While the tournament continued inside the massive arenas of Bayarm Academy, Lily and her teammates remained at the training grounds away from the noisy crowds.
Compared to watching matches all day, Lily preferred actually doing something.
At the center of the field Leon sat cross-legged with dozens of paper strips floating around him like tiny white snakes. Beside him Isaac quietly worked on several strange metallic objects spread neatly across the ground.
Lily meanwhile stood in front of a large stone target with dirt stains all over her uniform.
"Again!" she shouted.
Leon sighed lazily. "You're way too energetic."
Several vines erupted from the ground beneath Lily's feet. The vines twisted together rapidly before Leon's paper strips wrapped around them like armor. In moments the soft plants hardened into spear-like projectiles.
Lily flicked her fingers.
The vine spears shot forward.
Boom!
The target exploded into pieces.
Leon nodded slightly. "Better."
Lily grinned proudly. After spending nearly the entire morning practicing together, she finally started understanding how Leon's unique magic worked.
Paper Manipulation.
Unlike normal magic, Leon's ability allowed him to control nearly anything made from plant fibers. Paper was the easiest for him, but he could also manipulate wood, vines, leaves, and even dried grass to a certain degree.
At first Lily thought his magic was strange and impractical.
Now she realized how terrifying it actually was.
Especially when paired with her earth magic.
By creating plants directly from the ground, Lily could continuously provide Leon with materials to manipulate. Together they could attack from unpredictable angles while preserving mana.
Leon casually lifted his hand.
A nearby tree branch suddenly twisted unnaturally before flattening itself into dozens of sharp wooden needles.
"Your magic is cheating," Lily muttered.
Leon smirked. "You're just jealous."
On the other side of the field Isaac remained quiet as always.
Unlike Leon, Isaac rarely joked around or spoke unless necessary. Yet Lily had slowly learned that he was probably the most dangerous member of their trio.
His unique magic was called Absolute Precision.
The magic itself wasn't self-created but inherited from his father. With it, Isaac possessed unbelievably precise control over measurements, movements, mana flow, and calculations.
Because of that, he specialized in creating magic tools.
Not ordinary tools either.
The things Isaac made were absurd.
At the moment he was calmly adjusting tiny gears inside a metallic cube no larger than his palm.
Lily crouched beside him curiously.
"What does this do?"
"It explodes."
Lily immediately dropped it.
Isaac caught it before it touched the ground.
"…Only if mana is injected."
Lily coughed awkwardly. "You should've said that first."
Leon snorted loudly from nearby.
Soon the three completely abandoned serious training altogether and instead started playing around with Isaac's tools.
Most of them looked harmless.
Most of them were not harmless.
Lily excitedly picked up a sleek black pen from the pile.
"What about this one?"
"That one turns into a sword when you uncap it," Isaac replied plainly. "If you place the cap on the back afterward it becomes a wand."
Lily's eyes sparkled.
"That's so cool!"
With a click she uncapped the pen.
Shing!
A thin silver blade instantly extended outward from the tiny pen body. The sudden transformation startled Lily enough that she almost dropped it again.
The sword was surprisingly light.
She swung it around excitedly.
"Whoa…"
The balance was perfect.
Even Leon looked interested now.
Meanwhile Isaac simply continued adjusting another device as if transforming pens into swords was completely normal.
Lily secretly thought to herself.
He really doesn't talk much…
Still, that only made him seem cooler.
Not far away Leon had picked up another tool shaped vaguely like a gun. Unlike modern firearms, its structure was covered in glowing runes and tiny mana channels.
Leon pointed it toward a straw target nearly a hundred meters away.
"What does this one do?"
"Just press the trigger."
Leon shrugged and pulled it.
For a split second Lily saw nothing happen.
Then—
The distant straw target silently collapsed into dust.
Not exploded.
Not pierced.
Dust.
Lily's eyes widened.
Leon blinked twice before slowly lowering the weapon.
"…Wow."
Even his usually lazy expression turned serious.
"This thing is insanely powerful."
Isaac glanced at it briefly.
"That one isn't mine."
"It isn't?"
"It belongs to my father."
Lily froze.
Her gaze slowly shifted toward the magic gun in Leon's hand.
