When A Mage Revolts

Benjamin first began to perform an incantation of the Water Ball Spell, but he soon realized that the incantations could not cause the runes to chatter anymore. Even after performing those well-versed incantations, nothing happened.

This...

Benjamin was a little stunned.

He immediately tried the incantations for the Icebreaking Spell and the Pillar of Steam, but they all ended up the same. Neither the fused runes were responsive, nor did ice and water vapor appeared like they did before.

Why was it like that?

Benjamin really could not figure out. While the fused runes endowed him with an all-powerful condition, he was stripped of his ability to cast basic magic. If he used to have three spell slots, then now... He would have been left with none but just a transfiguration skill, which had been set aside for an unknown period of time.

With his condition now, how could he lead a group of mages?

"It can’t be... It shouldn’t be to this extent." The System also joined and said curiously, "Although the three runes have been fused together, their own natures did not change, did anything wrong happen to you?"

"... What can happen to me?"

Benjamin held his forehead with a dispirited look.

He didn’t know what had caused all these, but he was clear that if he couldn’t cast spells normally, then he wouldn’t know how he could keep going on.

Flying, defense, healing... The situation in reality was complicated and always changing, he could not just depend on a ten minutes of transfiguration skill to solve all of his problems. Did he even need to say? With his luck, all the unfortunate things would happen when his abilities were in a cooldown stage, with no exceptions.

Benjamin felt that his head was extremely painful, more painful than being corroded by a halo.

He must retrieve his daily magical powers.

"Something wrong must have happened to your incantations." The System continued saying on the other hand, "The runes will only respond to the incantations, you performed them wrongly."

Benjamin answered impatiently: "I have said these incantations for more than a billion times, how can I get it wrong?

"Then maybe... It needs a new incantation."

"The syllable that I was just saying, wasn’t that the new incantation that activates the fused runes? The new incantations can only make me last for ten minutes as a superman of the water elemental energy, which other than that will be nothing."

The System said instead: "No, the syllable is the incantation to activate the elemental plane, it has nothing to do with the narrow range of magic. Even though the fused runes are the key, it is also the product of the fusion of the three magic. It must have retained some parts of function to induct magic.

Benjamin was confused: "How do you know about all these?"

"This body bears some instinct."

Benjamin looked at the three ridiculous bodies of the System and couldn’t help but think that those words sounded a little "funny" as well. However, for the System to say something like that, it should be...worth using as reference?

He finally began thinking seriously about the suggestion from the System.

A new incantation...

Could it be that, he even had to study a new incantation that would have to match the fused runes? This would be too difficult and beyond his powers as he had not much knowledge regarding this.

After some time, Benjamin thought that he might as well combined the incantations for Water Ball Spell, Icebreaking Spell and Pillar of Steam, and quickly sang it once. Unexpectedly, the fused runes really responded.

Benjamin could clearly see that the runes started to blink after he finished saying it.

Sadly, nothing really happened.

"Look, I was right! It still retained its ability to induct magic, you just needed a new incantation." The System said this elatedly.

"... How about you help me to come up with a new incantation."

"Why am I supposed to do this?"

"Researching, analyzing, digital work... Aren’t these supposed to be done by a System? A new incantation must be related to the three original incantations, you can just start your research from that, let’s go, I believe in you!"

"..."

Before the System could come up with reasons to decline, Benjamin quickly shut his eyes and left the Space of consciousness.

Although the elapsed time in the Space of consciousness was must slower than reality, he had also stayed here for more than ten minutes. If he were to try the incantations one by one, he wouldn’t know how long that would have taken him.

He could only leave that matter to the System and return to reality, and follow closely to what had happened in the real world.

After the Golden Halo drove him away, if it had started threatening other people in the hall again, then at least only about a minute had passed in reality. At least everyone would not have had their brains all cooked.

Furthermore, Benjamin felt that after experiencing the changes in the Space of consciousness, the Golden Halo should have retreated instead.

With that, he finally returned to reality.

As he opened his eyes, the Priest’s hollow eyes were glowing with light and was still looking at him closely. Benjamin still maintained his posture as before - One hand over his head, another hand strongly strangling the Priest’s neck, even his expression showed pain as from before.

He had almost turned into a statue and stayed like that for so long that his facial muscles became sore.

Behind him, a panicked voice from a mage was heard.

"... No! We must bring him back, he is sacrificing for us! You... Don’t stop me, I want to go there..."

"Don’t go there, you will die!"

"..."

At that moment, Benjamin felt so confused, he felt as if people were crying at his grave as he laid in the coffin.

He was still not dead!

As he was thinking, he started moving again and let go of his hand which was choking the Priest, followed by taking a few steps back and backed away from the Holy Priest. The Priest’s gaze followed him as he moved, his gaze seemed penetrating. As for the people behind him, they looked as if they met a ghost.

"Teacher Benjamin... Are you okay?"

Upon hearing this, Benjamin shrugged and said: "What? Why do you all look so weird? It’s just a crazy Priest, how can that do anything to me?"

"But... Just now you... We observed and it seemed like you had died."

Benjamin frowned.

Is this for real...

He couldn’t help but touched his chest, luckily, his body was still warm, and his heart was still beating. He really was alive and did not turn into some weird undead.

"I had just entered a short feign dead condition, look, I’m well and alive now." He then said that to the people in the hall.

At that time, among the two thousand people, more than half of the people had recovered. They were all squeezed on one side of the hall and looked at Benjamin as their rays of hope rose in their hearts.

"Mage Benjamin, you... You will bring us out, right?" The King asked.

Although the deadly Golden Halo seemed like it was gone, but the hall was still very sealed by the Holy power. They could not leave, not even if they banged a hole through the wall.

Upon hearing that, Benjamin turned around and laid his attention at the Priest who was showering in the Holy light.

"Who, are, you."

Suddenly, the Priest’s voice was heard, it was as if Benjamin had become someone else because he could not recognize Benjamin.

But... As he started thinking, after experiencing the huge changes in the Space of consciousness, from the Priest’s odd perspective, it was possible that Benjamin had existed in another form.

Thus, Benjamin looked at the Priest and said: "Leave the body of the Priest, leave this world. You can no longer kill anyone."

He did not know what was controlling the Holy light, but he thought that... That thing did not belong here.

Since it did not belong to this world, then it would be best to make it leave. The truth is, Benjamin had no power to fight at that time and it would be difficult for him to handle whatever that was.

However, at that moment, the Priest’s face showed some struggles of human nature. From being stupefied to pain, the lights in his eyes constantly caved, as if there were two souls in his body fighting for power to take over.

"No... I, I must cleanse you sinners!" His tone contained a sense of pain as he said that.

Benjamin was stunned.

The original consciousness of the Priest... It was still not completely gone?