After the secondary defense officially began, the entire defense hall fell silent.
According to the pre-arranged order, a female student from an ordinary magic academy walked up to the high stage.
She looked a bit nervous, her hands gripping the edges of her draft paper tightly enough that her knuckles turned slightly white.
After taking a deep breath, she began to explain her understanding of the topic: “An Analysis of the Application and Limitations of Elemental Resonance Theory in Practical Combat.”
“Elemental Resonance Theory refers to the phenomenon where two or more types of mana with different attributes resonate at a specific frequency, thereby significantly increasing the power of the magic,” she began.
“In actual combat, the most common application is the combination of fire and wind—where the wind element accelerates the spread of the fire element, creating a large-scale burning area.”
She paused, then continued:
“Taking my personal research as an example, in narrow terrain, one can use fire elemental resonance to create a high-temperature barrier. This restricts the enemy's range of movement while coordinating with teammates to launch an attack from the flanks. In theory, this tactic can effectively compress the enemy's activity space, creating an advantage for our side.”
“Additionally, in defensive battles, the resonance of the earth and wind elements can be used to kick up dust, obscuring the enemy's line of sight and covering our retreat or facilitating a surprise attack...”
She spent about seven or eight minutes completing her presentation.
The overall structure was fairly complete and the logic was clear. Although there were no particularly brilliant highlights, at least there were no obvious mistakes.
As she uttered her final sentence, she let out a visible sigh of relief, a look of ease spreading across her face.
However, before she could fully relax, Professor Grace, sitting in the center of the judging panel, spoke up:
“Your argument is fine on a theoretical level, but in your examples of practical combat applications, there is a serious error.”
The female student's face instantly froze.
Professor Grace gave her no room to breathe and continued:
“You mentioned using fire elemental resonance in narrow terrain to create a high-temperature barrier to restrict the enemy's movement. However, you failed to consider that in a confined space, a high-temperature barrier will not only restrict the enemy, but also limit the caster's own room to maneuver.”
“Even more fatal, the fire resonance will rapidly consume the surrounding oxygen, causing the caster to suffer from oxygen deprivation. Within a few breaths, they will become dizzy and lightheaded, causing their combat effectiveness to plummet. Have you ever actually used this tactic in a real battle?”
The female student's lips parted, but no sound came out.
Her face turned pale at a speed visible to the naked eye, her fingers clutching her papers so tightly that her knuckles turned white.
Naturally, she had never used it in practice. She had simply read the theory in a book, found it reasonable, and written it down.
Professor Grace said nothing more. She simply leaned back in her chair and gestured for the grading phase to begin.
The ten professors took turns raising their paddles to score her.
Under the ten-point scoring system, the highest score she received was only a three.
In the end, the female student only obtained a total score of twenty-six points.
She walked down from the stage, utterly despondent, her eyes red as if she were on the verge of tears.
Then, another student walked up to the stage with trembling steps...
“Wow, the professor who just spoke is so harsh... Isn't she from your academy, Victoria?”
In the spectator stands, her roommate Adele couldn't help but whisper to Victoria.
Victoria nodded. “Yes, she is our Year-level Chief Professor. She is indeed very strict.”
Sitting on the other side, her roommate Kayla took a deep breath, her tone laced with nervousness:
“To be honest, even though this is already my second time participating in the exchange, I'm starting to feel a bit nervous now. That girl earlier wasn't poorly prepared, yet she got torn to shreds like that...”
“Yeah, me too,” Adele agreed.
“I just hope that whatever I wrote won't have some major error pointed out on the spot by the professors, like that girl just now.”
On second thought, she added, “But that shouldn't happen, because I actually had my junior help me proofread and correct my content beforehand.”
“Your junior?”
Kayla was taken aback for a moment, then remembered:
“Oh, you mean Melina, right? She really is even more amazing than I imagined. To get such an outstanding score in the preliminary defense, we can't compare at all. No wonder she was willing to help you correct your content even though she's technically a competitor.”
Melina...
Victoria silently repeated the name in her mind.
She remembered this name because, on the preliminary defense results board, this girl named Melina had tied with her score.
And now, hearing from Adele that Melina was her junior meant that she was also a freshman. Furthermore, studying at an ordinary magic academy, she most likely came from a commoner background as well.
This realization greatly ignited Victoria's competitive spirit.
She felt she could lose to anyone else, but she absolutely did not want to lose to her.
Both being from commoner backgrounds and both being freshmen, she did not want to fall behind in any aspect.
As her thoughts swirled, another student walked down from the stage in a daze. Victoria quickly snapped back to reality, knowing it was almost her turn.
Victoria took a deep breath and stood up.
Her two roommates whispered in unison, “Good luck!”
Victoria nodded, then walked with steady steps toward the podium.
Standing on the stage, her gaze swept across the dense crowd.
Silvia was cheering her on, Lilith, who always competed with her, was looking at her with crossed arms and a tsundere expression, and as for Greg... he straight up flipped her off.
Victoria chose to selectively ignore him. Sweeping her eyes over the crowd, she noticed that her instructor, Alice, had actually come to audit the session. Seeing Victoria look her way, Alice sat up straight and waved enthusiastically.
Despite wearing her professor's robes, her appearance blended in with the students without any sense of discord.
Looks like I have to do my best!
Even though so many people had high expectations of her, Victoria did not suffer from stage fright.
She flipped open her prepared notes. After completing the standard self-introduction, she began her defense:
“The core of Elemental Resonance Theory lies in matching the frequencies between mana of different attributes. However, in my personal opinion, the current academic research on this theory focuses too heavily on data simulation in idealized environments, ignoring the most critical variable in actual combat—uncertainty.”
Starting from the basic principles of elemental resonance, she progressively delved deeper into practical combat scenarios:
“Take fire-wind resonance as an example. In open terrain, this combination can indeed exert immense power. However, in complex terrains such as woodlands, building interiors, or underground caverns, the wind direction and the distribution of combustible materials will significantly affect the resonance effect.”
“If one blindly pursues maximum output without considering these factors, it may lead to a loss of control, harming oneself or one's teammates instead.”
To bolster her persuasiveness, Victoria also included a first-hand observation as an example:
“For instance, when fighting in forested areas or regions with dense vegetation, the risks of fire-wind resonance increase exponentially.”
“When I was a child, I witnessed an adventurer team attempt to use fire-wind resonance to clear an obstacle ahead. The sparks were scattered by the wind, igniting the surrounding dry grass and shrubs. The fire spread rapidly, nearly causing a forest fire. The team had to abort their original plan and instead spend a massive amount of time and mana to contain the blaze.”
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