Mori didn't explain anything now, as the battle had reached a white-hot stage and everyone was deeply invested in the fight too. 'This fight is getting more interesting than I thought.'
…
Ana blasted the ground underneath her with her star magic, creating a strong wind that pushed the smoke away from her, giving her a great range of view.
Ana looked up, watching carefully for Mori to leave, and shortly, the moment came—Troy emerged from the smoke, but something was out of place that caught Ana's eyes.
Troy's right and left hands were veiled in fire, burning brightly. The determination Ana saw in Troy's eyes as he came crashing down at her, made her initial assumption of Troy's class.
From the very beginning, Troy was fighting from a distance and only using spells, which made Ana think Troy was a mage, but she was wrong. Troy's real class is called Elemental Combatant, a class where people fight with magic at close and long range; instead, they don't use weapons. That is what separates them from Battle Mages, who use weapons to amplify their power.
Ana leaped back, trying to distance herself from Troy. Fortunately, she was successful in escaping from Troy's attack, which landed on the ground.
Bang
Rock and soil exploded into the surroundings after Troy's attack missed and landed on the ground. But Troy wasn't done with this, as he started chasing Ana, letting her not get enough range.
However, that didn't matter much to Ana, as she could fight even at close range. She aimed her right palm at Troy, and from it, white balls shot out. " [ Star Spike Burst ] "
The white balls galloped through the air, heading toward Troy. Seeing those familiar white balls coming at him again. Troy didn't show any panic. He pumped up more of his mana into his arms and said. " [ Fire Knuckles ] "
Giant fists made of fire grew into Troy's hand. With their help, he punched away Ana's attacks to the side before they burst open.
Bang Bang
The rocky terrain started to change from their fight, but it wasn't of any concern as their indispensable desire was to defeat the enemy in front of them.
Ana quickly moved in another direction as she was about to reach the border of the court. She didn't know what might happen if she crossed it. Maybe in a life-or-death fight, Professor Mori wouldn't mind it, but now it was a mock battle, so crossing that line was the same as admitting defeat.
Just as Ana changed her direction, a small smirk appeared on Troy's face, which nobody noticed except Mori and the senior years.
Mori thought with a pensive look. 'What is he up to? He doesn't seem to have any advantage…'
Then, with a surprised look, he looked to the side and wondered with a smile on his face. 'Heh, maybe I am the one that is underestimating them too much. I just thought they would be fighting head-to-head but to think of him using his brain.'
Clueless about Troy's smile and Mori's guess, Ana just retreated without looking back, the only thing that was in her mind – how to bypass Troy's giant fists. The moment he started using that spell, none of her moves were able to land on Troy. Those fists might seem fragile and transparent, but they were far from that, as Ana almost started to see them as Troy's real, physical arms.
However, suddenly something started to bug her mind.
Unease.
As if a premonition of a future disaster was alarming her.
Before she could think of anything further, through her eyes, she saw a big smile on Troy's face, as if he were seeing the victory. 'What is th- "
Ana wasn't able to finish her sentence when suddenly a big, red magic circle lit up underneath her feet. With her face lit up by the red hue of the magic circle, Ana thought with shock. 'He can leave behind his spell?'
That was the last thought Ana had in her mind before getting swallowed by the spell. Six snakes made of fire with the width of an adult male's legs burst out. They tied Ana in midair with their bodies before bursting into giant flames.
Boom
After the blazing fire calmed down, Ana's charred body with torn clothes dropped to the ground. Still, she didn't lay down on the ground and tried to get up with anything she could. She was just able to get on her knees when, all of a sudden, Troy appeared before her.
Winding his flaming fist to punch Ana, Troy gave Ana a victorious smile. He knew he had won the moment Ana fell for his trap, and seeing her current state, Troy decided to finish this battle with a simple punch.
Troy's fist was about to hit Ana's face when it got obstructed by something. With pure shock in his eyes, Troy saw Ana holding his fist with her hands.
Troy knew how fierce and hot his flames were, as he had the densest fire among the many Novie Realm mages. Ana knew that too, as she had experienced that herself just recently. The only way she was able to do it was because, while trying to protect her body from that attack, she had attempted to coat her body with her star magic, despite it being a completely new experience for her.
But in the moment of life and death, she had an epiphany about how she had to coat her body. Well, not the entire body, but certain parts. However, that was enough for Ana to know how to achieve victory.
Moving forward, Ana came before the surprised Troy and put her finger on his forehead.
Troy was still in shock at how his victory slipped away, and for trying to win it with a simple punch, he had his guard down and no mana powered up in his body. "..I."
"I win." Ana cut Troy off before he could finish.
The moment Troy heard that, he came to the realization of the loss and the humiliation he would receive. So he tried to rebuke her. "No, I ca- "
A white beam shot out of Ana's finger, grazing past Troy and reminding him of the situation. "If you wanted that type of battle, then you should have told me from the very beginning. Then I could have easily won this by killing you."
"You.. You… " Troy became speechless, not knowing what to say. He also couldn't throw a fit in front of all these people.
"Okay, the battle is over." Mori finally interjected as he suddenly appeared beside Ana and Troy as if he had teleported. "Ana had won this fight. You have to acknowledge it too, Troy."
"But, professor…" Troy still felt contradicted, as he was unable to accept it.
"I know what you want to say." Mori looked at Troy and calmly explained. "But you have to see it clearly. This type of battle, which we usually call mock battle, is won when your opponent is completely at your mercy."
"I was still able to fight, though." Troy said desperately, trying to somehow pursue Mori.
But he was unsuccessful in doing so. Mori patted Troy's shoulder and said. "Troy, you clearly saw Ana could have killed you, but you didn't. So, listen to what I say, let go of your arrogance. You always lower your guard when you underestimate your opponent, and that is the manifestation of your arrogance. If you can get rid of that, then I can be sure no one will defeat you easily."
Troy just stood silently while clenching his teeth and fists. He was having a hard time believing that he had lost like that. He always believed the only ones who could defeat him were his brothers and sisters, but that belief was broken.
Mori shifted his focus from Troy to Ana, who was now being covered up by her classmates. The academy's robes were specially made to endure any kind of damage, so they were unscathed even after experiencing that kind of damage. But Ana's informal clothes were ordinary, so they got burned.
"Also, you do not get this win over your head. Our academy's rankings might not be absolute, but they aren't completely false. You are ranked at number sixteen, and he is at number fifteen. In this fight alone, you can see how close this was. You were able to win this because you somehow managed to know how to use your magic on your body. However, you won't be lucky the entire time." After saying all of this, Mori said this to Ana after seeing her mood getting down. "Still, you did great, both of you did. I hope you can make my section proud."
"Everyone, follow me to the class. Troy and Ana will come back after they are done cleaning themselves, and their friends can stay too." Mori then left with his students.
Troy left with his group for his dormitory before giving Ana one last glance.
Ana didn't see that as she walked toward her own dormitory with the support of Lily.
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