Real eyes realise real lies

'A duel between mages'

'Many believe that duels between two mages are sacred and is done for the sake of their honour and proving one's worth.'

'This is the same for knights and warriors, as well.'

'There were two things I could've done since the beginning of the match.'

'First, I could've used my newly adjusted time dilation spell and finish her off by disrupting the circulation of blood going into her head, causing her to fall unconscious.'

'Second, I didn't need to use magic. The body that I've trained up to today is supreme in terms of my standards. By making sure all of my muscles are stimulated and triggering hypertrophy, it's now refined to the point where one could say that I've got brawn for brains.'

'Yet, my muscles aren't bulging out or seen to be visibly huge and restricting flexibility. Instead, I've made sure that I had prioritised flexibility and manoeuvres over greater strength.'

'And, the deep colour equating to my mana purity, would enhance the physical status of my body, negating the fact that I'd have to even use magic against her.'

'This means that the speed for me to reach the back of her head would be less than a second, even without the improved version of my time dilation spell.'

'So why did I prolong the match?'

'It's the same as asking why I now have an orange-skinned mana train.'

'There's always a bigger fish. I need to eliminate risks, by not taking any chances.'

'Even though my name would be known by scamming Irina's family, such is the fate of a daughter that's naive and prideful.'

'It'll be known that her mistake was due to her lack of experience in combat.'

'Doing this will set eyes upon me, but it's not like I can hide forever. I need to showcase a small glimpse of my capabilities and not make it seem as if it's on a next level sort of potential.'

[I channeled more mana into the smoke.]

[The trail of smoke that I'd left behind had not dissipate or clear out, instead it grew bigger, hindering both the visions of the referee and my opponent.]

[I didn't need to see what's ahead of me. The mana room that I currently possess was larger than the barrier that the instructor have made. I casted a gust of wind magic towards my opponent.]

[Wind Pulse]

'The equivalent to the basic spell of fireball and water bolt. However, If you had missed your target, it'd be a waste of mana doing so.'

[the burst of wind shot through the trail of dark smoke, creating a hole within it.]

Irina, who had been channeling her mana, readying for a spell took notice of the ball of wind heading straight towards her. Knowing so, she dodged to her left while giving a smirk.

"Hah! Wind Pulse? I should've known better for a magus like you-"

[As soon as the ball wind passed her, it seemed to have made U-turn, heading towards the back of her neck.]

'Redirection.'

'The fact that this entire area is within the room of mana that I could control, I'm able to control the spell that I'd just casted even at that distance.'

'So why not continue and use mana that I've dispelled?'

'Despite that, I didn't need to redirect as I've already made adjustments to the spell such that if it'd not hit a target, the ball of wind would make the turn on its' own, and target the head of a heat signature.'

Fplish!

The ball of concentrate wind had hit the back of Irina's neck, however no marks or bruise were made as she had enveloped a green layer of mana skin over her body.

"Bastard. I should've known you'd use such petty tricks. Fine, have it you way."

[Streams of green fires were shot into the air, it almost seemed like small missiles piercing the sky. Once they'd reach a certain point, they'd turn and find its target towards me.]

[Fire Whips]

Somehow it looked like a giant green long-legged spider was being formed, yet it was only being controlled by Irina, herself.

[I responded by dashing again, this time to the right, with a few bursts of wind pulses to the sky, each for every missile directed at me. However, I'd fire a couple extra that weren't target at any of the missiles in the same direction.]

"What? You think those puny little air pulse would harm my green fire whips?"

'As the name suggests, the green streams of fire were the next level of fireball. Not only did each whip looked like a menacing tentacle ready to wrap you into a vice-like grip, every one of them were burning hot that the temperature around me began to feel warmer.'

[The Wind Pulses that I had aimed on whips had managed to change the directory of the whips, making it easier for me to evade.]

'It won't be long now.'

Whipped! Whipped!

[Some of the whips landed on ground next to me, as I continue to weave and dodge them whilst keeping my focus on Irina's position concurrently.]

"Is dodging all you can do?!"

"Pretty sure I'd hit you, earlier."

"Wha-?! Enough games. Time to end this!", she announced as she manipulated all of her whips to surround Avel's body, blocking all route of exits.

It seemed as though he'd have to tank the heat and suffer the burning conditions as soon as the whips made contact with his body.

However, as soon as the the whips were about to grab ahold of him, they seemed to have frozen in place.

"Guh!"

A groan was heard, followed by the sound of a body, hitting the floor.

The whip of green flames evaporated as Irina fell unconscious.

'Like taking candy from a baby.'

"What the hell happened?"

"What did he do? ...Did he cheat?", gasps and mutterings were voiced by the crowd as Avel walked towards the referee of the match.

[Thanks to the misdirection due to some of the Wind Pulses, the others were curved following the end of the whips, which was coincidentally Irina's neck. This time they were more concentrated and with the amount that was present, it took a couple to pierce through her mana skin, and the rest to knock her out.]

She was beyond stunned, Avel hadn't looked much upon her earlier but now that he had finished the match, he began to inspect her.

Her skin is lightly tanned, as she had tawny brown hair and dark chestnut coloured eyes. She appeared to be in her mid-thirties as she wore a black dress that accentuated her stunning figure, accompanied with a black witch hat with a maroon red stripe across the bottom. On the stripe, there's a small insignia of the maple leaf, slightly to the left.

"Are you not going to announce the winner?"

"W-winner.. Avel!"

As she had said that, the mana within my body reacted, lifting the cuffs that were placed upon it due to the mana contract.

Healers were approaching the girl who laid unconscious but her gaze was upon the boy who had won the duel.

"Who are you?", the judge asked, wanting to know more on the background of the boy who had just won.

"You said it earlier. I'm Avel."