From underneath Ken's foot, a burst of wind shot him into the sky, 100 meters above the stadium.

“I hope you can keep up Lydia,” Ken called out, pointing his right hand down at her.

“Give me your best.”

“Gatling Explosions!”

Several balls of fire conjured in front of Ken’s right hand, and like a machine gun, they rained down on the stadium. Each ball of fire detonates upon impact. Lydia protected herself by cloaking her body in a layer of mana that acted like armor. She didn't move an inch, simply tanking or swatting away the fireballs that came her way.

The Young mage landed on the ground and the rain of fireballs had stopped. Making her move, Lydia rushed towards Ken, her sword held firmly in hand.

“I'd watch my step if I were you.”

“Huh?”

It was too late. The clueless Young Lady had stepped on a magic mine, which exploded in her face.

“Gatling Explosions was just a ruse for him to set landmines,” The Cat beast-man sitting on the rooftop said to himself.

Looking around, Lydia realized that she was standing in a minefield.

“You're going to have to try harder than this.” A force field surrounded her body like a bubble.

“Whirlwind Shrine!”

Six whirlwinds formed in the arena, setting off all the mines at once. The fiery bombs, mixed with the ravishing winds, caused a fury of fire to devour the entire stadium.

The on-lookers braced themselves, putting up their own shields just in case the explosion expanded outside the arena. Luckily it didn't.

The explosion cleared out, and the arena floor was painted with scorch marks. Ken had protected himself in a force field right before the explosion, revealing him to be un-scratched.

Lydia had used the explosion to prepare her next spell. In front of her was a big light green magic circle.

“Wind Magic: Crushing Drill Fang!”

From the magic circle in front of her, a ferocious mass of wind in the shape of a giant drill head shot out towards Ken like a bullet. To counter the intense wind magic, Ken cast a strong defense spell.

“Construct Magic: Iron Rock Guardian!”

Joining his palms together, a large earth golem from the torso up, clad in armor emerged from the ground in front of him, acting as a sentient wall.

Using both of its hands, the rock golem stopped the Crushing Drill Fang in its path. The wind spell tried pushing through the golem but couldn't. Instead, the golem redirected its trajectory, sending it upwards into the sky where it dispersed into the atmosphere.

“What a nuisance” Lydia mumbled.

She continued her charge, aiming to cut down the giant rock construct. To try and stop her from reaching Ken, the golem slammed its fist into the ground, causing long spikes of earth to protrude out of the ground racing towards her.

Putting her sword skills to use, Lydia dodged and cut down every spike that popped up in her way. Finally reaching the main body, Lydia cloaked her sword in a dense layer of wind.

“Cutlass Wind Stroke!”

The golem crossed its arms in hopes of protecting itself, but it proved to be futile. Swinging her blade, Lydia released the dense wind cloaking her sword, which took the shape of a crescent. The now wind projectile passed through the rock guardian, slashing it diagonally in half.

To Lydia’s surprise, Ken was nowhere to be found, but she kept her guard up, ready for any surprise attacks.

She didn't have to wait long, Ken came running towards her from the right, in response she charged at him, ready to clash.

“You still haven't used your Special Release yet.” Ken pointed out.

“That's because you haven't given me a reason to.”

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“Is that so?”

Cloaking himself in electricity, Ken leaped towards Lydia, his body turning into a bolt of lightning. Lydia gripped her sword with both hands, swinging it with full force.

“Wrong move. A defense spell would have been the right choice…” Katherine uttered

Instead of a direct hit, Lydia’s blade passed through Ken as if she had just hit the air. Ken’s lightning body shot through Lydia, appearing behind her, before returning to his normal state.

“Lightning Body: Raging Bolt!”

Before Lydia could react, large amounts of lightning shot out from her body, striking her with high volts of electricity. All she could do was scream out in pain. Once the lightning stopped, she fell to her knees, before coughing out blood.

Slowly standing back up, Lydia faced his opponent once again, wiping the blood from her mouth. “That was quite the trick, I should have been more vigilant.”

