Standing on the flat dueling stage, with a dense crowd behind and in front of her, Charlotte pulled back the hood of her robe, her clear eyes silently scanning her surroundings.
Unlike her usual teaching or research in the lab with magical machinery, Charlotte's attire today leaned towards minimalist. There were no ornants to accentuate her skin, no revealing dresses to showcase her alluring figure, and no high heels that would impede her movent. She was simply wearing a standard mage's robe over a plain shirt and skirt.
Yet, even so, the woman's proud and upright posture remained an unignorable spectacle.
Spotting a familiar silver-white figure in the audience, Charlotte gripped her staff, a slight smile gracing her lips, and shifted her gaze to the dueling opponent directly across from her.
Kelet Brown, an early tier Fire Arcanist mage. Charlotte's last encounter with him was five years ago, where she had narrowly defeated the fire-specialist Arcanist mage.
"It has been a long ti since we last dueled. I hope for your guidance in this match, Professor Kelet."
Hearing Charlotte's words, Kelet nodded. He held a lava staff and responded in a gentle tone.
"You are too kind. My strength has not advanced in these years. I hope to hold on for a few more moves against Professor Charlotte."
With that, the man raised his staff, his transparent spectacles glinting in the sunlight.
Charlotte nodded in response. Her slender legs straightened subtly, her mind relaxed, awaiting the host's announcent to begin the match.
As a side note, the black-haired man standing on the dueling stage, Kelet, had another identity besides being an academy professor: he was one of Charlotte's suitors. However, the latter clearly had little interest in him, rarely interacting with him beyond occasional conversations as colleagues discussing teaching thods.
"It seems both parties are ready. I hereby declare the match officially begun."
As Evelyn's voice fell, the recording mirrors, used to magnify the situation within the dueling stage, switched to their respective viewpoints.
Lyra, who had never witnessed such a high-level confrontation between two mages, leaned forward, her body straight, holding her knight's sword. Her pair of clear blue eyes quietly focused on the arena.
In fact, Lyra's reaction was similar to most people in the audience. The students of Elizabeth Academy of Magic knew that Arcanist mages were powerful, but they had no idea just how powerful a level only one step above an Magnus truly was.
Upon hearing Evelyn's words, Charlotte did not hesitate. Her pink lips parted, and she softly began chanting the spell.
"Wind that symbolizes free will, you are the guide who leads all things to the right path, the instantaneous turning point that is neither bound nor restricted..."
Charlotte's voice, amplified by the sound-amplifying barrier, reached every corner of the venue. A few knowledgeable spectators listened intently, recording every word of her incantation, and quickly realized what spell she was casting.
A Magnus-level wind-attribute spell, [Breath of the Wind]. This spell gathered a massive amount of wind elents around the caster. The constantly surging gale could block all attacks from physical projectiles, while the dense wind elent particles also provided the mage with extrely high resistance to other spells.
In a duel between powerhouses, the first move was a Magnus-level spell. Watching the wind around the dueling stage, sotis gentle, sotis turbulent, the audience's attention was drawn to Charlotte. Her ink-black hair and ancient mage robe fluttered in the wind, exuding an air of elegant free-spirited power.
At the Arcanist mage level, mages did not necessarily need to vocalize their incantations. However, in this exhibition match, Charlotte and Kelet naturally wanted to provide the audience with as much information as possible, letting them know what spells were being used.
Unlike the audience, Kelet looked at the black-haired woman before him, her hair ribbon fluttering in the wind. Feeling the oppressive, suffocating air around him, he held his breath and imdiately launched his counterattack as an Arcanist mage.
"Blazing fire elents that rise, you are the furnace that reshapes the world, the ssenger who burns away all sins, all things shall turn to dust before you..."
The dark red lava staff in Kelet's hand began to emit a deep red glow. A destructive fire spell was brewing.
"This... is the Magnus-level fire-attribute spell [Eternal Burn]?"
Lyra's pupils widened slightly as she murmured in surprise.
Aside from her exceptional affinity with light elents, Lyra's affinity with fire elents, which were closely related to light, was also excellent. Therefore, it naturally beca her secondary specialization.
