The National Exchange Tournament is no longer just a privilege for those aged 16.
For the first time in history, there was a match between a 14-year-old and a 10-year-old right in the quarter-finals!
[Let’s learn about the world’s greatest clickety-click Cecilia]
Graduated from Texas Rice University at 11 and worked as a chief researcher at NASA’s Johnson Space Center.
She became interested in combat in space and entered the Magic Battle.
After just one year of training, she dominated the US Junior Division Magic Battle.
She’s from Brazil and made it to the quarter-finals at last year’s National Exchange Tournament.
It’s seriously creepy that this kid has only 3 years and 7 months of Magic Battle experience.
She optimizes and casts almost every battle spell in the shortest time possible, over 1000 types (there are thousands of general magic spells).
What’s even crazier is that she can use multi-aura, wrapping herself in Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer.
Everyone knows how huge an advantage it is to freely unleash magic as a wizard.
(vs Oliver Larson Cecilia triple casting.gif)
A little exaggeration, and you get “Clickety-click Cecilia carries!” LOL
[Comments]
– Even her low aura output can be covered by item luck! OMG
– Isn’t this what they call “being a genius”?
– With that face, if she were born in the medieval era, she’d be hunted as a witch.
└ Too much, for real, LOL
└ Even if you say it, seriously LOL
– Who called group P a sweet deal? There are two in the quarter-finals.
└ Australia was super strong this year.
└ And Caleb Ryan took out both the US and Germany.
└ Cecilia’s loss wasn’t without reason.
[Every time I watch Cecilia’s record, NoName looks more and more impressive.]
Our Na-me’s Magic Battle experience is barely 2 years and 2 months, guys…
Even worse, she’s 4 years younger than Cecilia and her aura output is much weaker.
It’s kinda sad that despite optimizing all her spells, she hasn’t garnered much attention.
Even though Na-me has won far more matches with a sword than with magic.
[Comments]
– Looking at Cecilia: Wow, that’s awesome… / Looking at NoName: buffering Na-me emoticon
– Watching Na-me’s matches, I still feel like the world is pulling a prank on me.
└ For real LOL
└ It doesn’t even sound realistic LOL
– Maybe NoName is actually a highly skilled 30-something high wizard? A genius of illusion magic fooling everyone.
└ Denying insane power and calling it magic is pushing it LOL
– Ah, if the body is weak, just overcome it with magic! → NoName: Just smacks everything with a sword (?).
– It seems Na-me’s gradual rise to prominence is the issue.
└ For real, if she’d popped in and won the National Exchange Tournament from the get-go, she would’ve been followed as a sage that very day.
└ That definitely screams fishy LOL Makes sense LOL
August 6, 2053, Tuesday. Stade de Nîmes, France.
Voom-
A bus came to a stop at the back gate of the stadium.
The bus door swung open, and Na-me stepped down, wearing a sleep mask on her forehead.
A waiting camera crew captured this scene live.
Immediately, a huge cheer erupted in the stadium.
[Finally, the player NoName from the Republic of Korea is entering! It’s hard to believe that at just 10 years old, she has made it to the quarter-finals of the National Exchange Tournament. Did she just complete 5 matches in a month? This young athlete shows no decline in her individual skills and is instead surprising everyone with her stable match management!]
└ Pounce Na-me is so cute LOL
└ Na-me, please just win this round… Argentina took out Nathan Chen from the other side.
└ The most expensive match post in the world.
└ How is that little body fighting against monsters?
Once inside the stadium, the preparation time is quite long.
However, the stadium was quickly nearing full capacity.
The camera panned over the audience, highlighting celebrities hidden among the crowd.
And the quiz show of guessing the commentators began—you’ll fall if you can’t match!
[Wow! Freya Sky is here! She’s the legendary singer-songwriter known for Skynomics!]
[And over there, former Secretary of State Yulisis Murphy, famous for Murphy’s curse, and former President Nathan Newsom from Montana!]
[Oh, Wolfgang Giring, a key player in Germany’s victory two years ago! Many condolences to the German fans.]
[Next, we’ve got the 16-time champion Kim Gun, the 14-time champion Katsuhata Asahi, and the 17-time runner-up Katsuhata… Ah, my bad, I mean Narita Ren! It’s the golden generation of East Asia!]
[Uh-oh, didn’t we just cut to the former President Newsom? Looking again, it seems former President Ijo-won is now here… Yes, it looks like he’s eating chicken with his granddaughter.]
└ Freya Sky, OMG
└ Today could be the last day for the US, so they probably came in a group.
└ I came from the future~ Today, the US loses, but Na-me still declares victory!
└ What’s up with Ijo-won popping in? LOL
└ Do we really need to remember second place? The failure quiz show is rough;;
└ Hey, second place did a great job! Second place did a great job!
└ Looking at the members today, even the terrorists would be terrified LOL
A large scoreboard displayed the history of both players.
They’ve seen how granting unlimited magic usage to young prodigies leads to terribly destructive strategies.
And now, those players are entering the training arena.
The audience sent roaring cheers hotter than the sun, heating up the stadium.
