When Xia Liang faced her fifth challenger in sequence, there was already a considerable crowd gathering around her battle platform.
In terms of hype, Xia Liang, who secured the first place in the maze assessment, undoubtedly piqued many people's interest. Moreover, the crucial point was thatโshe had already won four rounds in a row.
Even though her opponents were rated around B to B+, not exactly top experts, steadily defeating these "honor students" in the eyes of ordinary people was enough to prove that Xia Liang's result in the first assessment wasn't just a fluke, as many had previously thought.
And now, her fifth challenger is Qing Xiang, who had specially issued a challenge to her yesterday.
This magical girl from South Africa State Domain towered over Xia Liang by a head; just standing face to face, they looked like an adult and a child. But battles between magical girls aren't dictated by physique, and size has no relation to the blossoming of magic power, so no one judges by appearance.
However, in the center of the crowd's gaze, Xia Liang's face showed no particular expression.
Actually, she herself didn't feel a strong sense of "winning four rounds in a row." In her expectations, she was merely a newcomer who had just entered the Leaf Level. Her accumulation and application of magic techniques inevitably paled in comparison to veterans. Plus, her magic armor didn't possess particularly lethal capabilities, which might mean suffering losses in competitions among examinees. Yet unexpectedly, defeating four objectively "honor students" only consumed about half of her total magic power.
Now facing Qing Xiang, her last opponent, defeating her would allow Xia Liang to rest. Not only that, but half the points from defeating five B-level or higher examinees would elevate her score to a rather absurd height, perhaps even approaching those of the S-level.
"What's wrong? You look really tired. Don't you need to rest for a bit?"
Standing opposite Xia Liang, Qing Xiang pointed her thumb down the stage: "I can actually wait for you because I don't want to compete with an opponent not in peak condition."
"Don't worry, it's only a slight drain of magic power, so it shouldn't dampen your spirits."
With a smile, Xia Liang replied: "Let's skip the rest then; I'm in a hurry, after all."
"In a hurry?"
Qing Xiang tilted her head as if suddenly recalling something, saying: "Ah, right, that SS-level person is from the same city as you. Are you two friends?"
"Magical girls from the same city could hardly not be friends, right?" Xia Liang raised the magic wand in her hand: "No point in further talk; let's begin."
"It's the first time I've heard such a perspective from you. Magical girls stationed in the same city but becoming enemies aren't uncommon."
Qing Xiang chuckled: "Fine, if you're in such a hurry to console your friend, then go ahead as you wish."
Moments later, flashes of magical power crisscrossed the combat stage.
...
...
"Wuwuwu... I'm so useless..."
"Not at all."
"Wuwuwu... I should apologize to the ancestors of magical girls..."
"It's not that serious."
Meanwhile, the battle finished, Lin Xiaolu was burying her face in Emerald Sparrow's stomach, sniffling and muttering self-deprecating remarks, with Emerald Sparrow helplessly trying to comfort her.
"Practically regressed into a toddler," Mint commented beside them.
"Sister Xiaolu must have suffered a huge blow," Bai Jingxuan explained.
When Lin Xiaolu lost the match on stage, Emerald Sparrow knew things were dire, so she quickly coordinated with Tu Dinggui and others, swiftly arriving at Lin Xiaolu's position for support. Initially, Lin Xiaolu could still converse for a bit, but as she spoke, she grew increasingly upset, ending up in her current state.
"Actually, losing to Mu Mian isn't that embarrassing. After all, she's a monster-like strong presence in our Silver Corridor cohort, even instructors lose to her in Martial Arts Class."
Unbeknownst when Hua Zhu joined Lin Xiaolu's side: "Not to mention, you're not even 15 yet this year, right? Mu Mian is 16 and likely has some edge in combat experience. When you grow for another year or two, giving her a good beating probably isn't too far-fetched."
"Yeah, giving me a good beating isn't too far-fetched." Mu Mian, standing beside her, chimed in expressionlessly.
"So why did you come over as well?" Hua Zhu looked at her.
"Can't I come over?" Mu Mian asked puzzledly.
"Just barging in and disrupting my social rhythm, insisting on coming along to pick a fight. After bullying someone, you won't leave, insisting on staying and watching them tearfully cryโthere should be a limit to how low emotional intelligence can go, right?"
Hua Zhu rolled her eyes at her: "Do you know that your actions right now might spread, leading to even more negative rumors about you?"
"What rumors?" Mu Mian blinked.
"That you especially like bullying people." Hua Zhu sighed.
"Ah, those, they don't matter."
Mu Mian shook her head and pointed at Lin Xiaolu, "I just have something to say to her after the fight."
