Heliett was getting increasingly frustrated with her battle against Raufon. Whenever she thought she had frozen him in place, she heard a chime and something breaking, and Raufon shook off the ice, rushing at her once again.

"What an annoying guy!" She groaned, clapping and summoning cold winds, and a small blizzard surrounded them from nowhere, hiding her from Raufon's senses. She aimed to use it to slow him down and finally leave the platform, yet she flinched when she took her first step toward the edge. She had barely time to lean to her right as a sawblade, made out of sparkling, light-blue-ice, flew past her. "...!" Raising her hand, summoning a bubble of water around her, she managed to stop the incoming, arrow-shaped projectiles. As they landed on her shield, it absorbed them only to explode, dispelling the blizzard surrounding their platform.

"Don't go~!" Koadriana's voice echoed as Heliett looked toward her, feeling troubled. The way Koa's attacks fused with hers, disrupting her spells, was alarming. She had never seen something like that happen. "The fun part is just starting!"

"Finally!" Raufon groaned, gasping for air, "I felt like she would slip out of my hands!"

"Hehehe, worry not, she won't!" Koa winked at him, "Go, find others and stomp them into the marble floor!"

"You sure?" He asked, but after Koa nodded, Raufon was off, stomping once and jumping off from theirs.

"I wouldn't want you to say it was unfair. So if you have potions, drink them… bitch." Koa smirked, watching Heliett as both of them felt and heard a loud blast and screams coming from below them. It seemed Raufon had landed successfully.

Heliett didn't reply with anything but also picked out a vial gulping down its content as three magic circles appeared behind her, letting loose a literal hail of ice, shaped in the forms of tiny needles.

"Weak!" Koadriana chuckled, squinting, and similarly, her own three circles lit up, mimicking Heliett's spell down to its most minute details. Even more shocking was that Koa's needles hit hers, resulting in constant chimes, not missing a single one.

"..." Watching her do it, she furrowed her brows, finding it inconceivable that she copied her move so easily.

Clasping her bracelet, she focused her mind on her artifact as the hail stopped, the magic circles fused into one giant formation, and nine heads of a hydra came through, made out of ice. Opening their mouths, they fired out a beam, going zigzagging through the platform in a seemingly unpredictable way. Wherever their energy passed by, everything turned into ice. Heliett was trying to cut off all escape routes of Koadriana.

"That is a pretty advanced spell!" Koa whistled as she watched the multiple beams crisscrossing before her before she was also clasping her own bracelet. To Heliett's horror, Koadriana's magic circles also fused together, forming a similar one. What emerged from it was not a hydra but a tsunami of water, washing away everything before it. When her spell's beams landed on the incoming water, instead of turning it into ice, it absorbed them as her water was still rolling forward without any obstruction.

"Shit!" Heliett cursed, canceling her spell, and changing it, so the heads of the hydra melted, forming a solid wall before her.

"It is time to realize something." Koa's voice came from the water that crashed against Heliett's wall, going around it, splashing over its edge, and surrounding her. "I was called a prodigy in my own home. We have strict rules for using that word, you know. Not my father nor my grandfather earned it. Yet I did… as a kid. So in my eyes, now that we are at the same tier… you are a brat, splashing around in a puddle of her own piss! Watch and learn, bitch! This is how you control water!"

In a flash, all the water surrounding Heliett froze over, encasing her in a prism-like prison. She couldn't help but flinch, stagger a few steps, and gulp back the blood that almost came up in her throat. The control over her spells was ripped from her hands, and no matter what she tried, she couldn't regain it.

"How…?" She groaned, pain washing over her mind, feeling like needles being pushed into her brain.

This should be impossible. She knew that Koadriana had great control over water after clashing against her mind previously. But to rip away her control? Over ice? This was ridiculous! Even though both of them were water mages, the three distinct phases of water should not be so easily manipulated. All of those mages who could control it effortlessly, switching between them, were experienced masters, named mages, and known figures with a plethora of notable achievements. Even then, taking control of another mage's element? That should only occur when the mages' strengths are multiple tiers apart. All these thoughts made Heliett freeze in place, watching the icy prison she was standing in.

"Why so surprised?" Koa asked, melting through the solid wall and stepping into it with a grin. "You are good, I give you that. But your personality is skewed!"

"You are the last to say that to me!" Heliett replied, pointing and trying to summon an ice arrow, but it melted as soon as it left her finger, instantly turning into white water vapor.

"Unlike you, I'm not putting up a front. I love my family, and I love freely whoever I want. I am free, and I am just like the ocean… You simply can't control me." Koa said with a proud voice, "I never doubted myself, and that is why… my magic is stronger than yours!"

Snapping her fingers, a white mist descended on them, filling their small arena with a thick fog. Heliett couldn't see anything at all; raising her hands, they were obstructed from view until she literally touched her own face. She tried to expand her aura, sensing her surroundings, but the mist also swallowed it up. She could only 'hear' nothing but static. She felt a chill run down her spine when she tried to cast a spell, but it failed the moment it wanted to manifest itself. Whatever this weird soup of white fog was, it interfered with her will and mana, stopping her from casting any spells.

"How good are you at controlling ice?" Koadriana asked, her voice coming from everywhere at once.

"...!" Heliett was unable to answer, as looking down, her feet were frozen already, gluing her in place. The horror she felt was spreading quickly and further disturbing her mind, making it much easier for Koa to exercise control over her.

"Watch out!" Koa giggled, "Steam can be dangerous!"

Worse than the cold creeping up her legs was the sudden 'breeze' washing over her. It was searingly hot water vapor, burning her skin and causing scaldings all over it. She wanted to scream, but she couldn't breathe, maintaining enough sanity to not inhale Koa's spell. She thought this was it; she will be killed, but before panic could overwhelm her, a gentle, yellow light surrounded her as she was teleported out from the arena.

"Tsk! I wanted to teach her more…" Koa grumbled as, with a ping, the ice prison broke apart, and the thick mist dispersed into the air, revealing her figure. She stood there, pouting, her hands on her hips, looking up toward Lauron.

"I can't let you inflict injuries that would leave lasting scars or be crippling to a student~!" He answered, his voice coming from Koa's bracelet. "Nice job. I don't think she will ever go after you after today!"

"That would be against the winners' stipulation anyway!"

"True. But even then, she wouldn't do anything under the table either!" Lauron chuckled, his voice sounding a bit vindictive. "I liked the idea of a fan club, but if they scare others away from me... That is a big no-no! Your conflict came at the best time!"

"Hah!" Koa laughed, "Are you using us?"

"Using you? Please! We are family! I'll owe you one after this!" He answered with his own laugh. "Now, only one side remains."

"Aurora?" Koa asked.

"No. She is with Sion, mopping up the opposition. I think they are bored. Luckily they didn't dismember anyone yet."

"Eh… and I thought I was harsh…." She murmured, hearing his words. "Then it's Lia, isn't it?"

"Yep. She is facing a strong one… And I am glad to see she improved from the last time I fought with the little chili pepper!"

…

….

……

While Koa was fighting against Heliett, deeper down below them, another battle was going on. Palvina was showcasing her talent in both of her elements. When Yanura tried to make a move, she switched to electricity, either redirecting her attacks or simply cutting through them with lightning bolts. When going against Lia, she quickly changed, fighting fire with fire, keeping her at bay.

"Buzzing little pest!" Palvina clicked her tongue when another fireball hit her in the back, coming from Keily. The weakest of the three was wholly ignored by her, yet when one of his spells went through and hit her, it was still annoying. "I should deal with the traitorous one first." She murmured, stomping with her left leg on the ground.

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Lia reacted to her attack by instinct, jumping high and using a quick spell on herself to fly backward. Where she stood before, multiple magic circles appeared, exploding like little bombs, shaking the platform in its entirety, but they could not damage it. Palvina's goal wasn't to injure Lia but to make sure she couldn't help out Yanura. After her stomp, the fire around her disappeared, coating her body with blue electricity. Flashing forward, the clap of thunder deafened Keily for a moment, having the same effect on Yanura.

"Ugh!" She flinched, seeing two, but she was somewhat expectant of Palvina's next attack. After being beaten by Lia, she was aware of enemies getting close to her, and she had already raised a water shield at her back when Palvina made her move. Yet it was useless. Her opponent's lightning-coated, stretched-out index and middle finger went through it like a hot knife through butter, stabbing into her right shoulder blade.

"Be a good girl and get out of my sight the next time we meet!" She whispered into Yanura's ear, sending electricity through her until the point she popped like a balloon, leaving behind nothing but yellow specks of light as she was ejected from the arena.

Palvina was about to say something when she was hit in the side of the face by an orange ball of fire coming from Keily's stretched-out hand. He was already forming the next one while drinking a mana potion held in his other hand.

"I had enough of you already!" Palvina shouted, her fingers stretched straight, sending a sea of electricity toward Keily, covering a wide area and preventing him from dodging.

