Kintovar grinned with her arms crossed. “I told you, Headmaster. What you’re looking at? That’s technology surpassing magic.”

  Haras clapped her hands together excitedly. “She looks SO cool! I knew the hat design would work!”

  Risebelle, watching from the sidelines let out a breath. “Alright, Roselle. Show them what you’ve got.”

  Roselle locked eyes with Mystimona. "This is Project Mage."

  Mystimona eyed her curiously and repeated to himself, “Project mage…”

  Roselle shot forward like a bullet.

  Mystimona's hand snapped outward in response. A roaring tempest erupted from his palm that surged toward Roselle like a crashing tidal wave. But she didn’t slow down. Purple lightning surged into the soles of her feet. Her speed multiplied—no, exploded—and she tore through the storm.

  The moment she broke through, she was already in front of Mystimona. Her acidic blade slashed forward. Mystimona barely tilted his head—shnk!—the toxic edge missed his face by mere inches.

  Roselle twisted. She slashed again—left, right, diagonal—each swing was precise. The air hissed where her blade passed.

  Yet Mystimona moved with a simple tilt of his shoulders, a step back, a shift of his weight—he evaded each strike effortlessly.

  Roselle gritted her teeth.

  Mystimona’s smirked.

  His fists clenched. The air around them compressed—twisting, folding—before exploding outward with raw force.

  A sudden gust slammed into Roselle which sent her skidding back.

  Mystimona didn’t waste time. He stepped in with fists now wrapped in a violent spiral of green wind.

  And then—

  He attacked.

  A barrage of strikes rained down.

  Roselle’s instincts screamed. She barely managed to raise her blade in defense.

  CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

  Each blow smashed against her weapon with the force of a hurricane. Her arms trembled under the pressure.

  One strike slipped through.

  THWACK!

  A brutal punch slammed into her ribs.

  Roselle's eyes widened. She was blasted backward; however, she managed to flip through the air before she landed hard and skid across the sandy beach.

  Her breath hitched. Her ribs burned, but she grinned.

  She wiped the blood from her lip, “Alright…Now that was a good hit.”

  Mystimona cracked his knuckles. “Let’s see if you can take a few more.”

  Mystimona surged forward. He pressed the attack and threw rapid strikes to force Roselle onto the defensive.

  But something was different: Rather than directly countering, each time he struck, Roselle moved—not away, but around him.

  Mystimona narrowed his eyes. He focused on the patterns—her footwork, the angles she used to slip past his attacks. That’s when he saw a faint glow beneath his feet.

  Two layers of purple lightning had formed in a ring around him. ‘A Trap?’

  The moment he attempted to move—ZAP!

  A sharp jolt lanced through his body.

  His muscles tensed involuntarily. Roselle smirked. “Now I’ve gotcha.” She jumped into the air above him and spread her arms wide.

  The sky darkened.

  Lightning gathered around her fingertips that intensified until arcs of pure violet power crackled outward and formed a massive spinning fan of energy. The sheer force of it distorted the air.

  Roselle declared,

  “THUNDERCLAP, SUUUURGE!!!”

  The spinning fan of electricity shot forward and homed in on Mystimona like a reaper’s blade.

  The first arc struck and detonated on impact. Purple lightning burst outward like a chain reaction that locked Mystimona in a relentless barrage of explosions.

  The battlefield lit up in violent flashes of amethyst.

  Roselle dove down from the air straight into the smoke that formed after her attack.

  Roselle landed with a heavy thud, her boots skidding slightly as she switched her toxic blade for her cannon. Sparks of residual electricity still danced along her fingers as she surveyed the battlefield.

  The smoke from her attack swirled thickly, obscuring everything beyond a few feet.

  Then she saw it—

  A spiraling dome of wind.

  Within its eye stood Mystimona with his arms folded, untouched.

  Roselle’s grip on her cannon tightened.

  She stomped forward and charged straight at the barrier. No hesitation. She reared her cannon back and fired.

  The impact sent shockwaves rippling through the wind shield, but it held firm.

  She shot again. Each shot sent cracks through the swirling defense and distorted its rotation until it was no more.

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  Mystimona’s eyes gleamed.

