Vierna saw the field. It was, by all appearances, large. Certainly wide enough to sprint, to dodge, to cast from range without ever brushing against the edge.

  The air carried an unnatural spaciousness, as if the ground stretched farther with every step. Spatial magic, no doubt. A trick embedded into the arena itself, warping dimensions just slightly to make the field chamber feel larger than it truly was.

  It was clever. Practical. And just dramatic enough to set the stage for a proper duel.

  Vierna clasped her hands dreamily as they walked toward the edge of the field.

  "I really need to make Alb marry me. Just imagine all the books I could buy with his money. Hehehe..."

  Lina turned to her with absolute horror.

  "Vierna, please don’t go down that path."

  This was the birth of Money Grubber Vierna. A girl who would marry purely for wealth.

  She smirked.

  "Hehe, of course not. I’m a perfectly upstanding, morally grounded young lady."

  Lina didn’t look convinced.

  The field awaited them.

  Both duelists stood at opposite ends. Albrecht now wore a formal dueling uniform, sleek and dark, with sharp lines. He conjured it effortlessly from thin air. His cape fluttered slightly, as if catching a breeze that wasn't there.

  Across from him, Halwen made no such gesture. He wore his usual high-collared clothes and a white coat. It looked more like an alchemist’s robe than combat gear.

  If the Reich ever had scientist-duelists, Halwen stood as their prime example.

  At the edge of the field, the maid raised her hand, then called out in a clear voice.

  "Begin."

  A brown magic circle bloomed in the air behind Halwen, expanding like a mechanical iris locking into place.

  "Earthbound Javelins," he said.

  From the circle, a barrage of stone javelins launched forward. Streamlined. Gleaming with unnatural smoothness. These weren’t crude rocks. Every spear had been refined down to its texture, weight, and balance. They looked forged, not conjured.

  In response, Albrecht smiled.

  He conjured a blade. A dagger, black like the night sky, long enough to harm but too short to be called a sword. Its edge shimmered faintly, as if starlight was trapped inside. He channeled mana toward its edge.

  "Heavenly Movement: Milky Way."

  He swung the blade.

  From that motion, a sweeping arc of silver-blue magic flared outward. Wide and curved, like a celestial ribbon drawn across the heavens. It tore through the air with an audible pull, swallowing the incoming javelins as if the sky itself had opened and dragged them into orbit.

  “What is that?” Lina asked, blinking. “Is it just a glorified wind cutter?”

  “No, Miss Lina,” said a voice beside them. It was the same maid from before, the one who had escorted them in. Apparently, Albrecht or Halwen had instructed her to stay nearby and answer questions.

  “That was Albrecht’s magic. He uses constellation-based techniques. It’s his specialty.”

  Vierna leaned forward, eyes gleaming. “Can anyone learn that?”

  “Yes, Miss Vierna,” the maid said with a polite nod. “In theory, any type of magic can be learned by anyone. But compatibility plays a significant role.”

  She gestured gently as she explained.

  “For example, most mages can learn all seven elemental basics. But your spirit will always resonate more strongly with one. Using the element your spirit is attuned to comes with benefits, less mana strain, faster casting, and stronger effects overall.”

  Vierna wrote down the explanation.

  Halwen stared down the incoming slash, his eyes sharpened with focus. The corner of his mouth lifted just slightly.

  A pale circle spun to life over his palm, its lines sharp and exact.

  "That’s the deflection spell!" Vierna whispered to Lina, her voice rising with excitement. "Herr Halwen’s going to deflect it—"

  But before he could cast it, Albrecht vanished and reappeared just beside Halwen.

  Milky Way had vanished. Just a decoy after all.

  With a single fluid motion, he compressed his black blade and drove it straight toward Halwen’s ribs.

  Except—

  The blade met no resistance.

  "What—" Lina blinked.

  “A clone spell, huh? And a clean position swap, too,” the maid remarked, “Herr Halwen is quite the capable mage, it seems.”

