Saikyou Mahoushi no Inton Keikaku (LN) - Volume 6 - Chapter 32

Thirty-Second Chapter 

Bonds and Battle 

Alus’ withdrawal from the tournament finals was announced just before the next match. 

Tesfia and Alice were bombarded with questions, but since his absence was related to his mission, they did their best to dodge them. 

His absence was a big topic of discussion at the dinner table. Alus had made his way through the tournament as a promising competitor, so some people were wondering if he’d gotten sick, but all the two could say was that they would find out later. 

Based on what they heard from Loki, Felinella knew about the situation. Loki also said they would avoid pointless confusion by not saying anything, and leaving everything to her. 

After changing into their match uniforms, the three showed their faces at the venue headquarters. 

Five had made it to the main tournament. The third-years had been wiped out. The second-years were Felinella and the subleader, Illumina. The first-years were Alus, Tesfia, and Loki. 

But the lack of Alus was a cause for concern. That’s when Alice had shown up, in her uniform and ready to go, confusing the other students. 

After looking over everyone at the briefing, Felinella spoke up to alleviate the confusion. “Everyone, today is the last day of the tournament. Victory is on the line, but having come this far, I have nothing more to say. Illumina and I will do our best too. And... as I am sure you may have noticed, the first-year student Alus is absent for various reasons.” 

Felinella’s report caused a stir, with some looking astonished, and some even wondering if he’d made light of the entire tournament and was skipping out. 

She continued, to curb the rumor from spreading: “Please don’t misunderstand. Mr. Alus really wanted to take part in the tournament. I can’t tell you the circumstances, but he’s not missing the tournament by choice, I want you to at least understand that. It is also in part thanks to him that we have come this far. So let’s not put his efforts to waste, and welcome him back with good news. I would like to ask Ms. Alice to take his place in the main tournament.” 

There were no objections. In fact, those who’d seen her matches all agreed there was no one more suited. Some people who didn’t understand Alus’ true strength even felt this was for the better. 

With Felinella’s help, Alus’ absence ended up not earning him the ire of his classmates. But there were still some who had doubts... 

“I wonder what happened. Do you two know anything?” Ciel Faleno, a girl resembling a small animal, nonchalantly called out to the two girls. 

She had unfortunately lost in the semi-finals of the preliminaries. The cause of her defeat was exhaustion from successive battles. If she had been in perfect form, she would’ve been able to put up a better fight. But she was still rather satisfied with her results, so she wasn’t all that frustrated. 

Tesfia could only force a smile at Ciel’s innocent and frank question. “Well, I guess you could say I don’t know?” she answered, scratching her cheek and looking away. 

“What’s with that? But if Alus got serious, he definitely would have won.” Ciel didn’t know about Alus’ ranking, but she had good instincts. Having watched him during the training, she was all but convinced of that. At the very least, from the point of view of someone who had made it to the final match of the preliminaries, Alus greatly exceeded the abilities of an average first-year student. 

“He has a tendency to get caught up in problems, so I guess it can’t be helped,” Tesfia said, and Ciel nodded in return. 

Meanwhile, Alice was unable to stand the pressure of being a replacement and complained about her situation. “Awww, hearing Ciel say that Al would’ve definitely won is putting a lot of pressure on meee.” 

“Ah! Thinking about it, the two of you are going to fight first. There’s no wins by default in the main tournament, huh?” Ciel noted. 

“Yeah. I’m used to fighting against Fia, so that’s fine, but in front of an audience is...” Alice let out her unease with a stiff expression. 

In the main tournament, the four arenas were combined into one, and all of the audience would be watching. Of course, having the entire arena as a field would be too wide, so instead there was a circular stage in the middle. Even then, it was twice as big as the arenas they’d fought in before. 

On top of that, Alice had another thing that was bothering her. And that was her new AWR, Shangdi Fides. 

For better or worse, the AWR she’d been given stood out, and it put more pressure on her. Its golden color shone and she’d earned a lot of curious stares from the audience. And worst of all, she didn’t have the time now to get mentally prepared. 

After all, the first bout of the day was Tesfia versus Alice. In the main tournament, competitors from the same institute would have to fight. 

“Once we start, it’ll be the same as always.” 

“You’re the only one it would be the same as always for, Fia,” Alice said, frowning. 

Ciel agreed with Alice. “Being that calm is amazing. I’d be so worried about messing up for everyone to see... I’d blank out during the structural stage... Well, you’re amazing compared to me too, Alice.” 

“I’m just surprised that you couldn’t even clearly remember that stage, Ciel. Well, that’s not something you think about. Anyways, once the match begins you’ll be fighting as normal too, Alice,” Tesfia told her. “I don’t think it’ll be any different than usual.” She had watched Alus give Alice a sermon after the third round of the tournament. 

Moment by moment, the time for the match drew closer. And the three of them continued talking in the waiting room until then. They mostly talked about their matches, but Alice was thankful the time went by in a flash. 

Loki sat in a corner of the waiting room doing a final check on her AWR. She enchanted it with mana, giving it a light swing. She looked to be maintaining her AWR while also focusing her mind before her round. 

“Okay, it’s almost time. That’s enough talking. It’s time for you to head to the arena.” Felinella showed up and put an end to the escapism in the form of casual talk. 

There was no bench at the main tournament venue, and once they left the hallway the stage was right in front of them. Because of this, Tesfia and Alice both headed for the stage with their AWRs. 

Tesfia’s entrance was on the opposite side of Alice’s, so they soon parted ways. 

