Elianna gripped her sword tightly with both hands, pushed mana through her legs, and dashed toward Felix. Felix's eyes narrowed on Elianna, and he quickly jumped back.

  Nicholas' eyes flicked to a piece of grass where he believed Felix would land. Nicholas quickly waved his staff, forming a piece of ice with the intent of making Felix slip and fall.

  Leeman noticed the piece of ice immediately and, with a flick of his staff, created a small rectangular horizontal mana platform above the ice.

  Felix stepped on the mana platform, feeling the different surface beneath his feet. He pushed mana into his leg and jumped back, giving him a considerable distance between him and Elianna.

  Elianna moved forward, pushing mana in her legs, preparing to dash toward Felix again. As she stepped forward, Leeman dismissed the mana platform, and Elianna stepped onto the ice. Elianna went wide-eyed and yelped as she slipped while trying to propel herself forward, and fell face-first into the grass.

  Felix smirked, seeing Elianna was vulnerable to attack, and quickly dashed toward her, spear at the ready.

  Fear gripped Nicholas' stomach, and he yelled, "Lia! Watch out!"

  Nicholas raised his staff, preparing to conjure a mana shield in front of Elianna to protect her against Felix's attack. However, his eyes snapped up a moment later, seeing two icicles the size of knives flying toward him from his left and right. Nicholas gritted his teeth and quickly slammed his staff on the ground, forming a mana barrier around him. The icicles struck the mana barrier, and Nicholas' eyes snapped to Leeman, seeing that he was staring directly at Nicholas.

  At the same time, Felix closed in on Elianna, who quickly raised her head, hearing Nicholas' concerned voice. The look of shock crossed her face when her eyes fell on Felix, who had just thrust his spear at her. Elianna quickly rolled to the side, dodging Felix's spear, which struck the grassy floor. Pushing mana through her legs and feet, Elianna rolled a few times to get away from Felix before she pushed herself off the ground. Elianna jumped off the ground using all fours, quickly landed on her feet, and got into a ready stance with her sword pointed at Felix.

  Felix pulled his spear out from the grass and looked at Elianna with a smirk. "Nice recovery."

  Elianna narrowed her eyes. "Thanks."

  Leeman raised his chin at Nicholas, "Do not forget about your own target when going to support your teammate. It could cost you."

  Nicholas nodded tightly, "Thanks for the advice."

  Nicholas raised his staff, and the mana barrier around him broke apart into several mana bolts, the size of chicken eggs. Waving his staff down, the mana bolts flew toward Leeman.

  With Nicholas keeping Leeman distracted, Elianna dashed toward Felix. Felix got into a defensive stance as Elianna closed in, grasping his spear with both hands. Elianna coated her sword in water magic and thrust it at Felix.

  Felix swiftly stepped to the side, dodging her strike. With Elianna's arm extended, Felix moved to wrap his arm around hers to prevent her from moving.

  Elianna's eyes narrowed at Felix's movement and spun fluidly, dodging his grasp while also swinging her blade horizontally at Felix.

  Felix quickly fell to the ground, dodging Elianna's strike as her sword swung over his body. He then pushed mana through his body and jumped up using both legs and arms.

  Elianna went wide-eyed and stepped back as Felix jumped into the air while his body spun horizontally. As Felix spun, he elegantly and quickly thrust his spear forward, aiming for her sternum. Elianna nearly gasped as she quickly raised her sword and barely blocked the attack with the head of the spear hitting her blade.

  A loud metallic clang erupted in the air, and suddenly, Felix pushed wind magic out from the tip of his spear as it was pressed against Elianna's blade.

  Elianna grunted as the blast of wind blasted her back, pushing her sword against her. Her feet left the ground momentarily before she planted them back down and skidded to a halt. All the while, Felix landed back onto the grassy floor with grace, swung his spear in an elegant manner, and got back into an attack stance.

  Felix smirked, "Surely you can do better."

  Elianna's jaw tightened as she huffed.

  Meanwhile, Nicholas' mana bolts closed in on Leeman, who waved his staff and cast the glide spell around him. Wind magic surrounded Leeman and lifted him slightly in the air. Leaning to the side, Leeman quickly moved out of the way as the mana bolts flew past him.

  The bolts flew toward some of the guards, but a random mage created a mana shield, protecting them from the attack.

  Nicholas' eyes narrowed as he followed Leeman's movement. He thrust his staff forward and cast Incinerate, shooting a medium-sized beam of fire at Leeman.

  Leeman raised his staff, and he landed on the ground as the wind surrounding him moved to swirl in front of him, creating a coconut-sized ball of wind in front of him. Waiving his staff down, he sent the ball flying toward Nicholas. The beam of fire hit the ball, which quickly began to absorb the fire and distorted. The ball of fire and wind began to grow, seeming to become more unstable, before it burst in a powerful explosion, sending out a shockwave that knocked Nicholas, Leeman, Felix, and Elianna back slightly.

  Elianna blinked in surprise at the sudden explosion and looked toward Leeman and Nicholas, checking to see if Nicholas was okay. She smiled when she saw him standing there, glaring at Leeman with an intent expression.

  "Never look away from your enemy!"

