When A Mage Revolts

A confused Benjamin followed Grant into the castle. Along the way, the lazy system finally spoke and explained the situation.

"Seven or eight years ago, the situation on the continent was still quite tense, as there was another country constantly competing with the kingdom of Helius, and war was imminent. Therefore, these aristocrat children had to be educated about the ins and outs of warfare. Unfortunately, not long soon after, the opposing country split up because of civil strife, so there was no war and their war education ended."

The system paused, and then said:

"But all these restless children, they felt like their talent in war was wasted after having learned a belly-full of things and they were full of willingness to fight, but had no avenue to express it. Someone then proposed to have this regular activity, to gather a group of people in the castle and engage in a simulated war game. Of course, they don’t think it is just a game, they treat it like a real war. Every one of them is dead serious."

After listening to the system, Benjamin felt a bit speechless.

"These people are really naive."

He was not interested in this boring war game, was it not like children playing gangsters? Instead of wasting time here, he would rather go back to sleep for a while, or rather "meditate" for a while.

"You speak as if as if you were mature enough already, you dare say that you did not play a similar game when you were in primary school?" The system began its habitual bickering.

"I played it before."

Benjamin choked, but immediately confidently said: "But that was during primary school, these people can already attend the high school, if not childish, what is it?"

"That's because you got yourself a computer." The system went on, "I have a record here, even after adulthood, you spent most of your time on 'online war games' more than these people in the 'offline war game,’ which cost more time and even more gold.

"..."

Benjamin was speechless.

At the moment in reality, he followed Grant into a dilapidated little room. There was nothing in the room. Grant and Benjamin hid behind the door, covered it and held their breath, as if waiting in ambush.

Benjamin obediently followed, but in reality he really did not want to participate in this game.

"Hey, can I ..."

"Hush, don’t talk." Grant immediately interrupted him and whispered to him, "Follow me closely, rest assured, we’ll win this.

"..."

It seems that his application to leave early was not never possible.

Well, might as well just tag along and treat it as a childhood dream. He observed that the castle terrain was not very complicated, so this game cannot be played in a spectator mode.

Sure enough, in no more than two minutes, there were two fools who came to the entrance of the room and tried to open the door. Suddenly, Grant dashed out from behind the door, held two balls that came out of nowhere, shouted:"Holy Bolt" and threw the balls at the two.

The two were obviously very shocked. When they came to their senses, they looked at Grant and touched the part of their bodies where they were hit. Suddenly, they fell onto the ground in a very flamboyant manner, becoming a glorious "sacrifice."

"...these stupid teens." Although he was psychologically prepared for this, Benjamin still could not help but quietly insult them in his heart.

Using a ball to replace the holy bolt, pretending to be sacrificed -- these are still forgivable acts. But throwing a ball and yelling "Holy Bolt?" Would it be surprising if the highest concept of the church became guarding Athena?

"In fact, this is justified." The system came out to explain, the "Holy Bolt is a very captivating divine art. In order to simulate this effect, the war game uses a small ball to replace the light. When playing, you must shout out loud to expose your position and let others hear it.

"..." Benjamin was again speechless.

The system said with patience: "Do not underestimate these people, they were subject to formal training and view this game as an important activity."

As the system said, after he "killed" the two enemies, Grant pulled Benjamin along and began to move around. His actions – ducking every five steps and looking back every three steps -- were as professional as that of the Special Forces.

But other people were not as well-trained as Grant. When they raised their hands and feet, they still could not get rid of pampered aristocratic aura they gave off. Grant finished off even more enemies on the way. The "corpses" in the castle began to pile up.

Benjamin followed behind and felt restless despite the victories.

But through all this performance, he had a different view on his talented brother now.

"Are you sure that is the genius that you said, who was born to bells and lights?" He asked wistfully in his heart.

"Do you think that every genius is like those written in books, arrogant, those who use their nostrils to look at people?" The system reminded, "You shouldn’t underestimate him, if he used the real Holy Bolt, he could wipe out everyone in the castle, but on the other hand, your water ball probably couldn’t conjure enough water to let everyone wash their hands once."

"..."

Ignoring the ridicule, Benjamin still could not suspend his belief: "Is he really that powerful? Why did Michelle even dare to kidnap him?"

The system also explained: "Michelle has dealt with the Church for so long, she certainly has her own way to deal with the divine arts. She probably could not take Grant one-on-one, but her experience is probably ten times more than Grant, who is just a mere child.

Benjamin heard this thought, and finally accepted the explanation:

"That's true."

That he would suddenly take note of this was not because he cared about his cheap brother, but he suddenly thought: If Grant’s divine arts was so strong, why can’t he find Grant for help to remove the curse?

