Chapter 2: (7/7)

After Jaane and her group walked in, the announcement continued, "And their opponents, six Novice Mages who came from Mages' Academy of Salha. Dima Sidorenko, a Black Mage. Lara Bereznity, a Conjurer Mage. Michael Korotkii, a Fire Mage. Tamary Borisenko, a Light Mage. Valentina Gauk, a Wind Mage. And Leonid Lazutkin, a Thunder Mage."

Salha is the capital of Bridia, a small nation located to the Northwest of Toria Continents. The Commonwealth of Krorg and Grand Duchy of Macmalian are located to the Northeast of Toria Continents.

After the announcer finished, a signal was fired to indicate the battle had started.

Leonid immediately casted [Chain Lightning] spell to create a Ball of Lightning that flew toward Adela. Calley casted [Ice Barrier] spell on Adela and all other allies including herself. The Ball of Lightning hit the Ice Barrier protecting Adela, then it jumped to another target, then another target, but all were blocked by the Ice Barriers.

Golda returned the attack with her own [Chain Lightning] spell at Tamary but Valentina casted [Warding Wind], level 10 Wind spell, to reflect the Lightning Ball at Golda. Jaane casted [Stone Skin] on Golda, level 10 Earth magic. The lightning ball hit Golda but was then absorbed by the [Stone Skin], preventing it from jumping to another target while protecting Golda from suffering any damages.

Dima casted [Demon Anatomy I], level 1 Black spell, to turn herself into a demon and sprinted toward Jaane to attack her. [Demon Anatomy I] can turn the caster into a human-size demon with incredible strength on par with a sixth-tier warrior. It will be draining mana very slowly which grants the caster the ability to maintain the demon form for much longer compared to [Demon Anatomy II-V] spells.

Jaane showed no fear and gave the signal for her team to attack without her while she confronted Dima in that demon form. As Dima was about to hit Jaane with her sharp demon's claws, Jaane casted [Stone Fist], level 5 Earth spell, to create a giant fist on the ground right below Dima's feet and punched upward. Dima jumped back and managed to dodge the [Stone Fist], then continued to launch at Jaane for another attempt to attack. Dima repeatedly attacked Jaane but missed. Ten seconds later, Dima then successfully penetrated Jaane's stomach using her sharp demon's claws. Another [Stone Fist] was casted and it knocked Dima upward, causing significant injury that almost broke her feet. Jaane calmly casted [Healing Vines] spell on herself to heal the bleeding stomach.

It did not take long for Dima to get back on her feet and sprinted toward Jaane again to attack her. Jaane casted [Stone Skin] spell on herself to absorb all damages that were caused by Dima. Another [Stone Fist] spell was casted that made Dima jump back to avoid it. Dima deactivates her [Demon Anatomy I] and casted [Demon Anatomy II], level 5 Black spell, to transform herself into a big size demon that has the strength on par with a seventh-tier warrior and can use fire punch technique.

Dima then attacked Jaane continuously using the fire punch technique but unable to break through her [Stone Skin]. Tamary knew Dima needed some help. That was why casted [Holy Smite], level 5 Light spell, an unavoidable bright white light shined on Jaane, forced her to kneel on the ground while destroying Jaane's [Healing Vines] spell.

There was no time to cast another [Healing Vines] spell because her [Stone Skin] was broken. Jaane immediately casted another [Stone Skin] spell to help her absorb damages from Dima's fire punches as well as Tamary's [Holy Smite].

Rosa noticed Jaane was in trouble, she casted [Flame Wall], level 10 Fire spell, and created a wall of flame in front of Tamary, preventing her from getting closer to Jaane by that way she won't be able to cast another sneaky magic spell on Jaane while Jaane was having her focus on Dima. Rosa casted [Fireball], level 5 Fire spell, to create a Fireball out of mid-air and flew toward Tamary, forcing her to casted [Circle of Protection] to defend against the Fireball. The Fireball repeatedly crashed into the [Circle of Protection] until its strength weakened and faded away.

After the [Holy Smite] spell duration casted on Jaane was over, Jaane got up on her feet again and casted [Healing Vines] to heal herself despite Dima was still attacking but unable to break through Jaane's [Stone Skin]. Jaane casted [Stone Fist] again and knocked Dima flying upward. Before Dima landed on the ground, she deactivated her [Demon Anatomy II], activated [Mana Infusion], then casted [Demon Anatomy III] spell to transform into a giant demon. Dima knew she could not hold this giant demon form for too long, especially with [Mana Infusion] activated. But one successful attack in this form would penetrate through Jaane’s [Stone Skin] and crush her to death. Thinking that way, Dima strongly threw a powerful giant fire punch toward Jaane at full force.

If Jaane cast [Stone Fist] spell at Dima while she is still in her giant demon form under [Mana Infusion] effect, then it would not be strong enough to even lift Dima’s feet. Thinking of no other way to get out of Dima's giant fire punch, Jaane casted [Stone Fist] under her feet and knocked her flying upward. This destroyed Jaane’s [Healing Vines] but unable to injure Jaane because her [Stone Skin] spell was still working.

Dima was surprised by this move. Jaane escaped her giant fire punch by casted [Stone Fist] spell at herself, that was something Dima had not thought of. Because her mana pool was depleted, Dima was forced to transform back into her human form as Jaane fell on the ground from the sky. Three seconds later, the duration of Jaane’s [Stone Skin] was expired as she stood up and ready to cast another [Stone Fist] at Dima but Dima yelled out, "Surrender! I Surrender!"

Dima had no other option but to surrender. She was useless now because her mana pool had reached depletion and it would take her at least two hours to fully regenerate her mana pool. If she was hit by the [Stone Fist] spell again, then it would break her feet, ankles, knees, and could kill her when she fell from the sky down on the ground. Dima knew that she can be revived using [Resurrection], level 25 Light spell. Several Master Light Mages were working in the arena and they were ready to revive any magic casters that were killed if needed. But because a revived magic caster will not be able to regenerate mana for a month. Therefore, most of the Student Mages often choose to surrender in this type of Student Mages Battle Tournament to avoid getting killed.

After Dima voluntarily surrendered, she was escorted off the arena by one of the arena masters. With Dima out of the way, Jaane assisted her team to quickly defeat the other five members of the opposing team. Adela, Ana, Golda, Calley, Rosa, and Jaane jumped up in happiness as the announcer announced them as the winner of this match. The total match time for this battle was three minutes and twenty-nine seconds.

Three hours later, all the matches of the first-round Novice teams were over. Next, it would be Intermediate teams to show off their power. In a small room dedicated to an Intermediate Mages team, Arthur Castillon and five other Intermediate Mages that formed into a team were getting ready for their first match. Arthur was the youngest of them all but he was also the strongest as he had mastered the Intermediate-tier while the others have not.

Arthur looked around the room and thought to himself, "In a way, I have to thank you, Kain Almos. The hatred I have for you motivated me to be as powerful as I am today. No one here is as young as I am. Yet, I am the strongest in this room and possibility the strongest compared to all other Intermediate Mages who participated in this tournament. Kain, I wish you the best of luck in this tournament and hope to see both of our teams win. After the tournament is over, I wish we can speak and be friends as I no longer hold my hatred against you."

In another room, Kain continued to sleep while his team members were planning strategies for their upcoming match.