Among mages with the exact same elemental attribute, the one with the stronger raw output prevails—this is basic combat knowledge among Blazers.
At this moment, Kanamori had unwavering confidence in his own destructive power as an older mage.
"Being able to manipulate all elements sounds impressive, but it also means you completely lack true mastery in any one of them! Rather than superficially mastering a thousand techniques, it is vastly better to hone a single deadly technique a thousand times! Remember that!"
Amid the older man's arrogant taunts, the massive thunderball crossed the arena and struck Noah in an instant.
However, just a millimeter before physical impact, the dazzling thunderball burst silently like a fragile soap bubble and vanished without a single trace.
The seemingly terrifying, B-Rank attack posed absolutely no threat to the boy upon landing.
"What... what did you do?! Where did my lightning go?!" Kanamori shouted in sheer disbelief, his swords lowering.
Noah did not answer his senior.
He casually "pulled" a small chunk of concrete rubble from the damaged ground using gravity and a brief flash of heat appeared between his fingers.
In the blink of an eye, he magically refined the concrete into a perfectly smooth, hyper-dense stone sphere.
Noah clenched the stone, gathering all the surrounding dissipated lightning into his hand using Spell-Weaver.
The ambient golden lightning began to shift its wavelength, gradually turning a brilliant blinding white.
No, it was silver!
Silver plasma violently gathered at the tips of his fingers, forming a miniature electromagnetic launchpad aimed precisely at the base of the dense stone.
With a casual flick of his thumb, the deafening crackle of breaking the sound barrier rang out, followed instantly by a kinetic impact landing right in front of Kanamori.
BOOM!
The speed was so incredibly fast that Kanamori didn't even have the time to blink, let alone react.
He stared stiffly down at the massive smoking crater less than five millimeters from his left toe.
Noah maintained his casual flicking posture across the arena and spoke coldly, "I deliberately missed. After all, the human body isn't nearly as tough as the stadium ground. If you understand that I have already shown you mercy, please forfeit on your own."
The massive thunderball was instantly neutralized and broken down into raw electrons the exact moment it entered Spell-Weaver's range of control.
He then compressed the power of the stolen lightning into a single, highly magnetized point.
To prevent his opponent from grounding the shock, he specifically refined a dense stone to serve as a physical kinetic projectile, launching it via an electromagnetic railgun effect.
Depending on the charging time, this hypersonic attack could effortlessly pierce through a heavy armored vehicle.
Kanamori stared at the smoking crater on the ground and swallowed hard, sweat pouring down his pale face.
Both used thunder-based spells, but his method was primitive caveman magic compared to his opponent's flawless mastery.
Someone who only knew how to loudly release raw thunder strikes could never win against a monster who could rewrite the laws of electromagnetism.
Understanding this terrifying gap, he raised a trembling hand and chose to surrender.
Thus, Noah, the Calamity, concluded his fourth qualifier match with a flawless victory!
...
"Hooray!"
Stella happily waved her fists a few times from the spectator seats.
Those sitting directly beside her dodged nervously to the side, afraid of being accidentally hit by her enthusiastic swings.
Leaving the arena through the competitor tunnels, Noah coincidentally ran into Ikki Kurogane, who had just emerged from the neighboring Block B match.
The two boys exchanged friendly greetings.
Judging by Ikki's relaxed expression, he had also won his match, even defeating his opponent without relying on the self-destructive Ittou Shura.
If he had used it, he would have looked completely pale and drained, not as spirited as he was now.
"Noah, there is something I would like to ask of you."
"Hmm?"
Noah, who had been about to leave for the locker rooms, stopped upon hearing Ikki's formal tone.
He looked at Ikki and noticed the older boy's highly serious expression, as if he had something incredibly important to confess.
Noah hesitated for a moment, then suddenly seemed to realize something and tentatively said.
"I am sorry, Kurogane. But I like girls, so I cannot accept the feelings of guys."
"Cough! Cough! Cough!"
Ikki, who was about to explain his request, choked on his own saliva in pure shock.
He shouted with all his might, his face burning red, "No! What are you thinking?! I like girls too, okay?!"
"Huh?"
"No, no, no! Why do you look so genuinely surprised?!"
Seeing Noah's deadpan expression of 'No way,' Ikki became extremely agitated.
"Sorry," Noah deadpanned. "I just thought you had already been successfully turned gay by Alice."
"..."
Ikki was about to vigorously deny it again, but suddenly, unwanted images of his effeminate roommate affectionately caring for him flashed through his mind.
The denial he was about to utter suddenly became incredibly difficult to say out loud.
And it was this exact pause of hesitation that made Noah's expression change drastically.
"Hey... you really are...?"
"I already said NO!!!" Ikki waved his hands frantically in panic.
He shouted, "What I wanted to say was! If you do not have any matches in the next few days, I sincerely hope you can help me train!"
"Train?"
"Ah... I have been thinking a lot lately and realized many fatal issues I had completely overlooked before. I feel that against higher-ranked opponents highly skilled in magical combat, I still lack the means and tactics to actually win..."
In fact, Ikki had mentally replayed their dorm-room battle countless times afterward, and then he realized his own massive flaws.
His physical advantages were incredibly difficult to safely leverage in a magic fight, while his lack of ranged options and magical defense were constantly magnified, ultimately leading to his complete defeat.
It was precisely because of this review that he repeatedly became aware of this student's terrifying nature.
Noah's most terrifying aspect wasn't his exquisite control of magic, nor his seemingly cheat-like Ability.
It wasn't even his extraordinary stolen swordsmanship—all of these were just physical components of his capabilities.
What truly commanded and perfectly controlled all of this was Noah's mind itself.
Or rather, his flawless tactical arrangements.
Ikki had obtained the journalist recordings from Kagami Kusakabe and repeatedly replayed all of Noah's public battles up to now.
Then he discovered a horrifying pattern.
No matter which enemy he faced, regardless of their Rank or strength, his tactical arrangements always flawlessly targeted the opponent's weakest point.
Against pure swordsmanship, suppress with crushing gravity.
Against blistering speed, suppress with wide-area control and traps.
Against raw elements, suppress with attribute superiority.
It seemed as though all of his opponents' Abilities and action patterns were perfectly within his expectations, as if all the opponent's darkest secrets had been figured out long before the battle even began.
This psychological pressure forced the opponent entirely into Noah's rhythm.
And then Ikki understood.
Just as greater magical power comes with greater difficulty in fine control, the Ability to physically manipulate all elements would be utterly impossible to wield so effortlessly without massive, mind-breaking effort.
From the awakening of their Abilities to initial mastery, Blazers typically require several years of dedicated study and even longer to master and refine them afterward.
In other words, Noah had at least put in the scholarly effort to learn the physics to wield his Ability to such a powerful extent.
Unlike Ikki, who had devoted all his narrow efforts solely to the sword, the other party not only studied his own Abilities to perfection but also meticulously studied his enemies'.
Just like a famous saying, "Know the enemy and know yourself, and you can fight a hundred battles without peril!"
If Ikki wanted to miraculously reach the pinnacle of the Seven Stars Sword Art Festival as an F-Rank, then this insight would be an indispensable ability!
Therefore, whether it meant bowing or politely begging, he was determined to learn this mindset from the younger boy!
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