After that eye-opening show, the battles that followed suit were a lot more conventional. Some of the more ordinary students also began to go up on stage one-by-one. The battles between those students were lacking in flavor compared to the first few ones and it was obvious that they were just there for the sake of participating. Fortunately, the academy was smart enough to raise the curtain with a few enthralling shows first, otherwise, the whole atmosphere would be dull and lacklustre.
As expected, the battles proceeded very quickly. In a blink of an eye, Mia, whose match was placed somewhere in the middle, was soon notified to go to the dedicated resting area to prepare to go on stage. Baiyi followed her and as soon as they reached the resting area, Mia was inevitably met with a few more looks from a few serious students, making her even more nervous about the whole situation.
"Relax, Mia. I haven't seen any tough opponent yet at the moment. Just believe in yourself and that you're the strongest right here!" Baiyi encouraged her again just as she was about to step on the stage. At the same time, he glanced over at another boy who was getting ready to enter the ring as well. That student was also a Soul Armature Practitioner and his Soul Armature had even chatted with Baiyi before in the 'Seniors Park'. When they noticed Baiyi, they politely nodded at him.
Since a while ago, that boy had his eyes trained on Mia and he seemed unwilling to move his gaze away. It appeared that he was completely fascinated by Mia and her outfit which made her even more beautiful and dazzling. It wasn't until his Soul Armature could not stand it anymore and pinched both of his cheeks hard that he finally regained his senses and looked away.
There was absolutely nothing to be afraid of about that opponent of hers. Baiyi even suspected that the boy would be willing to surrender on the spot if Mia had asked him to do so.
When Baiyi was about to remind Mia about their strategy again, he suddenly remembered the words of the Shadow and so, he quickly changed his words and asked, "Mia, I have one thing that I need your opinion on. I can evaluate all of your opponent's ability and levels and then formulate a set of winning strategy for you but I'm not sure whether you'll like this or not? Or, do you intend to win this battle on your own?"
Slightly taken aback, Mia was stunned for a while before she shook her head and said without any hesitation, "Thank you for your kindness, Mr. Hope but I hope that you'll let me do this by myself. This is my battle after all."
"Even if some of the opponents are stronger and you might lose? Does it not matter to you if you lose the opportunity to become Tisdale's classmate?" Baiyi questioned again.
Mia lowered her head and pouted her lips as she pondered over what Baiyi said. A hesitant look flashed across her face but a few seconds later, a determined and earnest expression could be seen on her face as she said confidently, "I can't possibly rely on you for everything, Mr. Hope! You have already taught me a lot of things in the last month. Even though I really wish to become Sis Tisdale's classmate but the promise would only mean something if I rely on my own efforts, right? So, please, this time, do let me fight using my own strength!"
When Baiyi heard her answer, he did not say anything anymore. Although his good intentions were rejected by that little girl, he was more than happy with how the situation turned out. Even though she was dressed up beautifully today, Mia was still the person she normally was. She would still act spoiled like a little kitten, to the point that she was becoming more and more attached to Baiyi but out of respect and love for him, she would always obey and listen to his every word. She was still the strong and independent girl who had never once gave up on herself.
It's wonderful, isn't it? Not many people have that kind of awareness that she does, Baiyi told the Voidwalkers.
"I've told you before that she's a good girl," the Archmage also said happily, "Continue to take good care of her. Maybe one day, she'll be our pride!"
Just like that, under Baiyi's watch, Mia stepped on to the ring for the first time in her life. Her breathtaking attire garnered her a burst of cheers from under the stage, along with a few voices that could be heard cursing the anti-gravity and light spell that was emitting from her robe. At the same time, there were quite a few people who were busy asking around which course the beautiful girl was in.
The situation certainly did increase Mia's heartbeat. Nervous and a little excited, she gripped the staff tightly and began to come up with a strategy on how to defeat her opponent. Everything that she needed to learnt she had already done so from Baiyi, but she would still need to exercise her brain when it came to the actual battle.
As for her opponent, well, he seemed to be a little dazed and stunned by Mia's beauty. With his face completely flushed, he kept staring at Mia with a dumb smile on his face and even forgot to greet the referee when he entered the ring. Even after the referee had cast a protective enchantment over them and announced the start of the battle, he seemed to be still lost in a trance.
Without wasting another second, Mia bluntly fired a Fireball towards his face. He only managed to utter a "Huuurmph!" before being blasted off the stage, his clothes were still lit with flame when he came to his senses…
Looked like that little girl did not fancy being stared at like that at all…
Such an embarrassing moment certainly aroused a wave of laughter among the students. In all the previous battles, there were at least a few exchanges of offense spells and defensive spells before the battle ended but a situation where a student was knocked off with one blow was the first case that had happened that day.