A weapon capable of instantly disintegrating a target from that far away…
There was only one person she could think of.
A famous magic engineer known throughout the empire.
Someone rumored to have personally designed military-grade mana weaponry.
No…
It can't be…
Lily quickly shook her head.
What are the chances?
Before she could continue thinking, loud cheers erupted from the direction of the arenas.
The singles tournament was still progressing.
—
At the same time, Terry Wiles walked nervously toward his arena.
The stone stadium around him roared with excitement as students from different schools filled the seats. Across from him stood his opponent.
A small girl carrying an absurdly oversized staff.
The staff itself was nearly as long as her legs.
Terry immediately became cautious.
Anyone carrying a weapon that ridiculous definitely wasn't normal.
Beside the arena Kyle stood watching calmly with his arms crossed.
Terry felt slightly reassured.
Even if he lost, Kyle would still replace him later in the brackets.
Across the battlefield the girl casually swung her gigantic staff around without any visible technique whatsoever.
Which somehow made her even scarier.
The referee raised his arm before slicing it downward.
"Begin!"
Terry instantly leaped sideways while drawing his wand.
"Rock wall!"
Large uneven stones burst upward from the arena floor, forming a thick defensive barrier between him and the girl.
But she didn't slow down.
Instead she charged directly at the wall.
Boom!
With a single swing of her oversized staff, the stone wall shattered apart like brittle plastic.
Terry's eyes widened in shock.
He had expected her to go around it.
Not through it.
The moment the debris cleared, the girl already stood in front of him with a wide grin.
"Wind spirals!"
Several spinning cones of compressed wind formed beside her like miniature drills before launching toward Terry at terrifying speed.
Terry desperately rolled away.
The spinning wind tore deep grooves into the arena floor where he had stood moments earlier.
He scrambled upright and raised his wand again.
"Stone—"
"Wind blade!"
The girl didn't allow him time to finish.
She lifted her staff overhead before swinging downward mercilessly.
A massive crescent-shaped blade of wind formed around the weapon itself, making the staff resemble a giant double-sided axe.
Terry's face turned pale.
Before the attack could hit him, the referee instantly appeared beside him and yanked him backward by the collar.
Boom!!
The wind blade smashed into the arena floor.
Cracks spread outward violently.
Within seconds the entire battlefield split apart down the middle.
Silence filled the arena.
Terry dangled helplessly from the referee's grip like a stray puppy while staring at the destroyed battlefield.
Holy…
I definitely would've died if that hit me…
The girl casually rested the massive staff over her shoulders as the wind blade dispersed.
The referee walked beside her before raising her hand.
"Tina Mune wins!"
The audience exploded into cheers.
Not long afterward, the first phase of the singles tournament finally concluded. Updated brackets appeared across the massive display boards showing the students who advanced and those eliminated.
Next would be the first phase of the duo matches.
Since only eight schools participated and each sent four students, the rounds would move much faster now.
Olivia stared nervously at the updated tournament charts.
"Please don't let us fight our own classmates already…"
Unfortunately, tournaments rarely cared about feelings.
—
Back at the training grounds Lily had completely forgotten about the matches again.
She was too busy playing with Isaac's inventions.
Leon continued examining the powerful magic gun thoughtfully.
Meanwhile Lily repeatedly transformed the pen sword back and forth with childlike fascination.
Click.
Sword.
Click.
Wand.
Click.
Sword again.
Isaac silently watched her for several seconds.
Lily ignored him entirely.
This was way too fun.
Still, as she looked at the incredible magic tools around her, a thought slowly settled into her mind.
The world was far larger than she originally imagined.
There were geniuses everywhere.
People with monstrous strength.
People with terrifying talent.
People who created impossible things.
Compared to them, she still had a long way to go.
Lily suddenly slapped both cheeks lightly.
"No getting distracted."
Leon raised an eyebrow. "What are you doing now?"
Lily clenched her fists dramatically.
"If I want to become a Sovereign someday, I can't stay weak forever!"
Leon stared at her for a moment before looking toward Isaac.
"…She says embarrassing things pretty casually."
Isaac nodded once.
"Agreed."
Lily's face immediately reddened.
"Hey!"