The majority of the kingdom’s citizens lived their lives far from any sort of battle, much less the formal duels of those with magical talent. As a result, the rank duels that Aslan Magic Academy allowed the public to spectate were the finest form of entertainment that they had access to.
Abel and Luke’s duel had happened unusually quickly, but most fights were announced to the public before the event actually took place. That was one of several reasons they required all that paperwork. Since Mia and Lloyd’s duel had gone through the proper channels, the public was well aware of it, and the academy’s arena was filled with a great many spectators.
“First-years fightin’ today, right?”
“Yeah, yeah… Third-place girl called Mia’s up against Lloyd in fourth. Oh boy, higher ranks are at it already, eh?! This is hot stuff!”
“Yeah, but, like, the first-years never go as big as the upperclassmen. Their fights just ain’t as intense. Best battles are the third-years, when two veterans go head-to-head.”
“That’s dumb. You’re missin’ out on half of life! These first-years are diamonds in the rough. They’ve got so much potential, can’t y’see how amazing that is? Don’t matter how strong they are at first, what matters is that you can root for ’em. They try their best, they never give up, and you get to watch ’em grow. That’s what’s so great about first-years. We’ve gotta support kids like these! We’ve gotta cheer ’em on!”
“I knew you were weird.”
“You’re weird, not me!”
The crowd continued to gather in the arena for the rank duel to come. Over the past hour, the few empty seats had filled up completely. The crowd waited with heated anticipation, their frenzied energy trapped in the arena with nowhere to go.
“Th-there are so many people here…”
Mia felt true fear for the first time in her life. She couldn’t breathe, and it felt as if someone’s hands had a tight grip on her heart.
“It’s okay… I’m okay…”
There’s no reason for me to be scared. I’ve been chosen, blessed with three elements. Not to mention I’ve been training so hard every day since I lost to Alice during the entrance exam. I can’t lose here, Mia told herself repeatedly, in an attempt to soothe her nerves.
“It’s time. Ready?”
“Yes!”
It’s starting, then.
The unsettling feelings swirling inside of her chest hadn’t faded.
I don’t want to lose. I won’t lose. I just won’t.
That was why Mia had made sure she shouted her response when they called her. She wanted to keep her spirits up, even if she had to fake it and put on a brave face. She walked slowly toward the arena. The fight hadn’t even started, but she felt unpleasant drips of sweat making their way down her spine. The moment she stepped into the arena, she was surrounded by thunderous cheers.
Overwhelmed by the piercing eyes of the crowd encircling her, Mia was thrown even further off-balance. She could hear her own heartbeat pounding in her ears.
“What’s wrong, pipsqueak? You look nervous.”
Lloyd smiled with ease. His demeanor was completely at odds with hers, and that only made the lead weight that was hanging on Mia’s heart feel heavier.
“Duelists, separate.”
Mia took another deep breath and slowly walked away from Lloyd. She took air in, then let it out, focusing on the physical process to steady her nerves just a little.
I’m okay… I can do this. Then I’ll beat Alice and even catch up to Luke someday. I won’t lose here!
The fire of Mia’s fighting spirit burned fiercely in her eyes as she stared down her opponent.
No matter what, I won’t let you win, she thought, fanning the flames within.
“Not bad! You’ve gotta put up a fight to make this interesting!”
Lloyd flashed a ferocious smile, eager to get on with the duel.
“Duelists, are you ready?”
Both students nodded, each convinced of their own victory.
“Then begin!”
Lloyd had just one element—Fire—but made full use of his incredible talent with it. Mia was capable of using the elements of Lightning, Chain, and Healing. The three combined quite nicely: Lightning allowed her to make magical attacks that could not be dodged, her Chain element enabled physical attacks and could also bind her enemies, and her Healing element allowed her to heal her injuries. No normal magic user would be able to stand against her in battle. She was, indeed, chosen.
A long, intense duel between the two…would have been rather exciting, wouldn’t it? However, this fight came to a sudden and ultimately very disappointing end.
Mia was blessed and cursed with the availability of many options at her fingertips, and she became paralyzed by indecision. She had always known that she was a little bit slow to activate her spells, and her inexperience only amplified the issue. Lloyd, on the other hand, had no such dilemma. He pushed his Fire abilities to their very limits—he did not command mere fire but ultrahot blue flames.
His overwhelming strength was simple and straightforward because that was the nature of fire—his only goal was to burn everything standing before him to ashes. Lloyd did not hesitate, and that was what made him strong.
He used huge amounts of mana to mercilessly bulldoze his opponent with his incredible blue flames. Lloyd’s spells weren’t completely artless, but art certainly wasn’t his focus. On a fundamental level, he concerned himself only with power, confident that raw brute strength was his most powerful weapon in battle.
The blue flames spread wide before Mia, encompassing everything. She felt a sort of instinctive fear jolt through her body. She had activated her Lightning magic at almost the exact same time that Lloyd moved, but she knew that her spell wouldn’t be as powerful, even if it did manage to reach him first.
She quickly redirected her energy into activating a Magic Barrier, but that was all she could manage. She knew that Lloyd’s attack would not relent, and the moment she shifted her attention to anything else, she would be consumed by the flames.
And checkmate. I’m done for.
“Aw, c’mon! What’s wrong?! We done already, pipsqueak?!”
“Argh… I c-can’t…” she choked out with great difficulty.
From that moment onwards, it was only a matter of time. The end was sudden and anticlimactic.
A piercing, awful scream erupted from Mia’s throat.
The last thing that she felt was the intense pain of her whole body being set alight, and the last thing she heard was the thunderous applause and roaring cheers of the people in the stands.