[Quarter-final Match 122]
[NoName (Republic of Korea)] [100% / 100%]
[Cecilia N. Sampaio (USA)] [100% / 100%]
*
Just before the match started, I ran into Cecilia in the dark tunnel leading to the arena.
She waved her hand excitedly at me.
“Yo, boss! Finally gonna fight the boss, huh!”
“Boss? Ah, that?”
It seemed to mean the promise that if I lost in a bet, I’d be her subordinate for life.
“I was really worried, you know, Na-me…!”
“What were you worried about?”
“I worried you might not make it up until you could meet me! But I’m so glad we met like this, hehe!”
“Seriously. Cecilia, you’re gonna drop out in the quarter-finals just like last year.”
“KyaHaha! I’ve grasped 98% of your skills, boss. Maybe later, but with that body, it’ll be tough to beat me! I’m gonna expose all the weaknesses you’ve kept hidden today.”
“Weaknesses?”
Cecilia edged closer and whispered in my ear.
“Didn’t you work on encryption at all on your magic circle? The older kids here won’t be able to use their dispelling magic properly.”
“…”
“But if you try it with me, it’ll be a big problem, boss. I warned you ahead of time.”
“Hmm, now that I look at you, you’ve got a strong competitive spirit, huh? You’ve grown a bit, no, quite a bit.”
Westerners seem to grow remarkably in just a year.
She clasped her hands behind her head, wearing a mischievous smile.
She clearly came out with the intent to dispel all the magic I planned to use.
Maybe she had been plotting to crack me long before the tournament even started.
I cautiously asked her.
“Unique Magic too?”
“What do you mean? Adela? Ignis Respicio? Stellar Artraho? All of it!”
“I see. It won’t be easy.”
I forced a smile.
Maybe the process had been too smooth until now.
Every time I used magic, I struck my opponent without being blocked.
Doing encryption would cause a significant loss of mana, cutting my use of 4-circle magic in half.
Depending on her unravelling skills, the difference could be even greater.
“Cecilia.”
“Yup?”
“Have you checked the sudden breaking of mana isotropy in the magic cast by Suphian Hakim?”
“…”
“Thought so. Looking forward to the match.”
The power of erosion cannot be explained by modern aura theory.
I gave her a light tap on the shoulder and moved over to the opposite side.
The grass was slightly a mess.
It seemed to hint at how intense the match held here yesterday was.
[En garde!]>
I wrapped myself in the barrier and checked the wand’s operation status.
Cecilia was also prepared for battle on the opposite side.
Facing each other, we contemplated what our first spell would be.
Starting with a 50.1 versus 49.9 winning ratio might not make a critical difference, but it does provide psychological stability.
[Prêts?]>
Vwoooom-!
Preheating the aura heart, I quickly circulated the aura within my body and widened the path for external mana to pass.
This sensation is translated into illusions by the human brain through the five senses.
Golden-tinged vision, the sound of wind blowing from the hill, the scent of lilac.
[Allez!]>
Crackle-crackle-crackle-!
[Casting: Ignis Pusquina]
[Casting: Ignis Pusquina]
From the magic circle, three branches of lightning stretched across the vast training arena.
BOOM-!
The blue tridents colliding at the center created searing flames with a sound like thunder.
This is a second-circle field magic, also called lightning spear, originating from Greece.
The fact that we both started with the same starting magic wasn’t by chance.
[Casting: Ventus Aspello]
I formed a massive magic circle in front of me, pushing back the remnants of the explosion.
The well-planted grass mingled with the mana.
[Dispelling: Ventus Aspello]
BANG-!
The magic circle split in an instant.
“One second…?”
Fast.
The heat-compressed air spread outward in all directions, losing its power.
In my blurred vision, Cecilia’s magic circle unfolded.
[Casting: Aqua Monolith]
A huge hydraulic piston pushed my entire body away.
[Dispelling: Aqua Monolith]
Fwoooosh-!
The magic barely held together before exploding, scattering water in every direction.
[Ultimate Casting: Gravitational Control]
[Ultimate Casting: Descent]
The ground around me turned into a swamp, causing my feet to sink further below.
It was so wide that if I got out without dispelling, it’d be a huge benefit for me.
But did Cecilia not know that?
[Casting: Glacis Aquas]
Triple casting, a massive magic circle appears above my head.
Hundreds, thousands of large and small icebows rain down from the bright sky.
CRACKLE-!
[Dispelling: Glacis Aquas]
[Casting: Glacis Ion Trap]
I launched an ice whip toward Cecilia, breaking her magic.
If she fell into the swamp, she would have to break her magic herself.
I never expected her to be easily captured…
Unexpectedly, Cecilia got pulled in without a hitch.
As I pulled the whip, her small body was drawn to me helplessly.
“What’s the plan?”
“Good, just what I expected!”
A small magic circle hidden inside her jumper was ticking away.
[Delayed Casting: Ignition]
Flammable mana began to creep up from the depths of the swamp.
If it continues like this, an irreversible explosion would occur.
BANG-!
A massive explosion filling one-fourth of the arena, black smoke soared to the ceiling, plunging the entire stadium into darkness.
