Chapter 157 It will hurt a little… please be careful…
"Ladies and Gentle, please give a big applause to the two Mages who fought here, we will now be moving forward to our next battle,
Let's call Marvic Lighthold and his opponent, Elara Flameheart!"
The announcer announced, the two mages stepped onto the stage as the crowd cheered in excitement.
Of course, the announcer also didn't forget to add that little detail that would add an extra star to this match,
"Most of you must know it already but for those who don't, let me tell you that if you are underestimating this 21-year-old girl because of her age, know that she was selected by Lady Astra herself and is the one and only pupil Lady Astra had ever taken under her wing.
Elara Flameheart is an extremely talented Mage who became a 4th Circle Mage when she was merely 19, a step ahead even when compared to her Teacher!
Yes, it is true that she doesn't have a very good record when it comes to Elemental Clash, but one must know that the opponents she is facing are mostly thrice her age, the fact that she stands in front of them alone is quite commendable already.
Many believe that age is simply just a number and when she is already a 4th Circle Mage, she should be strong enough to fight 4th Circle Mages just like her Master did in the past, while they aren't wrong, those people fail to consider the time Elara has spent as a mage, she had only been a mage for 9 years, obviously, the experience she had accumulated was incomparably less than other mages of her age. She should be given extra time to get the hang of the situation.
Because once she does, I believe she has the potential to surprise us all!
Who knows? Maybe this year is the year when Elara shows us her true strength.
So make sure to look forward to her performance just like me, after all, this girl was chosen by Lady Astra herself, not only as her pupil but as her future daughter-in-law as well."
The announcer who saw Vaan standing near the hall, supporting his fiancée, decided to involve him as well,
"Yes, people! Elara Flameheart is also the fiancée of our Second Tier Champion, Young Master Vaan! Just look at how Young Master Vaan is standing there to support his future wife, now isn't that cute?"
Waves of gasps could be heard from the crowd, some of the not-very-well-known mages didn't know about this. As for those who knew, they were surprised when they saw Vaan standing there supporting his fiancée, from what they had heard, the relation between the two of them was not the best.
"Alright, then people! Show some excitement for this match! For our Vesta City's genius!"
"YEAAAHHHHHH!!!!!"
The announcer's trick worked, more and more people were involved and the crowd cheered as loudly as they could. Most of them chanting Elara's name, wanting her to win and defeat her opponent.
"That is quite overwhelming," Marvic commented as he looked around with an amused smile on his face.
Almost the entire crowd was chanting against him, wanting him to lose, even though her previous record wasn't the best, Elara was well-liked by most people here, not to mention the way the announcer announced made her look like the main character of a story, making more and more people root for her.
Normally, it would have been a situation where Marvic's focus would have been ruined, eventually ruining his performance, however, this time, the situation was different.
Unlike the audience, he knew the truth, he knew why Elara Flameheart had a bad record in the Elemental Clash's history.
Elara was an excellent mage with exceptional defense, Marvic would easily place her at the top when it comes to defense, she was a quick thinker and a creative mage, however, that only worked with defensive spells.
As for the attacking spells…
This girl couldn't cast them.
And without them, winning a battle was simply impossible.
The only times Elara had actually won was when her opponents pitied her and surrendered, allowing her to move to the next round before losing.
Marvic knew that as long as he didn't surrender, which he didn't intend to do, he wasn't going to lose this, so even when almost the entire stadium was against him, he didn't care, rather, the feeling of going against so many people at once and winning, he was looking forward to relishing it.
"Elara Flameheart, I will apologize for what is going to happen in advance." He spoke as he glanced at the girl standing in front of him, without expecting any reply other than a nod.
This time, however, Elara was a little different.
"Elara! Send that old fossil back to his grave! You can do it!"
Vaan cheered from behind, not minding his image as the son of the Vesta Family head at all. Making sure that his future wife wins was much more important.
A determined look appeared on Elara's face as well, she glanced at Marvic and, "I-I will apologize as well,"
"Is that so…" Marvic just smiled, liking how cute this girl was.
The referee sensed that the two participants were ready, he signaled the start of the battle, Marvic prepared a simple spell that would break through Elara's defense and end the battle as soon as possible,
But suddenly, he noticed 4 Circles appearing in front of Elara, and,
"Fiery Shower."
The first spell was fired.
And… it was an attack spell.
'What!?' Marvic's eyes widened in surprise.
The Mana around his body moved as he quickly prepared his defense spell,
"Crystal Dome."
It was the same Spell Vaan used, however, as a 4th Circle Mage, Marvic's spell was much stronger than Vaan's.
*Sizzle* *Sizzle*
The Fiery Shower fell on the Crystal Dome, the Water Shield successfully managed to cool down those fiery balls of fire. Marvic came out without any harm.
He was still surprised at how Elara had cast an attacking spell, what he didn't know, however, was that this was just the start.
Even Elara knew that any 4th Circle Mage was capable of defending against this attack and the reason she never attacked before was that she was afraid that she would hurt her opponents.
But the question was, if Elara already knew that her opponents were capable enough to defend against her spells, then why would she surrender without fighting?
And the answer was…
That they couldn't.
Elara, who was known as an exceptional 'defense' mage,
Was actually a Mage who excelled in attack spells.
"Spike Chain."
Elara spoke.
Around 10 Earth Spikes formed in the air before they shot towards Marvic at a high speed, clearly, Elara had also used [Speed] Inner Circle Spell, rather, she was the one who taught Vaan about this spell.
Marvic's expression changed.
He knew his Crystal Dome wouldn't hold out against the incoming spikes, after all, in the end, Crystal Dome was only solidified water, there was no way it could hold out against Earth Spikes that were supposed to be solid to begin with.
"Water Curtain." He summoned another spell, this time, 5 layers of water shield appeared in front of him, aiming to deflect Elara's spikes, but then,
"Fiery Storm."
Another Spell was cast.
This time, a wave of flames was summoned, using [Burn] and [Heat Manipulation] to increase the temperature as much as she could, Elara created the atmosphere where the Water Layers summoned by Marvic started evaporating.
Elara didn't end it there either, [Double Cast], [Triple Cast], [Quadruple Cast], she activated three more Inner Circle Spells, now usually, these spells affected the strength of the spell and therefore, were not used that often.
Elara, however, came up with an ingenious plan to use them together with a Spell whose strength didn't matter at all. The Waves of Flames she summoned were quadrupled, the temperature around the stage shot up in an instant, more and more water started evaporating.
Usually, Fire Mages were weak against Water Mages since Water weakened Fire by a considerable amount, Elara, however, using fire, had created an environment where the strength of Water Spells was directly reduced by 50%.
And what's worse? Marvic couldn't even revert this position since the spell needed to put out all this fire would take a long time and by the time Marvic completely executes the spell and put out the fire,
Elara would be waiting to greet him with her final spell, ready to end the battle in one shot.
This was the reason why Elara often held back whenever she faced her opponent. She knew that if she went all out, then using the advantage of having two elements, she would create a situation so helpless for her opponents that they would not only have to deal with a physical injury but a mental one as well.
A traumatic defeat that they probably would never forget,
Just like what Marvic was about to experience.
"It will hurt a little… please be careful…"
Elara spoke with a worried look on her face as she unleashed her final spell.
