"Black Tiger, Heart Extraction!"
"Mount Tai Press!"
"Try My Two-Dragon Pearl Play!"
"Lotus Float~"
"Skyward Hammer!"
"Crow on a Plane—"
As one bizarre and humorous move name after another was shouted, the mentors and students from Miridian Magic Academy who came to challenge fell one after another, defeated by Hop, who was cosplaying the Black Tiger Afo.
Hop kicked apart a soil wall that a student had just formed, then smoothly performed a backflip to dodge a wind blade that came at him from behind.
Hop had to wait until those teachers and students released their spells before acting, because he needed to record the magic with his system, but on the other side, Elusa was different.
She, now clad in the Wheel of Heaven armor, summoned a swarm of wooden swords that she had once used for sword practice; before many could even cast a spell, the wooden blades were already striking their necks.
Dozens of wooden swords whistled by, tracing elegant arcs in the air and precisely hitting each challenger's wrist or neck, instantly rendering them powerless.
Except for two powerful mentors, only a few students managed to stay standing beneath the Wheel Sword Formation.
"This... this can't be..."
In the stands, among the twenty-something students who were too young to take part, Rufus stood up in stunned silence.
He finally understood why Teacher Tutumaru had been so serious before; the strength of those two guild mages far exceeded his expectations.
"Tutumaru, are guild mages usually this strong?" another mentor who hadn't entered the fray asked the Tutumaru beside him.
Tutumaru nodded with a complicated expression, "Our academy's top graduates all reach S‑rank mage level; after leaving, every nation vies for them."
"But those powerful ones are in guilds; who doesn't have a few home‑grown S‑rank mages?"
"For example, in the Shadow Wraith Dominion I once joined, there were four other S‑rank mages besides me, all bred by the Wraiths. As an outstanding graduate, I could only defeat one of them—a schemer who loves intrigue..."
Upon hearing this, the mentor's complexion turned sour.
The selection of the academy's outstanding graduates is highly competitive, with only one spot each year. Yet even someone as brilliant as Tutumaru isn't the top among those 'savage' guild mages… Tutumaru pointed at Hop and Elusa, who were seemingly fighting a training dummy, and said, "Actually, once I learned that it was those two who were conducting a 'magical combat exchange' with our academy, I already knew we would be crushed this time."
The mentor, however, stubbornly insisted, "Impossible. Our three‑star mentors haven't even entered yet; once they do, everything will turn around."
"Heh~" Tutumaru chuckled lightly, then changed the subject, "Do you think a three‑star mentor could harm a Saint‑Level Ten mage?"
The mentor shook his head, "Anyone who reaches Saint‑Level Ten would have long left teaching at the academy and become a VIP of every faction. Not everyone is Dean Hai Iberien."
That was rather self‑aware, Tutumaru thought to himself, and looked again at Hop and Elusa, who were already treating the challengers like spinning tops, "But those two… they're the ones who, in a direct fight with Joseph, teamed up and sliced off one of his legs."
The mentor inhaled sharply, his face full of disbelief.
Joseph may have been stripped of his 'Saint‑Level Ten' title and is now wanted by the council, but he was once a genuine Saint‑Level Ten powerhouse, among the strongest mages on the continent.
Yet such a titan was crippled—lost a leg—in a direct duel by two juniors… The mentor's resolve suddenly cracked.
They mockingly call guild mages 'barbarians' and 'wild mages', but in truth the frog at the bottom of the well is themselves.
Their self‑perceived superiority stems only from the world's respect for Miridian Magic Academy and the added glow of Hai Iberien, the 'Second Saint‑Level Ten'. Stripped of those two halos, in the magical world they are not exactly mediocre, but they also don't reach the pinnacle. After all, being smart doesn't automatically make one an excellent mage.
No wonder the dean and the director of education, despite opposition from many mentors and students, invited the 'Fairy Tail' mage to conduct a magical exchange with the academy.
Dean Hai Iberien intends to crush that misplaced pride in one fell swoop.
The devastatingly swift battle made Hai Iberien and Glaston in the audience shake their heads.
They saw clearly that the defeated ones, at the instant they tried to cast a spell, were already met by Hop's fist; he used no magic, just pure physical technique and speed to overwhelm everyone.
On the other side, Elusa relied on experience to crush opponents; most challengers were knocked down before they could even cast a spell, and those who survived couldn't hold out long after Elusa switched to an even stronger black‑feather armor.
Miridian Magic Academy boasts the continent's finest magical teaching resources, yet when it comes to combat awareness, students must forge it themselves.
But the pernicious attitude of thinking themselves superior makes the students unwilling to go out and train; to them, friendly classmates and kind teachers are the best training partners.
Yet the gentle academy is precisely not a place for hardening oneself.
Guild mages, to survive, constantly take commissions; whether it's life‑or‑death S‑rank missions or ordinary extermination quests, they face evil dark mages or hordes of monsters.
Thus, senior guild mages may lack the academic knowledge of academy types, but their real‑world experience and combat awareness far surpass those who grew up in a greenhouse.
Monsters won't give you much time to draw elaborate magical circles.
The ruthless tactics of dark mages render the pretentious elegance cultivated in academies utterly useless.
The defeated mentors and students on the field hung their heads in dejection.
Hai Iberien turned back to the three‑star mentors who had so far refused to step in; their shocked or contemplative expressions brought a satisfied smile to his face.
Those who manage to study at Miridian Magic Academy and stay on as teachers are, after all, intelligent people; most have likely realized their own motives and mistakes.
If the mentors can reset their mindset, the students below will be influenced and gradually change, steering the academy's atmosphere back onto the right track.
As for the few remaining obstinate idiots… there will be plenty of people later to teach them how to behave.
As the clamor on the battle stage faded, Hai Iberien's goal, which had originally required three days to achieve, was completed in a single go by Hop and Elusa.
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