She circled around the first floor and other competitors made way for her, while sizing her up. Of course, that didn’t mean anything to her. She experienced the same thing at the Institute all the time. 

Eventually she saw a dim hallway leading into the arena. Tesfia awaited her turn in the light just before the entrance. 

To be honest, she was feeling the most pressured by this match. She wanted her mother to see how much she’d grown with her own eyes during the short amount of time they had. Depending on the results, she might even end up having to leave the Institute. She’d put up a brave front for Alice and the others, but she felt a tremendous amount of pressure now. 

As she shook away her idle thoughts, she realized this was also a sacred match of sorts. She and Alice had been encouraging each other to improve, and now she would be having a serious fight against her best friend. 

Tesfia was able to motivate herself by thinking about this. She took deep breaths and focused her mind. After a few breaths, she could feel the unease in her heart gradually fade away. 

She pressed her back against the wall and closed her eyes to calm her nerves even more. She’d always had a partner she could compete against in earnest who was close to her. Who she was now—was only here because of Alice. If she’d been on her own, the current Tesfia Fable wouldn’t have this mental fortitude and skill. 

She’d come to the Institute along with Alice so they could become Magicmasters. The time they’d spent together was surprisingly short, and they were still only at the starting point. But that was why— 

“I can’t lose.” Tesfia had a pure desire not to lose. Just for now, she would forget about her family, her mother, and focus solely on fighting against Alice with all of her might. 

And finally— 

“First year division, first round of the main tournament. From Alpha’s Second Magical Institute, Tesfia Fable, versus Alpha’s Second Magical Institute’s Alice Tilake.” 

The two stepped out into the arena. 

Alice felt her knees grow weak when the two girls were showered in cheers. 

Even Tesfia had trouble walking calmly. It wasn’t so much her nerves as it was being overwhelmed by the atmosphere. At the sight of the two, the tens of thousands in the audience all erupted in unison. Based on their matches so far, the high expectations the audience had for them could be gleaned from how loud the applause was. 

So far I’ve won a little over half of our fights. Tesfia quietly regarded Alice who was stepping up to the stage from the other side. She didn’t have a perfect memory of their win-loss records, but she knew she’d won a few more times than Alice. She’d also barely hung on to win during their mock battle in front of the principal. 

That said, there wasn’t much difference in their abilities. In this tournament, they’d gathered more experience in each match they fought. So the records from a week ago were meaningless today. 

Tesfia shifted her glance towards Alice’s hands. The biggest difference of all was the new AWR she had. Alice had also learned new magic, so Tesfia’s chance for victory was probably fifty percent or even less. 

But a match isn’t about the numbers. Trying to calculate my chance for victory is pointless. 

She shook her head to rouse herself, telling herself that this wasn’t like her. Her hand unconsciously stroked the sheath of her katana. 

She’d fought Alice countless times, but it felt completely different in a serious fight. Tesfia could feel herself getting excited. It was thanks to them being so close that they could go all out without holding anything back. They knew what cards the other had to play—but it wasn’t like they knew everything. 

Sorry Alice, but I’m going to win this! Tesfia thought, and pumped herself up. 

*** 

Meanwhile, Alice awkwardly walked to the center of the stage. 

Her AWR reflected the light, making each step feel heavier. From what use she’d made of it, this new AWR was excellent. It was so high performing that she might even assume that her own abilities had greatly improved. Even from the first battle, it perfectly fit in her hand like an old friend. 

While she was happy about that, she also felt vexed knowing she wasn’t able to make full use of its power yet. The AWR’s hidden potential made her realize her own powerlessness. 

The magic that Shangdi Fides unleashed in response to mana being poured into it was rough and forceful, as if releasing the pent-up frustration that came from not having a worthy user. Having gotten the hang of mana control, Alice could feel its resistance all the more clearly. It was being very unmanageable. At the moment, with the spells cast almost ignoring the directions Alice was giving them, it was a waste of potential. 

The two reached their assigned starting positions, and the only thing in Alice’s view was Tesfia. 

The two girls stared straight at each other. 

Both were excited over getting to fight for real after all their mock battles against each other. The emotions welling up inside them made them raise the edges of their lips into smiles. 

The match couldn’t start soon enough. And their bodies were aching, eagerly awaiting their chance to go all out. With their minds focused solely on one another, the cheers had begun to fade into the distance. 

A defensive barrier that had been raised was part of the reason, but another was their sharpened minds that concentrated just on each other. 

For a moment a tense silence fell over them. 

The starting signal of a loud buzzer rang out as their focus reached a peak. 

Without a moment’s delay, they both built up their magic formulas and swung their AWRs. 

‹‹Icicle Sword››! 

‹‹Shiylereis››! 

Both unleashed their spells at the same time. 

A sword of ice and a slash of light clashed in the center of the stage, creating a powerful shockwave. The cold wind carried by the wave kicked up dirt, and coupled with the deafening noise, it was clear just how potent both spells had been. 

The audience raised their fists and voices to cheer. This flashy opening electrified the audience. 

Both sides appeared equal... but that was only how the untrained eyes of the audience saw it. The contestants concerned, however, could pick up on the slight difference even though they had cancelled each other’s spells out. 

“That’s Fia’s specialty for you. You kept it under control even after putting more mana than usual into it... maybe that’s just the difference in constructs,” Alice muttered to Tesfia. Yet unlike the past, she now had an AWR capable of competing with her. She should be lamenting her own inadequacy instead... 

“You too, Alice. I never thought I’d lose out in a match of strength.” Tesfia wasn’t letting her guard down, but she hadn’t imagined that her advanced spell Icicle Sword would be cancelled out. 

