Chapter 60: Thunder Spear!

Samimi is the real witch!
A vicious, brainwashing, manipulative witch!
She must’ve practiced some unspeakably evil dark arts to gain such power! How else could she have double talents and all that strength?

The more Bémore thought about it, the more it all made sense. Her analysis felt flawless—maybe not 100% accurate, but definitely close.

“Why does it feel like there’s always a cold breeze?” On the stage, Samimi shivered again, sensing she was being targeted. “Niubao, are you cold?”

“No,” Niubao shook her head.

“Am I just that frail? That can’t be it… Well, you are physically strong, and I’m just a cleric—we’re built different. No, it’s definitely cold,” Samimi concluded.

Shaking off the chill, Samimi turned to her opponent in this duel.

Leo, the lightning mage—arms crossed, triangular torso, eyebrows sharp and straight. He practically radiated dominance.

Samimi wondered idly why male mages in this world were all so buff. The previous guy—the Red Lion—had also been a bulky red-haired powerhouse. Apparently, this world had no room for delicate pretty boys.

“Let’s begin,” Samimi said, face turning serious.

“We of the Lightning School focus on speed and piercing attacks. Our specialty is breaking through shields with powerful, concentrated strikes.” As Leo spoke, he summoned a sleek white staff shaped like a lightning branch.

Another high-grade purple weapon with spatial concealment magic—just his gear alone revealed his strength.

Each of the five elemental schools had their own strengths and weaknesses.

Lightning magic was known for its explosive speed and concentrated damage. Its flaw, like fire magic, was relatively weak shielding.

From Samimi’s understanding, lightning mages were generally stronger in combat than other elemental mages.

Lightning spells didn’t rely on flashy mechanics—they were straightforward and built to kill, plain and simple. Even if they didn’t break through defenses, they often left enemies paralyzed. Simple. Effective. Lethal. Perfect for real combat.

Samimi needed to focus now. One slip-up and she could lose.

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“Thorn Crown.”
“Increase Lightning Resistance.”
“Knight-Class Defense Amplification—Spell Combo.”

Muttering rapidly, Samimi activated her thorn magic and stacked defensive support spells—layering all of them onto Niubao.

Her chant speed had improved yet again, and now she was combining knight-class support spells in streamlined sequences—like sorting files into folders for faster access and delivery.

This knight-specialized defensive set even included Armor Material Reinforcement.

Since Samimi had given her demon-hunting nun’s leather armor to Niubao, she could now strengthen it with her spells.

Niubao had resisted at first, feeling the armor was too precious and should be worn by Samimi herself. But after a long lecture about how frontliners needed to tank damage, Samimi finally convinced her.

Stubborn girl. When she gets worked up, she’s like an angry ox.

“Thorn Bind.”
(A fancy name, but basically just a portable egg-shell-shaped mana shield.)

In a flash, Niubao was transformed into a walking fortress—buffed to the teeth from head to toe.

“You ready?” Leo asked, waiting patiently while Samimi finished casting.

On the surface, he looked calm. But inside, he was shaken by how fast the Penitent Nun could chain spells.

Her spellcasting flowed seamlessly, one buff after another, like a stream with no interruption or delay. Not a single opening. No chance for him to sneak in a strike.

Lightning mages were known for their casting speed—but now he realized: this girl was faster.

No way was she some half-baked witch who used dark shortcuts. Anyone who’d mastered their fundamentals this well couldn’t possibly have relied on shady magic.

In truth, the rumor that the Penitent Nun was a dark witch was very common at the Academy. Bémore wasn’t the only one who believed it. Everyone had their doubts.

How else could a double-talent mage pop up out of nowhere?

“It couldn’t be hard work!”
“It had to be cheating!”

That was the logic of mediocrity.

Acknowledging Samimi’s strength would mean admitting their own weakness and failure.

“Let’s see what lightning magic can do,” Samimi said, voice low and steady.

“Thunder Spear!”
With zero delay, Leo cast a lightning spear aimed directly at her.

But Niubao reacted instantly, sliding in front and swinging her sword in a clean arc—slashing the spear down mid-air.

“You can even keep up with lightning?” Leo laughed. “Then try this! Multi-Thunder Spear!”

Multiple bolts of lightning formed around him and launched in unison—another wave of electric spears aimed at Samimi.

Niubao’s eyes burned with focus. Gripping her thorn-enchanted golden sword tightly, she charged like a wild bull—each step a calculated slash, shattering every spear mid-air.

It looked like reckless flailing, but every swing was perfectly timed. She intercepted them all.

Wait—no, that’s wrong. Niubao doesn’t know how to calculate.
This was pure instinct. Raw battle talent.
She could probably fight with her eyes closed.

“…” Leo’s grin started to fade.

The crowd around the stage fell silent. Dozens of magic apprentices said nothing. After just two rounds, the atmosphere was dead quiet.

If this had been a real duel, Leo would already be on the losing side.

That beastkin nun hadn’t even pressed the advantage. She only deflected the lightning. If she’d chased him down, he’d be running for his life by now.

But instead of attacking, she returned to Samimi’s side, waiting for the next assault.

“What’s wrong? Got any more lightning spells?”
Samimi stood with her hands in her pockets, her magic book floating beside her—no need to hold it herself.

“…It seems basic attack spells have zero effect on you,” Leo admitted, trying to keep a cool facade. “They don’t even drain your mana.”

“My Thorn Magic specializes in defense and enchantments,” Samimi replied. “I know you folks worship hyper-refined low-tier spells, but no amount of fine-tuning can break my defenses.”

In this world, mages had an odd obsession with perfecting low-level spells.

The Red Lion had crafted a flawless Fireball. This guy loved using the traditional Thunder Spear. It seemed nobody liked to use high-level spells.

But really, that was actually quite wise.

Samimi had said it many times: low-tier spells scale with the mage’s power. Their numbers weren’t fixed.

Which worked out great for her—since she couldn’t learn high-level magic yet anyway.