Lily looked toward her teammates one last time before the match began.
Leon sat crouched near the preparation area carefully cutting stacks of paper into equal squares with small precise motions. Beside him were multiple piles already sorted by size and thickness. Some papers were rough and durable while others were smooth and thin enough to almost be transparent.
Issac meanwhile was surrounded by scattered metallic parts and tools. Tiny clicking sounds rang out every few seconds as he adjusted something inside a silver gauntlet. Unlike Leon, who looked relaxed, Issac's face remained unreadable and serious.
Lily tightened her grip around her staff.
Unlike usual she had removed her academy cloak completely. The heavy cloth only restricted movement during close combat and after watching the previous matches she understood something important.
The remaining schools were monsters.
Anyone still left in the tournament could not be underestimated.
Especially Lumen Academy.
Even before the match started Lily could already feel the pressure radiating from the opposing team. They carried themselves differently from normal students. It was the confidence of people who had rarely ever lost.
After the arena was finally repaired from the earlier battle, the referee floated upward and amplified his voice with mana.
"Next we have Formosa Academy, the greatest academy in the kingdom, versus Lumen Academy, the 'King' of the East!"
The audience exploded into cheers instantly.
"From Formosa Academy we have Lily Aedile, Leon Green, and Issac Blues!"
Lily stepped onto the stage first. Leon casually waved at the audience beside her causing a few people to cheer back while Issac silently followed with both hands in his pockets as if he did not care about the crowd at all.
The referee continued loudly.
"And representing Lumen Academy we have Ludger Wright, Kelly Kim, and Pogan Laul!"
The atmosphere shifted immediately.
Ludger walked forward calmly with elegant steps and perfect posture. His mature appearance and gentle smile made him look more like a noble heir than a student. Girls in the crowd immediately screamed his name.
Beside him, Kelly Kim hurried to match his pace with energetic strides. Though small and petite, there was an aggressiveness in her movements that made Lily instinctively cautious.
Then there was Pogan.
The blond giant walked like the entire arena belonged to him. His muscular frame alone intimidated people while the gold tooth in his mouth flashed whenever he grinned.
Compared to them, Lily's team looked painfully ordinary.
Lily noticed it immediately.
The crowd's expectations were clearly leaning toward Lumen Academy.
Normally that would irritate her.
But right now she actually preferred it.
Lower expectations meant lower attention.
And lower attention meant more opportunities.
The referee raised his whistle.
"BEGIN!"
The instant the whistle blew Lily moved first exactly as planned.
Their strategy before the match had been simple.
Probe the enemy.
Among the three of them Lily possessed the least unique magic. Her elemental magic was common knowledge and easier to reveal safely. If the enemy possessed strange abilities, it was better for her to force them out first before Leon and Issac exposed their own cards.
Wind gathered around Lily's feet as she dashed sideways.
At the same time she fired several fireballs toward the enemy formation.
The flames curved through the air while wind bullets hid behind them.
A moment later water spears shot upward from below while rock spikes descended from above.
It looked flashy.
But Lily intentionally limited the power.
She carefully kept every spell around intermediate level.
Strong enough to appear talented.
Weak enough to hide her true abilities.
Ludger calmly sliced apart the incoming spells with his bare hands.
Not even blades.
His hands alone.
Every slash split apart fire and stone cleanly as if he were cutting paper.
Kelly meanwhile swung her staff gently.
Soft white cotton spread outward and wrapped around the incoming spells.
The moment Lily's attacks touched the cotton they bounced away.
Pogan simply dodged.
No magic.
No weapon.
Just raw physical movement.
His massive body moved far faster than Lily expected. Despite his size he weaved through explosions effortlessly.
Lily narrowed her eyes.
None of them are normal.
Kelly suddenly retaliated.
The cotton around her launched Lily's own spells back toward her team.
Lily's eyes widened slightly.
The reflected spells were stronger than before.
The fireball expanded larger.
The wind bullets spun faster.
