15 - Spar

The field between them stretched wide and empty, a natural arena carved out by fate.

Sunlight poured down, gilding the grass in gold, though the air between Luna and William Terra thrummed with tension that eclipsed the warmth of the day.

Luna stared across at him, her bright blue eyes narrowing as she weighed the man before her.

Every shift of his stance, every breath he drew, every subtle ripple of mana that seeped into the earth beneath his boots—she read it, analyzed it, stored it in the racing clockwork of her mind.

Level 8. Earth mage. He’s letting me choose how this begins… no, he’s testing me. He wants to see how I think.

William stood calmly, hands folded behind his back, the picture of patience. Not a flicker of doubt crossed his face.

He could have struck first, could have pressed his advantage as one of the most formidable mages alive. Instead, he waited, smiling faintly as if humoring a grandchild eager to play a game.

The gesture wasn’t arrogance. It was respect.

Luna’s lips curled upward. Thank you, she thought silently. It was a gift—time. Time to measure, to calculate, to prepare the battlefield.

A storm of excitement surged in her chest, threatening to burst through her calm exterior.

She hadn’t felt this alive ever—not in her old world, not in the comfortable solitude of her travels. Here was a real opponent. A chance to pit her strength against someone who could withstand it.

Her decision came in a heartbeat. If she was to fight an earth mage, she needed to rewrite the rules of the ground itself.

Her fingers traced the air, runes of blue-white light spiraling into existence around her.

“Blizzard.”

The word was soft, but the effect immediate. Mana roared outward from her body in a freezing wave, blanketing the field in snow and sleet. The gentle green of grass disappeared beneath a swirling white fury. The air turned sharp, biting, heavy with frost.

Within seconds, the arena was no longer summer. It was a frozen wasteland.

William’s smile widened ever so slightly. She’s reshaping the terrain to her favor. Clever.

He lifted one hand, palm open toward the sky. His deep, rumbling voice carried effortlessly over the howl of the wind.

“Stone Pillar.”

The earth answered him with a groan, as if the bones of the world shifted at his command.

Eight massive columns of stone erupted from the frozen ground, shattering the ice crust as they surged upward. They rose with crushing force, towering obelisks that threatened to skewer the heavens themselves.

Luna’s eyes widened as one of the pillars blossomed directly beneath William’s boots.

His body lifted with it, carried effortlessly skyward until he stood fifty meters above her, a dark silhouette against the blazing sun.

The sudden brilliance blinded her. She raised a hand to shield her eyes, squinting into the glare. William was little more than a shadow framed in gold, impossible to target cleanly.

A thrill ran through her veins. Hiding in the light, huh? Smart old man.

She darted forward, her cloak whipping behind her. Snow crunched under her boots as she sprinted to the nearest of the pillars. Reaching out, she pressed her fingers against the rough stone surface.

Cold mana surged from her touch, creeping outward like veins of frost across the rock.

“Cocytus Touch.”

The spell spread like wildfire in reverse, racing up the towering structures. Stone became brittle in an instant, each grain locked in an icy lattice. One pillar froze, then the next, until all eight groaned under the sudden unnatural chill.

With a sharp snap of her fingers, the pillars shattered.

The sound was thunder itself—cracking, splintering, collapsing in an avalanche of icy rubble. The frozen towers fell, smashing into the battlefield with earth-shaking force.

Above them, William’s figure descended, no longer buoyed by his stone foundation. He fell like a meteor, yet his eyes twinkled with mirth.

Luna’s pulse spiked. Now!

She thrust her palm upward.

“Water Bullets!”

Globes of water burst into existence around her, dozens of them, glistening spheres as sharp as steel in her command. With a flick of her wrist, they shot upward in a storm of projectiles aimed directly at the falling mage.

But William did not flinch.

He swept one arm outward. “Stone Wall.”

Chunks of rubble from the collapsing pillars shuddered midair, drawn together by his command. They fused into thick slabs, interlocking to form a shield between him and the incoming barrage.

The water bullets slammed into the makeshift wall, exploding in bursts of spray. Some penetrated cracks, others froze instantly in the air thanks to the lingering blizzard, but the core of William’s defense held.

He hit the ground a heartbeat later. The impact boomed across the frozen field, snow leaping into the air in a white wave.

Luna didn’t hesitate. Her eyes gleamed as she conjured a new spell, her voice sharp as a blade.

“Water Lance!”

Dozens of spears of liquid shot forward, sleek and deadly, slicing through the snowy haze toward William’s earthen barrier.

Again, his hand rose. “Earth Wall.”

Earth surged up from the ground, forming a layered defense. But this time, some of Luna’s lances pierced through, tips drilling into the stone and bursting into shards.

Luna’s grin spread. Got you.

