The teachers left the Colosseum and headed towards an open meadow. Levris grabbed her staff from the workshop and, on the way, ran it along the ground, uprooting small blocks and turning them into dust. By the time the opponents reached a sufficiently spacious open area, a sizeable mound of sand had gathered at the girl's feet.
"It's hard to imagine how you plan to use this weapon against me," Kiram chuckled, but Levris paid no attention to his words.
A considerable crowd had gathered around, not just curious bystanders, but also a few nobles, as Kiram was known as the trainer for many fighters of the royal guard. Eventually, even the Rector arrived on the field.
"Ah-hem, I see you've finally decided to sort things out between yourselves," the Rector calmly puffed on his pipe.
"If you object, we can postpone the fight until the end of the tournament," Kiram tilted his head slightly.
"No-no, I too would like to witness this. But perhaps we should take precautionary measures," the Rector tapped his staff on the ground, and a perfect circle with a diameter slightly over twenty meters appeared around the duelists. "Now, your magic won't harm any of the spectators, so you don't need to worry about that."
"And you're not going to stop them?!" Katrina broke through the crowd of onlookers to reach the Rector.
"No, this conflict has been brewing for a long time, and I think it will be beneficial for both parties."
"But... what if she gets hurt?" Katrina was deeply concerned for Levris; she was the first teacher who recognized their guild.
"My dear lady, there's no need to worry. Your friend remains calm before such an experienced opponent, and you shouldn't be concerned," the Rector nodded towards Levris. The teacher stood there with a serene smile, showing no fear against an opponent considered the second strongest professor at the Academy.
The barrier enclosed the spectators, and the mages prepared for the battle.
"Don't you want to start?" Kiram mocked Levris. "I should give you a little advantage."
"Oh, please, this battle will be an instructive lesson for my students, so I'll start with defense," Levris replied with a smile, which only infuriated the mage.
"Fine," Kiram shrugged and suddenly lunged forward, sending a fireball towards her.
Levris lightly waved her staff, and a cloud of sand soared before her, blocking the path of the fiery projectile.
"As you can see," Levris turned away from her opponent and addressed her group of students, "it's easier to control sand than loose soil. If you practice, you'll be able to manipulate an entire cloud of dust rather than individual grains."
Kiram threw a few more fireballs, but Levris skillfully controlled the cloud, effortlessly blocking the flames as proof of her words.
"How do you do that?" The fire mage couldn't understand how a simple cloud of dust without any strength could block his attacks. "Well, it doesn't matter; I'll just blow away your defense."
The mage gathered powerful flames in his hands and released a torrent of fire forward. The spectators behind Levris gasped, but the flames didn't reach them, dispersing against the Rector's barrier. Such a blast could easily engulf an average mage, but Levris' figure was visible in the center of the stream.
"As you can see, from a sand cloud, you can shape any figure, and the most effective against such an attack is a wedge," a split arrow stood in front of the girl, having gathered all the sand beneath her feet, which was now forming a wedge-shaped wall to block the path of the flames. The sand heated up from the intensity of the fire, seemingly starting to melt, yet it didn't shift even a millimeter. "Professor, do you know what happens when you heat and compress sand?"
"As if I care!" Kiram waved his hands, as if embracing an invisible friend, and the tongues of fire that had spread away from the wall turned back and struck towards the sorceress.
Levris' students gasped; a massive bonfire surrounded their mentor, but soon they noticed the peculiar behavior of the flames. The fire surrounding Levris and entirely concealing her from the onlookers began to spin and gather into a fiery column. It looked much like the Fire Whirlwind spell, but it seemed Kiram was also puzzled, as he clearly wasn't executing such a complex move. The flames continued to rise, ascending towards the top of the dome. Gradually, the flames at ground level diminished, and through them, Levris' figure became visible.
"The key is to think quickly and creatively. That way, you can defend against any attack," Levris stood at the center of the untouched flames, which circled around her, ascending upwards. Her appearance seemed to slightly vibrate, as if something flickered in front of her. When the flames finally dissipated, I noticed how she lightly twirled her staff in the air, and barely noticeable transparent plates of glass spun around her. "Professor Kiram, if you don't know the answer to my question, I'll tell you. Sand turns into glass."
Levris stopped spinning the staff, and around her, about two dozen thin glass plates, only a couple of centimeters thick, were now curved clockwise. By rotating them, she could create an ascending flow that shielded her from the fire and sent it up to the top of the dome. Despite her calm appearance, the fire must have consumed a lot of oxygen, and now she was probably finding it difficult to breathe.