  Elianna went wide-eyed and her gaze snapped forward, seeing Felix now inches from her. She gritted her teeth as she raised her sword and barely blocked a thrust from his spear. She backed away as Felix continued to advance on her while he swung and stabbed at her with his spear. Elianna continued to swing her blade and spin fluidly, blocking his attack. However, she was also aware that she was now on the defensive and needed to regain the offensive quickly.

  Blocking another spear thrust from Felix, Elianna quickly formed a layer of wind magic around her body. Before Felix could retract his spear, Elianna propelled the wind magic out from her in a dome-like blast.

  Felix grunted as he was blasted back by the powerful gust of wind from Elianna. He flipped through the air, looking like he was going to land on his side.

  Elianna smirked, seeing that Felix would be open to an attack as soon as he landed on the ground. She quickly burst forward, coating her sword in water magic. But her smirk quickly faded as she watched Felix extend his arm out, pressing his palm against the grassy floor, and push himself into the air. Felix spun around and landed feet flat on the ground, facing Elianna.

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  Elianna skidded to a halt, seeing she no longer had her opening, but went wide-eyed when Felix surrounded his body in fire magic.

  Pushing wind out from the soles of his feet, Felix burst toward Elianna at a high velocity.

  Elianna clenched her jaw and quickly surrounded her body in ice magic. Using the same technique as Felix, she pushed wind magic out from the soles of her feet and dashed forward.

  Felix and Elianna closed in on each other, with Elianna coating her blade in water magic and Felix coating his spear in wind magic. They thrust their weapons forward, and when they collided, there was a loud explosion as mist flew through the air, and their ice and fire magic hissed, creating a cloud of steam around them.

  Nicholas created a water shield in front of him, blocking a fireball from Leeman with a hiss. With a wave of his staff, he broke the water shield apart, forming several chicken egg-sized balls of water, which he flung at Leeman. Leeman promptly blocked Nicholas' attack with a quick gust of wind.

  Nicholas narrowed his eyes and spared a quick glance at Elianna, seeing that she was locked in an intense sword fight with Felix, as a cloud of steam formed around them. Looking back at Leeman, he watched as he raised his staff into the air and slammed it onto the ground.

  Nicholas' gaze snapped to the grassy floor, watching as the lush green grass burned away, and the earth beneath turned red hot. Soon, lava began to pool in front of Leeman, who thrust his staff forward. The lava burst toward Nicholas in a wave of human proportions.

  Captain Dunfort's eyes widened slightly in worry, "Easy, Leeman!"

  The wave of lava quickly moved toward Nicholas, who slammed his staff on the ground with a narrowed gaze. Ice magic swirled in front of him, before it burst apart, forming a wall of ice in front of him. The wave of lava hit the ice with a hiss, steam rising into the air. The ice melted, and the lava began to rapidly cool as it flowed harmlessly to the ground, eventually cooling to a black, molten rock.

  Dunfort let out a sigh of relief, seeing the prince was okay. He shot a glare at Leeman; Leeman gave an apologetic smile in return. Dunfort shook his head before going back to watching both fights. But his eyes widened slightly, seeing a figure with red hair, watching from the back of the formation. The figure gave him a nod, and Dunfort nodded back before going back and watching Nicholas and Elianna.

  Nicholas narrowed his eyes on Leeman, who raised his staff into the air. He formed six chicken egg-sized balls of wind above him and swung his staff down as he yelled, "Incoming!"

  Nicholas' brows furrowed, wondering why Leeman was warning him against the attack. But then his eyes widened when he noticed he wasn't warning him, he was warning Felix. His eyes were locked on the wind bolts, seeing three were aimed at Elianna, and three were aimed at him.

  Nicholas quickly raised his staff, knowing he needed to multi-target cast.

  Hearing Leeman yell, Felix quickly dodged a sword strike from Elianna before jumping back. Elianna narrowed her eyes and burst forward to follow Felix, unaware of the wind attack.

  As Elianna burst forward, Nicholas slammed his staff on the ground, focusing on him and Elianna, forming a mana barrier around them.

  Elianna went wide-eyed as the mana barrier formed around her, and tried to stop herself in her tracks, but ended up hitting her face against the mana barrier with an oof. Elianna stumbled backward while rubbing her face, which stung. Then, she flinched and looked up as the wind bolts struck the barrier.

  "Sorry!" Nicholas called out to her, and the mana barriers dispersed. "Are you okay?!"

  Elianna looked at Nicholas, seeing that he was looking at her apologetically. Elianna nodded, "I'm fine."

  Nicholas' eyes flicked to the side, and he went wide-eyed, "Watch out!"

  Elianna's head snapped forward, noticing Felix closing in on her. She quickly raised her sword and blocked three of his quick spear thrusts as she backed away.

  Nicholas' eyes snapped to Leeman, just as he thrust his staff forward, shooting a fireball at Elianna.

  "On right!" Leeman yelled.

  Elianna's eyes followed Felix as he moved to her left side, continuing to advance on her.

  Nicholas gritted his teeth, seeing that Elianna was too preoccupied with Felix to see Leeman's attack. Nicholas quickly pointed his staff at Elianna to form another mana barrier around her.

