Hundreds of magic apprentices surrounded the edge of the White Brick Arena.
Inside the surrounding Teaching Castle Complex, dozens of great mages watched silently from the windows, but the atmosphere was overwhelmingly tense, with no one daring to utter a word.
Only when the four oddly dressed witches from the School of Healing appeared at a corner of the city wall did murmurs begin to rise around them.
There was no need for idle chatter, nor did anyone speak to them. Samimi and the others walked straight to the edge of the White Brick Arena.
On the platform, four elemental mages were already waiting for them.
Among them, two were familiar: the Flame School’s president and vice president, Hong Lion and Cheng Zhuozi. Indeed, they had come in person.
But the other two young elemental mages were unknown to them, and it was clear these two might be the decisive factors in this battle.
The third was a short boy with brown hair, likely only twelve or thirteen years old. His face was still childish, but his eyes revealed a maturity and calmness beyond his years.
The fourth was a tall, imposing senior sister from the Elemental Factions, arms crossed, radiating confident battle intent. A faintly arrogant smile curled her lips. Her light green hair with white tips fluttered elegantly in the wind—utterly dashing.
“A pale-toned hair…”
Samimi’s heart skipped a beat as she looked at the senior sister’s waving hair.
This hair color already spoke volumes about her strength and uniqueness.
So far, they had seen hair colors ranging from pale, silver-white, yellow-white, gray-white, pink-white, and now a green-white beauty senior sister appeared.
In this otherworldly realm, the most frightening thing was seeing a pale-haired enemy girl.
They had easily beaten Fabiana and Sashafa before, because those two were still in their juvenile states as human war captains and holy blade wielders. Once fully developed, they wouldn’t be so easy to handle.
Yet this green-white haired senior sister was clearly already in mid-growth—fully matured—not like their little fledgling selves, and her strength was not to be underestimated.
“My ominous feeling is way too accurate,” Samimi shook her head helplessly.
“It’s over. Those two are the presidents of the [Mountain Faction] and [Wind Faction]. How is this possible? Weren’t we told only Flame School members would be here? How can they borrow people from other factions? Or did they borrow the other side’s presidents?” Rebecca exclaimed, revealing the identities of the two.
“The Mountain Faction’s president, [Child of the Mountain] Khalid, is said to be the most gifted among the young generation of mages. At such a young age, he has already cultivated a magical power as surging as a tsunami. His Earth Magic specializes in constructing defensive fortifications, and his defensive spells are no longer simple shields.” Bemore explained from the side.
“What about the other one?” Samimi asked.
“She is the president of the Wind Faction, Shirley-Williams. Khalid is the most talented, but she is the undisputed strongest mage among the young generation, no questions asked,” Bemore continued, “Not to mention how advanced her Wind Magic is, she is the only mage who can master the ‘Flight’ magic. President V—you should know how terrifying that is.”
“V?” Samimi shuddered.
In this world, no one has the concept of magically grown wings. Flying is an incredibly powerful ability here. Regardless of what kind of magic it is, if you can fly, your power level instantly increases by several ranks.
And as a human race’s battle mage, those who can access the skies are naturally the strongest born from among them.
The so-called ‘Flight Magic’ is the most common technique of this kind.
But mages cannot simply fly by sheer strength or hurling bricks; it requires a perfect unity of self, magical power, and nature—three elements balancing absolutely in harmony.
This demands an extremely high level of comprehension and attainment in understanding oneself, magic, and nature.
It is very particular about the connection. Even veteran mages may spend their whole lives training magic but never manage to fly. It’s not that older means better flight.
Thus, Flight Magic is considered an awakened talent for a mage, demonstrating its incredible rarity and value.
A mage who masters Flight Magic is like a ground artillery cannon upgraded into a sky battleship. Everyone should easily grasp just how awesome that is.
“How are our odds?” Samimi asked.
“If it weren’t for Shirley Williams, we’d have a 50% chance of winning. But with her involved, our chances are less than one in five,” Bemore analyzed.
“Whew…” Samimi felt the pressure mounting.
“Bemore, Miss Mimi, what should we do?” Rebecca was already trembling, clutching her Pastoralist staff.
“What to do? We have no retreat. We can only fight. We won’t be wiped out just for losing, right?” Samimi laughed boldly, stepping onto the arena first.
Niubao followed immediately. Rebecca, still holding her staff, was pulled onto the platform by Samimi and Niubao together.
The last to step up was Bemore. Seeing the opponent’s formidable lineup, she actually felt a bit relieved.
Because the opponents were so strong, the School of Healing had no chance of victory, so her undercover mission required no action. That way, she wouldn’t reveal any cracks, and the secret would forever remain buried deep inside her.
With one hand shading her hat brim, Bemore took a small leap onto the platform, elegant and cool.
Though Bemore was a homebody mage, she was also an adventurer, and her foundational stamina was far better than these noble family mages here.
Only upon reaching the platform could the four of them see everything clearly.
Behind the four opponents stood all the members of their three elemental factions, a huge crowd of magic apprentices, collectively staring coldly at them.
On either side of the platform were the neutral Lightning and Water Factions, who had no participants in the battle. Though they were not against them, they also remained neutral, definitely not helping.
In other words, this duel was not simply the School of Healing versus the Flame School. It was an unprecedented challenge from outsiders against the authority of the Continental Magic Academy.
No wonder three faction presidents sat firmly on the opposite side. They could neither afford to lose nor to let things slip.
Although the Five Great Elements are mutually hostile, if an outsider mage tries to encroach on their territory, the Five Great Elements would immediately unite to expel the intruder.
Samimi realized she had underestimated the stubbornness of the Continental Magic Academy. Her thoughts had been too shallow, and her reasoning insufficiently rigorous.
“Looks like I’m not cut out to be a politician,” Samimi said with a self-deprecating smile.
Without the help of the novel’s hints, she wasn’t as smart as she thought.
Hong Lion waved his large hand and pointed one finger at them, shouting loudly: “Traitor witches! Sinful nuns! Beast nuns! And you, Pastoralist! Are you ready to die?”