Something's off about this magical girl.

Chapter 16 Tao Zhuo vs. Jin Jue

The Qixin Academy practical assessment will begin on Thursday and end at noon on Friday.

The venue is a special training room with soundproof magic-absorbing walls on all four sides. The floor is marked with zoning lines, and there is a magic crystal on the ceiling that records the entire process in real time, storing it in a file for the teachers to review later.

Gu Bai woke up a little late today. By the time he leisurely strolled to the observation room, more than half of the morning's exams had already taken place.

He showed little interest in the segments involving rain control and animal communication, and went straight to the combat zone.

As soon as he appeared, Xia Zhi, who was waiting, ushered him into a private, high-class viewing room.

Gu Bai didn't refuse. After settling down on the soft leather sofa, he casually asked, "Are you done?"

"The morning session has ended, teacher. The screen will show the current session."

Gu Bai didn't focus his gaze on the screen first; instead, he glanced at Xia Zhi and waved his hand.

"There's no need for you to stay with me all the time. If you're tired, go and rest."

"Thank you for understanding, teacher. I'm not tired," Kaori nodded and continued, "I'm also observing the other magical girls."

"it is good."

Gu Bai didn't say anything more.

Although my first impression of Kaori wasn't great, it's clear that overall, she's an absolutely outstanding magical girl.

Returning his gaze to the screen, Gu Bai saw the pairing results scrolling across the screen. He quickly found a name he recognized—number seven, Jin Jue, facing off against number forty-three, Tao Zhuo.

"Four stars versus five stars?"

"There's an extra score bonus for battles between low-star and high-star players," Xia Zhi explained, her tone remaining calm. "Even if someone gets injured, the Qixin Medical Department will intervene immediately to ensure their safety."

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

[Section B, Session 8]

[Number 7 Jin Jue versus Number 43 Tao Zhuo]

Jin Jue entered first, walked to the opposite side of the zone line, and organized her things one by one.

Instead of the single weapon commonly found on magical girls, eight metal containers of varying sizes were locked on her fingertips—some flat and round, some slender, and some ring-shaped. These must be the "Ring of Discernment" that she had reported as completed in yesterday's exam.

Tao Zhuo entered from the other side, glanced at the person opposite, and twitched the corner of her mouth, probably complaining that the allocation result this morning was probably a four-horse race.

He stood still inside the half-line, rolled up his sleeves to his elbows, and did a simple hand stretch.

【start】

As soon as the mechanical sound faded, Jin Jue moved first.

She chose not to move. With a slight flick of her left hand, the metal container on three fingers was launched and landed on the ground around Tao Zhuo. It did not explode; it simply remained there quietly, almost unnoticed.

As for Tao Zhuo, there was already a gap in magic power between the two sides, and if she hesitated now, she would have no chance at all.

They rushed out immediately.

Almost simultaneously, a container that had fallen earlier cracked open, revealing a transparent sealing field that instantly spread around Tao Zhuo's feet, thinly intercepting the magic she released when she accelerated.

There was no obstruction, only absorption; a thin, peach-colored thread quietly emerged, and apart from that, everything was as quiet as if nothing had happened.

Jin Jue, on the opposite side, glanced down at the receiving ring on her left little finger. A faint peach-colored light emanated from it, and she could feel that the total amount of magic power in her body had increased rather than decreased during the battle.

It proved effective in real-world applications, so this invention can clearly be considered a success.

She looked up, a faint smile on her face, and waited for Tao Zhuo to get closer.

Jin Jue only started moving after Tao Zhuo rushed within three meters.

He took off a storage ring with his right hand and threw it to the ground. The magic barrier around his body expanded several times, quickly slowing down Tao Zhuo's momentum. At the same time, he raised his index finger, aimed ahead, and the ring on his index finger began to glow.

Whoosh! A golden beam of light shot out.

Tao Zhu reacted extremely quickly, using the force generated by Jin Jue's magic barrier to deflect to the side. A ray of light grazed her cheek, catching a strand of burnt pink hair. She landed with a slight stumble, but did not fall.

