Meteor Disaster was a solo competition where six participants battled simultaneously, and only the last one standing was deemed the victor! As the tournament progressed, Meteor Disaster consistently maintained a six-person scale, with sometimes only two of those being victors who had triumphed all the way, while the remaining four were losers trying to win back their chance at life, testing individual combat quality!
Perhaps some wondered why a solo competition involved six fighting together—there were many reasons. For instance, faction constraints were severe among low-level mages; when a Fire Mage met a Water Mage, the former hardly stood a chance, and Weak Mages dominated most melee fighters, with Gun Masters considered top-tier careers... But convert a duel into a melee, and faction dominance became a secondary issue. This added numerous variables and more comprehensively tested each mage’s combat capabilities.
Another minor reason was that melee battles looked a lot more exciting than one-on-one fights.
After all, the participants were not Holy Sanctuary Mages, and though students might add as much battle flair as possible to stand out, to laypeople, these contests still couldn’t compare with the exaggerated scenes in movies and dramas. To enhance spectator enjoyment, Meteor Disaster had tried everything from three to a hundred participants, finally settling on six—as this number was filled with dramatic conflicts yet did not scatter the audience’s attention too much.
The biggest flaw of the six-person scale was the significant weakening of stronger participants’ advantages, as the other competitors weren’t fools. In a zero-sum game, naturally, they’d target the strongest first.
Thus, the victors of Meteor Disaster were either those with the strongest combination of tactics, combat power, and social connections, or...
those who were absolute prodigies, completely overpowering their fellow competitors!
"In recent years at the opening ceremony Meteor Disaster, the victors have invariably been students from Truth University," said Verlin, clad in a thin, translucent blue War Dress, with a smile, "Hardworking seniors and juniors."
"Is that so? That’s wonderful," Lydia drew her dual guns, "I hadn’t set a target for this year’s league till yesterday. Now, my goal is to end Truth University’s winning streak yesterday."
Correnzo spun his Spinning Stick, its silver tip tracing flames, clearly indicating he hid tricks up his sleeve, "Holding some reverence for your seniors won’t backfire, junior."
"Oh la la, Verlin never thought she’d be this annoying, right? Why does everyone want to deal with me first? Could it be..." Verlin tilted her head and giggled, flicking a short rod from her sleeve that extended at both ends into a long staff with a twirl.
As the staff struck the muddy ground, all the shallow water on stage surged crazily towards Verlin, turning into strands of Water Dragons that twined around the staff from afar, defending Verlin and suppressing the stage! At this moment, Verlin appeared like the Water Witch herself, with the rest merely ignorant heroes daring to challenge her!
Not to mention, in terms of both style and chicness alone, the rest were already utterly defeated!
"... Jealous of Verlin’s beauty, perhaps?" Verlin held the staff tightly against her back, her gracefully curvaceous body accentuated, her languid tone exuding confidence without regarding anyone else!
"War Ghost Mage..." everyone murmured softly, no hint of luck left in their hearts as they looked at Verlin with caution and resolution!
A War Ghost Mage wasn’t about a particular Magic Faction, but more uniquely referred to mages utilizing cold weapons in combination with Natural Magic.
Although cold weapon magic factions could also produce Natural Miracles, like a Sword Master manifesting a Flame Sword or the like, such mirages came hand-in-hand—meaning there was no flame without the sword; a Sword Master couldn’t just breathe out flames, even for show, without waving a sword hand at the Technique Spirit.
Different still, War Ghost Mages typically mastered one Natural Magic and one cold weapon independently. Like Verlin with her staff and Water Dragons, she could spout water even without her staff; there was no subordinate relationship between her Water Magic and her staff.
Yet, in battle, her Water Magic Miracles would synchronize with her staff assaults—when you attempted to counter the Water Magic Miracle, you’d be thrashed by the staff; when you defended against the staff, you’d be blasted by Water Dragons!
Fighting a War Ghost Mage was akin to fighting two opponents at once!
This was a cunning combat system since Natural Magic factions focused on casting concentration, disregarding dynamic response, while cold weapon factions emphasized dynamic combat, paying no heed to casting concentration. Both could be used simultaneously, but constructing such a system was very challenging.
Despite that, as Magic Faction advancements thrived to this day, deriving miracles from a singular faction could already cover all possibilities, with even the Sword Skill department having Self-Healing Miracles; mages supplementing with other magical faculties did so for additional features like mobility, reconnaissance, healing, killer techniques, etc. They wouldn’t extend into unrelated factions just for combat systems, hence such dual-specializing mages were often bloodlust enthusiasts, thus dubbed as War Ghosts.
Verlin may have seemed fragile and tender, primarily specializing in Water Magic Department, but undeniably relished the thrill of combat inside—using her staff to burst many a Fish-Slicing Dragon’s heads!
"Sonia junior, may I address you that way?" Verlin suddenly spoke, "Considering we’re both young and pretty, let me give you a piece of advice: while they try to deal with me, you’d do well to figure out how to kick at least one contestant out."
Lydia swiftly glanced at the Village Girl and sneered toward Verlin, "Why does a bright student from Truth University need to resort to intrigue and forming cliques? Forget about it—I acknowledge you’re the strongest now, so you must be the first to go out!"