Countless deadly spears of fire and ice crash against an invisible protective barrier right in front of me, and the resulting explosion forces me to take a couple of steps backwards.

Before the next wave of attacks that would surely come, I reach out both of my hands and channel my magic into the barrier, strengthening and reinforcing it so that it would survive the relentless assaults from my attackers.

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The protective barrier that I have erected should be able to retain its integrity and cohesion for as long as I can supply the necessary magical energy.

Unfortunately, I can already feel a sharp drop within my mana pool with each successful strike against my barrier, and I realize quickly that I would not be able to maintain this defensive position for long.

No. Not against my current opponents.

It is already hard to erect this advanced level protective barrier as a peak first circle mage, and it is an undeniable miracle that I am able to hold myself against several mages of the second circle all at once.

Granted, they are lower stage 1 of the second circle of magic, so the differences between our abilities and powers are not as severe as if they are of the middle stage or upper stage.

If they are of the middle stage or above, I would not be able to hold out for this long.

Of course, Bruce would not allow anything to happen to me. Bruce is a tamed monster that my master has gifted me when I first met him. While Bruce is only a peak level monster of the first circle of magic, it is a monster belonging to my master, so it should be able to defeat these mages with relative ease.

I am sure of it due to how easy Bruce had managed to win against me in our numerous sparring session previously. While I detest Bruce for what it had done to me and my friends when it was a wild monster, I am very thankful that master has gifted me with such a creature.

For without Bruce guarding me, I would not be able to live until now.

It has been almost a full year since I had last seen my master, and while I am trying my best to wait for his return as he had stated that he would, I am unable to advance further in my study or my magic.

This is because I need the approval of an official teacher at the academy to take advance classes, and I have not acknowledged anyone from the academy as my teacher. In effect, I would become a student of theirs.

I cannot acknowledge another mage as my master since I already have a master, and my maser is one of the most powerful mages that I have ever heard about.

Far more powerful than any Archmage that I have met at the academy. I am certain of it.

It would be incredibly foolish of me to acknowledge another master while I am his student. His direct student, I think. I hope so.

With that alone, acknowledging another person as my master would be incredibly disrespectful to my current master, and I cannot afford to disrespect him in anyway.

I also cannot afford to disappoint him in anyway either.

This is the reason that I am trying so hard to hold myself against these unreasonable mages since being defeated by them would be a great humiliation to my master.

While I can probably defeat these guys in combat with the aid of Bruce, it is not a good option. For if I do, more would come, and then more would come after that. It will never end until I am defeated and possibly killed.

It is already difficult holding myself against lower stages second circle mages. Their seniors, middle or upper stages of the second circle of magic would be beyond my ability to defend myself against. I will have no hope of defeating.

Even if I can defeat them somehow, what about their teacher?

It is not completely unheard of for a teacher to step into the squabble between students. They usually take the side of their student in the conflict when that happen, and it is not possible for someone like me to stand up to an Archmage.

Archmage are extremely powerful, capable of killing first circle mages with just their aura alone. They do not even need to life a single finger or use a single spell. Just thinking about them makes me scared, and I truly wish that my master is here.

If he was, this would never had happened. I would never be in this kind of situation.

"How the hell is this bitch stands up to our combine attacks? Is she using an artefact!?"

One of the mages call out before summoning a storm of fireballs. They crash against the barrier around me, pushing me back with the force of the explosion.

He immediately presses on, summoning more firestorms and sending them against my barrier just like ice-storms and wind-storms.

"Probably. There is no way a first circle mage can stand against one of us, and she is defending herself against all four of us. What the hell? No wonder my little brother said there is something weird about her. Also, watch out, she has a tamed monster."

"How did she get a tamed monster? She is not a Beast Tamer or a Monster Hunter. She is not even an official mage yet! There is no way she has a tamed monster in her possession. If she does, she should have summoned it already."

"No. My junior has told me that she does indeed have one. He was beaten pretty badly by the monster, to the point that he is unable to walk for a whole week. No sure why the monster did not kill him."

"Hahaha. Wow. I truly feel so sorry for your junior to have a senior like you, but I am really curious to what kind of monster it is. Even if it is a dragon-type, I am sure I can slay it with my magic."

"I heard it was an Orc or Goblin. It was big and strong and really green, so it is probably an Orc. I have slain an orc before, a small one, but still, it should not be a problem to me. Besides, I also have a tamed monster of my own. My big sister gifted me for protection."

"Oh yeah. Senior sister. I would love to have a chat with her about some spells that I have been working on lately. Is it possible to set up a meeting? I will give you this awesome point that I have brewed last night. It can boost your magical power by several folds."

"Sure thing. I will talk to my big sister about it, but please do not try anything with her like you had to that girl a week ago. She will kill you and then she will kill me."

"Of course not. I would not dare to do something like that against senior sister. I really want to ask her about some spells. I cannot tell you what those spells are because it is a secret."

"New spells? Cool. Show it to me when you work out the kink. I love to learn new spells since my lazy master has not been teaching anything good lately. He has been asking for things without really giving me anything in return. It is really annoying. I really want to switch teacher, but I am his direct student, so it is hard to."

