Chapter 29
Serena was the daughter of an unnamed baron.
At the young age of 7, she awakened her Mana Circuit through sheer determination and successfully squeezed out mana, growing up to be the pride of her family and cherished.
Her talent caught the attention of the Master of the Silver Tower, leading her to enter the Magic Tower at a young age to embark on the path of a Mage.
Within a year of entering the tower, she became capable of casting Tier 3 Magic.
Normally, such skill would be at the level of a top student from the Academy, but she achieved this at just 13 years old.
After intense effort and research, she finally reached Tier 4, but the reactions from those around her were far from positive.
While it’s clear Serena’s talent was exceptional, the world had individuals far surpassing her.
“Surely, she’s outstanding for her age, but…”
“Still, she’s no match for the students of the Master of the Golden Tower.”
Even Serena’s own master, the Master of the Silver Tower, provided more scolding and disdain than praise.
“Can’t you even manage such a basic spell? What a pathetic girl… tsk.”
“Still lacking… Just how long until you surpass that damned Golden Tower’s disciple…?”
“I’ll work even harder.”
Serena truly exerted herself to the point of exhaustion, casting spells and squeezing out mana in hopes of gaining the recognition of those around her and her master.
When she reached Tier 3 Magic, she heard that the Master of the Golden Tower’s disciple had mastered an affinity.
Until then, she thought things were still acceptable.
Even if multiple affinities were at play, mastering one element was still superior, and she felt like she was ahead.
After three years of hard work, she reached Tier 4, known as the realm of genius.
However, the rival she thought she had surpassed, the Golden Tower’s disciple, had reached not only Tier 4 but Tier 5 as well.
Overcoming the cold stares and mockery from those around her, she succeeded in reaching Tier 5.
Typically, it takes a Mage at the Magic Tower until their 30s or 40s to achieve such a milestone, but she did so in her teenage years.
She thought that with this, she could finally gain recognition.
However, Serena was about to hear a truth she did not wish to confront.
The news had spread that the Golden Tower’s disciple had awakened their Unique Ability.
It was the same Unique Ability, [Blessing of the Stars], as the Archmage of the Former Hero Party. The moment this fact became known, it was practically decided that the next Mage of the Hero Party would be chosen.
The Master of the Silver Tower was furious about this and slapped Serena’s cheek while scolding her.
“To think you’d lose the title of Mage of the Hero Party again! What have you learned while being here? You’re utterly useless…”
“That damned Stella, Stella… I’m so sick of her.”
Serena hated Stella. They had entered the Magic Tower at about the same age, always becoming a point of comparison that tormented her. Part of her wished she could just get rid of her.
Serena could never forget her first encounter with Stella.
Two years ago, during a Magic Tower exchange event, she remembered having a friendly duel with her.
She gave it her all but was utterly defeated.
She fought with nothing but Tier 2 Magic and not even her Unique Ability.
Yet, she couldn’t lay a finger on her.
She couldn’t even scratch her defenses, and blocking one of her attacks felt overwhelmingly difficult.
When she met Stella’s gaze during the match, she trembled in fear.
It was as if she had never considered Serena at all from the beginning, those dull eyes cold and emotionless, a monster unleashing spells without a care.
“Don’t interfere if you’re not going to fight. You’re just a hindrance.”
Stella ignored her as she sat down, returning to her training, which only deepened the humiliation and ridicule Serena experienced.
In the year she turned 17, while considering leaving the Magic Tower, the Master of the Silver Tower called for her.
“What is it, Master?”
“I heard that that damned Golden Tower’s disciple will be coming to the Academy.”
“That Stella again…”
“So what do you want to say?”
“Go to the Academy.”
“…The Academy?”
“And kill that disciple.”
“…What?”
“Of course, I don’t mean just to kill her. I’ll give you a reason to do so.”
As she said this, the Master of the Silver Tower handed Serena a pendant and a piece of paper.
“What’s this?”
“That disciple has a damaged Mana Gate. Usually, they control the amount of mana used as an artifact.”
“Such a critical weakness existed?”
Serena couldn’t hide her surprise at this unexpected flaw in someone she had thought was perfect.
“The paper has the schedule for the first day at the Academy. Time it right and swap it with that fake artifact. During the duel, make it look like an accident and kill her.”
“Ha… but is that really necessary?”
“What if you don’t do this?”
At that moment, an immense pressure emanated from the Master of the Silver Tower.
“Will you live your life as a loser, overshadowed by her forever?”
“…That…”
“I adjusted the protective bracelet used during duels. It will not activate against your magic.”
With that said, the Master of the Silver Tower relaxed his aura.
“Serena, I believe in your talent.”
He said this while gently squeezing her shoulders, wearing a soft smile.
“And who knows? Maybe if you kill her, you might receive the next [Blessing of the Stars]?”
“…Yes.”
“I believe in you, Serena.”
*
“I challenge you to a duel, Stella.”
“Yeah, it’s all your fault! If it weren’t for you…”
“The Archmage’s apprentice wouldn’t think of avoiding the duel, would she?”
“I’m so sick of just following in your footsteps.”
“…Fine.”
“It seems like everything is falling into place. The order will be determined randomly. First, Stella and then Serena Archemia, step forward.”
“I never thought those two would actually fight.”
In the original story, Serena always felt inferior to Stella.
Stella often avoided her, finding her bothersome, hence there were hardly any interactions where she thought, “Oh, she might be a bit uncomfortable…”
At Amelia’s words, the two stepped forward and faced each other.
Stella (Lv.???)
Strength: A+
Speed: A+
Endurance: A+
Mana: Unmeasurable
Intelligence: S
Serena Archemia (Lv.30)
Strength: C-
Speed: B
Endurance: D+
Mana: S-
Intelligence: A
The difference in their specs was nothing short of despairing.
