Amelia Thornheart

Chapter Fifty: Duel

With the sensation of her entire body taking an exhilarating cold breath. Divine aether flowed in and through Amelia’s body. Power. Since Lunaria had been so kind as to blast Amelia away with her invocation of Igni, Amelia thought it was fair that she returned the favour.

She didn’t quite know exactly how strong the surrounding Writing-enforced walls were. Still, her intuition told her that if she maximised the amount of atmospheric aether to be expelled by the incoming god-given aether, the resulting explosion would cause the newly formed House Thornheart to be given a devastatingly expensive repair bill.

So she made sure to cycle the aether and expel it beforehand. Well, most of it. She left a fraction in as a tentative test of her aether capacity and to repay Lunaria’s bold opening move. Hopefully, with even such a small amount of her monstrous aether reserves, the effect would still be magnificent.

Amelia wasn’t disappointed.

The explosion of aether-infused lightning flooded the room with cracking energy, smashing apart the hellfire Lunaria was already sending her way and deafening Amelia with the noise of a thousand lightning bolts that outdid any barrage of shellfire landing near her.

It wasn’t just a thousand bolts of destruction; every streak of lightning gave Amelia tactile feedback of their surroundings and what they slammed into. All at once, she could feel the excitement of the air as it hummed with energy. She could feel through a thousand arms the spongy - now charred - material that lined the room. She could feel the odd sensation of her aether colliding with Lunaria’s wards. From the perspective of her energetic children, punching through the instructor’s wards was like trying to push through an ever-thickening invisible wall. The weaker barrier collapsed immediately, but the stronger ones felt like a mountain of thick, oozing mud that sought to envelop and suffocate any attacking aether.

Other than that, Amelia felt fundamentally changed. When Serena Spoke Narean, her horns became wreathed in hellfire, and she gained a tail of the same magical element. Amelia had been hopeful for a majestic transformation, and she wasn’t let down!

Horns.

Amelia had horns. Not of the physical variety, of course. They were made from the same aether-infused lightning that was Taranis's calling card. Unlike the bolts that whipped out to strike like a venomous snake, her horns were dense and maintained their form. Tightly wrapped and glowing blue, they protruded from her head, curving to form a set of very familiar horns.

Serena wouldn’t mind, would she?

Sparks of energy snapped between their tips, reminding Amelia of two tesla towers. Just like her lightning bolts, Amelia’s horns were more than just aesthetic. They were a new set of sensory organs, attuning her closer than she ever had been - apart from her Asclepius transformation - to the aetherfield.

Her resplendent set of horns wasn’t the only change. Layered over her fingers were two sets of ghostly claws that crackled with energy. They weren’t extruding from her fingertips or knuckles but sat about an inch above her digits. Moving her hands experimentally, she noted that the two lightning claws moved perfectly in sync with her actual body. Strange. Taranis was not a melee-orientated Word. Why had her invocation given her a set of claws?

“If you’re quite done examining your own body…” A voice heavy with fiery power interrupted Amelia’s self-reflection. 

A beam of superheated lava rocketed towards her, catching her off guard, slamming into her side and spinning her around. If it weren’t for her heightened sense of the surrounding space and her position within it, Amelia would have been wholly disorientated. The white-hot beam curved, giving chase. Amelia cycled her aether, sending a compressed bolt to destroy it, only for the beam to split into a dozen smaller attacks that attempted to strike her from all angles.

As a precaution, she wrapped her lightning around herself, forming the powerful fifth circle ward, Taranis’s Cloudguard. From the feeling of the aetherfield, Lunaria had wrapped herself with the equally strong protection, Igni’s Hellshield.

At least, it was equally as strong as long as Amelia kept limiting herself to a small fraction of the titanic amount of aether she could potentially channel. This duel was a perfect opportunity for her to explore what was an appropriate amount of power to show. She wanted to show off, to an extent, to ward away potential enemies of herself and Serena. Still, she didn’t want to display capabilities that would terrify people and cause her to withdraw from society.

