“True, but if I have the opportunity, I’d still like to learn how to use lots of types of magic.”
I understood how Noa felt. I thought it was fun to use a variety of magic too. It wasn’t like I planned to go and defeat a demon lord or the ultimate boss of this world or anything, so why shouldn’t I enjoy casting?
“You should talk with Cliff and Ellelaura before deciding on anything. In the end, it’s your decision, so you need to make it for yourself.”
“Yes,” Noa responded.
The teacher made new targets and the fire round began.
Unlike with the wind magic, the crowd went wild for fire magic. You couldn’t see wind magic well from far away, but fire magic was much flashier. The flames were all different sizes. I saw some teeny fireballs and some huge ones. On top of that, even if the fireballs were the same size, some of them would disperse on contact with the target and others would keep burning even after hitting them.
That was probably a difference in how much mana the students had put into their magic. A small amount of magic would make the fire go out right away. A large amount of mana would result in the fireball burning even after it hit its target.
It was easier to tell the difference between the contestants’ aptitude, which made the spectators go wild. If I had used bear magic here, they really would have lost their heads.
As I watched, Shia’s name was called. Just like Noa had said, she was participating in the fire target practice.
“Looks like it’s Shia’s turn,” I said.
“Shia, you can do it!” Noa stood up and shouted.
Shia turned toward us, so I guess she’d heard her. She looked a little embarrassed, but she still waved at us. Spurred on by Noa’s cheering, Shia hit target after target. A roar erupted from the crowd. Her performance might have been enough to get her the top spot.
In the end, Shia reached the ninth target and sat at the top of the fire division. But another student from Yufaria hit nine targets, too, and was tied with Shia. Because the student hadn’t beat Shia’s record outright, the students cheering for Yufaria seemed unhappy. Honestly, I was kind of unhappy myself that they had tied with her. Shia was still in first, even if it was a shared first.
A student from the capital went up next but couldn’t beat either Shia or the Yufarian student’s record. There was probably only one more person left. At this rate, if they didn’t beat the score, Shia would end up in first place, even though they’d both gotten the same score.
The next person to step up was...
“Seleiyu? Wasn’t she in the wind magic part too?”
“Lady Seleiyu is participating in all the events,” someone from behind us replied. I turned around to see a girl in a Yufarian uniform.
“Really?” Noa said, completely unperturbed by the girl randomly cutting in on our conversation.
“Normally, students only participate in one type of magic in order to preserve their mana. But Lady Seleiyu has a lot of mana, and a high aptitude for all types of magic. That’s why she’s participating in all the events.”
“That’s amazing.”
“None of the other students complain about that?”
If Seleiyu hadn’t taken up so many spots, other students could have participated.
“Lady Seleiyu is always practicing, and she works harder than everyone. All the students in Yufaria know that. No one would complain about her taking their spot.”
The girl said all of this as though she was speaking from experience. I guess everyone recognized Seleiyu’s abilities because of her hard work, not just because she was a noble.
Noa thanked the girl, then left to get a closer spot in order to cheer on Seleiyu.
So Seleiyu wasn’t just training in swordplay. She also trained a lot in magic. But why was she working so hard? Considering she was a noble, she could have just gotten a guard to protect her.
Seleiyu beat Shia’s record and earned top place for the fire target practice too. It was too bad, but Shia had lost against her fair and square.
“That’s too bad,” I said out loud.
“Yes, but Lady Seleiyu was amazing.”
“Yeah, like the girl said, Seleiyu practiced a lot.”
Unlike me, she probably practiced every day. That said, when I used to play my video game, I used to put in the work using magic every day. Well, I was also just playing for fun though.
“It’s a shame Shia lost, but she still came in second place. That’s still amazing.”
I agreed. Second place wasn’t anything to be embarrassed about, especially when she was competing with upperclassmen too.
After the fire portion, they moved on to water. Seleiyu was participating in this one too. That made three events in a row.
“I wonder if Seleiyu is going to be fine, mana-wise?”
Thanks to my bear gear, I usually didn’t have that problem. But Seleiyu was just a regular person.
“I think she should be okay, since she’s probably rationing her mana. Her teachers wouldn’t have let her participate if they were worried about it.”
She was right. It’d be irresponsible for her teachers to give her permission to do this otherwise.
Soon, the water target practice ended. One student from each side outshone the other students. Seleiyu ended up third behind them, but third place was still amazing.
Then for the final round, we had earth. Shia participated in this one again, so Noa cheered her on. Unfortunately, even though Shia did a good job, she still lost against Seleiyu. It was too bad for Shia, but she’d done great even against students older than her. Plus, it kind of felt like Seleiyu was leaps and bounds ahead of everyone else.