Chapter 192

A week passed quickly after the Baiman City squad arrived in Fang Ting City.

With Senior Cuique and Asano Enka presiding, the interaction between the two squads did not produce excessive turmoil, and the influence of the new squad soon vanished into nothingness.

At least, that was how it appeared on the surface.

As for what lay beneath, no one knew what thoughts the young girls harbored or what actions they took to prepare for the upcoming match.

For Senior Cuique, the only thing she knew was the movements of the Fang Ting City squad.

After Xia Liang, both Lin Xiaolu and Bai Jingxuan approached Senior Cuique to express their willingness to participate in the assessment and accept the match.

However, compared to Xia Liang, communicating with these two children was clearly more difficult. Lin Xiaolu acted as if she were competing with someone unknown, simply refusing to speak much. Regardless of whether Senior Cuique spoke gently or made serious demands, she only bowed her head and apologized, completely refusing to communicate.

Bai Jingxuan, on the other hand, did not feel that "participating in the assessment" carried any danger at all; strangely, her mindset seemed genuinely unproblematic. Considering the abilities she had displayed when the Black Ember Dawn lost control previously, Senior Cuique was actually more concerned about the safety of the other examinees.

Thus, the team members' willingness was unified, leaving only the matter of how to prepare for the match.

Following the prior agreement with Asano Enka, Lin Xiaolu secretly followed her to learn, seemingly aiming to master some new technique before the match.

Xia Liang had learned several basic spell structures from Senior Cuique and was currently in the stage of researching Favo runes, actively reporting her learning progress every other day.

As for Bai Jingxuan, after the recent birthday party, her obsession with becoming stronger seemed to have softened slightly, so Senior Cuique went with the flow to slow down her mana cultivation progress and instead began tutoring her in academic subjects.

This was not a whim, but a plan derived after numerous evaluations of the current situation.

She hoped to find a time to send Bai Jingxuan back to school.

On her birthday, Bai Jingxuan had told Lin Yun, "I hope there are more people I care about."

In the context of that moment, this was merely an expression of her own emotions, but objectively analyzed, it actually provided Senior Cuique with another solution to alleviate Bai Jingxuan's identity crisis.

Undoubtedly, to help Bai Jingxuan grow more healthily, returning her to school to accept the identity of a "student" and a "child" would be better than letting her remain immersed in battles against the Feral Beasts.

If she could meet more friends at school and have more people to care about in her life, it would presumably help Bai Jingxuan develop a stronger self-awareness of being "human," which might benefit her control over the Feral Beast-leaning mana within her body.

Of course, all of this is predicated on the condition that Bai Jingxuan can truly enjoy school life after returning to school.

Recalling the treatment Xia Liang received at school due to family issues previously, if Bai Jingxuan encountered similar problems, it was hard to imagine how terrible things would become.

One must know that children's malice and exclusion often have no reason; if she were sent back to campus without any preparation, it would merely push her from "battles against Feral Beasts" into "battles against society."

Therefore, it is necessary to be cautious, and even more cautious. Not only academic preparation before enrollment, but also the student body and atmosphere of the school, the philosophy of teachers and management, and whether temporary enrollment would be too conspicuous and attract attention—all these factors must be carefully investigated.

Coincidentally, most primary and secondary schools have now reached the end of a semester. It is already the latter half of December, and not much time remains before the semester ends and students enter their long holiday, so enrolling at this moment is naturally unrealistic. Senior Cuique still had time to think carefully before making a decision.

She would only think about these things in her heart; she would not give any unnecessary instructions even to Asano Enka. And Bai Jingxuan, who received academic tutoring from Senior Cuique every evening, could not imagine how complex matters her "mother" was considering.

Time quietly slipped away in such an atmosphere.

Soon, the agreed-upon day of the match arrived as scheduled.

The time was still Sunday, and the location was the underground training room of the base. Considering that the destruction caused by the match itself was limited, and the training room was built with the need to isolate mana to a certain extent, it was actually safer than seeking a location outside.

As for the opponents, adhering to the principle of fairness and justice, six strips of paper with numbers written on them were thrown into a paper box, and Moko, a fairy who "claimed to be fair and just," served as the referee. Both sides drew lots to determine their opponents.

Finally, the drawn lineup for the matches was as follows:

Senior Xiaojin versus Mimosa;

Bai Mei versus Bai Ji;

Thin Snow versus Wood Lily.

It was hard to imagine that although the results were drawn by normal lot, half of the people had bad expressions after the draw.

The fact that Lin Xiaolu would face Bai Ji, while seemingly coincidental at first glance, upon deeper reflection—since at least two of the three members of the Baiman City squad wanted to fight her, whether she drew Bai Ji or Wood Lily, it could be called a grudge match—meant that there was actually only a one-third probability that no personal grudge existed in the match.

As for the remaining two matches, naturally there were no objections, at least from everyone except Wood Lily.

"Then, let the contestants take their positions!"

Floating down to the center of the underground training ground, Moko held a toy microphone that had appeared from nowhere in its claw, swept its gaze around the crowd in a pretentiously serious manner, and declared with feigned solemnity: "Now, as the Sower of the Fang Ting City squad, representing Wang Ting, I hereby announce that the exchange match between the Fang Ting City squad and the Baiman City squad begins now!"

It was greeted only by sparse applause from a few people.

Not feeling embarrassed by this, after loudly announcing the start of the match, Moko continued: "Now, let me read the rules of the match! Each squad has three members; based on the drawn opponents, they will compete in one-on-one matches, totaling three rounds. Winning one round earns one point, a draw earns no points for either side, and the team with the higher score is the winner."

