News of the impending duel between Roland and Isaiah quickly spread throughout the village. The villagers flocked to watch—except for the bedridden elders, even the children came to see the excitement. Among the crowd were many familiar faces: Julian, Lucas, and Lina with her daughter, among others.
“How did the priest and the noble suddenly end up dueling?”
“No idea.”
“Who do you think will win?”
“Father, of course. Everyone’s seen his strength with their own eyes.”
Watching the villagers whispering around the dueling ground, Roland felt as if she were being observed like a giant panda. One by one, none of them seemed to have any faith in her. In their eyes, it seemed her only skill was being cute—a thought that made her fists itch with frustration.
This crooked wind had to be set straight!
So Roland raised her voice and shouted to the people nearby, “This duel is just a friendly spar between Isaiah and me—it’s not a real duel, so don’t get the wrong idea.”
“Go, Lady Roland!” Julian cheered from below.
Mia also raised a piece of paper with “Cheer up!” written on it in both hands.
After returning their smiles, Roland straightened her expression and looked at Isaiah directly ahead. “Can we begin?”
“Of course.”
Almost as soon as he finished speaking, Roland unleashed the magic power she had gathered in advance from her fingertips. A scorching arc of lightning shot past Isaiah’s cheek, but a faint golden light intercepted the attack.
“External magic release. Speed and quality are both impressive, but your aim’s off. It would be even better if you had a magitech device to assist you.” Isaiah commented, flipping open the book in his hand.
“Who said I don’t have a magitech device?” Roland replied, pulling out a beginner’s magic wand she had bought from Jasper from beneath her skirt. “I was just testing you earlier.”
“In that case, I’ll take the offensive now.”
Roland tensed up, ready to generate a magic barrier at any moment to block his attacks.
The book in Isaiah’s hand began to glow. Just as Roland thought the attack was about to come, the light from the book suddenly intensified, like a second sun at noon, enveloping the entire arena. Everyone was dazzled, unable to keep their eyes open, and Roland was no exception.
Before the blinding light faded, she heard movement behind her. Not knowing the exact direction, she could only spread her magic across her entire back to form an all-encompassing barrier.
A powerful impact slammed into her barrier. Roland lost control and was flung forward, but she managed to steady herself just in time, avoiding public embarrassment.
As she turned back, Isaiah gave her no chance to catch her breath. Light flared from his book once more.
But this time, instead of a blinding flash, two streaks of light shot forth.
Roland reacted immediately. She timed it perfectly, deploying her barrier just as the streaks closed in, blocking them.
“Your magic is well directed—I can tell you’ve put in a lot of effort. But can you really keep this up, spending magic so freely?”
She had a solution to his skepticism—a method no one else could even imagine, let alone pull off.
And that was, “System, restore mana!”
Mother’s Love Points invested, instantly converting to magic power, and her nearly depleted reserves were suddenly full again.
For the past three days, Roland hadn’t just been naively practicing magic—she hadn’t neglected her daily tasks either. Once she realized the importance of Mother’s Love Points, she took every chance to accumulate them. Counting what she’d just spent, she had a total of 30 points left—enough to cast Fireball sixty times.
Of course, she couldn’t make it too obvious.
After all, how could a novice mage just entering the field have so much magic? She needed to keep her usage within a reasonable range to avoid suspicion.
“Maybe I’m just a genius—born with more magic than others.”
“Then let me see for myself.”
Having roughly figured out Isaiah’s attack patterns, Roland now had a counterplan in mind.
Just as Isaiah was about to repeat his tactic, Roland raised her hand and shot magic at the book in his hand. To protect the book, Isaiah had to switch from offense to defense.
Roland seized the opportunity and cast two fireballs in quick succession. After replenishing her mana, she fired two more, sending a total of four fireballs hurtling toward Isaiah. Even the onlookers outside the arena felt the wave of heat coming their way.
Isaiah’s expression turned serious—he had to take this seriously now. If he wasn’t careful, he could get burned. Fireball wasn’t lethal, but it was more than enough to inflict a serious injury.
A golden light formed a transparent barrier that enveloped him entirely. All four fireballs struck him directly, flames licking at his shield. The villagers behind him scattered in fright.
Just as everyone thought the match was decided, Isaiah emerged from the flames unscathed. Holding his sacred book aloft, he chanted with a voice both ethereal and holy, “First Covenant: In chaos, God created the world and brought forth light.”
The crowd glimpsed the birth of the sun, yet none could look at it directly; the sunlight was so fierce that even watching it made their eyes burn.
“Second Covenant: Upon the earth, God created life.”
“Third Covenant: In the heavens, God founded the kingdom and brought forth messengers.”
Two more voices fell, and Roland thought she saw something manifesting in the light, but she couldn’t open her eyes. She could only judge by the sounds.
When she heard the sound of something slicing through the air from both front and back at once, she instantly cast her barrier to try to block the attacks.
And indeed, she succeeded in stopping them.
But the barrier was not all-powerful. If it bore too much pressure, it would shatter.
Roland could feel her magic shield break in just an instant—meaning the attack’s strength far exceeded the magic she had expended.
“You’ve lost.”
When Isaiah’s voice rang out again, the intense light faded away.
When Roland could finally open her eyes, she saw, standing before her, a non-human creature with golden skin and wings—an angelic figure—aiming its spear at her throat, ready to take her life at any moment.
And it wasn’t just in front. Out of the corner of her eye, Roland saw a similar being behind her, only this one wielded a sword instead of a spear.
By any measure, she had lost.
Unless she had some hidden trump card, she’d be killed before she could cast another spell.
“I concede.” Roland admitted her defeat, but she wasn’t discouraged. After all, she’d only known about magic for three or four days and could already do this much.
Isaiah withdrew the Goddess’s Power, and the two supernatural beings dissolved into golden motes, returning to the book.
“I never thought you’d push me to summon angelic servants. If you learn more spells and expand your mana, I might not be able to beat you next time,” Isaiah praised her without reservation.
Roland replied earnestly, “I know. So if I want to learn magic from you, would you refuse?”
“You say the strangest things, but I really don’t have a reason to refuse.”
“Then it’s settled.” Roland turned to the gathered spectators and called out, “Isaiah won. The battle is over—everyone can go home.”
Though she said so, now that the villagers had seen Roland use real magic, their view of her quietly changed. No one would think of her as just an ordinary girl anymore.
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