In the elite cla.s.s training grounds of Filomena n.o.bility Academy, Bella was currently in a match against a mage named Sylvia. Sylvia dressed in a grey mage's attire which enveloped her entire frame. However, apart from well-known mages, mages would generally not exposed what type of magic they were well-versed in.
It was different from those fantasy novels that Bella read in her past life. The magicians from this world wore equipment to hide their magic attributes. Ariel and the Holy Mage Gilbert also didn't wear mages equipment that had any information hinting of the owner's magic. Not only the mages, when Bella encountered other magical professions, even they wouldn't wear any equipment that indicated their magical attributes.
Mages did this so that their opponents wouldn't be able to know their magic traits in advance. It was to prevent the opponents from preparing countermeasures against their magical attributes using various methods like immunity armors. Bella became a little gloomy as half of Sylvia's face was covered. Apart from her pleasant voice, Bella couldn't determine if Sylvia's real face was pretty or not.
"d.u.c.h.ess Bellina, if you are not focused then don't blame me."
Sylvia raised her azure blue magic rod which was embedded with a blue gemstone on its tip. It was glittering with pure blue radiance. It glittered with pure blue radiance. As it flickered, a small whirlwind spun towards Bella's direction. There were plenty of sharp pieces of ice blade that danced inside the tornado.
"This is fusion magic. The wind attribute, Brutal Cloud Tornado, and the ice attribute, Ice Blade fused into the Icy Tornado. It's already worth it to be able to see fusion magic in this practice match."
"Miss Sylvia isn't planning on being merciful. Isn't this fusion magic a move that she would only use during official matches?! She actually used it in a practice match."
"Bellina is done for. If she was wearing the Dragon-Slaying Armor that she wore in the previous round, she would have been able to resist against the fusion magic. Her current armor won't be able to make it. I'm betting 500 gold coins that she is going to fly."
"Peter, are you regretting on placing your bet on d.u.c.h.ess Bellina? Because I do, a little…"
"No, I don't regret. Banker, I will bet another 500 gold coins on d.u.c.h.ess Bellina."
Bella was flabbergasted. Weren't mages suppose to chant an extremely shameless and delusional incantation before using the actual spell? How did Sylvia skip it entirely? Wasn't she cheating? She thought to herself, “Referee, this mage isn't casting her spell according to the norm. She is cheating, so this match is invalid!”
Bella didn't have a detailed conversation with Ariel about the mage's profession. If she had, she would have known that this world's mage and other magical professions were able to cast spell swiftly. When casting a spell, the mage would first make the incantation in their heart quickly and silently. There wasn't a need to yell out, as it would just put the opponent on guard, which would defeat the purpose of a sneak attack.
The Icy Tornado quickly enveloped Bella. Bella didn't try to evade Sylvia's magic attack as this Icy Tornado had a homing effect. Since she couldn't dodge it, she would just upright block against it.
The pieces of ice shards in the tornado spun with the wind and crashed onto Bella's body. However, when the ice blades were a short distance away from Bella's position, they would be blocked by an invisible barrier. The ice blades that would be shattered by the invisible barrier were unable to deal with any physical damage to Bella.
"Holy Knight's unique skill, Holy Guard. d.u.c.h.ess Bellina, you… you are a Holy Knight!"
This time, it was Sylvia's turn to be astonished, as Bella didn't even wear the Holy Knight's standard ornament, the Holy Cross. She had thought that Bella was just a higher cla.s.sed knight. Among the Holy Knights freshmen, only the “Thunder Knight” Aurora and the “Dusk Knight” Daphne had reached this level. This Bellina was a Holy Knight as well? Wasn't this too big of a joke?
"Miss Sylvia, could you now tell me if you have any boyfriend?"
"You… why are you concern about this? I have no boyfriend. Does this answer satisfy you?"
"I see, you will have one soon enough!"
Bella used the same move that she used against the a.s.sa.s.sin earlier. She smashed her fist on the training grounds, which caused even more severe damage to the floor that already had the cracks from earlier. William had learned his lesson this time. Before the shockwave could reach him, he jumped out of the arena. Bella had already displayed the strength of a Holy Knight and it wouldn't be shameful to evade the shockwave of the attack. After all, they were both Holy Knights, right?!
After the training grounds had been smashed up, the next match would be unable to carry on. But Bella wasn't judged as violating any rules. She simply had to compensate for the repair fees of the training grounds after the match. This attack had immediately destroyed Sylvia's Icy Tornado and the strength had nearly shattered the isolation array that Holy Knight William had deployed around the training grounds.
