As the words fell, Clara slowly stepped out of the crowd, her platinum-blonde hair shimmering faintly under the light of the dome.
The young girl still wore her usual listless expression, looking as if she hadn't fully woken up yet and couldn't summon any energy. Cotton, her contracted pet sitting atop her head, looked exactly the same.
Fiona, on the other hand, was incredibly excited. Her dark-red curls bounced against her shoulders as she walked to the center of the arena, rolling up her sleeves and giving Liliana a “watch me” gesture.
The two of them stood still, about ten paces apart.
“Miss Clara, please go easy on me!”
“...Okay.”
Seeing this, Ms. Elena stepped back to the edge of the arena and raised her right hand, her every movement carrying the authority of an athletic referee.
“First round: Fiona attacks, Clara defends.”
“Prepare yourselves.”
I felt a flicker of interest in the upcoming battle and directed my gaze toward them, curious about how the others had progressed in their magic studies.
What exactly was magic?
Ms. Elena had once explained that magic was a form of communication through words. In essence, it was the joint product of mana and imagination.
“There are three prerequisites for casting magic.”
“First is possessing mana; second is having a complete magic circuit within your body; and third is imagination.”
“The Mana Bullet you are currently learning, also known as the basic Mana Bullet, is a spell that every novice mage must learn. However, that does not mean it is weak.”
“Its standard incantation consists of eighteen words.”
“The reason magic requires an incantation is not because it cannot be cast if a few words are missing. Rather, it is to aid your imagination. By using words, you can visualize the form of the magic in your mind during the chant, allowing your mana to flow according to the image you envision.”
“For example, this.”
“The Fire-attribute First Order spell, Fireball. Its standard incantation is sixteen words long.”
Ms. Elena explained methodically as she raised her right hand. Instantly, a ball of fire materialized above her palm.
The flame hovered slightly, radiating a wave of scorching heat.
She had not chanted any incantation, yet the magic was successfully cast. With a wave of her hand, the magical glow dissipated.
A collective gasp rippled through the classroom in the afternoon light.
“The so-called standard incantations are established by the Kingdom's Mage Association. They are designed to help any mage learning a spell for the first time to cast it. By simply chanting the words a few times, the image of the magic will naturally surface in your mind. Once you grasp the feeling of mana flowing through your magic circuits, you will be able to cast it.”
“As your magical skills improve in the future, you can shorten the incantations yourself. Take my First Order spell, Fireball, for instance. I have known it for over twenty years, so I can cast it without any incantation. Both my body and mind have completely memorized it.”
“In essence, incantations merely aid your imagination.”
“Of course, some of the more powerful spells cannot be cast without an incantation, no matter how familiar you are with them. As for the reason... that is a lesson you will learn in the higher grades.”
“Now, focus up—”
...
“Begin the battle!”
In the vast training ground, Fiona took a deep breath and raised her right hand, pointing her palm toward Clara.
She began to chant the incantation, her momentum surging like a rainbow.
“Gathering mana, condense into a bullet! Obey my will and pierce through what lies ahead!”
It was the standard incantation, exactly eighteen words long.
This was also the incantation for the Mana Bullet spell we had been learning all week.
I noticed a faint blue light quickly kindle in Fiona's palm. The glow wasn't large, but it was highly concentrated, resembling a white marble held in her hand.
Then, the marble gradually grew larger.
It expanded until it was the size of a tennis ball, about five centimeters in diameter.
This was the basic Mana Bullet. It contained no elemental properties whatsoever, being an offensive spell formed purely from condensed mana—and the simplest offensive spell at that.
“—Fire!” Fiona cried out.
The glowing Mana Bullet shot from her palm. Its trajectory was perfectly straight and incredibly fast, closing in on Clara within seconds.
The spectating classmates gasped, and Ms. Elena nodded slightly. It was clear that Fiona was a reasonably talented student.
How would she respond?
I looked at Clara.
The lazy young girl shifted. She listlessly raised her left hand, palm facing forward with her fingers spread. However, her half-hearted posture looked more like a student slacking off during calisthenics, far from standard form.
“Cotton, help me defend.”
Her voice was extremely soft, so quiet it was almost inaudible.
But the effect was anything but light.
A translucent, pale silver light barrier materialized out of thin air in front of her like a thin shield. This was also a basic defense spell.
The moment Fiona's Mana Bullet collided with the barrier, a dull hum vibrated through the air.
Immediately after, the light of the Mana Bullet dissolved against the silver barrier like a firework, shattering into countless tiny particles of light.
The barrier was not breached; it remained completely undisturbed.
The classmates looked a bit bewildered.
