Chapter 208 Who is the prey and who is the hunter?

"How about we use your magician skills as the prize?"

Maggie's outrageous demand caused Laurie's expression to stiffen for a moment. He repeatedly scanned Maggie's smiling face, trying to find any trace of joking, but it was clear that Maggie was serious.

"Your Highness, you come from the Zefnia family, surely you are aware of the value of a mage?"

Laurie maintained basic politeness, but her words were clearly not well-intentioned.

That's understandable, though. Anyone would be angry if their most precious possession was coveted, and Maggie expressed her understanding.

"Hey, don't rush, Mr. Laurie hasn't heard what my prize is yet, has he?"

Maggie had a "don't be impatient" expression, a smiling face that was clearly very gentle, yet it inexplicably sent chills down one's spine. At least, that's how Laurie felt when she faced her; it was as if she were being watched by a thief.

"Then please tell us, Your Highness."

Laurie's tone turned slightly cold. He was clearly aware of the Zephnia family's wealth, but he didn't believe anything could compare to the value of a mage. Since mages completely disappeared a thousand years ago, no human had been able to capture them.

Currently, magicians are extremely rare and highly sought after. No matter how wealthy you are, unless you come from a powerful family, you cannot possibly have a magician.

Besides, the one he has now is a level four mage, which is much more useful than a low-level mage.

"How about I trade... my double-casting spellcasting skills for it?"

Maggie deliberately dragged out her words, whetting everyone's appetite before finally finishing her sentence.

As expected, as soon as she finished speaking, the room erupted in an uproar, and one could faintly hear people criticizing her.

To this day, it is a consensus among all races that only dragons can perform dual incantations of magic. So, if anyone suddenly heard Maggie say this, they would think she was joking.

"Does Your Highness think I'm a fool?"

Laurie's face turned completely cold. He couldn't stand being made a fool of like a clown any longer.

The Green Tower has been studying this for nearly a thousand years, and their family has also been researching how to achieve dual chanting using the human body. Now, a fifteen or sixteen-year-old child says she has solved this age-old problem. This is no joke.

Dragons must have incredibly strong bodies to withstand double the amount of magic flowing through them, and even then, only exceptionally powerful dragons can do it; for humans, it would be a pipe dream.

"Of course not. Young Master Laurie should have reviewed the evidence before drawing a conclusion."

Maggie shook her head, seemingly helpless, showing no dissatisfaction with Laurie's suspicions and being very tolerant.

However, her words completely piqued the curiosity of everyone present, even Ford, who had just arrived to watch, sat up straight and fixed his gaze on Maggie.

Since Maggie dared to say such a thing, does that mean she has already achieved dual chanting using a human body?

This realization is enough to refocus all attention on Maggie.

"..."

This time it was Laurie's turn to fall silent. Looking at Maggie's confident expression, he also felt a little uncertain and insecure.

"Alas, although it is very bad to reveal my strength in advance, I have no choice but to prove it a little in order to convince Young Master Laurie."

Maggie sighed and slowly extended one hand.

For the first time in a long time, Maggie used magical language and chanted a spell. A beam of light slowly formed beside her and floated there, waiting for her command to shoot out rapidly.

At the same time, to everyone's utter astonishment, a gentle, luminous white light emanated from Maggie's other hand—the kind of light that only appears when she is using healing magic.

The dueling arena fell completely silent as everyone watched this near-miraculous scene.

Because Maggie didn't show any pain or discomfort, her whole being exuded the four words 'effortless'.

This is clearly a sign that the user has not been subjected to the pressure of magical energy operation, which means that all humans could potentially learn it.

Maggie smiled gently as the two spells faded away over time.

"Does Young Master Laurie believe it now?"

The gentle, amused voice of Maggie in his ear finally snapped Laurie out of her daze.

"...believe."

Laurie's expression was complicated. She looked at the mage in front of her, then at Maggie, and finally slowly uttered two words.

"Is that double chanting technique worth the price of your magic?"

Maggie asked patiently.

"worth."

Laurie managed to squeeze out the words through gritted teeth: "To be honest, the skills Maggie displayed were far more valuable than those of a magician."

Although being proven wrong is very unpleasant, it is an undeniable fact.

This buff to mages comes entirely from within, so there's no possibility of their strength decreasing due to various reasons, and it's also highly practical.

Besides, there are other mages in the family. If he could get this skill back... the family would definitely praise him highly, and might even assign him another mage.

Laurie knew after a moment's thought that it was definitely a good deal.

Moreover, he was 90% confident of winning this duel, especially after Maggie revealed her trump card as a wager, which gave him even more confidence.

If Maggie hadn't coveted his magic and had concealed her dual-wielding ability, they might have been evenly matched. But now...

Laurie was overjoyed after her analysis, never expecting the Holy Maiden of the Temple of Light to be so short-sighted.

The others present also realized this, and many of them showed strange expressions.

Even Susie, who was just upset about Vittoria's defeat, looked worried in the audience, seemingly unable to understand why Maggie would be so foolish as to give up such an important trump card just to exchange for a non-light magician.

A water-based mage cannot offer any real help to Maggie, who is a light-based mage.

No matter how you look at it, it's a loss.

Burwin looked regretful, as if he regretted not knowing Maggie could do this before.

If they knew, even if mages were scarce, their tower still had a few, so making this deal with them would have been much more worthwhile.

The more he thought about it, the more he felt he was losing out. Judging from his actions, he was practically running onto the field, grabbing Maggie's hand, and shouting, "We also have magicians in our tower! Trade with us! Trade with us!"

Standing there, Maggie noticed the joy in Laurie's heart, and a slight, almost imperceptible smile appeared on her lips.

She took the bait; she was even easier to fool than she had imagined.

Who is the prey and who is the hunter? The hunt hasn't even begun, but the outcome is already predetermined.