Alex knew that against Myrra, relying solely on lower-tier spells would not be enough.
He had already confirmed as much from her previous fight. More importantly, her water affinity placed her at a natural advantage. If he wanted to break through, he would have to step beyond Tier-3. A Tier-4 spell at minimum—and if she brought out her full strength again, even a Tier-5 spell might be necessary to counter it.
The signal was given, and the next instant, the match began.
Myrra acted immediately. A blue magic circle formed before her as mana flowed outward in a smooth, controlled stream, wrapping around her body in a rotating layer of water. Its surface moved continuously, absorbing and redistributing force rather than resisting it directly.
"
Alex responded without hesitation. Cold mana gathered at his fingertips as he cast
The result was as expected.
The moment the ice made contact, it was swallowed into the flowing barrier. The structure of the spells broke apart almost instantly, their force dissipated and carried along by the rotating current without leaving any visible damage.
Alex observed carefully, his expression unchanged. He had anticipated this outcome.
Still, that wasn't the point.
He was testing it.
Myrra moved at the same time, using the opening to launch an attack of her own.
"
Water condensed rapidly into a dense, swirling sphere beside her, its surface rippling under pressure as layers of motion folded into one another. The contained force tightened, spiraling inward before being released in a sudden burst.
The sphere shot forward, cutting through the air with a low, pressurized hum as it closed the distance toward Alex.
He reacted immediately.
Instead of casting a new spell, he overcharged
The two attacks collided mid-air.
The impact rang out sharply as ice met pressurized water, the force of the collision sending a burst of mist outward. For a brief moment, both held against each other—the spinning mass of water grinding against the condensed projectile—before the balance broke.
The sphere fractured under the opposing force, its rotation destabilizing as the compressed structure collapsed. At the same time, the overcharged bullet cracked under the pressure, shattering into fragments that dissolved almost instantly.
The clash dispersed into scattered droplets and fading frost, leaving neither side with a clear advantage.
Myrra's expression shifted slightly as she reassessed the situation and chose to change her approach.
The water shield around her dissolved, dispersing into puddles that fell away from her form. Then, without warning, a larger magic circle formed beneath Alex.
"
The spell activated instantly.
Water erupted upward and inward at the same time, forming a dense, rotating shell that sealed around him completely. From the outside, it appeared as a compact sphere—but within, the flow was far more violent. Currents twisted and collided in a confined space, pressure building from every direction like an inverted whirlpool.
There was no stable footing or fixed direction. Only constant motion, force, and compression.
The spell was known for its suffocating pressure and disorienting nature—once caught, escape was anything but simple, even for experienced mages.
Inside the sphere, Alex remained still.
A faint smirk formed.
"
The effect was immediate.
Frost spread outward from the center, racing along the inner currents faster than the motion could sustain. The entire structure froze mid-rotation, transforming into a perfectly formed sphere of clear, crystalline ice. Its surface gleamed under the arena lights, smooth and almost mesmerizing.
Then—
Cracks spread rapidly across it.
The sphere shattered.
Fragments burst outward in every direction as Alex stepped forward from the center, completely unrestrained.
Across the field, Myrra's eyes widened.
Not because he broke free—
But because of how easily and how quickly he had done it.
She didn't wait as mana surged once more, casting in rapid succession, abandoning restraint in favor of relentless pressure. Streams of water, compressed blades, and piercing bursts followed one after another, each aimed to force him back before he could regain full control.
Alex responded just as cleanly.
"
Layers of ice rose instantly before him, each formed with precise placement. The incoming attacks collided against the barriers, breaking apart on impact or being redirected away.
Myrra increased both the volume and speed of her assault, layering spells over one another in an attempt to overwhelm his defenses.
Nothing broke through.
The walls held.
For the first time since the match began, Myrra felt it—
A lack of options.
Her gaze sharpened as she reached a decision.
This time, mana gathered around her on an entirely different scale. The atmosphere tightened as wind began to mix into the flow of water, forming a dual-layered current that spiraled outward from her position.
"
A devastating Tier-5 spell of water and wind.
It manifested violently.
A massive surge of water and wind intertwined into a rotating storm, its structure unstable yet overwhelmingly powerful. The force it generated tore across the stage, pulling and crushing simultaneously as it surged toward Alex, its pressure far beyond anything she had used before.
His expression sharpened slightly—not with concern, but with focus.
He cast
The temperature plummeted.
The advancing Tempest met the wave of freezing air, and for a moment, the battlefield became a clash of extremes—overwhelming pressure against absolute cold, each force pushing against the other in a violent, unstable equilibrium.
The surge of cold didn't merely meet the advancing Tempest—it completely overwhelmed it.
The spiraling vortex of water and wind shuddered under the sudden drop in temperature, its rotation faltering as frost spread rapidly across its surface. What had once been a violently controlled storm began to stiffen, its structure destabilizing as ice crept inward, locking its motion piece by piece until the entire spell froze mid-collapse.
Myrra's expression tightened.
'Damn it…! Is this how I lose?'
The thought came unbidden, sharp and immediate, clashing against her composure. At the same time, another question pressed just as forcefully—one that wasn't hers alone.
'Just how much mana does he even have?'
What stood before her defied sense. The scale, the sustained output, the sheer dominance of the spell… none of it aligned with what should have been possible.
She didn't have time to dwell on it.
The cold hadn't stopped.
Even as her Tempest froze and shattered into fragments, the frigid air continued to spread across the field, thickening with each passing second. The temperature dropped further, the environment itself turning against her as frost formed beneath her feet and crept along the edges of her vision.
Chains of ice erupted from the frozen ground.
They shot toward her with sudden, precise intent. Myrra reacted instantly, forcing her body to move, trying to evade—but her earlier exertion had already taken its toll. Her movements lacked their former sharpness, her timing just a fraction too slow.
The chains coiled around her limbs, tightening before she could break free.
The force behind them dragged her downward, shattering her stance as the cold bit deeper, restricting both movement and mana flow.
She tried to respond.
Water gathered instinctively, her magic flaring in resistance—but it lacked cohesion, breaking apart before it could fully form.
In the end, it wasn't enough.
The chains held.
Her footing collapsed, and with it, the last of her resistance gave way as she was forced to the ground, the cold binding her in place.
Silence followed, brief but decisive.
The referee stepped forward without hesitation. One look was enough.
"Winner—Star Shine Academy!"
◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆
In the audience, voices overlapped in bursts of disbelief and hurried discussion, rising from every section of the stands as spectators struggled to process what they had just witnessed.
"Frost Breath… that was a Tier-4 spell, right?"
"Wait—he's been holding back Tier-4 magic this whole time?!"
"How does a Tier-4 spell overpower a Tier-5 spell?!"
The confusion wasn't baseless.
Others, however, focused on something else entirely.
"He didn't even let her finish…"
"She never got the chance to cast her Tier-6 spell."
Myrra wasn't just another participant. She was Dawnspire Academy's strongest—a direct heir to the Tempest family, someone whose display of Tier-6 magic had already stunned the arena earlier.
And yet, in this match, she had been denied that same opportunity entirely.
Still, among the more perceptive observers, a different conclusion began to take shape.
Even if she had tried, she likely wouldn't have succeeded.
During her fight with Alex, she expended mana faster than she could recover it. By the time it ended, she didn't have enough left to even attempt a Tier-6 spell.
That was why she had chosen
The reasons were clear. First, it required less than half the mana. Second, its casting time was significantly shorter, making it far more viable under pressure.
After all, not everyone was like Alex—someone with an abnormally large mana pool and an unnaturally fast rate of mana regeneration.