B4 - Chapter 44 - Shocking Start

Lily nervously headed toward the stage, escorted by a Tresnia staff member who seemed quite curious about her origins. His curiosity was perfectly reasonable; never in his wildest imagination could he have suspected that a Lagia mage had awoken, and Lily's sudden appearance would surprise plenty of others.

Of course, all the schools vaguely knew about her thanks to the testers, especially the three schools that were part of the testing procedures, but not much had been said or seen since then. Nobody other than Regarth had seen what Lily had actually accomplished, and there was no reason to suspect any information was being leaked. In more ways than one, this was like her official debut into the magical world and announcing loudly that a Lagia with a magical bloodline had been born.

With more scrutiny on Lily, Arakil stayed dead silent, not risking their telepathy and likely holding back from using his Magesight. Lily had even considered leaving him behind with Rose or even Lotte, but some part of her refused to be separated from him, so she kept him shrunken in her pocket for peace of mind.

When they arrived at the center, Lily immediately felt like eyes were upon her, probably a curious glance at first and then more scrutiny when they realized what she was. As for her opponent, she was already on the stage and not what Lily expected.

The girl's appearance was extremely striking, with an almost hawkish face. But what really stood out was her hair, which was not only a strange silvery-blue color, but also seemed to float, as if lifted by an invisible breeze or drawn toward something unseen. Her eyelashes and eyebrows almost looked like feathers, so Lily suspected she was an Aviania.

Please don't tell me she's actually related to hawks…

If that was the case, and with her being first up and facing Stremweth, she wondered if her streak of good luck had finally run out. She nervously swallowed as she took her position.

"I heard about you from Instructor Stuart. He warned all of us to be careful of you," the girl said, piercing Lily with her cerulean eyes. "So I apologize, but I will end this match immediately."

Lily was about to respond, but the judge suddenly made an announcement, stealing the opportunity.

"Our first match is looking to be quite an interesting one! We have Astraea Stormcrest representing Stremweth, and Lily representing Regarth! Having the next generation of Stormcrest is always a treat, but I'm sure the question on everyone's mind is this mysterious girl from Regarth. Well, good audience, I'm pleased to confirm that yes, the little Lily here is indeed a Lagia with a magical bloodline!"

Did they put me in the first match to drum up excitement!? Lily silently protested, but there was little she could do.

She probably should have been grateful for such an introduction, because it might help her later on when she needed to make her reveal. But none of that mattered right now, as Lily needed to ensure she even made it through the first round to begin with!

I can't believe that instructor sold me out. I almost wish I could rip up his acceptance letter for a second time and throw it in his face!

While Lily continued ranting, the audience appeared to be getting quite excited. Regarth was cheering for her loudly and, not to be outdone, Stremweth was doing the same for Astraea. However, even with the shouts, you could almost make out the faint hum from people chattering about the suddenly revealed Lagia.

Meanwhile, Astraea seemed to be growing annoyed, perhaps because of the attention focused on Lily instead of her. While Lily was imagining the girl swearing to end it even quicker, her nose suddenly twitched as she caught a strange smell almost like rain with a sharp metallic taint. The smell was oddly extremely familiar to her, but with all the eyes and attention on her, she was struggling to place where it was from.

The round was about to begin, and the extra judges double-checked that their wards were correctly set up, as the last thing anyone wanted was for an accident to happen. A countdown began; the barrier around the stage was raised, and Lily focused, as she suspected she was going to immediately need her Nebula Veil the split second it started.

"Begin!"

With one swift motion, the girl across from Lily swept her hand like a sword, her index and middle fingers raised as if they were her blade. In that same motion, a spell was instantly completed, as speed was the essence of these duels, with the winner often declared from the first move. From her two raised fingers, a bolt was formed and shot out at Lily, followed by the crack of thunder.

Thankfully, Lily had been prepared, and with barely any motion, she surged her Astral Mana Core, and the ever-reliable Nebula Veil was summoned. The tapestry of space billowed out, as if the cosmos itself refused to let her be harmed, and without any extra effort on her part, the spell was entirely neutralized by the cloak.

Lightning! That's why I recognized that smell; she's the Demi version of Thomas!

A collective gasp erupted from the audience and Lily's opponent, while the Regarth stands erupted in cheers. No matter what the three testers had said about Lily, none of it could compare to witnessing her spell firsthand for the very first time, especially after its most recent upgrade. At the same time, Lily felt a sudden wave of relief, as if her opponent were a lightning mage; then she was pretty much her natural counter.

"Ch-cheater!" Astraea shouted, pointing an accusatory finger at Lily. "How dare you bring a magic item to a duel!"

Astraea and most of the audience turned to the judge, who simply shook his head—her accusation was denied! Lily had to assume that either Professor Elius or maybe even Headmaster Fabrelis had warned that this was a possibility. It was almost like her first PMC lesson all over again.

Are magic spells in the shape of equipment really that rare? I'll have to ask Arakil about it later.

The girl gnashed her teeth together and quickly threw out another bolt of lightning, but Lily's cloak moved on almost autonomously to meet it, nullifying the magical energy as soon as it was touched. The audience fell silent, with only Regarth still cheering, as most of them knew how oppressive her cloak was. Even some of the older students had heard the stories from their younger peers, despite Lily's absence from the festival.

