“Let the battle begin!” The announcer cried out, his voice projecting to all ears within the stadium through a magic spell.

Instantly, Newt sprang into action, reciting a string of words as if they were a buddist chant.

While the audience couldn’t hear him, Briar could.

“[Fireball] [Fireball] [Fireball] [Fireball] [Fireball]…”Countless fireballs flashed into being around him, circling around him as if they were a protective spell.

Ah, He’s going to do that move. Briar surmised. This was a combination spell. The more of one kind of spell you can maintain, the stronger the combination. So, the amount of spells you could spam at once decided how powerful the spell was. In the end, the smaller spells were combined with a stacking effect to create a combined form which was almost on par with a spell from one who was one rank higher.

While she could simply have closed the distance and knocked him out, she decided to see how far he would be able to go before he launched his spell. She watched with interest as the amount of fireballs increased. After collecting about ninety-nine fireballs, He then swung his string of mana gems and shouted out the key word. “[Flame Dragon]!”

The fireballs assembled themselves together into a large image of a dragon. Briar, watching this, narrowed her eyes. Instead of the usual depiction of dragons, with large wings and a build somewhat similar to a dinosaur, this dragon looked more like a Chinese dragon, with wizened whiskers flying back from a grimaced face as it wound its way through the air, wingless.

So…it really is as I have suspected. Briar surmised. It seems this person really was a reincarnated one just like her. Seeing as I was the one who thwarted their plans, I suppose they wouldn’t take too kindly to knowing I am also here, would they? Briar mused as she watched the great fire dragon as it circled up into the sky.

Well, let’s leave the past in the past. For now, shall I do something about this? Briar watched the flame dragon reach its zenith, within the protective magic barrier surrounding the stage, and then plummet downwards towards the ground that Briar was standing on, a dragon roar echoing out as it finally attacked.

The crowd exclaimed as it seemed that Briar wasn’t doing anything to prepare to receive that attack, which would surely deeply injure any first rank master class. Newt even opened his eyes wide as he watched her. While he wanted to display his great power, he didn’t want to kill anyone. But before he could halt his spell it had already struck.

Flames danced as a great conflagration erupted, to the point where no one could see Briar for a moment. The audience watched in dismay as they believed Briar had been seriously injured.

Only Madam Rothema remained calm, sipping at her tea, as she watched the display.

Some might ask why all mages didn’t use combination spells, seeing as how they can unleash so much power. There are several reasons for this. The first and most important reason is that it takes too long to activate- which would never work in a real battle.

The second is that it takes a vast amount of magic to use, so it would have to be something one threw out first to ensure they had enough mana for the spell, even though it’s really supposed to be a move one makes as a last stand.

Third, it’s mentally taxing to hold a lot of the same basic spell all at once. And, finally, it’s easily countered by a spell that is even slightly stronger than it.

Several gems on Newt’s string of ‘beads’ shattered into dust.

When the flames cleared away, everyone gasped as Briar stood in the same place she had since the beginning, a radius of two feet around her completely free of flames. Obviously, this was the result of her bringing out her barrier at the last moment.

Briar blinked. “Is that it? I was wondering at what kind of power this ‘Meen karakatura’ would have for you to be so sure of victory, but it looks like I have been sorely disappointed.” Of course, she was pretending not to know what Newt had been talking about, after deciding not to reveal herself as a reincarnated person.

Newt didn’t answer, but ground his teeth as he began casting yet another combination spell, gathering fireballs around him again up to the count of ninety-nine. But, instead of [Flame Dragon], he cried out “[Lava Field]!”

Briar watched from behind her barrier as the Fireballs dispersed into the ground, which turned red, like molten metal. Aside from the ground which was protected by her barrier, the stage began to bubble not unlike the lava pool underground in Grandpa Thur’s hidden domain.

“So, that is what he meant by ‘Ryuujin’ (Dragon-person)” Briar muttered.

Newt, although in the middle of this lava field, did not burn, nor did any of his clothes catch afire. Instead, his skin began to display a qualitative change in appearance, black scales forming from the neck down. His eyes turned yellow; the pupils stretched into vertical slits: dragon eyes. His hands looked more like dragon claws, and from his back sprouted two black scaled wings, which he used to fly above the molten stage.