Lunaria’s attacks continued in a frenzy. Amelia tried her hand at dodging. She flared her aether repeatedly, propelling herself around the room while her lightning struck out at the instructor who also did her best to avoid the incoming attacks. Lunaria seemed to move in a far more experienced manner, her invocation of Igni had provided the instructor wings of hellfire. Amelia wasn't sure whether these burning wings helped the instructor move around the room or if they were just aesthetic.

“Such power!” Lunaria exclaimed. “Such talent!” The aged woman grinned as if she’d discovered a new favourite toy. “I feel like I’m fighting Lei Gong, the Stormlord himself! Tell me…” Lunaria paused her speech to form another spell. A dozen balls of hellfire manifested next to her and launched themselves one by one at Amelia, each one causing a tremendous explosion that sent the room shuddering as they impacted Amelia’s wards or the surrounding walls. “...You cannot truly be twenty-five, can you? Such power is impossible for a human so young! Unless… no… could it be?”

“Not a blessing, and I’m not a darkblade!” Amelia said cheerfully, dodging another round of fireballs and superheated beams. “I’m just me, Amelia!” As soon as she said it, she regretted getting caught up in the moment. Perhaps it would be best to hint that she did possess a blessing. She didn’t want to draw too much attention to herself, but then again, given the journalists she’d already encountered, she figured the cat was out of the bag and she’d do better to try and adapt to her new celebrity status.

The back and forth continued as godly amounts of aether saturated the room's atmosphere. Lunaria launched beam after beam at Amelia, who responded in kind with her own compressed bolts of lightning. Larger and larger fireballs manifested as Lunaria spooled up greater and greater amounts of aether.

Amelia took the opportunity to explore the variety of spellwork she remembered from the game. She was delighted to discover she could manifest Taranis’s Cloudburst, a devastating fourth circle chain-reacting area-of-effect attack that was her bread and butter for grinding countless achievements in the game. Seven enormous ball-lightnings sprung from her, darting to random locations before each exploding into seven more balls, which each then detonated into even more balls. This process repeated until the room was thick with lethal lightning, charring the last bit of wall and ceiling that had escaped the combat so far. Lunaria was forced to focus on her defense, ceasing her attacks and flaring her aether to reinforce Igni’s Hellshield.

The attack ripped into the ward, tearing away chunks as it sought to breach the fifth circle defense. For a moment, Amelia feared she would break through, although such concerns were not shared by her opponent.

“Invigorating!” The instructor exclaimed. “More! Finally, someone who can match my aether!” Lunaria’s brow creased in concentration and even more aether was funnelled through her body, distorting the aetherfield as she formed and cast her next spell.

Instantly, a thousand threads of razor-thin hellfire spawned in the room. Amelia halted her movement lest she slam into the unfamiliar spell. A thousand threads intersected the three-dimensional space in every direction, crossing and crisscrossing each other to form a chaotic wall of tripwires. Each one was formed from more aether than the largest fireballs Lunaria had launched.

“What spell is this!?” Amelia shouted, feeling herself becoming a little lost in the excitement. This was new. Not everything about the magic of this world was reflected in the game she’d played.

“Ha…” Lunaria breathed heavily, her breath misting with raw aether. It seemed the casting of this new spell took a toll on the academy’s famed Aether Addict. “I suppose you might not recognise… you are human after all…” She turned to look directly at Amelia, her eyes glowing with power. “It is the pinnacle of Igni, a sixth circle spell first communed by the desert Greatlords centuries ago! Now, let’s see how you handle it!” Lunaria roared, flexing her aether as three dense beams of superheated lava erupted from her, homing in on Amelia’s position.

Amelia took a breath, flaring her aether to reinforce not only Taranis’s Cloudwall, but also digging into her reserves to shore up her other heavily cloaked wards from a multitude of branches. She managed to avoid the beams but found herself heading straight for a tripwire. Seeing the collision was unavoidable, Amelia twisted her body to slash at the hellfire beam with her lightning claws.

