"Wow.. how long had it been since we saw a new student who can use Divine magic of such caliber?" Tracey asked no one in particular. The match between Christina and the fire golem was being recorded in front of her on a screen.
Gloria stood right beside Tracey, regardless her entire focus was dedicated to the fight. The first two stages were nothing to her. But when the girl summoned Divine magic, her hands collapsed into fists. For the first time, she was feeling threatened by this new student.
"Hey Gloria.. what do you think? Will the Academy put her in the incoming first batch? I guess that will be a waste of such talent." Tracey remarked, her gazes still fixated on the fascinating fight progressing on the screen.
Christina was dominating the fight, pushing the fire golem back with every step she took. Nevertheless, the golem was an inanimate being, lacking any motivation for self-preservation. And that gave it an innate advantage when fighting against human opponents.
"Who knows what those guys are planning..?" Gloria answered after a good while. "Still, I don't think the academy will waste her one year by placing her in the incoming batch. Even though she might not be among the top, she is pretty good even when compared to the first years right now."
The smile on Tracey's face widened. "Her master is madam Rhine, Gloria. My suggestion is for you to not underestimate her. You have not been able to clear the fifth stage yet, remember. And with her momentum, she might just end up at the same stage as well."
"Huh.. we will see." Gloria didn't want to admit it, but her subconscious mind was already alleviating Christina among her list of rivals, and very rapidly at that. Instinctively her blue iris turned even more deep, giving an impression of churning waves.
***
"Huff.. huff.." If Christina was almost unharmed by the second stage, then the third really brought out everything in her. Her chest heaved uneasily, watching the flames on the fire golem's tattered body run out. "Divine Magic: Healing touch!!"
Being one of the most broken magic, Divine magic provided a range of magic abilities, physical healing being one of them. Despite her best efforts, some parts of her limbs were scorched. Fortunately, the burns were superficial and she was ready for the next round.
Yet, five minutes passed but there was no further opponent. The charred body of the fire golem had been retracted, however, her new opponent was nowhere in sight. "Hmm? Are they giving me time to rest?"
As time passed, Christina settled into a cross-legged position, hurriedly trying to gain whatever mana she could recollect from around her.
*Tring* She only got a ten minutes interval before she was forced to open her eyes to the new arrival. This was no golem. The very image of her stage four opponent sent chills down Christina's back.
"A lich... I guess they finally ran out of golems to send my way haha.." Her laughter dry, she can only get back to her feet, readying herself for a streched-out fight. Opposite to her stood a six feet tall figure, covered in extremely dirty rags.
Its body lacked any flesh, being completely constructed out of human bones. An unassuming bony crown adorned his skeletal head and in its left hand, it held onto a staff. In addition to that, an orb was embedded in its chest glowing with a dark blue light, giving it a menacing look.
"Divine magic: Protection against the cursed!!" Although Divine magic was a perfect counter to curses, necromancy, or dark magic. The vice versa was true as well. Both types of magic were counteractive to each other, nullifying their effects.
"I need to finish this fast." This time Christina didn't wait for the lich to make a move. Leaping across the field she launched a barrage of attacks at her opponent.
"Jejejejeje.." With a burst of creepy laughter, the lich raised its staff in the air. A translucent barrier revealed itself all around its skeletal body. "I will defeat you with a single spell.. kekeke..!!'
*Bang* *Bang* *Bang* Christina's fist crashed against the barrier, unable to punch through it. "Jejejeje..!!" Something told her that the entity encased in the bubble was not a lich in the truest sense. Its eyes lacked the sentience that a lich should possess.
"Despair!!" Creepy-looking shadows emerged from the translucent barrier, attacking Christina's soul. The protection she had placed on herself earlier, came in handy, burning away the silhouettes trying to invade her mind.
Most of the words the lich was uttering were being repeated needlessly, making no sense at all. "A false lich... I see!" Suddenly Christina clenched her jaws, filled with a newfound strength. It was an artificially created lich obviously, in which case she had a chance.
In a different room, Gloria's lips formed into a smile. "Foolish girl..!" Tracey on the other hand shook her head. "This is bad.. she is falling for the trick." "Huh.. what do you expect from a country bumpkin? All she knows is to play a brute."
On their screen, the two girls witnessed the girl still trying to punch through the barrier the lich had put up. They were right about Christina. Had she taken some time to read the situation, she would have definitely realized the trap the lich had set up for her. While she was engaged by its barrier, the lich was not sitting idle.
"Kekekeh..!!" Right when Cristiana saw cracks appear on the surface of the barrier, the smile on her face quickly disappeared. "Shit!!" This guy had been planning to end this match with a single spell and Christina wasting her time on a useless barrier provided him the much-needed time to cast such an expansive spell.
"Deathly Incarceration: Freeze!!" It was too late to respond to Christina. All she could try was to trace her steps back in order to escape the core zone of the spell. That way she might have a chance to survive the onslaught.