“Whoah! It seems that Newt is not only a disciple of the Eastern Crimson Dragon, he is also half-dragon himself! Things don’t look well for Madam Rothema’s Briar!” The announcer shouted, while pointing out the obvious.

“I have you now!” He cried as he thrust mana into the molten lava, manipulating it to move, and surge around Briar’s defensive barrier. The lava encircled and completely covered the sphere, as if trying to drag it down underground with it. Once there was not even the tiniest hole left that could be capitalized upon, Newt released the spell.

The red glow of lava faded as the ground turned back into hardened stone. Newt landed on the stage, folding his wings as he stared at the rounded stone that surrounded Briar. If she couldn’t get out of there within a certain period of time, the air would run out, and she would fall unconscious-or so it would be if she were an ordinary magician, whose bones were far more brittle than those of martial cultivators.

Several more mana gem beads shattered into dust, leaving a little less than half the mana beads left.

But, all of a sudden, he leapt forward several meters, twisting in the air and landing facing the direction he had leapt from. “Show yourself!” He shouted.

Briar sighed as she dispersed the illusion barrier she had used to turn invisible. It seemed that Newt as a half-dragon was far more perceptive to her presence than she had given him credit for.

“Not bad. At least, in the future, suffering from sneak attacks will be extremely unlikely.” Briar complemented. “What gave me away? Heat? Scent? Sound?”

“Hmmph! The vibrations from your movement do not simply travel through the air, but also through the ground.” He smirked with a smug face.

“Ah.” Her landing had brought forth hidden vibrations in the ground, which Newt had picked up through his connection with the earth mana.

“This time, for sure!” Newt cried as once again he began collecting fireballs. Once he had gathered ninety-nine, he once more shouted out “[Lava Field]!”

Once more the familiar red glow returned to the stage, and the crust that had surrounded Briar’s barrier once more melded back into the flat ground. Then it surged to surround Briar, who once more countered with a barrier, which was engulfed.

After paying close attention to the earth, to pick up any vibrations, this time, Newt was certain that he had finally captured Briar, and dispelled the lava field, letting it return to stone. All except for one of his mana gem beads had been reduced to powder, by this time, and he was starting to feel the heavy feeling that accompanies one whose mana is almost gone.

But, he jerked again and twisted around in shock. “HOW!?”

Briar once more dispelled her illusion barrier and stood two meters away from him.

“Now, I’ve been really nice, giving you the chance to perform your spells uninterrupted. Otherwise, I could have ended this match easily from the first.” Newt’s face twisted sour as he recalled that she hadn’t attacked him even once the whole match.

“Now, you have two choices: are you willing to give up, or shall I, your older sister, teach you some manners?” Briar threw out the ultimatum, trying to gauge the boy’s character.

“I…I…” Newt grit his teeth. “I choose neither!” He shouted, spewing out a flaming breath from his mouth towards Briar.

But, this time, Briar was no longer polite. “I thought as much.” And she dispelled her final illusion barrier, punching his jaw shut while he was in the middle of spewing flames, which caused the flames to back up and flow out of his nose-painfully. His muffled scream of pain was still loud enough to be heard by everyone.

Even though dragons breathe fire, they refrain from breathing it out through their nose as it is a sensitive instrument for detecting scents. At most, they would only blow smoke out of their nose. As it was, Newt was lucky that only his nose hairs were burnt before the final mana gem bead disintegrated, and he ran out of mana, falling to the ground, unconscious.

“And the winner of this match is Madam Rothema’s number one student, Briar!” The announcer blared out the results of the match while Briar sighed as she looked down at Newt.

Back when she was reborn, she knew that if she really were going to leave the past in the past, then she’d have to cut all ties with past karma. While she still held a grudge towards the maniac that had killed her, she could start with not begrudging this one who had appeared at such a time.

At least, this one wasn’t a sword maniac bent upon dicing up everyone they knew. As such, she wasn’t going to worry about it. She reached down and placed her hand upon his forehead, transferring mana to help him revive from his unconscious state.

