Well, apparently, I wasn't the only one 'training'. Because that spell Ai did? It wasn't there before, and I didn't even know she was able to do that! I feel like I'm underselling how impressive that move she did during the first fight was... what's most impressive about the spell Ai cast was one, how fast she cast it, two, the control she had over the spell, and three, how far away the spell was cast.
I mean, for me, I can't cast any spells outside of four meters away from me, but they were much more far away from that! That's not even mentioning how Ai managed to not even hurt any of them...
Oh, by the way, seven more matches have gone by since that first one. what? I'm telling you that a bit late? Psh, no I'm not.
But you know what that means, right? It's our turn to fight again! And with that, I doubt our opponents are as weak as the last, considering the results of their past fight! I mean, I was actually kind of impressed. Sure, sure, they aren't as strong as us, so we'll totally win, but even so! It wasn't even really a close fight against their opponent.
Right now, all five of us are currently waiting for them on the battlefield. Oh, and what do you know? There they are, all four of them.
Hm? Oh, looks like Ashin has some sort of a plan! Let's see...
...
Whoa, so that's what he has in mind? Hm, he's actually pretty good at coming up with plans...
"Hello everyone! And welcome to the first round of the Quarterfinals! In this round, we have team Dest versus Wilting Flower! In the preliminaries, we saw team Dest defeat their opponent with complete ease with a single spell! But will this strategy work against Wilting Flower? And, Wilting Flower managed to defeat their former opponents with their astounding skill!" The announcer guy spoke out again, kinda underselling the other two compared to us.
"Now, let the battle begin!"
Oh, geez, getting straight to the point, huh? Well, the first part of the plan starts with Ai.
"Earth Magic: "Earth's Skewers." Yep, that same old spell from earlier! Long spikes come up from the ground near Wilting Flower, but, sadly, they dodged it.
However, that's where I and Theca come in! We both have the highest agility out of everyone, which means we'll be able to get there first! Which, of course, we did. Theca spread a whole bunch of threads around the place, limiting the movements of the four of them.
With that, it's time for me! Yes, my starring role! And, it's also time for a brand new spell!
"Ice Magic: Ice Field." There it is! The ground is first coated with a huge terrain of ice and frost and after that, the outer parts of the field become blocked off by huge amounts of sharp ice, meaning it becomes pretty hard to escape! Whoa, that actually takes a load of mana. I mean, I still have a good amount left, but that one spell took twenty mana!
Oh, why did I do the chant thing even though I don't need to? Well, turns out, if I do the full chant, the speed of the cast will be lowered, but the overall power will be enhanced! I don't entirely understand it, but I guess that's why people do it.
Anyway, looks like Theca's threads trapped one of the members of the Wilting Flower because they got tripped up by my spell!
Oh, there's one more thing about this spell, I can choose who the ground is slippery for and who it's not. How does that work, you ask? Well, ice magic, like all of the other attributes, doesn't create actual, real ice. Instead, it's just mana that looks like ice and works like ice! This means if I change up how the mana works, I can make ice that doesn't act like ice! Although, no matter how hard I try, I can't make fire or anything. I guess you really do need an attribute to use magic.
Anyhow, the other three managed to catch up, and now they're fighting with the remaining Wilting Flower members. Let's see, I guess I'll go help Ai fight! You know, just to speed things up.
Huh, they're fighting on even terms as it is. Considering Ai is a lower level than her opponent, it's pretty impressive. I guess level isn't really anything, though. With her enhancement magic, she's able to make up the difference in stats, and considering how good she is at magic, it's not really surprising she isn't losing.
Hm... I really don't want to use any more mana since there are still two more fights after this, so let's just... use Icicle Blast. Oh, wait! I just got a great idea! If I use Gust to speed up the Icicle, it'll be even faster! Gust really is the greatest skill in the world, huh?
So, I do all of that. Whoa, Gust really did get way more powerful, huh? I sent out a whole lotta smaller icicles so that'd it be harder to dodge, and they're moving faster than even I can go!
Nice! Since they were distracted, a bunch of them hit them! Which now gives Ai a good chance of doing something...
"Earth Magic: Ground Restrainment." Ai cast another spell, the floor beneath us rising up and trapping the other person.
Oh, nice. I don't really have much to say, that was just some good timing... though, something is up. Ai looks really annoyed, and she's looking right at me... Uh oh, did I do something wrong?
"I could have beat them myself."
Huh? She didn't want any help? But... why? Oh, who cares, I just nodded in acknowledgement and did nothing else. Hm? wait, Theca, Ashin, and Quenilla dealt with the other three? Doesn't that mean...
"Uh, well, Team Dest wins!"
[Chapter 40, end.]