A Malevolent Stare

"The Duel Between the First-Class Magician Niya and the First-Class Warrior Sangji." The referee sat on a high platform beside, announcing the commencement of the match.

Niya held a staff, deliberately disguised by Yann as a common apprentice's tool, but in fact, it was a magical weapon made from the core of a sixth-tier magical beast!

As they say, appearances can be deceiving; no one would have imagined that Niya held such a precious treasure in her hands.

Her opponent, a student with a sturdy physique but not overly muscular, clenched his fists in a gesture of respect. "Please enlighten me," he said.

"Hmm," Niya replied with a slight pursing of her lips.

Niya was quite nervous about this match. Although according to Yann, she already possessed combat power that was second to none below the second tier, she still lacked practical combat experience and thus wasn't entirely reliable.

"Now, begin!" the referee exclaimed.

Just as the boy was about to muster all his strength for a charge, he suddenly felt a strong gaze from the audience below!

"Stare!!" A tentacled creature concealed within its armor fixated its crimson eyes resentfully on the warrior on stage.

Those crimson eyes were filled with malice, sending shivers down anyone who met their gaze.

Especially when those eyes were recklessly scanning your body with a menacing intent.

"Suck!!" As the gaze of the crimson eyes shifted, the boy felt an inexplicable chill in his lower body.

It felt like someone was sawing back and forth down there.

It was Niya's incredibly powerful undead warrior. The boy suddenly remembered the widely circulated incident back in the first grade and throughout the entire academy—an undead warrior defeated the third-grade warrior Axel in a single move!

He wasn't present at the time, so he had doubts about the truth of the matter. Would an undead warrior who could defeat a third-grade warrior serve as a familiar to Niya, who was at the bottom of the class?

That's too far-fetched.

But the surprising reality was that it was true. The boy began to contemplate—if he defeated Niya on stage and Niya sought revenge with her undead warrior later...

Who could bear the consequences?

"Sorry, teacher, I surrender!!" It wasn't worth taking such a big risk for this match.

Even if he forfeited this time, weren't there still nine more chances left? As long as he won three out of the next nine matches, he could still advance to the second grade.

"Um..." The referee was stunned for a moment. "As Sangji has surrendered, I declare Niya as the winner of this match!"

Niya welcomed her first victory on stage since entering the Sacred Heart Academy, although it didn't count the incident with Yann from earlier.

Niya had no idea that Yann, sitting below, was silently exerting his influence.

After stepping down from the stage, Niya took Yann to a secluded place and asked, "What happened? Why did the opponent suddenly surrender?"

Yann smiled. "Of course, it's because he saw how beautiful our little girl from home is and couldn't bear to strike."

"You're just full of nonsense," Niya tiptoed and knocked Yann's helmet. "What's the real story? Did you secretly intervene?"

"Hehe, it's like this..." Yann explained in detail how he had used his gaze to demoralize the opponent. It wasn't something to be ashamed of, so telling Niya wouldn't hurt. After all, his ability to intimidate others was not something an ordinary person could achieve!

After hearing Yann's explanation, Niya was speechless for a while. However, amidst her speechlessness, there was a hint of a secret emotion that she couldn't tell anyone.

If Yann wasn't currently a tentacled creature, maybe... Oh right, didn't he say he would soon reconstruct a new body? By then... What am I thinking!

Niya's face turned red, then she extended her pink fist and heavily knocked on Yann's head before turning and leaving.

Only leaving behind Yann, who didn't know what he had done wrong, being knocked on the head.

About two hours later, it was Niya's turn to take the stage again, and this time her opponent was still a warrior.

However, this warrior appeared much stronger than the previous one, at least judging from his imposing appearance.

But whether he was as good as he appeared remained to be seen.

After the teacher announced the start, the boy rushed forward, completely ignoring Yann's threatening gaze.

At this moment, his eyes were focused on one thing—defeating Niya effortlessly, then collecting the remaining commission from Clark. As for dealing with Niya's undead warrior familiar, that would be Clark's responsibility.

They were not capable of handling it themselves.

"Ah!" The boy wielded a four-foot-long longsword and leaped into the air, aiming to strike Niya. If this strike landed, Niya would be in grave danger.

But there was no need to worry too much; the referee on the sidelines would intervene in time. Their role wasn't just to adjudicate matches but also to prevent such accidents from occurring.

Moreover, Yann had already prepared for everything. If there were any accidents, Yann would definitely rush onto the stage.

Joking aside, his life was now linked to Niya's. If something happened to Niya, he wouldn't have a good end either!

Seeing the warrior charging, Niya became a little flustered, causing Yann, watching from below, to break out in a cold sweat. But soon, the effects of Niya's diligent practice kicked in.

Niya nervously chanted a spell and then raised her hand, conjuring a water arrow from her palm—this was the simplest offensive magic, as water, inherently malleable, was easier to control than fire or wind.

From chanting the spell to manifesting the water arrow took only a second, which wasn't much worse than the outstanding students in the third grade!

"Swish!" The water arrow shot toward the warrior in mid-air.

"This..." Wasn't Niya supposed to be incapable of casting magic? What's going on? To shoot a water arrow in just one second, she couldn't be someone who didn't know magic!

Who provided this intelligence? It's so inaccurate!

The warrior could only dodge in mid-air, using his long sword to block the water arrow.

"Triple Fireball," Niya waved her magic staff and uttered the words that made the warrior despair...

In the extremely short time after the water arrow was released, she released a fireball, and not just one, but three.