Even the rock spikes became denser.
Without hesitation Lily slammed her staff downward.
Water surged upward while earth hardened beneath it creating a layered barrier in front of Leon and Issac.
Boom!
The reflected attacks exploded violently against the shield.
Cracks spread across the arena floor beneath Lily's feet from the impact.
Using the recoil Lily boosted herself upward with wind magic.
As she rose above the battlefield she quickly analyzed the enemy positioning.
Ludger remained in the center.
Kelly and Pogan were moving outward in opposite directions.
They're trying to split us apart.
Lily immediately aimed her staff downward.
"Ice Beam!"
A pillar of freezing energy shot directly toward Pogan.
This time Lily used significantly more mana.
The beam traveled too quickly for ordinary dodging.
But just before impact—
A hole suddenly opened through Pogan's torso.
The ice beam passed harmlessly through empty space.
Lily's concentration broke.
What?!
For a split second her brain failed to process what she had just seen.
Was his body intangible?
No.
That didn't feel right.
The hole itself looked physical.
As Lily landed back on the ground Leon spoke calmly.
"I'll take the giant."
Issac adjusted his glasses slightly.
"I'll deal with the girl."
The two immediately separated leaving Lily alone against Ludger.
Lily inhaled slowly.
This was fine.
Probably.
Leon dashed forward first.
Two sheets of paper flicked from his fingers toward Pogan.
The giant grinned.
The moment the paper approached, his muscular body suddenly became thinner.
Not flatter.
Actually thinner.
The paper passed harmlessly through the empty spaces beside his organs.
Pogan immediately enlarged himself back to normal size and threw a punch.
Leon jumped backward calmly.
But suddenly Pogan's arm stretched several meters longer.
Leon barely crossed his arms before the elongated fist slammed into him.
Bang!
Leon flew backward and crashed directly into Kelly's cotton spread across the arena wall.
The moment his body touched the cotton his expression changed slightly.
Mana was leaving his body.
Leon immediately dropped downward onto the bare floor where the sensation vanished.
His eyes narrowed thoughtfully.
So that's her ability.
Kelly's cotton could manipulate mana transfer.
Earlier it strengthened Lily's reflected spells.
Now it drained Leon's mana.
Meaning she could either inject or absorb mana depending on what she touched.
That made her support capabilities terrifying.
Meanwhile Pogan cracked his neck while grinning proudly.
Leon observed him carefully.
At first glance Pogan's ability looked absurdly overpowered.
He could enlarge, shrink, stretch, thin, distort, or reshape his body however he wanted.
But Leon understood something most fighters ignored.
Magic always had a cost.
Always.
Especially body-related magic.
Human flesh could not simply create extra mass from nothing.
Which meant there had to be an exchange somewhere.
Leon's thoughts rapidly moved through possibilities.
Option one.
Pogan directly reconstructed his body using mana itself.
Possible.
But inefficient.
Mana constructs attached to flesh should behave differently.
And Leon noticed the transformed areas still bled naturally when scratched.
Meaning the altered parts remained real flesh.
Option two.
Exchange.
Pogan was likely redistributing matter from somewhere else in his body.
That explained why certain sections became unnaturally thin when other sections enlarged.
But if that was true...
Leon's face twitched slightly.
There were several body parts he sincerely hoped Pogan was not using as reserves.
Pogan suddenly enlarged his legs dramatically and sprinted toward him.
Leon immediately raised his wand.
The two earlier papers curved through the air and returned toward him from behind Pogan.
As the paper edges scraped against his skin, Pogan reflexively thinned himself again.
Automatic reaction.
Leon clicked his tongue.
"Tch."
The papers folded into blade-like shapes and shot forward repeatedly.
Though they looked fragile, Pogan no longer underestimated them after seeing how easily they sliced his flesh earlier.
This time he compressed his torso until it became nearly paper-thin itself.
The blades passed harmlessly through the gaps again.
Leon frowned.
Annoying.
