Chapter 26: One-on-One (1)

Duel—a very ancient term—was originally used to describe battles between knights.
Hundreds of years ago, when the empire was first forming, the Saxon king rewarded some of his followers who had fought alongside him in various campaigns by granting them the title of “knight,” meaning “king’s retainer.”
From then on, knights were classified as part of the nobility, ranging from barons to dukes. The old nobles of those centuries were proud of their title as knights.
Under the empire’s laws at that time, battles between two nobles were not allowed; if discovered, such acts would result in the loss of their titles. So, what should be done if two nobles had irreconcilable differences?
It was then that the concept of duel emerged in imperial law.
The law stated that if a noble felt insulted by another noble, he had the right to challenge him to a duel, and the other party could choose to accept or refuse, depending on the circumstances.
During a duel, in the presence of a notary, it was forbidden for the retinues of either noble to intervene. The loser of the duel would be captured and forced to pay ransom in the form of horses, weapons, and armor to the winner.
As is well known, the empire was a monarchy. Perhaps influenced by the Saxon king, it celebrated heroes and praised warriors. Many noblewomen in the empire once became obsessed with the strongest knights. Yet the empire itself did not support battles between nobles.
A few decades later, to strengthen its rule and enhance the reputation of knights, the empire established eight doctrines as standards for knights—the eight virtues of chivalry: humility, honor, bravery, sacrifice, compassion, spirituality, honesty, and justice.
From then on, to prove their “bravery” and earn “honor,” knights no longer refused challenges, seeing them as tests. Over time, this became a common practice.
Every knight took pride in defeating his challenger, while those who refused duels were labeled as cowards.
Hundreds of years later, knights had gradually declined, replaced by the profession of mages.
Yet duels were still used by the nobility—sometimes as friendly competitions, sometimes as entertainment, and sometimes as a means to vent resentment.
As the new elite of the empire, mages were not bound by the rules of knightly duels. In friendly competitions, they would decide on the location of the fight, as mages relied on elements floating in the atmosphere.
Unlike knights who relied on horsemanship, mages did not need such things, as they used the elements in the air.

There’s one thing worth mentioning here.
As mentioned earlier, in a duel between true magicians, the most crucial factors are the timing, power, and speed of spellcasting. However, there’s a special exception.
What if the duel involves two magicians who use the same type of blue magic?
As is well known, the elements floating in the atmosphere remain constant, maintaining a relative balance. Under normal circumstances, these elements cannot be transformed. Moreover, when a magician casts a spell, they don’t consume elements from the atmosphere but instead use their own magical power to rearrange and shape those elements—much like the law of conservation of energy. What’s consumed is only the magical energy attached to the element, meaning the element itself isn’t depleted. Since it isn’t depleted, it won’t be replenished by nearby elements of the same type.
So, what happens when these elements can’t meet the needs of the two magicians using the same type of magic?
It’s actually quite simple: affinity!
The party with greater affinity for that element can gather more of it—this represents a difference in rank as well as in quality!
※※※
A difference in quality…
Staring at the fireball floating in front of the boy across from her, and at the red, white, and blue flames burning on its surface, Ravia bit her lip in frustration.
She could sense that most of the fire elements in the atmosphere were clustered around that boy. Such a high concentration of fire elements was beyond her current capabilities.
Especially that fireball composed of three types of flames—Ravia could clearly feel the psychological pressure it exerted. Compared to her ordinary red flames, there was a clear difference in rank.
Was it because she hadn’t trained long enough?
How on earth did he do it?
And…
“Why don’t you attack? Want to show off your composure again?” Ravia asked, slightly angry.
This is tricky…
Jiang Zhe sighed in frustration. If his opponent were a boy, he would have already thrown his fireball at him, right? But…
With his current level of fireballs, if he wasn’t careful…
He really didn’t want to fight a girl…
Sigh, what a hassle…
After thinking for a moment, Jiang Zhe dissipated the compressed fireball and summoned an ordinary red fireball instead.
After all, Jiang Zhe aimed for high-damage spells, but such spells weren’t suitable here. If something went wrong and he disfigured her, it could lead to a never-ending feud…