It didn’t help much, and the wire detonated with tremendous force. Amelia was engulfed in white-hot hellfire that dissolved through one entire third circle ward before being stopped by her more robust defenses. She was thrown through the room, triggering tripwire after tripwire, cascading into a devastating amount of demonic energy assaulting her tumbling form. Amelia cried out, not in pain but surprise, as the thunderous noise briefly paralysed her until she was able to channel her aether into her ears to protect them.

At this point, the spongy material that lined the rooms had all but melted, falling to the floor and bubbling into a tar-like consistency. The actual walls of the room were revealed, and Amelia was surprised to see that they were wooden. It looked like ironwood, but she couldn’t be sure. Runic patterns were etched into the surface. This Writing, which Amelia had no analogous concept from the game to compare it to, somehow interacted with the surrounding aetherfield to form a surprisingly resilient defensive structure. Turning her focus away from the walls, Amelia gazed upon her opponent.

Lunaria hovered a little above the ground, panting heavily, struggling to catch her breath.

“Ha… ha… Still standing, are you? This is…” The instructor swallowed heavily. “... Excellent training…” Amelia waited until the demon recovered before circling her own aether, forming it into the complex shape required for her next attack. Since Lunaria had taken things to the sixth circle, and the surrounding walls had withstood that level of attack, Amelia felt it only fair she conducted her own magnificent finale!

“Brace yourself,” Amelia warned.

She formed the sixth circle spell

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Taranis’s Downpour, the most powerful area-of-effect attack in that demonic branch. She poured her aether into the spell's construction, feeling it greedily suck more and more of the ethereal substance up. Amelia couldn’t help but giggle, feeling almost high on the sensation of such a powerful spell forming within her body. It was similar to how she felt constantly when she Spoke Asclepius.

Drunk on power.

“Try this for size!” Amelia called out, spinning the formation within her and activating the spell.

“W-wait!” Lunaria called out, her voice suddenly stricken with panic. “Stop it! That’s a seventh circle-”

The bit of Amelia’s brain that wasn’t lost in the thrill of spellwork flashed a warning, and she instinctively tried to reclaim the invoked formation. It was only slightly effective, and as the spell manifested the rest of Amelia’s brain kicked into gear and she realised the scale of attack she’d just launched.

Panicking, she frantically formed another invocation of Taranis’s Cloudwall, barely waiting for it to complete its structure before launching it with all her might at Lunaria. The ward raced towards its target, reaching the instructor as the spell hit, painting the room in white as the aetherfield twisted from the density of attack that sought to destroy everything it touched.

The Writing on the walls only just managed to not shatter under Amelia’s spell. Unfortunately, the ceiling couldn’t boast the same level of resilience and enormous cracks formed across its length, breaking the runic patterns and dissolving the defensive ward they somehow manifested.

If Amelia’s spell had continued for a fraction of a second longer, she would have blown the ceiling to kingdom come. Her frantic, last-minute attempt to reabsorb as much aether as possible was just enough to prevent the worst from happening.

As her spell faded, Amelia threw out a healing spell towards Lunaria, only to find it blocked by her wards. Huh, that was new. “Hey,” Amelia said in an apologetic tone. She floated down to the instructor, who was on all fours, gripping the tar-like substance of the floor, now beginning to cool. “Are you okay? I can heal you if you release your wards.”

“Just a moment,” Lunaria mumbled. The instructor was still for a minute before turning to sit on her knees, facing Amelia. “Fifty-five years I’ve been alive, and I’ve never seen that!” She stared at Amelia earnestly. The woman was frazzled but otherwise seemed unharmed. Amelia’s hastily thrown ward had blocked most of her attack, and what little hit seemed to have been stopped by Lunaria’s own Igni’s Hellshield.

“Seen what?” Amelia asked.

“That!” Lunaria waved her hands, getting more excited by the moment. “You! Casting a seventh circle spell while only Speaking a First Word! I know Taranis is powerful, but his Word isn’t that powerful! It shouldn’t be possible! The aether requirements should be…” Lunaria trailed off before raising a suspicious eyebrow at Amelia. “You were holding back, weren’t you?”

