“First off, the Third Year Lower Class… Magic-Users!” Klaus Tallman declared.

The hall fell silent and I saw all eyes shift in our direction. Seniors and fellow first-years alike all had their attention on our side of the colosseum, driving a lot of students around me to be on edge.

“Huu… guess it’s time.” I smiled, turning to Ana who was also staring at me.

We both gave ourselves anticipatory nods and arose from our seats. The other Magic-Users did the same, and we made our way down to the stage.

********************

Magic-Users in the Lower Class amounted to eleven students in total—adding Anabelle to the mix, that made a sum of twelve.

I looked around me and saw eleven students, excluding me. That meant everyone had decided to participate in the Exchange… as expected.

“Now, as you have seen in the other fights, you just have to battle one another until only five of you are left standing.” Klaus retorted.

Everyone nodded in response.

“Okay then…” The moderator went to the edge of the stage, raising his hand to signal commencement.

“Begin!”

As soon as he gave the signal to start, all ten students, excluding Ana and myself huddled together and stood opposite us. The fiendish smile on their faces told me they had ulterior motives.

“Hmmm?”

Each of them began infusing their Mana, all focusing their attention on us.“Just as we said, everyone! Let’s take them out first!” The one who appeared to be the leader said, grinning the widest.

‘So this was your stupid plan, after all… how underwhelming.’

Our classmates were utilizing the method they had seen our seniors use—the weak ganging up on the strong. It was disappointing how their mind worked, but I couldn’t exactly blame them. Still, their desperation to win was going to be their downfall.

‘The matches we’ll be having after the Battle Royale will most likely be one-on-one. Ganging up won’t be possible. If they manage to qualify now, they’ll lose miserably later on.’

I kept my thoughts to myself and looked at Anabelle.

She was brimming with confidence, raring to show the audience exactly what she was capable of.

“Do you want to do the honors, or me?” I smiled at her.

The excitement in the young girl’s eyes only seemed to ignore more upon hearing my words.

“You always get to have all the fun… it’s my turn now!”

Once she said this, I decided to leave it to her and enjoy the show. Of course, since only five were supposed to qualify, I expected her to only take out the necessary number of students, leaving three standing so they could serve as fillers.

With my focus diverted from the group in front of us that had nearly concluded their joint casting, I noticed sounds from the audience, specifically our side of the hall.

“H-hold on, that girl… isn’t she a Scholar?”

“Why did she register for the Magic aspect of the Exchange?”

“She hangs out with Jared. Maybe she hopes to ride his coattails and come out of the match in one piece thanks to him!”

“Oh? Smart girl! That guy, Edward should have done the same. Hahaha”

“No way! He’s too honorable. He won’t do whatever it takes to win.”

“Let’s watch the show and see how Jared saves the damsel in distress. Hehehehe!”

Hearing their comments nearly made me laugh out loud. These ignorant fools had so many things wrong in their statements.First of all, Anabelle certainly wasn’t hoping to rely on me for anything. Secondly, Edward, while being honorable, was probably more intent on winning this Exchange than I. He would do whatever it took to emerge victorious… and that was the result of his hard work. Finally, there was no damsel in distress in this situation.

All those who underestimated Ana would soon see… just how formidable a tiny little girl could be!

“[Joint Magic: Spiral Flame Burst]” The students all chanted and raised their voices in response to the completion of their spell.

Instantly, the intermediate-level Magic Spell appeared, circling about them in form of blazing-hot flames. The circle curved and formed a spiral, now directed at us. Like a vortex ready to consume us, it spun and approached rapidly.

Since it was an intermediate spell—albeit a low-tier one, it was bound to cause severe or even fatal injuries if we didn’t have any defense activated.

This was all of them using teamwork to decimate their foes. It was quite disappointing.

“Ana…”

“I know!” The girl cut me short, raising one of her hands, and chanted silently.

“[Spiral Wind Burst]”

Immediately, the intermediate-level Spell, similar to the one the enemy cast manifested. However, unlike the fast-approaching tendrils of flames, the pressure of the wind was far superior. Ana had poured more Mana and elevated the spell’s status above the joint effort of the opposing students.

I could hear surprised gasps from everyone, but I contained my excitement. Ana was finally going to show everyone how awesome she was. Judging by the properties of both spells, she would come out victorious—blowing everyone in her path away.

‘H-hold on… blowing everyone away?’ My eyes bulged as soon as I realized the implication of her actions.

“A-Ana, hold on—”

Before I could complete my sentence, though, the burst of wind was released, shooting out like a vortex to clash with the flames a distance from us.

WHIOOOOSSSHHH

I felt every hair on my body stand as the chill made me cover my face and peek from the openings to see the outcome of the battle.

Suddenly, the cool embrace of the departing wind turned hot as the vortex approached the flames. My skin tingled in reaction to the heat, causing me to wince a bit.

“UARGHHHHHHH!!!” The screams of our opponents filled the air.

I watched them try to create a defensive barrier, but none could individually produce a spell to counter two Intermediate-Level Spells clashing.

It was too late to try ‘Joint Casting’, so all they could do was scream in fear and pain as the terrifying bursts exploded.

BOOOOOOMMMMM!!!