Chapter 8 - Battle magic assessment (I) (2/2)

”Ice Creation magic, Ice Coffin!” she yelled, slamming her arms on the ground in front of her. Suddenly, her entire body was encased in thick layers of ice, like a cocoon.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

As the fireballs hit their target, the perfectly formed ice coffin began to shatter bit by bit.

”How is this possible?!” shouted Kylie as her coffin began to crumble away. This was a 3rd tier magic spell, and as such should not have lost a 2nd tier magic spell. Her eyes were filled with surprise and hatred as she looked at Wilsin's smiling face.

”I give up!” shouted Kylie unwillingly as her ice coffin was nearly destroyed by the fireballs. She was not a match for Wilsin yet. He had beat two of her strongest 3rd tier magic spells with nothing but 2nd tier spells, toying with her throughout the fight. Her hatred for Wilsin intensified based on his actions today.

After the winner was announced, and Kylie and Wilsin returned to their seats, the Vice Dean went up on stage again the call out the third top scorer of the written exam. He paused briefly to think about the fight he just witnessed. While the new students could not understand why a 2nd tier magic spell was able to break through the 3rd tier Ice Coffin, the Vice Dean and teachers, as well as some experienced students, knew the answer.

In general, a low tier magic spell is more powerful when used by a more powerful mage, due to their increase in mana. For example, a 3rd tier mage using a 2nd tier spell would be more powerful than a 2nd tier mage using the same spell. However, the results should not have been so heavily in favor of Wilsin in the final exchange. The disparity between the baseline strength of the two spells was too great to overcome when both contestants were both 3rd tier mages. Instead, he had concentrated each fireball to repeatedly strike the same point of impact, instead of hitting the ice coffin randomly. This required excellent mana manipulation as well as either good instincts for battle or large amounts of experience with battle. Wilsin had these qualities in abundance.

'Interesting' thought the Vice Dean as he looked at both Wilsin and Clyde. He shook off his thoughts to call out the next person.

”Albert, come onto the stage for the third match!”

Albert was a member of a powerful noble family, though not as powerful as the Imperial Nobles, much less the Imperial Family. However, his father was a Marquis and had close ties with several Imperial Noble houses. Just like Shad, Albert had a strong affinity for lightning, one of the strongest and most destructive elements. .

As he reached the stage, he called out Shad as his opponent without a second thought. Everybody got a look of anticipation in their eyes as they heard Shad's name called out, even the Dean. It had been two years since Shad left the academy, and nobody knew what he had been doing for the past two years. He was a mystery for the entire academy.

”Start!” yelled the Vice Dean once Shad was on the stage and ready to begin.

Albert quickly began to chant his strongest spell. Just like Kylie, he was a new 3rd tier mage.

”Oh spirit of lightning and thunder that sleeps in the sky, you who make the heavens and earth tremble with your voice, your servant calls upon your power, become the thunderbolt in my hand, Lightning Creation ma-”

Albert suddenly stopped chanting, confusion written plainly on his face. So far, Shad had not made a move or started a chant of his own, but as Albert neared the end of his chant, Shad suddenly vanished into thin air.

Suddenly, he felt a hand grab him his neck, and he heard the soft voice of Shad in his ear.

”Bye bye,” said Shad softly before tossing Albert into the air without any apparent effort.

The audience watched the fight had their mouths wide open as they watched Albert fly into the air, higher and higher, his cries quickly growing too faint for the crowd to hear. What kind of fight was that!? They were all waiting for a great fight between two lightning mages, but instead he simply threw him out of the ring? They were waiting for the Fourth Prince to show his awesome magic, but all they got was a look at his throwing skill.

”Too slow,” murmured Shad as he dusted off his hands as though he just took out the trash. Albert was a new 3rd class mage that had not learned to shorten his incantations yet, which is why it took him nearly ten seconds just to cast a spell. If this were a real fight, he would have died ten times already. Shad didn't want to waste mana on people like that, preferring to throw them out of the ring instead.

Shad covered his eyes with his hands and looked up, presumably waiting for Albert to come back down. Suddenly he launched himself into the air and caught the falling Albert, landing with a grunt of effort. He softly put him down and the allowed the medics on duty to inspect him.

”This boy,” whispered the Dean as he looked at Shad exit the stage. Another way to win the fight was forcing your opponent out of bounds, so Shad shamelessly won the fight on a technicality without using a single spell.