"Ready? Set. CAST!"
/BOOM/
The first set of spells clashed and created a loud explosion.
While Esy had cast the Rank 2 Level 5 spell Lightning strike, Hatari had cast the Rank 2 Level 1 Earth elemental spell rock smash, which transformed into a cloud of dust after it got hit by Lightning strike.
The Dust cloud was soon whipped away as Hatari cast the Rank 2 Level 7 spell 'Whirlwind' while Esy countered with the Rank 1 Level 1 gravity spell Push and followed up with the Rank 3 darkness spell Dusk.
Whirlwind sucked in all the mist Dusk created but instead of closing in on Esy it closed in on Hatari. The princess began to dodge while casting another spell but the whirlwind of darkness was following her, because Esy had casted another Rank 1 level 1 gravity spell on Hatari. It was named Pull and if used in tandem with push it creates wonders.
Just before Hatari was finishing her spell Esy casted a spell the old fashion way.
"Frigiga"
A fireball manifested in Esy's hand and flew at high speed at the whirlwind of darkness. I already explained that Dusk creates a mist of darkness mana that is highly flammable. With the combination of Whirlwind it became explosive.
/KABBOOOOMMM/
The Whirlwind of Darkness mana exploded. The explosion swallowed Hatari while a shockwave flung everyone except the golden Mage and myself against the walls of the exercise field.
The two women were nowhere near done. While Hatari got swallowed by the explosion It eat away at her mana but she was nowhere near defeated. Esy was already casting more spells as Hatari emerged from the flames unharmed and retaliated with the Rank 2 Level 9 multi elemental spell Hailstorm. Hailstorm is a mix of ice and wind magic. It uses small drops like spears and vicious wind blades to annihilate entire squats of normal soldiers.
Esy countered with the Rank 1 level 10 spell desert heat and used the resulting thundercloud to amplify another Lightning strike. Hatari just completed her Rank 3 Level 1 wood element spell Treantling summon.
The Treantling that got summoned was greeted with an amplified Lightning strike that nearly split him in half. The Treantling let out a high pitched scream and retaliated by summoning vines to attack Esy.
She dodged while setting the vines and the Treantling alight with flames. Because the Treantling still wasn't done. Esy casted Forge fire the equivalent of a Rank 2 fireball, which swallowed the Treantling and reduced him to ashes.
Hatari wasn't idle in the time Esy was dealing with the Treantling. She had casted Nature's Calling a 20 word long incantation chant.
A storm gathered around us. Golden shields formed around every student except the two fighting each other. I started to doubt the capabilities of Mustaffa Skullfall. I suspected that he was King only because Hatari let him.
Esy, not wanting to be outdone, drew an ace from her sleeve. Jasmine had taught Esy a lot about spirit magic. Jasmine imparted to Esy her own spell creation.
The spell: Spirit quintet.
The casting time was near instantaneous. Hilda told me the effect it had when Jasmine casted the spell. Her spirit quintet was a fire spirit, a wind spirit, a water spirit, an earth spirit, and a nature spirit.
Esy's quintet was a little different. The first spirit that appeared was a lightning spirit, the sun spirit and the moon spirit appeared at the same time. Next was a beast spirit and last but not least was a death spirit.
The difference between these two squats is obvious and it shows the difference between an absolute and a dominating affinity.
Esy's spirit quintet struck fear into the golden Mage, and everyone else.
Then all hell broke loose as Nature itself started to attack the spirits. I already told you that nature Mages and spirit Mages are the most powerful ones. I also told you that nature Mages are generally the natural predators of spirit Mages.
For the record: I was referring to fully educated Mages.
The fight between Esy and Hatari got really chaotic at this point where I need to admit that I lost the overview over who casted what. The fight dragged on and on.
Esy fused with the lightning, the sun, and the moon spirit and started to rapidly cast spells. I was impressed that she managed to hold herself so long without using her Elemental manifestation. The beast spirit and the death spirit were occupied with bashing horde after horde of Treantlings that Hatari summoned to her aid.
In the end both women collapsed in exhaustion after Hatari's defensive spell broke.
Nature calmed down and the spirits vanished to where they came from. The exercise field was undamaged after everything was over. After all, it was built to accommodate fights between real mages that use destructive rank 4 and Rank 5 spells.
In comparison to a Rank 4 spell the fight that just raged between the two women was nothing more like childsplay.
After the two women rested a bit the golden Mage started to analyze the two fights separately. He started with my fight against Mustaffa, who had already regained consciousness during the fight between Esy and Hatari.
He explained the fundamental difference between the Rank 3 Level 10 spell Moon shield and the Rank 3 Level 1 spell Water Fortress. He also explained the difference in our attack spells. The spell Water Serpent is a beginner level spell that is used to train students precise control over their Mana while Dawn is a genuine Rank 3 war spell that is used in large scale combat.
The analysis of Esy's and Hatari's fight took longer and was more complex because it was longer and more chaotic. He praised and chastised some moves while staying professional. He expressed the danger of both the Treantling summoning and the spirits.
The golden Mage talked a lot about the risks of engaging one of these spells alone. He also talked about the different characteristics of spirits and what other Creatures A fully trained Nature Mage was able to summon.
This concluded the first lesson we had in the academy. Once the golden Mage was done analyzing the fight between Esy and Hitari it was time for lunch.
I ate my lunch with Esy and no one bothered us. I heard some rumors in the cafeteria, but there was only one that was important. The news about a group of new students had entered the academy. Most of them were magicless knight students, but they were not to be underestimated.
Apparently a 3rd year Mage with 2 absolute affinities and an A-Class Adventure rank had tried to ask one of the new students out on a date. The new student had agreed under the condition that the 3rd year could beat her in a duel. Now said 3rd year was unconscious in the infirmary with most of his bones broken.
From the description I guessed it was Melissa who caused the 3rd year's visit in the infirmary. It was either that or Zulu had trashed the guy who was hitting on his girl.
We had a good laugh at his expense and forgot about it before the next lesson began. But nothing is as it seems.
The afternoon lesson was about Magic equipment. And we gathered in the normal Classroom. There were 4 Tables with 3 seats each. One was occupied by the noble ladies, another one was occupied but the noble lords, one was occupied with the sole commoned while the last one was empty.
Despite everyone's expectation to sit down on the free table we sat down next to the commoner Shadow. I have nothing against commoners, I am one myself, and everyone of the Nature Guard is a commoner, some with family name and some without but we are all orphan commoners.
After we sat down the golden Mage walked into the classroom together with a female Teacher her presence was neglectable next to the golden Mage. Her Name was Olga Salter, and she was one of the teacher's for equipment smithing.
I only had one problem with this teacher. That was the fact that even in the obese state her body was, she dressed in clothes that covered only the essentials. It made the lessons we had to endure a torture. I felt pity for Mustaffa who was cursed with her attention. The fact that she tried to openly seduce him in class was disgusting.
I am glad that I never caught her attention because I sat on the commoner table together with Shadow who she despised so much that she ignored our table completely. I can't thank Shadow enough for this grace.
Olga Salter was a great teacher and equipment smith, but a horrible person. Her creations could be found nearly exclusively in the processions of high class noblemen between the Ranks of Count and Duke. Her ego was proportionately huge.