Tesfia’s chance to win lay in her amount of mana. At the very least, the first exchange had been more taxing on Alice. So Tesfia, who had more mana from the start, held the advantage in that sense. 

But it wasn’t like Alice hadn’t realized that. 

Even then, it doesn’t change what I have to do... here she comes! As Tesfia anticipated, Alice moved in to make it a close combat battle. Seeing that, Tesfia poured mana into her katana and thrust the blade towards the ground. 

The tip sank into the ground without any resistance. ‹‹Freeze››! 

Streaks of ice radiating out from the katana moved to intercept Alice. In the past they had been thin lines, but now they were thick and complex, covering a wide area like a net. The freezing strength for whatever it caught hadn’t improved, but the range it covered had seen incredible growth. 

I guess Fia saw right through me... 

Both were aware that Alice had the upper hand in close combat, which was why Tesfia had stopped her. 

Just before the web of ice caught up to her, Alice thrust her spear into the ground to jump high up. She spun around in the air and pulled the spear out of the ground, using the spin to put even more force into her swing. 

“‹‹Shiylereis››” The crescent-shaped slash attack assaulted Tesfia while cutting through the ice. 

“Kuh!” Tesfia pulled out her katana and rolled to the side. After stopping her roll with her hand, she cut across the air with her katana. 

“‹‹Ice Bullet››—Fire!” Three fist-sized blocks of ice were created in an instant, and Tesfia fired them off as Alice landed. Cracks ran down the ice blocks. 

“—!!” The fist-sized blocks scattered into countless fragments the size of a fingertip and rained down on Alice. Her eyes shot wide open with astonishment. She wasn’t surprised by the spell itself, but rather wondering when she’d learned it. Tesfia had constantly complained about how she couldn’t use it in their training. 

But back then, she’d fired off five blocks of ice. Alice recalled Ciel asking Alus the trick to learning Thorn Pierce. There was no reason to simply copy the spells recorded in the spell encyclopedia. It was possible to learn the magic itself by arranging it somewhat, even if it was at a lower level. 

Even as she came to understand what had happened, there was no sign of panic in Alice’s expression. She looked composed even as the countless shards of ice scattered before her. Of course, she wouldn’t be able to fully dodge them all even if she tried. 

However— 

“‹‹Reflection››” The tip of Alice’s spear emitted light. In an instant a veil of light appeared before her. And the ice pieces crashing into it were sent back the way they came. 

This time it was Tesfia’s turn to be astonished. She’d more or less understood that they’d come flying back, but in the past Alice had only been able to reflect using the blade part of her spear. 

“Wha!! I—‹‹Ice Wall››” She hurriedly buried her katana into the ground and cut it up in one go. A thick lump of ice was created, following the trajectory of the blade. It wasn’t all that big, but it was enough to cover her body as the ice was turned into a wall. 

Tesfia pushed her back against the ice wall and kept her head low, preparing for the oncoming storm. And it came. The reflected ice shards crashed into the wall, shaving away at it. Her own attack was now breaking down her own wall. 

On the spur of the moment, Tesfia made herself into a small ball. Cracking sounds rang out. There was no way she could peek out from the wall considering the piercing noises. The few seconds of hailing bits of ice felt abnormally long, and she could only pray her wall would survive. 

Once the raging counterattack came to an end, Tesfia felt a chill run down her back. 

“—!!” Kicking off the crumbling Ice Wall, she dove forward. 

And the tip of the spear came flying straight above her. 

Turning around, Tesfia saw the ice wall get cut clean through, like a hot knife through butter. 

Alice directed a smile her way. “Don’t think it’s going the same as before, Fia,” she said, and lightly jumped over the lump of ice, landing on the other side. She drew her spear and closed in. 

“That’s my line!” Tesfia braced herself and draped her sword in chilling air, fighting back with a blade of ice. It was a spell known as Ice Blade. 

Tesfia met Alice’s side sweep with a downward swing. 

Metallic sounds reverberated in their ears as their AWRs flew backwards, as if they were going in reverse. 

The knockback could lead to a big opening, but the same was true for Alice as well. Tesfia decided to use force to swing her katana back down again. 

“—!!” But then she realized the handle with three circles attached to it was closing in on her. Instead of going against the power of the katana flying backwards, she used it to backflip. The tip of Alice’s spear passed just over her head. 

Just like Tesfia, Alice had gone with the recoil and spun her spear around. As a result, she’d flipped her spear around backwards and attacked with the back. 

This was their difference in close combat skill. Aiming for where Tesfia would land, Alice kept her spear in place and took a step closer, sliding her hand towards the edge of the handle. Readjusting her grip, she closed in on Tesfia, swinging her spear from a backhanded slash to an upward one, and from upward to downward. 

Tesfia was just barely able to pick up on the incoming attack as she spun around. Just as she landed, she firmly held her katana horizontally with both hands, attempting to defend herself. However, the heavy spear had a lot of momentum behind it, and it forced her to her knees. In that posture, she was limited to a battle of strength. 

This continued for a short while. 

“Fia, feel free to surrender anytime.” 

“Y-You must be joking. Things are finally getting... interesting!” 

As they talked, Alice’s spear was gradually being eroded by the Ice Blade. And as ice began to cover the blade— 

Tesfia gathered mana in her right leg and stomped on the ground. The next moment, the cold air around her feet spread out and created frost. 

“—!!” Alice felt the danger prickling on her skin and jumped backwards. 

But nothing more happened. 

“Gotcha.” Tesfia gave her a childish smile, and a beat later Alice caught on. 

“You tricked me...” 

