Silent Crown

“It’s the fourth one!”
When Sydney ran after girl into the underground square, he heard everyone cheer, “Fourth one! Fourth consecutive win!”
“Go Eastern Ye!” Excited girls jumped around, waving their hands in the crowd. The people in the front row yelled, “Don’t stop! Keep going! It’s time for the fifth!”
The girl stopped at the entrance. Not knowing what was happening, she looked around and saw the youth with white hair just like hers.
Standing in the center of the snake ring, the youth stood quietly, panting and fatigued. There was a hole in his jacket, and one could vaguely see burn marks. A part of his arm had been burned too. He writhed in pain. Four overlapping Flow runes on the back of his neck had turned crimson red. They were swollen slightly, as if blood were about to seep out. It was like an ugly scar.
Using Flow to control his blood flow, his physique had gone from that of a weak kid to a hundred times that of an average person’s. That strength shook inside his body, causing sharp pangs of pain. His bare skin had already turned red, and was so swollen that it was ready to burst.
That was the biggest downside of Flow. One must have precise control to achieve the strengthening effect, otherwise it would just harm and weaken the body. After using it four times, his body was at its limit in terms of strength and endurance. If he continued like this, his organs could be injured. He could even die.
He sighed. He had overestimated himself. Using that type of shameless method to win five rounds had been his plan, but he had already reached his limit after the fourth round. But it was okay. He could still continue.
He chuckled and took a deep breath. The cold air rushed into his lungs and his pounding organs settled down. Looking back, he raised his hand and announced, “Next one!”
—
“He can’t keep going any longer,” Edmund’s friend said sinisterly from the side. “This is a good opportunity.”
“Not yet.” Edmund’s expression was serious. “A student can cast more than ten runes in a short period of time. Even if he has no physical energy left, he can still cast runes.” Looking toward his left, he said, “Jon, go up this round. Push him to his limit, but not all the way. I want to end him personally.”
“Don’t worry.” The thin kid named Jon smiled. His sickly pale face was flushed with excitement. Feeling the sachet at his waist, he said, “I’m well prepared.” With that, he walked out from the crowd and stepped into the circle.
Seeing him, Brian’s eyes filled with satisfaction. Jon was different from the previous cannon fodder. He had been a student for more than a year. He may not have grasped combination runes, but he was already better than most students. “Are you ready?” he asked.
Jon stated, “Teacher, Ye has already fought four consecutive rounds, and has used up a lot of energy. To make this round fair, I would like to use the challenger’s special rights and increase the density of aether. This way, it’ll be easier to cast runes.” He paused and smiled. “I don’t want to take advantage of him.”
Brian nodded in satisfaction. “Of course.” Without waiting for Ye Qingxuan’s reply, Brian knocked on the head of the snake. Cold light shone from its eyes instantly. The density of aether increased four-fold inside of the ring!
The crowd fell silent. But the commoner students quickly reacted and started yelling, “Despicable! Shameless! How is this fair?”
“Do you have any dignity?”
“What’s wrong?” Bai Xi glanced at Charles. “Isn’t it good to increase the density? It should be easier to chant now.”
“It depends.” Charles’ brows furrowed. “The strength of a rune’s effect depends partially on the density of the aether, but don’t forget that it only applies to cast runes. For precision runes that require a precise structure, high density actually makes things harder. If Yezi keeps using that tactic, Flow’s burden on him will increase four-fold too! They’ve found his loophole. He doesn’t have a perfect of a control on Flow yet.”
—
In the center, Ye Qingxuan sensed the thick aether in the air. After a while, he looked up at Jon. “Is this your tactic?”
“It’s not only that.” Laughing coldly, Jon reached into the small satchel and pulled out a thin strand of spider web between his fingers. The audience erupted into shocked yells.
“Recitation supplies!”
“He’s using other supplies to strengthen the effect! Despicable! So despicable!”
“Apparently, when high level musicians cast music scores, they can use specific supplies to strengthen the effect.”
“Ye Qingxuan is going to have a hard time! Only ten days have passed. How many runes does he know? Jon has been a student for more than one year.”
“I think he’s dead.”
Within the ring, Ye Qingxuan could not help but roll his eyes. Looking out at the audience he called, “Senior, what are you yelling about? It’s really distracting! Look, everyone’s ignoring you!”
In the first row of the crowd behind Jon, Charles imitated the rest of the crowd and yelled happily. “No way! I’m being a professional commentator!” he said loudly. “All races and games need a commentator. Don’t you know the rules? What if the audience doesn’t get it?!”
“Continue! Senior, ignore him and continue with your comments.” Beside him, a freshman enthusiastically handed him some peanuts and drinks. “Please drink some water. Can you please tell me more details? I need you to help me understand!”
“Look!” Charles said, getting cocky, “no one will watch without a commentator or boobs! I don’t have boobs, so this is all I can do for you!”
“…” Speechless, Ye Qingxuan looked back and saw Jon’s sinister face.
“Done talking? Can we start now?”
“Please.” Ye Qingxuan took a deep breath and prepared himself.
—
As the coin landed with a crisp sound, Jon took a step back first, watching Ye Qingxuan carefully. That guy’s battle tactics from the first few rounds had scarred them. This time, he would attack first and plan later. But to his surprise, Ye Qingxuan stood rooted to his spot. Opening his mouth, he started chanting!
“Not moving?” Jon smiled coldly. That could be effective against Revelations, but standing there was making himself the perfect target for Modifications!
As a student of the School of Modifications with some expertise, Jon had already started researching the basic runes unique to Modifications. If not for the fact that he had not grasped combination notes, he would have been at the Rhythm level. But the long-term research had made him almost an expert at Modification runes.
“I’ll show you how powerful the School of Modifications is today! If you don’t want to move, then don’t!” he thought. A spider web thread between his fingers, he began chanting. The difficult syllables jumped from his mouth without any pattern at an unbelievable speed.
“Fast chant!” Outside, Charles purposely pretended to be shocked and yelped in a surprised tone, “My God, he knows how to chant quickly!”
Before long, a complex rune appeared in Jon’s heart. It was like countless ropes knotted together. The uneven rune twisted and transformed continuously. Aether gathered in the air from all directions, and using the changing spider web on his fingertip, it formed a blurry web that only Jon could feel!
The aether snare quickly came into shape. It shone faintly like a star, appearing out of thin air. This was the effect of the rune Shackle—Spider Web!
But Ye Qingxuan was still chanting. Excitement shone in Jon’s eyes. He chanted the last syllable and threw the web toward Ye Qingxuan.
The Eastern mutt was dead meat! Once he was trapped in place, he could only suffer Modifications’ wrath!
The starry net suddenly appeared and shot forward to envelope the chanting youth, but in the next moment, everybody was in shock.
“He dodged it? He dodged it!” Charles yelled.
As if he had predicted his move, Ye Qingxuan stepped to the left the moment Jon cast the effect, and merely rubbed shoulders with the starry net.
“Impossible!” Jon froze and stared blankly at Ye Qingxuan, not understanding what had just happened. How could a student discern the exact time that he would cast the rune and dodge at the moment he could not change anything? Not even one hair had been touched! He glared at Ye Qingxuan, but quickly realized that he had lost his temper. Stopping himself from wasting more time, he quickly began chanting another hymn.
This was another fast chant, even shorter than before. He pulled out a small bottle the size of a thumb. The icy bottle was filled with semi-viscous liquid, and it radiated coldness. Rune · Frost!
Under his control and chanting, the cold light slowly solidified. A sharp crystal seemed to form inside. The cold light illuminated his deathly pale face and excited eyes. With a final roar, it shot out at a speed faster than light!
Jon’s expression was menacing, as if he were taunting, “Dodge! Try dodging again! The frost arrow isn’t as slow as the web! If you can dodge this one, then I’ll…then I’ll…I’ll…” Staring dumbly at the untouched Ye Qingxuan, his mind went blank. What was he going to do?