Among the nurous magic tos collected in the library, Lyra had seen the specific incantation and casting thod for this spell. It was said that the terrifying high temperature it generated instantly was enough to lt steel.
Astrid nodded upon hearing this, gently twirling Amalia's hair with her fingertips.
"Yes, the ntal energy required for this spell is also among the highest for spells of the sa level. If a Magnus were to cast it, using two or three would likely leave them unable to fight."
As expected of a clash between Arcanist mages, for any slightly weaker mage, Kelet's move would be considered a finishing blow.
Sensing the heat gathering around her, Charlotte stood her ground without dodging. [Breath of the Wind] flowed rapidly, and the rolling heatwaves were dispersed by the gale before they could even reach her.
While [Eternal Burn] could not directly break through [Breath of the Wind], it did not an it was without limitations for Charlotte. The heat generated by [Eternal Burn] required a large amount of wind as a carrier to absorb it. By the ti the flas capable of lting steel were completely extinguished, [Breath of the Wind] would also be depleted.
Realizing Kelet's intention, Charlotte continued her incantation. Two translucent wings appeared behind her, constantly fanning the air.
An Magnus-level wind-attribute spell, [Wings of the Wind].
If Charlotte's previous wind spells lacked the flashy appearance that might not fit the "performance" aspect of an exhibition match, then the clear, translucent giant wind wings now displayed behind her were definitely the top-tier special effects of the match so far.
Her heels left the ground, and the brilliant sunlight cascaded onto her shoulders. Charlotte used her wind wings to laterally escape the casting range of [Eternal Burn]. Pale green light points flowed, activating countless sharp wind blades that shot towards Kelet Brown below, from near to far.
An Magnus-level dual-attribute fire and light spell, [Surging Blazing Light].
Just as the wind blades sliced through the floor tiles like cutting tofu along her line of sight, Kelet quickly chanted his spell. Bright light erged from the shattered floor tiles, and scorching heat waves surged outwards with unstoppable force, as if soone had pierced the earth's crust and exposed the blazing, dazzling core beneath.
From a mystical perspective, dual-attribute spells combining light and fire not only possessed imnse destructive power but also the effects of dispelling darkness and purifying undead.
Facing the torrent of light accompanied by surging flas, Charlotte dodged gracefully in the air. The wind, symbolizing freedom, granted wind-specialist mages evasion abilities comparable to knights of the sa rank. The powerful wind field surrounding her served as a natural buffer, allowing no dust to approach.
Gazing at the elegant, mature figure in mid-air, Kelet gripped his staff and continued to cast his next spell.
Perhaps it was due to his long absence from combat, but even though they were both Arcanist mages of the sa rank, Charlotte exerted a far greater pressure on him than before. Her current performance was like an impenetrable fortress with formidable defense, no matter how he attacked.
Kelet was unaware that Charlotte, his opponent, had already undergone a transformation under Astrid's Elders Speech annotations, advancing from an early tier Arcanist mage to a middle tier Arcanist mage. At their level, every small advancent represented near invincibility against those below their rank.
If not for the exhibition match, and Charlotte deliberately suppressing the scale of her ntal energy output, having not launched many direct attacks, Kelet might have realized sothing was amiss much earlier from the suffocating pressure she exerted.
It seed he needed to speed up the pace of the exhibition match.
The man stood beside the shattered floor tiles, his fingers gripping the gem atop his staff. A fla ignited in his pupils, and he softly murmured.
"The eternally burning sun, the pinnacle where light and heat converge, you are the monarch who ceaselessly washes away the sins of the world, the eighth king in the court of the Creator God King..."
Hearing Kelet's incantation, Charlotte, suspended in the air, frowned slightly, her tea-colored eyes instantly turning serious.
"Your wrath obscures the sky, your judgnt resounds across the earth..."
As Kelet uttered each word, the fire elents in the air beca agitated again, and even the defensive barrier personally set up by the Headmaster to isolate the dueling stage from the audience, preventing others from being affected by the battle, began to tremble slightly.
Lyra felt the magical fluctuations at the center of the venue from afar. Although she was still seated in the audience, at that mont, it felt as if she were standing opposite Kelet, about to face the full force of this spell.