Amelia scratched her chin awkwardly. How should she answer? Her attempt to present herself as a talented - but not norm-shattering - Speaker had once again failed. How was she to know the spell that was sixth circle in the game was actually seventh circle in reality!? To be fair, she should have figured it out when she felt the formation sucking away far more aether than it should have, but she’d been caught up in the moment and hadn’t been thinking.

“If you don’t want to answer, you don’t need to,” Lunaria said. The instructor took a deep breath before letting out a long, deliberate sigh. “Well, you pass. I’m going to have great fun looking at the faces of my students trying to crack your wards.” She looked up, her face contorting into a look of sorrow. “That old man’s going to take all my funding to repair that ceiling! Ah!” Lunaria bent forward, clutching her horns in a very Serena-like fashion. “He’s going to yell at me for hours! So unfair…”

The instructor sobbed quietly for a few minutes before collecting herself. Lunaria raised her head with a smile and asked, “Would you mind healing me? I fear I’ll fall asleep for a week without Aseco’s golden grace.”

Amelia obliged, casting a modestly powerful healing spell, wrapping the instructor with a golden warmth dotted with blue specks. “Ah…” Lunaria muttered, a distant look in her eyes. “To think I would feel this golden grace once again.”

Amelia’s eyes widened with surprise. “You’ve been healed before? By a human healer?” 

“I’ve been around,” Lunaria replied nonchalantly. “It would be before your time, well, that is if you’re telling the truth about your age.” She sniffed. “A story for another time. One day, perhaps I’ll tell you.” The woman slowly climbed to her feet, and Amelia followed suit. They both took a moment to observe the destruction. The room was almost pitch-black, with only the glow from Amelia’s horns and Lunaria’s wings lighting the room. The aetherlights had long since been destroyed by their battle.

The glow of Lunaria’s wings soon faded as the woman released her Word. Amelia followed suit. As she released Taranis, the door to the room was flung open, and a demon with auburn hair and purple eyes strode through, carrying a presence of confidence reminiscent of how Serena strutted around the ship.

“Everything alright, yes?” asked the demon in an unfamiliar accent. “Lots of noise.”

Perhaps it was due to the monstrous amount of aether that still saturated the atmosphere, as well as Amelia’s now-fading horns of aether-infused lightning that acted as attuned sensory organs. For a moment, as she set her perception upon the beautiful demon, Amelia caught a glimpse of something within her that straightened the hairs on the back of her neck.

Now, that was interesting.

Very interesting indeed.

Hinako covered her mouth and yawned. The lecture hall was the perfect temperature to lull her into drowsiness. Staying up late to cycle her aether had once again come back to bite her. She yawned once more, letting her body fall to the side until her head fell against the person to her left.

“Mmm…” she mumbled, feeling her eyelids grow heavy. “Don’t move. You’re my pillow for the next fifteen minutes.” Unfortunately, her pillow had other ideas and she was rudely shunted away.

“Your fault,” Jayjay, her pillow, said. “You stayed up again practising, didn’t you?”

“Never going to reach third circle if I take things easy.” Hinako rubbed her weary eyes, trying to massage the sleep away. “Wake me up when Head Instructor Inoue arrives.” She leant forward, burning her head into her crossed arms and closed her eyes, letting the chatter of her fellow mages lull her into sleep. Before she knew it, she’d left the waking world and entered a satisfying dreamscape where she was thrashing Jayjay in a duel.

That was until an elbow into her ribs jolted her awake.

“Wake up!” Jayjay mumbled. “She’s here- wait…” Hinako did her best to blink away the sleepiness. “It’s Instructor Kawas,” Jayjay continued. “Is she taking over from Head Instructor Inoue?”

“She’s probably getting chewed out by the Grandmaster,” Kanoko said from her right. “That aether surge this morning, remember? I heard she blew the top out of one of the Speaker Rooms!”

Hinako stifled a yawn, her vision clearing as she sighted Instructor Kawas making her way to the front of the lecture hall. “Mmm… seems like something she would do. We don’t call her the Aether Addict for nothing,” she said. “Crazy that she managed it, though. The Writing in those rooms isn’t anything to shake a horn at.” Earlier this year, she’d run the calculations on the aether output necessary to crack the runic defenses. Poor Instructor Inoue, those walls weren’t cheap to replace.

