A mage's journey begins with a battle mage.

Chapter 72 Guardian

The internet is like the sea, and its rhythm is like the waves.

Some people are born surfers, and Jiang Shuzhou is one of them, except that he is more used to creating waves.

Jiang Shuzhou exited the video and stopped following it. Anyway, he hadn't shown his face from beginning to end, so no one could find him to cyberbully. That's why the video was called "Shadow of the Law Chaser".

If he were to remove his hood, then this situation would be described as a moth drawn to a flame, knowingly doing the impossible, either possessing lofty ambitions or being blindly foolish.

Now that all the participating teams' videos have been released, it's time for Jiang Shuzhou to check out his opponents.

Hopefully, it will bring some surprises.

Two hours later.

After watching all the team promotional videos, Jiang Shuzhou fell into deep thought.

It's obvious that each team is holding back some of their strengths, which is normal, since it's public information that opponents can see. If they don't hold back, they're likely to be targeted and eliminated.

For example, Jiang Shuzhou casually concealed his ability to use Spell Overload, since he didn't need it when fighting the Paladin. The Paladin's armor and magic resistance were ridiculously high. If Jiang Shuzhou's spell power and damage hadn't been quite high, he might have lost.

The spell overload requires too long a casting time. Even with Jiang Shuzhou's talent for rapid casting, it still takes more than ten seconds to cast. During this time, Jiang Shuzhou has to concentrate on casting the spell, making it difficult to withstand the Paladin's dump truck charge.

However, in the end, Jiang Shuzhou proved to everyone that his efforts and skills were superior, and the Paladin's attitude was ultimately defeated by him.

Getting back to the main point, there are three teams worth noting.

The broadcasting team from China is the professional esports team Cangtian, composed of three people: "Cangzhou Assault Skeleton Soldier", "Genius Boy Lao Sharen", and "No Fake Medicine".

Jiang Shuzhou was initially not very optimistic about this team, after all, everyone knew the weaknesses of musketeers, and having three musketeers in the team was too unbalanced.

However, to Jiang Shuzhou's surprise, the three of them managed to obtain fully automatic firearms. While others were using semi-automatic weapons like lever rifles, they were able to acquire fully automatic ones.

This network of connections is truly unparalleled.

Others might not know, but Jiang Shuzhou did. After all, buying and selling weapons was the most common thing the Mage Alliance did. However, they usually only sold semi-automatic weapons, and almost never sold fully automatic ones, as these were controlled items.

It's possible that someone embezzled and accepted bribes, and even sold the fully automatic machines.

The three men swept the competition with their three fully automatic rifles, scoring 56 points, which is not bad.

Next up is the Phoenix team from Europe and America, also known as the Phoenix team. Their lineup is quite unique, with two paladins and one priest, a truly disgusting combination. They have extremely high endurance and defense. Although their attack power is not strong, they still managed to score 54 points thanks to their excellent qualities.

Finally, there's Japan's "genius team," consisting of three magic mages. It's truly remarkable how strong mages are; three outdated classes managed to reach the finals. The reason for paying attention to this team is that the three seem to possess specialized professional talents, unleashing spells with greater power than ordinary mages. It's just a pity that spell slots are still limited.

What a waste of such talent! If he had worked hard to become a true mage, wouldn't that have been better than being a magic network mage?

The remaining teams performed rather poorly and are not worth mentioning, so I won't go into too much detail here.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

For Jiang Shuzhou, having successfully won the game and with the remaining teams posing little threat, he could naturally get a good night's sleep.

However, this is not the case for teams like the Dynasty that were unlucky and failed to advance.

"Who is this person? How can he be so strong?"

Inside the room, the manager of the Royal Dynasty raised a question to his subordinates.

"We checked and found no such person in any professional teams. He's not a streamer on any platform either. You could say he's a complete amateur."

bump!

The manager slammed his hand on the table and said angrily.

"What are you all doing here? You're utterly useless when there's a problem. Go investigate now! If you can't find it, you're not leaving get off work!"

"Yes, we'll go right away."

The staff member responded meekly, revealing the hardships and struggles of working people.

"Also, no matter what, let's get in touch with him first. I remember he's the only one in his team, right?"

"Manager, what do you mean?"

"Don't you understand what I mean? I'm telling you to find a way to contact him and then get someone from our dynasty in! Let him name his terms!"

The manager roared at his staff again, feeling as if they were all robots, completely devoid of any intelligence.

"Okay, I'll take care of it right away."

Manager NC, do you think we'd dare to do this if you didn't tell us? What if something goes wrong and we have to take responsibility? The job belongs to the boss, and we should just do what we're paid for. How much are you paying us to do this?

After muttering a string of complaints to himself, the staff member left the room. He needed to relay the manager's instructions so that the intern, Xiao Li, could handle it. He wasn't going to work overtime; he could just quit if necessary. After all, he could support himself by playing games these days.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

"Huaiyang! Lin Huaiyang!"

Attitude snapped out of his daze as he was called. His real name was Lin Huaiyang. He was invited to participate in the youth training program of the Dynasty when he was 14 years old because of his outstanding gaming talent. Now he is a 24-year-old veteran.

"What's wrong? Did something happen during the match?"

The family members beside him asked this question.

"Mom, I'm fine, I just spaced out for a moment."

"Are you really okay?"

"fine."

"Nothing my foot!"

Lin Huaiyang's father, Lin Yexing, said.

"You've got some nerve! You're setting the pain level to the highest setting in games, calling it a 'realistic experience'."

"And the result?"

"He'd just walk right into the inferno, only to be killed with a single blow!"

"How many times have I told you? You just won't listen! How are you feeling now?"

Lin Yexing was half angry and half heartbroken; at this moment, he couldn't even imagine how painful it must have been.

"Dad, I'm fine. I just feel like I'm having a run of bad luck and I'm a little down. Besides, don't you know that people block out pain when they're in intense pain?"

"Are you really alright?"

Lin Yexing asked suspiciously.

"I'm really fine," he said.

"Okay, I've ordered a gaming pod too. We can practice together, father and son, and get our revenge next time!"

Seeing his son's reply, Lin Yexing didn't say anything more. After saying one sentence, he silently left and returned to his room.

"Mom, my dad..."

"It's okay, he's just worried about you. Winning or losing temporarily isn't scary, what's scary is giving up. You're usually too competitive, don't put too much pressure on yourself, just do your best."

His mother's words made him give a wry smile; it wasn't because of any so-called competitive spirit.

"Mom, I'll buy you a gaming pod later too. You can play games with Dad more often. The three of us can all be in the game. I'll teach you guys a few times. We're all busy usually, but you can play games while you sleep, so it won't be a problem."

The mother was taken aback by the attitude and words. She was about to refuse, but when she saw the determination in her child's eyes, she swallowed the refusal that was on the tip of her tongue.

"Okay, it's no big deal. The kids are all grown up now, it's time for Mom to rely on you."

The mother made a joke and then went into the room.

He remained silent, staring intently at his parents and the room, lost in thought.

Hopefully, this will make things easier for my parents when that day arrives.

He thought of the truth the bishop had told him, and at the same time, he seemed to hear those words again in his ears.

"At most three years, and then it will all be over."

"My child, you must be careful. The followers of Heim cannot fail to protect even their own family."