Shannon’s surprise attack had almost worked.
If I hadn’t been prepared, that is.
[Casting Frost Shield Spell.]
[Remaining Mana: 99.87 Percent.]
The magical explosion left no smoke.
The spell Shannon used was probably a low-tier gas explosion—splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen through electrolysis, then igniting it to detonate a hydrogen bomb… or at least, that was the spell’s setup.
Despite being labeled as “low-tier,” it required delicate control of three elements and was classified as a 5-class spell.
As expected, not just anyone could be called a genius.
I honestly admired her.
Of course, what came out of my mouth was a different story.
“Did you challenge me to a duel relying on this level of skill?”
Shannon’s face twisted as she muttered something under her breath.
But I couldn’t hear her.
All I could hear was a sharp, piercing ringing.
“…So that’s what you were aiming for. You actually know how to fight smart, huh.”
The blast had numbed my eardrums.
In a mage’s battle, hearing was crucial.
If you could hear the incantation, you could tell what spell your opponent was casting and prepare in advance.
That’s why skilled mages blocked their enemy’s hearing, just like this—then used the most troublesome timing possible to unleash a powerful follow-up attack.
Exactly like Shannon was doing now.
“……!”
When her soundless lip movements stopped—
Flash!
A blinding spark flared at Shannon’s fingertips.
The next moment, a streak of pure white lightning tore through the air toward me.
The speed was beyond what any normal human could react to.
A finishing move, without a doubt.
But like I said before…
I was a veteran of this game.
[Casting Palette Swap Spell.]
I activated the spell I had kept circling in my magic circuit since the start of the duel.
***
“…Left arm of the Thunder God. Second spear that tears through the storm. Percival’s Raging Thunderbolt!”
After finishing her long chant, Shannon unleashed her completed spell at Professor Winslet.
The second spell in the ‘Five Thunderbolts of Percival’ series.
One of Shannon’s specialties—lightning magic focused on single-target lethality.
Flash!
The first spark ripped through the air, and white currents filled the empty space.
Rumble!
The trembling air that followed was unmistakably thunder.
But when the raging current reached the professor, Shannon’s eyes went wide.
“No way! It disappeared?”
The lightning charging at him vanished without a trace!
…No, Shannon realized the truth.
The lightning hadn’t vanished. It had changed.
From lightning—to wind.
Rustle.
Golden hair fluttered gently in the breeze.
Standing amidst the now-sluggish current of air, Professor Winslet cast an arrogant gaze her way.
It was a scene so beautiful it looked like a painting.
Of course, Shannon had no desire to appreciate such a thing.
“…Palette Swap?”
Realizing the trick too late, Shannon bit her lower lip.
Palette Swap was a high-level spell that manipulated mana attributes.
In other words, Professor Winslet had turned Shannon’s lightning into wind with just a wave of his hand.
She didn’t want to admit it, but it was exactly the kind of elegant, refined defense Winter Winslet was infamous for.
Shannon muttered to herself, almost as if to convince herself:
“I can do that too.”
But could she cast it at lightning speed, without an incantation or a magic circle, like he just had?
Before she could reach a conclusion, Shannon stopped thinking.
Now wasn’t the time for that.
If her planned move had been blocked, she simply had to calmly think of the next one.
“Whew.”
Shannon took a deep breath to refocus on the fight.
Then, a beat later, she noticed something strange.
“…Breath?”
The breath she exhaled was white.
A piercing chill.
At some point, the air in the duel arena had turned icy.
But when exactly?
Crrrk. Crack.
Hearing the scraping of something hard, Shannon quickly lifted her head.
And saw icicles sprouting in midair.
Sharp, elongated spikes—shaped like arrows.
One, two, three, four… multiplying in an instant until they filled the air.
It was unmistakably Professor Winslet’s magic.
For a mage who could only cast within their own mana field, creating and shooting projectiles was the most basic, primitive form of attack.
But once the number surpassed the four-digit range, an army of ice arrows was no joke.
Biting her lip, Shannon hurriedly prepared her defense.
At the same time—
Professor Winslet snapped his fingers.
Snap!
Responding to that signal, invisible archers loosed their strings.
The countless icicle-arrows rained down on Shannon.
***
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Crash!
The chaotic noise continued for over twenty seconds, like someone smashing sixty glass plates onto the floor every second.
The sound of ice arrows shattering against the ones that had landed first.
With an 「S-Rank」 「Elemental Ice」 talent, Winter Winslet was practically an incarnation of ice itself.
Casting a 2-class spell that created and shot ice arrows was as natural to him as breathing.