“Hello, hello!” Instructor Kawas called out from the front, pushing a little aether into her voice so even those at the very back could hear her. “Apologies for starting late, but we’ll be moving to Duelling Room One. Head Instructor Inoue has prepared a special practical lesson for you all. Follow me, please!”

Instructor Kawas walked towards the door, and the twenty-eight students of Senior Group B packed up their notebooks and followed her. Along the way, Hinako, along with her friends Jayjay and Kanoko, found themselves wondering precisely what the instructors had planned.

“I hope we’re picking duelling partners,” Hinako said, feeling the last vestiges of sleep fall away from her mind. “I just beat you in a dream, Jayjay, you know? Must have been a prophecy!”

“There’s more to magic than duelling,” Jayjay lectured, wagging his finger. In response, Hinako only rolled her eyes. They didn’t understand it. Dueling was the purest form of magical combat. Instead of spending her time on the front lines where any random shell could steal your glory, Hinako intended to fight her way through the arenas and fighting pits across the Empire!

Perhaps, if she trained hard enough, then one day she could represent Asamaywa in the Speaker’s Olympiad!

They continued through the corridors of the academy. While her friends bickered and chatted amongst themselves, Hinako entertained her mind with fantasies of standing on the podium, a gold medal in her hand, and the privilege of meeting with the Empress! Seven hells, just imagine! What would she even talk about if such a situation came about?

“Right! In you go!” Instructor Kawas’s instructions pierced Hinako’s imagination and the class was ushered into Duelling Room One. Something was happening as those in front of her were suddenly gossiping intensely. Hinako pushed to the front, scanning the sandy arena for what had the rest of the class so disturbed.

In front of them stood Head Instructor Inoue. Next to her stood a human. No, not just a human, the human. The human everyone had been talking about. This was the first time Hinako had seen her in person and when she did, she found the photograph that had been printed on that morning’s broadsheets did not do her justice.

She was beautiful. Hinako couldn’t help but feel a twinge of envy at the human's looks. Of course, she looked a little weird, as all humans did without a set of horns on their heads. Hinako always thought human heads looked small and flat, but perhaps that was only because she wasn’t used to the hornless race.

However, beyond that flaw, she couldn’t believe how attractive this human looked. Hinako had no interest in the other sex; she would never fall into sin in such a manner. However, if she were born a man, then she, without a doubt, would try and bed this human. Her golden hair was just radiant, and her crimson eyes, which Hinako had thought weren’t a natural eye colour for the human race, simply shone. Her facial features somehow balanced both cuteness and maturity. What a lucky human Amelia Thornheart was to be gifted such looks by the human gods!

Hinako must have been staring a little too intensely as suddenly she found Miss Thornheart looking straight at her. The human had an easy smile on her face, but the awkwardness of the sudden eye contact forced Hinako to snap her eyes to the ground. She counted to three and looked again, glad to see the human had moved on.

“Quiet!” shouted Head Instructor Inoue, and the room instantly became silent. “Seven hells, you would think you lot have never seen a human before! Will you stand and stare when you meet them on the battlefield? Fools! Now then…” the Head Instructor cleared her throat, gesturing towards Miss Thornheart.

“This is Amelia Thornheart. Recently sanctioned Lord-Prospect. Yes, that’s correct, the rumours were true. She really is a Lord-Prospect. Quiet!” Instructor Inoue bellowed as the murmuring resumed momentarily. “And for those who read that trash those fools pass as news these days, yes, she really is a Speaker!” At her words, another round of gossip between the students started.

“Is that possible? Look how young she is!”

“If true, she must have only recently communed, right?”

“Maybe if she Spoke the weakest human Words, it could happen…”

“It must be a trick…”

“Quiet!” the Head Instructor clapped her hands. “Right! Here’s what’s going to happen. In a moment, we-” She gestured to herself and the human. “Will proceed to Duelling Room Two. One by one, Instructor Kawas will bring you in. Assistant Instructor Thornheart, yes that’s right, Assistant Instructor. Don’t you dare forget the title!” An aged finger was wagged at the class. “She will be waiting in the centre of the room. I will verify your attendance and cast a third circle ward on you.