  With blinding speed, he unfolded his arms and thrust both palms forward.

  A blast of concentrated wind shot out from towards Rosellle point-blank. Roselle’s instincts flared—she yanked up her cannon and fired before she could think."

  KA-THOOM!

  A violent shockwave erupted that kicked up sand and debris which swallowed them both in a blinding storm of dust and energy.

  For a moment, nothing was visible. Then—

  Two figures shot out of the smoke.

  Roselle dug her boots into the ground and slid to a stop.

  Across from her, Mystimona straightened his posture. His long purple hair swayed in the lingering wind.

  Both warriors locked eyes.

  Roselle raised her arms to the sky. Dark clouds rapidly swirled and gathered above the battlefield that casted a shadow over the sand.

  “Thunderstorm Wrath!”

  Lightning bolts arced from the heavens with a ferocious intensity. Each bolt was guided by Roselle's will. They seeked out their target with great precision.

  Mystimona hovered into the air with his wind magic, but he found himself bombarded from all directions by the devastating onslaught. Despite his efforts to manipulate the wind to shield himself once again, he was quickly overwhelmed by the might.

  ‘I've got him this time!’

  Roselle grinned; however, that quickly faded as amidst the flashed of electricity, chunks of earth spiraled through the storm that were coated in flames. The wind itself twisted unnaturally, but fire and stone as well.

  Her heart skipped a beat. ‘Three elements?’

  Before she could fully process it—

  A presence.

  Behind her.

  “You have died once.”

  A deep, calm voice whispered against the back of her head.

  Roselle’s breath hitched.

  No magic spike. Only the ever-present hum of Mystimona’s constant aura.

  She turned around slowly.

  Roselle narrowed her eyes with sweat dripping from her face. “What...do you mean by that?”

  Mystimona lowered his hand from where it had hovered near the back of her head. “I was only using the wind element to hold myself back, but you pushed me to use three of the four elements at my disposal.”

  Roselle blinked. “Three of the four?” She took a half-step back. “You’re telling me you can use four elements?”

  “The four basic elements.”

  Her brow furrowed. “Basic? What do you mean basic?”

  Mystimona studied her for a moment, then let out a small chuckle. “You don’t know?” He raised a brow. “You’ve been fighting all this time… and no one has told you?”

  Roselle clenched her fists. “Told me what?”

  Mystimona sighed. “Alright, then. I suppose I’ll have to explain.”

  Mystimona crossed his arms. “Listen well, girl. There are four basic elements—Water, Earth, Fire, and Wind. These are the primary elements, the foundation of all elemental magic.”

  Roselle kept her face serious and nodded.

  Mystimona continued, “But magic doesn’t stop there. When these primary elements are combined, they give birth to secondary elements. For example, Water and Wind can create Ice. Fire and Earth can form Magma. Each combination leads to something new.”

  Roselle’s eyes flickered with curiosity, but Mystimona wasn’t finished.

  “It goes even further,” he said. “Beyond secondary elements, there are tertiary elements—more complex, more refined. These take multiple elements working in harmony to manifest, and very few mages ever reach that level.”

  Roselle stared at him. “So you’re telling me… every element beyond those four comes from mixing them?”

  Mystimona nodded. “Exactly.”

  Roselle placed one hand on her hip. “I’ve always had lightning since I was created. It’s just… part of me.”

  Mystimona rubbed his chin. “I don’t know much about technology, “but it seems to me that you’ve already been expanding your horizons with it. That alone is proof of growth.” He unfolded his arms. “Regardless, now you understand the basics of magic combat. Use that knowledge well.”

  Roselle smirked. “Oh, I will. I’ll use it to beat you.”

  Mystimona let out a deep, hearty laugh. “That’s the spirit! Now come, Roselle—show me how much further you can go!”

  Roselle’s eyes widened as a memory suddenly resurfaced—the fight with Abner. There was something she had done before that she had been trying to remember.

  Her own words echoed back to her:

  “Light is powerful,” she had said while lightning coiled around her fingers, blending with frost carried by the wind. “But elements—when combined—become something far beyond what you understand.”

  That was it.

  Her grip tightened around her weapon as realization struck. She inhaled sharply. "Elemental Fusion!"