Bella's attack didn't do any harm to Sylvia, as Sylvia had also learned the Mage's cla.s.sic magic spell, flight magic. When Bella was executing her attack, Sylvia was already in the sky, floating around six meters above the training grounds. The rules of the match didn't state that mages couldn't use flight magic. Hence, Sylvia wasn't violating any rules when she flew into the air.
"Miss Mage, you are cheating… if you are man… a woman, then come down and have a proper match! How capable are you to stay in the air and blast your spells from there?"
"If you are so capable, then come up to fight me! d.u.c.h.ess Bellina, you better admit defeat. A Holy Knight without a flying mount cannot defeat me!"
"Sylvia, I will not admit defeat. It is impossible for me to give up this match before I get to see your true face."
Sylvia was still floating in the air and using her instant ice attribute magic, Ice Thrust, and her wind attribute magic, Wind Blade to a.s.sault Bella from above. Bella was relying on the Holy Knight's defensive unique skill, the Holy Guard to forcefully block against Sylvia's magic attacks. Bella might look pathetic, but her defense was very tough and Sylvia's magic attacks couldn't break through the defenses. The two sides had fallen into a stalemate.
Sylvia saw that it wasn't a good idea to waste time and energy like this since the mages' flight magic tend to exhaust a huge amount of mana. She might look to be very relaxed now, but the longer the flight, the faster the consumption of her mana. If she wasn't able to defeat Bella within a certain amount of time, and once she had insufficient mana, she would have to wait for the Holy Knight to “teach her a lesson”.
Bella might seem to be in a disadvantage, but she was very composed, while her Holy Guard's barrier didn't any signs of fluctuation. This meant that she still had strength, and as long as she was able to drag it out until Sylvia's mana ran out, she would win this match. Since this Sylvia dared to admit she didn't have a boyfriend, then she couldn't blame Bella for having any bad intentions.
Holy Knight William was in a difficult situation. He was in charge of proctoring this match, and when he saw that they were in a stalemate, he wanted to declare this match as a draw. Sylvia was the Aldridge Empire's Aristocratic Family's descendant and if she lost to a knight that wasn't from the Octavia Empire which was a knight empire, she would truly be shaming her Arcana Aristocratic Family's reputation.
William couldn't afford to offend Sylvia, nor could he offend Bella. Bella was now the d.u.c.h.ess of the Gabriel Empire and had her own Duchy. If he was to judge that Bella had lost, he would have to spit out all the money that he had took in.
Bella didn't any signs that she was going to be defeated. If he was to judge that she lost, it might just offend two empires. The Octavia Empire had always a.s.serted that every Holy Knight, no matter from which empire, they were their “honorary citizens”.
If he was to judge this match as a draw… The banker's boss was Holy Knight William's relative and according to the rules here, the banker would lose everything if the match was a draw. If that was to happen, it would be very awkward. William truly didn't know how to settle this situation. He had no choice but to seek advice while using pleading eyes to look at the Dragon Knight Ingrid who was the chief in charge of the matches.
However, Ingrid's eyes remained unchanged. She was currently shocked by Bella's Holy Knight's strength which wasn't noticed by the Octavia Empire. This was a huge loss for the Octavia Empire who had given such a talent to the neighboring Gabriel Empire. It seemed like she had to make a report to the Emperor.
William's pleading eyes were automatically ignored by Ingrid's deep thoughts. The audience were all enthusiastic by the match. There were only a rare few freshmen in the Knight's cla.s.s that entered the school with high-level knight skills and there were even lesser Holy Knights. Furthermore, the Holy Knights and the Dragon Knights were students that typically came from the Octavia Empire. But Bella was a student from the Gabriel Empire which was a swordsman empire. It was already a miracle for her to even reach the level of the Holy Knight.
Bella had successfully attracted the attention of certain individuals, like Aurora and Daphne, who were both concentrated on her. They were also at the Holy Knight's level, but their Holy Guard wasn't as insanely powerful as Bella's, which could be used for such a long period of time. If they were on the stage right now, they wouldn't be able to be as composed as Bella.
"Sylvia, the sky isn't safe. You better come down. As long as you come down, I will allow you to attack me."
"No, your eyes are too… I am not coming down no matter what. What can you do…"
"Then I shall not hold back. Since you are not coming down, I will go up and look for you."
Bella extended a pair of translucent shadow wings and used it to fly into the sky, rus.h.i.+ng at Sylvia. These wings were a flying tool from her "silly little sister", Dark Demon G.o.d, Alice. With this item, no matter how much of a cheat Sylvia's flight magic was, it would not affect Bella.
