Separated from Amelia and Ariane, I stood alone, facing Aster-senpai.
He had worn a genial smile before the match, but now he projected a sharp, piercing aura, looking like a completely different person.
Against a man hailed as the top sorcerer of Mercrose Magic Academy, what would be my best approach?
Actually, I had already considered this possibility. After all, I had shown off my capabilities quite blatantly during the Qualifiers.
I had warned the other two that I might become isolated. In that scenario, I had assumed the opponents would double-team me. However, only Cody Aster stood in my path now.
In other words, he intended to deal with me all by himself.
In terms of compatibility, the advantage was clearly mine. Among sorcerers, Aster-senpai specialized in long-range magical warfare. Conversely, I specialized in combat at Cross-range.
For him to fight me one-on-one, the conditions were overwhelmingly unfavorable. The fact that he was specifically targeting me suggested that rather than being driven by some obsession, he believed he had a genuine path to victory.
He didn't seem like the type to let his emotions take over and fixate on me just because I was an Ordinary.
"Now then... show me your power."
Those words were the signal.
This match would be decided the moment I slipped into Cross-range. For his part, he needed to neutralize me before I could get inside his guard.
Feinting a charge toward him, I immediately sprinted backward. There was no need to be foolishly honest and engage in a duel here.
His goal was to stall me—or, ideally, to neutralize me right here and now.
But our victory condition was simply to bring the flag to the designated position outside. Defeating enemies individually was a secondary concern.
However, it seemed this area was already dominated by a Wide-Range Interference-type spell he had deployed.
Manifesting in a circle around me were crimson flames. He must have had an Ignis Field active from the very beginning. Those walls of fire easily exceeded several meters in height.
If I used my essence, Restoration, it would be easy to break through. However, exposing that ability now would compromise me in future matches. Furthermore, utilizing three essences would put a considerable strain on my Magic Area.
If possible, I wanted to keep fighting using only Inside Code, which had low consumption. The tournament would continue after this, and considering the matches yet to come, I had to avoid revealing my essence here.
"Impressive," I noted.
"I expected you to make that choice. I set this up beforehand with Delay Magic."
"..."
I felt nothing but admiration for his skill. It wasn't as if I had carelessly wandered into his domain. He was the top sorcerer of Mercrose, a school that specialized in magic; I had been wary of his strength since the Qualifiers.
And yet, I hadn't noticed the Ignis Field he had woven so stealthily.
I should have deployed a Perception Field as a precaution, but it was already too late. His execution had simply exceeded my expectations.
"You have sharp intuition. No, your sensitivity to Prima Materia is extraordinary. I thought as much while watching your previous matches. Interesting. Truly interesting. I've never seen a sorcerer like you before."
"You're quite the talker."
We faced each other. Time was precious, and I wanted to start the fight immediately, but Aster-senpai continued to speak eloquently.
"I suppose I am. I'm surprised myself, but I've truly been looking forward to fighting you, Ray White. How about you?"
"It's an honor, certainly. However, I will be the one to win."
"Hahaha! Good, I like that bloodlust. As I thought, I shouldn't treat you as just another sorcerer from an Ordinary background."
It was gratifying to be recognized, but the clock was ticking.
I needed to defeat him and regroup with the others as quickly as possible. Besides, the tournament would last for at least two more rounds. I had to keep my exhaustion to a minimum.
Forcing a one-on-one meant that, in the worst-case scenario, one of us might be forced to retire from the tournament entirely. Even in the first round, there were rare cases where a student took so much damage in their initial match that they couldn't compete in the second.
He was willing to fight me even at that risk.
It was an expression of supreme confidence. If that was the case, I had no choice but to face him head-on.
"—Now, let us begin the ultimate battle!"
He flung both hands upward, and walls of ice surged toward me, closing in from all sides.
Perceiving them instantly, I sprinted upward, running perpendicular to the ice walls. By using magic to Lock my relative position, I made the impossible possible.
"Not bad! But how about this!"
Bolts of snake-like lightning slithered along those very ice walls.
Formed in the shape of serpents, a massive swarm of them lunged at me. Both spells had been unleashed via Quick Magic.
Ice Wall. Thunder Snake.
Both were Mid-tier Magic, but considering their destructive power and the efficiency of their activation processes, they were incredibly well-balanced.
Most importantly, Aster-senpai’s activation speed was phenomenal.
Sorcerers who specialized in long-range magical warfare generally fell into two categories.
First, there were those with vast Magic Areas. Because their capacity was so large, they could write an enormous amount of Code into a single spell. Amelia was this type. She used her massive Magic Area to its fullest to activate her Butterfly Effect.
On the other hand, there were sorcerers whose Magic Areas weren't particularly large but who were incredibly fast at writing Code. Aster-senpai was clearly the latter. While Amelia was also fast, her Quick Magic was still developing.
Compared to him, her technical skill was still a long way off. Currently, while I wasn't exerting my full power, I also belonged to the latter type. By combining that speed with Inside Code, I specialized in Cross-range combat.
"...Kuh! There are too many of them!"
A low growl escaped my throat.
The number of Thunder Snakes multiplied with every passing second. I whittled them down with Icicle Pierce, but his casting speed was still superior.
In a pure exchange of magic, I was currently at a disadvantage.
Since we weren't in a forest, there were few obstacles, and I was forced to face him from the front. If we were in the Kafka Forest, I could have used the trees to break his line of sight, but that wasn't an option here.
However, if there was no cover, I simply had to create it myself.
I activated another sequence.
"Prima Materia = Encoding = Material Code."
"Material Code = Decoding."
"Material Code = Processing = Deceleration = Lock."
"Embodiment = Material."
"—Ice Pillar."
Pillars of ice manifested at regular intervals between us.
It was only Lower-tier Magic, but magic was always a matter of application. I had created these Ice Pillars for the sole purpose of breaking his line of sight.
One after another, frozen columns formed in the arena.
I used the pillars to dodge the approaching Thunder Snakes, making sure to destroy them individually as I moved.
It was immediately much easier to fight.
—If the environment doesn't suit you, reshape it until it does.
That was one of Master's core teachings.
Magical warfare wasn't decided solely by who could use Grand-tier Magic, Extensive Chain Magic, or even Origin Magic. Everything was a tool, and its value lay in how it was used.
I caught a glimpse of Aster-senpai looking frustrated. With his level of skill, melting these Ice Pillars would be simple. He could just expand the Ignis Field he had deployed on the perimeter into the center of the arena.
However, he couldn't do that—because the moment he tried, he would leave an opening for me to close the distance. He couldn't finish his offensive, so the best he could do was maintain the status quo.
I, meanwhile, waited vigilantly for the moment the scales would tip.