“Did she just cast without chanting?”
“Maybe her voice was just too quiet. That's how she usually is when talking to people; she's too lazy to even expend energy on speaking.”
“Was that defense spell cast by her pet?”
“Anyway, that was a beautiful defense!”
The students standing further away buzzed with discussion. After all, this kind of environment was meant for everyone to watch and learn from the battles.
Clara lowered her left hand and raised her other hand to gently pat the contracted pet on her head.
Cotton: “Gugu-gaga!”
Fiona's lips twitched. “Isn't that cheating?!”
“Teacher!” Fiona grumbled. As Clara's opponent, she had seen exactly what happened and reported it to Ms. Elena.
“A contracted magical beast is also considered a part of a mage's strength, so it is hard to call it cheating,” Ms. Elena said meaningfully. “However, considering this is a weekly test to evaluate your mastery of basic offensive and defensive magic—Student Clara, no more slacking off next time.”
“Oh,” Clara said, lowering her hand.
Fiona opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but swallowed her words with a huff of pride.
Ms. Elena jotted down a few notes in the register. Her face remained expressionless, but I noticed her quill lingered on the page for quite a while.
“Second round: swap roles.”
“Clara attacks, Fiona defends.”
Clara tilted her head, seemingly contemplating whether she should take this seriously.
Then, she raised her hand.
The movement was incredibly slow, and her hand barely lifted—it could even be described as half-hearted—but the ball of light condensing in her palm was anything but half-hearted.
Fiona felt the pressure.
A pale silver light surged from Clara's palm. It wasn't the scattered halo of an ordinary Mana Bullet, but an extremely dense, almost solidified sphere of light that let out a faint hum as it condensed in the air.
“I-Is this the power of a mana capacity of seven?”
“No, no, no, this has nothing to do with mana capacity! This is pure magical talent at work!”
The moment this sight unfolded, the surrounding young noble lords and ladies erupted into an uncontrollable clamor. Even I raised an eyebrow.
“Basic Mana Bullet, fire.”
Clara's voice as she uttered the incantation was still just as sluggish. She seemed to possess a natural talent for magic, or at least had completely mastered the basic Mana Bullet. She was so familiar with the spell that she didn't even need the standard chant, or perhaps she had her own unique trick.
This shortened incantation gave the others a direct demonstration of what Ms. Elena had meant by “incantations after gaining proficiency.”
A faster casting speed was more than enough to be a decisive, lethal factor in most battles. Not to mention, the power of her spell also looked incredibly formidable, despite using the exact same magic circuits in essence.
The silver Mana Bullet shot from Clara's palm.
Fiona's expression changed instantly.
“Gathering mana, please rise up—wah-eh-urgh-ggh-blah%♫#&...” Flustered and in a panic, Fiona couldn't even finish her chant.
Fortunately, Ms. Elena was there.
Right before the spell hit, a diamond-shaped mana barrier precisely blocked the attack. This was the teacher's defensive technique; it didn't cover a large area, but the diamond-shaped shield hovered perfectly in front of Fiona.
“As far as this offensive spell is concerned, you must have practiced diligently after class.”
Ms. Elena offered her critique. Fiona still had lingering fears, but she now understood the gap between them, and her previous dissatisfaction about the “cheating” vanished completely.
“Clara, you're so strong! Hahaha!”
They didn't proceed to a third round. It ended like a friendly handshake, followed by some discussion and analysis from the crowd.
Ms. Elena cleared her throat softly.
The murmurs instantly died down.
“Fiona, your defensive stance just now was not stable enough, and your mana showed obvious fluctuations.” Her tone was calm, but every word was delivered clearly. “Practice stabilizing your mana output more when you return.”
“Yes, Teacher.”
“Clara—”
She paused.
“Your mana output is very stable. Perhaps I misjudged you before. If you can take first place in this weekly test, you may sleep during my next class.”
Clara blinked her blue eyes. “Okay.”
Then, she patted Cotton on her head. “Did you hear that, Cotton? You have to work hard.”
Cotton: “Gugu-gaga?”
With the first match concluded, the students below were all itching to go. They eagerly anticipated who their opponents would be, hoping to showcase their magical talents before everyone and earn the class's cheers upon victory.
This is... the perfect moment to build a reputation, Klaus thought to himself from among the crowd, rubbing his nose.
He was looking forward to stepping up soon and winning. That way, he could wash away his recent infamy. Those capital dwellers didn't understand the aesthetic beauty of steak at all! He would utterly crush his opponent, whoever they were, and become one of the top elites in this class!
A classroom, after all, was just a miniature ecosystem.
