At that moment, Briar, who had been close to motionless this whole time, jumped to her feet and dispelled her barrier. Unfortunately, in between Briar and Elsa was still a perfect globe of ice! Being a magician, Briar could not expose her physical strength.

“Hurry! We have to get her out of there!” Briar cried, worriedly. “The air inside has gone bad”

Indeed, Elsa’s perfect ice sphere had done more than get in the way. It had blocked off Elsa’s airflow. Briar’s barriers, though hard, were not airproof unless specified during their creation. But, Elsa’s ice sphere was made of water, thus naturally air proofing the interior. If only the sphere had had a single opening, Elsa would not be facing such a problem.

This was probably one of the only times a magician lost a match because their magic spell was too perfect. But, the ice sphere was in the way. If they did not manage to extract Elsa within a short period of time, then Elsa could have severe repercussions and could possibly die.

But, the people in charge didn’t understand why Briar was so worried, and so their response was delayed. Moreover, the barrier around the stage hadn’t yet been removed, so no one could enter. The person in charge of the barrier spell had even accidentally dropped the control crystal by accident. He bumbled around to try and find it.

They’re too slow! I’ll have to do this myself! Briar’s eyes narrowed as she brought a hand up to the frigid sphere. The ice is too thick! A fire spell will not make it in time! Briar clicked her tongue. I also can’t use Martial Spirit, or else I’ll be giving myself away! She closed her eyes for a moment, then came to a split-second decision. I guess I’ll have to use that…

Her eyes snapped open, and she quickly brought out a metal staff with a large crystal fixture on one end, and several spikes radiating from the top of it.

“She brought out a staff?”

“What’s a staff going to do to help her get through that?”

The audience watched, curious as to how Briar was going to break open the sphere.

Briar brought her mana to her finger.

“I was going to save this for the final match, but I suppose I have no choice….” She spouted some analogous BS to mislead the audience, while she concentrated her mana to her finger, then outside of her finger.

In a flash, she had swiftly written the formulas for acceleration and gravity enhancement down the length of the staff, then used her magic circle trampoline to jump up above the sphere.

“Support spells?”

“Body Enhancement spells? Why did she write that on the staff?”

Then she swung, instantly activation both support spells by injecting her mana into the staff.

As she had surmised, the staff instantly accelerated, it’s weight growing heavy like a mountain. Sparks flew along it as it faced the friction from air resistance, but it did not stop. At this point, it couldn’t stop.

The staff then met with the ice sphere, and a loud noise echoed through the stadium.

Briar stood on top of the sphere, her staff embedded in the ice, which still appeared flawless. A single spike from her staff had punctured through to the inside. A slight hissing noise sounded, and then nothing.

By all appearances, it seemed as though her plan did not work. But then, Briar sighed and jumped down from the sphere, walking away.

But her performance had shocked the audience into utter silence. It was generally agreed that body enhancements should be used on the body. Thus, while everyone had known about enhancement spells, no one had ever thought about using them to enhance weapons before.

The older magicians then began discussing it amongst themselves while the younger audience was wondering why she had ceased to attempt to break the sphere.

“What?”

“What happened?”

“Why isn’t she trying to break it open anymore?”

“Did she give up?”

“No, wait! Is she perhaps out of mana?”

The audience was now louder than ever.

At this point, the barrier man had found the control crystal and turned off the barrier. At that point, several experts had rushed on stage to remove Elsa from her ice globe. But, it turned out, they weren’t necessary anymore.

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Elsa had finally woken up. She sat up, and looked around, groggily holding her head. While she wasn’t in the best of conditions, she could still dispel the ice on her own.

“What happened? I…how?... did I just lose?” Elsa asked.

The experts could only inform her that she had lost. She sighed with disappointment, but she gracefully accepted her loss.

Briar, had already returned to the side of the stage, ready to come out for the last fight. As Elsa was about to pass by Briar, she suddenly paused.

“I know that I lost. But what I can’t understand is…how did I lose?” Elsa asked.

“I told you, didn’t I? Encasing yourself in ice is not a good idea.” Briar replied.

“But, why isn’t it a good idea?” Elsa frowned and tilted her head, not understanding.

Briar looked at her with a measuring gaze. But Elsa was simply honestly trying to understand the reason for her failure.

Then she smiled shyly. “While magic can easily be made flawless, their casters are still human. Water, though highly manipulative, is also highly airproof. Even water combined with the north winds is no exception to this property. Humans still need to breathe air. In that respect, my barrier already had allowances for air. But your ice on the other hand…” Briar shook her head. “If there had been even a single hole in that sphere, you would not have fainted from lack of air.”

Elsa’s eyes wavered, then she sighed. “So that’s it? Looks like I truly have lost to you this time. For you to know more about my ice magic than I do, who could have imagined it?”