"What do you want to say?" Emerald Sparrow, having comforted Lin Xiaolu, looked up at her expressionlessly.
She wasn't unreasonable; currently it was the certification exam, and the other party had merely beaten Lin Xiaolu as part of the examination process, without doing anything too outrageous. Therefore, Emerald Sparrow wasn't about to transfer her anger to the opponent. Even so, towards the person who made her daughter "cry," she couldn't possibly put on a pleasant face. Maintaining an expressionless face showed her remarkable restraint.
"It's just a feeling. When sparring with her, I could sense an incomplete state."
Mu Mian naturally couldn't perceive the well-hidden displeasure of Emerald Sparrow, speaking bluntly, "I'm not belittling her combat skills or abilitiesโit's just that my intuition tells me that the true way to fight with this Magic Armor shouldn't be like this."
Emerald Sparrow finally understood how fitting Hua Zhu's comment "low emotional intelligence" was.
Because Lin Xiaolu's fighting style was entirely taught by her, this Mu Mian saying directly to her face that "Lin Xiaolu's fighting style is wrong" was almost negating Emerald Sparrow's teachings. Even if the other party couldn't possibly know the truth behind it, saying such things unknowingly showed a lack of consideration.
However, Emerald Sparrow wouldn't get angry at children over such matters.
"What are you basing this on?" she calmly asked the other party.
"I have a slightly unique talent when it comes to weapon use."
Mu Mian pointed to her head, "How a weapon should be used in battle, how to defeat the enemy... I have some natural intuition about these things. And this intuition tells me: she may not be using her abilities correctly."
"Intuition?" Emerald Sparrow slightly narrowed her eyes. Sensitive people could feel the atmosphere becoming tense, all because Emerald Sparrow repeated those two words.
"Yes, intuition." But Mu Mian, still unaware, nodded like a naive young person.
"Sorry, this girl's speech style is just like this."
Sensing the atmosphere starting to become uneasy, Hua Zhu quickly stepped in, blocking Mu Mian, "This girl... um, little sister? How should I address you?"
"My code name is Long Dan," Emerald Sparrow replied.
"Hmm? Okay then... Long Dan, though I'm not too clear about your relationship with Bai Mei, I can see that you both value each other, so it's normal if you're upset because of this girl's nonsense."
Hua Zhu was momentarily surprised by Emerald Sparrow's code name but soon returned to normal, pushing Mu Mian behind, "However, although this girl has problems with language and emotional intelligence, her battle talent is genuine, and she's not a bad person in the genuine sense. It's just that... how should I put it? Her mind is mostly occupied with thoughts about battle. So her coming here specifically isn't to mock or criticize but is because she genuinely wants to give some advice."
"The advice you mean is something suggested just based on 'intuition' from a mere sparring session?" Emerald Sparrow looked towards Hua Zhu.
"Yes, but also no, because this girl's brain structure is indeed different from others."
Hua Zhu covered Mu Mian's mouth as she tried to speak again, "You know some Magic Armor abilities can communicate with animals, and even plants, right? This girl, although her ability isn't about Magic Armor, you could understand her mind as having a 'capability to talk to weapons' kind of thing. So what she just said was her actually 'hearing' some things during her battle with Bai Mei's Magic Armor, which led to her conclusions."
"Communicating with Magic Armor?" Not only Emerald Sparrow but even Mint and Bai Jingxuan found it hard to believe.
"Her Magic Armor is clearly in a very uncomfortable state; I can sense that incompleteness, or rather a sense of being constrained. The threads binding the Magic Armor aren't just restricting the opponent but also her own combat methods."
Taking this opportunity, Mu Mian broke free from Hua Zhu's grasp, "If there's another chance, I hope to truly battle against the real form of the SS Level Magic Armor once. This sparring doesn't count; I don't consider this as my victory."
"Alright, alright, just say a bit less."
Before Mu Mian could continue her outrageous speech, Hua Zhu grasped her arm and started to lead her away, not forgetting to turn back and greet Emerald Sparrow and others, "Please convey our apologies to Bai Mei and also to Lord Cornflower."
This time, Mu Mian finally unwillingly followed her.
"What on earth did those two come for, trying to comfort people with comedy?" Mint stared dumbfounded at the departing two.
"Who knows." Bai Jingxuan was also somewhat bewildered.
Only Emerald Sparrow continued to sit there, gently stroking Lin Xiaolu's occasionally sobbing back of the head, showing a thoughtful expression.
"Constraint..."
For some reason, she felt a somewhat genuine belief in the words spoken by that child named Mu Mian.