“Next, Klaus Heller.”
“Present!!!” Klaus stood up with clenched fists, his momentum grand. He sized up the crowd, thinking, Bring it on! My opponent!
The young lords and ladies of the class watched Klaus step out from the crowd and walk toward the center, whispering among themselves.
“Klaus is next.”
“This is going to be good. He's been practicing magic in the dormitory, saying he has to place in this weekly test to spread the fame of the Heller family.”
“Spare me... Why is everyone taking this so seriously? I definitely don't want to be his opponent.”
“I wonder who it'll be.”
As for Klaus's good friend—the carefree guy who was set to pursue Liliana in the future, a man named Alden.
Alden cupped his hands around his mouth like a megaphone. “Do your best, Klaus!”
“Against—” Ms. Elena continued to read.
“Number twenty-three, Loris von Aldheim.”
The moment Ms. Elena read that name, I noticed Klaus, who had been puffing out his chest, instantly freeze. Even the glittering Goddess's Tear gemstone on his collar seemed to dim.
A collective sharp intake of breath echoed around the room.
“Hiss—”
Klaus, who was supposed to stride confidently to the center of the arena, now had his cheek twitching upon hearing my name.
Yet, in the end, he still made his way to the center.
Because I, too, had stepped onto the field.
Ms. Elena paused for a moment.
I could feel every single gaze behind me following my footsteps, turning in unison like a flock of startled sparrows.
After all, if a classroom was indeed an ecosystem, then my status, which had solidified over the past week, was probably that of the apex “tiger”—both in terms of my family's standing and my own talent.
Undeniably the most popular.
And the most wicked.
I recalled that my opponent was supposed to be Liliana, but considering the game omitted a lot of details, this weekly test seemed to be a tournament-style elimination—something like narrowing down the class of thirty to fifteen, then to eight, until the strongest was decided.
I would probably face Liliana later on.
The early rounds were likely deemed unimportant, which was why the game didn't describe them... but for me, I was living here. This was reality.
So, I had to experience it step by step.
Klaus stood opposite me, ten paces away.
When he saw it was me, his grayish-blue eyes wavered slightly.
But it wasn't fear. His previous stiffness seemed more like being caught off guard, and now, a fire seemed to ignite in his eyes.
He looked as if he had been pumped full of adrenaline.
It was a “finally, my chance has come” kind of expression. His lips were pressed tightly together, his chin slightly raised, and the gemstone on his chest gleamed blindingly under the light of the dome.
“Lady Loris,” he said, his tone carrying a sort of teeth-gritting satisfaction.
Now that I thought about it, the girls who flocked around me had been sharing his embarrassing stories to please me.
Perhaps he held a grudge over that.
I raised an eyebrow with a look of mild annoyance. “Student Heller.”
“I've been waiting a week for this day.” He pushed up his sleeves, revealing a small portion of his forearms. “Today, I will show you what the combination of talent and hard work looks like.”
I fell silent for a second.
“...Are you sure you want to say that?”
“I am absolutely sure!” His voice echoed under the dome of the training ground, carrying the unique, chuunibyou-esque hot-bloodedness of a twelve-year-old boy. “I admit your mana capacity of ten is terrifying, but you've been avoiding everyone during previous practice classes and have never fought head-on—no one knows what your actual combat level is like!”
The reason I avoided others was because I was practicing ancient spells from old books.
As for the new magic, because of my past experience, I could grasp it instantly. I didn't want to show off such a monstrous talent.
In reality, I had simply learned it beforehand. But to those who didn't know, they would think I was an invincible magic genius. That would be too excessive and draw too much attention. After all, being able to cast a spell at will after seeing it just once was far rarer than having a mana capacity of ten.
That was why I hid away.
But anyway, back to the present.
Klaus took a step forward, raising his chin even higher as he announced arrogantly, “Today, I, Klaus Heller, will unveil this mystery!”
“Even if you are a girl, I won't hold back!”
Hearing this speech, some people nearby actually clapped and cheered as if a hero were crusading against the world's most evil demon king. Such a sense of justice and mission was truly moving.
There were also a few muffled snickers.
And, of course, some mocking comments.
“The upstart is finished,” another student whispered.
“He's done for.”
“Totally done for.”
Klaus clearly heard them. His cheeks flushed slightly, but he didn't back down. Instead, he puffed out his chest.
He stared at me intently.
“Strength will prove everything!”
Ms. Elena hesitated to speak several times before finally finding an opportunity to interrupt. She raised her hand and said, “First round: Klaus attacks, Loris defends.”
“Prepare yourselves.”
Rate on N.U.
