Misty has been strange ever since she got those scrolls.  I really want to look at the scrolls, but after she opened them they all burst into flames after they imprinted into her mind.  She won't even let me know what they do or why she got them.  She only tells me, "Sis, I will get in big trouble if I tell you."  My curiosity has almost killed me multiple times, but why the hell is there so much information that tempts me?

The duels are starting today and I'm not sure what to make of it.  I'm far stronger than most of the school, but that doesn't help me.  I will just become isolated again if I stand out too much unless Kylie and Rose have measures put in place.  Wait one second, I already did that during the assembly.

Hanging my head in shame at my hot-headed temper, I remember the real reason I was looking forward to the duels.  Everyone is going to be fighting and I can observe their styles and magics.  The fact that you enter a magical clone for the duels is awesome though, so you don't have to worry about physical injuries or death.  

Ellie entered the room, "Mistress, the duels start soon so we should go get something to eat before they begin."

I stifled a laugh before retorting, "Isn't it bad to eat before you fight?"

She responded, "You are strong enough to take on the elites in the school, your first duel will serve no real meaning other than to trap your opponent."

Ellie doesn't get my humor all the time, so when she responds seriously to some of my jokes, it kills them on the spot.  Before I could say anything, Ellie had grabbed my hand to head out to the dinner table.  She likes making new food, I think it may be because of teacher's horrible tastes.  It most likely left a mental scar that she wants to relieve by making better food.  Never turn down good food.

We were having a type of kebab today with a sweet sauce accompanying it.  I think she gets most of her ingredients from the "Secret" garden.  My favorite meal that Ellie makes is a potato, cheese, and steak stew.  Kylie and Rose appeared behind me as I was salivating over the food.

Rose spoke first after eyeing the kebabs for a short second, "Ally, are you looking forward to watching us compete?  My weapon should give me a slight advantage even though my opponent uses dual flame swords."

I responded with a large smile, "Yes, I'm looking forward to seeing you all perform today.  Whether you win or lose, it should be fun to see you guys fighting."

Kylie smirked before joking, "You just want to see if the weapons you made are decent.  We all know you have hidden motives behind your light hearted smile."

With that, I took a couple kebabs and with a slight skip in my step we all headed out to the arena.  When we got there, I saw both Tristan and Kade being serious as they practiced with their weapons.  This is strange, I didn't expect them to be this competitive.  What a pleasant surprise.

Maybe they're paired to fight against each other, I should have paid more attention to the matchups of everyone.  Here comes teacher, he should probably start everything off for today.

"Ok students, today is your first time using the duel arena.  To put this simply, the duel arena will make a magic copy of your body and transfer your soul into it for you to fight with.  It is a special formation that allows for exact copies, but it you leave the arena with the clone body it will dissolve and its energy will stay in the arena.  Your soul will also be automatically sent to your body.  This arena will not allow you to die when the magical clone disperses, your soul will just return to your body.  That is all I need to say, and we will start with a battle between Alexandra and Randall."

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With Teacher's spiel over with, I directed my magic into the duplication stone.  I closed my eyes and when I opened them again, I was in the clone's body.  It feels just like the original...

After Randall got past his confusion of "teleporting" he grabbed his sword and took a ready position.  I don't have much reason to be in a stance seeing I have no physical combat prowess.  I will just have to do magic ranged attacks.  How long will he last?

Teacher said, "Ready?"

Both Randall and I shook our heads yes and Teacher acknowledged our confirmation and yelled, "BEGIN."

His first move was to close the distance as quick as possible, thirty meters isn't that large of a distance.  Let's create a shield, or more an obstacle.  It took about one and a half seconds, but I created a fence of protruding ice.  I coated it in vines I grew from the ground.  I could end this quickly, but that wouldn't be helpful.  My goal is to measure my classmates' strength so when he got to the barrier, he slashed it with his sword coated in earth magic.  Strange enough, he wasn't able to break the barrier and opted to climb it.  Hmmm, so he is one who is far more comfortable using physical confrontation.

His intense focus was interesting to study, if I was more into combat I would probably take him far more seriously.  Let's see how he deals with ice shards since he is almost over the barrier.  When I unleashed the barrage of ice shards, he perked up quickly and jumped off the ice and nature barrier to get out of the way.  That was the correct move, but his level-headedness is far beyond just being a freshman in combat.  

I shall end this with a barrage of fireballs.  After I created around 100 fireballs, I sent them to him only to see his terror-stricken face.  He attempted to create a shield of earth in a panic, but the fire tore through it.  I let the flames continue inward as they completely consumed him and his soul reentered his original body.

Teacher gestured at me and said, "Alexandra wins."

I entered my original body and watched the clone disperse.  Today will be a good day to see some decent fights and even the fight between Kade and Tristan.  When I got to Rose and Kylie I smiled before saying, "That was interesting, but if I let him get too close fast enough, I would have lost."

Kylie snorted before saying, "Self-deprecating after you won in a landslide... Just take the win Ally.  There would be no reason to force a ranged fighter to fight a close combat fighter.  This is why barriers are a ranged fighter's friend and breaking through the barriers are what the close combat fighter must do... Your case was an exception where he left a small dent on the barrier, lost hope and tried to scale it instead."

Rose said nothing but nodded in agreement.  The next fight is Rose's fight after all.  When Teacher called her up, I said with a smirk, "Good luck Rose. May your arrows shoot straight."

Rose and her opponent created their copies and transferred to them.  Rose took a posture with one hand on her quiver of arrows and the other holding the bow.  Her opponent held his dual swords in an X pointed to the ground.

After confirmation, Teacher yelled, "BEGIN."

They both sprung into action, Rose sent two arrows - 10 meters ahead and 20 meters to the side.  Then she created a nature barrier using the arrows imbued with magic to help create the barrier much faster.  As the opponent approached the barrier, he activated his fire magic and crashed both swords into a weak point in the barrier.  Rose at most has four more hits before it breaks.  I hope she figures out something soon.

She fired a barrage of arrows that slotted into the openings of the vine barrier.  The twin swords stopped all of them, but a final two arrows snuck in at the end and hit him in the shoulder and hip.  With his left arm and left leg injured, he dropped one sword and put all his effort into the last swing, breaking through the barrier and rushing toward Rose.  She tried blocking the incoming sword strike with her right forearm guard but missed as he swung through her right arm.  

I cringed but held it in since you can't feel pain as the clone, and it isn't death.  The only thing that pains me is that even though it isn't a real death, it hurts mentally when your friend gets hurt.

With her left arm, she dropped an arrow, and a wooden spike jutted out of the ground impaling him and dispersing the clone.  A second slower and she would have lost.  Teacher announced, "And the winner is Rose, up next is David vs. Jacob."