Three days later...

"Inferno."

Within the reflection of the eyes of goblins, one could see a small blazing fire slowly becoming bigger, following the heat in the surrounding also growing hotter by the spell's effect. When the spell has been conjured, it was already too late for the group of goblins to escape. The cunning one among the group had started to realize they were trapped by the human female when it saw that the 'easy target' didn't seem to show any fear to them, who many of them simply thought as an easy target. But even the cunning goblin didn't the luxury known as 'time' to retreat as the moment it dawn onto him, it and the other goblins were hit by the destructive spell from Fire Magic without being able to show any resistance against it.

When the flame slowly dispersed following the smoke's footsteps, one could finally see the aftermath of the spell. But even without looking at it, one could already imagine how destructive it's going to be. Not a single goblins remained, all that were hit by the spell was killed on the spot and their corpse vanished before the spell even begin to disperse.

Clap! Clap!

"Congratulations~ It seemed your magic went up in level right before the duel. You're very lucky, isn't it?"

Mia turned her body and looked back, Sheila could be seen clapping with a small smile on her face, it was clear that she was happy at the result. Mia didn't say anything but simply nodded her head in response, she was too happy yet nervous at the same time since the time she had been preparing has already arrived. With her current capabilities, Mia was confident that she could beat the hell out of that annoying girl. Although she didn't reach the level that Sheila had expected, the result wasn't so bad either. Sheila was the type that wants to be prepared in all kinds of scenarios, which meant she would only have the confidence once her level was way higher than her opponent.

After all, this is reality. The world isn't so kind that it would give people a second chance or time to fix their mistake, so one has to cherish every moment given to them and prepare for the worst-case scenario. That was how Sheila's mindset turned out to be after experiencing all the 'special events' upon receiving the Leveling System. Even so, it didn't mean that she won't make any blunder as it was considered as human nature to make a mistake. No matter how powerful she had become, at the end of it, at her core she was still a human. 

Though Mia was holding onto a wand, to Sheila, she was not fully equipped just yet. That arrogant girl might underestimate Mia yet, she must at least prepared one trump card in the case she couldn't beat Mia in magic alone, that was what Sheila thought which she believes might be possible once the thought crossed her mind. For that reason, Mia has to prepare a trump card of her own, isn't it obvious? With that thought in mind, what is good enough of an item in the system's shop to be considered as a trump card? Actually, the expensive one could be considered as one but just as said, it is too pricy for her to afford. Or maybe... Sheila grinned when a mischevious idea popped up in her mind.

"So, are you leaving now? Or shall we eat? I'm pretty hungry right now."

When Sheila brought up the topic of food, Mia's stomach started screeching like a madman that was triggered by her word which caused the latter to look down as her cheeks started to turn red in embarrassment. Sheila chuckled at the sight before saying.

"It seemed that you're in agreement, let's head out."

Sheila put her hand on top of Mia's shoulders before teleporting both of them out of the Trial Tower with but a single thought. Once the two regained their sight, they were greeted by Ria as she was actually studying when their figure materializes in the middle of the room.

"Oh, you two are out. How was it?"

"She's pretty good, even you might lose if you didn't have swordsmanship skill, you know?"

Ria widens her eyes in surprise at her word before her gaze falls onto Mia and asked.

"Really?"

"Of course. That goes to show how much effort she put in it when she's serious. She spent the entire three days in there, you know?"

The word said by Sheila caused another wave of shock to Ria. After all, Sheila and herself had never stayed in the Trial Tower as long as Mia did. They have never tried it out so she might be the first one to stay for an entire three days in the Trial Tower. Of course, that won't be possible if not for Sheila helping her in various ways, one example of that is preparing the tent and bed for Mia to sleep. As for the urge for 'that', it's also not a problem. In these days and age, there are tools available for such a situation. Sheila had already brought them all, with Sara's money since she's technically still a student.

"In level, she almost caught up to you."

Ria nodded her head understanding. Though that was what she said, Sheila believes that even if Mia was on the same level as Ria, she couldn't possibly beat the latter since Ria could heal herself when she got injured so in essence, she was like an immortal soldier so long as her MP holds up. Although the Inferno spell has a very destructive power, it could still be avoided either their speed is fast enough, or they already know about it and was prepared. When Mia fired out the spell a while ago in the Trial Tower, Sheila had already bound the group of goblins in places with her shadow, providing as support since she would rather do something than nothing at all.