This was essentially an unwinnable battle that Serena should have understood.
So why did she challenge her?
By the way, why are Stella’s specs like that? That’s insane…
With stats like that, surely she could take down even that half-hearted girl without a problem.
“Then… begin.”
Boom! Boom! Boom!
At the declaration to start, Serena instantly created ice chunks and hurled them at Stella.
Schwick! Schwick!
However, Stella evaded all the ice chunks with just a shift of her foot and a tilt of her neck.
Boom!
As if she had predicted the evasion, the flying ice chunks detonated in midair, sending shards everywhere.
Crackle!
Then, from Serena’s hands, electric sparks began to gather.
…
Stella silently raised her staff, creating an intangible sphere.
Papapat!
The sphere shot out like a bullet, striking exactly at Serena’s hand.
“Ugh, it obscured my vision…”
At that moment, Stella’s staff began to glow and transformed into a long dagger.
Fwoosh!
As she swung the dagger once, all the ice dust obscuring her vision vanished in an instant.
“There you are.”
With a swish, Stella shot forward, her speed resembling that of a bullet.
“!!”
Facing the dagger speeding towards her, Serena hastily raised her protective barrier.
Boom!
The dagger’s impact cracked a large portion of the shield.
“Tch…”
Stella gave up on pressing the attack and kicked off the barrier, propelling herself backward.
“That’s strange. I could have broken through if I pressed a little harder. Why didn’t I?”
The answer soon became evident.
Boom!
A massive ice pillar descended where Stella had previously been, embedding itself deep into the ground.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Following that, seven ice pillars slammed into the ground, tracking Stella.
As the eighth ice pillar landed, they began to resonate with light.
“Indeed… I was led into this.”
From the eight ice pillars, powerful electricity erupted, connecting them all and encasing Stella like a prison.
“Not yet! This isn’t enough!”
As Serena placed her hand on the ground, waves of heat surged around her.
Heatwave!
Sizzling!
The temperature of the ground where Stella stood dramatically increased, releasing a tremendous quantity of steam.
“What’s going on?”
“Huh?”
Siel, who was watching the duel from the side, commented in confusion.
“Isn’t she a Mage? Why does she insist on close combat?”
Lucid, noticing Anubis’ worried expression, asked.
“Is something wrong, Anubis?”
“No, it just feels like her movements are completely different from what I remember.”
“Movements? She’s pretty quick for a Mage.”
“When I fought her before, I couldn’t even lay a hand on her.”
“You lost in a barehanded fight? Haha! What a funny joke.”
It was certainly strange.
No one knew how skilled Stella’s martial arts were, but she hadn’t used any magic whatsoever.
Not even her unique spells.
Could there be some sort of issue?
Serena, being the main heroine, was by no means weak.
The spells she was already using were powerful Tier 4 spells combining three elements: ice, lightning, and fire.
Excluding Stella, there was no one here who could surpass Serena with magic.
“Hah… hah…”
Sweat began to bead on Stella’s forehead due to the intense heat.
“Stella…”
Shia looked at Stella with worried eyes, fidgeting restlessly.
‘What are you doing, Stella?!’
“It’s all your fault… if it weren’t for you…”
“….”
Volcano Eruption!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The ground where Stella had been erupted in flames and smoke, shooting up like a volcano.
Crackle!
Fortunately, Stella had already deployed a protective barrier around herself, forming a sphere.
However, the shield quickly crackled and dissipated, unable to withstand the onslaught.
“…Do you hate me too?”
As she whispered that in a hushed tone, Serena screamed, feeling something break within her.
“Yes! I hate you! It’s all your fault!”
Shouting this, Serena began to chant her spell towards Stella.
Binding!
Roots sprang up from the ground, binding Stella completely.
Then she raised her staff high into the sky, gathering the energies of fire, water, wind, lightning, and earth.
“This will be the end! Elemental Fusion!”
[Warning!! The opponent’s LV is far too high to copy.]
The piercing mana that seemed to stab at her skin was something not seen before; it had been ages since she couldn’t copy something with her eyes.
Is this Tier 5 Magic?
“…Impressive.”
“…What?”
“Merging five elements? I can’t do that.”
“…”
“Fine. I’ll accept it. Serena, throw everything you have at me.”
“…Shut up… I truly hate you!”
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The immense mana gathered in her staff shot out like a destructive beam.
“This is insane!”
Feeling an instant dose of danger, Amelia sprinted towards Stella with all her might, but the magic bullet was already fired.
Even with the protective shield activated, she couldn’t guarantee safety from its overwhelming power.
However, the magic bullet merely grazed Stella’s hair without making contact with her body.
“…You’re not going to kill me?”
“Why…? Are you pitying me?”
Serena screamed in disbelief.
“I don’t need your pity! …You knew I was the one who stole your pendant, didn’t you?”
“…Yeah, I knew.”
“So what are you doing? Accepting this nonsense duel, thinking it would be okay if you just pretended to lose?”
“…”
“Are you planning to die like this? Why? What have I done to you?”
“…I… don’t really know.”
“Just… seeing you reminds me of someone.”
As Stella spoke this, she wore a reminiscent and wistful expression, as if recalling days gone by.
“I still can’t fully grasp what my traitorous friends felt… maybe I just don’t want to understand it.”
“What is that supposed to mean… I don’t get it.”
“Oh, it’s nothing. So, are you not going to end it?”
“…Enough, I don’t need any of this anymore.”
Saying this, Serena lowered her staff.
Then she approached Amelia and said,
“I concede.”
“Are you saying you’re giving up?”
“Yes.”
Amelia nodded and then shouted loudly.
“First match, Stella vs. Serena! The winner is Stella!”
