreamily, a few hours into their trek. Then he caught himself. "Oh, Mendes isn't here. Now we have two Elementalists.""Do you even need to think about it? The Elemental ring is obviously mine. As for the rest, the intermediate trainee can take whatever he wants," Liv said disdainfully."Let's talk after we actually win first place." Chen Yi himself was more interested in the third-place prize—that ancient book."Liv, I had another reason for bringing you along," Phil said. "I want you to learn from Chen Yi about magical control.""Me? Learn from *him*?"Before she could finish, *bang*—a light sphere hit Liv square on. If not for a shield that had just deployed, she would have been struck.Chen Yi, staff in hand, said in a low voice, "Watch out. Adjust your positions. They're here.""Tch." Liv clicked her tongue.Much as she hated to admit it, if Chen Yi hadn't just used Mendes's staff to project a shield, she would have been hit by that light sphere. Judging from the explosion, it could have taken out at least a tenth of her robe's durability.With a war cry, a robed figure wielding a greatsword charged at Chen Yi.But Chen Yi didn't use the shield staff again. He knew what would happen next. Phil's psionic ring flashed, and the greatsword-wielder froze mid-air."Everyone fall back. Cover Carl." Chen Yi directed. Carl quickly ran to the position farthest from the enemy and opened his spellbook.Phil stepped back as ordered and tried to sense the enemy's positions."What? Fall back?" Liv had seen with her own eyes the enemy frozen in place by her brother's telekinesis. With such a golden opportunity, they were supposed to fall back?She couldn't understand why her brother and Carl, both advanced trainees, blindly followed Chen Yi's orders. She certainly wouldn't.Liv raised her staff and launched a fireball at the sword-wielding enemy. The fireball hit a shield, flickered twice, and didn't break through.In the blink of an eye, the frozen enemy broke free. He shifted his target and swung his sword at Liv."Looking for death!" Liv sneered, furiously launching fireballs from her staff.But the fierce fireballs vanished the moment they touched the enemy's sword. Only then did she realize the sword had a strengthening enchantment that could nullify her spells.Liv knew this was bad. She tried to retreat—but found her feet locked in place by a psionic spell.The situation was now clear. Chen Yi's three had fallen back. The enemy was clearly focusing their fire on Liv, who had not followed orders and was now out of position.