Heir of Synthesis: The World Mage

The moment the enormous bell rang, chaos erupted among the five factions.

As expected, the Arcanist Mages acted instantly. Positioned in the center of the battlefield, they raised their hands and unleashed their spells in every direction. They didn’t use their full power, focusing instead on striking as quickly as possible to break their targets.

In the blink of an eye, the white sands of the sunny desert were swallowed by violent colors. Flames, lightning, and blasts of strange energies exploded simultaneously, turning the battlefield into a magical supernova.

Amid that storm of energy, Shione pressed both hands against her chest.

”Partner, let’s go all out!”

The instant her voice rang out, a pale, mystical glow emerged around her.

At the top of the peak, the Elders overseeing the competition immediately fixed their eyes on the young Mage.

”Soul power?! How is that possible?” one of them muttered, his expression suddenly turning serious.

This was an anomaly. An ordinary Mage Disciple didn’t possess enough Ether density in their body to channel soul energy without being torn apart in the process. As far as they knew, the only way for a non-Sorcerer to use life energy was through self-sacrifice.

But Shione clearly wasn’t a Sorcerer, nor was she sacrificing herself.

Everything happened at a frantic pace.

*Boom! Boom! Boom!*

Explosions echoed throughout the battlefield, but only about a dozen barriers were shattered at once.

Even though there were hundreds of Arcanist Mages across all five factions, the spheres’ defenses were incredibly strong. The rival Mages had to group together and focus their attacks on a single target at a time. Even then, many barriers didn’t break from the first impact.

Lumiere targeted the same sphere as one of Daraen’s faction groups.

With the combined force of both attacks striking the exact same spot, the reddish barrier shattered like glass.

”GO!” Shione shouted.

Instead of her usual water element, a violent current of wind erupted around her body.

She rarely used the wind element, since her Bloodline only had an extremely faint affinity for it. Under normal circumstances, her control was barely average.

But...

*Woooosh!*

Shione shot forward like a mystical arrow, tearing through the air at a terrifying speed.

Even the members of Priam’s own faction widened their eyes in complete shock.

Watching from behind, Priam gave a subtle nod of satisfaction.

Shione could only reach that unbelievable speed because her partner, an Elemental Spirit, was lending her all of its spiritual power. Through her race’s Ancestral Art, she could perfectly merge that energy with both her body and her aura.

The result was astonishing. It was as if she had entered a partially ethereal state. Shione practically lost the weight of her own body, the atmosphere’s resistance became almost nonexistent, and even gravity seemed to stop pulling her downward.

The little Elemental Spirit was still weak, limiting that state to just over five minutes—nearly half the total duration of the competition. Even so, that was more than enough.

At the top of the peak, the Elders became even more astonished.

Shione wasn’t just moving quickly; she was gliding through the air with the same elegance as a Sage using advanced levitation techniques. They had never seen an ordinary Mage Disciple accomplish anything like it.

Thanks to that, even though everyone had taken off the instant the barriers fell, Shione crossed the battlefield and reached the target first, leaving all the other competitors far behind.

”To the south!” Dandara shouted, immediately carrying out the instructions Priam had given her.

The large triangular formation around her moved in perfect sync, operating as a single unit.

Priam’s faction’s strategy was completely different from everyone else’s. The rival leaders had split their armies into several smaller groups, sending them in different directions while leaving only a small guard behind to protect their flag bearers.

They knew they couldn’t afford to play defensively. If they didn’t go all out from the very start, they’d fall behind for good. They all trusted that once they grabbed a flag, they’d be able to bring it back quickly.

Shione was the very first person on the entire battlefield to wrap her fingers around a flag. Without losing momentum, she spun around and threw it straight toward Dandara.

The moment Dandara caught it, she immediately placed it inside the container strapped to her back. As soon as the flag went in, a number lit up on its surface:

*1*

Only then, a few seconds later, did the first disciples from the other factions finally manage to reach the flags they had been aiming for.

*BOOM!*

Lumiere blasted another barrier apart.

He had strategically targeted a sphere that the mages from another faction had failed to destroy, taking advantage of the fact that it had already been weakened by their previous attacks.

Not long after, Shione had already claimed her second flag. She was moving at nearly twice the speed of any other competitor.

Seeing someone move that fast shook the other factions. But... she was only one person, and even if she was faster than everyone else, several groups working together could still outpace her.

Unfortunately, there were only one hundred flags.

This opening race wouldn’t last long.

Right now, the absolute priority was collecting as many of those hundred flags scattered across the field as possible. Only after every single one had been revealed would it be worth fighting over what the other factions had already claimed.

To the right of Priam’s faction, a group of female mages from Daraen’s faction rushed toward a newly revealed flag. But...

...the instant they reached out to grab it, their fingers closed around nothing but empty air.

They stared in shock as the flag floated away on its own, shooting through the air at high speed. Only then did they notice Flaris, far away, catching the artifact firmly.

Beside her, Lumiere picked up another flag that had been stolen the exact same sneaky way from another faction.

”Those thieving bastards!” the female mages cursed furiously, having no idea how the pair had pulled it off.

Only the Elders watching from above understood exactly what had happened.

Those flags were being stolen through spiritual power.

Hidden within the chaos and the violent elemental fluctuations, two tiny Fire Elementals were darting around with astonishing agility, reaching the flags without being detected.

If the enemy mages had been focused on tracking the elemental fluctuations around them, they might have noticed the little spirits approaching. But with the frantic pace and utter chaos of the battle, no one could afford to waste time doing that.

The moment the Elementals touched a flag, their tamers activated an attraction technique on their partners. The tiny spirits flew back even faster, carrying the flags with them.

It was the perfect theft.

Dandara quickly stored the two new flags.

At that moment, Priam’s faction, advancing toward the south, surrounded another inscription barrier. Under a unified command, everyone attacked at the same time, shattering it with ease and adding another point to their score.

By now, the mages of Priam’s faction were beaming.

They had finally understood the hidden mechanics behind the strategy they hadn’t been able to figure out before.

Shione moved like a ghost, collecting flags. Whenever Lumiere wasn’t blowing up a barrier for her, she simply used her overwhelming speed to intercept and steal the prizes the other factions had just uncovered.

Meanwhile, Lumiere and Flaris carried out silent robberies with their Elementals. And to complete the strategy, the rest of the faction advanced together in a tight, secure formation, capturing their own targets.

With those four methods combined, they maintained a steady and consistent pace of capturing flags.

It wasn’t like they were miles ahead in first place—after all, the other factions were operating in dozens of small groups that, while slower, were also scoring constantly—but Priam’s strategy guaranteed a continuous flow of points, making sure they never dropped far from the top positions.

Flags flew through the air in every direction.

Dandara and the guards focused entirely on catching them and storing them inside the container. In just two minutes, the display was already glowing with the number *8*.

Priam stayed close by, his eyes fixed on the overall battlefield, making sure no enemy dared approach Dandara’s perimeter.

The thirty-second possession limit was finally revealing its true tactical purpose. That rule had been carefully designed to force even the Super Geniuses to work as a team.

If a Super Genius decided to act selfishly and rushed off alone at full speed, they would barely manage to collect two flags and make it back before the time limit expired and the flags were invalidated.

Even worse, by leaving the formation, they’d leave their flag bearer completely vulnerable to having their flags stolen.

In other words, it wasn’t worth it for the Super Geniuses to fight on their own.

The first of the five leaders to try a solo play would paint a giant target on their own back—the nearest factions would immediately move to crush their unprotected flag bearer.

This was a competition designed to be won as a group, where individual strength alone simply couldn’t make that much of a difference.