The academy's evaluation duels have predetermined starting distances depending on the event, as each discipline benefits differently from the spacing.
For example, in the hand-to-hand combat division, the distance is set at 5 ters, in the swordsmanship division, it's 7 ters, and in the spear division, 8 ters. For the archery and magic divisions, the standard starting distances exceed double digits, with archery at 20 ters and magic at 30 ters.
This distance allocation was always a bit unfair to personally. While my magic skills weren't bad, my combat style wasn't limited to just magic. Of course, I knew that complaining wouldn't make the academy change the rules just for , so I had no choice but to adapt my combat style to survive.
In a duel between mages, the key is to close the distance, making it impossible for the opponent to continue using magic effectively. This was the strategy I adopted in my evaluation duel against Agnes.
Whoosh!
I dodged Agnes's flas, rolling through the air and managing to narrow the distance between us by a few more ters. To an observer, it might have looked like I was desperately evading Agnes's magic while launching ineffective counterattacks. But it didn't matter if they misunderstood. From the beginning, my goal wasn't to have a straightforward magic duel with Agnes, but to turn this fight into a close-quarters battle.
The official na of our final evaluation duel was the "Evaluation Magic Division Duel," not a "Pure Magic Duel." Just because it was a duel between mages didn’t an I had to fight using only magic. If there had been an issue with fighting using non-magical ans, it would have been pointed out last year when I used a dagger against Luke in our evaluation duel.
My aim was simple: close the distance, break through Agnes’s magical barrier with my own magic, and then finish her off with a dagger.
…The thought of stabbing her small body with a dagger was a bit unsettling, but the academy's evaluation duels were protected by death-prevention magic to ensure that no one was seriously hard. Moreover, if I didn't show this level of determination, we wouldn't be able to convince the public that Agnes and I were on bad terms. Of course, we weren’t actually at odds; it was all just an act.
“Burn! Explode! Let all the flas consu that wretched lump of fat!!”
…This is just part of the act, right?
I moved forward step by step, dodging the barrage of fireballs that Agnes hurled at while changing her incantations. Even though my physical abilities were good for soone in the magic division, they weren't enough to dodge every fireball coming directly at using just my physical skills.
Clang!
As I moved forward, I repeatedly chanted my own barrier spells, using them to block the fireballs I couldn't dodge.
‘It’s dangerous, Lillis.’
For the fireballs I couldn’t block, Sei used wind magic to subtly alter their trajectory. Rather than trying to push the fireballs away with wind, she used wind magic on my body, helping dodge the fireballs. Normally, wind magic would amplify fire magic if they collided, so Sei made sure the wind never touched the fireballs, focusing entirely on my body. Despite her usual quiet and lazy deanor, Sei was proving to be a reliable mid-level spirit.
Whoosh!
After enduring Agnes’s relentless fireball barrage and narrowing the distance, there were now less than 10 ters between us. It was a distance close enough that, if I were to throw a dagger, it could reach Agnes, but I wasn't going to take any unnecessary risks.
If I made a half-hearted attempt, my dagger would just be blocked by her magical barrier, wasting a valuable opportunity. I had to break her barrier and deliver the finishing blow with the dagger simultaneously, and I had to do it on the first try if possible.
“Blazing flas! Tornting screams!”
Roar!
Agnes's next spell ignited a ring of flas around , a 4th-circle spell commonly known as the "Fla Fortress."
‘Already at 4th circle? That’s demoralizing.’
For reference, aside from Mana Blast, the most powerful attack spell I could use was the 2nd-circle spell, Energy Bolt. In contrast, the fast fireball Agnes had used earlier was a 3rd-circle spell.
There would be ti later to envy Agnes for casually using 3rd- and 4th-circle spells before the end of our second year. For now, I needed to figure out how to escape the walls of heat surrounding . If I didn't, the flas would close in and roast alive.
“I’ll burn you to a crisp, Lillis! Your plump, fatty chest! And everything else from head to toe!!”
…She’s not actually mad, right?
Agnes’s insults felt surprisingly genuine as she surrounded with the walls of fla. The flas were closing in on slowly, but it was impossible to escape the ticulously crafted "Fla Fortress." The height and thickness of the flas were enough to justify the term "fortress."
To avoid becoming a well-done Lillis, I had to find a way to escape before the flas closed in on . …Or, I could end this fight right here and now.
