Kelly should have seen this coming from a mile away, and in some cases, she did. The only thing she was hoping for was that the teacher would ask her to pick an opponent, but Aurora was the favorite in nearly every class.
Maybe it was because of her family, or maybe because she was a suck-up, which most teachers enjoyed, apart from someone like Professor Quartz. Either way, what was done was done, and reluctantly Kelly had to make her way up to the platform.
"Well, this is a bit awkward, isn't it?" Alen commented from the stands. "It looks like it will be my sister against yours. I have you know that when it comes to practical magic rather than theoretical, I have no doubt that she is one of the best; she is already a 3-star mage close to becoming a 4-star mage, and she also knows how to breakthrough."
Hearing this, Raze had to admit that was impressive for a student, especially the part about knowing how to breakthrough. Using the magic core to overload the user with an attribute of mana, giving them an immense burst of power. It was something that even with all the knowledge that Raze knew from his past, he couldn't currently do, but that was because he had a Dark Core, and no one knew how to breakthrough with a Dark Core, at least not one that was recorded in the history books.
"Do you care to make a wager?" Alen asked. "Let's say that your sister won the battle of knowledge in the last class. In this class, I want to bet that my sister will best yours, and in turn, if my sister wins, I want to learn more about who you are?"
The tone of voice used and the way the question was asked, Raze could tell it was almost as if the other already knew something about him, but Alen wasn't someone he needed to worry about too much, at least not in that regard.
"A wager, doesn't that mean if Kelly wins, I should get something in return?" Raze asked.
"Ah yes, you are right; I guess let's say I will owe you a favor. A one-time favor for you. A favor of someone in my position as a high Military Advisor and a future Grand Magus can be a powerful thing."
Looking at the situation in front of him, Raze didn't really know if Kelly could win or not, and he couldn't intervene, so it would be a gamble for him. As for the types of questions the other would ask, who knew what they were.
'He just wants to build a stronger connection with me; for him, it's a win-win, but it's not like I will tell him much, I have nothing to lose out of this as well,' Raze thought.
"All right, you have a deal," Raze replied.
The two students were standing on the platform, while the rest of them were on the outer sand, watching and waiting patiently for their turn. Both Aurora and Kelly faced each other.
"Kelly, I will let you shine a little in this assessment; don't worry," Aurora said. "This is a time for both of us to use our skills, and besides, the two of us are limited to just 2-star spells anyway."
"Begin!" Trin said, not wishing for the two of them to talk any longer.
"Let's see how well you deal with this, Ember!" Aurora shouted out.
Flames spurted out from her hands, and they started to spread out slightly as they got closer to Kelly. Seeing this, she decided to jump out of the way, and when she did, she swung her hand out.
"Gust!" She called out.
A large sweeping wind blew the flames out to the side, and as they went off the area, they started to disperse with a few small flames touching Kelly's cheek. Just as Kelly went to look up, she could see a flame ball coming right at her.
"Water ball!" Kelly conjured the water magic, but it was a bit too slow; the ball had formed and shot out, but when it hit the flame ball, it was already right on her. The fire had exploded, pushing Kelly to the ground.
But quickly she had rolled and stood up on her two feet. Looking at her opponent, all she could see was the large smile on Aurora's face.
"You see, your theory and practical are two different things. In the fighting department, it looks like you fail," Aurora said as she threw out two small Ember strikes, streams of fire from her hand going toward Kelly.
Seeing this, Kelly was wondering what to do, and that's when she started to remember the conversation she had with 'Jake' on the train.
"I just need to do it properly and not get scared of getting hurt!" Kelly said to herself as she charged forward. In doing so, she swung her arm, and used Gust, hitting one of the Ember flames; most of the attack spread out, but part of the attack had grazed her.
She then used the skill again, on the next Ember, and the same had proceeded. Breaking through the flames, Kelly had appeared her cheeks a little blackened, but she was mostly unhurt.
"Wind Swipe!" Kelly shouted, and a line of wind attack appeared, cutting straight across Aurora's chest.
It had hit her, and she stumbled slightly, but as she did, she gathered both hands and pointed them to the floor.
"Fireball!" The attack exploded on the ground and covered the area slightly in smoke.
When the smoke disappeared, the two students could be seen, both of them only looking slightly hurt.
'That's a bit odd,' Raze thought. 'The last match was stopped the moment a Wind Swipe was going to hit the other student. Although Aurora has received no damage, it's because of the enchanted uniform. Is the teacher being a bit biased, allowing her to show more of her skills?' Raze thought to himself.
"My sister is quite talented in the fire magic department like all of our family. It seems she has taken her opponent too lightly though," Alen commented.
"You are right about that; did you not know something about Kelly?" Raze asked.
Alen raised an eyebrow, unsure of what he meant by this.
"I guess you don't; not many would bother to pay attention to an orphan like her, but there is a reason why, with no family backing to help her, she is in this academy," Raze stated.
He thought back to the question he had asked her on the train because it was something that had been bugging him for a while. There were more than one mage academy in each country. So with Kelly being who she was, why was she in Central Academy, the hardest academy to get into?
"Because even though she is a first-year student like that of Aurora, she is also a 3-star mage as well," Raze answered; his voice sounded a little as if he was bragging, as if he was actually talking about his sister.
Being back on Aurora, almost for a moment, he had forgotten everything.
"I see." Alen smiled. "Well, I still think my sister's going to win, so get ready to tell everything about yourself to me."
