Chapter 109: Grand Northern Martial Tournament [4]

The fight continued on after the opening match of the martial arts tournament—which happened to be mine.

I didn’t bother glancing at the B block matches. Frankly, I wasn’t all that interested since there’s still some time before my next fight.

My attention was focused entirely on the A block.

…And right now, it was Alice’s match.

She stood on the stage, facing off against a mage girl who looked a year or two older. From the looks of her robe and insignia, she was likely from a noble family with a deep magical lineage.

The tension in the air was thick.

The crowd roared, their excitement rolling through the arena like thunder.

—”Go! Lady Alice, you can easily win this fight!”

—”I’m a fan of yours!”

—”Freeze her, Serina! Show her the power of magic!”

From where I sat, the atmosphere around the arena felt sharp, tense—like the split second before a storm breaks.

In the center of the platform, Alice stood calm and upright. She wore a light dueling coat over a tight-fitting combat dress, her signature sword sheathed at her side—untouched.

She hadn’t drawn it.

Not yet.

Across from her was the mage girl—Serina Mahrin, if I remembered correctly

Her robe shimmered with pale blue enchantments, the crystal at her staff’s tip glowing cold and white.

Fsshhhh!

The air began to chill rapidly.

A light frost formed at Serina’s feet, crackling outwards like a spiderweb. Her eyes gleamed a pale blue, her mana coiling visibly around her body in freezing wisps.

“She’s not wasting any time,” I muttered, leaning forward.

“I won’t hold back,” Serina called out, her voice surprisingly soft, yet firm enough to echo across the arena. “This match will be over before you ever draw that sword.”

Alice didn’t respond.

She didn’t need to.

Her eyes locked onto Serina’s, calm and unwavering.

Crack!—Ka-boom!

With a stomp, the ice mage launched her first spell—a volley of sharp, spear-like icicles shot forward at lightning speed, their edges glinting with deadly precision.

“Icicle Volley!”

Shnk! Shnk! Shnk!

Alice sidestepped, her footwork precise, almost effortless. Her coat fluttered with each movement, the sword at her hip still untouched.

“Still not drawing it, huh…” I whispered.

Crack-crack!

Serina’s second wave of magic tore across the stage, this time a wall of jagged ice pillars erupting from the floor—trying to trap Alice in a cage of frozen spears.

But again—

Thump!

Alice leapt back, twirling mid-air, her hair like silver thread in the wind. She landed cleanly just outside the rim of the trap, barely a hairbreadth between her boots and the sharp frost behind her.

Cheers erupted.

“Whoaaa! Did you see that?!”

“She dodged again! Without even much efforts!”

Serina’s face twisted slightly—not in panic, but focus. She was a serious mage.

Disciplined. But clearly, she had expected Alice to fight like a swordswoman.

To rush in. To engage.

Instead, Alice was reading her.

Testing her rhythm.

“Hahh… impressive,” Serina murmured, raising her staff again.

Mana surged.

WHOOOSH!

A blizzard-like gale formed at her feet, spiraling upward and gathering above her head into a jagged formation—an enormous ice fang shaped like a scythe.

“Let’s see you dodge this.”

“Crimson Scythe of Winter—fall!”

The weapon of ice launched downward like a guillotine, whistling through the air with a screeeeech!

And that’s when it happened.

Clink.

The soft, almost delicate sound of steel leaving its sheath.

Alice had finally moved.

With a blur of silver, her sword was in hand. It flashed once—

Clang!

—and the enormous scythe shattered into glittering snow.

Gasps. From the crowd. From me. Even Serina staggered slightly.

Alice’s voice rang clear.

“Is that all?”

Her expression didn’t change, but the shift in air was unmistakable. Even from this distance, I felt it.

That wasn’t a bluff.

She had been waiting. Calculating.

And now that she had read everything she needed—she was going to attack.

The crowd erupted again, louder than before.

Alice raised her sword.

Her mana began to hum gently, coiling around her blade like mist drawn to metal.

Vmmmmmm…

The very air shifted.