“Dim mist and faint light!”
As the flas of the "Fla Fortress" started to close in on , I hurriedly cast a dim light spell at Agnes. Even if she was shielding herself with a magical barrier, a simple light-blocking spell like this shouldn't be stopped by it.
Of course, this alone wouldn’t stop Agnes’s Fla Fortress, as it continued to tighten around . But just blocking her sight was enough. At this mont, what mattered most was that I obstructed Agnes’s vision.
With Agnes’s sight blocked, I shouted the incantation for a spell that would help end this fight. The spell that was Lillis the Mage’s ultimate technique, the guaranteed hit, Mana Blast.
“Mana! Answer my call!!”
If I completed Mana Blast within this Fla Fortress and fired it at Agnes, it would certainly be powerful enough to finish the duel. It would shatter all her magical barriers and likely incapacitate Agnes herself.
Even with her sight sowhat blocked by the dim light, as long as Agnes’s position remained the sa, my Mana Blast would be a guaranteed hit.
“Vision! Condensed mana bomb!!”
Agnes’s Fla Fortress was gradually closing in on , but I was confident that my Mana Blast would be completed first. It seed that Agnes had accounted for my physical abilities and left a little extra room, allowing the ti to complete my spell.
Normally, I avoided using Mana Blast unless the conditions were perfect because it left vulnerable during its casting. However, this situation seed like the ideal opportunity to use it.
After all, the Fla Fortress was a channeling spell. Even Agnes, no matter how talented, wouldn’t be able to maintain focus on a 4th-circle spell while casting another spell to counter .
If my Mana Blast was completed, the duel would be over in my favor. But knowing Agnes, she wouldn’t take such a frustrating loss lying down.
Fizzle…
“Burn, burn!”
Realizing that she was running out of ti, Agnes abandoned her Fla Fortress and hastily launched a fireball at . She had chosen to forgo a grand finish in favor of a more practical victory.
She probably thought that since I was casting Mana Blast, I wouldn't be able to dodge, so even a 1st-circle spell would suffice to finish off.
…But this final decision of Agnes’s was her downfall.
Because I never had any intention of finishing this with Mana Blast.
Whoosh!
“……”
I lightly jumped out of the way of the fireball that was aid at where I had just been standing, then quickly darted into the misty fog that still surrounded Agnes.
In my right hand, I held the dagger for the finishing blow, and in my left, a spell prepared to break through her barrier.
Mana Blast? I had never intended to cast such an inefficient spell. I rely recited the incantation to make it seem like I was casting it, but I hadn’t expended any mana for it. Using Mana Blast in a one-on-one duel was practically a death wish.
In Luke’s case, I had used Mana Blast after binding him with magical chains once his only ans of attack was close combat. But using such an arrogant spell against another mage like Agnes would have just left open for a counterattack, as we had just seen.
The only reason I cast the dim light spell on Agnes was to make her think I was preparing Mana Blast. The plan was always to finish her off with the dagger, just as I had originally intended.
“Sei!!”
‘Yes, I know.’
At my call, Sei used her wind magic to blow away the fog that had been surrounding us. As the mist cleared, the sight of the red-haired, twin-tailed mage ca into view, her form now completely exposed.
I dashed toward her with all my might.
Clang!
“...Ah!!”
Agnes gasped as she heard the sound of her magical barrier shattering and turned towards . But it was too late—my dagger was already aid at her heart.
And with no more obstacles in the way, my short dagger plunged into Agnes’s chest, striking her heart with precision.
Thud!
“…Ugh!!”
“…No hard feelings, Agnes.”
…Feeling a pang of guilt at her pained voice, I found myself awkwardly mumbling sothing that was neither an apology nor an excuse.
“Is that so…?”
“If it were up to , I’d gladly let you win, considering your situation… But a duel is a duel.”
“…I had so hard feelings, though.”
“…What?”
Thunk.
Before I could even process what Agnes had said, her staff, still held in her hand, suddenly plunged into my chest. Even with a dagger lodged in her heart, Agnes quietly muttered her final incantation.
“Fla… Explosion…”
“…Ah.”
The mont Agnes finished her last incantation, the fire magic unleashed from the tip of her staff engulfed both our bodies.
…That day, the first evaluation duel in the academy’s magic division triggered the death-prevention magic twice.
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