I held out my hand and ejected flames from my hands. It's the attack that Hinote had used on the train. Kanja had explained to me how it worked. In principle, it was an easy spell, but one with many utilities. Its usefulness was only limited by one's imagination. Sadly, I wasn't as imaginative as Scarlet. Knowing her, she would've tried making a fiery cat guardian. Wait!

The flames flew in front of me, moving around and taking on the loose shape of an enormous lion.

Jude raised his hands in front of him. "Speculum glacies!" A large wall of highly reflective ice appeared in front of him. The lion struck the barrier, pushing it back. One could hear Jude gasp from behind it. Both Carter and he underestimated me!

I took a deep breath as the flame lion disintegrated. The ice mirror glowed and launched the lingering flames back at me. Holding my hands out, I captured the fire in my palms. Last night, Lidia told me to remember how Hinote, Nate, Koukyuu, and Carter fought. I spun the fire, forming a sphere of concentrated fire.

"Huh?" Jude said, poking his head out from behind his ice wall. His wide eyes gave away his shock. That mask of his made it easier to fight him. Unfortunately for him, I had a photographic memory. Though, there were times when I wished I didn't.

I winced as the crowd broke into cheers. Ugh, couldn't they keep quiet? If only I hadn't forgotten my headphones back home.

"Are you okay?" Jude asked.

I shook my head. "Yeah, don't worry about me," I said, throwing the fireball at him.

Jude leaped into the air as the ice mirror shattered. Yes, I did it!

"Why are you happy? You missed me."

My cheeks reddened. True, but at least I'd broken Jude's spell. I winced again as more cheers followed, but it didn't dilute my joy.

I formed another set of fire pillars on my palms and launched them at Jude. He gasped as they spun around him. His eyes focused on me. Creating an ice knife, he dashed at me.

"Not so fast!" I yelled, forming additional 'branches' on my fire whips. I gasped as something cold pressed against my back. Jude was no longer in front of me. Had I been trying to capture an afterimage?

"Checkmate," Jude said as he pressed the blunt side of his knife against my back, his eyes cold.

I sighed and snapped my fingers. Fire rose from underneath the ground. If not for his prana veil, he would've been incinerated.

"Ahh," Jude said, jumping back. He'd covered his mask in frost to keep it intact.

"Like Carter said, this is a battle of geniuses!" I said, raising my hand. More flames erupted from the ground.

Jude moved across the field, producing multiple afterimages. Just how quick was the kid? The crowd's outburst made tracking the kid down harder.

I curled up on the ground and covered my ears. Why couldn't they stop cheering until the match was over?

"Huo!" Lidia shouted, but soon her voice grew muffled along with the others.

I opened my eyes and found snow covering the edges of the battlefield. "There, that should do it," Jude said as he dusted his hands off. What was he planning? Wait, was he mocking me at this point?  He could've taken me down already. Hmph, I would make him regret not having done so.

"Don't make fun of me!" I yelled, launching a fireball at him.

Jude turned his head to look at me and vanished. My eyes widened as he struck my gut with his elbow, flinging me back.

"Sorry," Jude said as he jumped back.

I gripped my abdomen. Ugh, how could I beat such speed? Maybe a defensive strategy would be best. I took a deep breath and formed a fire sphere around me. He could only attack me from below, but even that had pockets of fire prana waiting for him.

My eyes widened as the flames were pulled away and smoke surrounded me. W-what was going on? Did Jude have fire magic too? The next thing I knew, cold air surrounded me. Wait, was he affecting the flow of heat around me? Was that why my flames were acting weirdly?

I jumped out of the smoke and dashed at Jude, who stood still and grasped me by the arm. He kid lifted me into the air and slammed me down. Darn it, the one who was underestimated here wasn't me, but him. Should've figured that the brother of Hal would have skills in addition to smarts.

"And the winner is Jude Cantarella!" Ms. Key yelled as I lingered on the ground. I closed my eyes and covered them with an arm. Good thing that the snow was muffling the sound from the audience.

Jude sighed. Why had he acted nervous during the battle? He was in control of the match the whole duration.

"Uh, d-do you want a hand getting up?"

I gritted my teeth. Was he taking pity on me? I must've looked pathetic to him and the others if so. What was I doing, acting like a child? It was illogical to act like this. Like Ling said, moping didn't help at all.

I held my hand up. Jude took it, giving it a tight squeeze as he pulled me up. His hand was oddly warm for an ice mage.

"Thanks," I said, opening my eyes.

"You're welcome."

"Are you alright, Huo?" Lidia asked, running over to me.

I lowered my head. "Would be lying if I said yes."

She sighed. "Was looking forward to facing off against you too."

I glanced at Carter as he headed our way. He had earphones on for some reason.

"N-not that you were going to," Carter said with a weak smile.

