Briar and Helen arrived just in time to catch the end of the current match, with the water mage overwhelming the fire mage. It looks like all they did was gather their own respective elemental mana to disperse the opponent’s mana. How very crude. Briar thought to herself.

The battle that just finished was the very example of a cancelling battle, where mages use their own mana and spells to disperse the mana and spells of the opposite party. In the end, it all boiled down to who had the better mana manipulation and endurance. In that respect, you could say that the water mage won because she was more patient than the fire mage, and was therefore able to best utilize her element. Well, regardless of who won, it was luckily due to the delaying battle of those two magicians that allowed Briar to arrive on time.

“A magic slugging contest, heh?” Briar muttered, comparing it to the unrefined bare-fisted brawling of drunkards at a tavern. “But, I get the feeling that this is not all there is to this magic contest.”

“What are you muttering, Briar?” Helen asked, hearing Briar speak in a strange language.

“Ah, nothing nothing! Let’s watch the next match, okay?” Briar said cheerfully. That was close! Because of that dream I must have unconsciously spoken in Japanese.

“Briar…” Helen said, her face slightly twitching.

“Yes? What is it?” Briar replied, enthusiasm shining in her eyes.

“…the next match...it’s your match.” Helen pointed out.

Briar blinked. “Eh? Is that so?”

“And now it’s time for our next match! Ladies and Gentleman…” The announcer began.

“Hurry up, Briar! You have until he’s done with his introduction to get on stage!” Helen said, panicking a bit.

“In that case, might as well roll out the red carpet~!” Briar exclaimed as she vanished from the crowds in the stands.

“Eh!? Briar? What-” Helen asked, but her words were cut short when the winds gathered dust from all directions, creating a miniature whirlwind whose tail stood upon the magic stage itself, stirring up a cloud of dust.

But just as suddenly as it formed, it dispersed. When the dust settled, upon the stage, with not a speck on her, stood Briar. She watched her surroundings with interest as if the miniature whirlwind had nothing to do with her at all.

“…With a splendid and brilliant entrance, Madam Rothema’s very own disciple, Briar Rose!” The announcer followed up, unphased by the excessive show of magic. The crowd cheered to see such an interesting entrance. Some of the magicians in the audience were shaking their heads at the seeming waste of mana, though.

It was something which usually happened when magicians came together. The ones that weren’t involved in magic slugging contests usually tried to outdo the others in their entrance.

Although this was the first such entrance this year, it certainly would not be the last. Other magicians would adopt a flashy entrance if only not to be outdone by the other magicians in performance. There were those who had exhausted all of their mana in a mere few seconds just to give a flashy entrance, only to forfeit due to lack of mana.

Briar had already activated her mana vision, so she was well aware when tendrils of mana spread out and formed themselves into visible leaves, which gathered to create its own miniature whirlwind on the opposite side of the stage. It was a girl older than her, about fifteen or sixteen, with striking platinum blonde hair falling in waves past her shoulders. Her striking sky blue eyes seemed to have an electric energy swimming through them.

Illusion magic, huh? Briar noted. Originally, if that person were to encounter anyone else, then there would be no question that they would have undoubtedly won. But, unfortunately for her opponent, Briar had Mana Vision, therefore any illusions would be effortlessly seen through.

Already she had seen through the illusion of a striking beauty. The real Morningstar had her platinum blonde hair cut into a short bob, and amethyst eyes, with a far thinner and less developed figure. Briar silently offered her condolences to the opposite side.

“…And on the opposite side, with just as brilliant of an entrance, is Master Silver’s star pupil, Morning Star!” The announcer introduced her opponent with the same boundless enthusiasm. Briar snorted a bit at the name, remembering the ninja weapons which also were bearers of that name.

“Hey you! You laughed just now, didn’t you!” Morning Star exclaimed. Ara? It seems this fake missy has quite the complex. Let’s just end this quickly.

“Yes, I did.” Briar replied, deadpan. She openly admitted to laughing at Morning Star.

“You’ll pay for that! I won’t forgive you for laughing at the brilliant Morning Star!” The opponent growled, gritting her teeth as she called upon her mana.

“Ooh! Already there is quite the amount of provocation flying around. It really makes one interested in what will happen~I can’t wait! MATCH START!” The announcer waved a flag to symbolize the start of the match.

The two figures both stood in place, silently, neither one seeming to move.

------------

“What are they doing?” Helen asked Madam Rothema, completely confused. Madam Rothema smiled slightly.

“Well, it could be several things, actually, but right now I think they are just trying to gauge each other’s remaining mana pools. It’s usually the young people who start fighting immediately. When it comes to a Magi’s fight, I’d be surprised if it didn’t take them more than a year to be fully prepared.”

“A Whole year?” Helen gasped.

Madam Rothema chuckled. “That’s only if it were an official fight between Magi, and, even then, there are many rules and regulations set in place so that we don’t damage the environments or kill someone who was not involved by accident. Just because we have power doesn’t mean that we can just go and blow everything up when we get mad, although I admit, I’ve been tempted to upon occasion.”

“So being a Magi doesn’t mean that you can do anything that you want?” Helen asked.

“No, Helen, being a Magi is a lot of delicate and complicated work. Most are not able to cope with the scale of magics that we do, which is why for the most part, we make sure that our spells cannot harm those who are much weaker than us.”

“But, why doesn’t she just shoot off a spell? I’ve seen her do chantless spells before! She can totally beat the opponent!” Helen pouted.

“It’s more than simply knocking the person out, Helen. Briar is here so that she can learn from the techniques of other magicians and fighters. This is one of the fastest ways to help her grow at this point…” Madam Rothema sighed.