“You will then have fifteen seconds to protect yourself using your full capabilities. First circle, second circle, third circle, I don’t care. Fifteen seconds! Once that time has elapsed, I will ring a bell! And that’s when it begins!” Head Instructor Inoue paused, glaring at the class. “You will do everything you can to duel and win against Assistant Instructor Thornheart!”

“Duel?” Hinako couldn’t help but ask the question.

“That’s right!” Head Instructor Inoue nodded enthusiastically. “If Assistant Instructor Thornheat pierces your wards with her magic and stikes my own, you’re out!”

“What if we pierce hers?” a student called out.

“Ha! Fools, didn’t you hear me tell you she’s a Speaker?” Head Instructor Inoue put her hands on her hips and glared at them. “Don’t get ahead of yourself! You need to focus on surviving!”

Surviving? Hinako put a hand up, asking, “Head Instructor, if this hu- I mean, if Assistant Instructor Thornheart is a Speaker, then we would have no chance against her!” Around her many of her fellow students were nodding in agreement. Some of them, mostly the men, scoffed as if they thought they could beat a human Speaker regardless of whether they Spoke or not. 

The human in question quietly hummed to herself with a soft smile.

“Obviously!” came the reply. “That’s why you’re going to have a handicap. Assistant Instructor Thornheart will not be invoking her Word! In fact, she will be limited only to first circle magic for her offense and her defense! Furthermore, I won’t be giving her any aid!”

The answer sent more murmurs through the crowd of students. It was common knowledge that assaulting a ward with lower circle magic than what it was cast with was incredibly inefficient. Those who could cast second circle wards like Hinako would be wondering how in the seven hells this human was going to find the aether to break the wards.

Hinako scanned Amelia Thornheart. Sensing very little she found it more likely the Head Instructor was playing a trick on them. If this human were a Speaker then Hinako would be able to pick it up. Head Instructor Inoue, for example, gave off a tremendous aether signature wherever she travelled. Unless she was busy in some closed-off space cloaked by Writing, any student worth half their horns could track her down on campus.

Then again, Head Instructor Inoue was known for excessive aether usage, caring little for the art of cloaking herself against potential enemies.

“So is that the purpose of this duel then, Head Instructor?” a sarcastic voice sounded. Hinako turned to see it was Daichi, the most talented mage in the year. The man was already solidly in the third circle and was a favourite to win the end-of-year tournament. Daichi crossed his arms and continued, “What am I going to learn seeing my magic tear into this human's first circle wards, other than what a human corpse looks like before I step onto the battlefield?”

The human, no, Assistant Instructor Thornheart, giggled before quickly covering her mouth. Everyone in the room looked at her, some with expressions of disbelief, some with expressions of amusement and, in Daichi’s case, anger.

“I’m sorry. Daichi, is it?” the human simply smiled for a moment. “Instructor Inoue told me about you. I look forward to experiencing your talent. As for what you stand to gain…” Assistant Instructor Thornheart glanced towards the Head Instructor, who nodded in return. “If anyone can break through my first circle ward, Instructor Inoue will immediately graduate them from this class with a distinction.”

Hinako somehow caught her mouth before it dropped open. There must be a catch, she thought to herself. There was no way it was this simple.

“Furthermore,” Assistant Instructor Thornheart continued, “If anyone can maintain their ward against my first circle attacks for more than ten seconds, I believe Instructor Inoue will also graduate them with a distinction.”

When she finished talking, no one talked for a dozen seconds.

“What’s the trick?” Daichi eventually asked. “Do you have some kind of runic artefact?”

Assistant Instructor Thornheart shook her head. “No, it’s as simple as it sounds. A duel. Aether against aether. Mage against mage. My first circle magic against whatever you can throw at me. Of course, don’t forget by having communed a Word, the gods have blessed me with an increase in abilities that enhance all my magic.”

