Safa and Yolden stood inside their respective circles, face to face.

There was nothing in Safa's hands, she stood there, empty-palmed.

She couldn't use the Lux Sword; fighting with her bare fists and Qi alone would definitely raise some eyebrows. People would question her, and she couldn't afford that.

So she had to think. She needed to use her powers in a way that would allow her to participate in the magical exchange. Unbeknownst to her, the teachers were already considering bringing her along regardless, but as far as she knew, she only had one option.

The magical circles beneath her feet began to descend, pulsing downward. Her hands started to glow, Mana circulating through her veins.

"I'm sorry," she called out, her voice clear. "I know you mean a lot to him, one way or another. But I plan to win this fight!"

Yolden didn't respond, just twirled her arms, conjuring two tight vortices of spinning air. Wind elemental magic was her specialty.

Unlike Moze, who used a mixture of elements, Yolden focused purely on wind. And now the twin vortexes spun with greater velocity than when Moze had used a similar spell.

There was a reason for that. Yolden wasn't just strong, she was the third-ranked mage in the academy, a solid Four-Star level mage.

The vortexes shot into the air and swelled, churning larger and larger until they came crashing down, completely engulfing Safa.

The whirlwind blocked the view from the outside; to the audience, it looked as if Safa had been swallowed whole by the storm.

"THE SAINTESS!!" a student shouted, leaping out of their seat, trying to rush the stage.

They didn't make it far, smacking straight into a glowing barrier before they could even reach the platform.

"Yolden! How could you do that to an innocent Light Mage? You've gone too far! Just throw out some fancy spells and end the match!"

"Yeah! What are you trying to prove? Jealous we like her more than you or something?"

Yolden clenched her jaw, trying to ignore the comments, but they were getting to her.

Eventually, the attack ended. The howling wind dissipated, and the swirling wall faded away.

Safa stood in the center of the circle.

Her body was covered in cuts, deep ones, running along her arms and legs.

The tornado of wind had been fast, razor-sharp. The attacks had been relentless.

But what stunned Yolden the most wasn't that Safa was still standing. It was that the girl hadn't used any visible defensive magic. How had she survived an attack that would have shredded any normal student?

The glow from Safa's hands spread through her entire body. Right then, the crowd saw it with their own eyes: her healing ability.

Cuts closed rapidly, skin mended itself in real time. In seconds, Safa was as good as new.

"WHOOOO!" the crowd roared.

"That's our Saintess! I knew she was good at healing us, but I didn't know she could do that to herself!"

"Makes sense though! She healed so many people so fast, she must have crazy high-level Light Magic, or just a crapload of Mana!"

Seeing this, frustrated, Yolden swept her arms forward again. Thin, sharp blades of wind spiraled outward in rapid succession.

They struck Safa, leaving long slashes across her body.

But just as before, every time a new cut appeared, it vanished almost instantly, erased by her light magic.

Then Yolden condensed her power, a tornado of wind hit Safa in the stomach, sending her flying.

The truth was, Safa could have pushed back, could have grounded herself with Qi and held firm. But that would have looked too suspicious.

She allowed herself to be flung backward, crashing into the wall, falling to the ground.

But within a moment she was back on her feet, body already healed, acting as though nothing had happened.

In truth, she was hardly injured. But she continued using her light magic, maintaining the illusion of vulnerability.

"Now this is really interesting," Luka murmured from the stands. "I never had the chance to test her Light Magic level, but if she's healing this fast… doesn't that mean her Star Level and Mana reserves might be greater than Yolden's?"

"If that's true," another teacher said, leaning forward, "then she might be at least a Five-Star Light Mage. How could someone that powerful end up at our academy?"

The teachers had been suspicious since day one. But nothing had happened, and over the weeks they had allowed themselves to relax.

Now, though, seeing this, those suspicions returned, stronger than ever.

Yolden gritted her teeth.

She wanted to win. Not just to prove she was strong, everyone already knew that.

She wanted something more. A win like this might earn her a place among the true elite of the academy. A seat with the others.

Just being strong wasn't enough anymore.

She charged forward, wind bursting behind her, propelling her straight toward Safa at breakneck speed.

Both hands gathered wind, condensed into two tight, glowing spheres.

"Mages hate fighting direct! But that goes for you too!" she shouted.

Right as Yolden closed the distance,

Safa lifted one hand.

A brilliant burst of light exploded outward, bathing the entire arena in blinding white.

Yolden stopped cold. The brightness overwhelmed her. She threw her arms up, stunned and blinded.

By the time her vision cleared, Safa was gone, moved to a different position entirely.

"Smart," Panla whispered. "The most important skill for a Light Mage is survival. She used defensive magic at exactly the right moment. It feels like… she's fought before."

And that wasn't all.

Safa now held something in her hand, an orb, drawn from her ring.

An artifact.

She had just entered the next phase of the fight.

*****

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