Ray was surprised about the sudden turn of the events. A powerful magic spell aimed at him were being blocked by the two referees.

'Are they thinking that I couldn't take that attack and may cause severe injuries or my even death so they kindly helped me?"

Ray couldn't help but smile wryly after thinking up to this point.

'It seems that I look too weak?'

He thought for a bit but he was suddenly struck by an idea.

'There's only a few occasions where a referee would make a move. First is to protect those magicians whose Mana Shell has crumbled. The other is...'

The crowd in the arena that were watching their battle made a sudden gasp as they had realized the reason why the referee protected Ray.

"So it was like that!"

"I didn't notice that! The referee are experts."

"It's great that they immediately acted."

"Isn't that illegal. He might get a penalty."

"Well, he may not have noticed due to their heated battle?"

The audiences have different thoughts about the outcome of the battle.

The bolt of lightning seems to have been dissolved or eaten by the barrier summoned by the two referees and the mist blocking Neil's body was also dissipated as a Wind Wave cast by the referee casually has cleared the stage.

There they saw Neil standing and was still in an awkward position when he thrown the spell.

The man himself looked confuse too but then suddenly realized the reason for their interference. He looked stunned upon realization.

The referee announced the victory.

"Ray Penber from Leonhearts won!"

The crowd cheered for the victory acknowledging Ray's prowess in his battle. He felt happy hearing the crowd cheer for him as it motivated him to do better in his next match tomorrow.

Neil was only standing there and was approached by the referee.

"You are not allowed to attack once your Mana Shell was shattered. This will be your team's first warning."

The referee did not ask the reason why Neil acted even after his Mana Shell was destroyed. There could be reasons like due to his anger on his opponent, not noticing that his Mana Shell was gone, he couldn't stop the spell from being released or he just don't care so he deliberately did it.

But whatever the reason is they will receive a warning for the team not individually. The whole team itself will only receive until the third warning and they will be disqualified if they continue to incur penalties in their next battles.

Neil sighed upon hearing the referee's decision. He shook his head and went out of the stage.

He was approached by his teammates and his instructors together with the medic team in case he was injured in the fight.

***

"Wow, did you already saw that Neil's Mana Shell shattered?" Ericka asked as she looked at the one seated next to her.

"Wallace, how did you see that?" Gilbert also asked as he only noticed that the Mana Shell weren't there after the referee dissipated the mist.

"Even the referee only noticed that his Mana Shell was gone after he released the last spell." Kazimir said animately while still looking at the stage where the battle happened thinking how did Wallace saw the detail.

"I'm curious."

Tracy said and acted cutely as she waited for Wallace to answer.

Wallace said that 'the battle is over' even before Neil released the Crimson Bolt spell within the mist and it must be remembered that only Neil's silhouette with pulsating red radiance can be seen at that time.

But after announcing this, just a couple of seconds past and Neil released the lightning spell, it was blocked by the referee and they announced Ray's victory.

The group realized that Wallace could have been referring during the moment that Neil's Mana Shell was already shattered but they were just unaware.

It was correct.

Wallace looked at them and felt that he couldn't escape so he told them his observation.

Wallace recalled that the Ice Shard Explosion that Ray used were crucial to his victory. After the explosion, Neil's Mana Shell was unstable and Neil probably noticed that he couldn't maintain the Mana Shell anymore. He may be thinking that due to the mist, no one will notice this so he started to cast his strongest magic spell in an attempt to get a draw against Ray.

As Wallace saw the entire event, he noticed that Neil's Mana Shell was shattered the moment he focused on casting the Crimson Bolt. Even if Neil noticed this and decided to reactivate his Mana Shell, it would be felt quickly by the referees since Mana Shell activation has some kind of familiar mana fluctuations.

But Mana Shell deactivation or destruction can be hidden by another strong mana fluctuation and in Neil's case, the activation of Crimson Bolt had hidden his Mana Shell destruction.

After all, that pulsating red radiance during the activation of the spell has such a powerful and eerie mana fluctuation. All the audiences could testify on it.

Wallace told them about this and they wondered how he was able to tell something that has occurred within the mist. Even the referees only acted or realized when Neil has thrown the spell.

In regards to that, Wallace conjectured that the referees may have realized that the Mana Shell already shattered but decided to wait for Neil to finish casting. After all, Neil may receive backlash upon abrupt canceling of magic spell especially that powerful Crimson Bolt. It wouldn't be good if it harmed the young magician.

The battle continued against the Phoenix academy. Everyone from Phoenix uses a lightning spell as well and it has a very fast attack speed. Alphonse and Lina uses fire and wind magic to defeat their opponent.

Alphonse deliberately took all the damages and although his mana shell was shattered in process, it was alright. Lina was able to finish her Grade 2 magic spell.

"Multiple Active Air Shots!"

A single 'Air Shot' is a Grade 1 magic spell that has comparable power with Wind Blade and Wind Cutter from Archon Series.

The spell Lina cast was like the Ice Shard Explosion of Ray. But this time, Lina created several stationary orbs of mana with wind element surrounding her opponent before activating the spell. Both Ray's and Lina's spell requires to gather and surround their opponents with their magic spell before commencing the attack.

It resulted in their 2nd victory. Their team coordination was superb as the two hadn't even talked in the entire duration of the fight as it seems to be aware of their partner's thought. Maybe aside from practices, being a couple would sometime help in this.

The third battle commenced and Shirley fought against the enemy team's ace and as expected, Shirley won. The lightning could not penetrate Shirley's defenses and Mana Shell. It was a good attempt though.

Unfortunately, after his attack failed, he was affected by Shirley's Ultrasonic Burst. He felt nauseated as his stomach felt upside down and he couldn't maintain his Mana Shell activation and was involuntarily deactivated.

***

Kyla in their academy's camp watched all of this happen in the plasma screen.

"So if the attack is fast enough then we could still land an attack against her. It is just that even if it landed, it would be a question whether it can destroy her Mana Shell."

Kyla muttered as she watched Shirley's last battle. After all, a hastily released magic spell would normally have weak power. Although it compensated for quick casting, it has weak penetration power that could normally be handled by Mana Shell unless you cast plenty of those.

She was analyzing the battle as the first fight tomorrow morning would be their Mystic Gate Academy against Leonhearts.