She snapped her fingers. The lances detonated, erupting into sprays of water that she instantly froze, transmuting them into jagged icicles that grew like thorns from the fractures in the wall.

“Bloom.”

The word carried pride, it was her own original magic.

The ice burst outward in crystalline blossoms, spreading in lethal spikes. One spear extended to within an inch of William’s eye before halting.

William blinked, then chuckled low in his throat. His relaxed smile hadn’t wavered.

“You are full of surprises.”

Luna’s heart hammered with exhilaration. She stood amid her storm, frost clinging to her cloak, her breath fogging in the frozen air, and felt more alive than ever.

William straightened, the ground beneath him trembling in sympathy. His hands spread outward, fingers sinking into the soil as if into wet clay.

“Quake.”

The field convulsed. The ground split in jagged fractures, trembling violently. Snow flung into the air as the earth itself rebelled against her frozen grip.

Luna staggered, her footing slipping. Her blizzard still raged, but the quaking earth threatened to topple her balance.

Her eyes narrowed. She thrust her hands downward, pouring mana into the soil. Ice spread instantly, locking the cracks in place, freezing the unstable terrain into rigid stillness.

The tremors subsided where she stood, her will overpowering the natural rhythm of William’s quake.

The two of them locked eyes across the fractured battlefield.

Luna’s grin was sharp and unrestrained, her chest heaving with exhilaration.

William’s expression was one of calm delight, the look of a grandfather humoring a child’s antics yet secretly marveling at their brilliance.

The blizzard howled between them, carrying flakes of snow like sparks from a forge.

Neither moved. Both waited.

And then, together, they laughed.

The duel was no longer just a test. It was play, it was joy, it was discovery.

And neither had any intention of stopping.

The laughter between them faded into the wind, but its echo remained—an unspoken acknowledgment that what bound them in this frozen battlefield was not just conflict, but exhilaration.

Luna’s eyes glimmered with a dangerous spark. She tightened her grip on her makeshift staff made of ice, her mind spinning with possibilities.

The blizzard raged, the snow heavy and thick, cloaking the field in a veil of white. Yet she wanted more—more mischief, more tricks, more control.

“Let’s make this interesting,” she whispered to herself.

Her fingers danced through the air, weaving layered sigils that flared with icy light before dissolving into the storm.

“Fog.”

A dense cloud rolled outward, mingling with the blizzard. The battlefield grew darker, shapes fading into indistinct outlines. Each gust of wind carried frigid vapor, chilling the lungs and numbing the senses.

“Now… Mist.”

Her body shimmered, her outline blurring until she dissolved into nothingness. Even her shadow vanished, leaving behind only the faintest ripple of mana for those perceptive enough to notice.

But Luna wasn’t finished.

Her lips curved into a mischievous smile as she whispered the final spell.

“Mirage.”

Shadows of herself flickered into existence, each a perfect copy, moving with her rhythm. Twenty figures in total—every one cloaked in invisibility just as she was.

To the eye, they were nothing. To the ear, however, they were twenty pairs of feet crunching across frozen ground, circling their prey.

William’s brow lifted ever so slightly. His boots shifted, grounding him as the vibrations in the earth multiplied.

He couldn’t see her—not through this layered deception—but the earth spoke to him, told him there were twenty.

No… he corrected silently, the ghost of a smile tugging at his lips. There is only one. The rest are lies.

Yet even knowing this truth, distinguishing illusion from reality was a challenge. Each footstep had weight, each pulse of mana a convincing echo. He could not tell which thread was real and which were her clever manipulations.

“Well played, little one,” he murmured under his breath.

The storm around him stirred.

“Water Bullet!”

The voice was sharp, distant, but echoed from every direction at once.

A hail of shimmering spheres shot toward him, conjured by both Luna and her illusory selves. Their trajectories were wild, unpredictable, coming from every angle. Each bullet cut the air with a whistle, strengthened by the freezing blizzard.

William exhaled calmly. His palm touched the ground.

“Cocoon.”

Stone surged up around him, encasing his body in a seamless sphere of earth.

The projectiles struck it from all sides, detonating into sprays of freezing water. Shards of ice clung to the surface, each impact accompanied by the hiss of frost searing stone.

Inside, William could feel the bite of her magic even through the barrier. His lips curved. She aimed not for damage, but for discomfort. A prank, then. Clever child.

But the prank had layers.

Even as her bullets shattered against his cocoon, Luna was preparing the next strike.

She crouched low in the swirling snow, her hidden figures mirroring her. Her hand pressed into the frost.

Water gathered beneath her palm, condensing, thickening, forming a heavy mass. Three of her copies knelt with her, their movements synchronized, amplifying her spell with perfect rhythm.

The blizzard thickened as mana pooled into her creation.

