Of the three great necromancer schools, Moiran's Waterway Arena had drawn the largest crowd. Canals of flowing water crisscrossed the battlefield, spanned by numerous bridges. In the center of it all, Kamibarez and her Moiran opponent, Alizarin, were warming up.
'Kami's up first. She must be terrified.'
From the waiting area, Simon rubbed a stiff shoulder as he watched her. Anyone could see how incredibly nervous she was from her rigid, jerky stretches.
At one point, when her arm was supposed to rotate to the side, her entire body spun with it by mistake. She let out a little yelp and plopped onto the ground as soft chuckles rippled through the audience.
"Ugh, she's so cute!" Meirin chirped beside him.
"Do your best, Kizen!" someone shouted from the stands.
"Fight hard!" another added.
Thankfully, unlike their matches at Alrand and Sierra, the Moiran crowd wasn't directing all its cheers to one side or relentlessly booing the opposition. The atmosphere suggested a shared sentiment: 'It'd be nice if our team won, but let's hope both sides do their best.' The presence of ordinary citizens and the school's gentler reputation likely played a part.
"Simon, have you seen Kami fight recently?" Meirin asked suddenly.
He hummed, scratching the side of his head.
"Now that you mention it, I don't think I have."
"Honestly, you just don't pay attention," Meirin muttered, narrowing her eyes before turning her focus back to the arena. "Kami's fighting style has two main approaches. First, she inflicts a significant wound on the enemy and then casts a major bleeding spell."
"A major bleeding spell. I remember that."
The memory was vivid—a vicious black magic unique to the Ursula family that caused blood to pour endlessly from an enemy's wound.
"But it'll be hard to inflict a wound like that in this evaluation," Meirin continued. "The protective suits are the same old models we used in our first year. You know, the ones that just cover the whole body with a single barrier."
"That makes sense. You'd have to get the barrier gauge to zero just to land a scratch."
"Exactly. So her second style is key."
Meirin raised a slender index finger, a smirk playing on her lips.
"Remember that black magic she used? The one where blood rises like a tornado."
"I remember. 'Blood Storm,' wasn't it?"
"Yep, that's the one. If Kami can just hold out long enough to prepare that powerful one-shot, her win rate jumps to ninety percent. She's a classic slow-starter."
Having finished her analysis, Meirin turned her gaze to Kamibarez's opponent. Alizarin was a young man with a sharp, chiseled chin and nose, wearing a pair of long sunglasses that were fused into a single visor.
"I'm not sure how he'll play this, though. He'll definitely use the home-field advantage, but he's a hemomancer just like Kami. I can't quite picture his strategy."
As she'd said, both contestants were Hemomancy majors. And since Alizarin was a Moiran transfer, he had undoubtedly prepared techniques perfectly suited for this arena.
"Contestants, shake hands."
When the warm-up time ended, the two students met at the center of the arena at the referee's command.
With a soft 'click', Alizarin's sunglasses flipped upward, revealing a pair of menacing eyes, the whites starkly visible beneath his irises.
"...Ursula."
They were the kind of terrifying eyes that could haunt one's nightmares. Kamibarez flinched involuntarily as she shook his hand, but she quickly recovered, bowing her head with a small smile.
"P-Please, let's have a good match."
Alizarin didn't even return the courtesy. He simply turned his back and walked away. Left standing awkwardly with her hand still outstretched, Kamibarez gently clasped it with her other and held it to her chest. Head bowed in dejection, she scurried back to her starting position.
"How dare he!"
An incensed Meirin shook the safety fence, shrieking, "What's with that attitude toward our Kami? Just you wait until we get back to Kizen!"
'Is she her mother?' Simon thought with a wry smile.
Soon, the two opponents were in position. Jane and a Moiran professor approached their respective students for some last-minute coaching. While the Moiran professor offered technical advice, Jane focused on the mental game.
"You'll do fine once the fight starts, but it's obvious you're far too nervous right now," Jane said, gently stroking Kamibarez's hair. "Let go of the pressure, Secretary Kamibarez."
"I-I'm trying, but... My apologies, Professor."
"It's fine to empty your mind of the outcome of this match," she assured her. "The President and Vice President will win the next ones for you."
Kamibarez's eyes widened, and she glanced toward Simon and Meirin, who were waving enthusiastically.
"Still, you have to fight without regrets so you can face your friends with a clear conscience later, right?"
At Jane's words, the wavering in Kamibarez's eyes finally stilled.
"Yes! Thank you!"
Jane nodded and returned to the spectator seats.
"Now, let the Moiran Transfer Evaluation begin! The match between Moiran's Alizarin Jacques and Kizen's Kamibarez Ursula starts now!"
The referee swung his arm to the side.
"Begin!"
As the crowd's roar washed over them, Kamibarez and Alizarin simultaneously began preparing their black magic. With the waterways creating a complex battlefield, a direct martial arts clash was out of the question.
A crimson magic circle hummed to life over Kamibarez's body as she drew her own blood. Seeing this, Meirin's eyes lit up.
"As expected! It looks like Kami's going for 'Blood Storm'."
"It does."
Simon's gaze shifted.
"Then her opponent is..."
Alizarin was weaving a magic circle with flamboyant, practiced movements. While preparing a circle before a match was forbidden, 'permanent magic circles' that remained on the body without jet-black were an exception. He activated a series of them, drawing a final circle in the center to channel all his power into one point.
When his preparations were complete, he turned and strode toward the nearest waterway, where clear water gushed through the channel. Alizarin extended a finger over it, and a single drop of blood, likely from a self-inflicted cut, fell into the stream.
