"Are you going to join the competition?"

I glanced at the front of this line of people. That should be the signup spot for martial arts. I didn't expect Aetina, who is usually so timid, to have the confidence to challenge those contestants with eight or ten wings. When I first met her, she was quite wary of Nicola and me, who only had six wings.

"I didn't come for myself, I'm mainly here to sign Nicola up... "

She quickly clarified when she saw me and Cyra.

"Nicola? She's the one who wants to join this martial arts tournament?"

I didn't expect things to go this way. I immediately looked around, but I didn't see any shadow of her.

"Where is she? Why didn't she come herself?"

"She probably went to see Reed again?"

Aetina smiled and said.

"When we were sparring today, she heard me mention this tournament and said she wanted to participate but didn't have time to come queue, so she asked me to help sign her up, because the martial arts competition will end tomorrow."

"And you just agreed?"

I was admiring Aetina. To be willing to help with troublesome things like queueing, she pampers Nicola too much. Where's the teacher's demeanour?

As for Nicola, how can she be so busy that she can't even find time for this? I must go to the library later to see what she and Reed are up to.

"It's alright. I have nothing to do anyway. Besides, Lady Elara specifically instructed me to try my best to satisfy your requests. So I came to help along the way."

Aetina didn't seem to mind running errands at all. She waved her hand casually as if it was no big deal.

"Nicola only has six wings. How can she possibly beat those top contenders with eight or ten wings?"

Cyra asked in bewilderment. Although in her eyes, Nicola counted as overpowered, and her swordsmanship was better, compared to those top contenders, she should still be far from their level.

I held the same view on this. Nicola's current strength was mainly due to the Condensation Sword. It was obvious she wouldn't be allowed to use it in this competition. Even if weapons were provided, they would be distributed evenly by the organizer, like those swords from the weapon racks below.

"I've reminded her already, but she was very determined and confident"

Aetina could only sigh upon hearing this. But she still made an effort to explain the tournament to us.

"Although the rules don't restrict by rank, there are only so many ten-winged angels in the whole of Edenmere, and most of them hold high positions, so they usually don't participate. So six wings still have a chance."

"So you mean Nicola has a chance at ranking?"

I was intrigued to hear this. Removing the insurmountable gap posed by the ten-winged angels, it did seem a lot more manageable.

"It's not that simple."

But Aetina shook her head again and analyzed for us.

"Although Nicola has decent talent in swordsmanship, her skills are still too raw and she hasn't trained long enough. She definitely won't have an advantage over eight-winged angels now. I think she should have the right mind when participating this time, focusing on learning."

"So it's still going there to get beat up!"

Cyra curled her lips in disdain. We saw many angels get injured in the matches earlier, some quite seriously, though thankfully there was a medical team on standby. So no life-threatening situations occurred.

"Letting her suffer a bit is good too."

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But I wasn't too worried. There was no risk to her life anyway. And I've always felt that Nicola was too arrogant relying on Condensation Sword. It was about time someone taught her a lesson.

"Actually, Feliciana could consider participating in this event..."

But at this moment, Aetina suddenly changed the subject and suggested to me.

"The magic competition tomorrow would be very suitable for you."

"Huh? You kidding me?"

I was unprepared. We were just discussing Nicola's reckless actions, yet here a pit was already dug and waiting for me to jump in!

"No way! I've only learned a few magic spells, how can I compete!"

I firmly rejected this ridiculous proposal. Speaking of which, I've only been at this Triumph Plaza for a short while, yet I've already met two people egging me to join the competition, and for different categories too. How bizarre!

But the Teacher seemed very confident in me, even more so than with Nicola.

"It's no problem, your talent in magic is quite impressive. Joining the competition can get you a ranking."

"Are you sure you're not joking?"

I thought I must have misheard. Athena said I could aim for a ranking?

Although she did teach us quite a few magic spells, most were still basic and insufficient for competition. Also, I only have six wings, whether in terms of quantity or power, I would lose to those eight-winged angels.

"Of course not, you really can do it!"

Athena insisted firmly, encouraging me.

