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Jaewick began reciting his incantation. Since he used all his might to escape and grab his staff, this was only natural. However, this did not mean that Jaewick was able to use magic first.
“El! Win! Duon! Luwaz!”
Jaewick opened his eyes wide; it was the same for the audience as well as Elena. Lyla, who had been demonstrating incredible abilities one after another, said an incantation aloud like a traditional magician.
While this was not the case when dealing with an extraordinary monster like Lyla, winning a magic duel was normally decided by a mage’s ability to control mana and the speed of their incantation time. In other words, the person who first completed their incantation usually ended up winning. Of course, there were cases where mages could evade magic attacks or say incantations while moving like Jaewick or complete such a powerful spell that it overpowered the other magician’s magic, but most duels were decided by the person who made the first attack. For that reason, a mage’s mana control and incantation ability was crucial in a magic duel, and many people were amazed by Jaewick’s incantation abilities.
However, Lyla’s incantation was on a completely different level. She moved her lips slightly and let out words that non-magicians had no knowledge of—and the speed in which she let out the words was much faster than Jaewick. Her pronunciation was also clear, and there was no hesitation in her words. Moreover, Lyla, who was able to perform powerful magic attacks just by Silent Incantation, was now reciting her incantations out loud. There was no way that she was preparing for just a mediocre magic attack.
Crassssh!
A sphere of flames began to appear on top of Lyla’s staff. The size and mana of the flames made Jaewick’s magic into child play. Jaewick, who was saying his incantations out loud, opened his mouth wide. His incantation was cut off, and the mana he had gathered scattered in the air.
“Ah, ah…!” Jaewick felt a shiver go down his back; if he didn’t do something, he was sure that the flames would incinerate him whole.
He quickly began saying his incantations again. However, he was trembling so much that he could barely let out a few words before the incantation was cut off again. A tremor passed through his whole body at the overpowering flames in front of him.
Lyla asked, “Aren’t you going to say your incantations?” Naturally, her incantation was cut off in the middle, but her magic didn’t disappear.
‘Incantation Suspension!’ Jaewick was not even surprised anymore. It would be strange if a person who could do Silent Incantation couldn’t do Incantation Suspension.
“Or what, have you given up? Then do you know what you have to do?”
He had to surrender. Surrendering was the second option to end a magic duel. However, it was extremely difficult for Jaewick to say this word out loud.
“…I got it.” Lyla’s eyes became cold. “If that’s your decision, I guess it can’t be helped.”
If Jaewick didn’t surrender, there was only option left. It was to render her opponent useless. Lyla continued her incantation.
Crackkle!
The flames crackled even more fiercely than before. The crowd got louder as they watched the scene in front of them.
“I think being unable to continue this fight will be the least of Jaewick’s problems if he gets hit by that.”
“It seems like his body will be burnt without a trace left.”
“Can the dueling ground’s barrier even handle that magic?”
Elena also seemed worried as she pulled the edge of Zich’s shirt. “H-hey. Will Mr. Jaewick be alright if he gets hit by that?”
“Yeah, he’ll be okay.”
Elena let out a sigh of relief. As expected, her teacher must have something else in mind. That was what she thought until Zich continued—
“Since his whole body would be cleanly burnt, we won’t have to worry about cleaning up his corpse.”
“…What?” Elena was so surprised that her voice cracked.
Zich ignored Elena who was staring at him with shock. Lyla finished her incantation. During this whole time, Jaewick continued to fail completing his incantation.
“You haven’t changed your mind, right?” Lyla said this as a fireball that seemed as if it could easily swallow five or six people spun in front of her.
“W-wait…!”
“Yeah. You’re really an annoying guy, but I applaud your bravery. It would have been improper to decline your request to duel.”
“Then, just wait a bi—!”
“If you happen to survive this, I hope you fix that snobby attitude of yours.” Lyla coolly ignored Jaewick’s words and moved her staff. The sphere of flames also moved with her staff.
“Ah, ah? Y-you really are going to shoot? Wait! If I get hit by that, I can’t even use potions!” Jaewick had prepared potions as a safety measure just in case. However, in front of Lyla’s magic, his safety measures became pointless.
Boom!
However, Lyla indifferently shot her magic out. Jaewick saw the fireball come closer to him; he also felt its blazing heat. Death was but a moment away from him.
“I s-surrendeeeer!” Jaewick shouted as if his throat was going to burst. However, the fireball had already left Lyla’s control. Jaewick’s body was going to be engulfed by flames and burnt to a crisp, but a shadow suddenly appeared in front of him.
Crassssssh!
The fireball exploded. The loud sound rang out through the entire dueling grounds. However, this was the only damage that the fireballs left in its surroundings.
Shaaaa!
The flames spreading out in all directions sucked into the center of someone’s palm. It seemed like the flames regretted missing the opportunity to burn anybody as it let out a big spark of light; however, it was unable to show any other signs of resistance.
Crunch!
With a clench of his fists, the flames scattered into the air. And like this, the fireball that Lyla made completely disappeared. Jaewick dumbly looked at the person in front of him.
“You don’t seem to have any injuries.” Zich put Windur, which he used to slice the fireball, on his back and stared at Jaewick.
“Ah, ah…”
“Hmm, did you perhaps lose your mind? Well, that’s understandable. So why didn’t you surrender just a little earlier? If it weren’t for me, you would have become a pile of ashes.” Zich tapped Jaewick’s cheeks a couple times, but Jaewick was unable to respond.
“Then is it my turn now?”
Jaewick was unable to understand what the man in front of him was saying.