  It wasn’t just any clone. The color, the weight, even the movement of its coat, Halwen had shaped the earth down to its texture. Controlled the arm remotely with his magic. And somehow, without anyone noticing, swapped himself out.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  “Pardon me, Miss,” Vierna said, eyes narrowing. “But how do you know so much about magic?”

  The maid smiled politely.

  “I’m also one of Lord Albrecht’s students. He made me his maid in exchange for training.”

  “What? So in a way, you’re our senior?” Lina blinked. “And also, why a maid?”

  “Well, I don’t like the formality. And he said I looked cute in the uniform.”

  Vierna grinned. “Hehehe… that’s so very Alb. I wonder if I dressed in a maid uniform, would he teach me all his secrets too?”

  Lina froze.

  For a split second, her brain short-circuited then rebooted with panic. The image of Vierna in a frilly maid outfit wasn’t just dangerous. It felt like the kind of thing that could justify a war.

  A voice rose behind Albrecht.

  "...and banished all the void from this earth."

  Halwen’s tone was calm. But there was a grin on his face.

  "Eidrecht 77: Entf?rbte Leere." (The Drained Void)

  From his palm, a beam erupted like a compressed horizon. Broad and humming low like a cello.

  It was brown energy. Dense and raw. Tearing through the air.

  “Miss, um… what is Eidrecht magic?” Vierna asked, eyes wide. “The books back at the orphanage didn’t mention it.”

  The maid nodded. “Eidrecht spells are codified combat doctrine. They are not common knowledge outside the academy.”

  “Codified?” Lina raised an eyebrow. “So everyone all academy students knows it?”

  “In a way.” The maid folded her hands. “The lower-tier Eidrecht are considered outdated. They are basically ordinary spells, only slowed down by incantations. The higher-tier, though, is different. They take time to chant, but the power makes it worth it.”

  “So Eidrecht is more efficient, but you need time to finish the incantation?”

  “Exactly. That is why Herr Halwen uses his earth magic first. It buys him the time needed for the chant.”

  “Go, Uncle! Kill that glorified astronomer!” Lina shouted completely ignoring the explanation.

  “YES, Herr Halwen!” the maid added, arm raised. “Teach that pervert a lesson!”

  Clearly, both of them held a deep grudge against Albrecht, likely earned from unsolicited flirtation, smug superiority, or simply… being him.

  Vierna, meanwhile, cupped her hands to her mouth.

  “Albrecht, hang in there! Hehehe…”

  Albrecht glanced toward the audience and offered a sheepish smile—half apology, half what can you do? charm.

  The duel pressed forward, Albrecht slipping through the storm of Halwen’s Eidrecht 77. After a long exchange, his movements slowed, and his gaze sharpened in sudden focus.

  His blade shimmered with pale silver light. As the brown beam surged toward him, he met it head-on. The clash of energies cracked the air. With a twist of his wrist, he deflected the beam sideways, sending it roaring past him.

  “Ohhh,” the maid murmured, brows raised. “Even Herr Albrecht couldn’t fully deflect Herr Halwen’s spell after seeing it a few times? That’s... honestly surprising.”

  “What do you mean?” Vierna asked.

  “Experienced mages usually try to redirect incoming spells back toward the caster,” the maid explained. “But to do that, you have to perfectly read the spell’s structure in real time. Sideways deflection means you couldn’t fully trace it.”

  She folded her arms, thoughtful.

  “And Herr Albrecht is usually excellent at that. So the fact he couldn’t… well, it says a lot. Herr Halwen really lives up to his reputation.”

  “Hehehe~ My uncle’s strong, right?” Lina beamed proudly.

  “Indeed he is.”

  Seeing that he had at least partially succeeded in deflecting Halwen’s spell, Albrecht blinked toward him. Daggers flashed as he slashed rapidly, but Halwen met each strike with his bare arm, sheathed in earthen magic that made it as strong as steel. Blow after blow rang out until Halwen finally parried cleanly. The recoil bought him a heartbeat of space, enough to blink away and put distance between them.

