Runa looked at me as if I had bullied her badly, causing me to laugh. “Okay, so you are the real Runa. I guess you are my opponent this time around?”

“Yep! So be prepared to lose!” Runa said while sticking her nose in the air once more. Very princessy for once.

But now, knowing that I was going against Runa, I wondered…. What happens when an elf flies across the sky? I rubbed my chin and wondered if I should use catapult or not. I would feel kind of bad as Runa is my friend, so it would be kind of mean to just suddenly send her flying. But I still couldn’t keep myself from asking…. “Runa, do you wish to fly?”

“Huh?” Runa seemed taken aback by my question, but as if remembering something, her face paled as she began shaking her head and hands. “No! Don’t! You have to fight me fair and square!”

I pursed my lips and sighed. “Fine, but still…. If an elf could fly, you would make hist….”-.

“I said no!” Runa yelled out, stomping her feet. “I didn’t know you were a bully!”“I am just joking. I will fight you fairly, I guess. I mean, since you asked so nicely.” I said in a teasing voice, causing Runa to stomp her feet even more.

“Definitely a bully!” Runa yelled. But her pouty expression changed quickly after taking a deep breath. “I hope you are prepared. Because I will be coming at you with everything, I have. Faith, I want to see just how good you are. So do not hold back.”

I stopped joking around and gave Runa a serious look. “Don’t worry. As a friend, I know not to mess around. It would be rude of me not to go all out. But I can not use any large scale attacks. I can not endanger people’s lives, so do not blame me for not doing so.”

“That’s fine. I would not want you to do that either. Actually, it makes me slightly relieved because I don’t think my barrier magic is up to a massive grand fall.” Runa replied, but it seemed she was a bit dejected about her barrier magic. Maybe I can help her later with it. Although we had only just met, Runa was the first to be a magic freak like me, so I really wanted to spend more time with her and run my ideas against her own. I hoped that I could find more people like that as well at the academy.

“Contestants, get ready!” The Announcer’s voice filled the sky. It was finally time for me to actually fight someone seriously.

Runa bowed her head to me as she said: “Let the best mage win.”

“Yes, let the best mage win,” I answered back and gave her a bow back to show my respect. This was the least I could do since we were fighting as equals. I planned to take this fight very seriously, well, to an extent. Not only out of respect for Runa but because it will be my first time fighting another mage of Runa’s caliber. I will also be trying to make use of my mana shield and use this as testing against her spells. This will give me a chance to really see how far I can go and learn some of the quirks of the mana shield.

“Round three begin!” The Announcer yelled out. As soon as he did, my mana shield was up, and ten magic circles formed in the air and fired off at Runa. While I wished to test my mana shield, I also promised not to hold back, well, hold back to the extent of a normal person that had high magic ability. I couldn’t by right suddenly fire off thousands of fireballs at Runa. It would kill her. But it seemed Runa was not holding back at all because an equal number of fireballs came flying at me.

I didn’t budge, though, and allowed the fired balls to hit me. Sure enough, as they hit the mana shield, they all exploded on contact. As I was analyzing everything to see how it hit the mana shield I heard an angry yell from in front of me. “I said to not hold back, Faith! Why are you not using your rapid fire fireball spell!? I know you can do more than just ten fireballs! Don’t look down on me!”I sighed as I looked at Runa. I had forgotten she knew a lot more about me than most. Since that was the case…. I took a deep breath. “If you really do not want me to hold back, then fine. But Runa. don’t hate me if I have to save you.” I warned. I was not trying to act arrogant. I just did not wish for her to be mad at me if I did have to put a barrier around her to keep her alive.

“That’s fine. I just wish to experience the power of Faith, the army slayer!” Runa yelled out, which caused my mouth to open up wide enough for an egg to fit in.

“Wait, where did this title come from!?” No, really, where did this title come from!? This was the first I heard of it.

“Hehe…. That is what the people of the other kingdoms are calling you. The little demon who can destroy tens of thousands of me in an instant. Now come!” Runa yelled. I could see the excitement and anticipation in her eyes. But I was still trying to get over this strange title I suddenly got. To be honest, I think she is lying. She has to be, right?

I scratched my head in annoyance as I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I will now forget I ever heard of such a strange title. “Let’s do this!”

My eyes lit up as I waved my hands as two large magic circles formed in the air. At the same time, over a hundred more magic circles formed around Runa. Since she wanted me to go all out, I was going all out. But I did make sure the speed of these spells was reduced a bit in order to protect her in case something went wrong.

“Go!” I yelled out. I already saw Runa casting barrier after barrier around herself. These barriers were just the right size to cover her body, so it took a lot less mana to cast. I was quite impressed with these compact barriers. Sadly they were stationary.

“Hahaha! That is more like it!” I heard Runa laughing out in a crazy manner. I actually never expected her to be so happy about being hit by a bunch of spells. Maybe she is one of those…. You know it starts with a M …. Anyway, Let’s hope that is not the case. I watched carefully as the spells flew towards her. I ignored the incoming spells she casted at me. Sadly I could not check how they worked on my shield. It was more important to make sure Runa did not die.

<strong>*Boom!*</strong>

The whole stage shook. I could hear the crowd screaming out loud. My hand was stretched out already as sweat dripped from my brow. I only saw her five layer barrier begin to completely shatter, and that was all it took for me to wrap her up in a few barriers. The battle that should have been something for me to train on ended with Runa kneeling on the ground, her face pale as can be. I really overdid it. “Runa, are you okay!?”

Her side of the stage had been completely destroyed. Only the spot that was protected by the barriers was perfectly fine. I waved my hand, clearing the fire before jumping over to Runa and dispersing the barriers. I knelt down and checked Runa’s condition, and only when I saw that she was only in a state of shock did I let out a sigh of relief. “Runa… It’s good you are okay.”

“That….” Only after a few minutes did Runa finally speak as she grabbed my cheeks. I was stunned at first, but when I saw her huge smile form on her face as her eyes stared at me in a reverent manner, I began to feel a little freaked out. “That was absolutely amazing! Faith, you really are amazing! To think you could do so much in a short time. Not only did you cast all those spells, but you also protected me in the same instant! I have decided! I will become your disciple!”

“Huh!?” What is she going on about!? Deciding what now!?

“I hate to break you two up, but is everyone okay?” A voice came from overhead. I turned to see the Announcer standing on air not too far from us. This made me raise an eyebrow. Besides my father and I, this was the first time I saw anyone else do this. It made me wonder just how powerful this Announcer was. Only those with high control over their magic can do this.