Her palms began to sweat, so she unconsciously tightened her fingers. Lyra stared at the miniature sun-like destructive heat light gathering above the venue and instinctively turned her head to look at the silver-haired princess beside her.
Astrid was also casting a spell halfway on the observation platform. Her snow-white cheeks were illuminated by the light, emitting a jade-like luster. Her eyelashes fluttered, and her crimson eyes showed no discernible emotion.
As expected of Princess Astrid... to remain so calm even when witnessing a spell of this magnitude...
Looking around, everyone's gaze was focused on the venue, yet Astrid remained expressionless, her cherry-pink lips pursed, as if she had already foreseen the outco.
Her gaze returned to the venue. To allow the spell to charge longer, Kelet deliberately slowed down his incantation speed. His deep male voice, transmitted through the sound-amplifying barriers from all directions, seed to beat against every spectator's heart.
"You are the sword of the court, blazing and luminous, the focal point of all energy..."
As the incantation reached this point, the sky above the venue had already turned into a scene of burning clouds. Scorching flas seared the clouds, and the rootless fire emitted a light comparable to the bright sun.
"...Please allow to pray for your gaze here, to cleanse the mortal world with the eternal fire suspended in the sky."
An early tier Arcanist mage-level fire-attribute spell, [King's Holy Fire Descent].
With the final words, the holy fire descended from the heavens. Almost all the spectators held their breath for the solitary figure beneath the holy fire.
Charlotte did not look up at the fire above. She slowly extended her arm, her slender white fingers holding the slender magic staff. Her movent was so elegant it seed as if the object in her hand was not a casting tool but a wine glass filled with red wine.
At this mont, words were unnecessary. Or rather, Charlotte had already finished chanting the spell to counter [King's Holy Fire Descent] in her heart.
A self-created wind-attribute spell, [Sea of Drowning Wind].
Like a stone dropped into water, the wind that spread out from her center seed to ripple with spatial distortions. The chaotic air currents, under the control of the invisible hand of ntal energy, transford into a high-pressure field moving in only one direction. Rolling wind waves surged out, crushing outwards with absolute dominance.
The floor tiles disintegrated. The once wide venue was now bisected by a giant wind vortex that seed to connect heaven and earth.
The flas encountered the strong wind without being stained in the slightest. Under this force that repelled everything, the descending heavenly fire was torn and pulled, becoming the protective layer on the outer edge of the wind vortex. The heat that perated even caused so front-row spectators to feel the room temperature rise and break out in a sweat.
Just then, behind the dueling stage, a faint magical fluctuation emanated, stabilizing the defensive barrier that had been swaying precariously due to the agitation of [King's Holy Fire Descent] and [Sea of Drowning Wind].
The flas continued to burn. Although the surrounding spectators could no longer see Charlotte within the scorching wind waves, no one believed she was at a disadvantage. The surging wind suppressed the montum of the flas, and the holy fire was slowly cooling down.
The next second, the continuously flowing wind accelerated again, carrying the flas towards Kelet.
When less than twenty ters away from Kelet, the wind vortex instantly expanded. Countless wind blades integrated the residual flas, cleansed the clouds, and shot towards every corner of the dueling stage.
Kelet quickly chanted a universal spell. Layered fire elents gathered around the man, forming a defensive fortress to resist this attack.
Amidst the piercing roar, Charlotte erged from the wind, her ink-black hair cascading to her waist, her staff glowing brightly.
An Magnus-level arcane magic, [Glazed].
In an instant, the fortress ford by accumulated fire elents appeared like a fragile piece of glass, becoming unstable under the bombardnt of the wind blades.
At this mont, facing the constantly cracking glass before him, Kelet knew his defeat was sealed. He quickly raised his hand, signaling Evelyn to end the match.
"The match has ended."
As Evelyn's voice fell, Charlotte imdiately ceased her ntal energy output. The purpose of the wind-forged blades shifted from Kelet to the riddled dueling stage beneath her feet.
In an instant, dust and smoke billowed. When everything settled, the sky was clear, and the warm sunlight shone on the venue, casting the woman's slender figure onto the shattered floor tiles.
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