Extremely annoying.
Meanwhile on the opposite side of the battlefield Issac finally equipped the silver gauntlet onto his arm.
Kelly laughed loudly.
"What are you planning to do with that? Punch me?"
Issac ignored her completely.
Instead he calmly tested the gauntlet twice by opening and closing his fist.
Tiny mechanical sounds clicked inside the weapon.
Then he pointed his palm directly toward Kelly.
A concentrated beam erupted outward.
The light alone hurt the audience's eyes.
Kelly reacted instantly creating multiple layers of cotton barriers.
But the beam pierced through them effortlessly.
The mana density behind Issac's attack completely overwhelmed her defenses.
Kelly barely ducked in time.
The beam scorched through the air directly above her head.
Cold sweat dripped down her face.
That attack was dangerous.
Very dangerous.
Immediately she surrounded herself with thicker reinforced cotton.
More layers.
More mana.
More defense.
Issac lowered his arm calmly.
He did not attack again.
He simply stood there watching.
Kelly frowned.
Why wasn't he attacking?
Then realization slowly hit her.
He was waiting.
Every second she maintained those reinforced defenses her mana drained continuously.
Issac had no intention of rushing her.
He was intentionally forcing her to waste mana.
Kelly cursed internally but was unable to do anything else.
On another side of the battlefield Leon's fight had become increasingly intense.
Five floating paper blades now circled around him constantly attacking from unpredictable angles.
Pogan twisted and reshaped himself repeatedly to avoid fatal hits.
Leon appeared calm externally.
Inside however irritation steadily built.
Every attack that should have landed missed by centimeters because of Pogan's ridiculous body manipulation.
Meanwhile Pogan himself was breathing slightly harder now.
Leon noticed it immediately.
Good.
His ability consumes stamina.
That meant prolonged combat favored Leon.
Finally Leon exhaled softly.
Enough testing.
With a wave of his wand dozens of paper sheets fused together into one giant structure.
Fold.
Fold.
Fold.
A massive cube formed instantly.
Leon launched it toward Pogan.
Instead of dodging sideways Pogan immediately turned and ran.
But he was too late.
The cube unfolded midair and swallowed him whole.
Bang!
The structure sealed shut completely.
Violent impacts echoed from inside.
Yet the paper walls remained firm and tight.
Leon stared at the cube sadly.
"That used way too much paper..."
Even now he still mourned wasted materials.
Meanwhile Lily's situation was far worse.
Ludger pressured her relentlessly.
At first Lily could not understand why fighting him felt so uncomfortable.
Then realization struck.
Neutral magic.
Just like Kane.
That explained everything.
Neutral mana naturally disrupted elemental spells which was why Ludger sliced through her attacks so easily.
At the tip of Ludger's fingers compressed neutral mana formed sharp invisible edges.
Even during combat Lily could not stop herself from thinking—
Kane would look unbelievably cool doing this.
The thought almost distracted her.
Almost.
Ludger suddenly appeared directly in front of her.
Too fast.
Lily barely blocked with wind magic before his mana blade sliced through it and grazed her cheek.
Her heartbeat quickened.
Unlike Pogan's overwhelming force or Kelly's support abilities—
Ludger fought with terrifying precision.
Every movement cornered her carefully.
Every attack forced her into less favorable positions.
Every exchange slowly increased pressure.
He wasn't trying to overpower her.
He was controlling the battle itself.
Lily gritted her teeth.
If this continued she would eventually make a mistake.
Then—
She did.
Only a tiny opening.
A single misstep while retreating.
But Ludger noticed instantly.
His fingers folded into a gun shape.
Compressed mana gathered at the tip.
Bang!
The mana bullet struck Lily directly in the shoulder.
Pain exploded through her body.
Her arm lost strength instantly.
Her staff slipped from her fingers and clattered loudly across the arena floor.
Lily's pupils shrank.
The moment her staff left her hand—
Ludger smiled faintly.
And dashed forward.