All I did was repeat that process.
The result was pure, overwhelming quantity.
[Ceasing Frost Arrow Spell.]
[Remaining Mana: 97.02 Percent.]
When the number of arrows I’d fired at Shannon exceeded 1,400, I stopped the spell.
Because my goal wasn’t to skewer her to death like a piece of meat.
Fsshh…
The mist, called Diamond Dust—formed by shattered ice fragments—quickly dispersed.
When the hazy curtain lifted, Shannon was still standing.
“I thought you’d be a porcupine by now, but impressive.”
A wall, as tall as she was, stood in front of Shannon.
Apparently, she’d hidden behind it to block the arrow barrage.
The fact that she’d thought to raise a wall from the ground in such a short time was commendable improvisation.
If it had been just a sand wall, it would have been pierced by the sheer weight and quantity of the ice, but what she had created was a composite shield of sand mixed with mana.
Just as adding gravel to cement made concrete, mixing aggregate into a mana shield increased its strength and durability.
An efficient fighting style, indeed.
Shannon knew how a weaker opponent should fight a stronger one.
But still—she was just a weakling grasping at straws.
“Do you understand the difference now? You can never defeat me.”
“You never know until you try.”
“Fools only learn by trying. Can’t you feel your legs shaking, barely keeping you standing?”
Unconsciously trembling, Shannon straightened defiantly.
“It’s because it’s cold!”
She snapped back, shaking her head irritably.
Each time her long hair swayed, shards of ice fell off in a flurry.
Well, with that many ice arrows shattering right in her face, it was no wonder she looked like shaved ice dessert.
I deliberately provoked her further.
“If you beg now, I might go easy on you.”
“…What?”
“Beg for your life by licking my shoes. Plead for mercy, say you didn’t know any better because you’re still young, and I’ll be lenient.”
“As if! You idiot!”
Snapping furiously, Shannon got back into a fighting stance.
She murmured a few incantations quickly, then pressed her palms to the sandy floor.
The spell Shannon cast belonged to the fire element.
Heat spread rapidly under my feet.
Was she trying to bake the ground itself?
Her intention became clear soon enough.
Hsshhh…
Mist.
The arena floor was littered with fragments from my ice arrows, and when Shannon heated the sand, that ice melted and boiled.
The steam rising from the ground met the cold air, forming a thick layer of fog.
The mist quickly rose to my knees.
Like floodwater, it kept climbing higher.
I tried stirring up wind, but it was pointless.
In an enclosed indoor space, pushing air from one side only made it flow back in from the other.
By the time the mist reached my chest, Shannon’s figure had vanished into the white shroud.
Ironically, the height difference worked to her advantage.
“Losing initiative to arrogance. I wouldn’t make such a mistake.”
Leaving those words behind, Shannon concealed her presence.
Was she planning an ambush under cover of the fog?
Not a bad choice.
If this weren’t a battle between mages.
I immediately expanded my mana field.
For a mage, a mana field was like a second sense of presence.
Every mage had their own mana field, and they repelled each other.
Which meant wherever I felt resistance, Shannon would be there.
“Hm.”
But I sensed nothing from her mana field.
Had she deliberately suppressed it to avoid detection?
Shannon was displaying skill beyond expectations.
But if she restricted her mana field, it would also make it harder for her to cast magic.
So, what now?
Flash.
As if answering my question, a small spark flared at the 11 o’clock direction through the fog.
A mana reaction followed.
I immediately deployed a shield.
[Casting Frost Shield Spell.]
But nothing flew at me from that direction.
A classic decoy.
Likely a delayed magic circle trick.
Without hesitation, I turned around.
And locked eyes with Shannon as she lunged through the fog from behind.
“Predictable.”
“Hyaaaah!”
Shannon shouted as she leaped at me, stretching her right hand straight for my face.
“Not surprising in the slightest.”
I grabbed Shannon’s wrist with my left hand.
Then, with my free right hand, I seized her by the collar and slammed her to the ground in an over-the-shoulder throw.
Thud!
Her back hit the sandy floor with a dull sound.
But it wasn’t over.
I twisted the wrist I was holding.
Swish!
A blade of wind sliced past my ear.
Her last desperate move—prepared in advance—only managed to cut a few strands of my hair.
“Kh…!”
Shannon gasped belatedly, struggling to breathe from the impact.
The moment the duel’s outcome was decided.
Looking down at Shannon from the victor’s position, I declared the end of the match.
“You hopped around like a grasshopper, but playtime’s over. Shannon Quinlivan.”
Shannon’s face filled with despair.