Besides, anyway, Jiang Zhe really couldn’t bring himself to be harsh on a teenage girl who was quite cute-looking but seemed to have a bad temper. It would be better to end it in a draw with this stubborn little girl! As he was thinking this, a furious question from Lavia came from the other side, “Why did you cancel that fireball just now? Are you looking down on me?” Could she not be so domineering? Jiang Zhe let out a slight sigh and said half-jokingly, “Please! Maintaining that fireball consumes a lot of magic power!” Lavia was stunned for a moment and reluctantly accepted this answer, but her eyes still held a hint of distrust. “Even so… won’t you attack?” “You go first!” Jiang Zhe shrugged and raised his hand. “Alright!” As soon as he finished speaking, Lavia raised her hand, pointed at Jiang Zhe, and recited a cryptic spell. At the same time, a wave of fire rose from beneath her feet and rushed straight toward Jiang Zhe. “Hm? What’s this…?” Surprised, Jiang Zhe dodged to the side. When he turned around, he saw another wave of fire coming toward him. In a hurry, he pointed at the wave with his right hand, and a fireball shot out in that direction, colliding with the wave with a “boom,” creating a ring of shockwaves. I was careless! Jiang Zhe thought to himself as he stepped back a few steps. However, Lavia didn’t continue attacking. Instead, she used her gloves to control the two waves of fire, circling around her body. Watching Jiang Zhe’s predicament, she said in a stern tone, “Rule number two of the beginner’s manual for magicians: never underestimate any opponent, or it will cost you your life… I won’t warn you a second time!” With that, her eyelashes trembled, and she pointed at Jiang Zhe. The waves of fire surged like fire snakes, moving toward him at an even faster speed. Is she serious? Jiang Zhe gave a bitter smile and muttered a few spells. Three vortices appeared in front of him, and three crimson fireballs appeared almost simultaneously in Lavia’s eyes. Good heavens… He… he actually could… Before the shock in his heart could fade, Lavia suddenly heard a “boom.” When she looked up, she saw a red mist spreading in front of her—turns out the fireballs had collided with the waves. Before she could react, a crimson fireball broke through the mist and flew straight toward her… “Boom!” The smoke from the fireball’s explosion gradually dissipated, revealing Lavia’s angry yet beautiful face. “Why hold back?!” She was referring to the fireball that exploded just a foot away from her earlier. “Can’t you make a mistake in estimation?”

“You!” Lavia froze, looking at the expression on the other guy’s face. She was sure it must have been intentional…
“Rude… Um, Thors, I want to duel you fairly, even if it means getting hurt. So, you don’t need to hold back. What you do might seem like kindness or tolerance to others, but to me, it’s an insult…”
“Huh?” Jiang Zhe was stunned.
“Is it that hard to understand me?” Lavia frowned at Jiang Zhe.
“Huh!” Jiang Zhe blew his hair away from his forehead in frustration and said calmly, “It’s not hard to understand, it’s just a bit strange…”
“Strange how?”
“Strange…” Jiang Zhe originally wanted to say ‘strange your personality,’ but then thought that if he said so, the girl across from him might do something unpredictable, so he changed his words and said, “I just find your name a bit strange… It feels…” Before he could finish, Lavia interrupted him.
“It sounds like a boy’s name?”
“Hm?” Jiang Zhe was momentarily taken aback.
Lavia sighed slightly, her gaze filled with a hint of nostalgia as she smiled self-mockingly. “It originally was…” As she spoke, it seemed she remembered something, her gaze growing determined. She controlled two waves of fire with her hands and said in a deep voice, “Go on, Thors! I expect you to use all your strength, and I will do the same… If you still treat me with contempt, I’ll consider it an insult… I’ll kill you!”
As soon as she finished speaking, two more waves of fire rose from the red flames beneath her feet, hissing beside her body like two fire snakes spewing red flames.
Level 3 magic [Flame Waves]!
It’s one of the advanced continuous spells of [Flames] and also the foundation for Level 4 magic [Imitation]. Aside from its lower damage, it’s a magic that excels in both offense and defense—Flame Waves can be used to attack enemies as well as for defense.
It’s a magic highly favored by fire mages, but it’s not a fast-attack spell.
This might be Lavia’s strongest magic.
Huh! She’s really not cute at all!
Taking a breath, Jiang Zhe calmed himself down and said softly, “If you get hurt, don’t blame me!”
At first, the girl across from him would definitely get angry, but now…
“Of course, as long as you can do it!”
“Great!”
As soon as he finished speaking, Jiang Zhe frowned slightly, and a rapid sequence of spells came out of his mouth. At the same time, one after another, crimson fireballs appeared in the air.
One, two, three… There were actually nine?