  Elianna quickly blocked another of Felix's attacks before jumping back to get some space from him. Just then, Nicholas' mana barrier formed around her, and Elianna grunted as her back hit the barrier. Elianna stumbled forward as the fireball hit the barrier.

  Elianna shot Nicholas a glare, "A little warning would be nice, you know!"

  Nicholas dispersed the barrier and smiled apologetically, "Sor—"

  Elianna's eyes widened as Nicholas was suddenly hit with a strong gust of wind. "Nick!" Elianna yelled, watching as he hit the ground with gritted teeth, and his eyes shut tight.

  Elianna's blood boiled, and her skin turned hot at the sight of Nicholas being hit and looking hurt. Anger and rage filled her mind, and her grip on her sword tightened.

  Leeman's gaze widened with worry, seeing Nicholas hit the ground, thinking he had gone too far. He took a step toward Nicholas to check on him, but stopped as his gaze snapped to Elianna. A feeling of awe and confusion washed over him as something that looked like a raging white flame enveloped her body.

  Elianna's intense gaze snapped to Leeman, who flinched under her wrathful glare. She burst toward him at a speed he couldn't comprehend.

  Felix, who had been looking at Elianna completely stunned, went wide-eyed as he noticed she was going towards Leeman. Felix quickly burst forward using wind magic, moving into Elianna's path to stop her. He thrust his spear out as she closed in on him, but flinched when she moved out of the way with a speed he could barely track. The next thing he knew, she was now beside him, and he grunted loudly as she struck him in the side with a mana-clad fist.

  Dunfort was watching what was transpiring with a widened gaze, and nearly flinched when Elianna struck Felix. Felix's mana guard shattered instantly, and he flew to the side, crashing into a group of guards standing at the side, who caught him.

  "That's a match!" Dunfort quickly yelled. But he watched as Elianna turned toward Leeman. He took a step forward, preparing to intervene if he needed to.

  Leeman seemed to grow pale, and he stored his staff into his spatial ring and held his hands up, "Whoa there! You won."

  Elianna stared at Leeman angrily and blinked. Slowly, her expression softened, and the white flame around her proceeded to die down as she continued to blink, "What?"

  "The match is over," Leeman said, slowly lowering her hands. "You won."

  Elianna stood there, processing what Leeman was saying, while the ground of guards around her began to whisper.

  "What was that?"

  "I don't know, but that was awesome."

  "She punched Sergeant Felix to the side like he was a rag doll!"

  "I know! It was hot!"

  "Dude, she's sixteen..."

  "Oh, yeah..."

  Elianna's brows furrowed, ignoring the whispers, before her eyes widened, "Nick!"

  She twirled around, dismissed her mana guard, and dashed toward Nicholas, who was beginning to sit up. Elianna stored her sword in her ring and quickly fell to her knees beside him with a worried expression. "Nick? Are you okay?"

  Nicholas grimaced as he rubbed his chest, before he looked at Elianna and smiled, "Yeah. Just had the wind knocked out of me."

  Elianna's body immediately relaxed, and she let out a sigh of relief, "Good." Her soft-looking lips curled, "I'm glad."

  Nicholas tilted his head to the right, "Did I hear correctly? Did we win?"

  Elianna nodded, "Yeah. I broke Felix's mana guard."

  Nicholas' face brightened, "Seriously? Nice job!"

  Elianna chuckled, "Thanks."

  "Damn little lady."

  Nicholas and Elianna looked toward the voice, seeing Felix walking up to them, with Leeman behind him.

  Felix was rubbing his side and shot Elianna a smile. "You sure do pack a punch." He tilted his head to the side, looking at Elianna curiously, "Where did that burst of power come from?"

  Elianna flinched, with memories of her old friends calling her a freak. But when she looked around at the group of guards around her, she saw that they all held expressions of awe and wonder. It was honestly throwing her off a little.

  Elianna cleared her throat, "I uh—"

  "Good job, you two."

  Everyone looked toward the voice, seeing Freya walk out from behind the crowd, earning a few whispers from the crowd.

  Captain Dunfort bowed slightly, "It's a pleasure to see you again, Your Highness."

  Freya gave Dunfort a smile, "You as well, Captain."

  "Aunt Freya," Nicholas said, looking surprised. "Did you see the match?"

  Freya nodded, smiling, "I did. You both did well individually." Her gaze lingered on Elianna for a moment before she continued. "Your teamwork could use improvement, though. All in all, not bad for fighting together for the first time."

  Nicholas and Elianna smiled as they both said, "Thanks."

  Elianna looked at Nicholas, "Maybe we should start training together. What do you think?"

  "I'd like that," Nicholas nodded, earning a smile from Elianna.

  Nicholas' eyes shifted to Freya, and he looked at her curiously. "How did you know we were out here?"

  "A couple of the guards said you came out this way when I was looking for you."

  Nicholas raised a brow, "Why were you looking for me?"

  Freya gave Nicholas a small smile, "Your father wants us to have breakfast together."

  Elianna looked at Nicholas, who slumped.

  Letting out a sigh, Nicholas said, "Great."