Piba, ranked number one at the academy, was still a mystery to nearly everyone.

During their lessons, they hadn't seen much of him.

He didn't participate in practicals. He didn't actively take part in theory lessons. But whenever he was called upon, he completed whatever was asked of him, always flawlessly.

And there was something else strange about him, too.

Piba was extremely talkative. He always wore a bright smile.

Whoever sat next to him would quickly find themselves answering questions about their day, their studies, even their mood.

If someone struggled with spells or lessons, Piba would always try his best to help them.

It was… unusual. For someone ranked number one, you expected arrogance, ego, an air of superiority. The kind of person who acted like the world owed them something.

But Piba wasn't like that. Not at all. And that made everyone feel strangely unsettled around him.

So much so that when Dame stood up for his match, Raze pulled him aside for a word.

"Whatever happens, try not to hurt him," Raze said quietly. "You can lose the fight if you have to. You just need to impress the judges enough to pass. If you've done enough, don't push it."

"How will I know if I've done enough?" Dame whispered back.

As a professor himself, Raze had been evaluating the students carefully throughout these assessment matches. He already had a solid idea of which students would be moving on to the next phase.

The unfortunate thing was, this wasn't the Central Academy.

Any student with immense talent, or the potential to become truly great, usually transferred to the Central Academy.

That was why the other academies lacked truly elite students. There was this sense that students would rather be the worst among the best… than the best among the worst.

So even Raze wasn't sure what to expect from the academy's current number one.

"Look over in my direction," Raze said. "When you feel you've done enough, give me a thumbs-up. I'll make sure it counts toward passing. Just so you know, everyone else from our group has passed so far."

Dame grinned as he headed down toward the arena.

"Figured."

Just like Beatrix, Dame had his own fan base.

As his name was announced, a chorus of excited squeals echoed from the crowd of girls.

The male mages groaned and booed loudly in response.

"Go on, Piba! We can't keep losing to these transfer students. Show them why you're ranked number one!"

"Yeah! Reconstruct his ugly face while you're at it, make him even uglier!"

"…Bro, that doesn't even make sense," another student added with a shake of his head.

"Hey!" Chiba chimed in, her voice sharp. "I didn't lose my match! If those guys want a beating themselves, I'm happy to give it to them!"

She raised a clenched fist, until Yolden gently pulled her back into her seat.

The arena was ready. The circles below the two competitors faded away, signaling the start of the match.

"Do you think Dame will be okay?" Liam asked, his brow furrowed.

"Don't you remember?" Raze replied. "He trained you and Simyon for the longest time. Back then, he was stronger than all of us. He always put himself forward. Out of everyone here, if you asked me who I trust the most in a fight… well, it'd probably be him."

"Not me?" Safa said, folding her arms and pouting.

"A different kind of trust," Raze corrected quickly.

Below, the match began.

Dame wasted no time, he'd been eager to use his new gloves. With two swift punches in the air, fireballs shot out toward Piba at impressive speed.

Just like with Liam's wand, the stronger and faster the punch, the more Qi was added, and the fiercer the fireball attack became.

The flames hurtled toward Piba, but with a cheerful grin, he conjured two fireballs of his own, releasing them at the last second.

When Piba's fireballs collided with Dame's, they swallowed them up instantly.

"Haha! I know you can attack faster and with more than that, I saw you in your practical lessons!" Piba called out. "Come on! Let's give everyone a show, we are the last match of the day, after all!"

Dame smiled to himself.

Guess I'll give them something to watch.

Moving swiftly from his position, Dame swung his arms out wide. It reminded him of the old Qi blast attacks he used to practice.

With each motion, fireballs shot off in all directions.

But Piba saw them coming.

With a wave of his hand, a sweeping wall of fire erupted, consuming nearly every fireball in an instant.

Dame didn't slow down.

Continuing to throw out his hands, he suddenly dashed forward.

When he got close, he jumped high into the air.

This time, instead of flames, he used pure Qi, striking the ground with a powerful punch that sent out a burst of wind beneath him, propelling him even higher. It was just the power of his legs, but he had done all of this to give it the appearance of wind magic.

Now, from above, he unleashed another wave, fireballs raining down from the sky, with more coming from below.

But Piba simply spun gracefully on the spot, releasing vortexes of wind in every direction.

The spiraling winds extinguished the fireballs completely.

"Oh… he really is almost a class above everyone else," Liam murmured, wide-eyed. "Right, Raze?"

"He is," Raze agreed. "But he's not using stronger spells or anything like that. It's his control. It's precise. He can see everything exactly as it is. No wasted movement. He's definitely a talented student."

"Haha! You guys haven't seen anything yet!" Chiba said with a grin. "You're not the only ones with a unique affinity, you know!"

****

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