“Good heavens…” Ravia stared blankly at the fireballs in the air, covering her mouth in shock, unable to speak.
“Well, be careful!” he whispered, pointing with his right hand at the girl across from him. Almost instantly, nine fireballs shot toward her.
Could she handle them?
Just as this question crossed Jiang Zhe’s mind, he suddenly saw the girl on the other side summoning two waves of fire to destroy his four fireballs.
“Boom! Boom!”
Was that real?
Leaning his head to the side, Jiang Zhe stared at the black smoke rising from the air. It seemed he had once again underestimated her strength…
After all, as a first-year student, she could already cast barriers—she wasn’t easy to deal with, even if it was just the most basic form…
Still, defending against nine fireballs at once with just two waves of fire was far too much. In the blink of an eye, three fireballs struck Ravia, exploding with a dangerous flash.
Was she… okay?
Looking at the black smoke, Jiang Zhe hesitated for a moment before stepping forward. Suddenly, two waves of fire shot out from the smoke.
As Jiang Zhe stepped back, the smoke gradually dissipated, revealing Ravia unharmed.
Pointing at the crimson runes floating on her body, Ravia smiled proudly. “I told you, Thos, you’re too arrogant!”
A barrier? How troublesome!
But maybe it’s for the best…
With that thought, Jiang Zhe raised his hand. As he recited a spell, nine more fireballs appeared in the air beside him…
The true limit wasn’t simply about how many fireballs could be summoned, but rather how many could be controlled simultaneously.
Scott was right—once one’s “container” was expanded, the speed at which mana recovered would naturally increase.
For example, among first-year students, if someone needed about three natural hours to restore their mana after using it up, Jiang Zhe only needed about three minutes.
It was his talent—perhaps a compensation from heaven for his inability to enter meditation, or maybe something else…
“Huh?”
Ravia’s eyes showed confusion. She was surprised—he had just cast nine second-level spells. Considering the amount of mana consumed, it must have been no less than hers. She already felt strained—so why him…
“Be careful!” Jiang Zhe said firmly. Under his control, the nine fireballs formed a net, surrounding Ravia.

Front? Back? Left… or all at once?
Perhaps Ravia hadn’t yet mastered the basic skill of a mage—“perception”—and kept looking around at the fireballs, feeling uneasy.
Meanwhile, Professor Hod, even with his eyes closed, could sense the fireballs around him when fighting Jiang Zhe. Of course, Jiang Zhe could do the same now; after all, it was a basic skill.
“It’s in front!” Jiang Zhe said indifferently. At the same time, two fireballs traced an unnatural trajectory…
But then, two more waves of fire surged up from Ravia’s feet, scattering those two fireballs…
Four?
Jiang Zhe was stunned. In his distraction, two more fireballs were destroyed before they could do any harm.
Looking at the four waves of fire beside the girl across from him, forming a solid barrier that protected her tightly, Jiang Zhe was surprised.
It wasn’t the waves of fire that surprised him, as the essence of that magic was simply the flames at her feet. Even if there were a dozen such waves, it would still be just one magic—after all, they were formless flames; she had merely scattered them.
Of course, this required extremely high control skills, similar to Jiang Zhe’s fireballs.
Interesting…
She’s strong…
Apart from Professor Hod, this was the first time Jiang Zhe had competed in magic battles. But his first opponent didn’t seem easy to deal with…
It had to be said that Jiang Zhe’s attack method was quite simple, as he had only learned fireballs. But simplicity didn’t mean it was easy to counter.
“Be careful!” Jiang Zhe warned.
Ravia, who was concentrating on controlling the four waves of fire, was startled. Then she suddenly realized that after a fireball exploded, it wasn’t just black smoke anymore—it was a ball of flame…
This was something Jiang Zhe had taken almost half a night to understand after receiving advice from Professor Hod.
Indeed, to achieve high damage, the heat from the fireball couldn’t dissipate easily. But there were other ways to inflict damage on the opponent besides just explosion.
As mentioned earlier, fireball magic could cause damage from much greater distances than flames. It was easier to control and didn’t consume extra heat. So, if one used fireball magic to reach the desired distance and, at the moment of explosion, redefined the fire elements that made up the fireball into formless flames, wouldn’t that allow for more sustained damage?
Although the two forms of fire magic couldn’t be combined, their essence remained flame. In other words, as long as one had sufficient control, they could transform their form at any time…
“Boom…”