“Even if that’s true,” Hinako blurted out. “The lasting communion effects might be enough to propel first circle magic into the next circle, but it’ll never come close to matching third circle magic!” She could see Daichi and other students nodding in the corner of her eye. “And, if I’m not mistaken, you’re going to duel all of us? One by one?” Seeing Assistant Instructor Thornheart nod, Hinako shook her head. “It’s not possible. No one's aether reserve could last that long without Speaking.”

“Hinako, is it?”

“Uh, yes,” answered Hinako, surprised the human knew her name.

“I’ve been told you’re mathematically minded. Is this the result of your calculations? That me lasting against all of you is not possible?” The human held Hinako’s gaze. For some reason, Hinako felt a shiver rippled down her spine.

“That’s right,” she answered after a moment.

“Then, I wonder what you’ll say to me when those calculations prove to be wrong.”

Before Hinako could answer, Head Instructor Inoue clapped her hands. “Right! Enough talking! We’re going to get ready. Instructor Kawas will bring you through one by one! The order will be random! Write your name on some paper and give it to Instructor Kawas, who will shuffle them to determine the order. After the duel, you will return to the lecture hall! She will also inform you if the previous candidate won or failed! That’s all!” With a final clap of their hands, the Head Instructor and Assistant Instructor Thornheart left the room.

“Before you start strategising,” Instructor Kawas called out, “Come write your name here!”

Once everyone had written down their names, Instructor Kawas ripped them into neat squares. She left the room, and the moment the door closed, everyone burst into a frenzy.

“There has to be a trick. There has to be!”

“First circle might beat second, might… but no way she beats Daichi!”

“Is she really only going to defend herself with first circle? She could die!”

“The later in the pecking order you are, the better your chances…”

The last statement was mumbled by Hinako herself. Even if Amelia Thornheart possessed statistically unlikely amounts of aether capacity, she would surely be exhausted by the time she got through half the students, let alone the entire class!

Instructor Kawas returned, and the moment she stepped into the room, a tense silence enveloped the students. Despite the certainty that someone would beat the human opponent, everyone understood that the first person had the smallest chance.

“Eishun Toshiyasu!” she called. The student in question stood up and gave everyone a playful salute before following Instructor Kawas out of the room.

“He’s first circle, isn’t he?” someone asked.

“Almost second,” someone else answered.

A little over a minute passed, and Instructor Kawas opened the door. Stepping through, she said, “Eishun Toshiyasu has lost to Assistant Instructor Thornheart. The next candidate is…” she looked at one of the paper squares. “Goichi Oya?”

Goichi jumped up, following Instructor Kawas to the door. Before leaving, he turned and bowed to the class. “I’ll see you on the battlefield, for I’ll be graduating shortly!” That earned him a few laughs. Shortly after, he was gone.

“Goichi’s second circle, isn’t he?” Kanoko asked.

“Yes,” Hinako answered. “And known for raw power. He trains his aether capacity against your spells, doesn’t he, Daichi?” She eyed the class’s most talented mage.

“Right,” he answered. “He’ll either win or exhaust the human, so the person after him wins. We’ll find out any moment.”

Thirty seconds later, Instructor Kawas appeared once again. She surveilled the room for a moment before stating, “Goichi Oya has lost to Assistant Instructor Thornheart. The next candidate is…” 

The next candidate climbed up and left, and then a minute later, Instructor Kawas returned to inform everyone they’d failed to win their duel. Then, the following candidate was called, only for the same result to be announced a minute later.

Then the next.

And the next.

A few more minutes passed and twelve students had left and reportedly failed to win against Assistant Instructor Thornheart. The atmosphere had changed entirely. Students no longer joked about early graduation when their name was called. Instead of faces filled with humour, the expressions became darker with worry and confusion. Discussion changed from banter and idle chatting to serious debate about what trick Head Instructor Inoue was pulling.

“Maybe the lesson is not to be trusting,” Jayjay suggested. “Sure, they said there would be all these restrictions, but how do we know they’re not teaming up on you the moment you step into Duelling Room Two?” At this, several remaining students nodded, having come to some conclusion.