Even Serina felt it—she took one cautious step back, her staff held defensively in both hands.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Alice stepped forward slowly, boots clicking against the frost-slicked stage.

“I was analyzing your casting rhythm,” Alice said quietly, just loud enough for Serina—and maybe the front row—to hear. “It’s sharp. Clean. But too focused on suppression.”

Serina grit her teeth.

“Then let’s try something faster.”

Her hands flicked in a practiced motion, runes flaring along her sleeves.

Crack-crack-crack!

A series of frostbolts burst from the air—dozens, not just one volley, but a storm of missiles angled from all sides.

Thip-thip-thip-thip!

They zipped through the air like arrows, each one sharp enough to pierce steel.

Alice didn’t flinch.

ZSHH!

She moved—finally. Not dodging, not retreating.

But cutting.

Her sword blurred, a flash of cold steel weaving through the onslaught.

CLANG!TING!SHNK!

TING!CLINK!ZSHHH!

Each bolt shattered mid-flight—parried with such clean precision that it looked like the air around her was deflecting the attacks.

Serina’s eyes widened.

“You’re reading the arc… of my projectiles?”

Alice didn’t answer. She was already moving.

With one sudden dash—

BWOOSH!

—she closed the distance.

Too fast.

Serina tried to fall back, raising a shield of ice in desperation—

CRACK!

Alice’s blade collided with the barrier, slicing through it like a knife through brittle glass.

Shhhhnk!

A thin line of red formed on Serina’s cheek. A warning. Alice had stopped her blade just before it could do serious damage.

Gasps echoed across the crowd.

Serina stumbled back two steps, panting.

Her breathing turned ragged as her mana flared wildly. She reached deep, pulling from her last reservoir of energy. Her staff glowed with brilliant light.

“…Then I won’t hold back either!”

FSSHHHHH!!

A huge glyph exploded at her feet, blooming out into the shape of a six-pointed snowflake.

“Absolute Freeze.”

A dome of frost began to rise around them—sharp spires of ice spiraling upward like a blooming flower. Inside, the temperature plummeted.

Crackle… creaaaaak…

Even the stone platform began to ice over, little spiderwebs of frost spreading rapidly outward.

Alice’s breath misted visibly.

“Trapping us together,” she murmured. “A suicide spell?”

Serina smiled, frost coating her lips.

“If I can’t win in speed, I’ll freeze everything. Even if I collapse, you’ll fall too!”

The air tightened—mana thick like heavy snow—and the world shrank to white.

And then—

BZZZHHHH!

Alice’s sword ignited with a sudden glow.

Not fire, not lightning—

—but her mana.

Calm, controlled. Focused.

“Then I’ll cut through everything.”

Fwoom!

She vanished—just for a blink—then reappeared right in front of Serina.

CLANG!

One clean slash.

Not at Serina.

At the formation itself.

CRACK-CRACK-CRACKK—BOOM!

The dome exploded outward in a burst of shattered ice and raw force, the entire stage engulfed in a white cloud.

Snowflakes fell gently.

Silence.

And then—

Thud.

Serina dropped to one knee, her staff clattering beside her. Her eyes wide in disbelief as Alice stood over her, sword resting calmly at her side.

“I yield…” she whispered, her voice barely audible through the mist.

A beat passed.

Then the bell rang.

DING—DING—DING!

“Victory to Alice Draken of House Draken!”

The crowd erupted. Cheers thundered. Even the judges stood, nodding with clear respect.

From the stands, I found myself breathing again.

“…She didn’t just win,” I muttered under my breath, still stunned. “She dismantled her.”

Alice turned slightly in the ring, her silver hair fluttering in the wind, eyes scanning the crowd once—

—and paused for a moment, locking eyes with me.

Then, with her blade lowered and face as calm as ever, she turned and walked off the stage.

I felt my heart pound harder.

“…Yeah,” I whispered. “You’ve grown stronger than I thought. Defeating her in finals is going to be harder then I expected.”

And the tournament had only just begun.

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