Seeing that there was nowhere to escape and feeling that the incoming lighting bolts were honing in on him anyway, Keily simply jumped up high, holding his hands together with a loud shout. What came out from them was the biggest fireball he could muster yet, blowing it forward and making Palvina raise her eyebrows.

"Realize your place!" She scolded him, aiming to slice it apart with a move of her hands but then Lia arrived, using the fact that Keily managed to distract her well enough.

"Gotcha…" She whispered, capitalizing on the minute opening and distraction of her enemy. Lia heard Keily whimpering, trying to hold back his screams when Palvina's attacks landed and then the sound of being teleported out of the arena before he would be seriously injured.

It gave her enough time to close the distance between them while being coated in flames. She utilized the same close-quarter moves that were taught to Aurora and developed by Erias Amarin himself. Palvina was unafraid of being ambushed or doing battle like this, as she considered it her specialty. What she didn't expect was that Lia seemed to be reading her, down to her instinctive reactions. Raising a hand made Lia throw out a kick, aiming at her waist. Dodging that to the left brought a flaming fist towards her chest as if she had already predicted it.

"..." Palvina's face turned a shade darker as she had no other choice but to hold her hands together, blocking it physically. "Ugh!" She moaned audibly, being sent skidding backward. Looking down at her hands, she saw them turn red and felt her bones forming small cracks all around them. She had no time to think where this power was coming from as Lia was upon her, burning, flaming wings spreading from her back, propelling her forward like a bullet. "Your flames are weak!" Palvina spat in anger.

"..." Instead of answering, Lia crashed into her, bodying Palvina like a ram would. "Tsk…" She clicked her tongue, folding her wings above the back of her head, trying to block the incoming elbow of her opponent coated in electricity. Palvina was holding back the blood, wanting to escape from her body through her mouth as the impact broke some of her ribs. She wouldn't give up the perfect opportunity, wanting to knock out the weird girl before her quickly.

"That is not enough!" Palvina laughed as she was surprisingly fired up, enjoying their wild, explosive battle. As her elbow was about to be connected with Lia's wings, the electricity was already trying to force its way in, pushing the fire away.

For them, all of this happened in slow motion, their minds making thousands of calculations, deciding what would win them their confrontation. On Lia's side, after hearing the cracks of electricity and feeling the hair stand up on the back of her neck, she felt a sudden calmness wash through her. Time seemed to stop for a moment, frozen in place, while her mind was free to think, remembering the weird passages coming from the old book she bought. As they raced through her subconsciousness, she finally remember the two pages in the middle.

"Twelve hours of Fire, Twelve hours of Ice, yet the day is only One. When fire burns, Coldness recedes. When Coldness creeps in, the Warmth weakens. The Scale is balanced. Warmth must be found in the Coldness. The Flame brings forth Chill."

Somehow, it made sense at that moment. She was in the middle of a wild, dangerous battle. She had never before faced someone like Palvina. The feelings coming off her were intense, and she knew if she landed a blow, it would truly hurt her. It was nothing like facing Kawu or Reyra. She could feel her heart pounding, going crazy inside her chest, pumping adrenaline into her bloodstream, heightening all of her senses. It was doing everything to ensure Lia had the energy and power to win or escape. At the same time, her brain was calm, collected… cool. It was calculating the trajectory of Palvina's elbow, confirming that she would hit her. There was no time to move away or dodge or block. It was going to connect. Yet she was not flustered by it. She knew how to stop it. Just how time seemed to stop for that brief moment, if she couldn't dodge and couldn't burn Palvina's electricity away, then she simply had to freeze it. Freeze it into place, even if for a fraction of a second.

"...?" Palvina only felt cold air touch her skin, unable to tell its source. For a brief second, she could swear she saw Lia's orange fire flicker and turn to blue. "No…" She thought that was impossible. It was her electricity's light, reflected from the flames and nothing else.

What she would not realize was that she did not see it incorrectly. For a brief moment, Lia's Fire turned utterly blue and froze not just her elbow but her whole existence in place. She didn't realize it, but she was stopped in her movement by her flashing electricity. As her thoughts were frozen in place, too, she simply missed it happening.

The one who didn't miss it was Lauron. He couldn't help but shoot to his feet, his eyes fixated on his sister, watching her dodge at the last moment. He failed to follow their renewed battle as he couldn't help but replay what had happened previously. Raising a hand, he immediately opened the system's recordings and took another look, freezing the image at the moment when Lia's Fire was wholly blue and Palvina was stopped in place.