Tesfia hadn’t been in a position to move as Alice focused on pushing her spear down. And while on the verge of losing the battle of strength, she worked out a plan. She focused her mana around her legs and used magic to freeze her surroundings, which Alice quickly reacted to. 

Thinking that the attack would come from the ground, she’d jumped back to evade... but she’d been completely fooled. 

“It’s not like I’m them, so I can’t use magic without incantation unless I use an AWR.” 

Hearing that, Alice could only smile wryly. Having to deal with extraordinary opponents like Alus and Loki on a daily basis made her overly cautious, and she’d reacted purely by instinct. Even though it was easy to see through if you thought about it for a moment. 

The move had only been to escape from her situation; besides, with her abilities, Tesfia would only be able to cover the area around her legs anyway. As she thought this, Alice also realized that the distance between them now wasn’t all that favorable for her. Considering the difference in total amounts of mana, she wanted to conserve hers as much as possible, bringing things into close combat where she had the upper hand, but now she’d gone and left her ideal range by herself. 

At this range, Tesfia had the advantage with her magic. But Tesfia wasn’t particularly optimistic about the current situation. She’d been forced to use a lot of magic already, so while she might have had more mana to begin with, there probably wasn’t much difference between them now. 

That wasn’t counting just the number of spells they could use either—there was that AWR to consider. 

Alice herself had said that it suppressed the consumption of mana when casting spells through it. 

Reflection really is a handful. The primary reason Tesfia had the upper hand in their match records was because Alice had few spells at her disposal. But even then Tesfia wasn’t dominating their win-loss records. A big reason for that was Reflection. In battles between Magicmasters, it was a truly troublesome spell. 

A drop of cold sweat ran down Tesfia’s cheek as she thought of Alice’s spell one day being able to reflect Icicle Sword. 

Reflection required its user to spend more mana than what had been used for the target spell. Because of that, forcing Alice to repeatedly rely on it would eventually lead to a victory, on paper at least, but things weren’t that simple in reality. The threat of Reflection was that the user could imbue even more mana into the reflected spell. 

In other words, reflected spells could hold even more power and speed when fired back. With enough mana to spare, the spell could be fired back with twofold power. 

Tesfia frankly wasn’t confident that she could survive the counterattacks until Alice ran out of mana. Even if she fired off Icicle Sword, Alice might be able to easily avoid it. 

Meanwhile, Alice saw that Tesfia was hesitating over her next move and moved first. She ran towards Tesfia while zigzagging. I’m at a disadvantage in a drawn-out battle. Fia’s probably going to try to make me use up all of my mana from a distance, but I won’t let that happen. 

Alice poured mana into her AWR and secretly readied a spell to be cast at any moment. 

As expected, Freeze spread out from Tesfia just as before to slow her down. 

Alice jumped diagonally to the side and slashed with her spear in the air. The ice on her blade burst away as another Shiylereis was fired off. Seeing how she’d easily torn through the Ice Wall before, Alice knew that Tesfia didn’t have the means to fight back against the spell, so she unleashed it in a wide arc. 

Tesfia’s only ace, Icicle Sword, took a moment longer to cast than Shiylereis. She gritted her teeth and dodged to the side as Alice had expected. “—!!” 

But Alice’s attack didn’t end there. One of the spear’s circles was floating in the air and slid out to appear from behind Alice’s back. Inside the circle was concentrated light before a spell was released, forming a small vortex within the ring. 

Aiming for where Tesfia would land, the ring let out a slash attack. The small circle was an AWR of its own with the ability to copy the magic formulas cast by the spear itself. It had been on standby behind Alice ready to cast a copy of her spell. 

The arc of her spell was bigger than the first time, meaning that there was more mana put into it. Before long, a loud explosion rang out, kicking up dirt and covering Tesfia from view. 

Alice was convinced of her victory and calmly landed. But she didn’t let her guard down yet. With her spear at the ready, she waited for the cloud of dust to dissipate. 

And from the dust—“Now you’ve done it.” Accompanying a cutting sound of something heavy being swung, the dust was flung to the side. 

There was no way that Tesfia’s sharp katana could scatter the cloud of dust like that. It must have been done by something larger. 

“...!! You’re going to make me jealous,” Alice muttered, as she saw Tesfia appear from the dust. 

What Alice saw was a massive sword of ice, far longer than the katana, pointing to the side after having been swung. Alice’s slash had likely been blocked by that sword. 

But it wasn’t like Tesfia was holding it in her hands. She was still wielding the Fable family’s treasured sword. The massive sword of ice was fixed in the air by her side, obediently following her orders, and was standing ready for its next move. 

Just what had Tesfia done... So far, she’d only ever used Icicle Sword as a projectile weapon, like an arrow pulled taut, frozen in the air, ready to be loosed at a moment’s notice. 

Yet just now, she’d used it as a second floating weapon that traced the motions of her katana instead of shooting it off. 

Alus had felt that Icicle Sword had room to evolve, and this was one such evolution. 

Incidentally, it wasn’t shaped like a throwing weapon, but rather in a form that made it able to swing around. But its blade alone was almost three meters long. That kind of massive ice sword floated next to Tesfia, who stood with her katana ready. It was like an abnormal kind of dual wielding. 

It was a method of use she’d come up with on the spur of the moment, but it was in Tesfia’s nature to face adversity with invention. 

Even Alice was envious of that side of her. She’d received a lot of credit for her talent in magic at the Institute, but it all faded before her best friend. Alice had put in just as much hard work as Tesfia, but even then she couldn’t reach her. 

