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With the problematic second event safely finished, the preparation for the third event is now ongoing. While moving to a place with a good view of the training hall, Selena and I discussed Lil Shoggo.

「Hmm, as I thought, we should make the tentacles a bit stronger…」
「But any stronger than that and there’ll be safety issues, you know?」
「That’s true, but the tentacles couldn’t even break through water current and the wall of wind……」

Our discussion is mainly about Lil Shoggo’s updating. Lil Shoggo is a magic lifeform Selena and I co-created and she’s practically a newborn. We already have some plans about how to raise her but in general, the plan is to raise her to be harmless. Fluids that only dissolve clothes are harmless, no? It doesn’t hurt after all. Well, it’s still to be implemented though.

While we were discussing this, it seems like the hall is now ready. The third event Fall Towers is, to simply put, something like a stacked daruma¹ game. When attacking the large towers, the tower will break depending on the force of the impact. The team will retire once their tower is completely destroyed while the last team with the standing tower will win first place.

The important part of this contest is that it’s a team battle. The balance between offense and defense is important, and being sufficiently cautious, bold, and cooperative is going to be valuable.

『Now then! The third event is a team battle! Team A is entering the field! It’s Tebby and Kief! As expected, Tebby’s firepower is likely to become the crux of the game. Team B has Sola and Aura! Aura created a wall of water during the second game; will this be effective against Tebby’s flame magic!? Sola’s magic manipulation is also something to behold! Team C is the master and retainer combo, Hermie and Mahara! I hope that they’ll show off some great coordination! Team D has Kut and Magnus! They’ve stayed on the lower ranks of class A so far, but will they cause a major upheaval here!?』

As Sharl finished introducing the participants, the hall was enveloped with fervor. No, it’s not just that the audience is heating up with fervor but the temperature is actually literally heating up. Looking closely, I see that Tebby’s magic power is swelling. While I am amazed that he’s gotten to the point where his magic power can cause this much influence, on the other hand, it’s clear that he’s about to do something. If only he can keep this hidden, he’ll be one level higher.

『It’s starting to get hot around here! The participants! The audience! We all can’t wait any longer! And with that! Begin!』
「”Explosion”!!」
「「”…………”!」」

Immediately after Sharl’s signal, Tebby’s magic activates. Wide range, high power, and quick activation. Putting these into consideration, it seems that he chose the detonation magic “Explosion”. In truth, this choice isn’t a mistake. If I were to be in this event, I’m sure that I’d either choose “Explosion” or “Corona Burn”.

In fact, with only his first attack, Tebby instantly destroyed team D’s tower, causing them to retire without being able to lift a finger. From the activation of magic, the two of them must have attempted to use defensive magic, but it was late and they couldn’t activate it in time.

『Immediately as we start! A terrifying explosion just echoed! Just one, just a single “Explosion” engulfed everything on its path! Team D retires before even making a single move! Is this the full power of class A’s 2nd ranker, the candidate to be the next sage!?』
「I honestly intended to settle things there though……」
「Really? That was too obvious.」
「I know, it was as if you were telegraphing your movements. Still, the impact was far greater than we expected.」

Team B’s Sola and Team C’s Hermie managed to handle Tebby’s magic properly. In Team B’s case, Sola and Aura created a wall of water in coordination, so the tower is left unharmed; but in Team C’s case, Hermie and Mahara chose to make a wall of wind, which couldn’t offset the attack completely, so the tower has some damage.

「Haah, well anyways. Try and see how much you can take! Kief, I leave the defense to you.」
「Y-yes!」

With a dauntless smile, Tebby once again activates his magic. Explosions, flame lances, sparks, and countless arrows, one after another flame magic is cast as the very symbol of destruction. If even one of them hits, there’s no doubt that the tower will receive serious damage, so Team B creates walls and barriers of water to compete against them.

Meanwhile, Team C isn’t in a good situation. Unlike Team B in which both of their members have an affinity for water attributes, Team C only has Hermie. Hermie creates water while Mahara uses wind with it to create a rainstorm, but it seems to be lacking in power to completely block out Tebby’s flames, so their tower is slowly getting chipped away.

「I should be able to chip Hermie’s eventually. Kief, can we still bear it?」
「Yes! We’re good!」
「Okay, then let me bump up the firepower a bit.」

Tebby is by no means bad with magic manipulation, but since he’s using magic that has wide range effects, it will naturally impact his own tower as well. It would be different if he had the same level of magic manipulation as Sola and Hermie, but Tebby is more of a power-focused person, so he only has the bare minimum for that.

Supporting him is Kief’s water veil. With Tebby’s magic power control, he minimizes the effect of his magic on their side, while Kief defends against the remaining impact. To begin with, Tebby’s magic is forcing the other teams into the defensive, so Kief is still doing quite well.

「Come on, come on! It’s still getting hotter! How long will that water barrier be able to last!?」
「Kuh!」

As Tebby said, the heat of his magic power is still rising, and Team C’s tower is quickly collapsing. Even so, the reason why they’re still able to bear it is likely thanks to Hermie’s magic manipulation. Team B seemingly can’t take Tebby’s more powerful magic anymore, as the volume of water in their water wall is slowly decreasing.

「Lady Sola! We’re almost at our limits!」
「I see. Miss Aura, can you do the final preparations?」
「Yes! Here it comes!」

With the water magic she used to push away the tentacle in the last game, she weakens the force of the flames in an instant. Taking this opportunity, Hermie used wind magic to disperse Aura’s water and extinguish Tebby’s flames. Team C is sure to retire with this, so it’s likely a last resort move. Even if this is Sola’s plan, they don’t have any other choice.

「Affirmative! Now!」
「Alright! ”Lightning”!!」

The instant the whole area was filled with moisture, Sola activated her trump card. The attribute magic that she had an affinity for but couldn’t use up until now. Lightning magic is awfully difficult to imagine and control. It’s a familiar attribute for me since I have past life memories regarding the nature and uses of electricity, but for the people of this world, the only electricity they can imagine is of lightning falling from the sky.

By helping with Sola’s secret training and showing her the lightning attribute magic I can use, Sola now has a better picture of what it is. And the results of her training can be seen here.

The “Lightning” Sola cast travels through the moisture filling the entire hall and rampages on. In particular, Team A’s tower which was enclosed in a veil of water received heavy damage, as the water veil that was supposed to protect the tower transformed into an electric veil destroying it instead.

『It’s settled!! Just when we expected Tebby to burn everything with overwhelming heat! Aiming at a momentary gap, Sola’s lightning stormed through everything in its path! First place for Team B! Second place, Team A! Third place, Team C! And fourth place for Team D!』

When Tebby attempted to evaporate the water veil with his flames, Aura continuously added more water and he eventually couldn’t keep up. Meanwhile, Team C’s tower which was already surrounded by a rainstorm now had lighting added to it, causing it to collapse quickly. Up until now, Sola had magic control but was lacking in destructive power, but with lightning magic she has gained this power.

While she couldn’t make it in time for the exam, the ranking might have some changes again by the next one.

1. Lyly: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdKOYDbqcjw