Chapter 55 - The Trial Commences

A few minutes later, X finally managed to grab onto the very ledge of the platform. He didn't even reach the railing.

Rynold hoped that the plan would work at this point which is an extremely critical part. The turning point of the plan was to use X's weight to pull down the platform. Unfortunately for him, though, the platform that held the bookshelves was securely placed.

No matter how much X pulled, the platform just wouldn't budge. X, however, didn't know that this was what Rynold planned and proceeded to follow Rynold's orders.

The Mech Knight pulled himself up from hanging on the ledge to being on the platform itself. With a loud clang of metal, X securely got himself to where he needed to go.

Meanwhile, Rynold was still circulating Mana to produce a protective coat around him but it kept getting dissipated and failing. Despite his efforts, the cost of Mana that he had expended so far did not give him any good results.

"X! Can you see who's throwing the books?" Rynold asked the Mech Knight that was looking around. He was getting more and more annoyed at the constant throwing of the books but there really was no way around it. There is only one exit which was where they came from.

X looked around and tried to look for something or someone that was causing this. However, right before his eyes, a book flew out from the bookshelf in front of him like magic and threw itself to Rynold. Confused, the Mech Knight explained what just happened.

Rynold gritted his teeth in frustration and thought that maybe there was really no way around this. His concentration and focus constantly breaking, Rynold tried to look around while circulating Mana. He felt that he was getting close to grasping the idea of coating Mana around himself.

'There's gotta be something around here,' Rynold thought as he continued to look around.

It would've gotten a lot smoother if the books would stop throwing themselves at him and, even then, the books are getting littered on the ground now. Clicking his tongue, Rynold was really getting annoyed now.

With his current state of being pissed, Rynold's judgement was clouded, admittedly. This just meant that his thinking was starting to get blocked and couldn't analyse clearly. It was problematic as the current predicament needed an intelligent solution.

With X trying to block some of the books that were flying out, Rynold considered his options. His concentration was getting consistently interrupted by the books.

Suddenly, a loud thump sound came from the last book that had just hit Rynold.

It actually hurt this time around because the book was made of metal. The hit managed to throw him off-balance and crash to the ground. He swore on reflex while he tried to rub where the book hit him.

His back sore, Rynold tried to stand back up. This time around, though, a book didn't hit him. Instead, it was a fireball.

Luckily, Rynold was able to sense the heat that came out from the spell and managed to dodge just in time. His back on the ground as he faced the sky, he noticed that everything had changed.

Books had finally stopped flying to him but Rynold would've chosen books over what was targeting him now. It was all spells that came from the books that were thrown at him.

All of the books that were thrown at him were now open and floating above him, each holding a spell of a basic element. Off the top of his head, he recognized some of the spells. Fireball, Wind Blade were among the few.

Even though Rynold was confident that he could easily defend himself from these spells, the number was just astounding. He wouldn't be able to live if all these spells had a homing quality to them.

Not wanting to find out, Rynold kicked himself up from the ground and grappled to the nearest platform.

Knowing full well that it would repel him, Rynold decided to use it to his full advantage.

Combined with the repelling force and Rynold's jump from the railing, he flew up high to the sky. With the wind hitting his face, Rynold managed to reach a high point that made him see the entire floor. Unfortunately, though, the books rotated as well to match and target him.

'Crap.'

Rynold saw the spells flying towards him and made him panic. There was no leverage for him to dodge in any sort of way but to be a sitting duck in midair. Thinking, looking, Rynold tried to grasp what had happened in these short few moments.

The books suddenly casting spells and targeting him. The random metal tome that hit him hard and managed to actually throw him off. Rynold noticed these things but it was still absurd unless there was something that was controlling them. But, then again, with the existence of magic, nothing could be ruled out.

Falling and catching a mouthful of spells, Rynold did manage to notice something that he wished he had noticed sooner.

The marks on the ground weren't just some decoration. They actually appeared a lot more like a rather crude magic array and the lines that connected them were actually grooves on the ground.

Fwoom!

A Fireball hit Rynold and, although the damage was barely negligible, it was enough to break his line of thought. He knew he had to deal with the spells that were coming at him and some rock shards were coming in dangerously close now.

In a split second, Rynold expanded his Mana Gauntlets and started Mana Infusion. The clash of his Mana and the spells were dissipated with a little struggle but, ultimately, Rynold was able to punch through them.

Well, most of them, anyway.

The spells that were elemental in nature was easily blocked but some of them had a horizontal shape that manages to cut Rynold here and there. Not that they were any deep wounds, the shallow cuts still stung.

With a few more seconds left before completely falling to the ground, Rynold continued to punch through the spells and think about what he would do next. After all, he couldn't dodge forever.

It was hard to think while continuously punching low-leveled spells but there was nothing else he could do.

Trying to continue his train of thought, Rynold grasped signs of a plan. Now that he knows that the lines on the ground are more than just decorations, all he had to do was to break them. It was obvious to him was that if he could just break the center circle, the magic array would break.

However, that would prove to be more difficult than he would think.

Landing on the very edge of the magic array, Rynold faced the spellbooks in his way. All of which managed to face him and started to flip pages to cast spells. The difference this time, though, was that the spells were on a much larger magnitude than before.

The low-leveled spells suddenly grew to a higher intensity. Some are larger while some have a lot more power behind them. Rynold didn't even have to have a taste of the spells because he could sense the sudden increase in the density of the spells' Mana.

Without a second to catch his breath, Rynold moved to the side and circled the spells. Lucky for him, the spellbooks were targeting him and the spells didn't seem to have a homing effect. Unlucky for him, though, his physical capabilities were failing him as he was getting sloppy.

Rynold was getting hit left and right while having a hard time defending himself.

Some spells completely missed him, while some just grazed him. But some, Rynold managed to catch them head-on. His only way to defend himself was his Mana Gauntlets but, even then, it wasn't a complete defense.

"X!" Rynold yelled out while he grunted when he got hit by a more intense Fireball, its heat was a lot hotter than before. "Can you -ugh- break the center circle?!"

Despite the chaos, Rynold actually managed to be on the platform that was directly below X. The Mech Knight managed to her his Master and moved without even feeling the need to respond.

With a large clank, X landed in front of Rynold and blocked a full-frontal barrage of spells that was coming Rynold's way.

Finally, with room to catch his breath, Rynold got to work and went all out. Dodging spells that were coming his way while X moved to the center, the plan was set in motion. Rynold's job this time was to just be bait for the spells while X did most of the work. But that didn't mean that Rynold couldn't wreak havoc too.

With a smile on his face, Rynold's aura went wild.

He instantly extended his drill out and started to break the outermost grooves on the ground. Their ultimate goal was to break the floor anyway, so the more damage the better.