Chapter 25

'I am going to die…'

This was the only thought in Caroline's head as she the incoming storm of ice, although for the onlookers and judges, it might not seem that strong, just some ice shards, for her, who was facing it directly was a huge pressure.

Caroline gritted her teeth as a golden light started shining and covering her rapidly while healing her cuts at the same time.

Caroline's aura was about to exhaust and she was maintaining it with great difficulty.

Ellis' was not any better.

The storm hit Caroline as her blood started oozing from the fresh wounds that were constantly getting formed on her dark skin.

"Cough-!"

But, all of sudden, Ellis coughed blood from her mouth and fell on the ground and so did the blizzard disappear.

Caroline saw as Ellis fell down and so did the storm calmed down and slowly dispersed on its own.

Ellis fainted probably due to her aura being exhausted completely and probably because she still over-exerted herself.

Caroline's shape was similar but she was able to maintain her state of self, due to her high endurance as a sword master and tough training that she could still remain conscious.

'Ellis, huh… what a great woman you are, such will and determin….'

She fainted as well not able to complete her thoughts.

The judge came inside and saw both sides, assuring that none of them was fatally wounded, he declared Caroline to be the winner.

Of course, even he won't agree with his judgment but one must be declared a winner in a match.

Caroline was almost the same as her… and she does not deserve to be the victor but oh well, the judge can't do anything about it.

***

"Ughh…"

I woke up to find myself on a white bed in a plain-looking room, it was the medical room I guess.

'I lost huh…'

I should be sad but instead, I felt refreshed and satisfied, it's been a while since I felt like this, I felt like I opened up a new aspect of my life.

To be finally able to give it my all to something felt great.

Although I lost, there's nothing I could have done...

Haha, but I am happy that I gave my best.

As I was resting my head on the soft pillow underneath me, the door to the room opened as a doctor came in to check on me after examining me and making sure I would be okay now, he left,

Followed by another woman entering the room, one I didn't recognize.

"Hello, Ellis, how are you feeling now?"

"I feel fine now, the doctor ensured of my condition."

"Great~! By the way, let me introduce myself, I am Isis, a magician and one of the judges who judged your match."

I felt shocked as I did not expect a judge to come personally to greet me, the thing is all the judges are either professors at the academy or someone important and they are usually busy with tons of work, well most of them are whether it be a personal or professional business.

She could have sent a student or something if she was being considerate of my condition which is hard to believe, in such a cruel world, it is expected of students to stay tough even after facing death experiences.

'Ah, she must be here for what I am thinking then…'

"You may have figured it out by now but let me still tell you in case you did not figure out my purpose of coming here, I am here to inform you that even though you lost, you are qualified to be admitted to the academy, we judge students on their potential rather than based on results of a single match."

"Thank you very much, professor!"

I thanked her profusely as it was a great relief to hear it coming out of her mouth, although I already expected such an outcome from my fight but in one corner of my mind, I was still thinking that what if they won't admit me and what will become if Freya came to know of this.

I dodged a flag there, and I am hopeful that Caroline won't think too negatively of me, in the novel although, her character was pretty nice and she won't hold a grudge over a duel ever as it would belittle her honor as a knight of Schultz family.

But it could also happen, although the possibility is very less that she would feel humiliated by how long she took to defeat or some shit like that and hold it against me in the future.

'Sigh, interacting with a heroine is as troublesome as I expected it to be.'

Isis told me she belonged to the water aura department and that I was welcome to join them in the future if I make up my mind.

'Hmm, it's not bad at all, the water aura department is pretty strong here at the academy and there are some heroines associated with it as well…'

Come to think of heroines, I think it is time that Freya's duel ended as well.

And if I remember correctly, she was matched with a heroine as well.

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