"The criteria for determining the winner are as follows: the opponent loses the ability to move due to mana exhaustion, movement restriction, or physical suppression; the opponent is forced to leave the training ground during the match, resulting in going out of bounds; the opponent voluntarily surrenders in various forms during the match and this is confirmed by the referee... all of these count as conditions for victory!"

"In addition, because this match is of an exchange nature, there is a special rule: if both sides agree, the match can be conducted within the same domain using skills, and if two senior Magical Girls judge the winner based on technique, this also counts as a match victory!"

"Then, let us welcome the first pair of the match, the two Magical Girls who are scheduled to fight first according to the drawing order—Senior Xiaojin and Mimosa!"

This time, whether sincerely or out of politeness, all the Magical Girls present clapped to show their welcome.

As for the two sides of the first match, Xia Liang looked quite relaxed; after smiling and greeting everyone, she naturally walked toward the center of the training ground; the other contestant, Mimosa, was obviously somewhat nervous, one hand gripping the sleeve of the other tightly, lips pressed together, and she walked in small steps to face Xia Liang.

Seeing that both contestants were in position, Moko did not delay further, raised one claw high while still holding the microphone in the other, and loudly declared: "Then, take your positions; the first match begins now!"

As the words fell, everyone's gaze involuntarily focused on the two people in the arena. However, the two in the field seemed to make no move at all.

Let alone making any move, they hadn't even transformed, as if they had completely not heard Moko's declaration; they simply stood there.

Of course, not transforming did not mean they did not want to fight. At least from Xia Liang's perspective, she simply did not know what she should do.

Although she appeared very confident and natural, after all, this was her first time engaging in a direct confrontation against an opponent who was also a Magical Girl. She did not know at all whether she should start fighting without saying a word or follow some etiquette before the battle.

Her original plan was actually to respond according to the opponent's behavior; if the opponent chose to transform and start fighting immediately, she could naturally transform as well; if the opponent chose to greet first, she could respond properly before fighting.

What she did not expect was that the opponent would really stand there without saying a word or fighting, just staring blankly, acting even more like a newcomer than herself.

This indirectly caused Xia Liang, who originally wanted to go with the flow, to also just stand there.

After a while, seeing that the two still made no move, Moko, acting as the referee, had to speak up again to remind them: "Two of you, the match has already started."

However, both sides remained completely motionless.

Seeing that if this continued, the match would seemingly be unable to start at all, Xia Liang had to speak up, a polite smile on her face as she asked: "Excuse me, may I ask, do you intend to decide the winner according to the special rule?"

The taciturn girl before her lowered her head, looking as if she were about to bury her head completely into her clothes, and her eyes were very wandering. Her entire demeanor showed no desire to win, not even a shred of fighting spirit, which was no wonder Xia Liang asked this question.

The opponent's appearance made Xia Liang unsure whether her question would even receive a response.

However, contrary to her expectations, Mimosa quickly gave an answer to Xia Liang's question; although her voice was very small, it was completely audible: "No need."

Saying "No need" meant that the opponent at least intended to fight.

Having received a response to her question, Xia Liang immediately continued: "Then, may I ask how it would be best to start? Since it is a match, should we perhaps begin with a simple mana probe..."

"No need."

This time, the Mimosa's voice was noticeably louder: "I became a Magical Girl a year earlier, so I'm your senior—you can start right away."

Everyone clearly heard those words.

Even Xia Liang, who had previously been puzzled by the other's nervous demeanor, now slightly softened her smile because of those words.

After all, the remark sounded anything but friendly—at least, saying it in this context made it hard not to interpret as disdain for the opponent.

Still, since this was a match, uttering words to provoke the opponent was a valid strategy, so Xia Liang wasn't truly annoyed by it.

She simply realized, plainly, that her opponent didn't seem as simple as she appeared on the surface.

After all, being a Magical Girl meant constant, frequent combat; most Magical Girls had a very clear understanding of their own strength—what enemies they could defeat, and which they couldn't—having learned this through years of accumulated battles.

So when a Magical Girl chose to hold back, it either meant she had a precise judgment of the opponent's strength, or she truly possessed some hidden trump card.

Both were Ye-level Magical Girls; the other must have known that. Their ability blossoms were at the same stage—no matter how much she underestimated, she shouldn't have left herself completely defenseless against an attack. Therefore, the most likely explanation was that the other truly had some advantage.

Thinking this, Xia Liang had already silently recited her incantation, completing her transformation without a sound, and had already raised her wand.

Only when she had taken up her offensive stance did Mimosa finally move, belatedly reaching into her pocket for her Heart Gem, and silently transforming as well.

The transformed Mimosa looked utterly different from her usual self.

Normally, she wore long bangs that nearly covered her eyes, and her clothes were a dull coat and jeans—unremarkable to the extreme.

But after transformation, her appearance, while not outright rebellious, could still be called "bold" among Magical Girl outfits.

First, her outfit revealed a great deal of skin: her top was merely a simple crop top with a bow, and her skirt's length was short even by the standards of Magical Girls, whose attire generally had high exposure.

Second, the saturation of her outfit's colors was extremely high; though the overall tone was pale red, the contrast was extreme, bordering on anime-character levels.

Finally, her hairstyle: her formerly even bangs, level with her eyes, had been parted to reveal a pair of pomegranate-colored eyes, and her not-very-long hair was tied on either side of her head with ribbons, forming twin pigtails.

This jarring contrast caused Xia Liang's thoughts of how to attack to freeze for an instant.

(End of Chapter)