Lidia put her hands on her hips. "That confident of victory, aren't you? Don't think that I'll make it easy, Carty."

"C-Carty?"

She giggled. "Heard Kanja use it on you, so wanted to try it myself."

Carter curled his hand into a fist. "K-Kanja!"

I crossed my arms. "You don't call me Huoy."

Lidia snickered. "Do want me to?"

My face flushed. "N-no!" I snapped, running off.

I sighed as Huo ran off. Maybe I shouldn't have joked around like that. Huo was a softie who could easily misunderstand. On second thought, I probably shouldn't have called Carter Carty either as he was the same.

"L-Let's begin!" Carter said with the best stern face he could make.

I nodded and walked to the center of the ring with him.

"Hailing also from Sera is the queen of the waves, Ouyang Lidia! Her opponent, the boy with the fiery soul that burns as hot as flame, Cai Carter!" Ms. Key yelled. "Start!"

Carter smirked.

Oh? Had sparring with Kanja made him feel more secure about fighting girls? Well, it was no issue. Depending on that for victory would've been the way of the coward as Lady Sarah would say.

I gasped as he appeared behind me. Kanja had warned me about this, but he was quicker than I'd anticipated. Thankfully, I had a backup for this. "Pàomò pēnshè!" I yelled, spinning around. I grasped Cart's fist. It was blazing hot. His magic paled against that of Hinote and even Huo, but the flames were hotter.

Carter gasped as bubbles flew out of my hand and into his arm. He gritted his teeth as they pressed against it from all sides.

"I-it's as if I'm fighting Kanja all over again."

I smirked and sent out more bubbles. "Indeed, these hit as hard as her metal spheres and weigh just as much!"

Carter coughed as large bubbles struck him in the gut and then the back. I had to thank Kanja for giving Huo and me some last-minute tips last night. Sadly, it wasn't enough for Huo to claim the win against Jude.

He laughed.

W-what was with that? Did he have something up his sleeve?

My eyes widened as the bubbles evaporated as soon as his hands touched them. They were supposed to be more durable than that!

I clicked my tongue and raised my hands as if I were holding a sword. "Shui Jian," I calmly chanted, forming a glowing water sword. This spell was similar to the typical Aqua Gladius, but with one major difference.

Cart dodged my sword, disappearing quickly from view.

I looked over the corner of my eyes and smiled as soon as he appeared. He gasped as a second Water sword appeared behind me. The boy ducked as it flung at him.

"T-that was a close one."

I waved my finger.

He gasped and ducked again as the sword curved around, pointing at him.

The audience seemed to be laughing. Hopefully they weren't mocking Carter. The boy was trying his best.

Carter punched the ground just as the sword swung back around another time. The force was enough to blow my spell and pounds of dirt into the ceiling of the prism barrier around us.

Such force!

I gasped as dust flew at me. Where was Carter? I'd expected him to be there. Before I could notice the curved tail of dust, something hit me on the back.

My body flew forward like paper. A bandaged arm caught me.

"Y-you okay? I-I didn't hit you too h-hard, did I?" Carter asked, shifting his gaze around the stadium as it burst into cheers.

"The winner is Carter!" Ms. Key yelled.

I sighed. Sorry, Huo, I failed to win too. Given that Princess Sarah accepted defeat to An before the matches, that meant that no one from Sera had made it to the first round proper in at least two years.

Carter chuckled and raised a fist to the air. "Yeah, I did it! Victory number one accomplished!"

I smiled slightly. At least one of us was happy. Hopefully, he would be able to avenge Huo. Though, chances were that match would be more even than the ones we just had. Both were fast, and while Jude had stronger magic, Carter had the type advantage to even things out.

"Uh, Cart, you can let go of my hand now," I said, laughing awkwardly.

Carter's face flushed as he realized he was still holding on to me. "Ahh! S-sorry!" he said, bowing.

"I-it's okay. Let's clear out the ring. Ling and Aurelius will begin their match soon."

Carter chuckled.

"What?"

"Ring, Ling."

I laughed. Huo was right, the boy was as eccentric as little Scarlet.

"Did I hear my name?" Ling asked, glaring at him as she made her way toward us.

Carter jumped. "Y-yeah, b-but it w-was j-just because it rhymes with ring."

"Oh, it does!" Aurelius said, laughing.

Ling rolled her eyes and walked on ahead. And that one was like Huo...

"Good luck, buddy!" Carter said, waving.

Aurelius held out his fist. "Thanks. Plan to win. I did tell you that we would meet in the finals, didn't I?"

He grinned and bumped his fist. "Yeah!"

What a wonderful friendship. The two reminded me a bit of King Qing and Sir Hideo. I giggled. Knowing Carter, he probably would react the same way he did a moment ago if he knew our king's name.

**Solar Note: Hope that you enjoyed the episode ^^. Thoughts on the battles and their outcomes?**