The Dance Of Fire And Ice [Part 1]

“I think the last time we talked to each other was during the Initiation Ceremony, right?” Nicole asked as she looked at the silver-haired beauty that challenged her to a duel. “So before we start, I just want to ask you one thing. Are you serious about this?”

Alice didn’t answer right away. Instead, she took out her wand and pointed it at the person whom she considered to be her greatest rival.

“You will know how serious I am when we start our battle,” Alice replied.

“Wow.” Nicole smirked as she summoned a Magical Rapier. “Scary~”

The two teenage girls stared at each other, while waiting for the referee that will officiate their match.

Duels were not allowed to happen unless there was someone among the staff of the Academy that would oversee these battles. Anyone who broke this rule would receive punishment, and will be penalized through gold and merit points.

“It’s good to see that you two are eager to battle,” a middle-aged man with gray hair appeared at the center of the arena with his arms behind his back. “I will be the referee of this match, are both of you ready?”

Ethan, who was not familiar with the middle-aged Professor, asked Chloe who was seated on his right side.

“Who’s that?”

“I don’t know,” Chloe replied. “I don’t know a lot of Professors here in the academy. I’m just a First Year like you.”

Just as Ethan was about to ask Luna, who was seated on his left side, the Head Prefect of Dud Manor, Henry tapped him from behind.

“That’s Professor Barret,” Henry stated. “He is one of the resident Magistratus of the Academy, and teaches Defense Against the Arcane Arts. He was a very powerful Wizard, and my dad said that he used to be the Top Magistratus when he was still on active duty.”

Magistratus was the title given to powerful Wizards, who helped the Magical Bureau enforce the laws of the Magical World on its denizens.

It could be said that they were the best combat Wizards and Witches that could fight multiple enemies at once.

This title was not given lightly, and only those who truly possessed the strength to back up this title would be awarded its honors.

After knowing who the middle-aged professor was, the young man once again focused his attention on the two teenage girls in the arena, who were ready to start their duel.

“If I deem that there is no point in continuing this match, I will step in to end it,” Professor Barret declared. “Even though the magical wards have been activated, which will ensure that none of you will die in this duel, do your best to avoid purposely killing your opponent. This is a duel, not a deathmatch. I want to see the behavior that is expected from the students of Brynhildr Academy.”

Alice and Nicole both nodded their heads, acknowledging Professor Barret’s words.

The Ex-Magistratus nodded back and raised his hand.

“Let the match, Begin!”

The moment Professor Barret announced the start of the battle, Alice immediately swung her wand, creating countless icicles around her.

“Glacies Imbrem!” Alice chanted and the dozens of icicles around her all shot towards Nicole, who was standing with a confident smile on her face.

“Ignis Murus,” Nicole sneered and a wall of fire appeared in front of her, evaporating the icicles that Alice had sent in her direction.

The pink-haired beauty’s wand was actually the handle of her Rapier, magnifying its abilities considerably.

The Asta Family was a family of Magical Knights. Because of this, all of their equipment were tailor made to allow them to fight to their fullest.

‘They both have good control,’ Professor Barret thought as he watched the battle from the side. ‘Both of them are trying to make their opponents show more of their fighting styles before they start to fight seriously.’

Alice pulled back the arm that was holding her wand before stomping her left foot on the ground.

“Glacies Clavi,” Alice stated.

Immediately after the silver-haired beauty cast her spell, Nicole jumped backwards, and used a Levitation spell to float upwards.

At that exact moment, two-meter icicle Spikes jutted out of the ground where the pink-haired beauty had been standing mere seconds before.

If Nicole had been a bit slower, she might have been impaled by Alice’s precision strikes that made even Professor Barret nod his head in appreciation.

“Ignis Indicibus!”

This time, Nicole’s decided to counterattack to stop Alice’s momentum.

Dozens of golf-sized fireballs shot out of the tip of her rapier, making it look like a machine gun unleashing a barrage of flaming bullets at her target.

When they were going through the Initiation Ceremony, Nicole had already considered Alice a threat.

The pink-haired beauty had very strong senses. These senses of her allowed her to tell who were the most powerful Wizards and Witches in her surroundings.

If Alice had not been with Ethan and Chloe in the Initiation Ceremony, Nicole would have definitely attacked them, eliminating them then and there.

Her goal had been to be the only First Year to clear the special trial that had become a tradition of Brynhildr Academy.

The only reason why she didn’t do that was because Alice was with them. Although the silver-haired beauty had an indifferent look, which made her like an Ice Queen, her strong magic power was the real deal.

Alice stood her ground, as she faced the barrage of Fire Bullets headed in her direction.

A moment later, a two-meter thick Ice Wall rose in front of her, shielding her from the Fire Bullet Barrage.

White smoke started to envelop the surroundings as the Ice Wall withstood the attack.

The silver-haired beauty was defending, and using her magic to cast a white icy mist in the surroundings, blocking everyone’s vision.

She had no intention of showing her trump cards where everyone could see, so she planned to create an environment that would allow her to fight to her fullest potential.

What she didn’t know was that Nicole could have blown away the white mists that she was using to cover the battlefield.

However, since the pink-haired lady also didn’t want to show anyone her true strength, she allowed Alice to do what she wanted, while preparing an attack that would take her opponent completely by surprise.

'I hope that this will be fun,' Nicole mused. 'Let's see what you can do, Alice.'