Chapter 224: The Center of Attention
As the dust settled, figures appeared.
Vivian, who had reverted from her bloodline transformation back to human form, had long since fainted from exhaustion.
Beside her, Jia Na was kneeling on the ground, continuously using the Quick Healing Witchcraft to treat Vivian's horrific injuries.
"Did you really have to..."
Looking at the large areas of burn marks and countless thorn scratches on Vivian's body, Jia Na's eyes couldn't help but show a hint of heartache again, and she immediately increased the magic input for Quick Healing.
In fact, by the later stage of the battle, Vivian's consciousness had long been replaced by the bloodthirsty instinct of the Kosh Nashi Serpent, losing her ability to think as a "person."
This situation was very similar to Solo-Flame's berserk state; she felt no pain, knew no fatigue, and only knew how to kill, like a killing machine, never stopping until completely exhausted.
Moreover, because the Kosh Nashi Serpent's five senses were blocked but its perception was extraordinary, many of Jia Na's mental control methods were ineffective.
If it weren't for Vivian being somewhat unaccustomed to her bloodline and fainting from exhaustion prematurely, Jia Na might have really had to use the 【Law Fragment】 and her fifth contracted creature, these two trump cards, to defeat Vivian.
"This group performed very well."
Looking at Jia Na's back as she jumped down from the Combat Training Ground holding Vivian, Grace-Eva's eyes were full of admiration.
Leaving aside Jia Na, who maintained a high-level combat state as always, Vivian, who had clearly only recently awakened her family bloodline, also gave Grace-Eva a sense of pleasant surprise, like discovering a dark horse.
Years of commercial competition with the Rose Family meant that Grace-Eva was also well-informed about the Rose Family.
The Kosh Nashi Serpent, as the Rose Family's top ice-element bloodline, had only appeared once in so many years.
But unexpectedly, on this female apprentice whose initial talent was merely C-rank Flash Freeze, she witnessed this bloodline once again.
"No wonder the Rose Family spent a fortune to improve her talent and aptitude. It turns out it was because of the bloodline. I learned from Mary-Margaret before that the Rose Family had spent an exorbitant sum to purchase a magical food from her that could enhance an apprentice's talent.
At the time, Grace-Eva found it very strange. Even if Vivian was the daughter of the Rose Family head, her C-rank Wizard Talent alone wasn't enough to qualify for such good treatment.
As someone from a family herself, Grace-Eva naturally understood that beneath the seemingly flourishing and peaceful facade of Wizard families, the internal resource allocation hierarchy was extremely strict.
Even the head's daughter couldn't forcibly take resources meant for high-talent apprentices.
Not to mention the various backstabbing incidents caused by the struggle for resources... within Wizard families, these were commonplace.
"Alright, are there any others who wish to initiate a challenge?"
Hearing Grace-Eva's words, the second-year apprentices in the arena fell silent for a moment.
Especially when they saw Jia Na still continuously treating Vivian, the same thought emerged in their minds simultaneously:
Too strong!
Both Jia Na and Vivian were simply too strong!
While most second-year apprentices were still at the First-Level Wizard Apprentice stage, Jia Na and Vivian had not only broken through early, but their displayed combat power not only made their classmates feel ashamed but also shocked the third-year apprentices.
Especially Jia Na...
Even now, no one present could figure out Jia Na's bottom line of strength.
Because anyone with a discerning eye could see that during the battle with Vivian, Jia Na had not used her full strength from beginning to end.
"Professor, I want to challenge Jia Na!"
"I request to challenge student Jia Na."
After a moment of silence, several voices rang out simultaneously.
Everyone looked in the direction of the sound. Besides Bell-Moonshadow, who had fought Jia Na twice, Andre-Green, Malo-Haige, Niya-Flame, and several other second-year apprentices who were Second-Level apprentices, almost all raised their hands.
Moreover, the person they wanted to challenge was all the same—
They all wanted to challenge Jia Na!
"Not bad."
Looking at the unexpected situation in the arena, Grace-Eva's gaze towards Jia Na became more playful.
And Jia Na, who was once again the center of attention, continued to quietly treat the unconscious Vivian's injuries, her gaze lowered, showing no emotion.
"Jia Na, do you accept a second challenge?"
"I accept."
Hearing Grace-Eva's words, Jia Na stopped all her movements, then raised her head and calmly looked at Grace-Eva, as well as the four people who were preparing to challenge Jia Na.
"However..."
However, looking at the four people who had stood up in the arena, Jia Na was momentarily unsure who Grace-Eva would ultimately choose as the opponent for the second combat challenge.
After all, besides Bell-Moonshadow, Jia Na only knew a little about Malo-Haige among the other three. As for the other two, she merely recognized their faces and didn't know what their attack methods were.
However, as Jia Na, who frequently participated in Wizard combat within the class, her various methods were already well-known to everyone.
Just like when Bell-Moonshadow fought Jia Na, she would seal off her hearing with magic in advance to avoid being affected by Witchcraft like Siren's Chant and Soul Shriek.
Not only that, Bell-Moonshadow would also specifically cast Stone Skin to guard against the Thorn Flower Fairy's underground "surprise attack" and Jia Na's poisoning methods like Spore Parasitism. It could be said that Bell-Moonshadow had put in considerable effort in trying to find a way to defeat Jia Na.
"The five of you come up together."
"???"
Hearing Grace-Eva's words, Jia Na momentarily wondered if she had misheard.
Not only Jia Na herself, but also the other four people preparing to challenge Jia Na, and even all the apprentices watching, showed a "stunned" expression.
"Professor Grace, do you mean... the four of us will fight Jia Na alone? Isn't this a bit too much for Jia Na?"
The first person to question Grace-Eva was Niya-Flame, who wasn't particularly close to Jia Na.
After the Three-School Joint Examination battle, Niya-Flame did have an objective understanding of Jia Na's strength.
However, no matter how strong Jia Na was, Niya-Flame didn't believe she could defeat them under the combined attack of the four of them...
From Niya-Flame's perspective, Grace-Eva doing this was purely an excessive overestimation of Jia Na's strength—and also a form of contempt for her own strength!
"Whether it's too much or not, you'll find out after you fight—"