She’d always known deep down that her redheaded friend would come up with something in the eleventh hour. It often ended in failure, but Tesfia would also show unknown possibilities just as often. 

Thinking on it, Tesfia had learned how to use Ice Blade during the incident with Godma Barhong. She hadn’t done it through knowledge, but through sheer intuition. 

If Alice was told that that was just the difference in their talents as Magicmasters, there was nothing she could do. She’d just have to give up. But no, she couldn’t bring herself to do that. Tesfia had something she didn’t, yes, but that didn’t mean that she had all of Alice’s merits. 

Alice stared straight at Tesfia. Controlling the golden spear’s remaining circles, she brought them to her side. She kept them ready to activate the copied spell at any moment. However, she didn’t fire Shiylereis from them. The light gradually faded from the circles, and they returned to their original state. 

Cautious of what Tesfia would do next, Alice decided to not pointlessly expend mana. 

That would prove to be meaningful in the coming phase of the battle. 

*** 

Meanwhile, it was actually Tesfia herself who was the most surprised by this situation. She’d been completely absorbed in the fight, but she hadn’t done it by intention. She simply believed that she’d be able to deal with Alice’s spell without using advanced magic. 

Halfway through, she’d realized she wouldn’t be able to cancel it out with a projectile, but she’d had no other choice and forcibly cast it anyways. 

However, just keeping the sword of ice floating in the air consumed quite a lot of mana. But thanks to Alus’ repeated training, she was able to maintain it. 

Tesfia glanced at her giant sword of ice, and flashed a wry smile for an instant. Talk about an ugly Icicle Sword. Moreover, having focused on conjuring it up as quickly as possible, its blade lacked sharpness. If anything, it was more of a blunt instrument utilizing its weight to crush its target. 

Now that she’d calmed down, she might be able to deliberately alter its coordinates, but considering the mana consumption, it would be difficult. It was likely she wouldn’t last for long with it out. 

But strangely enough, Tesfia felt the spell was responding well to her innate disposition and rhythm, like a perfect fit. In fact, she felt quite intimate with the sword of ice, as if it was the sword she’d been using for the past ten years. 

Tesfia had no way of knowing, but this use of the Fable family’s Icicle Sword was its second form, and one of the secrets passed down through generations. 

However, she was still in the middle of a match. So she stopped her thinking there and sharpened her senses further, willing her body to remember this sensation. She wasn’t really the type to learn by thinking anyway. She preferred to remember things by instinct. 

Desperately racking her brain, she tried to remember what had gone through her mind when she’d blocked Alice’s attack. If she remembered correctly, she’d put the arm holding the katana in front of her face to cover her... and the ice sword moved in response to that. 

In that case... Setting only the magic’s origin coordinates, she linked it up to the movement of her katana. Just like when she’d practiced moving her mana around, she focused on the mana in the sword, and tried moving it like it was her arm. 

And when she did, the ice sword tilted slightly, just as she had imagined. The sensation was sluggish, but it did feel like another part of her body. 

This will be pretty useful! Tesfia nodded at the results and instinctively clenched her fist. It felt like the sword might crumble away if she let her guard down for even a moment, but that was fine. It was still useful, and would be of aid to her in this fight. 

Since she’d cast it on the spur of the moment, there was no guarantee she’d be able to do it again. At any rate, there was no doubting anymore that her training on the basics of mana control under Alus had been a big influence in using this new move. I guess he can just see right through me. 

An image of Alus sarcastically smiling at her popped into her mind, as she realized that he might have had her do this training just for this purpose. 

Taking a deep breath, Tesfia spun the arm that held the katana around, and the sword of ice slowly moved around to her other side. It felt like the ice sword and katana were one and the same. 

Having confirmed this, she grinned at Alice. “You really let me have it before!” 

The giant ice sword emitted enough cold wind to cover its wielder’s feet. Immediately after the sword of ice reached its position, Tesfia took off running. With great speed she closed the distance. 

But before she reached Alice, she hit the brakes. Right now her ice sword was within range of her. Swinging her AWR sideways, the giant ice sword soon followed her movements and swept in a horizontal arc. The pressure from its sweeping motion was accompanied by cold air. 

Even though she was controlling it through mana, she felt like her body was being pulled by the weight. She wouldn’t be swung around if she could constantly adjust the coordinates, but she wasn’t capable of that yet. 

With her fighting skills Alice could probably dodge and counterattack—but she chose to retreat instead. She’d assessed that just being grazed by that powerful swing would determine the outcome. Even from a distance, the force of the swing was enough to give her a headache. The ice sword’s cold air probably had the same freezing effect as the spell Freeze. She could feel it in her body, and the arena’s system must have decided that it was damage and converted it to mental damage. 

Staggering slightly, Tesfia still did her best to brace herself. Even though the ice sword was only replicating the movements of the arm that held the katana, just maintaining it drained her mana. I’m not going to be able to keep this up for long, she told herself, and readied her katana. 

“It’s my turn now.” With a fearless smile, Tesfia took off running again. 

Perhaps because she felt close combat was her only choice after seeing Shiylereis get blocked, Alice followed suit. 

In an instant the distance between them shrank—and the sword of ice and golden spear clashed. 

The ice sword was too large to maneuver properly in close combat, but it still stood ready to strike at any opening. Alice had no choice but to devote some of her attention to it. 

During their clashes, Tesfia stumbled. And before long, Alice’s thrust scratched her cheek. But it wasn’t a direct hit that would end the match right away like usual. It only looked close because Tesfia used the bare minimum of motions to avoid the tip. 