"First capture the enemy's magic, then fuse it with your own and release it, stacking it up for a final, second strike?"

Tao Zhu steadied herself, glanced down at the ground, and instantly understood Jin Jue's combat logic. Her tone carried a genuine sigh of admiration:

"The result of this approach... I remember your sister said this path was unworkable, Juebao, you are truly amazing!"

"I was just a bit lucky." Jin Jue calmly withdrew his hand. "With some improvements, I should be able to absorb the magical power of alien beasts."

She nodded. The battle was secondary; she was more focused on validating the feasibility of her approach.

That's why she used some connections to choose Tao Zhuo, who relies more on 'physical attacks' and whose fighting style is closer to that of a monster than a magical girl, in this test.

"Let's continue."

"it is good."

Tao Zhuo agreed at the designated line, but did not choose to go for it directly.

He exhaled, changed his posture, lowered his center of gravity, gathered his magic power in his right fist and then slightly restrained it before his eyes sharpened and he charged out.

Jin Jue activated his magic and leaped into the air. He joined his right middle and ring fingers together and shot out dozens of golden magic orbs downwards.

As for the unactivated Ring of Discernment, it wasn't that she was holding back from using it.

The main function of the detection is to identify the enemy's weaknesses. For a magical girl, it should be able to identify the weaknesses in her fully automatic magic barrier.

However, Tao Zhuo isn't at five stars yet, so the magic barrier can only be manually activated temporarily when needed...

Tao Zhuo herself was of course unaware of this; at the moment, she had only discerned a small part of it.

These countless orbs of light are moving too slowly.

The projectile speed of area-of-effect spells that require balancing target acquisition and coverage is like watching slow motion for her; she doesn't even need to temporarily activate a barrier, she can dodge them simply by moving around—

Sizzle sizzle sizzle!

Just as Tao Zhuo skillfully weaved through the gaps in the light spheres, those light spheres that hadn't hit her suddenly exploded with a faint electric net on their surfaces!

"what!"

A weak yet extremely numbing electric current instantly swept through her entire body, causing half of Tao Zhuo's hair to stand on end.

The outcome seems to have been decided.

"I'm sorry." Jin Jue had already descended to within two meters. "The range of the light sphere is larger than it appears, but it has little effect on alien beasts. It's more likely to be useful in civil wars with magical girls. I will seriously consider improving this magic—"

"--Need not!"

The next moment, an angry shout interrupted Jin Jue's speech.

Tao Zhuo, who should have been paralyzed by the electric shock, actually bit her tongue and, relying on her pure physical explosive power, broke through the barrier like a furious beast, directly sticking to Jin Jue's side!

"Bang!"

There were no fancy magical lights or shadows. Tao Zhuo's right fist, which had been gathering power for a long time, smashed through the air with a powerful punch, shattering Jin Jue's magic barrier, which had not yet been reinforced.

Immediately afterwards, Tao Zhuo leaned forward, her strong arms like iron clamps, tightly gripping Jin Jue's slender neck and pinning her in mid-air.

"Juebao, I chose physical ability."

Tao Zhuo half-embraced her, her tone becoming lively again: "Sigh, underestimating the enemy is a big taboo in battles against alien beasts—if someone hadn't reminded us last time we went on a mission, Dong-mei and I would probably have been in serious trouble."

boom!

The two fell to the ground together.

"Yes, I've got it." Jin Jue wasn't annoyed at all, and raised her right hand without the slightest hesitation, saying, "I admit defeat."

[The winner of this match is Tao Zhuo]

Tao Zhuo sat down on the ground, bent her right arm to check it, and found it a little numb from the electric shock, but nothing serious. She casually tidied her hair and spoke to Jin Jue, who was leaving:

"By the way, but to be honest, your sister's 'magical weaponry' research path should be easier, right?"

"she?"

Upon hearing this, Jin Jue stopped in her tracks, turning back to face the sudden chill in her eyes, which had been filled with curiosity.

"Forget it."

Then, he walked out of the battle zone without looking back.