Olivia readily stepped onto the stage alongside Corey. The moment her boots touched the arena floor, her entire posture changed. Her shoulders stiffened, her grip on her staff tightened, and her eyes sharpened as if she had entered a battlefield instead of a school tournament.
To Olivia, every fight was serious.
There was no reason to hold back against an opponent standing in front of her. Whether it was training, sparring, or an official match, she treated every battle the same way. Her father had taught her long ago that hesitation in combat only created weakness.
Beside her, Corey lazily twirled his wand around his fingers.
Unlike Olivia, Corey looked completely relaxed. He even yawned while walking toward his corner, causing some students in the audience to boo at his attitude.
Corey ignored them.
On the surface, he looked careless, but his eyes quietly scanned the arena and their opponents. He observed the spacing between Anta and Akira, the shape of the battlefield, the material of the arena floor, and even the flow of mana around the protective barrier.
His copy magic relied heavily on observation.
The more information he gathered before a fight, the easier it became to react during one.
"Olivia Holder and Corey Key from Formosa Academy versus Anta Luach and Akira Vey from Bayarm Academy!"
The referee's voice echoed loudly throughout the arena.
Across from them, Anta slowly drew his blade.
Unlike Olivia's massive physical presence, Anta looked lean and balanced. His muscles were not large, but every movement carried sharp precision. A faint current of wind flowed around his sword, subtly increasing the blade's speed.
Meanwhile, Akira calmly adjusted his gloves while holding his wand loosely at his side.
Corey immediately categorized them in his mind.
Frontline swordsman.
Rear support mage.
Simple enough.
The referee raised his hand before placing two fingers into his mouth.
A loud whistle pierced through the arena.
The match began.
Olivia exploded forward instantly.
Crack!
The stone beneath her feet shattered as she charged ahead without hesitation.
Corey remained behind exactly as planned.
Their strategy had been discussed beforehand. Olivia would force the enemy into direct combat immediately while Corey stayed back to analyze their magic.
Copy magic was powerful, but it had weaknesses.
Corey could not simply steal every spell instantly. He needed to understand the structure and flow of the spell first. Complex magic required time to analyze, and if he rushed carelessly, copied spells could easily fail.
That was why Olivia was important.
She created pressure.
While opponents focused on surviving Olivia's attacks, Corey could calmly observe.
As Olivia rushed forward, Anta lowered his stance.
His heartbeat accelerated.
Fast.
Far faster than he expected.
He had watched recordings of Formosa Academy's matches before this battle and already knew Olivia specialized in enhancement magic. But seeing her charge in person felt entirely different.
The sheer pressure she emitted felt overwhelming.
Still, Anta steadied himself.
Powerful fighters always relied too much on brute force. If he redirected her attacks properly while maintaining distance, he could slowly wear her down.
That was his plan.
Olivia threw a punch.
Anta swung downward with his blade.
Boom!
The collision created a violent shockwave that blasted dust outward across the arena.
The audience gasped.
Even nearby students in other arenas turned their heads toward the impact.
Anta's arms trembled.
Heavy.
Far too heavy.
It felt less like blocking a fist and more like stopping a charging beast.
Olivia's enlarged muscles bulged further as she pushed against the sword. Her eyes contained no fear or hesitation, only straightforward determination.
Beat the enemy.
That was all she thought about.
Anta gritted his teeth.
If he lost the clash directly, he would lose immediately.
Behind him, Akira calmly raised his wand.
Unlike Anta, Akira's thoughts remained cool and controlled.
Olivia was dangerous.
But Corey was the real problem.
Copy magic was notoriously troublesome because it adapted too quickly. The longer a fight lasted, the more dangerous Corey became. Akira needed to either overwhelm Corey quickly or force him into situations where copied spells became ineffective.
For now, however, Olivia took priority.
Akira lightly moved his wand.
Tiny glowing lights floated outward like drifting fireflies.
At first glance, the spell looked harmless.
But Akira smiled slightly.
Each light contained compressed flame mana. Once they touched Olivia, they would explode simultaneously.
Because Olivia was currently locked in a power struggle with Anta, dodging would be nearly impossible.
The lights drifted toward her silently.
Corey's eyes narrowed.
There.
He focused carefully on the structure of the spell.
Interesting.
The spell was more complicated than it looked. The flames were condensed into floating mana clusters rather than directly cast outward. Akira had excellent control.
Corey quickly made a decision.
Rather than copy the exact spell, he altered its elemental structure.
"Ice Field!"
Cold mana burst outward across the arena floor.
Frost rapidly spread beneath Olivia and Anta. The surrounding temperature dropped sharply, causing Akira's floating flames to weaken before dissipating entirely.
Akira frowned slightly.
He immediately realized what Corey had done.
He copied the spell... but changed the element.
That meant Corey wasn't simply mimicking magic.
He understood it.
Corey himself smirked slightly.
His copy magic worked best when he fully understood a spell's framework. Once he comprehended the structure, changing attributes became relatively easy.
Small bits of floating ice now formed around Corey.
He flicked his wand.
The ice fragments shot toward Anta and Akira.
Akira quickly reacted by creating a burst of flames to melt the incoming attacks, but Anta struggled while retreating from Olivia's next swing.
One ice fragment struck his left arm.
Cold rapidly spread across his sleeve.
Anta jumped backward and created distance.
His breathing had already become slightly uneven.
This wasn't good.
Olivia's physical pressure alone was already difficult to handle. Corey supporting her from behind made the situation far worse.
Anta pointed his blade forward.
"Wind Turret!"
Invisible bullets compressed from wind mana rapidly fired from the sword tip.
Unlike normal wind blades, these attacks focused on speed and penetration rather than raw destructive power.