Briar scratched at her cheek with a finger. “Just an observation I made. I’m no expert.”

“I see. Then I look forward to witnessing your next performance, Miss Briar. Perhaps we could become friends in the future?” Elsa asked.

“Perhaps.” Briar replied a slight smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

“Until later, then.” Elsa ducked her head in farewell before proceeding out of the contestant area.

Someone who reflects upon their mistakes to learn from them…this one will go far in life, if her path is not barred. Briar noted to herself, before returning her staff to her magic bag.

While others might not know, Briar’s staff was actually just a training staff for one to get a feel for the wind element. Thus, the spell matrix inside of the crystal was simple and harmless. And so, when Briar had struck the ice sphere, she did not simply cast two spells simultaneously, but three.

Briar had used it to force fresh air back into the sphere through that single hole that she had created in Elsa’s sphere. Otherwise, the air would not have returned to normal so quickly. If it was any other staff with any other spell, Elsa may not have returned to the world of the living so quickly.

But, enough about Elsa. Briar stared across the stage at her opponent: the self-taught magician. This next fight would decide the champion of the magician’s stage.

-----Briar’s opponent’s side-----

The magician waited for the fight to be announced. By his side, a girl stood unhindered.

“Ho? Looks like someone’s staring at you.” She noted.

“I’m blushing~” He joked back.

“You better not be.” She replied seriously.

“Alright! I’m not blushing, then!” He replied in the same tone.

“Which is it? I need to clearly know the reason why I’m killing you later on.” She said in a monotone.

“Haha, no need to get violent, Fee~ I was only joking.” The young man waved his hands in defeat.

“That is not something you should joke about.” She said blandly before changing the subject. “That person…it is difficult to analyze the depths of her strength…the likelihood of you losing is over 70%”

“Whoah! That much?! I though it would at least be something a bit closer to 50% !” The man was clearly surprised.

“Even after performing such a mana-draining spell, she has neither lost focus, nor become out of breath. It is for certain that she has more stamina than you do. The only advice that I can give is to aim for a quick victory. You will definitely lose if this becomes drawn out.” The girl said.

“Thanks for your insights. I’ll try my very best up there today!” The magician smiled at her before climbing to the stage, ready for the final battle.

“Yes. Try your very best, so that I can comfort you when you lose.” The girl replied blandly.

The magician almost fell over.

“Hey! Can you stop trying to undermine my confidence here?” He exclaimed, not sure whether to laugh or cry.

“So you really are nervous.” She replied.

“Isn’t it obvious!?” He stared down at the girl from up on the platform.

The girl looked up, and finally her near expressionless face changed. She smiled. “Do your best, young master!” She said, her smile turning her from an expressionless doll into an adorable little angel.

“Count on it!” He replied with a silly grin.

------------

Briar witnessed that small personal exchange, patiently. While she wasn’t 100% certain, she felt that this self-taught magician might just be yet another reincarnator from her world. While it could still be possible that he wasn’t, Briar somehow felt that it had to be so. It was far too convenient for a self-taught mage to just pop up out of nowhere, so close to the time of her reincarnation.

If he wasn’t a reincarnator, then he was certainly a rare genius. However, if he was a reincarnator, then that could certainly explain how he was able to master a form of magic that not many had seen before in this continent. Briar calmly observed him as he stood there on the platform opposite her.

He grinned. “I don’t suppose you would simply forfeit, right?”

The whole audience was struck dumb at the nerve and audacity of that statement. To ask someone to forfeit either meant that they were more powerful than their opponent, or that they completely disregarded the opponent’s strength. To say such a thing, either he was way more powerful than he looked, or he was very brash.

Briar smiled and replied with a chuckle. “Well, personally, I wouldn’t mind forfeiting…”

The audience was once more shocked into silence. Surely, she wouldn’t just give up at the last fight? The silence was deafening.

“Okay then-” the magician began, but was quickly cut off by the rest of Briar’s reply.

“But! Unfortunately, I’ve promised my teacher that I am going to win this. Madam Rothema isn’t one to approve of my giving up before I even tried. Isn’t that so for your friend over there as well?” Briar asked glancing at the man’s companion down below the stage.

“Ahahah. I guess you’re right.” The magician replied with a good natured smile. “Well, there’s no use delaying things then. Shall we begin?”

At that, those in the audience breathed a collective sigh of relief. It would be no joke to allow the last match to end in a forfeit before it even began.

“Ah, for that, you should ask the announcer…” Briar turned towards the announcer’s stage, where Council-mage Syrel stood.

He nodded. “Let the final match begin!” His voice echoed through the stands, and the audience broke out into an excited cheer.