Mana Duel (Part 4)
Professor Reeves led the injured Mira through the back door into the healer wards. Meanwhile, the matches continued. The score stood at 3–2, with Class A in the lead, but there were still fifteen matches remaining.
Professor Kane shouted the next pairings.
A-20 vs B-5, A-7 vs B-16, A-14 vs B-7, A-19 vs B-11.
After nine duels, the score had shifted to 6–3 in Class A favor, a three-point lead, even though their top six hadn’t yet entered the arena.
A wave of depression rolled through Class B. They already felt inferior to Class A, and now it was being displayed right before their eyes. The matches weren’t even close, they were landslide victory of class A except for B-5’s win
“Shit… are we really going to lose this badly?”
“Relax. We still have three of the top five. More importantly, we still have B-1, Riven.” He glanced to the side, where Riven stood with his arms crossed. Behind his neck, something peeked out that looked like a tattoo.
The professor called out the next opponents, “A-4 vs B-1.”
The arena went quiet as both Belle and Riven stepped out of the crowd. Everyone knew this was going to be the best match so far. Without delay, they both took their mana swords and entered the arena.
Rolling his shoulders, Riven spoke. “I feel bad for you, that you’re going to lose to me.”
Belle narrowed her eyes but decided to entertain him. “Why is that?”
He smirked and pointed to the tattoo. “See this?” Looking more closely, it was a dragon tattoo. “It’s my Spire Guild, specialty. It converts natural mana into my own. That gives me more mana than everyone else.”
Belle let out a short, unimpressed laugh. “We will see about how that works.”
Professor Reeves raised her hand. “Enough talking. Take your stances.”
Both raised their mana swords.
“Begin.”
Riven lunged first, swinging with full force, trying to overwhelm her with his mana-boosted strength.
Belle stepped aside, effortlessly parrying his strike. The momentum of his swing carried him forward, off balance.
“Too slow,” she murmured, sidestepping his second strike and tapping his sword aside with the flat of her blade. Then, with a quick flick, she struck the back of his shoulder, sending him stumbling forward.
Riven’s smirk faltered. He attacked again as quickly as he could, but Belle mirrored every move. Each blow was either deflected, redirected, or used to throw him off his footing.
Every time he regained his composure, she was already there, controlling the distance and the fight.
Riven’s confidence began to crack. He tried to channel more mana, attempting a stronger strike.
Belle’s eyes narrowed. With a single step to the side and a smooth rotation of her wrist, she turned his attack into an opening. One breath, one motion, her blade flicked forward, precise, landing just above his chest. The force sent him sprawling backward, hitting the ground with a loud thud.
Belle lowered her sword slowly, her expression calm, almost bored. “You may or may not have more mana than me, but you certainly don’t have the skill of a swordsman.”
Professor Kane clapped once, nodding in approval. “The winner is Belle Ignis.”
Whispers spread through the arena. “She just toyed with B-1… it was total annihilation.”
“Did you see that? One strike and he was down.”
“She didn’t even break a sweat.”
The students’ awe and disbelief filled the room, the weight of her dominance sinking in. Even the usually confident Riven sat up slowly, glaring at her.
But in Belle’s eyes, it wasn’t him—or anyone else, she was glaring at. She was staring straight at Aria.
***
(Aria POV)
Everything, everything so far, from A to Z, was going exactly according to the plot.
But of course, she just had to ruin it.
“I challenge A-3 Aria Fenrir,” Belle said, pointing her sword directly at me, “to come onto the arena and fight me.”
It wasn’t exactly out of the blue. Honestly, it made sense that she would do it.
But that didn’t mean I had any reason to accept. “I refuse.”
She smirked. “Already scared you’ll lose?”
I didn’t respond. No need to bite at such blatant provocation.
Belle flustered slightly that I hadn’t taken the obvious bait, then declared, “In the name of your guild, I challenge you, Aria Fenrir, in this arena.”
Challenging someone in the name of a guild was serious. Refusing meant staining your guild’s honor.
That was probably why she framed it that way, to corner me, to make refusal impossible.
But honestly?
That only made it feel more childish.
I let out a quiet breath. “This isn’t a battlefield, and this isn’t a guild war,” I said calmly. “We’re students. I’m not turning this into a pride contest because you want attention.”
I met her eyes evenly. “I’m still refusing.”
The students around us whispered among themselves. Maybe A-3 is scared, I could hear them thinking, but I didn’t mind their assumptions. There was no reason to rush. The official match was
going to happen according to the original plot, and pushing it now would accomplish nothing.
Belle’s eyes narrowed. For a split second, something flickered across her face, as if an idea had struck her. She smiled cheekily.
“Still not coming out?” she said. “Fine. If you’re that scared, what if I go after your little pet instead?
What was her name again… Luna? Would you still hide then?”
My gaze hardened, hearing that.
“…Take that back.”
“What? I can’t hear you.”
I clenched my jaw. “Take that fucking back.”
She shook her head. “Still can’t hear you. Why don’t you come here and tell me that?” She pointed toward the arena.
I moved forward and stepped into the arena. I looked her dead in the eyes and said, “Don’t go after her. Or it’ll be your last day.”
Belle tilted her head, lips curling into a taunting smile. “Then why don’t you defeat me here? If you do, I won’t.”
I sighed internally. I knew it was a provocation. Belle wouldn’t actually do something like that. She’d only said it to force my hand.
But after hearing Luna’s name spoken like that, I couldn’t stop myself.
“…Fine. Let’s start the match.”
Both classes were confused. Although the challenger and the opponent had accepted, there was still someone who hadn’t given consent.
Professor Reeves looked at Professor Kane, who gave a small nod in return.
“Very well,” she said. “We’ll allow it. Since our original goal was to check the students’ mana control.
However, Belle, I’d like to remind you, this is not a rank match, so your rank won’t change.”
Belle nodded in agreement. Then I was handed a mana sword as well.
Taking a few steps back, I exhaled.