Usually, we wouldn’t be so hurried for her to grow, but we won’t be around for much longer. Already the time is growing short for us of the older generations.

--------------------------------------

During these past five minutes, neither seemed to have moved an inch.

However, Briar’s mana vision told a different story. Morning Star had already begun her attack, weaving her illusion magic around the two of them. Briar watched the light blue tendrils wrap around her like fog, allowing them to encase her.

She chuckled. “Let’s see what you’ve got.” And adjusted her mana vision so that she could see the illusion, while still keeping track of Morning Star through her mana signature.

The stage, people, and sounds faded away, being replaced by tall skyscraper buildings, cars driving through the streets, and cherry trees in full bloom, here and there.

“So it’s something to this effect, huh?” Briar muttered to herself. Illusion magic showed the person a nostalgic scenery to catch them off their guard. But, what Morning Star could never have guessed is that Briar’s soul itself had come from a completely different world, thus any illusions played against her would instantly be caught.

“Briar! What are you doing here?” the familiar Japanese words poured like music into her ears. Briar turned to look. It was Sister Allison from the local orphanage, and…it was also Morning Star. Morning Star’s mana signature and Sister Allison’s appearance overlapped.

So you want to play around like this, huh? Briar thought, eyes narrowing. Very well. Let us call your bluff.

“I could ask you the very same question.” Briar replied, but not in the achingly familiar Japanese language that she heard. No matter how real this place seemed, it was only an illusion. If she were to reply in Japanese, then certain things would become exposed.

“What are you doing here, Sister? It isn’t like you to be somewhere so dangerous.” Briar continued with the charade. She was stalling for time while she analyzed the illusion magic.

Outside of the illusion, Morning Star sniggered to herself. She couldn’t really see what her illusion magic showed her victims, but it seemed that Morning Star was being mistaken for Briar’s sister.

“What, can’t I walk about as I please? I’m surprised you haven’t realized it by now.” The tendrils of illusion magic began to move, and the once friendly scenery now took on a much fiercer appearance as clouds covered the sun and the wind seemed to be picking up. On the side, Morning Star was readying a highly-condensed [Wind Sphere] in order to push Briar of the stage, muttering an aria.

“Sister, if you walk around like that here, who will take care of the little ones? Hasn’t it always been me who takes care of the dangerous things while you stay home with the children? The magic beasts would surely eat you for supper if you stayed out here too long.” Briar replied, acting this impromptu part to the fullest.

“Stop talking nonsense! As if you could defeat magic beasts without my help! That would require you to be at least a First-Rank Master Class magician!” Morning Star scoffed as she released the compressed [Wind Sphere] in Briar’s direction.

The [Wind Sphere] struck, once again lifting dust and dirt into the air, obscuring the platform. Morning Star clenched her hand in a victory pose. Before everything had been obscured, she had made sure to see that Briar was directly hit with the [Wind Sphere]. There was no one under Master’s class that could completely repel such winds without being thrown back by the rebound.

Everyone was looking for the place where Briar should have fallen, but strangely it seemed as if the intended victim had vanished. Believing she had already won, Morning Star dispelled her illusion magic. After all, there was no use to continue using up mana if there was no one left to target. But, unfortunately…

“Achoo! Ugh I hate dust!…Was that an attack?” A voice spoke out from the dust cloud in the center of the stage, and Morning Star’s face grew pale as she realized that what happened was precisely what she hadn’t been expecting.

A slight wind picked up and dispersed the dust, revealing Briar’s figure, still standing in the same spot she had since the start of the fight. Briar stood there still for a moment, then replied.“Eh? I didn’t tell you?” Briar’s eyes held a hint of sly mischief within.

“T-tell me what?” Morning Star stuttered out in reply to Briar’s question.

“I’m a first rank Master class.” Briar replied seriously. Actually I’m a second rank, but I’d rather not reveal that to you or anyone else before I let Madam Rothema know about it. Briar thought to herself as she struck a pose.

“F-first rank, M-master class!?” Her first reaction would usually be to laugh at such an absurd claim. But, Briar had withstood a highly compressed [Wind Sphere] that most rank nine Journeymen had trouble blocking, especially if they were ambushed with it.

Morning Star’s face grew white as paper. If that was true, then no matter how much Briar had laughed at her, she had every right to do so. Any twelve year old who could reach First-Rank Master Class was almost assured to become an immortal Magi. Compared to that, what was her Rank-Eight Journeyman Class?

“Ha ha. That air ball had nearly all my mana behind it.” Morning Star sank to the ground, exhausted and mentally drained. “I can’t go on.”

“Briar is the winner of the match!” The announcer proclaimed with his loud voice.

Briar nodded, bowing before the cheering audience, then she crossed the stage to help Morning Star stand up. Morning Star hesitated at Briar’s outstretched hand.

“Tell me one thing.” She asked. “You were never really affected by my illusion, were you?” Briar smiled. “It was a wonderful illusion, but in the end, it lacked the strength of the emotions behind it. Although, I really came over to thank you.”

Morning Star snorted. “Thank me? Thank me for what? Your winning?”

“No. Thank you for the illusion.” Briar replied. Morning Star was puzzled for a moment, but then nodded and grasped Briar’s outstretched hand. Briar effortlessly pulled her to her feet.

“You really are a rather strange magician.” Morning Star said.

“Haha, thanks! There certainly will never be another magician like me. That’s for certain!” Briar laughed as she walked back towards the stairs on the opposite end of the stage.

Morning Star stared after her. “Really…a weird magician. What kind of magician helps up their opponents after defeating them?” She turned around and walked down the stairs on the opposite side of the stage, reaching the shadows behind the doorway before her fake appearance disappeared.