While ruining her posture by completely avoiding it, she used her katana to ward off the follow-up attacks, and when Alice pulled her spear back, Tesfia used that opening to swing the ice sword. 

Alice ducked to avoid it, but a kick came flying towards her abdomen. She used her spear to block it. Both sides were driven away from each other. 

Aww geez, Alice griped to herself. Tesfia’s ice sword was seriously troublesome. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that its appearance had completely turned the tables. 

Even though she gritted her teeth at the unfavorable situation, Alice had a happy-looking smile on her face. She was enjoying herself, getting a good feel for how much they’d improved on this big stage. There was no way either would find such a great match outside of going up against their best friend. 

However, that aside... Alice thought that a single direct hit would settle the match. Even if she tried to block it, any attack with momentum behind it would send her flying and might deal decisive damage. 

Sensing Alice’s momentary hesitation, Tesfia swung down her AWR. Following suit, the ice sword cast a shadow on the ground as it assaulted Alice. 

With a loud bang, the ground shook as the sword carved a big chunk out of it and kicked up dirt. 

Alice had dodged it by a hair’s breadth, but she wouldn’t have come out in one piece if she’d taken a direct hit. Even though it would’ve been converted into mental damage, the visceral sound would have sent shivers down the spine of anyone who heard it. 

She glanced at the hole in the ground and spotted the cold wind mixed in with the cloud of dirt. The dirt at the bottom of the hole had frozen over. 

She’s using a spell on this level... Alice looked over at Tesfia and suddenly realized something. Before long, it turned into conviction, and she nodded to herself. 

Right now Tesfia appeared to have the advantage, but in reality there was no composure in her expression, and she was glancing over at her ice sword. 

She was maintaining an ice sword of that size. Tesfia probably tried to hide it, but she was still breathing roughly. Alice was out of breath too, but at the moment Tesfia was expending far more mana. 

Fia is pushing herself pretty far too. 

That meant the battle would be decided before long. Neither side had much mana left. After their back and forth, Alice likely had more. But she would need to take a considerable risk herself to overcome the sword of ice. 

She actually had an idea for how to handle the sword. She’d been given a lecture on it when Alus gave her an outline of the AWR. 

However, Alice hadn’t really had the time to experiment with it, and Alus himself had said she wouldn’t be able to handle it the way she was right now. But considering the situation, she was happy he had told her about it. 

It’s better to bet on this small chance than to not do anything at all and lose. 

Alice wasn’t normally the type to go for all or nothing plays, but she wasn’t in a position to avoid it anymore. She wasn’t even sure if she could buy any more time against Tesfia with the way she was now. 

She knew it would be difficult. Yet there was only one person standing here now, and that was her. She couldn’t trade places with anyone else, and she definitely couldn’t back down now. That’s why she resolved herself. She was the only one who could make her own path. 

The golden spear was one thing, but fixing the three circles in position, ready to attack, would drain her mana. However, after seeing her attack from before, Tesfia would be forced to stay on guard for it, making it pretty effective to keep her in check. 

Alice took this into account and affixed the circles above her. And she readied herself to fight up close once more, knowing how reckless it was. Though she had the advantage in a simple melee fight, if she chased Tesfia too far and took a hit, that would be the end of her. She might not be able to get all the way through Tesfia’s defenses, but she was fine with that. 

Tesfia beat Alice to the punch and attacked first. 

Alice dodged the large swing from the ice sword and parried the katana while counterattacking. Her goal was to gradually inflict damage with counterattacks and exhaust her. By building up damage and having it be converted into mental exhaustion, she could strip Tesfia of her concentration, making her unable to maintain her magic, but... 

Alice’s best friend would always break through her limits when cornered. She knew her friend’s potential, so her plan was just wishful thinking. Which was why she didn’t have high hopes... 

Then again, being able to fight to their hearts’ content, and use everything they had against one another, was what she truly wanted. 

The two girls stared at each other. Ignoring their heavy breathing and exhaustion, they refused to let their eyes off the other. Both instinctively knew that letting their guard down for even a moment would be fatal. 

An intense back and forth began once more. Neither Alice nor Tesfia were simplistic enough to step in too far in hopes of landing a critical hit. Alice’s spear was moving faster than ever before. And Tesfia was closing in on the limits of her ability to maintain her Icicle Sword. 

In their clash Tesfia took scratches and grazes, which were converted into a dull mental pain. Even now she was doing the best she could to maintain her focus and put up a good fight. 

The same was true for Alice, and it wouldn’t be strange for either to lose her focus at any moment. 

It was truly a battle on thin ice. Everyone in the audience held their breath as they stared at their exchange. They didn’t move a muscle and couldn’t take their eyes off the stage. Their spearmanship and swordsmanship were first-rate and entranced the audience, who forgot the passage of time. Before they knew it, their palms were sweaty and even blinking felt like a waste of time—they wanted to keep looking on for as long as possible. 

On the stage, the two crossed blades and exchanged blows. 

Alice’s body suddenly trembled. She instinctively felt danger and in a moment— 

“Ahhh!!” 

As they heard her scream, the audience had no idea what had happened. 

Alice was sent flying into a wall, her face twisting in agony as she struggled to breathe. The circles floating in the air powerlessly fell to the ground as a metallic sound rang out. She’d finally taken a hit from Icicle Sword. 

She had stepped in a little too deep, and though she’d successfully dealt a lot of damage to Tesfia, her exhaustion and the chilling wind from the ice sword had slowed her down a little. A small opening had appeared and Tesfia hadn’t missed her chance. 

