Among the remaining half of the students, those who specialized in melee magic, true to expectations, quickly formed a cohesive unit. By the looks of it, they were intent on forging a team of pure brawlers. While their concept held merit, it shared the same critical flaw as the all-offense squad: their tactics were overly simplistic, making a single vulnerability catastrophically exploitable.
The last two teams, however, truly captured Aya Tone’s attention. Their compositions were utterly unremarkable, even mundane. Yet, it was this very mediocrity that paradoxically rendered them unique.
“Ahem.” Aya Tone cleared his throat. “Now that you’ve all formed your teams, I’ll give you ten minutes to thoroughly discuss your strategies. After ten minutes, each team should send one captain forward to draw lots.”
As his words fell, a flicker of excitement crossed every face. Clearly, the position of captain held significant appeal.
Aya Tone did not interrupt their deliberations. Instead, he found a spot and sat cross-legged.
From his pocket, he pulled out the flyers a part-time young woman had handed him on the way here.
Seeing the young woman distributing flyers so early in the morning, he had specifically taken a few extra to fold into paper airplanes.
However, after the young woman saw him folding paper airplanes, the way she looked at him seemed… off.
‘How peculiar,’ he thought.
The ten minutes passed swiftly.
The selection of captains proved surprisingly peaceful. There were none of the dramatic, imagined scenes of comrades turning against each other for power.
“Alright, alright, come draw lots! Long goes with long, short with short.” Aya Tone excitedly pulled out the strips of paper he had just torn and placed them before the four individuals.
Amusingly, among these four was Shen Sirong.
“So, you actually became a captain, did you?”
Shen Sirong humbly scratched his head. “Pure luck, pure luck. I’m grateful for my teammates’ trust.”
“Stop playing coy, draw your lot.”
The draws for the four teams were perfectly balanced, pitting extremes against equilibrium.
He declared beforehand that he hadn’t cheated. The four had drawn their lots entirely on their own.
“Since the match-ups are set, let’s have Li Zixin and Wu Xin go first.”
“Teacher… my name is Li Zixin.”
“What a nice name! Can I call you ‘Li Zi’ then?”
“Whatever the teacher prefers…”
Li Zixin was one of the girls involved in that combined attack that unleashed blood-red magic.
Wu Xin, on the other hand, was an ordinary-looking boy. His appearance was delicate, and the spectacles perched on his nose added a scholarly air.
He was the kind of person who would blend into a crowd and be forgotten in an instant.
Yet, Aya Tone held no derogatory intent in his observation.
Because… he was the very boy who had erected the defensive shield for Li Zixin and her companion last time.
His performance, standing alone at the forefront, had truly been eye-catching.
‘Oh-ho~ A grudge match, is it?’
Aya Tone playfully drifted between the two, an inscrutable expression on his face.
“Teacher, could you please stop looking at us like that?”
Aya Tone’s blatant stare sent shivers down Li Zixin’s spine, causing goosebumps to erupt all over her body.
“It’s fine, you don’t need to mind me.”
The two remained on the field, while the other two returned to the spectator stands.
Once both teams had taken their positions, Aya Tone calmly surveyed them before speaking.
“Get ready. Battle start!”
With his command, Li Zixin’s team immediately moved to seize the initiative. Pre-prepared spells bloomed like fireworks. A volley of magic arrows rained down upon their enemies.
“Defend!”
Confronted with magic that unleashed almost instantaneously, Wu Xin’s reaction was undeniably swift. The command he issued was both concise and powerful.
As a roar reverberated, a cloud of smoke billowed from the center of the training ground, engulfing Wu Xin and his three teammates.
Even after Wu Xin and his team vanished from sight, Li Zixin’s team did not cease their assault.
They understood that their advantage lay solely in offense. Should they grant their opponents any respite, their chances of victory would plummet.
A single, sustained burst of effort was their only path to triumph!
“Teacher Aya, who do you think will win?” Shen Sirong watched the relentless torrent of destructive magic pouring onto the field, a sense of dread rising within him.
He simultaneously questioned himself: ‘If I faced such an onslaught, could I withstand it?’
Aya Tone: “I’m the referee right now. Don’t talk to me; people will gossip.”
Just then, another captain spoke up, “Actually, I’m quite curious too.”
“…” Aya Tone shot him a glare.
‘Doesn’t he have any common sense? Can’t he tell I don’t want to talk?’ ‘And he’s undermining me? That’s too much!’
Still, since neither captain seemed to mind…
“Li Zi and her team are definitely going to win.”
Although Li Zixin and her team took a sharp, aggressive approach, it was undeniably an ingenious tactic.
They were clever. They hadn’t employed the spell that demanded immense energy and lengthy incantation.
Under such sustained suppressive fire, if an opening couldn’t be found, they would be forced into perpetual passive defense.
The principle that ‘prolonged defense inevitably leads to defeat,’ Wu Xin surely understood this.
But he currently lacked the power to break through.
Their counterattacks were unable to penetrate the dense barrage of spells.
Therefore, from the very beginning, Wu Xin’s team was destined to lose this battle.
Unless they had acted before Li Zixin’s team launched their attack.
Alas, they had lost the initiative.
“Teacher, do you think we have a chance?” Shen Sirong asked in a sneaky, hushed tone.
“Hehe, I won’t tell you.”
With that, Aya Tone stopped paying them any mind. Instead, he focused intently on the battle.
‘Hmph, trying to pry information out of me?’ ‘Naive!’
Shen Sirong, having failed to extract any information, wasn’t discouraged. After all, it was just an attempt; there was nothing to lose.
Moreover, talking to this ‘loli’ teacher, he felt no oppressive aura of a superior whatsoever. It was more like chatting with a close friend.
It was strange, yet surprisingly comfortable.
The battle on the field didn’t last long. It was nearing its end even as they spoke.
After all, they were merely fledgling birds, still undeveloped. How much magical power could they possibly possess?
Not everyone’s abilities were conceptual powers, after all.
Before fully mastering the magical energy within them, every attack and defense they executed entailed a significant amount of wasted energy.
This undoubtedly contributed greatly to the battle’s premature conclusion.
“Stop!”
Seeing his cue to intervene, Aya Tone immediately raised his hand, calling a halt. A gentle barrier of light instantly blocked all incoming attacks.
“Li Zi’s team wins!”
“Wait a moment!”
Suddenly! From within the still-lingering smoke, a voice pierced through the dense shroud, landing clearly in everyone’s ears.
Immediately after, Wu Xin’s figure emerged from the smoke.
All eyes converged on him.
He wasn’t entirely unscathed, but his injuries were merely superficial. He still possessed the strength to fight.
“I haven’t fallen yet, I haven’t lost!” His gaze, resolute, fixed on Aya Tone.
“…” Aya Tone paused for a moment. “Very well, continue then.”
‘Heh, I left him some stamina, but he insists on using it all up.’
‘I suppose I’ll have to indulge him.’
And, as expected, Wu Xin ultimately succumbed beneath the four opponents’ barrage.
That dense, overwhelming assault was simply impossible for a fragile mage like him to evade. Perhaps those eccentric few who specialized in melee magic might have managed it.
….