“So, are you ready to show me your Special Release?”

“We have less than 2 minutes left, I guess you have earned it. Tell me, what do you know of Gilgamesh?”

“Hmmm… Gilgamesh is the Sword God. He's a hero, who achieved Godhood during the 3rd Era.”

“Correct. I am a follower of Gilgamesh, I've been a devoted follower since I was but a child. Can you guess where I'm going with this?”

“I have some ideas.”

“No way, has she received a Divine Blessing!?” Katherine’s usual unbothered expression turned intense.

“Grace of Gilgamesh: Adamantine Halo.”

Six magic circles manifested behind Lydia. From each of the magic circles, a single long sword was brought forth. Each of the swords had a metallic white blade, with its guard resembling feathers. The blades floated behind Lydia in a circular formation, with the tip of the blades pointing outwards. The swords spun clockwise, making it seem as if she had a halo.

Seeing a colleague cast such an awesome spell, left everyone dumbfounded. To be able to use a God’s name in a spell is truly a magnificent feat. It's proof that one has been recognized as Worthy by a divine being.

“Such amazing magic, and she is only a first year!”

“How did she even manage to impress a God!”

“There is no way that dude is winning!”

“He should just call it quits!”

Ken was mesmerized by what he had just witnessed, the overwhelming levels of magic he sensed from Lydia had his heart beating faster than usual. His face was overtaken by a wide grin.

Speaking over the chatter, Ken said, “So this is your magic? It's truly awesome!”

“Does he have any tricks up his sleeve to counter such a powerful spell?” Katherine questioned.

“But you are too late. I've already finished setting everything up.” Ken continued to speak.

“What do you mean by that?” Lydia asked

With a mischievous smirk, Ken recited the incantations to his next spell.

“Three Layered Enchantment: Asthenēs”

A large magic circle covered in runes appeared underneath Lydia’s feet, with another two forming above her.

Lydia tried to jump out of the magic circle, but she couldn't. “What the? I can't move…”

A concentrated flash of white light erupted from the magic circle, devouring her. Once the light faded, she had been brought to her knees. Her Adamantine Halo had vanished. She was but pray, trapped in the 3 layered magic circle.

“My mana… it's gone!” Lydia groaned

“It looks like five minutes is up,” said Ken

The spectators were lost for words. One second Lydia was displaying incredible feats of magic, but with one spell, she was rendered powerless. Her mana level dropped to Zero.

“What did he do? What kind of spell was that?”

“Asthenēs? I've never heard of such a spell.”

“He just made the Blessing of God look so futile.”

Pushing her glasses up from the bridge of her nose, Katherine observed the magic circles trapping Lydia. “Those magic circles, they are written in Magus, how very interesting.”

“He laid out a trap from the very start of the fight. He sure is a crafty one.” the Beastman pointed out.

Mustering up her strength to call out to Ken, Lydia asked, “Ken Granfold! Tell me what you did!?”

“Asthenēs is a trap that takes time to set up. when it's successfully done, those who are caught up in it will lose all their mana.” Ken explained. “Even a Blessing from God is useless when the wielder no longer has mana.”

“...When did you have time to set up such a spell?”

With a swipe of his hand, the magic circles caging Lydia disappeared. But she was still weak.

“I started setting the trap as soon as the match started. All my attacks were aimed at laying the groundwork for this very spell.”

Hearing Ken’s answer, disheartened her. “I was just playing into your trap this whole time I see.”

Walking up to Lydia, Ken held out his hand to help her up. “I was only able to lay that trap because this wasn't a serious fight. Your Special Release would have been a serious problem if I hadn't drained your mana.”

Lydia grabbed his hand allowing Ken to pull her up onto his shoulder as support.

Out of curiosity, Lydia asked another question, “So, if this was a serious fight, do you think you'd still have won?”

“It would take a lot out of me. but yes, I would still win.”

Ken’s blunt answer made Lydia chuckle, “In that case, our next fight will be a serious one.”

“I'll be looking forward to it.”