"You may have some misunderstandings about magic competitions. The main test is still elemental control. From my observations these past days, your elemental control is very high, far exceeding even me."

"No way?"

Cyra was also shocked to hear this and immediately looked at me in surprise.

"We learned together, and can both do many basic magic without incantations. Why is she so much better?"

"Haven't you noticed Feliciana's learning speed is way faster than yours? She understands after one lesson, while you need to be taught multiple times!"

Aetina sighed and reminded her.

"Even so, that can't be considered slow right?"

Cyra was still unwilling to admit inferiority and argued.

"Most of them I managed to learn during lessons too. It felt quite fast to me!"

"It's not slow..."

Aetina naturally didn't want to discourage her too much, and could only give an objective evaluation.

"You have to know those are the most basic magic. Your elemental control still needs more practice. Otherwise, at best you can only be considered average."

What she called basic was like Purification, which was already quite impressive by human standards.

"So it's still middle-tier, not bad, not bad!"

Upon hearing this, Cyra immediately felt relieved. She had a very open mindset, satisfied as long as she wasn't the worst.

"My goal is only to reach four wings anyway. Torturous stuff like competitions, I'll leave it to you to slowly enjoy!"

Saying so, she patted my shoulder and looked at me sympathetically, as if she could already foresee my wretched state after being abused by the competition opponents.

"If your wings get fried golden brown and crispy outside but tender inside, remember to call me over for a taste. I've never eaten deep-fried angel wings before. Remember to add lots of peppercorn and plum!"

"How can you be so gleeful about my misfortune!"

I helplessly retorted. I was long used to her shameless outbursts. But thinking about that angel whose arm nearly got sliced off by a sword earlier, it gave me some chills. I felt this competition was a bit too dangerous.

"Or... let's forget it? I really can't do it!"

I wanted to back out again. Having just Nicola participate was already sufficient, my absence wouldn't matter much. Cyra was right, what's wrong with staying in the room playing cards? Why insist on going out to get abused?

"Don't listen to her nonsense!"

Athena became anxious upon hearing this and didn't forget to glare at Cyra, seemingly very dissatisfied with her words.

"The magic competition is not like this at all. It would be a real pity for you to give up."

"But I only know some low-level magic, quite far from this competition. And I just reached six wings a few days ago. My abilities are far too lacking."

Seeing Aetina unrelenting, I quickly flew off to avoid further persuasion.

"Next time! I will go for next time!"

"It's that exaggerated huh? Did I scare you? I was just joking!" Cyra didn't expect me to flee so quickly and hurriedly chased after me to clarify.

"Don't forget angels are basically immune to magic right? The competition shouldn't use forbidden spells, right? Although I'm also not clear what these so-called forbidden spells are like..."

"Oh right!"

On hearing her say this, I quickly reacted and stopped.

"If magic is ineffective, what's the point of a magic competition? Wouldn't it be completely meaningless to fight in a ring?"

"Uhh..."

Cyra seemed to realize the same thing suddenly and was rendered speechless for a moment. She pointed behind her and was about to turn back.

"Why don't we return and ask?"

"Forget it. I don't plan to participate anyway. Even if my elemental control is good, it doesn't mean I can beat those eight-winged angels. The difference in rank is there after all!"

I quickly stopped her and decided not to think further about this matter.

After returning to the room, Cyra was still enthusiastic and dragged me to play cards, unfazed by my past cheating.

"Why don't you go find other angels to play cards with?"

Considering she had been playing with us ever since making this deck of cards, clinging on with great tenacity.

It wasn't that I was unwilling to play cards with her, just that I needed to go to the library now to find Reed and Nicola.

"Norma and the rest definitely won't know the rules! I'll have to coach them from scratch, how troublesome. Also, they tried to stop me several times when I was cutting the cards and kept scolding me for wasting. Most likely they won't be willing to accompany me."

Cyra answered unhappily. Speaking of which, the paper for these playing cards was something she got Reed to procure using her privileges. It seemed to be a type of magic material imported from the outside world, with excellent elemental affinity. No wonder Norma would feel pained seeing it get cut.