Lily almost felt like she should've thrown out a taunt in response, especially after Astraea had so confidently declared her quick and effortless victory. Giving her a taste of her own medicine would be entirely justified, but she just couldn't bring herself to, even if voices like Rose or Arthur were probably shouting at her to throw it right back.

Instead, Lily just smiled as if in apology, and raised her own hand. The casting of Starburst was almost instantaneous, and three stars were flung out in their strange orbit. Despite her surprise at the strange spell, Astraea reacted quickly and began running.

Damn, I was sort of hoping she would show a defensive lightning spell to give Thomas some kind of reference, but I guess even a bloodline doesn't have an easy answer for defense?

It seemed that some magic was just destined to have fewer options than others, with lightning being majorly focused on offense. This also meant that now that Lily's cloak had proved its effectiveness, Astraea was now a sitting duck. Even worse, the bloodline made her seem like the kind that replaced all your affinities, since the girl hadn't cast so much as a simple air shield.

Astraea fired another bolt at Lily, who still hadn't moved from her spot, but it was intercepted by the cloak again. At the same time, Lily manipulated the trajectory of her own spell to chase Astraea, while loosening her grip on the orbit. The poor girl's eyes went wide as the circling stars suddenly changed their approach and she came face-first with one of the orbiters.

As the star exploded, Astraea instinctively raised her arms to protect herself, but miraculously her Ward wasn't triggered. Instead, she was coated in a layer of sparkling dust, but the match was still on! The girl looked determined moments before the unfortunate chain reaction began, and Lily's two remaining stars spontaneously exploded.

Even though they weren't near her, the dust coating her resonated with the explosions, and her Ward instantly triggered to protect her! With a shrill screech, the Ward went off, and the counter-magical burst erupted, erasing any remaining trace of Lily's Starburst. To Lily's surprise, even the barrier around the arena seemed to ripple from the burst, and the same could be said of her Nebula Veil, as she felt a brief disturbance in her cloak before it was negated and shrugged off. Whatever it was, it wasn't enough to disperse her own protection.

It looks like Regarth isn't the only school with custom Wards. Ours work twice as well in the dungeon, while the Stremweth one seems to come with extra protection?

Even further evidence of this was that Astraea was currently faintly glowing, and this was not from Lily's stardust. Lily's Magesight flashed as she saw traces of some kind of personal protective barrier included. That kind of extravagance made her revise her previous theory and wonder if this was a personal Ward belonging to the Stormcrests.

"The winner is Lily from Regarth!" the judge finally announced, prompting a roar of cheers from her school.

Unfortunately, the other schools didn't show her the same appreciation, and they seemed more shocked by what they had just witnessed. Lily let out a relieved sigh, then smiled and waved at the audience, feeling a tiny bit smug.

I bet you're wondering why your information about me is so wrong! No matter what Stuart told you, he couldn't have predicted my Astral Mana Core!

Lily was about to turn and leave, but her opponent quickly approached her. Dozens of thoughts flashed through Lily's mind, mostly about the bad stories she had heard about pompous nobles, and she wondered if the girl was seeking revenge. But, against all of Lily's wild expectations conjured from her imagination, the girl did none of that and instead held out her hand.

"Congratulations on your victory," Astraea said. "And I'm sorry for what I said before our match. That was very uncouth of me."

Lily blinked, then snapped back to reality and extended her own hand. "Thank you. I'm amazed at how fast you can throw lightning bolts! One of my classmates uses lightning, and even his fastest spell is five times slower."

Lily wasn't trying to stroke Astraea's ego; she was genuinely impressed. Bloodline or not, it took a ton of practice to reach such a level of proficiency, and to be able to do it while distracted.

The girl seemed even more surprised than Lily was moments ago, as she also blanked out for a bit. "Ah… Thanks!" she finally replied, even smiling. "I really love your cloak. It's beautiful to look at."

Lily smiled harder, giving her beloved cloak a gentle stroke. It was her favorite spell, and whenever anyone praised it, she felt like she had met a kindred spirit. The pair parted ways amicably, and their respective staff led them off the stage as the rest of the audience finally began to clap.

"It's always wonderful to see such exemplary attitudes, even after a duel. I hope these two will set the tone for the rest of the upcoming matches!" the judge announced. "As for all your questions related to our mysterious performer, unfortunately I can't answer them, and all I can say is to watch the rest of her matches and hope to glean what you can. Also, Headmaster Fabrelis would like to remind everyone that Lily is under his protection, so no funny business."

Lily almost tripped when she heard that last part, not expecting something like that to be announced. Whether it was said jokingly or not, the intention was clear, and she hoped the rest of her rounds would be less dramatic. When she returned to the Regarth booth, she was immediately met with cheers from her four teammates, even Clarissa!

"Way to go finishing it off in two moves!" Hana said proudly. "And you never even left your spot. The nobles love that sort of bravado; it shows how confident you were in your spell."

"You really put that Stormcrest girl in her place," Clarissa said, nodding. "I think every other school is secretly thanking you for knocking her out of the competition. She would have been a nightmare for anyone who couldn't summon their defense as quickly as you."

"Yeah.. That was unreal," Thomas outright admitted. "I can only dream of shooting out bolts that quickly."

Lily was about to reply, but Clarissa beat her to the punch.

"She just had a bit of a head start; I'm sure you'll get there eventually."

Lily closed her mouth while staring curiously at both Clarissa and Thomas.

Since when was Clarissa this nice?