Fluent Casting

By the time Ivan uttered the last word, the chair had crashed with frightening speed into the protective barrier of the Shield Charm.

The Shield Charm was not very good at defending against physical attacks, so it only lasted for half a second before it shattered.

Grace didn't have enough time to react and was hit in the back. Though she didn't lose her ability to fight, she was sent rolling on the ground.

"You're so nervous, Grace! You're so focused on me that you don't notice the danger around you. That's a big no-no in a fight!" Ivan pointed out her mistake without hesitation.

While watching her fight the wizard, Yvonne had seen that Grace was good at charms, but inexperienced in combat.

Sirius would never have made such an amateur mistake.

However, this was not Grace's fault alone. Most wizards and witches lacked combat experience!

To put it bluntly, as the only school in Great Britain, Hogwarts' main task was to teach its students how to use magic for their own convenience, or at most how to deal with Dark creatures in Defence Against the Dark Arts classes!

Fights between wizards and witches were rare in class.

This was also why almost all the young wizards in the school attended Lockhart's Duelling Club.

This was because they did not have many opportunities to spar!

Although Grace and the others had been in Knockturn Alley for a long time and had more or less been in some battles, they were, after all, non-combatants, and their fighting skills were basically blindly developed through combat.

It might be useful in normal times, but when used against powerful wizards, it was easy to spot flaws.

Yvonne shook her head to herself. This was probably what the Ministry wanted. The weaker the civilian wizards, the easier they would be to manage.

However, Ivan did not want the same for his subordinates, so he turned his attention to the watching wizards and explained.

"As I said, the Armor Charm is not difficult to deal with. It can only reflect spells of a specified type. If it were a physical attack with magical tendencies, it would be very difficult to achieve the desired effect!"

"So if the timing of the spell is right, even a flying spell can defeat it!"

"I don't believe there's anyone who can't do a Flight Charm, can they?" Ivan added.

The watching wizards laughed at Ivan's words. The Soaring Charm was one of the most basic spells, and it was not difficult to learn.

However, breaking the Shield Charm by using the impact of the Flying Charm on an object was indeed a novel idea, and few people would ever think of using it in battle.

While Ivan was explaining, Grace got to her feet, her face flushed.

She wanted to use this opportunity to impress Ivan, but she did not expect to be so easily defeated by a Flying Spell.

This made Grace extremely unhappy. It was a momentary mistake, and she had failed to show her true abilities.

However, Grace soon remembered that she did not seem to have surrendered, which meant that the battle was still going on. She looked at Ivan, who was still explaining and not guarding against her, and gritted her teeth.

"Excellarmus! (Excluding your weapon)"

A scarlet beam flashed through the air.

Ivan turned his head when he heard the noise. He calmly waved his wand and tapped it lightly. The scarlet beam of light that was so close to him disappeared, and he finally looked at Grace.

The young witch was so frightened that she almost lost her grip on her wand. She had only attacked in a moment of folly and was anxious to turn the tables. Now that she had calmed down, she realized that her actions had been a serious offense.

Ivan's reaction took Grace by surprise. Not only did he not hold it against her, he even complimented her.

"Grace…well done! Since one side didn't surrender, the battle isn't over yet. A successful sneak attack would be a good choice!"

Ivan, of course, did not blame Grace for the sudden attack. It was permissible to use any means in battle, and enemies did not greet you when attacking.

"Go on!" Ivan said.

Grace breathed a sigh of relief, adjusted herself, cast a Shield Charm on herself, and attacked first.

Ivan kept his promise and did not use unusual magic throughout the journey, and even when he did, he used basic charms.

However, this did not mean that Grace would be able to deal with them easily, as Ivan was able to combine many minor spells to create spells that were no less powerful than advanced spells.

It could also perform and counter the magic she cast.

Grace felt that the only reason she had lasted this long was because her opponent had held back, as her Shield Charm had been broken several times, and Ivan had waited until she had recast her Shield spell before attacking again.

What made her even more desperate was the fact that Yvonne was giving her all kinds of explanations about the characteristics of each spell and how to deal with them.

The emotional turmoil caused Grace to become even more flustered, and she soon gave herself away.

"Diffindo! " Ivan seized the opportunity and waved his wand quickly.

A beam of magic struck Grace, but she blocked it with her Shield Charm.

However, before the spell could be deflected, another beam of scarlet light followed, instantly penetrating the protective upper limit of the Shield Charm and crashing straight into Grace.

Grace felt as if she had been hit by a bull and was thrown backwards. Her wand flew out of her hand and landed in Ivan's.

The watching wizards applauded Ivan's victory.

Even though Ivan did not use magic that was so powerful that it took their breath away, the combination and application of basic magic was an eye-opener for them, and the fluidity with which he cast his spells was almost artistic.

Anyone would know that it is not as easy as Ivan makes it out to be, and that one would need to have very strong magical control…