“You wanted to duel with me next.”
Jaewick’s eyes trembled.
“When do you want to do it? Right now? Or later on today? Tomorrow?”
“…”
“Or should we just not do it?”
It was only then did Jaewick make a subtle nod.
“Yeah, that’s a good decision. Even though I still beat the fuck up off dogs who surrendered with their tails behind their legs, you’re not even worth beating up.”
Jaewick didn’t say anything even as Zich said insulting words. He was able to clearly see it; how easily Zich had shattered the enormous flames that were about to engulf him relentlessly.
“You should go around a bit more carefully. If you pick a fight with anyone like how you’ve been acting and meet some bad people, you might really become a pile of ashes.”
Then Zich looked at the audience. “Then! Does anyone here have a problem with my beautiful friend acting as a teacher for Ms. Dwanye?”
“…”
No one was able to open their mouths.
“That’s good. I’m glad that everyone’s misunderstanding about my friend has been resolved. Then I hope you no longer pay any attention to us.” Zich turned his back.
He let out his hands towards Lyla who was still standing in the dueling stage. “You’ve worked hard.”
“I didn’t even work hard.” However, Lyla still raised her hand and put it on Zich’s palm. “Then should we now end this ridiculous fight?”
“But for you to say that, didn’t you beat him up too much?”
“Yeah right, how much can a magician’s punch really hurt?” If Jaewick heard Lyla’s words, he might have died from the unfairness of her words. “Well, I beat him up in moderation, so did everything go according to plan?”
“Yeah, for now.”
“I hope everything goes well.”
“Hey, don’t say it like you’re talking about another person's problem. You’re also related to this.”
Lyla snorted. “Well, I just have to focus on teaching Elena for now, right?”
“Yep. We increased the stake and made a loud commotion. Now, we just have to see how the higher ups in the magical tower react.”
Like this, the disturbance in the magical tower by two outsiders came to an end.
*    *    *
A few days passed since Lyla finished her duel. Lyla and Zich went to the magician’s tower as usual and taught Elena. However, the magicians in the magician’s tower treated them differently now. Gazes that were filled with curiosity and wariness were now filled with horror and admiration.
‘It’s not a surprise.’ Zich felt the gazes towards them and smirked.
Even though the magical tower was divided by family status and different schools of magic, it was a place where mages gathered to develop magic. Powerful and talented mages were treated with great reverence, and in the first place, authority and respect in the mage’s tower was decided by skills rather than family status.
People’s gazes followed Lyla who was moving next to Zich. But Lyla paid zero attention to the gazes that followed her.
‘She’s really becoming engrossed in teaching.’
Lyla was having a happy time conversing with Elena; it seemed as if the fact that teaching Elena was a part of their plan was barely registering in her mind.
‘Well, let her enjoy this moment as much as she wants.’
Zich had no desire to just use Lyla however he wanted, just because she wanted to help him.
‘If she lets out her stress like this at least, she would also feel better about helping me later on.’
Moreover, there was no need for them to make any forceful or intense movements.
‘Rumors are spreading well, so those big shots in the magical towers are going to make their move soon.’
Among those higher-ups, Walwiss Dwayne and Orland Dwayne would definitely be included.
*     *    *
The top floor of the magician’s tower was used by the head of the magician’s tower, Walwiss Dwayne. The fact that the head of the magical tower used the entire top floor by himself was an indication of how great a master’s authority reached in the magical tower. On one side of the top floor, there was a meeting room that the top magicians in the magician’s tower could use. In the meeting room, the master and the top ten most skilled magicians in the magical tower gathered there periodically to discuss the current state of matters and what direction they should progress towards.
“Then, we’ll end today’s meeting like this.” Walwiss Dwayne ended the meeting, and the tension in the room lessened.
“Gosh, my back!”
“Really, this is tiring! Now that I’m getting older, it’s hard to even do a meeting once a month.”
Mages began loosening their body and sharing small talk with each other. This always happened when a meeting ended. While the meeting was a professional matter, exchanging small talks after the meeting was a private matter where people tried to establish personal connections with other expert mages.
A mage next to Walwiss also began a conversation with him, “According to a rumor floating around, sir, I heard that your granddaughter has accepted a new teacher.”
“Ah, news of that has also reached my ears.” It was not Walwiss who replied but another mage.
Other mages also voiced their curiosity. This topic was currently the most famous story in the mage’s tower.
“I heard that child, Jaewick, took great damage from that duel.”
“Ugh!” Someone made a groaning sound. It was the head of the Jaewick family and Mawin Jaewick’s grandfather, Wayne Jaewick.
“It’s a good thing that this happened. He was an arrogant punk that was overconfident just because he was a bit more talented than his peers. It also can’t be forgiven that he used the dueling stage without permission. It must have been a good lesson for him.” However, even while he said this, Wayne Jaewick’s didn’t have a great expression. Even though Mawin Jaewick was the one who picked a fight first, he was still Wayne’s grandson.
For that reason, nobody mentioned Mawin Jaewick again; he had already been given due punishment. They didn’t want to damage their comrade’s face any further. Moreover, their interest was not in Mawin Jaewick.
“I heard her name was Lyla, right?”
“Yes. She’s not registered with us either. I heard that she’s a wandering magician.”
“But I also heard that her skills are extraordinary.”
“From what I heard, she can use Silent Incantation and Incantation Suspension. Moreover, the last incantation she used was extremely high-level magic.”
The magicians exchanged information about Lyla with each other. The master, Walwiss Dwayne, and Orland Dwayne, who had already joined this meeting despite his young age, quietly listened to them.