Instantly, the water transformed. Like ink spreading through a glass, the entire waterway turned a deep crimson. He waved his arm like a conductor, and the bloody water began to rise slowly into the air.
Kamibarez, still preparing her 'Blood Storm', stumbled back with a flustered expression.
"My blood controls the surrounding water," Alizarin declared, his voice ringing with confidence as crimson waves undulated at his command. "Watch closely, Ursula! This is the power I've built in Moiran!"
He thrust his arm forward.
'Blood Wave'
A crimson torrent shot toward Kamibarez. Meirin's jaw dropped at the sheer volume.
"What the hell is that? You call that a 'Blood Wave'?"
It was a staple spell for any hemomancer, but by commandeering the arena's water, its scale was on a completely different level. Kamibarez drew magic circles on both hands, crossed her arms, and thrust them forward.
'Blood Wave'
An identical torrent of blood erupted from her palms. Forged from the potent blood of the Ursula family, her wave easily shattered Alizarin's and surged onward. But it was met by a relentless barrage of his own waves, and in the end, her technique was overwhelmed and destroyed.
"Dodge it, Kami!" Simon shouted urgently.
Kamibarez spun around and fled, her feet finding purchase on paths of solid jet-black. The crimson tide crashed down like a tsunami, turning the ground into a churning sea of blood. A bead of sweat trickled down her forehead.
From a waterway to her side, another crimson stream erupted and lunged at her. She instantly changed direction, curling her index finger into the shape of a pistol as she ran.
'Blood Bullet'
The bullet of compressed blood she fired tore through the front of the wave with immense force, but a second and third wave immediately rose to take its place. She had no choice but to turn and run again.
"Ugh! Just as I thought!" Meirin bounced on her feet, wringing her hands anxiously. "Even if we're from Kizen, we're still just second-years! This home-field advantage is insane! Giving him an infinite supply of water is just unfair!"
Simon nodded silently, his eyes fixed on Alizarin's next move. The Moiran student continued to drip his blood into the various waterways, steadily bringing more and more of the arena's water under his control.
"Ah, Kami!"
At Meirin's cry, Simon's gaze snapped back to Kamibarez. She had turned and was now charging back toward Alizarin, a crimson wave trailing behind her.
'Is she going for a direct assault? No!'
He could see jet-black surging in her hands. Alizarin waved his arms, summoning another crimson wave to meet her head-on.
"Haaah!"
She threw herself forward fearlessly. Using her small frame to her advantage, she slipped under the crashing wave just before it fully collapsed, landing on one knee with her arm outstretched.
'Bleeding'
A potent hemomancy curse shot from her hand, but Alizarin was ready. He skillfully countered with 'Cancellation'.
"Aaaah!" Meirin writhed in disappointment. "That bastard! His curse defense is perfect!"
He was a formidable opponent, offering almost no openings. Simon had to admit that even he would have struggled against such a strategy.
'Blood Silk'
Kamibarez wove a carpet from the blood on her finger and leaped onto it. The crimson tapestry hovered just above the ground, carrying her away at high speed. As a second-year, her application of such basic skills was on a completely different level.
The bloody sea pursued her relentlessly, swallowing every obstacle in its path. Kamibarez was just barely staying ahead, a hair's breadth from the edge of the churning tide. The spectators were on their feet, roaring with excitement, their palms slick with sweat.
'Kami is definitely giving it her all,' Simon thought, stroking his chin. 'But...'
Just as she was making another narrow escape, a crimson wave erupted from a waterway directly in front of her, rising like a solid wall.
"Ah!"
"I've been waiting for you!"
This was his home turf. The Moiran students not only manipulated water freely but also knew the arena's layout by heart. The wave swallowed her whole, slamming her hard onto the ground before dissipating with a great splash. Soaked to the bone, she coughed violently, spitting water from her mouth.
[Kamibarez Ursula: 78%]
[Alizarin Jacques: 100%]
"Kami!" Meirin cried, her face crumpling.
She had been lucky to land on flat ground, but there was no time to recover. Crimson waves closed in from all sides. Looking like a drowned rat, Kamibarez scrambled to her feet and took off again, her movements sluggish under the weight of her soaked hair and uniform.
With a light tap of her foot, she vaulted off the railing of a bridge, launching herself high into the air as the wave surged beneath her. In mid-air, she once again formed her hand into the shape of a pistol and took aim at the distant Alizarin.
'A Blood Bullet!'
Seeing her prepare to fire, Alizarin raised a wall of water to defend himself. But then, Kamibarez's left hand, which had been curled with her right, pulled away. As if drawing back the string of a bow, the magic circle stretched with her movement, its size increasing and its formula transforming.
Simon's eyes widened.
'A three-dimensional magic circle!'
'Kamibarez Original – Blood Chaser'
There was no sound of a gunshot. A single red line shot from her fingers, striking Alizarin's defensive wall in an instant. The bullet pierced the barrier as if it were paper and slammed into his abdomen.
"Gah!"
With a sickening impact of crimson energy, Alizarin gagged and stumbled backward.
[Kamibarez Ursula: 78%]
[Alizarin Jacques: 66%]
"Woooooah!"
The crowd, which had been captivated by Kamibarez's struggle, erupted in cheers. The waves chasing her faltered as Alizarin's concentration broke. After landing safely, she took off running again, while Alizarin, clutching his stomach, struggled to regain control of the water.
It was a point for Kamibarez, a brilliant display of quick thinking. Meirin jumped up and down, ecstatic.
"A direct hit! She got him! Go, Kami!"
Simon clenched his fist, a silent cheer escaping his lips. It was the first time he had seen his fellow student council members fight since their promotion to second-year, and their skills had reached an entirely new dimension.
'They're all still growing,' he thought with a surge of pride.

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