"So, magician Daniel, what do you say we try another kind of magic?"
Alaric opened a folding fan, hid the lower half of his face behind it, and casually suggested to Daniel.
"…"
Daniel withdrew his magic whip and deactivated it, looking somewhat dejected.
Such carelessness!
The strength of this guy wasn't at all proportional to his age!
Is this what people call genius?
In less than a month, he had surpassed old mages who had been learning and training for years.
Where did this monster come from?!
Daniel remembered how Wong had once told him that Alaric had defeated Mordo so easily that the latter hadn't dared to look anyone in the eye and couldn't sleep peacefully for days.
Daniel had laughed back then, mocking Mordo's defeat.
But now, facing the same opponent, he realized the truth:
Turns out, I was the clown in this story!
"So, magician Daniel, shall we continue?"
Alaric called out to him, seeing Daniel standing there deep in thought.
A little doubt arose in his heart—had this struck Daniel too hard?
Hm, his psychological endurance was clearly not on Mordo's level.
Mordo (somewhere in his mind): Thank you for the compliment!
"Ahem… of course we shall!" Daniel collected himself and responded, unwilling to show weakness.
Then he looked up at Alaric, and for a moment, through the eyes shining above the fan, he seemed to see a shadow of the Ancient One.
Wong felt the same.
Having lived in Kamar-Taj for so many years, he had often seen the Ancient One calmly holding a fan before her face as she spoke.
Even the way Alaric moved had some resemblance to her.
"No wonder the Ancient One has such faith in him…" Wong murmured softly.
If it weren't for their vastly different appearances, he might have thought Alaric was her long-lost son.
Daniel then realized that sheer strength wouldn't be enough, so he decided to change tactics and use another technique.
"Sword of Vishanti!"
A long sword wrapped in golden flames appeared in his hand as he charged at Alaric.
"All right, let's try swordsmanship then."
In response, Alaric lightly swung his right hand, and his fan glowed with golden flames and elongated, turning into a long, slender sword.
Clang!
The two swords clashed, sparks flying as the blades struck each other.
Alaric deliberately lowered the intensity of his inner magical energy to the level of an ordinary human and began to fight Daniel using only swordsmanship skills.
The truth was he could have ended the duel with a single move, but that would have been too impolite.
Daniel wasn't an enemy, but a future ally and guardian of the sanctuary. It wasn't worth shattering his pride and confidence.
Moreover, the Ancient One had personally asked Alaric to come and take charge of the New York Sanctuary.
It would have been inappropriate to utterly humiliate him in this duel.
Thus, the battle went on for quite some time.
As time passed, Daniel began to feel fatigued. His magical energy was almost depleted.
At last, he shouted, "Enough! I admit defeat!"
Alaric immediately stopped and withdrew his sword, making no attempt to humiliate him.
"You won…" Daniel said, looking at Alaric with a somewhat complicated expression.
"A small victory, a small victory~"
Alaric said modestly.
"I was wrong, I'm here to apologize to you, I'm sorry!" Daniel said and bowed deeply.
"Hm? No need, no need."
Alaric helped him up and said it wasn't worth such an apology.
It was just a sparring match, there was no reason to take it so seriously.
"Alaric, you truly have the strength to serve as the sorcerer guardian of the Sanctuary. The Ancient One wasn't wrong. I was thoughtless," Daniel said seriously.
Through the battle they had just fought, Daniel realized he had underestimated his opponent.
Likewise, he knew that Alaric had deliberately held back.
He had never felt such pressure in a duel before.
The further the fight went on, the less Daniel desired victory.
Alaric was like a mountain blocking his path.
No matter how hard Daniel tried, he couldn't move it.
After this battle, Daniel decided that after his shift ended, he would return to Kamar-Taj and devote himself to further mastering magic.
"In that case, let's be on our way first, and Daniel can hand over his duties," Wong suggested from the side.
He secretly nodded in acknowledgment of Alaric.
He was glad Daniel hadn't lost in a disgraceful way.
"Wait!" Daniel suddenly said.
"Daniel? Do you have something else?" Wong looked at him in confusion.
"Alaric, I want to know the extent of your true power. Can you show it to us?"
"Show it?"
"That's right!" Daniel looked at Alaric with anticipation.
"Alaric, I want to see it too," Wong agreed with the suggestion.
He too wanted to know the gap between himself and Alaric.
"Are you sure? I'll say this in advance—once you see it, whatever happens to you afterward has nothing to do with me," Alaric said seriously.
In other words: if it hits you, you asked for it.
Daniel: "No problem!"
Wong: "I accept!"
"All right then, I'll show you, boys~" Alaric said and slowly floated into the air.
The Cloak of Levitation spread wide, fluttering like a blazing cloud.
The roof of the Sanctuary opened on its own, revealing the clear sky.
Alaric flew up to a height roughly equal to the rooftop.
He crossed his arms over his chest and made a gesture resembling a blooming lotus.
"Since you want to see it, then watch."
Alaric lowered his gaze to Wong and Daniel, who were staring up at him, and spoke softly:
"I… that is, magic."
Then the mirror dimension lit up, and a colossal figure, nearly a hundred meters tall, appeared in dazzling brilliance.
Alaric summoned the White God of Magic into the mirror dimension, and for the first time, that sight revealed itself before others.
And then…
Daniel: "I'm blinded!!"
Wong: "Vishanti in the heavens! I see God!!"
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