"Winner, Arin Vale!" the teacher announced.
Arin made the Water Spike disappear as he let go of Lina's hand.
Lina turned back to look at him with a smile on her face. "That was a good fight."
"Trust me, I learned a lot from it," she added.
Arin nodded. "You did well."
With that, they both went to drop the weapons. None of them were injured, so there was no need for healing.
Arin joined the circle as he watched the next two fighters step out.
'Lina has really gotten stronger,' Arin thought, recalling the Ice Element Spells she used, especially the one that boosted her speed.
After some time, all the fights had ended, and Orion stepped out.
"This is the end of the third round of the competition," he said. "Slowly, we're approaching the end, and the last three students who win their fights will join Alex to represent this academy in the tournament."
After a few more words, Orion dismissed all of them.
Arin arrived in his room and did the usual—dropping the bracelet so Roxanne would come out, freshening up, and having a brief discussion with them.
After that, Roxanne went to the window as usual, and Arin sat down in a lotus position.
In an instant, he was already inside the Mana Space.
"I wasn't able to completely transform the Water Dragon Spell into an Ice Dragon Spell," he muttered.
"But I should be able to complete it today."
With that, he began the process.
Arin folded his arms with a smile on his face as he stared at the dragon in front of him.
Though, instead of a Water Dragon, it was an Ice Dragon.
A cold mist was oozing out from the dragon, and its horns had also become sharper.
With that, Arin was now able to transform all the current Water Element Spells he had into Ice.
"Well, now that's done. Time to do something else."
He knew that it was still not morning yet, so he decided to do something else inside the Mana Space.
He quickly began drawing a Magic Circle with the Mana inside the Mana Space.
This was a Magic Circle Riya had taught them in class.
Well, she didn't really teach them, since the class wasn't only for Water Element Mages. She used it as an example, so Arin just took note of it, and now, he was about to make the spell.
"The Water Slash Spell... A spell that's a bit more powerful than it sounds."
"The good thing is that the Magic Circle for this spell isn't really complex," Arin muttered. "I think Riya even mentioned that some young Water Mages from solid backgrounds preferred to make the Water Slash Spell as their first spell instead of the Water Spike before they entered an academy."
Arin continued drawing the Magic Circle, eager to complete the spell.
Though, he wasn't able to finish it yet, he had made significant progress.
With that, he exited the Mana Space and stared outside, noticing that the sun was already rising.
'At least I won't be late today,' he thought as he waved at Roxanne, who was greeting him.
After freshening up and letting Seraphine out, he wore the bracelet and exited the room.
Within minutes, he had already arrived at the building reserved for teachers. He climbed the stairs and went straight to Riya's office.
"Come in," Riya said.
Arin opened the door, and without saying anything first, he walked toward the chair and sat down, facing Riya.
"What do you want, Arin?" Riya asked with a smile. "Or is Lina angry with you for not letting her win? Hehe."
Arin relaxed in the chair. "Not at all. She even thanked me and told me she learned a lot from the fight."
"Yes," Arin said. "Though, I'm here because I need your help."
"I'm all ears," Riya said.
"I need tips on how to make more spells," Arin went straight to the point.
Riya nodded. "I understand."
"Let me give you a little something," she added.
Arin just nodded as he watched her.
She opened a drawer and took out a piece of paper, then retrieved an inkwell and a quill.
The next moment, she began drawing something on the wide paper.
Arin didn't lean forward to look at it. He just continued watching her, letting her do what she was doing without any disturbance.
After a few minutes, she finally raised her head and turned the paper so that it faced Arin.
'Magic Circles...' Arin thought as soon as he saw the drawings on the paper.
"Normally, a Magic Circle and the patterns in it are explained to students so that they understand the spell they are creating," Riya said.
It wasn't like students couldn't just get a picture of the Magic Circle and draw it with their Mana in the Mana Space. But like Riya said, they were being taught one at a time so they would understand the spell they were creating.
"So, these are the Magic Circles for a few spells that I think you don't have yet," Riya said.
Arin observed the drawings, focusing on the patterns in the circles.
Riya leaned back. "You can just memorize them and then draw them in your Mana Space to create the spell."
Arin knew the great favor she was doing for him now. Getting drawings of Magic Circles—especially this amount—was nearly impossible if the teacher had yet to explain those certain Magic Circles in class, and yet...
Arin smiled. "Thank you very much. I really appreciate it."
Riya nodded. "You're welcome. But remember, don't just start drawing the next Magic Circle if you haven't gained at least a reasonable understanding of the last one."
"I understand," Arin said as he folded the paper.
With this, creating spells would be easier because he would just have to memorize the Magic Circle and then draw it with his Mana in the Mana Space.
But of course, he would do as she said and make sure he understood even a bit of the last spell before creating a new one.
"Yup, I have to go all out on this..."