  [System Message]

  Elemental Fusion Initiated

  A blinding flash of purple lightning engulfed Roselle. Her attire twisted and morphed. Her purple skirt now flickered with embers that embodied fire’s might. Ice crystals shimmered along the edges of her outfit. Along the hem, intricate stone-like patterns solidified. Swirling gusts of wind danced around her.

  Every element wove together in perfect harmony, coiling around her in a controlled tempest of destruction.

  Roselle's eyes snapped open. "Mystimona." She raised a hand crackling with fused energy. "Let’s see how you handle this!”

  Mystimona’s ever-present smirk deepened. “Interesting.” His glowing purple eyes assessed her transformed state. “It seems we were both holding something back.”

  Roselle immediately thrust out a hand and sharp spears of ice materialized in the air before launching forward with terrifying speed.

  Mystimona raised his hand and a barrier of fire roared to life before him. The ice spears met their end in a cascade of steam.

  While Mystimona dealt with them, Roselle vanished in a violet blur. In an instant, she was upon him.

  BZZZT! Her toxic blade pulsed with raw electricity as she slashed downward towards his fire shield. Sparks and embers scattered upon impact.

  Mystimona’s eyes flickered. Fast. He swiftly extended his other hand, and a massive earth spear burst from the ground beside him, rising in a jagged formation.

  Roselle gritted her teeth and hopped back. Her eyes locked onto the jagged earthen spear that now stood between them. Lightning was weak against Earth. She had learned that the hard way.

  Mystimona. With a mere flick of his fingers made the massive spear split into dozens of smaller shards that shot toward her in a deadly barrage.

  Roselle kicked off the ground and launched herself into the air. She twisted midair to evade the deadly shards, but the moment she steadied herself, Mystimona hurled a spinning sphere of Earth and Fire straight at her.

  The sphere’s size was no larger than a baseball at first. But as it soared through the sky, it began to expand.

  Larger. Larger.

  Roselle’s eyes widened. It had grown to three times her size in mere seconds. The sheer heat radiating from it made the air ripple.

  “Tch—” She grit her teeth.

  Summoning her fire magic, she funneled it into her toxic blade. The once-purple blade was now wreathed in crimson flames.

  She let out a roar and swung down into the incoming attack.

  CRACKLE!

  The impact sent a shockwave ripping through the sky. Roselle clenched her jaw. The sphere’s power was pushing her back—it was burning her skin.

  But then—

  A purple substance began to ooze from her blade. It coiled around the sphere like a living entity. Mystimona’s eyes flickered with interest.

  The attack wavered.

  Roselle’s pupils narrowed. She tightened her grip—

  SLASH!

  Her blade tore through the massive sphere and split it in half. The two burning halves spun wildly in opposite directions before exploding in twin infernos.

  The moment her blade cleaved through the attack, she cried out,

  “Rising Surge!”

  She channeled the lingering purple substance into her weapon and fired off a cresent wave of fused fire, lightning and poison down towards Mystimona.

  Mystimona’s face held a slight intrigue. He thrust out both hands.

  "Torrential Inferno!"

  A raging torrent of fire and water erupted from his palms that spiraled together in a violent dance. The water didn’t extinguish the flames, no. instead, it fed them and intensified the heat to an oppressive level that surged upward to meet Roselle’s attack.

  But then—

  His eyes sharpened.

  CRACK!

  Roselle’s Rising Surge sliced through his attack like a blade through paper.

  ‘Impossible.’

  Mystimona eyes widened. The fused fire, lightning, and poison wave pierced through his Torrential Inferno and ripped it apart at the seams. The fiery waters that once roared with destructive might collapsed and dissolved into stray embers and steam.

  The combined blast of fire, lightning and poison struck him directly and the impact caused a tremendous explosion.

  Amid the chaos, a brilliant current of lightning arced upward in a perfect crescent, shooting high into the sky—reaching the very height at which Roselle had hovered moments before her descent.

  Roselle dropped to the ground with her body heavy and her breathes coming in ragged gasps. She looked on with her eyes widened.

  ‘Did I get him this time?’

  She stared intently, waiting to see the results of her attack.

  Project Mage