"Hah! I told you at the start do not become his student, now you are stuck with him for life. No other teachers would take you as their student now."

"Yeah. I know. Damn it. This really suck. Anyway, let get this over with so I can get back to figuring out ways to poison him. Oh shit. Do not tell anyone that, or he will kill me for trying to poison him."

"We heard nothing, but I am sure this bitch did. By the way, she looks kind of cute. Can we have some with her after we payback for what she did to our juniors?"

Those four guys are starting to look at me strangely, and from their conversation, I am a bit more than terrified. I have heard horror stories about them doing heinous things in town against normal people, including other mages.

But since they are sons of powerful and prestige noble houses, no one can actually do anything against them without retribution.

As a matter of fact, those that raised complaints previously have stopped mentioning it all together as if someone has gotten to them and silenced them. This is how it is in the capital, where the strong and wealthy prey on the people.

My mother and father have warned me about this repeatedly, but to be able to witness it all for myself is really an eye opener. Truly, if it wasn't for learning magic and becoming a mage, just so I could bring some status to my parents, I would have never thought about coming to the capital.

And I should have not retaliated against those guys, but they have insulted my master. While I do not really care about whatever insults and remarks they had thrown my way, they must not dishonor my master.

I must act to defend him and his honor, not because I am his direct student, but it is also a right thing to do. My master has saved me and my village, so even if he did not accept me as his student, I would have defended him to the best of my ability.

The five mages continue to assault my protective barrier with even more aggressiveness, draining my mana pool rapidly. It would not be long before I run out of mana, and without any mana potion left, I cannot restore my mana.

Mana potion is not cheap, so I only have a few of them on me to begin with. I try not to use them, but it cannot be helped, not when I have to fight against 5 mages of higher circle than me.

I could consume manastone to restore my magical energy, but those are very precious, especially they are a gift from my master. I cannot be wasteful with it. I have not used or sold any of them, opting to keep them for emergency.

Luckily, I have been able to find work at the capital or I would have no ways of paying for foods, clothes and shelters let alone books and materials for my study.

My parents also send me some money by ways of Lavender and Eric. They visit me whenever there is a quest that takes them to the capital. It is nice to see them once in a while, and without meeting my master, I would have joined them on their quest regularly.

However, my master desires for me to concentrate on my study and become a powerful mage. I should not waste his hopes in me by doing things that do not contribute to my growth.

"Bruce."

I eventually have no choice but to resort to using Bruce. I try not to use him too often as he sometimes goes too far, almost killing the other mages.

Killing any mages has dire consequences, especially when the mages is from a notable house. Not only I will be prosecuted, my parents and my village as well.

"Wow. You are right. She does have a tamed monster, but it is not an orc. That is a goblin. Just a really big one. Really one ugly bastard. I heard that wherever there is a nest of them, countless of girls from nearby villages disappear. Probably for breeding."

"Dude. That is like common to all low-level monsters, but there is no time to talk about this. I can feel magic coming from the damn thing. It must be at least a first circle mage. As powerful as her too! Hey, did you not say you have slayed an orc before? Well, Goblin is like weaker than Orc, so get to it."

"Fuck you guys! It was a baby. There is no way that I can fight against something like this and win!"

"The use your tamed. Did you not say that you have one!?"

"Oh yeah. Totally forgot about that. Come out Black Wyvern and kill this damn thing!"

The moment the guy calls out, a spatial rift begins to form, and an enormous amount of magical energy could be felt. This monster is of the second-circle. Not just any second circle, but peak second-circle.

I could not help but tremble at the power that radiate from the dragon-like beast as it exits the spatial rift and looks down upon Bruce. Even the other guys also tremble, including the summoner.

The creature roars before powerful winds blast forth, slicing through everything within its wake. Bruce manages to block the attack, but at a terrible cost. Countless gashes and slashes all over its incredible massive body.

"Bruce…"

I utter and watch the wounds heal. Bruce can heal from any wounds, but even so, it cannot do anything against an aerial target. More wind blades slash through Bruce and slam against my barrier, breaking through with ease and sending me flying backwards.

Sharp pain runs through my body as I realize that I have been bisected. The attack is so powerful that it can cut through Bruce, my barrier and me without even slowing down.

"Holy shit man! Why did you not summon it in the first place? Would have gotten this over so quickly, but you just cut up the girl. Now, how the hell are we going to have fun with her?"

One of the guys speaks up, pursing his lips.

"That is because I cannot control it. It will not listen to me, at least not yet. My big sister said that I will be able to control it if I reach middle stage or so. It is a real pain of unsummoning it."

The guy responses while looking up at the huge flying monster, looking somewhat distressed. He then reaches out both of his hands, trying to recall the beast, but it is refusing his command, at least a first.

Within in a short moment, the creature reduced into ash, making him blink repeatedly.

"That wasn't that hard."

One of the guys comments after seeing the giant dragon-like creature reduces to drifting dust, quickly being scattered to the wind.

"No. That wasn't me. I did not unsummon it. It… was killed!?"

The guy utters in dread as a shadow looms over my bleeding form.

My breath is short and ragged as I am losing a lot of blood. Even so, I can make out who it is, and with the recognition, I cannot help but become tearful.

"Master… I have failed you."