“Maybe we’re being watched, and it’s a test to see how we react and strategise against seemingly impossible situations?” Kanoko offered. 

“Could be,” Hinako said. “Maybe-”

She was interrupted by the now familiar return and result announced by Instructor Kawas. This time, the name read from the paper was one everyone had been waiting for.

“Daichi Ishitani”

The most talented student in Senior Class B stood up, his face filled with determination. Without saying anything to his fellow students, he walked out of the room. When the door closed, Hinako stared after him, her mind racing.

“There’s no way he can’t do it,” she said to herself as much as anyone listening. “If the rules they told us are genuine, then there’s no way his third circle magic loses to first circle. She must be exhausted by now.”

If Daichi couldn’t do it, then there must be some form of trickery going on. There could be no other explanation. If Amelia Thornheart was a Speaker and permitted to use third circle magic, then it’s plausible she could win against the entire class in a duel. Not likely, but plausible. But, restricted to only first circle while her opponents faced no restriction? Nonsense.

A little over a minute passed and the door opened once more. This time, every remaining student stood up to hear the result. Instructor Kawas looked over them all individually, appearing to find the room's atmosphere amusing.

“Daichi Ishitani has lost to Assistant Instructor Thornheart,” she said plainly. “The next candidate is… Hinako Aikawa.” As Hinako’s eyes met the instructor’s, a sinking pit of anxiety formed in her stomach. Hinako stood up, shocked to find her legs a little unsteady.

“You got this!” Jayjay said cheerfully, clapping her on the back.

“Yeah! Go weaken that human for me!” Kanoko added in with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes.

“Thanks, you two…” Hinako muttered before following Instructor Kawas outside. The moment the door shut and they were alone in the corridor, she asked, “So, what’s the trick?” She wasn’t expecting a truthful answer; instead, she hoped to decipher some information from whatever answer was given.

“No trick,” Instructor Kawas replied, moving to stand poised to open the door to Duelling Room Two. “You’re the third person to ask that. No tricks beyond this door, only a human that challenges your calculations.” Instructor Kawas gave Hinako a sly smile before pushing her through the door.

Stepping through, Hinako immediately began forming her best ward, only to quickly be shouted at by a relaxed-looking Head Instructor Inoue sitting in a chair to the side.

“Not yet!” she barked. “Wait till I say your fifteen seconds have started! Name?”

Was there no trick? No ambush? 

Hinako sensed the room. She was getting better by the week at perceiving the aetherfield, and she could tell a lot of spellwork had recently been conducted in this room. Was she sensing the remnants of Daichi’s efforts? 

And there was Amelia Thornheart, seemingly looking unaffected as if she’d barely been put under any pressure. Was this really her true appearance? Was she under a glamour by Instructor Inoue to appear so calm and… bored?

“Name!?”

“Ah, sorry!” Hinako collected herself. “Hinako Aikawa!”

“Hinako Aikawa… check,” Head Instructor Inoue nodded and then Hinako felt a powerful ward wrap itself around her body, sticking like a second skin. It was sudden, but she felt oddly secure. This was a third circle ward by Lunaria Inoue herself! “Right, you have fifteen seconds until the duel begins. You win if your ward lasts ten seconds or you destroy Assistant Instructor Thornheart’s. You may begin attacking when the bell rings. Begin!”

Hinako threw herself into her magic, spooling up her aether, circulating it with as much recklessness as she could risk. After five seconds, she’d formed the required structure and then spent the next ten refining it and pouring in as much aether as possible. Just before the bell rang, she activated the ward, cloaking herself in the most extensive ward she’d ever produced under pressure. Glancing upwards, she saw Amelia Thornheart had simply conjured up a modest-looking first circle ward.

Igni’s Barrier.

Hinako flared her aether, focusing everything she could on her defense.

The bell rang.

What followed in the next three-quarters of a second left Hinako speechless.

From her newly found position sprawled upon the floor, she looked up at Assistant Instructor Thornhearts face as the human reabsorbed the remains of the attack magic she’d just cast against her. 

Then, she found her voice.

“Please, teach me,” she asked, touching her head to the floor.

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