When he opened his eyes, the healers who had been on standby with a stretcher returned to their posts, satisfied that he was conscious again.

"Ugh! what smells like burning hair?" Newt gagged.

“That would be you. Luckily, due to mana depletion, it shouldn't be damaged that badly. Your current situation is only a temporary fix, though. You’ll still need to meditate a while before you can escape the rebound effect of mana depletion.” Briar said, helping him stand and slowly moved him to the edge of the stage, as he was somewhat too dizzy to stand completely on his own yet.

“…It seems I must thank you for this.” Newt said, slowly.

“What, the mana? The helping hand? It’s nothing. Don’t bother about it.” Briar replied, standing back up. “Just worry about how that old man is going to kill you for destroying all those mana gems.”

“Nah, he won’t kill me. Those gems are….well they’re not something to worry about.” Newt replied, scratching his head.

“If you say so.” Briar shrugged. Thinking about her own mysterious mana-absorbing stone. It didn’t just hold magic power, like a regular magic stone, but it also actively drew power into itself. What a curious thing, indeed.

“Actually, that wasn’t what I was thanking you for.” Newt snorted, good-naturedly. “I’ve been thinking myself the hottest being on the planet, but now I think I still have a long way to go before I arrive at that point.”

“Self-realization is important for any sort of growth. But next time, realize it before you anger someone who is not as well-tempered as I am.” She replied.

“I can see someone has no small amount of modesty.” Newt rolled his eyes, sarcastically.

“Well. You could be dead.” Briar replied evenly.

That made him pause. In all fairness, Briar's words were certainly true. There were still an awful lot of people who could indeed still squish him dead as if he were an ant beneath their feet. While he understood that fact, his pride made him hold back from saying it out loud. Instead, he changed the subject.

“I must ask you, though: how did you get out of my lava field trap?” Newt asked, the problem bugging him like an itch he couldn’t scratch.

“Right before your flame dragon attacked, I cast an illusion of myself before escaping the blast area.” She replied.

Actually, that wasn’t quite true. Before the lava had completely swallowed her barrier, she covered herself with a skin-tight invisibility barrier before using barrier platforms as scaffolds to climb out of her barrier area, and retreat high above the stage.

Usually, the air would appear slightly distorted with such swift movement, but the heat waves from the lava were already distorting the air, and helped to mask her escape. He had only sensed her when she had touched down on the ground again, behind him.

But, Briar was not one to lay her cards out for others to see, especially when they might become enemies in the future.

“A great plan to be certain, but how did you escape the lava, then?” Newt asked.

Briar pulled her legs up, floating in the air with a chantless [Levitate].

“I have absolutely no idea.” She replied, a cheerful smile upon her face.

"Show off!" He snorted.

"Says the one who has a strange-looking flaming dragon for a magic opener." Briar retorted. "Seriously if it weren't or the horns and the claws, I'd say it was some sort of weird lizard!"

"Okay, I think I deserved that one." He sighed. "I think I can handle things from here, though."

"You sure? Mana depletion isn't something one should take lightly, you know?" Briar asked, returning to the ground.

"Yeah, I know. But if I go any farther, your fans are gonna kill me. Moreover, I still have my pride as a man. I can't let girls help me too much or else I'll be looked down upon." He brushed off Briar's helping hand.

"Suit yourself." Briar shrugged as she watched him climb down the stone steps, and pause at the bottom. He turned back one last time.

“One last question. How did you arrive next to me so quickly? Do you know [Teleport]?” he asked, curiosity written all over his face.

Briar smiled and winked an eye as an illusionary Briar stepped out next to her, mirroring her movements perfectly. "It's a bit complicated, but it's the result of including a refractory factor in my barrier magic. The me that you saw was just a reflection. created from a few well placed barriers."

Newt blinked, finally acknowledging her explanation. “I see… It’s my complete loss. I admit, I was no match for you. But, next time…Next time, I’ll win for sure!” His eyes seemed to blaze with the fire of rivalry.

Briar smiled. “Then, I’ll be looking forward to it.” Before she turned around and headed towards the exit.