"Use the laws of nature and wield your power as you wish, and any attack will seem trivial," Levris smiled at her students and turned to Kiram. "I think it's time for me to show how to attack."
Levris swung her staff sharply, and the sand, gathering into small clumps, flew towards her opponent.
"A pitiful attempt," Kiram struck his fists against the ground, and a wall of fire emerged before him. All the clumps crashed into the flames, but... "What the hell?!"
In the next second, Kiram grabbed his shoulder and ankle, revealing deep cuts. Behind the mage, I noticed tiny sparkling fragments on the ground; most likely, they were shards of glass.
"As you can see, your fire can easily stop attacks with wind, fire, and water, and if heated enough, even lightning. However, earth-based attacks won't be stopped by it," Levris began to spin her staff again, and I noticed the ground gradually rotating around her. "But there are more effective attacks against enemies, like the one Grain tried to catch Katrina with."
I remembered! Grain was churning the base of the arena, gradually turning it into loose sand, but Katrina managed to come up with countermeasures faster, protecting herself from defeat. Doing this on a scale of a barrier measuring twenty meters was much simpler.
"I won't let you finish what you've started!" Kiram roared and leaped into the air. Performing a somersault mid-air, he gathered flames on his feet and unleashed a powerful column of fire towards the sorceress.
"Well, that's unlikely," Levris stomped her staff on the ground, and the flames collapsed upon her. I didn't think she could raise a shield in such a situation, but before I could see where she disappeared in the flames, they spread all over the battlefield and died out. However, there was no trace of the earth mage, neither charred body nor burnt clothing.
"Where did she go?" Kiram looked around, but she was nowhere to be found. Only the ground trembled from the power of the previous attack.
"Don't worry, I'm still here," the ground behind Kiram split open, and the sorceress sprang out of it. In her hands was something resembling a small vial made of rough glass. Apparently, she quickly improvised an air bubble from the molten sand and concealed herself in the loosened soil. This also meant that the entire area around them had already been ploughed through, leaving the opponent with nowhere to escape.
"Damn it!" Kiram jumped to the side, but running was futile. As soon as he landed, he started to sink rapidly into the ground. The sand gripped him and pulled him downward. "To hell with you!"
The mage gathered flames in his hands and forcefully released them into the ground under his feet, but it still dragged him down, leaving only his head above the surface.
"That's how you can trap opponents who are not agile and fast enough," Levris, with little concern for her opponent's predicament, sat down before the struggling mage and playfully toyed with his hair. She wasn't bothered by his attempts to break free from the trap.
"I'll burn all this ground if I have to!" Kiram exhausted himself and momentarily stopped his incantation, and in that moment, his face changed to an expression of horror. "W-w-why can't I move?!"
"Well, did you finally notice?" Levris lifted her staff and struck it against the ground. The thin layer of soil split apart, revealing a pit filled with sand beneath. "While we were walking here, I gathered not just a small heap of sand; I filled this entire area with pure sand, which turns into glass even more effortlessly. The heating and pressure of the surrounding layers did the trick. Hop."
The girl struck the staff against the ground again, and Kiram, flying into the air, fell next to her, or rather, embedded into the earth. The mage's body was covered with a thick layer of glass from the chest to his feet, which immobilized him.
"I think now you surrender," Levris playfully struck the glass with her staff, producing a loud ring.
"I'll NEVER surrender!!" Nevertheless, the fiery mage's fighting spirit still burned.
"Well, alright then. I'll come by tomorrow. If you change your mind, let me know," Levris waved her hand at her opponent and started to walk away, but Kiram's plaintive voice stopped her.
"W-wait, you won't leave me like this, will you?"
"Why not? You still plan on fighting, so you can tell me tomorrow how you intend to do that, while I'll go have breakfast. I don't think you'll have any issues getting food, just ask one of your students to bring it. And as for the restroom... well, I guess you'll manage."
"Hold on..." Kiram lowered his gaze. "Please, free me."
The mage's voice was barely audible.
"Hmm, I didn't quite catch the magic word," Levris took a few steps towards the edge of the barrier.
"Well, alright, alright!" The mage hesitated for a moment. He had never acknowledged his defeat before; he was known as an invincible duelist. The shame of losing, especially to an EARTH mage, and even worse, to a GIRL, was unbearable for him, but he had no choice. "I surrender."
Levris struck the glass prison of the mage once again, and it shattered into pieces, ripping apart the mage's clothing in the process. The crowd erupted into enthusiastic cheers.