Ronan stepped down from the arena, surrounded by the chatter about him.
Countless gazes focused on him, making him the unique focal point at this moment.
The first genius to defeat a Level 3 adversary at a Level 2 duel!
The first Level 2 genius to encounter an Upper Level 3 seed power and win!
An unprecedented feat.
Plus the exaggerated display of the Resonance Magic Domain just now by Ronan...
Ronan’s reputation soared to an unprecedented peak, almost rivaling those of the Level 3 wizard geniuses on the field.
However, there was not a hint of joy in Ronan’s heart, instead, a thick layer of gloom hung over him.
As soon as he reached the Silver Magic Ring’s section, he was greeted with looks of amazement, admiration, and awe.
Clements seemed quite excited and was about to say something, but Ronan raised his hand to stop him.
Ronan quickly walked up in front of Caroni and the others, softly calling out their names.
Caroni’s eyes were filled with unabashed appreciation for him, alongside the Fourth Ring Master, Archiduo, whose face was full of smiles, and whose gaze toward him became more and more affectionate.
"I thought you would need to use the Bloodline Power of the ancient blood within you at least to have a chance to defeat Damian."
Caroni mused, "Unexpectedly... you outperformed my expectations, accomplishing this astonishing deed without resorting to your bloodline."
"Your Ice Magic inheritance bears traces of the Ice Wizards from the Extreme North, is it from there?" Archiduo casually inquired.
Yet Ronan had no intention of accepting their praise or responding, instead, he simply shook his head and said, "I didn’t completely defeat Damian.
He surrendered voluntarily."
Caroni and Archiduo were slightly stunned, "What do you mean?"
Ronan carefully described the final situation of the duel with Damian to them.
After finishing, he looked up towards the direction of Thorny Palace, but could not find Damian’s figure.
After "losing" the battle with him, it seemed as if driven by "shame," Damian chose to "leave the field" directly.
To others, it might seem like the most normal reaction, because Damian was the first Level 3 to be defeated by a Level 2. He was the greatest hope for Thorny Palace, yet he also brought shame upon it.
With Damian eliminated, Thorny Palace almost lost hope of securing a good spot in the duel, and at this moment, everyone from Thorny Palace had visibly somber faces.
"It might not be as you think..."
After listening to Ronan’s account, Caroni pondered for a moment, then slowly said, "Perhaps this is exactly what Damian wanted to see..."
Ronan frowned, "Ring Master’s meaning is that he deliberately surrendered in this manner to make me paranoid now?"
Caroni nodded, "Perhaps he still had some fighting power, but he felt no way to defeat you and deliberately left you with the illusion that ’he had not lost’... After all, many people know that you have not used your Bloodline Power yet, haven’t they?"
"Like Damian, a century-old genius, his mind is much more profound than you imagine..."
Archiduo also chimed in on the side, and sneered, "I’ve seen too many tricks like these. If you’re really disrupted by him, then you’ll have really fallen into his trap...
In any case, just remember this: in such situations, no one reasons to surrender easily... Let alone at the cost of his reputation as a Level 3 Wizard..."
Ronan seemed convinced.
"Prepare well for the next duel, Damien, we are all optimistic about you."
Caroni encouraged him a couple more times, Ronan nodded, walked alone to the side and sat down, appearing calm, yet his mind remained shrouded in a faint haze.
Was the surrender in the last duel, as Caroni and Archiduo said, just Damian’s play of mystery?
But he always felt things weren’t that simple.
Because of the practice of Body Forging, Ronan possessed a keen intuition beyond ordinary people’s understanding, not even that of ordinary wizards.
Ronan lifted his head and surveyed the entire dueling venue.
The arena matches continued, everything seemed normal.
Yet from it, he sensed a faint scent of conspiracy.
But he didn’t know its origin or where it was coming from.
Ronan inevitably felt a bit restless for the time being.
His gaze repeatedly searched and patrolled in the field, still unable to find Damian’s figure.
But inadvertently touched upon the sight of Melt Crystal Lake, meeting the eyes of a youth as fiery and domineering as a lake of lava.
The other party was coldly staring at him, and compared to the initial hostility and aversion, Ignatius’s gaze now seemed to carry some indescribably strange aspect.
He gave Ronan a cold smile, then slowly averted his gaze.
Recalling Clement’s warning before the match began, a suspicion leaped into Ronan’s mind—
"Could it be that Damian made some agreement with this guy to deliberately let me win, so that I’d meet him in the following duels, where he could openly... kill me on the arena?"
Ronan then shook his head, thinking this possibility was slim.
Because solely for this purpose, bribing a Level 3 Wizard, having him willingly bear the disgrace of being defeated by a Level 2 Wizard, potentially facing punishment from the forces behind him, wouldn’t the price paid be too high...
Amid continuous speculation and pondering, the second round of the duel unconsciously came to an end, too.