A ball of water swelled, growing until it hovered above her head, a shimmering sphere nearly two meters across. Its weight bent the air around it, dripping streams of icy liquid that froze the ground where they fell.

Her grin widened. This was something new—something even the game of her old world had never given her.

“Let’s see how you like this…”

With a sweep of her arms, she hurled the massive orb toward the stone cocoon.

It rolled across the frozen battlefield with terrifying momentum, devouring snow and frost in its path, until it collided with William’s barrier.

And then Luna snapped her fingers.

“Bloom.”

The orb detonated in a thunderous burst. Water erupted outward, freezing instantly into a field of jagged ice spikes.

They pierced the cocoon’s surface, spearing into its cracks, covering it in a glittering prison of crystalline blades.

The sound was like glass shattering, like a thousand bells ringing at once.

Luna stood panting, her breath misting in the frigid air, pride shining in her eyes. She had never conjured something of this scale before.

Seeing the frozen forest she had birthed filled her with smug satisfaction.

“Not bad for a first attempt,” she muttered, brushing frost from her cheek.

The cocoon shuddered. A crack split its surface. Then another. With a rumble, the earth shell crumbled away, fragments falling to the ground.

William stepped free, dusting his cloak with an almost casual motion. Frost still clung to him, shards of ice decorating his shoulders and beard like jewels, but his eyes were warm with amusement.

“Well done.”

He began to clap.

The sound was slow, deliberate, and oddly genuine. Each strike of his hands echoed across the frozen battlefield.

Luna blinked. Heat flushed her cheeks, startling her. She hadn’t expected applause. Her smug smile faltered, replaced by a faint blush.

“H-hey, don’t mock me,” she muttered, though her lips curved in a sheepish grin.

“Mock you?” William chuckled. “No, child. That was creativity at its finest. To weave such artistry from ice and water… you remind me of why battles are beautiful.”

The praise sank deep, warming her in ways the blizzard never could.

But before she could respond, William lifted a hand once more. His tone shifted, playful but commanding.

“Now, let me show you something.”

The ground trembled. From the frozen soil, five hulking shapes rose, breaking free with thunderous cracks.

Each was a golem of stone and earth, ten feet tall, their eyes glowing with faint earthen light. They stood around William like guardians, their massive arms flexing with unnatural strength.

Luna’s eyes widened. “Earth Golems…”

She hadn’t expected him to summon constructs. Her pulse quickened. Where others might have felt fear, she felt delight.

Her grin returned, fierce and unrestrained.

“More targets for me.”

She raised her hand, mana swirling in her palm. Three of her mirage selves mirrored her, amplifying the growing storm.

This time, she aimed higher.

Her eyes narrowed, concentration etched into her face as she conjured a colossal sphere of water—larger than before, nearly three meters in diameter.

It hovered above her like a second moon, heavy and perfect, its surface rippling with restrained power.

The golems lumbered forward, their footsteps shaking the ground, their bodies braced against the blizzard.

Luna’s smile sharpened.

“Bloom.”

The orb burst.

The explosion was cataclysmic. Water surged outward, instantly freezing into a storm of jagged spears. The golems were pierced, encased, their bodies trapped in glittering prisons of ice. They toppled one by one, frozen statues cracking beneath their own weight.

The battlefield fell silent but for the howl of the wind.

Luna stood tall, chest heaving, her hood pushed back by the force of the blast. Her hair whipped wildly around her, her face flushed with exhilaration.

For a moment, she looked every inch the mage she truly was—dangerous, brilliant, radiant.

Across from her, William watched with eyes that shone not with judgment, but with pride. His hands came together once more in applause, louder this time, unrestrained.

The sound carried farther than either of them realized.

Because they were no longer alone.

The noise of their clash, the brilliance of their spells, the sheer scale of the magic—they had drawn an audience.

Professors stood at the edges of the field, their eyes wide with disbelief. Students, applicants, even staff had abandoned their duties to witness the duel.

The examination itself had ground to a halt. Every eye was fixed on the vice principal of Celestial Academy… and the small, hooded figure who fought him as though she were his equal.

Luna’s smugness evaporated the instant she realized. Her head jerked toward the shadows beyond the storm, where rows of faces stared.

Heat rushed to her cheeks.

“Oh no…”

She yanked her hood up, pulling it low until only the faint glimmer of her eyes showed. The blizzard, fog, and mist cloaked her further, masking her identity.

They can’t know it’s me. They can’t…

Yet despite her panic, a flicker of pride lingered.

Because she had stood against William Terra. And for the first time in this new world, she had felt seen.

Not as a girl trapped in her avatar’s body.

Not as a fugitive slipping through exams.

But as a mage worthy of recognition.

And though no one suspected who she truly was, Luna’s heart swelled with satisfaction