Commanding Wind and Cloud
chapter-136

"Well, Qian Jin, you can find a mage, right?"Caeller taunted. "If not, we are delighted to help since we still want this to be a fair duel." In fact, the fat man was secretly praying that Qian Jin would be carried away by those provoking words and take all the three duels on his own.

Just before a sneer came out from Qian Jin, a bashful female voice drifted over, "Can I do it?"

Everyone looked back and found a petite mage student standing at the door, whose face was hidden under the big mage hat. However, one could tell it was definitely a female from her voice.

Gabriella stood there and looked at the agitating crowd timidly. She was a bit on edge, and couldn’t stop rubbing her hands until she saw Qian Jin.

Not long ago at school, when the name Rollin came up, Qian Jin turned away without a second thought. Out of concern, Gabriella followed closely behind him and almost lost Qian Jin if she hadn’t gone right away. She had listened for some time in the yard, and finally she collected the courage to speak up about the mage duel.

Caeller could scarcely suppress a laugh. Wasn’t this the famous Gabriella, the worst mage student ever since the establishment of Oakland Mage and Warrior Novice Academy? Who could’ve expected such a surprise? It would suck if Qian Jin were that lucky to find himself a powerful mage. But now, everything would be perfect if Gabriella were the mage.

"I’m okay with that," Caeller shrugged and looked at Qian Jin in a provocative way. "However, I’m afraid that Qian Jin won’t dare to take you as a partner." Qian Jin turned to Gabriella and saw a serious expression under the rim of her hat. There wasn’t a single sense of retreat. The shy mage meant to help.

Qian Jin made a cold laugh about the duel. It was clearly stated in the Law of Zence Empire that killing in a duel would not be counted as a crime. They came up with this duel just to find a justified reason to kill Qian Jin.

Gabriella strode over the threshold. Step by step, she moved towards the courtyard. Those tall and strong warriors, in the face of this tiny and diffident mage student, unconsciously moved out of the way for her to the coffin.

Standing before the coffin, Gabriella made a deep bow and her shiny black hair slipped from her shoulders, which made the bystanders itch to uncover her hat so that they could see the face so ruthlessly hidden from view.

"Haha..." Caeller sneered with a curl of his lips. "It seems that Qian Jin doesn’t dare to work with the little girl. How about we do you a favor to find you another mage?"

The timid Gabriella, at this moment, once again came closer to Qian Jin, acting like she was desperate to help. This was totally out of Qian Jin’s expectation. The girl was fully aware what a duel meant. It meant that people might die on the battlefield.

Duels, in Zence Empire, meant endless fighting until one of the warriors died in the ring. Gabriella stood in front of Qian Jin quietly. Her mage hat once again fell down a little bit. In fact, even she didn’t know why she had the courage to help in such a dangerous duel.

"Okay, when?" Qian Jin finally made up his mind that he could always take all three rounds. He had enough cards. He had already become a Level 9 Demon Figher in the Wind and Cloud Golden and Iron Body. He had so many skills like Eighteen Blade Elevating Strikes, Innumerable Shadows, Kun-fighting technique and the secret divine shot of Knife Throwing.

Qian Jin didn’t care so much about the mage in reality, yet they wanted to win in the mage duel? That wouldn’t be a problem because mages had a natural enemy in this world: archers.

What? Caeller could not believe what he heard. Qian Jin clearly knew of Gabriella’s level, yet he accepted this proposal? Was he out of his mind, or had he gotten other cards? Was he a Demon Figher?

Caeller shook his head with a self-depreciating smile because this speculation was too absurd. "How could he be a Demon Figher? He would likely become one if he got lucky in the future. But now? No way. One could never become a Demon Figher without the Advanced Training Scroll, which was inaccessible because this little bastard has spent these two years missing in the Sunset Mountains. He is just an amazing Level 10 Warrior, at best."

"Yes. It must be so." Caeller grew more and more confident about his conjecture. He not only had Glan, a five-year Demon Fighter who practiced warrior energy using 18 energy reservoirs, but also Cage. "Hum. Yes, my nephew Cage, he really has a trump card no one would have thought of."

Bloodline Warrior. Caeller excitedly clenched his fists. The Cae Family had never been a family of bloodline warriors. But thanks to his brother, he had married a woman from a branch of the Thunder Cat Bloodline. Theoretically, a bloodline woman only had a miniscule chance of a blood awakening, let alone a natural awakening.

