Ch. 185: The Judge and the Wizard
Igni: “Competitors, step forward!”
Standing on the field, Igni called out to the two girls, and the two stepped forward.
Igni had an armband on his arm. This was to show that he was a judge.
The match Igni was judging was a match between 2 first years.
On the field next to him, Yoori was also a judge for another match.
Igni: “Begin!”
With Igni’s signal, the two girls began initiating their Magic and their Spells clashed.
The thinly scattered spectators yelled with excitement as the two Wizards fought…….but to be frank, Igni found the fight lacking.
Igni had been involved solely with 1st rate Wizards - not the those with potential to become 1st rate Wizard, but the 1st rate Wizards themselves. That’s why the levels of the Spells and the strategies used were so high.
But he did not find the same components in the Spell Battle occurring before him.
They were both just blasting their Spells at one another.
“{Water Lance}!”
“{Fireball}!
As he watched a girl use a [Fire] Type against a [Water] Type Spell, Igni lazily wondered if the girl had high compatibility to [Fire].
For the individual competition, you had to push your opponent out of the field, have them surrender, or place them in a state where they can no longer fight. These rules were designed so that the competitors can clash more fiercely with one another.
That’s why there were several Healers from the Healing Track standing by.
As Igni watched, the [Water] Type girl circled around behind the [Fire] Type girl.
“{Water Pierce}!”
With the incantation, small spheres of water rose up into the air, and Igni heard a small <splash> as one of the spheres pierced the [Fire] girl’s arm.
“......ugh!”
The [Fire] girl cried out in pain.
As she bled, she charged forward.
“{Fire shot}!”
<BA-BAM!!>
And she blew away the [Water] girl’s water spheres.
“ “ WHOA!! ” ”
The crowd cheered in awe.
Igni quickly checked if either contestant stepped out of bounds.
The [Water] girl stood her ground and breathing heavily, placed a wall made of water before her.
“{Fire Lance}!!”
Seeing an opportunity, the [Fire] girl slammed her Spell into the wall.
But as soon as the spear made of flames crashed into the wall, countless spheres of water reflected back at her!!
Igni: (........oh? A Reflection Spell?)
Igni was impressed with a Spell he hasn’t seen in a while.
A Reflection Spell is just as it sounds. It is a Spell that takes an enemy’s attack and reflects a Spell of the same strength back at them. Knowing just that, you would think many more Wizards would utilize useful Spells like these, but there is usually a critical limitation.
And Reflection Spells were no exception. It had severe limitations.
One limitation was that the amount of time it could wait to withstand a Spell was extremely short.
It was approximately less than a second.
If they received an attack that lasted longer, then the enemy’s attack would just come through.
It was a very risky Spell.
In this situation, standard strategy called for Defensive Spells.
From the level of the girls, Igni had to reassess his assumptions about the girls.
It was these kinds of outcomes that made watching two Wizards fight so much fun.
“.........!!”
The [Fire] girl did not expect her Spell to backfire, and she yelped as she endured the pain. She quickly glanced at Igni.
Igni: (.....is she surrendering?)
But she took her eyes off Igni, and looked back at the [Water] girl.
She planned to keep on fighting.
“........{Fire Tempest}”
The [Water] girl had jumped into the center of the field after reflecting the Spell.
Timing her approach, the [Fire] girl began her incantation for a Large-Scale Spell.
Igni: “......hey now.” Igni mumbled in surprise.
A Large-Scale Spell was the defining line of whether you can call yourself a 1st Rate Wizard or not.
Putting aside the Wizard Academy Students, there were Wizard fighting on the frontlines that couldn’t use this Spell.
That was the Spell a 1st Year just attempted.
Igni subconsciously braced himself.
Of course, just because she’s a 1st Year does not automatically mean that she cannot use the Spell.
Alicia, for example, is able to use a Disaster-Level Spell which is one step up Large-Scale, and Yoori can use Large-Scale Spells too.
But in Igni’s eyes, the girl before him did not look to be that exceptional of a Wizard.
“It’s over!!”
The [Fire] girl screamed as she raised her arm into the air, and a giant whirlwind of flames appeared in the center and engulfed the field and raced towards the [Water] girl.
If the flames reached the [Water] girl, it would be the [Fire] girl’s victory.
Igni was prepared to jump in to make sure the [Water] girl would not die from the attack.
But as Igni was bracing himself to jump in, the tornado of flames began crumbling.
The flames began bloating in the center and were about to erupt at any given point.
Igni: “........! The match is over!”
Igni shouted as he directed a {Fireball} to explode in one direction and detonated it!
Using the force of the blast, he jumped straight into the field!!
He first grabbed the [Fire] girl who was right in front of him, detonated another {Fireball} in midair to turn a 90 degree angle, and grabbed the [Water] girl before exiting the field.
A moment later, the tornado of flames exploded.
The explosive winds hit the Barrier Spell surrounding the field, and a deafening sound followed.
Igni: “.......it’s your loss.”
The [Fire] girl initiated a Spell and lost control.
And as a result, a judge had to step in to rescue the contestants.
That was the reason why the [Fire] girl was determined as the loser.
“.......huh? How did I get here?”
The [Water] girl, still confused, wondered out loud.
“Huh?! Igni?! Why am I being carried by you, Igni?!?!”
The [Water] girl now stood on her own.
Igni realized that she looked familiar because he spoke to her when he was looking for Estea.
Igni: “You win this match.”
“What?! Really?! YESー!!”
Hearing her carefree voice, Igni also let out a sigh of relief.
Comments