Sheila didn't have to worry about her opponent escaping or avoiding the spell since she could just bound/freeze them on the spot with her skills. But this wasn't the case for Mia since she didn't have such convenient skills like her and could only use the spell when they least expected. So in a way, if they didn't know that she had such a powerful spell in her arsenal, it could be used as a trump card. While Sheila was deeply in her thought, a sudden growling noise brought her back to reality as she turned toward the person next to her with a smile on her face before saying.

"Ah right, I have forgotten about it, sorry. Anyways, are you joining us for lunch, Ria?"

Mia looked away with a blushed on her face when she didn't expect to receive an honest apology from Sheila. She also can't believe her stomach had betrayed her once again in front of the others.

"Sure, I also haven't eaten lunch just yet."

The three then departed from the room, guided by Sheila even though the two were already familiar with the house. When they arrived in the kitchen, Sara was in the middle of washing the dishes. Without turning her back toward them, Sara greeted the three before telling them to find themselves a seat as the lunch was almost ready to be served. The three also give their greeting to her before walking toward the dining room table. While Sheila and the two were waiting for the food to arrive on their table, they were discussing random things to pass the time. Eventually, the topic came to be about Mia and her history as an Orphan.

"Living in the Orphanage is not that bad as one thought it would be, or maybe it was just that particular Orphanage since I never went to the other places. Because the number of orphans keeps increasing every week, the Caretaker and a few adult ones have to take a part-time job so that the small one could be feed three times a day. They feel a sense of responsibility as an adult for the little ones, in fact, most do, even the small yet mature kid since they were all in the same place and situation but they took it in a different direction."

"Hoh, I see. I was expecting it to be a bit dark, like the orphan getting bullied or something, since... you know, the movies and all give me a bad impression of them."

Said Sheila, Mia nodded her head in an understanding manner since she also had seen what Sheila was talking about when living with her adopted parent. When she saw that kind of scene in the movie, Mia was thankful once again that she was raised properly at that Orphanage instead of anywhere else. After all, even if the Caretaker hog all the money given from the government to the Orphanage for herself, they couldn't say anything about it since most would likely believe in the Caretaker's word than them, the orphan. Of course, some believes more in the orphan's word but those are a rare case.

"I kinda missed the children there now that I was talking about it. I wonder if some of them have gotten adopted and was it a good family? I doubt that one kid would get adopted though, considering he was full of mischief even at a young age. "

She paused for a moment, perhaps getting nostalgic and the thought of visiting them did cross her mind but shrugged it off since she has a more important issue at the moment. Once it has been taken care of, she might have time for that. After cooling off her mind, she then continues talking about her day in the Orphanage until Sara walks in, carrying the hot steaming foods in her hands. It was then her stomach has started showing its ugly head once again by making a loud growling noise that would scare off kids to their mommy. At this point, she didn't care anymore as her eyes were focused on the food settle on the table.

"So, are you heading there now?"

"Mhm."

After having their bellies full with a good meal, Mia decided its time for her to head out and was now standing outside the gate of Sheila's house. Sheila could be seen standing near the gate, accompanied by Ria.

"I really can't go along with you?"

"I'm sorry, but they won't let you in unless you're associated with them. You don't need to be worried about me, I'm sure I could surely win against that girl with my current power."

"Well, Alright. Just make sure you don't underestimate her, okay? A person with the same personality as that girl would usually do something sneaky when they were about to lose or desperate, especially. Please, be careful, okay? If things went south, just head into the Trial Tower without a second thought. No one there could enter that place, after all."

"Mhm, I got it. I shall bring home victory, was it? I'm not sure if that was the right quote..."

Sheila couldn't help but giggle at Mia's remark, understanding that the latter was trying to change the mood for the better which she complied. After bidding her farewell to them, Mia walks away with the confidence regained after growing a lot more stronger than before inside the Trial Tower. That place was truly magical with truly bizzare rules. If this information gets to the Mage Association, especially those old folks, Sheila and her family might be in danger. I should keep my mouth seal for their sake, It's the least I could do, thought Mia.