"I can't believe it… Was… was that ice magic or…" He murmured, saving the image but then quickly deleting every recording of it, going as far as that anyone who was spectating suddenly was cut off for a brief moment while he systematically delete every evidence of it even happening.

"Lauron." Arrived Lucian's voice out of the blue, coming through his personal bracelet. "Why are you interfering with the system? I noticed unauthorized access to it."

"Sir," Lauron said, his voice calm and so severe that Lucian flinched at the other side. It made him sit up in his chair in his office, as Lauron never spoke so formally with him before. "By the name of Erias Amarin, this does not concern either you or the Institute of Eight Elements."

"Hm…" Lucian hummed after a brief silence, "It must have been a malfunction then. Don't mind me. Continue." He said, ending the connection, leaning back, and tapping on his armrest. "Someone successfully mixed opposing elements…?" he thought, his index finger stopping in mid-air as he quickly formed a smile, guessing simply because of Lauron's seriousness and by the mention of Erias's name. "Which of the three was it?" He laughed, standing up, walking before his window, "Oh boy! If this is true, I need to befriend her, hahaha!"

Back on the platform, Lia was still facing off against Palvina. She was starting to feel the difference in the tiers of their magic. Even though she could dodge, counterattack and land blows because she intensely studied Palvina's recorded battles, she couldn't truly make them connect. Palvina's strength resisted her attempts and it was clear, Lia was running out of mana quickly… and Palvina was not about to let her reach for a vial of potion.

"...!" Palvina suddenly broke off her attempt to blast Lia off their platform as she rolled to the sides, pushing herself up in a hurry. She could see strands of her hair flutter in the air as a black blade stuck to the ground where she was a moment before.

She had no time to think, as she had to dodge again, using her fire spells to blast herself in an opposing direction as spears of light stabbed into the ground from above her. When she managed to stand up, she heard a loud bang as Raufon's massive body, covered in an armor of rocks, landed from the sky.

"You good?" Koa asked, surfing down on a spiral stream of water, appearing next to Lia, and throwing a mana potion to her that she gulped down while nodding.

Looking around, Palvina couldn't help but breathe out loudly, looking at them before turning her head upwards, noticing that they were the only remaining people in the arena.

"Haaahh… useless idiots." She moaned, cracking her neck, remaining calm even when she faced the group of theirs. "You did well stacking up with artifacts and potions. But that was also a waste of good money on defeating weaklings."

"I say, it has worth every penny to see you beaten down!" Lia giggled, ready for round two.

"Then one more reason I'll deny that from you!" Palvina snapped her head towards Lia. "I give up!"

As soon as she said that, everyone was surrounded by a curtain of light, and when they blinked their eyes, they were back out, standing next to the arena.

“Eh… not fair…” Lia moaned, but the only one who agreed with her was Koadriana.

"Finally! I'm beaten, even with the potions' effects! I can barely stand!" Raufon moaned, dispelling all of his magic and simply transforming back to his human looks, falling back onto the snow, enjoying its cooling coldness against his overexerted, burning muscles.

"This was… tiring!" Sion agreed, letting out a long breath while Aurora simply stretched, checking her injuries that were only superficial.

"We won?" Keily asked, rushing up to them, watching Palvina, who was already far away, seemingly hurrying off to the distance.

"Of course we did!" Lia laughed, hugging him, "You did great!"

"I was the only one knocked out…."

"And?" Everyone said, pointing a thumbs up at him while Koa finished their thoughts, "You stood up to the challenge like a man! If you want, you can sleep with me tonight!"

"Eh…" Keily flinched, turning bright red, redder than when he was casting his flames.

"I didn't hear a no!" Koa giggled while Lia hugged the bunny boy from behind, holding him down.

"Ahaha, look! His dangling bit says yes! It is standing! NYAUH?!" She screamed loudly, not just letting the poor boy go but also jumping high into the air, holding her butt with two hands. Before she could fall back to the ground, her ankles were tied in a lasso of light, and she was hoisted up like a trapped animal while screaming loudly.

"For one, you are going to be punished for that." Lauron arrived, capturing his sister with a smile, "Mom would blame me if something happens, and thank you very much, but I won't let that happen! For seconds." He turned towards the rest, "Good job, everyone. Go, take a rest! Let me deal with her." He said, flashing away with a blinding move, leaving a laughing group behind while Keily tried hiding under a big pile of snow, none of them noticing the urgency in Lauron's voice.