The flames rushing towards him startled Lavia, and soon it was Jiang Zhe’s turn to be shocked. He clearly saw that the flames he had transformed into were being absorbed by the crimson runes on her body. What was even more unacceptable was that the flames beneath her feet grew even stronger…
It turned out to be a barrier similar to a protective shield that absorbed fire elements…
No wonder those fireballs earlier hadn’t caused her any harm…
Watching Jiang Zhe’s stunned expression, Lavia said calmly, “I told you, you can try your best to hurt me!” But as she said this, sweat began to appear on her forehead. Clearly, maintaining two high-level spells at the same time required a tremendous amount of magical energy.
“Not necessarily!” Seeing that he couldn’t hurt her, Jiang Zhe relaxed considerably and used the same tactic he had employed against Professor Hod: controlling the fireball attacks while continuing to summon more fireballs.
At the same time, Jiang Zhe was also trying to transform the fire elements into flames at the moment of explosion, but unfortunately, due to multitasking, he hadn’t reached that level yet…
“Boom! Boom! Boom!”
A series of rapid explosions—some from fireballs shattered by Lavia’s controlled flames, others from the runes barrier holding back the fireballs…
No good!
This can’t go on!
More sweat appeared on Lavia’s forehead, her breathing became rapid, and the runes barrier on her body began to show abnormal fluctuations.
“Whoosh!”
A wave of flames rushed through the gap between two fireballs and headed straight for Jiang Zhe.
Jiang Zhe froze for a moment before dodging by stepping aside several times. It wasn’t surprising—compared to the agile fireballs, the trajectory of the flame waves was far easier to predict.
Two?
Two were just as bad!
Interesting!
Jiang Zhe couldn’t help but recall his confrontation with Professor Hod the previous day. That wasn’t a confrontation at all; it was Jiang Zhe who got thoroughly beaten…
Still smiling slightly, Jiang Zhe casually glanced in the direction of the girl before his expression suddenly changed.
“Crap!”
He clearly felt an abnormal fluctuation in Lavia’s magical energy, and soon the fire elements around her rushed back.
Although Jiang Zhe tried his best to control things, four fireballs still lost control and struck her petite body…
“Boom!”
After a bright flash, the girl’s body was covered in smoke.
“This is trouble…” Jiang Zhe muttered to himself, quickly dissolving the five remaining fireballs and rushing over.

“Stop!” a shrill cry came from the smoke. “Don’t come over!”
“……”
The smoke was blown away by the wind, revealing the girl’s figure. She was using one hand to support the burned ground and the other on her knee, trying hard to get back on her feet. Her magical robe was covered in black dust.
“Hey…” Jiang Zhe murmured, unable to speak, as he stared at the bright red blood on her right glove.
“It’s not over yet!” The girl struggled to stand up. As she did, a streak of blood flowed from her forehead, tracing down her smooth, beautiful face, extremely glaring.
“Are you… okay?”
“Don’t come over! It’s not over yet…” She said this while breathing heavily.
“Stop being stubborn!”
“Don’t come over!” The girl shouted loudly. Due to her extreme emotion, the blood from her forehead kept flowing.
She was seriously injured…
Sure enough, even Allen, with almost no defense, couldn’t withstand Jiang Zhe’s four fireballs, let alone her…
The sound of the fireballs exploding still echoed in her ears, and she even started hearing hallucinations…
“Is it… a boy?”
“No, it’s a girl…”
“Is that so…”
……
“Don’t come over…” The girl slowly raised her head, gently wiping the blood from her face with her right glove. Calm yet firm, she said, “It’s not over yet!”
“Stop being stubborn! I’m… sorry. I just… You’re seriously injured. We need to find a professor at the academy right away…” As he spoke, Jiang Zhe stepped toward her.
“Stop!” The girl shouted in a very stern tone. At the same time, as her lips moved slightly, fierce flames ignited beneath her feet again.
“I haven’t given up yet!”
This was no longer just stubbornness…
Frowning at the stubborn girl, Jiang Zhe opened his mouth, hesitated for a long time, then asked, “What exactly will make you give up?”
“When I fall!” The girl smiled faintly, then closed her eyes, spreading her arms to the sides. More obscure and difficult-to-understand spells emerged from her mouth, turning into strange magical symbols that scattered everywhere.
As more and more symbols appeared, the air around them gradually became thin and hot. A large amount of fire elements were forced to gather here, while other elements were pushed away. Due to the excessive density of fire elements, not only did tiny flames start rising from the ground, but the air also made a hissing sound.
It’s too much!

Listening to those intermittent spells, even though Jiang Zhe didn’t know what kind of magic it was, he could sense the changes in the elements around him…
The girl was almost completely unprepared. If Jiang Zhe wanted, he could interrupt her at any time, but when he saw the determination on her face, he abandoned that thought.
Yes, this could no longer be called dominance…
It took a full five minutes before the girl stopped chanting. By then, the fire elements in the air around them had become extremely dense—so dense that breathing in the air felt intensely scorching, as if inhaling a ball of flame.
Within twenty or thirty yards in front of and behind them, red flames filled the area. Above the flames, strange crimson runes floated around, flickering on and off.
But strangely, in this environment saturated with fire elements, aside from being able to control the few nearby ones, Jiang Zhe found it difficult to draw on the fire elements further away.
Opening his eyes and looking at the boy across from him who was scanning the surroundings, the girl’s eyes showed a look of gratitude.
[Barrier: World of Fire]