  But Albrecht gave him no room. The moment Halwen reappeared, Albrecht was already rushing toward his new position.

  "Erdene Umschreibung: Weichung." (Earthen Rewrite: Softening) Halwen screamed.

  The earth trembled. Dirt, marble, and stone all softened, becoming malleable. The field still held its shape, but its texture had changed—as if the ground itself was ready to be rewritten. The shift slowed Albrecht’s advance, forcing him to leap back to his original position.

  Halwen moved one arm forward, the other slipping into the folds of his cloak.

  "Vier Erddrachenansturm." (Four Earth Dragons' Onslaught)

  Four dragon-shaped pillars rose behind him, sculpted from the newly softened terrain. They weren’t crude earth constructs. Their joints curved like sculpted clay. The ridges, the scales, the eyes—too smooth. As if shaped by a master craftsman in seconds.

  The dragons surged forward in unison, racing toward Albrecht, who was only just regaining his footing.

  As Albrecht tried to dodge the four rushing clay dragon pillars, something caught him mid-step.

  An arm, shaped from earth, gripped his ankle, rising silently from the softened ground. While he was focused on the dragons, Halwen hadn’t just been watching. He had cast another spell subtle enough to escape notice.

  He clicked his tongue, then dropped to one knee. One hand swept behind his back. The other pressed firmly to the earth.

  "Heavenly Movement: Sirius."

  The sky darkened without warning. As if night itself had been invoked by name.

  From above, a single beam of serene light fell upon Albrecht, making him appear like the brightest star in the sky.

  Though the beam did nothing to him, the moment the earthen dragons touched the light, their sculpted forms disintegrated on contact—crumbling into particles, like stardust drawn back to the heavens. The arm holding his leg dissolved as well, consumed by the same sacred radiance.

  It was as if Sirius had chosen Albrecht alone to stand beneath its radiance. The magic wasn’t a barrier—it was a divine light cast to protect him, and it destroyed anything else that dared to approach.

  Seeing his dragons fail to do their job, Halwen thrust both hands forward.

  “Braune Guillotine” (the Brown Guillotine.)

  The earth heaved in response. Clay twisted upward, condensing into a massive, curved blade weighted like an executioner’s axe. With a brutal sweep, it surged toward Albrecht, who still stood bathed in the argent glow of Sirius’s light.

  Seeing the approaching spell, Albrecht screamed.

  “Heavenly Movement: Sirius – Heilige Erleuchtung!” (Sirius - Sacred Illumination)

  Albrecht swung his dagger to the air, coated by Sirius’s sacred light. It formed an illuminated sword arches that dances through the wind. It meets the dark brown guillotine head on. It crashes but it was clear that the guillotines were outmatched. Its barraged brown barrages were pushed back by the illuminated light of the sword arcs.

  Halwen screamed

  “Braune Guillotine – Klage der K?niginnen!” (Brown Guillotine – Lament of Queens)

  The earth obeyed. The guillotine now rose faster, cutting sharper, flying truer than before. If Halwen could not match each strike’s intensity, then he would overwhelm with sheer numbers. Again and again, the Brown Guillotine surged forth. The barrage crashed against the light-cloaked slashes, and soon the two forces locked in a furious stalemate, colliding in the air and grinding against each other at the midpoint.

  At last, Sirius’s light dimmed—like a star forced to rest. Albrecht lowered his gaze to the smoke curling from their clash.

  And then—

  “…Let their pride become their downfall.”

  Halwen’s voice cut through the haze, a fragment of an incantation already unfolding. He thrust one hand toward the sky.

  “Eidrecht 80: Richtende Speere (Sentencing Spear)

  Above him, ten spears of brown energy took shape, each one sculpted into a jagged cross. For a heartbeat they hung suspended over Albrecht, ominous as gallows. Then they fell, screaming downward, streaking like divine lightning made from soil and stone.

  Albrecht’s grin only widened, almost feral now. He wasn’t just enduring—he was reveling. And this? This was only the beginning.

  So, Geomancy or Astromancy?