He did not care as much about a simple duel. Moreover, his opponent was so eager to give him things. It would be uncourteous of him to spite his opponent in return.

He was also unclear of Richard’s motives behind this duel. So he merely thought that this was a friendly duel requested by a rather combative mage. Therefore, he also responded in a similar way.

In addition to that, he was wholeheartedly complimenting his opponent’s strength.

This magic ‘Pillar of Steam’ was almost used by Benjamin as Wind Magic, but its true nature was still Water Magic. It posed a certain amount of restraint on Fire Magic. But in this case, the flames of the Fireb.a.l.l.s still did not die out even with this immense flow of steam. This was truly a difficult thing to do.

And this made Benjamin’s impression of him change.

A normal mage might be able to do well with Low-level Magic, but because of the existence of the Triangular Runes, Benjamin only knew three Beginner-level Magic spells. And the sole thing that he should do was to keep studying these Magic spells and find out the inconceivable potential in which they possessed. This was so that they would possess the destroying power of the Forbidden Spell in the end.

Therefore, looking from another perspective, Benjamin was basically invincible in the area of Low-level Magic.

This Richard from the Magic Guild, in fact, came to Benjamin by himself.

Upon seeing the Fireb.a.l.l.s that were moved all over the place by Pillar of Steam, Benjamin spoke again after some thought. He asked Richard, "Do you want to continue? If you have a more impressive Magic, please do not hesitate to use it. "

Richard did not reply.

Upon seeing this, Benjamin frowned, questioning.

Why didn’t he reply?

The Bursts of Fireb.a.l.l.s had been blocked. If Richard intended to continue the duel, then he should proceed with his next attack. If he thought that there was no chance of winning, then just admit that it was his loss. What was the meaning of him, looking blank, over there?

For no reason at all, he thought Richard looked rather... pale?

"Sir Richard? Are you fine? Are you feeling unwell? If it is inconvenient for you, then we could temporarily discontinue our duel." He said it in a friendly manner.

The strange thing was Richard’s face darkened even more when he said this. With his legs s.h.i.+vering, he was barely standing. It was as if he would faint in the next second.

Benjamin felt even weirder.

What was this about? Wasn’t he fine when he casted the spell? Why would he become this way all of a sudden?

Those who were watching the whole scene by the side were also confused. They discussed it heatedly at that moment. There were mages who thought that maybe Richard spent too much Spiritual Energy on this spell. They thought that he forced himself in casting the Bursts of Fireball, so he was barely holding up now.

Probably... No one could understand how much Richard was falling apart on the inside at this moment.

Just like this, the whole situation became awkward for a moment. Since his opponent had no reaction at all, Benjamin could do anything. After giving it some thought, he chanted the Water Ball Spell and summoned a gigantic Waterball that headed straight for Richard’s head.

Since his opponent did not admit defeat, then that meant that they were still in the middle of a duel. Why not just try to attack Richard and see if he would have any reaction?

They could not just stay like this forever.

The gigantic Waterball flew at a steady speed towards him under everybody’s gaze.

Splas.h.!.+

Richard did not give any reaction. He did not put up a Barrier Magic, neither did he have any intent to dodge it. A Waterball that has not been compressed has a rather weak attacking power, but since it was quite large, Richard still toppled over when the Waterball hit him.

Covered in water, Richard struggled a bit and then stopped moving.

Even the Bursts of Fireball that were blocked by Pillar of Steam had burnt off suddenly at this moment.

What happened?

Benjamin was stunned by this situation.

He did not hit him very hard. Why did he faint? Could it be that his strength has increased again? Any Waterball he summoned could easily hit his opponent unconscious?

In addition to that... What should he do now? This was his win, right? Should he just walk to him and take his reward directly? It did not seem like a nice thing to do when everyone was watching him.

When Benjamin was feeling a little troubled, a stranger approached them from the crowd. He went to Richard and began checking his condition, frowning.

"Richard? Richard?"

He wanted to wake Richard up, but even after he shook him for half a minute, Richard still had no indication of waking up. Therefore, at last, he could only stand up and give an awkward smile to Benjamin.

"Sir Benjamin, I am terribly sorry." After thinking, he took the magic potion from Richard and handed it to Benjamin. "It is your win. Please take your reward."

Benjamin took the little bottle in his hand and slowly looked at it.

Even though he did not understand how his opponent could be knocked out unconscious by his slow Waterball... But, the result remained the same. He gained what he wanted, so he would not dwell on the small details.

The magic potion did not seem to be special. After close inspection, he saw that the volume of red liquid in the bottle was really little. Benjamin did not find anything special to it, so he kept the magic potion, turned around and prepared to leave.

The spectators saw that the duel had finished and decided that there was nothing more to see, so they left instead of stopping at the door of this hotel.

However, the stranger among the crowd once again called Benjamin.

"Sir Benjamin, please do not be so quick to leave." He spoke in a rather embarra.s.sed tone.

"Richard and I are mages from the Mage Guild who came to invite you. Even though Richard used this opportunity to wager a duel and he lost. But... we still hope that you would be able to come to Regina. This is a special request by our Guild Master. Believe me, you will not regret this trip. "

Upon hearing this, Benjamin frowned and turned around.

"Thank so for your pa.s.sionate invitation, but we have no intention of joining the Mage Guild. So I presume that we will have to let your Guild Master down." He replied this way.

"No... Guild Master did not mean that." That person looked around, then said in a small voice, "Lord Benjamin, some things ought not to be said in this place. May we change the location?"

...Oh?

Benjamin was a little surprised at that.

These words... It would seem that the objective of these two coming here was not any simple matter.

After giving it some thought, he nodded and agreed to talk things through in private.

Following the scattering of the crowd, the mages also went back to the room they rented in the hotel to rest. Richard still has not woken up, and so he was brought into the hotel to rest by his companions. After that, Benjamin followed that mage and went into a private room. They closed the door and began to talk.

Just when Benjamin thought that the other person was going to speak of their true objective, that person changed the topic abruptly and talked about another subject.

"Sir Benjamin, please call me Hawk." He showed a courteous smile and asked rather abruptly, "Judging from your situation, you won’t be staying long in Icor, right?"

Benjamin did not say anything. He simply nodded.

Well, he would like to see what this person was playing at.

"If this is the case, I think you must go to Regina at once." Hawk said this eloquently. "Her Majesty the Queen temporarily banned the people within Icor from going out of the country before the war began for the sake of their safety. Unless you have a doc.u.ment officially signed by the officials, you cannot leave Icor."

Upon hearing this, Benjamin thought a little and said, "But we don’t actually have to go to Regina. Since we don’t have the Church at our tails, we could stay in this small village by the border for a few more days. We will leave only when Her Majesty the Queen has removed the ban."

"No." Hawk shook his head and said, "Her Majesty the Queen has mentioned that this ban will be up for at least three years. During this period of time, the people who can leave and enter the country must be strictly managed. The ban from going out of the country was only the beginning. Waiting for a few more days is fine, but are you able to wait within Icor’s borders for three years?"