Sliding down from the wall, Alice managed to keep herself from collapsing by using her AWR. She was only barely conscious because she’d managed to get her AWR in between the attack and her body. 

Her sight was blurry, and she looked towards Tesfia who was struggling to breathe just like she was. She must have taken too much damage to follow up right away. Then again, getting a hit on Tesfia in exchange for a direct hit from Icicle Sword hadn’t been worth it. 

The girls looked like they would fall over if a light breeze hit them, but eventually the light returned to their eyes. 

“Haah, haah... you’re already... at your limit... right, Fia?” 

“I-I can still go on...” 

Anyone could see that Tesfia was bluffing by the fact that she was drenched in sweat and unable to keep one of her eyes open. 

Alice used her AWR as a staff and limped closer. 

Tesfia noticed her and stood up straight. 

Both of them took deep breaths and tightened their jaws. 

They moved slowly, and then picked up speed before taking a final large step for the last clash. 

This... will finish it! Alice thought. 

Each contestant was up against their best friend and a worthy rival. Without saying anything, they each knew they had to end the match with their greatest moves. 

Readying her spear, Alice thrust her left hand forward. When she did so, one of the circles floated in position in front of her. From what she’d heard from Alus, Shiylereis was an intermediate class spell. That’s why it would lose in power to an Icicle Sword that was more advanced, leaving her with no means to oppose Tesfia. 

Aside from one. And that means was one of the circle’s abilities—amplification. 

Each of the three circles was an individual AWR, and so far they’d simply been copying the spells cast through the golden spear. But it was also possible to use them to amplify the casted spell. 

Spells passing through the circle doubled the power of the spell. So by simple math, going through all three increased the power eight fold. 

But at the same time—it required incredibly accurate mana control. The reason for that was the special structure of the circles that made them individual AWRs. In other words, in order to perfectly pull off the amplification, the caster needed to use two or more AWRs and use multiple spells at the same time. 

It was absurd, but Alice was determined to give it a shot. But using all three circles at the same time was a little too reckless. Taking her chances of success into account, using only a single circle was the better choice. 

She understood that it was a form of extension of mana control, but it was her first time. Not only was she uneasy, but she still hadn’t fully grasped the principle. But even so, her determination was unwavering. 

No matter how much she analyzed it, she wouldn’t come to an answer now. She’d just have to do it. 

As Alice focused on her task, the formula on the circle began to glow, causing it to slowly enlarge. A film of warm light formed within the ring. This warmth was something the artificial sun humanity had created couldn’t replicate. It was akin to natural sunlight. 

Seeing that, Tesfia readjusted her grip on her katana. The ice sword remained perfectly still next to her. As Alice was about to unleash her final move, Tesfia was going to take her head on. 

The massive blade stood at the ready. It required total focus to manipulate and support it. The sword of ice perfectly traced her every swing, and next she would surely slam it into Alice. 

On top of that, Tesfia poured all of her remaining mana into the sword, making it sharper, sturdier, and defining it more accurately. The AWR in her hands swiftly read her intentions as cold air flowed out of it. In response, Icicle Sword trembled momentarily, and then its surface changed form, transforming from its rough shape to an elegant and refined sword. 

So far the ice sword had been moving at a distance from Tesfia’s AWR, but now it completely merged with it to optimize its movements. The katana’s blade was covered in translucent ice. It was as if her AWR itself had become a beautiful sword of ice. 

Even though the AWR was covered in ice, Tesfia felt like it weighed just as much as before, if not even less than that. By having the high-performing AWR merge with the ice sword, it took over handling all of the variables for the caster. Reading the flow of mana, the sword of ice perfectly traced its movements. 

The fantastical crystallized-looking sword had become a size smaller, but one could clearly tell that a large amount of mana was compressed within from its extremely cold yet beautiful appearance. 

The distance closed between the two, and the spear and katana swung as one, as if each were attracted to the other. 

“‹‹Shiylereis Double››!!” 

“Ice World, Frigid Blade—‹‹Zepel››!!” 

The magical light Alice controlled flew through the circle, pressing against the film of light as if to break through it, and then an amplified slashing attack shot out. 

At the same time—Tesfia swung her ice sword, sharper than ever, with all her might, and large amounts of cold air froze its surroundings. 

When the two clashed, a blinding magical light filled the arena as cold wind froze the ground in an instant. 

The next moment an explosive sound reverberating in the pit of everyone’s stomachs ran through the venue. 

The frozen ground burst open as cracks ran through it. In the center where the two girls clashed, cold winds and light formed a circle that looked like it was expanding, but then in an instant, it shrunk as if it was being absorbed. The light created enveloped both of them. 

Everyone in the audience instinctively closed their eyes and then hurriedly covered their ears as the shockwave reached them. 

After several seconds, someone in the audience let out a stupefied voice as their jaw dropped. In front of the audience, the two girls now lay face up on the ground. 

The two were in a large hole in the arena that spoke volumes of just how fierce the final clash had been. 

Both girls were motionless. That sight made one fear the worst. 

Fortunately, relief soon came over the audience, as with all eyes on them the girls began to laugh while continuing to lie on the ground. 

And next... “Are you okay, Alice?” 

“Yeah, but I can’t move. What about you, Fia?” 

“Me too... also my head hurts.” 

The girls felt intense headaches as they stared at the arena ceiling. That was the result of the special function that converted damage into mental pain. But it seemed to hit them in the funny bone as they started laughing again. 

But they soon stopped, frowning at the pain. However, even then their lips quivered as if they were trying to hold back smiles. 

Tesfia sighed. “So what happens now?” After laughing until she was satisfied, she had returned to reality and wondered how victory would be judged here. 

