When Selina opened her eyes, gentle sunlight rested on her face.
As her vision slowly expanded, a flawless face appeared before her.
“Who are you?”
Selina asked expressionlessly. (Sigma woman indeed.)
“I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Audrey, Audrey Boen.”
“Oh.”
Selina propped herself up by the forehead.
The physical exhaustion was greater than she expected.
Looking around, she saw herself lying on a large bed.
It seemed she had unknowingly been used as a lap pillow again.
‘Why again?’
‘I can only say that the Saintess’s legs aren’t as soft as Lei Ni’s.’
‘Being too thin isn’t a good thing either.’
‘Vika told me not to get too close to the Saintess, but now the Saintess is the one clinging to me.’
‘Urgent, waiting online.’
“Where is Vika…”
“She’s waiting for you at the Knight Arena. I’ll take you there. Can you walk by yourself? Or should I help you?”
“I can walk, I can walk.”
‘How dare I not walk myself?’
‘Who knows how many eyes are watching in the Great Cathedral?’
‘For my own life, Lady Saint, please be kind and stay away from me.’
‘I don’t want to die in an “accident.”’
She sighed inwardly.
Seeing that her clothes hadn’t been disturbed, she only needed to put on her shoes.
‘She didn’t know why the Saintess was so enthusiastic toward her.’
‘There were plenty of people better than her in status, appearance, and knowledge.’
‘Couldn’t figure it out, so she stopped thinking about it.’
‘But a mere nun being led by the Saintess herself—she was probably the first in history.’
In the capital where land was precious, the church’s influence was immense.
Just walking took over half an hour, winding through various paths before reaching the Knight Arena.
As soon as she stepped inside, a sense of pressure suddenly descended.
Inside were all experts no lower than sixth rank, over forty of them…
That made sense—as the church’s headquarters, the number of stationed paladins was certainly not small.
‘Maybe I could even see Suo Lun.’
The shape of the Knight Arena was very similar to the Roman Colosseum.
To be honest, she started to suspect that a predecessor reincarnator had planted a crop there.
Pushing aside the thoughts in her head, after stepping into the arena, she soon heard the fierce battle of two knights on the sandy ground below.
Every collision of weapons created violent ripples, and even a hundred meters away, she could feel the ground tremble.
Audrey apparently didn’t want her identity to be discovered, so she disguised herself and blended in.
Selina, on the other hand, looked up, trying to find Vika’s location.
That person with a black blindfold over their eyes was very conspicuous in the crowd.
Soon, Selina sat down beside her and asked.
“How did the trial go?”
“Ranked third. Besides those twins who cleared the eighth floor, only you passed the seventh floor. You’re already considered someone deserving of attention.”
‘Is it my imagination? Vika’s voice sounds kind of sweet.’
‘Seeing how good her mood seems, I’d better not mention it.’
This result was still within her expectations.
“Then what position will I be assigned?”
Vika smiled slightly.
“Don’t be impatient. Let me ask you a question. Between magicians and those heavily armored knights on the field, who is stronger?”
Selina looked at the two paladins dueling on the field.
The intensity of the duel was unimaginably high.
‘It felt like a single punch could shatter her.’
‘As for magicians, they just stand there with a staff, shooting fireballs and water balls.’
‘Okay, a bit of a stereotype.’
‘As the saying goes, prejudice in people’s hearts is a mountain.’
‘If we compare it to War Souls…’
‘Heavily armored knights are the tanks, magicians are the damage dealers.’
‘In a duel between these two, obviously if they get close, the magician is done for.’
‘But if they keep their distance, the magician can keep bombarding, and as long as the enemy’s magic resistance isn’t that high, the magician wins.’
‘That’s some reference value at least.’
Soon, Selina expressed this view.
Vika even gave her a thumbs up.
“You’re absolutely right. In close-quarters melee, a magician has no ability to fight back.”
“However, actual combat is different from a duel. When a heavily armored knight faces another heavily armored knight, no matter the distance, they will inevitably end up in close combat.”
“But magicians are different. As long as they have enough distance to cast their spells, the outcome will be a one-sided victory, with the magician crushing the heavily armored knight.”
“Runes with magic resistance are expensive. Even the empire’s heavily armored knight legions can’t afford to have anti-magic runes engraved on every soldier’s armor.”
“Then why does the empire still use heavily armored knight legions as humanity’s main force?”
“Selina, you haven’t seen a real magician yet, have you?”
“Uh, I don’t think I have…”
Although Kante cultivates both physical and magical paths, he is essentially still a heavily armored knight, not a magician.
“The number of high-rank magicians is very scarce, mainly because learning high-level magic requires extremely strong insight.”
Vika thought for a moment and then continued.
“There are three essential elements to becoming a high-rank magician: hard work, talent, and—insight.”
“Talent is the foundation of cultivation, determining one’s upper limit. Many theoretical geniuses in history were limited by their talent—extremely high insight but insufficient magic level.”
“There are also many people with extremely high talent but insufficient insight. When this path doesn’t work out, they can only seek other routes, like the knights you know.”
“At the very least, hard work will not betray our expectations.”
“Currently, only the long-established magician families can consistently produce high-rank magicians.”
“For now, you are classified as a person of high insight. The level of independently comprehending a fourth-rank healing spell is already something that can be written in history.”
Vika said solemnly.
When she got serious, she really had a mature aura.
“If I’m not mistaken, there should be another profession that counters magicians, right?”
Vika’s finger lightly tapped Selina’s forehead, and she smiled slightly.
“Very perceptive, little one.”
‘Of course, in a team competition game, the first one to die is the damage dealer.’
“In the current mainstream combat system, there is no perfect profession. While magicians counter heavily armored knights, silent assassins will slit the magician’s throat, preventing them from casting.”
“But assassins also can’t penetrate a heavily armored knight’s armor. If the two meet on flat ground, the assassin is completely outclassed.”
“Some scholars have tried to make magicians wear the same armor as heavily armored knights, but you know, magicians are a bunch of bookworms—the moment they put it on, they can’t move.”
‘That’s a very vivid image. Even in games, warriors generally have far more strength than magicians, and some equipment even requires a certain level of strength to equip.’
“Now, here’s the problem. What a warrior needs first is hard work and talent.”
“Magicians need talent and insight.”
“Assassins need hard work and insight.”
“The answer to the problem is simple.”
“Eliminate the impossible and the unnecessary, and only one answer remains.”
“Devote yourself to the darkness, child.”