"C'mon get up, we've already had our break." Luna pouted.

pant pant pant "Why're you making this drag on?"

"Drag on? You say that as if you're not having fun?" The Rising Star tilted her head confusedly.

"Why the hell would fighting be fun?!" Sexta screamed.

"Huh?" Baffled by the question Luna scrunched her eyebrows.

'Is she an idiot?' Sexta slowly got up, her mind still scrambled by Luna's nature.

"That's like asking me why meat is yummy?" Luna answered.

"..."

'She's comparing meat to fighting?!'

"Do you not like fighting?" Luna asked concernedly.

"Of course not, who the hell likes fighting!"

"Everyone? Why would you become a magic knight if you don't like fighting?" As if Sexta was asking the dumbest question ever.

"To serve their country." Sexta said sternly.

"Who the hell is dumb enough to put up with stuck-up jackasses and risk their lives to do something they don't even enjoy."

"It's not dumb, it's righteous!" Sexta countered.

"I disagree." Luna shrugged.

"Of course you would, you willingly choose to live your life selfishly."

"I'd rather be selfish than a coward."

"A coward?"

"Yeah, your will is weak. You just buy into all the bullshit these stuck-up dumbasses tell you, too scared to form your own opinion. You're just going to be another puppet in an army of thousands."

"Justifying your wicked nature as courageous is disgusting." Sexta scowled and held up her blade, readying herself for the next scuffle.

"Wicked? Being good or bad means nothing, the strong determine what is right." Having successfully coated her blade in Earthly Aura and flame magic, Luna slashed at Sexta's head vertically.

"Flame Magic: Scorch Saber!"

FWISHH

Unwilling to let her ideology lose, Sexta took a step to the side and parried Luna's blade with her own.

DUMMM

CLANG

"HAAA!" Taking no time to recover, Sexta diagonally slashed her blade at Luna's breastplate.

"That's the spirit!" To evade the valiant attack, Luna leapt into the air nimbly.

'She's slower because of her knee, I can win this!' Sexta clenched her non-dominant hand and summoned dozens of sparks of lightning.

"Lightning magic: Thunder calamity!" Sexta thrust her electrified hand toward her adversary, sending dozens of dancing sparks in multiple directions.

CRACKLE CRACKLE

Unable to react to the overwhelming speed of lightning, Luna was assaulted by multiple streaks of lightning, each carrying three hundred million volts of electricity.

THUD

"I-I won?" Struggling to take in her achievement, Sexta barely managed to formulate a coherent sentence.

"I-I beat Luna Triksta... The second Rising Star!" She grinned.

"Hehehe."

All the colour in Sexta's face disappeared as she heard the cheerful laugh of the charred figure on the ground.

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"That was really good...You're really strong!" Luna giggled.

"H-how how are you still in the event...How are you even alive?!"

'This can't be happening, the safety protocol should've kicked in and eliminated you from the event.' Sexta staggered back.

"You attacked me in a way that made me evade to the air, that way I had no way to interrupt your spell; covering for your lacking spell-casting speed." Rising like a phoenix from the ashes, Luna stood up, her entire body and attire blacker than charcoal.

"How are you still in the event?!" Sexta raised her blade.

"Hm? The safety protocol only activates when the student's life is in danger."

"B-but?"

"Did you seriously think, a little shock enough to kill me?" Luna smiled menacingly.

"A little shock?" Sexta widened her eyes.

"C'mon... Let's fight!"

'Can I even win this...No, I have to. I'm too close to give up.' Having steeled her resolve once more, Sexta decided to initiate the encounter with a diagonal slash.

SHING

"MORE!" Introducing her own blade, Luna blocked Sexta's attack.

"HAA!" Following instructions, Sexta thrust her blade towards Luna's right eye.

WHOOSH

"MORE!" Luna moved her head to the side, receiving a shallow cut below her eye as compensation.

SPLURT

'No matter how long it takes... I'll beat her!' Finding difficulty in striking with her outstretched sword arm, Sexta positioned her aura-coated left palm beneath her right arm and forced it toward Luna's shoulder.

DUMMM

"C'mon, embrace your fighting spirit. MORE!" Her bloodlust practically oozing out of her pores, Luna punched Sexta's left arm, diverting the attack.

'How's she still moving that fast? Even after sustaining so much damage?!' Intending to bombard her opponent with numerous attacks, Sexta launched her foot toward Luna's chin.

WHOOSH

"HAHHAHAHAHA!" Luna took a quick step to the side, unbothered by Sexta's swift attack.

'What the hell is wrong with her?!' Growing tired of her opponent's incessant laughter, Sexta swung her gladius toward Luna's skull.

"HAAAAAA!" Instead of moving out of the attack's pathway, Luna released a wild wave of electricity from her body.

Lightning magic: infinite discharge.