Yet— 

“That doesn’t matter,” Alice declared. 

“That’s true. Winning or losing doesn’t matter, I’m fine with having been able to fight to my heart’s content. What a strange feeling...” 

“... Yeah. Me too.” 

Silence continued for a while. Then—“Ahh, I’m beat.” Tesfia stretched her body with a satisfied smile. “Still, I thought I was going to win halfway in,” she continued. 

“I was planning on winning from the start,” Alice replied mischievously. 

Tesfia retorted, “Even though you were shaking like a leaf before we started?” 

“But I never imagined you would use a new spell at the last moment.” 

“Me neither... but I’m sure that Al prepared me for it.” Tesfia grinned and showed her pearly whites. “My mother showed me that move once, which is how I came up with it. But it was still mostly unconscious. Pathetic, right?” 

“That’s not true. It just makes it even more amazing that you were able to use it when you needed it.” 

“Hmm. You think so? ...If anything, I’d say you’re amazing, Alice, especially that last move. I didn’t know you had a trick like that up your sleeve.” 

“Haha. Al taught me about it, but he said it was still too early for me. But that was the only thing I could think of.” Alice blushed a little. “I feel really refreshed right now,” she added, giving her impression of their battle. 

A glance at her expression made it clear she wasn’t lying. Tesfia was also satisfied with how they’d fought. 

Finally, the buzzer signaling the end rang out. 

“...!!” 

“...!!” 

The two lifted their heads to look at the screen above them. 

“Ahahaha,” Alice laughed. 

“Hehe... ow!! I guess this kind of thing can happen,” Tesfia said. 

“But... that’s fine too.” 

“Yeah.” 

On the screen was the word “Draw.” 

The audience stood up to cheer. Unrestrained thunderous applause rained down on them for the incredible match. Their names would surely spread far and wide throughout the tournament. 

The passionate cheers continued even as they were carried out on stretchers and until the next match began. 

Two students from the same institute working together to better each other, and showing off their trained skills and abilities, was surely the original intention of the magical tournament. 

As such, Tesfia’s and Alice’s match left an everlasting impression on the excited audience. 

The two were carried to the infirmary. And there stood Felinella and the other competitors from the Second Magical Institute, lavishing them with praise. “That was a truly impressive match, you two.” 

A draw was not unheard of in the tournament. Making that kind of judgment during the preliminaries wasn’t allowed, but it sometimes happened during the main tournament. How that was handled was on a case by case basis. Sometimes the call would be made by referees in a committee, and sometimes another match would be held. 

However, when both students were from the same institute, the decision could be left up to the institute. In other words, the Second Magical Institute advanced in the tournament, and it was up to the team as to who to allow to advance. 

“Regardless of the outcome, you can take pride in a fight that wouldn’t put the Second Magical Institute’s name to shame,” Felinella continued. 

“Yes, we’re satisfied too.” 

“Yeah,” Tesfia nodded on the bed next to Alice’s bed. 

The two were hooked up to IVs on their beds. They weren’t just dealing with exhaustion and massive headaches, but they’d also severely depleted their mana stores. They would just have to wait for those to naturally replenish. As long as they got some rest, it wouldn’t be a problem though. 

But after that kind of match, the eyes that fell on them had changed. They’d already been seen as excellent students, but the upperclassmen wouldn’t look down on them just for being first-years anymore. In fact, some even gazed at them in admiration. 

As for the others in their class year, they rejoiced and praised them to high heaven. 

Ciel was among the first-years who were moved by their match. She took their hands and said to them, “Good work.” 

“After seeing that match, we’ll need to work hard, too.” Felinella smiled and patted Illumina’s back. “If our juniors are working this hard, we can’t afford to take it easy. Right, Illumina?” 

“Those two are on the same page. But I’ll do my best,” Illumina said with a straight face. It wasn’t like she was unhappy; this was just how she was. 

Felinella understood this, and so did Tesfia and Alice, who’d spent more time around her lately. 

“By the way,” Tesfia asked Felinella, “Do you know where Loki is?” 

“What are you talking about? Ms. Loki is on her way to the stage right now.” Felinella chuckled at Tesfia’s question, and looked over at the screen in the corner of the infirmary. 

The room was equipped with a small screen to watch the matches on. Loki’s match hadn’t started yet, but there was less than five minutes to go. 

“You two just watch the matches from here as you rest up. We’ll be going back, but make sure you don’t get up, okay?” Felinella said in an almost sisterly tone, her index finger raised in the air. 

“I understand. Well, it’s not like I can move anyways,” Alice lamented with a wry smile. 

“Just leave the rest to us,” Felinella said, as she left the infirmary. 

The pace of the matches in the main tournament was slower, so Tesfia and Alice didn’t need to rush to get ready for their next match. Before moving on to the finals, the semi-finals for each class year group were held first, so the two could rest for five matches at least. 

“Hm? Don’t you need to go too, Ciel?” Everyone had left the infirmary aside from Ciel. Tesfia looked her way and saw her bringing a chair and putting it between their beds. 

“I was thinking that we could watch Ms. Loki’s match together.” 

“That’s fine, but are you sure you don’t want to watch it up close?” 

“It’s okay. I wouldn’t understand what I don’t understand regardless of if I watch it through a screen or up close.” Ciel scratched her cheek with embarrassment. 

Alice quickly realized that she was looking for someone to explain things. “We don’t understand everything about Loki dear either, so don’t hope for too much.” 

“Got it!!” 

“Hey, it’s starting.” 

At Tesfia’s words, the three turned to look at the screen.