Luo Ye paid no mind to the temper of this little girl.
He raised his hand, fingers tracing arcs in the air as the magical circuits spread along his arm.
Unlike the fiery technique he had just demonstrated to Alicia and Professor Elmerlo II, this time the air condensed into a chilling frost.
“In my name, condense.”
As the deep incantation resonated, a deep blue ice block about half a meter tall, sharp-edged and emanating faint cold mist, solidified and hovered above the empty space between their desks.
The ice’s surface was smooth, radiating the stable fluctuations of a second-tier spell—the basic shaping form of the “Frostshield,” an ice-based magic shield sturdy enough to match the testing parameters of second-tier attack magic.
“Your turn,” Luo Ye withdrew his hand and pointed at the ice block. “Just like the professor showed, use the Fireball spell—that is, the Technique of Bathing Flames—and aim for the center. Output your mana steadily, feel the shaping and control.”
Luo Ye paused, then added with a hint of mockery:
“Be careful not to ‘underperform’ like when you got your report card.”
The moment Lilith heard “report card,” the anger she had just calmed flared up again instantly, her amber-golden eyes almost blazing with fire.
She whipped her head back, pouting childishly, retorting in a high-pitched voice, “Mind your own business! When I get serious, I’m fiercer than anyone!”
With that, Lilith took a deep breath, struggling to suppress her anger and focus on her magic.
However, seeing Luo Ye’s face—which she found increasingly “annoying”—and being repeatedly prodded with the sore spot of the “report card,” her carefully gathered mana suddenly stalled.
The fireball gathering in her small palm flickered sharply, becoming unstable.
Luo Ye’s gaze: Is that all?
“Hmph! Don’t tell me what to do!”
Lilith caught the meaning behind Luo Ye’s eyes and snorted coldly again.
She forced herself to concentrate, locking her focus on the center of the floating ice block.
The orange-red fireball quickly formed in her palm, radiating heat.
She forcefully hurled it toward the ice block’s center.
“Go!”
The moment the fireball howled toward the ice block, a sudden anomaly occurred!
Perhaps because she was too conscious of Luo Ye’s gaze, or because she desperately wanted to prove herself, the instant the fireball left her hand, her mana circuits exhibited a tiny, almost imperceptible flicker of hesitation.
But that slight lapse caused her precise mana control to fail instantly!
The fireball, which should have struck the ice block’s center directly, veered off suddenly less than half a meter from impact, as if pushed by an invisible hand or distorted by her unstable magic.
It not only missed the center—it didn’t even graze the edge of the ice block!
The orange-red fireball screamed as it changed direction sharply, like an out-of-control cannonball, skimming the corner of the Frostshield and shooting straight toward the grand, exquisitely decorated classroom chandelier hanging above Luo Ye’s head, made of complex crystal and metal.
“Oh no!”
Lilith noticed the deviation the instant the fireball’s trajectory shifted.
Her small face went pale, and she cried out in panic, trying to recall her mana—but it was already too late.
Luo Ye’s pupils contracted!
In a flash, he had no time to think.
His body reacted instinctively in an instant!
“Shield of Extreme Ice!”
Luo Ye shouted sharply just as the chaotic fireball brushed past the ice block and was about to strike the metal framework of the chandelier—
A translucent magical shield, rippling visibly with cold waves, materialized before the fireball.
It was a variant of the “Frostshield,” but denser and tougher—rapidly forming less than half a meter above his head!
Boom!!!
The runaway fireball slammed hard against the magical shield!
The collision triggered a small elemental explosion, scorching winds scattering fine shards of ice in every direction!
Worse yet, although the shield blocked the fireball’s main impact, the powerful backlash and shockwave violently shook the fragile connection points of the crystal chandelier!
Crack!
With a grating sound of metal twisting and snapping, the massive, costly chandelier gave a pained groan and shattered.
It began to fall straight down toward Luo Ye and Lilith’s heads below!
“Damn, this is murder!”
Luo Ye couldn’t help but mutter as he held the shield stance, his mana circuits still active, forcibly condensing another Shield of Extreme Ice above his head.
If he dodged, Lilith standing beside him would be in danger!
The heavy chandelier crashed down fiercely against Luo Ye’s newly reinforced shield.
“Bang!” A deep, drum-like boom!
The ice shield shattered into countless crystalline fragments.
Luo Ye felt his arms suddenly heavy; a backlash of force shot through his arms and body, staggering him backward several steps before he barely regained his footing.
The remaining chandelier structure clattered to the ground beside them, metal frame deformed and crystals shattered all over the floor, tinkling for a while.
The entire tiered classroom fell silent.
All practice, all whispers, all jealousy and disdain abruptly ceased in the wake of this sudden disaster.
Dozens of eyes fixed sharply on the highest corner of the classroom where the chaos had erupted.
Dust mixed with lingering icy mist blurred Luo Ye’s figure slightly.
He exhaled, shook off the numbness in his arm caused by prolonged magic use, then looked down at the shattered chandelier remnants still trembling lightly at his feet, surrounded by shards of glass and crystal debris.
Then, slowly, he lifted his head.
His gaze locked precisely on the true culprit behind the incident—Lilith Kanore.
The golden-eyed countess’s daughter stood cautiously over a meter away from the crash site, hands exaggeratedly clasped behind her back, toes nervously tapping the floor.
Her pretty face turned toward the wall, neck craned, eyes “focused” on a nonexistent stain, as if it were a lost masterpiece of the Empire.
A faint pallor lingered on her otherwise flawless cheeks—the telltale sign of someone caught causing trouble.
Moreover…
The more Luo Ye stared, the more she pouted her soft pink lips, puffed her cheeks, and feigned a pathetic, barely audible whistle completely out of tune…
“Hoo… shh… hoo…”
Her expression screamed guilt, yet she stubbornly pretended “none of my business,” “I know nothing.”
In the midst of the mess and Luo Ye’s silent gaze, she looked…
Exceptionally in need of discipline.
“Li-Li-lith, classmate…”
“…Is this what you meant by ‘I’m fiercer than anyone when I get serious’?”
Luo Ye extended a hand expressionlessly, pointing at the expensive pile of wreckage at their feet.
Lilith kept whistling.
“That’s enough. What happened? Who did this?”
Professor Elmerlo II, unable to hold back, shuffled forward with his aged steps to scold.
Lilith immediately trembled like a kitten caught by the scruff of its neck, filled with guilt.
Luo Ye glanced at her.
Lilith, sensing his gaze, quietly lifted her head to look at him.
Then, as if on cue, both pointed fingers at each other.
“She did it! It’s all her fault!” Luo Ye accused.
“He did it! It’s all his fault!” Lilith retorted.
Luo Ye: ?