The bullets slammed repeatedly into Olivia's body.
Chunks of flesh tore apart.
Blood splattered across the arena floor.
Many students in the audience flinched at the sight.
Yet Olivia continued walking forward.
She raised her enlarged arm to shield herself while healing magic constantly repaired the damage.
Her thought process was simple.
Pain didn't matter.
As long as her body still moved, she could fight.
Olivia had never feared injuries. Ever since childhood, she had constantly trained her body to its limits. Broken bones, torn muscles, and bleeding wounds were all things she considered normal.
Compared to real danger, pain was meaningless.
Anta's confidence slowly began crumbling.
Why wasn't she slowing down?
He expected the continuous attacks to pressure her mana reserves, but Olivia healed almost instantly every time.
More importantly... she never hesitated.
Most fighters instinctively protected themselves from pain.
Olivia ignored it entirely.
That terrified him.
Meanwhile, Corey and Akira exchanged spells across the battlefield.
Streams of fire surged toward Corey from multiple directions.
Corey copied nearly every spell thrown at him while modifying them slightly to suit his own style.
To Corey, fighting Akira felt strangely enjoyable.
Most opponents either relied entirely on power or entirely on technique.
Akira balanced both.
Every spell had purpose.
Every movement created pressure.
Corey realized Akira wasn't simply attacking randomly. He was slowly manipulating the battlefield itself.
Interesting.
Corey carefully observed the positioning of Akira's flames.
The melting ice.
The scattered rubble.
The drifting mana flow.
Then Corey noticed something strange.
Akira had slowly reduced the frequency of his attacks.
Corey narrowed his eyes.
Why?
A cautious feeling rose in his chest.
Akira wasn't the type to lose composure after his teammate struggled. If anything, his reduced attacks meant he was preparing something.
But Corey couldn't determine what.
Should he warn Olivia?
No.
Olivia wouldn't understand complicated plans mid-battle anyway.
Corey sighed internally.
Sometimes working with Olivia felt exhausting.
Still... he trusted her strength.
At that moment, Olivia finally reached Anta.
Anta desperately swung his blade.
But Olivia grabbed the sword directly with her bare hand.
Blood poured from her palm.
Yet Olivia didn't care.
Her thoughts remained straightforward.
Stop enemy weapon.
Hit enemy.
Win.
She twisted her body and threw a massive punch.
Boom!
Anta's eyes widened the instant the punch connected.
For a brief moment, he genuinely thought his body had split apart.
The force launched him across the arena before he crashed violently into the protective barrier.
The barrier flickered from the impact.
Anta collapsed unconscious.
Akira's expression finally changed.
His teammate lost.
That alone wasn't surprising.
What unsettled him was how overwhelming Olivia had looked while doing it.
Still... his plan was already prepared.
Corey immediately advanced after seeing Anta fall.
Good.
Now it becomes two against one.
Akira began retreating while continuing smaller spell exchanges.
Corey pressed harder.
Victory felt close.
But then Corey noticed something.
Akira was smiling.
A cold chill immediately ran down Corey's spine.
Instinctively, he looked upward.
His pupils shrank.
A gigantic piece of rubble descended from above the arena.
At some point during their fight, Akira had secretly lifted part of the battlefield into the sky using levitation magic hidden within his flame spells.
Corey's mind raced instantly.
Too big to block directly.
Too fast to dodge completely.
Akira planned this from the start.
Corey suddenly understood why Akira reduced his attacks earlier. He needed mana concentration to maintain the levitation spell unnoticed.
"Crazy bastard…" Corey muttered.
If the rubble landed, both of them would be seriously injured.
Akira smiled bitterly.
He knew it was reckless.
But Bayarm Academy was hosting this tournament. Losing in front of their own crowd felt unbearable.
If victory required dangerous methods, then so be it.
The rubble crashed downward.
The audience screamed.
Then a blur shot into the sky.
Olivia.
Without hesitation, she launched herself upward and delivered a flying kick into the falling mass.
Boom!
The rubble exploded apart into dozens of smaller fragments.
The crowd erupted into cheers.
Olivia landed heavily in front of Akira.
Akira stared at her for a brief second.
He suddenly understood why Anta lost mentally before losing physically.
Olivia fought like a natural disaster.
There was no hesitation.
No fear.
No complexity.
Just overwhelming force moving straight toward you.
Before Akira could react further, Olivia kicked him directly across the face.
His body spun through the air before crashing on top of Anta.
Silence filled the arena.
Then the referee shouted,
"Victory! Formosa Academy!"
The audience exploded into applause.
Corey stood frozen.
His heart pounded strangely as he stared at Olivia.
He had always looked down on her intelligence. To him, Olivia was reckless, loud, and overly straightforward.
But now...
Watching her standing amidst broken rubble with blood dripping from her hands while barely breathing heavily at all... Corey felt something shift inside him.
Strength.
Confidence.
Fearlessness.
For the first time, Corey genuinely thought Olivia looked amazing.
Meanwhile, up in the audience seats, Lily nearly climbed over the railing in excitement.
"She won! Olivia won!"
Leon quickly grabbed the back of Lily's shirt before she could throw herself into the arena.
"You're acting crazier than Olivia," Leon said tiredly.
Lily ignored him completely while cheering loudly.
Beside them, Issac remained seated quietly.
Unlike the others, his focus stayed entirely on the strange metallic device inside his bag.
Tiny gears rotated beneath his fingers while engraved magical symbols glowed faintly across the surface.
Even while the crowd roared around him, Issac calmly adjusted the device with complete concentration.
But for a brief moment, he glanced toward Olivia below.
Then silently returned to his work.