The Cornflower Witch

Book 3: Chapter 26: A Narrow Victory

After the first match ended, Sylutia advanced to the top 32, and her next match would begin in half an hour.

"Contestant number 47, versus Contestant number 45!"

Sylutia stepped onto the stage once more. Her opponent this time was a woman dressed in elegant black armor, wearing a wide-brimmed hat, and holding a rapier.

Strange, is she also a student of Rorik College, or a visitor? She looks like a Third Tier.

After a simple exchange of courtesies from both sides, the match began. The opponent indeed charged forward swiftly like a nimble swordsman, the rapier moving so fast that only afterimages could be seen in the air.

An opponent like this already possessed strength comparable to common knights, though lacking the sturdy armor and shield of a knight, but possessing speed and agility superior to a knight's.

Facing the opponent's rapid charge, a glint flashed in Sylutia's eyes. Several sharp threads intercepted the path ahead of the opponent. She had thought that at such speed, facing faintly visible threads, the opponent would surely get injured, but the situation surprised her.

This woman in black armor leaped up gracefully, used her rapier to flick the threads aside, and then continued to close in.

Is her perception this sharp? An ordinary knight wouldn't have been able to react at all, they'd just have to tank it. Of course, knights probably wouldn't fear these threads either, they'd just charge right through.

The threads delayed the opponent for a few seconds. Sylutia held her hands apart, one above the other, and a bird woven from threads quickly took form before darting out, heading straight for the opponent's face.Seeing Sylutia summon a bird so quickly, the woman showed a slight hint of surprise, but her movements didn't change at all. Her rapier flicked in the air, flashing with a pale silver cold light, piercing straight through the bird's chest, tearing it apart.

However, under Sylutia's precise control, the dispersing bird exploded again into sharp threads, cutting numerous fine cracks into her armor. Even a small, thin blood mark appeared near the corner of her eye.

But that was the limit. The armor the opponent wore simply couldn't be penetrated by the threads Sylutia manipulated. Achieving the Third Tier and receiving the empowerment of a core secret art also granted combat power far surpassing the Second Tier.

A few seconds later, the opponent broke free from the threads' control, closed in right in front of Sylutia, and the sharp rapier stabbed into the hair beside the girl's ear, then stopped.

Just as the referee was about to announce the result, she raised her hand and declared her surrender, a situation that surprised many spectators.

"It's nothing. Getting injured by this little sister during the fight means I've already lost." She shook her head with a smile, waving a casual goodbye to Sylutia.

"What's your name?" the opponent asked before leaving the stage.

"Hedra."

"Not bad. I'm Xiwen." Then the opponent disappeared around the corner of the arena walkway.

Returning to the rest area, Sylutia was surrounded by several other contestants who looked her up and down curiously, then told her the identity of the woman from just now.

"She is indeed a member of our Rorik College, but she's from a very niche branch faction, part of the 'Hunting Department'. You can think of it as a department specialized in hunting fallen members, traitors within the faction, and some black mages, among others."

"Xiwen enrolled two years ago. Among her batch of apprentices, her strength is in the very top tier. It's normal that you lost. Or rather, the surprising thing is that you managed to inflict even a slight injury on her."

"The next match is coming up soon. Calm your mind first and prepare well."

"Yes, okay." Sylutia went to sit in a nearby seat, but in her mind, she kept replaying the previous battle.

She reviewed it again and again, trying to find a possibility of victory, but discovered the probability was minuscule.

First, the opponent's strength was formidable, and her foundation was extremely solid, meaning she had very few weaknesses. It was difficult to find a flaw or deficiency to exploit for a clever victory.

Second, she was limited by her current identity; the methods she could use were very limited. If she added her Breathing Technique, weapons, Alien Star Shifting, Mystic Eye secret arts, and so on, even in her Second Tier state, she could probably win.

As her thoughts churned, time passed quickly, and the third match arrived.

Sylutia stepped onto the stage. This time her opponent was a more traditional 'Puppet Shadow School' mage. After the match began, he waved his hand, and several wooden strips gathered in the open space, quickly assembling into a puppet skeleton before bursting forth with dark red burning flames.

Afterwards, this simple wooden figure wrapped in dark red flames charged at Sylutia.

At first, Sylutia used threads to entangle and intercept, but they were burned away by the dark red flames on the opponent's body, unable to last. Later, she summoned a bird woven from threads, but when fighting it, she didn't dare get too close, to avoid being burned by those flames.

It seems then, that flame-based magic is the greatest enemy of thread-type secret arts. No wonder during the Straw Man War at the festival earlier in the night, both sides used different flame secret arts for enhancement.

But how do those elite mages control their magical threads to prevent them from being easily burned through by opponents? During the fight, Sylutia gained new insights and discoveries.

Seeing that threads were ineffective, Sylutia quickly retreated, avoiding the gradually approaching flaming wooden figure. The summoned thread bird then dispersed before reforming once more.

'Bird · Wings · Sharp Feathers · Charge · Speed · Sharpness'

She temporarily altered the spell model composition, removing the thread portion and adopting a new model with three compound rune structures. Among them, the 'Bird · Wings · Sharp Feathers' runes were all secret transmissions of the 'Bionics School'.

After changing the model, the condensed bird became slightly larger, and the feathers on its wings were like silvery-white metal blades. It then shot straight into the sky, reaching a certain height before diving down again at extreme speed, several times faster than its ascent.

At this point, Sylutia gave up on engaging the opponent's flaming wooden figure directly, instead betting on who could defeat the other first.

Distance-wise, the flame-wreathed wooden figure was only six meters from Sylutia, while the bird diving from the sky was dozens of meters from the opponent. But in terms of speed, the flaming wooden figure moved at about normal human running speed, while the descending bird from the sky was as fast as an eagle, too quick for ordinary people to see clearly.

Victory or defeat hung on a single moment.

Faced with the awe-inspiring bird diving from the sky, the mage controlling the flaming wooden figure faced a split-second dilemma: immediately defend and evade, or seize this chance to command the wooden figure to quickly defeat the girl not far away.

Although he hesitated for only a little over a second, this opening was fatal enough. Because in that one second, he neither effectively commanded the wooden figure to pursue nor managed to set up proper defensive measures. The result was that Sylutia easily ran out of the wooden figure's attack range, and then the silvery-white bird shot through his chest, tearing a huge wound through his clothes and body.

"Number 47 wins."

After the referee's announcement, the mage opposite paled, clutching his chest as he knelt on one knee. Due to the pain from the wound, beads of sweat the size of beans rolled down his face. In fact, if Sylutia hadn't held back, if this had been a real battle, he would have been sliced in half on the spot by the bird.

Shortly after, medical personnel came up, cleaned the wound for the opponent, applied ointment, and then cast a rapid healing spell. Only then did his complexion improve somewhat.

After three consecutive victories, Sylutia, this Second Tier apprentice, had attracted the attention of many spectators. People began discussing her name and origins, amazed by her calmness and decisiveness in battle.

"That bird just now, it seems like the technique of the 'Bionics School'," someone finally recognized her background.

"Clearly just a Second Tier apprentice, yet able to master such complex advanced runes and spells so skillfully, it's truly astonishing."

"This should be the first Second Tier apprentice to win three matches tonight."

"The younger generation is to be feared."

"It seems many professors and instructors will be getting excited tonight," several students from within the college whispered in discussion.

After the thrilling combat trials, Sylutia achieved her wish of winning three matches, earning the reward of learning an additional secret art.