The Appointed Day arrived quickly.
For the first time ever, the Magical Dueling Arena was packed with students, the crowd buzzing with excitement and energy.
Although Oselenka often saw magical sparring among students, such a large-scale gathering was truly rare.
In fact, everyone’s focus wasn’t really on Kefi and Emma’s duel but rather on the main event to come—the teacher duel.
The new loli teacher, Sefina, was set to face off against the Count’s son, Clyde.
Both were at least sixth-tier mages, and duels between sixth-tier mages were rarely seen—not just among students, but even among teachers.
This duel had undoubtedly piqued everyone’s interest.
As for the upcoming battle between Kefi and Emma on the field, most people saw it merely as an appetizer before the main course.
Many even believed the outcome was a foregone conclusion.
One was a first-tier, single-attribute Light-element commoner student; the other, a second-tier noble lady with dual Thunderfire affinity—the difference was obvious.
On the dueling platform, Kefi gripped her Light-element staff tightly.
She could clearly hear her own heart pounding wildly.
Facing countless gazes around her and Emma’s openly disdainful look, she felt so nervous she was almost suffocating.
Across from her, Emma wore a proud, arrogant expression, casually twirling her staff embedded with a red magic crystal as if she were there for an easy game rather than a duel.
In her eyes, defeating an opponent like Kefi was effortless.
In the front row of the eastern stands, the petite figure of Sefina occupied a conspicuous spot alone.
She lounged relaxedly against her chair, one leg crossed over the other, resting her cheek on a single hand.
Her wine-red eyes calmly watched the arena below, expressionless and unreadable.
On either side of her sat Mia and Ellaria.
Together, the three practically occupied the entire first two rows of the eastern stands.
No one dared sit too close to the strict and ruthless Sefina teacher…
***
Meanwhile, the unusual trio of Mia and Ellaria drew many curious glances from the students behind them.
They whispered secretly, amazed at how bold these two were to sit right next to the “Human-Shaped Tyrannosaurus” Sefina, not afraid of being thrown out by some high-level levitation spell.
However, no one but them knew just how “image-breaking” the conversation going on in the front row was at that moment.
“Sefina-sensei~~”
Mia cautiously elbowed Sefina, her voice low and full of sycophantic sweetness.
“Um… about those muffins you gave me last time… can I have another one? Just one! Please, I’ll do anything!”
Mia clasped her hands together, blinking her eyes pleadingly, full of hope and supplication.
Ellaria, curious, turned her head at this.
“Muffins? What’s that?”
“It’s a specialty from Sefina-sensei’s hometown!” Mia immediately perked up, excitedly recommending it to the princess.
“Super delicious! Soft and fluffy, sweet and fragrant, especially with that thing called maple syrup drizzled on top—wow… it’s so good it feels like your soul leaves your body! I really want another one!” She exaggerated the expression of bliss.
“Do you want some? Let’s ask Sefina-sensei together?” Mia blinked at Princess Ellaria.
Ellaria was somewhat tempted by her words, her emerald eyes unconsciously glancing at Sefina, but her pride wouldn’t allow her to beg the teacher, so she feigned indifference and said:
“Maybe not. Actually, I’m not that fond of sweets…” Ellaria’s gaze flickered away slightly.
“Ah?! Really…” Mia’s eyes showed obvious disappointment.
Who would have thought that this severe, no-nonsense teacher could be chased down by a student begging for food…
Sefina rolled her eyes at Mia in silent exasperation, shifting the crossed legs of her slim frame to the other side while still resting her cheek on her hand, then spoke coldly:
“Eat, eat, eat. All you ever think about is eating. Is now really the time for this? Watch the match!”
Her tone wasn’t harsh but was enough to make Mia shrink back and obediently turn her attention to the arena.
On the western stands, directly opposite Sefina, a tall, slender figure crossed her legs and silently watched Sefina with purple eyes.
“The new teacher Sefina is going to fight Clyde? Hmph, this should be interesting…” the woman muttered quietly.
At that moment, the referee signaled both sides to prepare.
“The duel begins!”
No sooner had the words fallen than Emma took the initiative to attack.
Clearly aiming for a quick victory, she swung her staff, hurling a scorching fireball hurtling toward Kefi, immediately followed by a crackling silver Arc Lightning.
A combination of Fireball and Arc Lightning.
Kefi’s face tightened; she dared not block head-on and hurriedly dodged to the side and back.
The fireball exploded where she had just been standing, igniting a burst of flames, while the Arc Lightning spread out in a fan shape, forcing Kefi to retreat awkwardly.
At the same time, she hurriedly raised a simple first-tier spell—Light Shield.
The Light Shield successfully blocked the residual energy of the spreading Arc Lightning, but the brightness flickered violently, showing it wasn’t an easy defense.
“Hmph, just dodging? A commoner will always be a commoner!” Emma sneered, her attacks growing fiercer.
A storm of first- and second-tier Thunder and Fire spells rained down on Kefi.
Kefi fell into a completely defensive stance, constantly moving and dodging, sometimes blocking with her Light Shield, sometimes casting Flash to disrupt Emma’s vision, occasionally launching a basic Light Bullet as a faint counterattack—but all were easily dispelled by Emma.
On the surface, Emma seemed to have absolute dominance.
Her attacks were dazzling and oppressive, drawing cheers from many of her supporters.
Kefi was like a small boat in a storm, seemingly ready to capsize at any moment.
“Looks like the result is no surprise.”
“As expected, the gap between first and second tier is just too big.”
“Light magic isn’t really suited for offense anyway…”
Such murmurs began to spread through the stands.
Mia clenched her fists nervously, worried for her dormmate.
Ellaria watched calmly, convinced that Kefi probably wouldn’t win.
In her eyes, the rank difference between mages was an unbridgeable chasm.
Only Sefina remained expressionless, seemingly indifferent to Kefi’s disadvantage.
As the relentless assault continued, Emma grew increasingly impatient.
She decided to use a stronger spell to end the battle.
She began chanting a longer incantation, the magic crystal at the top of her staff glowing with dazzling red-purple light as powerful mana gathered.
It was the second-tier spell Thunderfire.
A wide-range, high-powered hybrid spell.
“It’s over!” Emma shouted, thrusting her staff forward!
However, just as the storm of lightning and flames was about to erupt, a flash of resolute determination suddenly appeared in the eyes of the ever-defensive Kefi!
Instead of continuing to defend or dodge, she made a move that shocked everyone…