CRACKLE CRACKLE

"Wha-" Unable to match the speed of lightning, Sexta was hit by a large electrical wave and sent flying.

'How'd she release that much magic that quickly?!'

WHOOSH

"It's my turn, so try not to break too quickly!" Luna cackled and pursued her flying opponent.

'My body feels numb. I can't control my landing!' Sexta panicked.

"Triksta Technique: Starburst!" Luna thrust her star magic-coated blade toward her opponent, hitting her opponent with a small shooting star.

BOOM

[Sexta Applebee Class A has been eliminated.]

"She broke..." Luna frowned.

sigh 'I hope I run into Lutz next, I'm running out of potions...' She shrugged before downing a healing potion, leaving one left.

***

45 students remaining.

***

1.5km Northwest of the forest's centre.

Veda Stewart (5 eliminations)

"Ice magic: Frost Barrier!" Using a magic circle on the ground, Veda erected a thick wall of ice in front of her to guard against multiple water bullets.

THUD THUD THUD

'I'm running out of mana...Fighting against multiple people wasn't a good idea.' Veda exhaled.

"I need a potion." Veda reached for her belt and snatched a mana potion, finishing it in three quick gulps.

gulp gulp gulp

'The more I stay in the area the more attention I'll draw, should I flee?' She thought.

'No, I'm too fatigued to effectively conceal my aura...'

"Wait, why did she stop attacking?"

'Did she escape? But she had the upper hand? She showed no signs of mana depletion either, so I doubt that's the reason.'

"Water magic: Hydra!"

(A mythical creature in both Roman and Greek mythology, possessing the body of a massive serpent as well as multiple heads.)

Born from a profuse amount of mana, a gigantic serpent emerged from Julia's blue magic circle.

The beast made of water boasted multiple heads, each adorned with large horns and frills.

HISSSS

'I was careless, how'd I let this happen.' Veda's mouth gaped open.

"I need to escape." Having concluded she was in no position to fight the aqua beast, Veda gathered Earthly Aura into her legs.

'You're not going anywhere...' Predicting Veda's actions, Julia scowled.

"HYDRA!" Julia channelled more mana into the magic circle, bending the beast to her will.

SLUSH

Two of the water beast's heads burst forward, violently hunting down its prey.

'It's fast... But I think I can make it.' Her speed enhanced by Earthly Aura, Veda sprinted toward the forest's centre.

SLUSH

Dead set on devouring the magic knight, the two of the hydra's heads closed in on Veda.

pant pant 'It's too close...' Veda jumped into the air and transitioned into a backflip, allowing one of the heads to slide against the ground beneath her.

"Ice magic: Frost Flash!" Veda released a large stream of ice magic from her hand, freezing the hydra's head.

SHATTER

"ARGGGHH!" Seemingly enraged by the loss of one of its heads, the hydra drove one of its heads towards his head.

SLUSH

'Dealing with this is taking too much stamina, but at least it's doable... for now.'

DUMMM

Veda channelled Earthly Aura into her blade and severed the Hydra's head.

SPLASH

'But... That's the problem.' Veda's excitement was cut short when she saw the hydra grow four more heads, their size much larger than its predecessors.

"ARGH!" Coming from seemingly out of nowhere, the last hydra's head intercepted her path and rammed into her body.

BAM

'I forgot about that one.' Quickly recovering from the minor blow, Veda distanced herself from the hungry hydra's heads.

"As long as the spell caster is supplying the Hydra with mana it'll continue to regenerate. " She analyzed.

'And that's not even the worst part, the more heads I destroy the faster and stronger its movements become.'

"Either I directly attack Julia or I flee..." She gripped her spatha tightly.

"Arghhh!!" Eager to destroy its opponent, all of the hydra's heads flashed their fangs and crashed toward her.

***

* Extra information.

A reminder of all relevant character's magic affinities and weapons.

Tarzy Goliath: Transformation magic; brass knuckles.

Luna Triksta: Star magic (Lightning[Wind and Fire], Earth); gladius.

Amber Shine: Light magic; magic staff.

Lutz van Alexia: Gale magic; rapier.

Jerald Cecil: Flame magic; gladius.

Marie Jupiter: Gravity magic; spatha.

Adonis P. Vindicta: Inferno magic; gladius.

Maxwell Aster: Metal magic, giant hammer.

John van Ani: Nature magic[ Water, Earth and Wind], spear.

Toni Modster: Lava magic[Blaze magic, Earth], mace.

Vera Stewart: Blaze magic, spatha.

Veda Stewart: Ice magic, spatha.

Flora Evergreen: Nature magic [Water, Earth and Wind], bow.

Sicily Paler: Familiar magic, spear.

Spur Stake: Diamond magic [Metal and Ice] doesn't use one.

Julia Claudia: Water Magic, gladius.

Paulla Leah: Flame Magic, spatha.

ELIMINATED STUDENTS AREN'T INCLUDED