“You actually have a flying tool… Don't come over. Come any closer and I will use my ultimate move! You…”
Before Sylvia could finish talking, Bella immediately arrived at her side and punched at Sylvia's magic barrier. A single punch had shattered Sylvia's barrier and the powerful shockwave had ripped away Sylvia's grey mantle, allowing Bella to finally see Sylvia's true face.
On the inside, Sylvia was wearing an official mage's attire. These mage clothes were something that the mages would wear when they were having an internal conference. That blue decorative design had accurately determined that Sylvia's magic was mainly the water attribute. Now that her magic attribute had been exposed to Bella, she had lost to her tactics advantage. If Bella knew any thunder attribute magic or attacks, Sylvia would have lost.
"Miss Sylvia, you don't look ugly. Why are you wearing such an ugly mantle? It's such a waste of your good looks!"
"What do you mean I don't look ugly. You bad girl… my disguise had been destroyed by you. If you don't compensate one to me, I will…"
Bella's statement was just a joke to tease Sylvia. In Bella's aesthetic point of view, Sylvia's azure blue hair, blue eyes, and fair skin were almost the same standard as the beauties like Natasha and the academy belles. Saying that she didn't look ugly was just a joke.
“Miss Sylvia, if you don't admit defeat then don't blame me when my next move shreds all your clothes.”
“What? You dare!… I am!…”
"There is nothing I do not dare to
do. Miss Sylvia, your figure looks quite good. A pity that in the next second, I will…"
"I surrender. You better remember this…"
Against Bella's “clothes ripping' threat, Sylvia finally admitted defeat, as she didn't wish for people to see her naked. Bella's eyes had a type of “self-confident' and she was truly afraid that this immoral Holy Knight will really use the shockwaves to rip her clothes. There were plenty of male students observing them and if they were to see her naked body, she would no longer be able to stay in the Olsylvia Academy.
Looking at Sylvia's departure, Bella's eyes flashed with an evil glow. She was definitely going to “rip” this beautiful mage's attire. If it weren't for a large number of spectating male students, and not wanting to let them have the benefits, Bella would already have executed her plan to “rip” Sylvia's clothes.
“As student Sylvia had automatically admitted defeat. I declare that d.u.c.h.ess Bellina is the winner. Since this is d.u.c.h.ess Bellina's 12th consecutive victory, today's tournament schedule will end here. There is no need to continue the rest of the matches.”
“This isn't satisfying enough, what exactly did d.u.c.h.ess Bellina say to Miss Sylvia in the sky? I will pay 50 gold coins to whoever knows!”
“What is this!? Isn't the freshmen strength test an unrestricted tournament? I still want to continue betting on d.u.c.h.ess Bellina. Is there any sense to this rule? A winner with consecutive wins is restricted? I am not convinced!”
"I am not convinced too. There is a conspiracy! We want the truth, we… Don't pull me… Help…"
In the audience stand, there were a few “brave ones” that were unconvinced by the tournament result and were immediately dragged off by a “mysterious person”. They had forgotten that the host had all the authority for the freshmen strength test. Those that were unconvinced were basically from the Viscount or Baron families. Those of the lower-cla.s.s n.o.bility definitely deserved a beating, as they dared to “talk so much” even though they had no status.
Not letting Bella continue the tournament was the best decision, as she had already demonstrated her strength as a Holy Knight. If she continued the tournament, there was definitely going to be more bets that would be placed on her. If Bella was to continue fighting a few more matches, the banker might probably go bankrupt.
"d.u.c.h.ess Bellina, are you really from the Gabriel Empire? They are a swordsman empire and are very hostile towards those with the knight's profession. I find it a little strange that you are able to climb to the d.u.c.h.ess' rank at such a young age."
"Miss Daphne, for this question, you may come and look for me at the Rose Society's new activity room when you are free. I would like to speak to you alone about this. That's right, you have a very pleasant voice. Be more cheerful in the future. Don't always put on a cold expression that deters people from approaching you."
As Bella was on the way back to the resting area, she had been interrupted by the "Dusk Knight" Daphne. She was obviously suspicious about Bella's status, but Bella had evaded her question with her quick wits. Before Bella left, she even teased Daphne a little, which made this cold and prideful beautiful knight at a loss.
This tournament was finally finished and Bella had to go resolve the problems of her own Rose Society's new activity room. Last weekend, during the society territory wars, the Golden Legend Society's President Carlos didn't come. Due to the lack of combat power, they were unable to take down the Rose Society's last territory. This week's battle situation wasn't going to be similar to last week. When Bella had arrived at the resting area, there were already two familiar figures that were waiting for her return.