After all, Grant is just a teenager, if Benjamin created some foolish reason, he should be able to deceive Grant and get his help. It might be a little evil to deceive such an innocent teenager, but his own life, of course, was still more important.

Moreover, once the curse was lifted, Benjamin would be as free as a bird in the sky or a fish in the ocean. As for Michelle and the Church, he could not care less about how they fought.

Wonderful! This was wonderful!

Benjamin suddenly felt his future brighten up.

Michelle may be smart, but she might have made a mistake. Even in her dreams, how could she have left out this crucial point? She must have never thought that Benjamin would think of using his genius brother at such a crucial moment.

Eh...

Wait!

Did Michelle ... really not think of this?

Benjamin's mood was like a roller coaster, all of a sudden he was relieved of his excitement. It may be that Michelle caused him too much emotional trauma, he always felt that Michelle is not the kind of person who would miss this point.

Sure enough, after asking the system, he got the answer:

"Maybe her curse is not that well known, and Grant has no way to lift it, but it's more likely that she's making use of the church's regulations on divine arts.

Benjamin felt hope his hope fade away, but he still asked: "What regulations?

"A trainee priest is not free to use the divine arts." The system replied, "Although Grant is more powerful than many formal priests, he has not yet officially graduated from the Church, so he does not have the rights to use divine arts freely, and in the eyes of the Church ... ... the Church would not let him help you, as you have personally experienced. Michelle must have known of this, that’s why she has no fear.’

Damn...

Benjamin felt that he was being toyed around once more.

But fortunately, his mind can be considered conditioned through the wits and experience he developed after dealing with Michelle. He had no expectation for others. Seeking Grant's help was just an idea out of the blue, it would be a surprise if it could work. If it did not work then it would be normal, it was not the first time he had felt the cruel fate that he received from God.

He had a headache thinking of how to fool Grant, so it was probably better to rely on himself instead.

Benjamin continued making calculations in his heart while following Grant, who was in an aggressive state where "If God blocked the way, he would kill God, if Buddha blocked the way, he would kill the Buddha." He witnessed the way Grant ambushed, sneak attacked and handled direct combat. Under the attack of this series of professional military action, all the opponents he handled could not hold for more than a minute.

Benjamin was still a bit surprised - though he still did not take this game seriously.

However, he could also see that those defeated aristocratic children were not as serious as Grant. Grant really took this game as a war, but the others saw it more as a game.

Benjamin could not help but suspect that Grant was the person who proposed the simulation.

If he was in the modern world, he would be one of the most fanatical game fans, and would probably take up cosplay.

Under the leadership of the "veteran", Benjamin, who was a newbie, managed to successfully pass through every challenge he faced. After almost around an hour of gameplay, the "corpses" continued to pile up and were close to the end of the game.

After checking the number of players left with the system, Benjamin determined that the castle still had two enemies that Grant did not "kill".

"Finally, it’s going to end." He could not help but heave a sigh of relief in his heart.

"You have to enjoy the game, look at Grant, how focused he is and how much fun he is getting out of the game while practicing his skills. This is a great experience, even a Yang Yongxin wouldn’t have the heart to cure a player like this," The system said this, full of emotion and admiration.

"You can’t say it this way, I would like to take advantage of this opportunity to relax, but I can;t find a way." Benjamin quietly said, "If you were to make a person that is used to playing 3D games with time limits to play a 2D turn-based game, that person would probably not be able to continue playing for long."

The system was silent for a while, then suddenly said: "Do you know that if 2D turn-based strategy fans were to hear this, they would all attack you? You really shouldn’t have said it this way."

Benjamin, hearing this, also remained silent for a moment, and then replied: "I know, but this is not like writing a novel, where you can delete something if it is not written right. Once words are said, it would make no difference even if I regret it."

The system stopped speaking, Benjamin did not speak either. The two experienced a long duration of silence. Suddenly, Benjamin felt like his body was bounded, and he let out a hiccup.

He asked the system, "Did we talk about anything strange?"

"We did not say anything at all."

Benjamin nodded and said:

"I think so too."

Soon, their attention came back to reality again. The game was at its end stages. Grant was still looking for the remaining two people. Benjamin, who was watching, could only let out a yawn and patiently wait for the end of the game.

However, he suddenly had a revelation, and realized that something was not right.

"Hey, was that Fulner family kid taken out just now?" After thinking deeply, he asked the system.

The system replied, "No."

Benjamin: "Are you sure?"

The System: "Are you questioning my ability? No means no, one hundred percent sure."

Hearing this, Benjamin could not help but take a deep breath.

He looked at the end of the front corridor, the final room that has yet to be explored. In his heart, a bad premonition arose.