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—Sola’s POV

As I hurried back to the training grounds after relaying the message to Lily, I saw that a battle had already started.

The stage set up in the middle of the training area was changed into a rocky field with the use of the magical tools Lily supplied, and on it, dark silhouettes fly about. This magical tool was created by Lily together with her minions…… Ah, underlings, no…. Subordinates! Yes, subordinates! And it can change the training area’s space into a variety of different environments.

Currently, the stage is that of a rocky field, but it can also reproduce burning lands, deep waterfronts, and even forests. While I don’t quite understand the principle it’s working on, spell formulas to stabilize magic that produces earth, water, and such into magic tools have been installed in it or so. Things produced by magic get destroyed when their magic power is disrupted. So Lily said that turning these into magic tools will stabilize them so they don’t get influenced by external magic power.

The silhouettes currently jumping around on the rocky field are most likely Urania and Selena. I can’t say for sure because they’re so quick, but Urania leaves a white trail behind when moving quickly and Selena leaves pink trails. The only other first year student that does so is Lily.

Enveloping her four limbs with the magic “Wind”, Urania not only uses this for midair acceleration, but also to make extreme turns and sudden braking midair possible. On the other hand, Selena has sprouted wings from her lower back and has complete air mobility. I don’t remember her being able to use magic, but since she’s Lily’s little sister, whatever she can do won’t surprise me.

I’m not well-acquainted with Selena, but I know Urania very well. On pure physical ability, there’s likely no one better than her in this academy. More than that, she’s on the level that she can likely aim for the top even at the knight training academy.

Unfortunately though, since she’s a [diseased], she is unqualified to enroll in the training academy. Besides that, she doesn’t seem to be very proficient with magic, as she almost never uses combat magic. Instead, she prefers combat by the use of “Wall” to manipulate the terrain for increased footholds, and “Wind” to accelerate herself as she’s doing right now.

Despite Urania’s high speed mobility, Selena could keep up with her. Rather, if we exclude Urania’s sudden braking and bursts of speed, it seems as if Selena is actually faster in general too.

While Urania can be compared to the linearity of a thrown javelin or a shot arrow, Selena’s is like a swallow or an eagle flying midair.¹ As Urania jumps from rock to rock, she then leaps toward Selena and Selena goes into a somersault as she tries to knock Urania out of the air. As their trails cross paths, sparks scatter in the air.

I heard a sharp metallic sound and then a broken blade pierced the ground. The two of them appear to be fighting with the magic and mage tools Lily supplied, and the earlier clash fragmented the knife or sword they’re using. Lily referred to these as prototype models but their durability might be an issue.

「They’re even faster now, aren’t they?」
「Sheesh, if they get even faster than this, my eyes won’t be able to catch up anymore. By the way, have you told her?」
「Of course, she agreed to it. There seems to be some paperwork left but she’ll probably be here by the time these two finish.」

As I found Tebby, I relayed Lily’s answer while having a casual chat. While Urania and Selena’s high-speed battle is quite interesting to see, Lily and Tebby’s mock battles are pretty impressive as well. The last time I saw them battle was before that harassment, so it’s been a while since.

「Woah, Selena’s got a big sword on her.」
「And Miss Urania seems to have a weapon too. Is that… a scythe, perhaps?」

Selena was carrying a large two-meter-tall sword with a white blade. While I can see that it’s infused with magic power, I can’t tell what effects it could have. Most of the effects these prototypes have are already ambiguous enough to begin with though.

On the other hand, Urania is equipped with a large black-bladed scythe. With this on her shoulder, Urania is like the god of death. This one is likely to be a magic tool as well, but the effects are still unclear as usual. The blade broken in the earlier exchange might have the same effect as that glowing knife, but is there any actual purpose why the blade is glowing?

Both of them ready their weapons and then make their move simultaneously. Selena spreads her wings and flies up before then swinging her large sword down as she’s descending from the air. Meanwhile Urania sprints with her legs clad with “Wind” and then uses a foothold created with “Wall” as a launching pad to meet with the enemy.

Their trails cross in the air once again. While releasing a dazzling light, the white and pink trails drifted from each other before clashing once again.

As Selena swings her sword downwards, Urania hits the sword upwards with the shaft of her scythe. She immediately moves her scythe in a sweeping motion and knocks the sword out of Selena’s hands. Not stopping there, Urania kept the scythe’s momentum, spinning her whole body aiming to scythe down Selena.

「And enough!」
「Lily.」
「Big sis!」

All of a sudden, Lily was in between the two and caught Urania’s scythe.

「Muu, I was about to win.」
「Yeah Urania, but she was aiming for an opening there.」
「I would’ve won if big sis didn’t stop us.」
「Selena, that’s only if you could power through it. This thing hurts a lot, you know?」

It seems that this match is a draw. Up until now, only Lily could keep up with Urania’s mobility, so she had no other people to pair with, but Selena could be a fitting rival for her from now on. And while I don’t like admitting it, as Miss Hermie and I are similar in magic skill and attributes, we would be fitting rivals as well. Recently, Miss Mahara has been making improvements on magic power manipulation and she’s now capable of fighting against us.

「Now then Tebby, are you ready?」
「Yeah, thanks for accompanying me. The field will be?」
「The wetland. We’ll need moisture if you’re going all out, don’t you agree?」
「True.」

While their exchange is a bit concerning, the next battle is theirs. Urania and Selena’s match was quite impressive but this battle will be more beneficial for apprentice sorcerers like us. I can’t wait to see what magic I’ll be seeing today.

1. Lyly: Practically like Illya vs Miyu’s flight in Prisma Illya then