"This is so embarrassing! How can you even forget to cast a defense spell? Have you lost your f*cking soul?!" The Soul Armature was outraged seeing his own practitioner carried off by the chaplain to one side to be treated. He quickly followed but could not stop his muttering at the same time.
In truth, Baiyi secretly found the whole situation funny too. That young man was still a little young and naive. The moment he saw a beautiful girl, he completely forgot how to function. It was certain that he would be taken advantage of all the time in the future with that trait of his. Without a doubt, a young, beautiful and hot female sorcerer would definitely have the upper hand in a combat.
Mia, who had just won her first victory, quickly hopped around joyfully like a bunny over to Baiyi's side. With a proud and satisfied look on her face, Baiyi could see that she was extremely pleased with herself.
"Well done!" Baiyi stroked her head and Mia moved her head along to match his strokes and used her face to rub against his palm as if she was trying to cool her blushing face against the cold metal armor.
"But there are a few things that you need to watch out for, Mia," Pinching her cheek, Baiyi continued, "You were a little hesitant in casting the Fireball just now. Remember! There's only a small window of opportunity when your opponent let his guard down! Not only that, your incantation was a little slow too!"
"O-Okay! I'll take note!" Mia nodded politely.
"Your next opponent would most likely not be as dumb as that silly boy. You must be cautious!" Baiyi reminded her again, "Alright, let's go back to the stand and watch the other duels. You must pay attention and carefully observe the rest of the competitors. It's best to note down the spells that they are accustomed to using so that you'll know how to counterattack them if you meet them in the second round later."
In truth, Baiyi wanted to do it personally but since Mia had said that she wanted to rely on herself to win the battle, Baiyi decided to just play the role of an advisor and let her carry out the rest of the fight by herself.
Therefore, in the next few rounds, Mia really did pay her full attention on the duels. She even secretly took out a small notebook from her pouch and jot down the specialties of the winners in the book. From time to time, she would stop writing, seemingly lost in her thoughts before continuing again. She was probably thinking of a strategy on how to win if she somehow meet them in the next round. Not only had she not been arrogant and proud over the extra training that Baiyi had given her, she did not swell up with pride as well over her first easy victory but instead, she became more conscientious and earnest in learning. No doubt her attitude was very good.
Finally, the first round of the battles had come to an end. Those who lost were all out and so the number of the competitors was half of the original number. Students who were stronger slowly began to stand out and sure enough, two pages of Mia's notebook were already completely filled with all her notes.
Glancing at the neat and beautiful handwriting, Baiyi asked, "Is there any notable opponent?"
"Everyone is just so amazing!" Mia nodded her head and pointed to one particular name, "Jerry from the next class is really impressive, I think he had the easiest win among all of them. And the pink robed girl from my Soul Armature course, she seems to be very well equipped with a lot of magical tools and consumables! These are the two most prominent opponents so far. As for the others, I think I stand a chance in winning against them!"
"Those two fellows? Hmm... They are indeed a little difficult," Baiyi nodded his head in agreement. It seemed like that girl had quite a good judgement. The two opponents that she pointed out were indeed much stronger than her. They were considered as pretty outstanding among all of the sophomores.
Baiyi who sat across the ring, could feel the surge of magic the moment the pink robed girl stepped onto the stage, indicating that the robe was no ordinary equipment. The sorcerer robe that Mia was wearing which placed an emphasis on aesthetic value was no match at all.
Just with her clothing alone Baiyi could already feel the difference radiating from her. It seemed like that girl must have come from quite a wealthy background. The tools and scrolls that she prepared could rival the ones that I prepared for Mia. Without a doubt, that girl would be quite a tough opponent for Mia! From the heated discussions of the students sitting next to the ring, Baiyi found out that the girl seems to be a daughter of a Grand Duke. He wondered why she even came to study at the academy that was designated for commoners.
As for the boy named Jerry, he was quite a remarkable student too. Although his equipment was not the best, the innate aptitude that he possessed was the best among all of the students there. Even though he was only at the Intermediate Level, he could already cast a Level Two spell without any incantations at all. The speed of his spell casting was fast and smooth, proving that he was about to make a breakthrough into the Advanced Level very soon. His Soul Armature often boasted about it as well in the 'Seniors Park', telling everybody that his practitioner was born in a magical family and had been practicing magic since he was very young.
Hmm... It looks like those two opponents would be the most difficult to defeat. Their strength are significantly higher than the other students of the same grade. If there was a betting plate involved in the battle, I'm sure that their betting odds would be the lowest amongst all. Seems like they've entered this battle with the intention of winning golden collar too.
Even so, it was not too hard for Mia to defeat them as long as she could come up with a suitable strategy to deal with the both of them. After all, other than teaching her some proper spells, Baiyi had also taught her a few underhanded tricks that would help her win the battle. All he had to do now was to wait and see if she knew how to use them to her own advantage or not.