"Hmph..!" Gloria sneered at the scene. All around the lich, the ground has been covered under a two-meter layer of spooky bluish ice. Christina was nowhere to be seen, certainly devoured by the spell that caught her totally off guard.
"Did I overestimate her?" Even Tracey was not expecting such an end to the battle. "It's over." Gloria reconfirmed the situation to her. For a moment she had begun to believe that Christina might be able to challenge her.
*Tud* *Tud* *Tud* Even while she was sighing in her mind, her eyes locked onto a web of cracks that developed at the surface of the ice. It was not a glitch in her vision because the next thing she saw was the alerting lich who had brought his staff over, ready to defend himself. Gloria took a step ahead to get a closer look at the screen.
In the combat chamber, the ice was broken, at last, revealing a girl who had two massive wings of light on her back. The wings spread white light all around her, giving her almost an angelic aura. Her entire body was glowing as she pointed a finger right at the lich.
"Arrow of the Light Maiden!!" The lich had almost no time to react. A five feet long lance zoomed across the ground and punctured its chest. *Bang* The extremely accurate shot targeted the magic core, immediately destroying it. *Boom* The arrow of light lodged in the lich's chest exploded, leaving no trace at all of the bony creatures.
Christina who had taken to the air for a brief period of time fell to the ground. The light wings on her back dissipated in the air, leaving her kneeling. Her chest heaved rapidly, evident of her exhaustion. Her face was flushed red, because of the overexertion.
*Daggh* Her fist crashed into the gravel. It was clearly a mess up on her part. Had she been more aware of her surroundings and noticed the lich was conjuring the big spell, she might have passed this stage much more efficiently.
All Light Maiden attacks eat a big chunk out of her mana reserve. Had it not been for the desperate situation, she would have certainly not used such high demanding spell at this stage.
Gloria had both of her hands on the screen, staring intensely down at it. "Ahahaha.. awesome!! Madam Rhine did bring up a splendid disciple. Even though she messed it up initially, her counterattack was unmatched." Tracey had a jubilous laughter.
Unlike Gloria, she was not someone with ambitions to be the best in the Academy. Unconcerned about it, she can properly enjoy the magnificent fight the girl put up. Nevertheless, Gloria's face was stiff, as she was still processing what exactly happened.
"You don't need to be so troubled, do you? She might be good.. very good rather.. but there is still a large gap if she wants to compare with you." Tracey can't use her vision through the screen, as such she curiously questioned her friend.
The blue-haired girl took a while to organize her jumbled mind. "Firstly, we are not sure if that's the last of her. Secondly, she was able to achieve all that without the help of the academy. Don't you remember how much we improved when we came here?"
Tracey nodded in realization. So Gloria was not worried about today's Christina, but rather the Christina of the future who would have spent some months in the academy. Under the guidance of the sophisticated teachers who each excelled in various magic art, the sky was the limit for the students.
"Haha.. so much fun. And we are yet to see our slave boy fight... It's not such a bad deal to skip classes for a day if we get to experience such exciting matchups." Lacking the baggage of being the best, she was definitely enjoying her time.
Outside, Chris and Aron had now been waiting for almost an hour. Twenty minutes back, the screen changed and it was now displaying 'Stage Five in progress!'. In the four stages, Christina had accumulated a total of 165 points out of 200.
While she collected 45 points in rounds one to three, her points dropped a lot in the fourth round, only getting 30 more. Bored out of their minds, the aspirants had all taken seats around the place with even Mr. Simon catching a small nap.
"What do you think happened in the fourth round?" Chris shrugged his shoulders at Aron's pondering. "She is a little thick in the head. It's possible that she might have been tricked."
He swept a glance over the screen once again, before continuing. "She is a brute. Her points would have been a lot better if she had fought with a cool head." It was amazing that Chris could dissect so much about his sister even without any sort of visuals on her.
*Tring* 'Stage five: Fail!' As soon as he stopped, the screen acted up, now displaying Christina's total points as 175. She did gain 10 points even after failing the stage.
Everyone's eyes darted over to the stage where the body Christina manifested. She was a far cry from her composed look of hers earlier. Her clothes were tattered and burn marks all over her body, told the onlookers that her fight on the fifth stage was not a joke at all.
"Impressive!!" Simon cheered while the girl glanced up to see her score, obviously not knowing the break-up, she bit her lips and walked into the crowd. She didn't bother replying to the congratulatory messages thrown her way.
With a grumpy face, she came and sat beside her brother who put his hand on her shoulder. "You gave your all?" The girl slowly nods her head. Aron observed Christina's fiery demeanor had simmered down by a lot. Maybe she didn't get the results she had anticipated.
Chris brought his hand on her head, affectionately helping her organize her stray hair behind her ears. "As long as you tried your best it's okay. No one is judging you, little girl."
< Kudos!!>>