I Refused To Be Reincarnated
Chapter 514: The Underestimated Alchemist

Chapter 514: The Underestimated Alchemist

"Hahaha! Let me show you Elisabeth’s glorious light!"

The second Alice called for the duel to begin, Paul’s amiable features shifted. His gentle smile vanished, replaced by an arrogant grimace as superiority and disdain danced in his eyes.

Without wasting a second, his voice filled the stadium with his spell’s incantation as his posture wafted the confidence to breeze through a match against a weak alchemist.

The audience gawked as light condensed and swirled around the teenager like a divine halo. Anticipation gripped their hearts as they gawked at the spectacle in surprise and awe.

Even the other academy students nodded in approval at Paul’s swift casting before shaking their heads at his adversary’s lazy approach. After all, two seconds had already passed, but his mouth remained closed.

Meanwhile, Adam finally opened his mouth, raising the public’s eagerness as they believed they would witness an incredible battle. Yet, he only yawned and rubbed his eyes.

Then, under their enlarging eyes, his lips curled into a provocative smirk that dwarfed Paul’s level of arrogance by a hundredfold.

"He is too much! Does he think he can win after wasting four entire seconds?"

"He’s too scared to move! Get down from the stage if you don’t want to participate!"

"What’s this con artist? Who does he think he’s scaring with that smirk?"

The public booed and cursed him after ten seconds of inaction. Even Alice squinted her eyes threateningly, her earlier good impression of the boy already a distant memory replaced by scorn.

Unlike the rest, Shepard’s and Marina’s wine glasses shook in their hands as they laughed like maniacs in the big shots’ private room.

"Bahaha! Keep underestimating him and bet all your wealth!"

"Add my items, Shepard! Make the saintly bitch cough blood at her losses!"

The other arcanist only saw them seated inside a water barrier, unaware that two unlikely predators allied to bleed their treasuries without remorse.

Yet, another man watched Adam.

Sparks of green flashing in his gray eyes, he peered through the puppet, its intricacy lying bare, and reached his golden soul hidden inside.

"His soul reached a terrifying level of existence. It’s on par with the fifth-tier realm... A pity he doesn’t know how to condense it."

Fingers tucked around his chin and a pensive frown creasing his brows, king Leon muttered from his seat.

"I don’t believe a man like you, who eviscerated a mountain and risked his life for two kids, will lose this early. Show me where your confidence comes from."

Then, the king’s eyes shifted to the person he was interested the most in and locked on Julius, who slapped his legs in amusement next to Arun.

"Do you think they’ll swallow the wrong way when they see his spells?"

"I think they’d turn purple from lack of oxygen if they ever learn he doesn’t need to cast. Hahaha."

As the public’s flowing curses drowned their laughter, Paul sneered after twenty-five seconds and aimed his radiant palm at Adam.

"I’m one of the fastest casters. Kneel before the Academy of Light Magic! Radiant spear of the just!"

The air grew sticky with mana, and a brilliant tip emerged from the teenager’s palm.

The audience’s curses stopped, and icy sweat formed on their foreheads. With each second crawling by, the radiant spear grew larger and began to spin faster until they trembled in their seats, convinced it could rip Adam’s upper torso to shreds.

In the arena, Alice channelled her mana, ready to cast a defensive spell to save the foolish boy as Paul hurled the spear, victory written all over his face.

A shiny trail followed the spell as the air cracked and parted on its trajectory. The sound alone sent a wave of terror into the spectators’ hearts, forcing some to close their eyes not to see the kid’s possible gruesome death.

Yet, they opened them the next second, compelled by Adam’s apologetic tone.

"Ah! It was too long, so I dozed off again. Sorry, I’ll cast my spell now."

As the wind pressure threw his hat off and blew his hair backwards, he snuffed all the curses prickling the watching crowd’s throat.

"Lightning barrier."

SIZZLE

With a strident cacophony of sizzles, purple lightning arcs snaked and entangled themselves in a spinning dance to create an unbreachable barrier around its caster.

Everyone’s heart drummed in disbelief as the radiant spear collided with it, and their expectation for a titan’s clash shattered like glass in their minds.

Even Alice’s pupils constricted in shock despite her tier as the absorbed light registered in their depths.

Just like that, Paul’s threatening spell vanished, engulfed by a defensive spell.

As everyone tried to understand how Adam did it, his voice pierced their ears like two sharp nails.

"Oh! I’m so lucky. It seems I’m also among the fastest casters! Who would have thought!"

Yet inside, he roared with laughter.

’Want to act arrogant before me? Watch as I shatter it innocently. Hahaha!’

An innocent smile curled on his lips as he saw Paul’s clenched fists and the veins bulging on his forehead.

"Let’s cast another spell. I’m sure you’ll outmatch me this time."

His friends rolled their eyes at the shameless act and giggled as Paul gritted his teeth.

"You mastered silent casting? So what! I’m still the fastest!"

Without wasting a second, the arrogant boy spewed words faster than ever, ready to break his record and teach the boy who dared to humiliate him a painful lesson.

Meanwhile, under the crowd’s enlarging eyes, Adam’s legs bent, and he... lay lazily on the ground and waved his hand in Shepard’s direction.

Yet, a calculative glint flashed in his eyes.

’I think I’ve done enough to force them to consider me an arrogant fool who overestimates himself. If not, they’ll hate my behavior enough to bet aggressively against me.’

As he pondered how to improve the act, twenty-three seconds passed in tense silence before Paul roared his next spell.

"Divine hammer of retribution!"

And yawning as he scratched his neck, he shot back.

"Divine hammer of a bigger retribution."

"..."

The public watched the two hammers confrontation with sweaty hands as the purple one struck upwards.

BAM

Much larger than the light one, it shattered its structure into a rain of beautiful, falling sparks.

Despite the clear winner, their brows rose in confusion. How was it possible? How did he do it? And what was that bullshit spell name?

Those questions burned their tongues. They had to know, or they wouldn’t find sleep tonight.

Yet, their blood boiled in anger at Adam’s next words.