However impossible it may have been, his nephew Cage successfully had a natural awakening on the altar, which no one had expected. And now, Cage was the future of the Cae Family and was cultivated as an heir.

This time, Caeller had brought him to Oakland on two accounts. One was to help Caeller win the headmaster position of Oakland Mage and Warrior Novice Academy, which would help the Cae family enormously. A mage and warrior academy, even a primary one, was a talent pool where they could find numerous reliable right hands.

The second was to give Cage more experience. Joining the exchange fair of the college and then leading a weak college to accomplish something would make him a key person to be recruited and trained by advanced fighter academies.

"Cage. Yes, I still have Cage." The thought of his nephew made him fearless. Bloodline warriors had always been invincible. Even Glan, the five-year Demon Fighter would conceal his arrogance when facing Cage.

"Since Qian Jin is okay with this duel, then how about tomorrow?"Caeller watched Qian Jin with a kind and elderly smile, for fear that the young man would regret his stupid decision if the date was set to a later date. He was afraid that when Qian Jin carefully thought through the situation, he would go to Fabreidis to replace the beginner mage Gabriella with a more powerful one.

Qian Jin laughed, "Since you have settled the time, how about I decide the place?" Caeller confidently spread out his hands, making a casual look. "As you like." "Here," Qian Jin pointed to the ground under his foot and spoke with an overbearing momentum which seemed to break out immediately from his body. "In the very yard of this mourning hall. I want Rollin to see what I will do for him."

Sabonis stared at Qian Jin, and the sight sent a chill up his spine. "How could he possess such momentum at such a young age? If I had met him at the same age, there’s no doubt I would be defeated. I am afraid that even the city guardian didn’t have such momentum when he was this young. Is this Qian Jin a disciple of Fabreidis? Is this fireball, who has never taken apprentices, finally, making an exception for this young man?"

Probably. Sabonis became more positive about his guess as he observed Qian Jin. Although Fabreidis was not a bloodline warrior, he was nothing less than that. Also, he had always been overbearing, which conveyed a similar ecstasy with the young man. If there were any differences, the talent displayed by Qian Jin was much sharper and more overwhelming. He was like a ready weapon that could kill at any moment.

Wait. The Mayor suddenly narrowed his eyes, and a coldness bursting out from his pupils gazed upon Qian Jin. He was so shocked that he almost blurted out: Demon Figher, God. Sabonis's attention was crucified on the young man and the unexpected discovery stirred a burst of monstrous waves in his heart.

Was this kid a bloodline warrior? No. No way. Sabonis immediately rejected this speculation. One must transform with the blood awakening if he aimed to become a Demon Figher at the age of nineteen, but this young man didn’t show even a little bit of transformation.

Was he just an ordinary young man? That was even more unbelievable. Sabonis felt the muscles on his back become stiff. A less than 19-year-old ordinary person burst into a Demon Figher with his bare hands. It was hard to believe, even if he only used 12 energy reservoirs.

Sabonis pulled his attention from Qian Jin and secretly turned to Fabreidis. He secretly warned himself: it seems that this Qian Jin is definitely his apprentice. I might have just offended him as I helped Caeller like that. I must tell Caeller to have some mercy on Qian Jin during the duel. Otherwise, no one, not even the Cae Family, can handle that walking fireball Fabreidis once he is pissed off. He has the entire Union behind his back.

In fact, Sabonis was not the only one that was shocked. Fabreidis had thought that Qian Jin was a just Level 10 Fighter at best. He could get him an array tonight and secretly teach him how to gather the warrior power from 72 energy reservoirs at the risk of going against the rules of the Warrior Union. Therefore, by tomorrow he would have a good shot during the three rounds with the Cae Family.

Superior gathering methods would always be a superior choice. It took a warrior 5 years to become a Demon Fighter using 12 warrior reservoirs, but with 72 warrior reservoirs, it would only take one night. In terms of warrior power, it was truly superior.

"I didn't expect that he has already done that..." Fabreidis sighed in heart. "I just need to find out which warrior reservoirs he used to complete the process. If it’s a small one, I'm going to be really busy tonight. I need to first break all his warrior power into warrior energy, and then restore it using a spiritual array and re-gather it with the 72 energy reservoirs... Fortunately, this kid has already become a forging master. Even if the warrior union knows about this, I'll just register him later. It is no big deal."