Ch. 188: The Number One and the Wizard

HHey, Igni, can I ask you a question?

Igni: Hm? Igni was discussing with his group on what matches to go watch next when someone came up to him.

Do you happen to know where Miss Elina is? Igni: Elina? No, I dont know butwhats going on? Well, its time for Miss Elinas match, but we cant find her anywhere!

As the girl spoke, she spoke almost face to face with Igni.

Igni: You cant find her? Are you sure shes not in the waiting room?

No, she isnt! She isnt there! We need to find her quick or well have to forfeit!!

Igni: Hmmmm, yeah, thats not good.

Igni: (That would be a waste.)

The competition is only held once a year. Letting a match be determined by forfeit was too wasteful of an opportunity for Igni.

I thought since youre pretty good friends with Miss Elina, you might know. I thought you might know where she might be.

Igni: ........I understand. Ill search for her too.

Igni had an inkling of where Elinas whereabouts, and parting with Alicia and the group, he headed towards the school building.

Igni: (Shes probably in that spot again.)

And quickly arriving at his destination.he found her.

Elina hunched over with her head buried in her knees and drew circles on the ground with one finger.

Igni: EElina? Whats wrong? Elina: ........its no use. I lost. Its over......

Igni: (Crap. Shes gone mental.)

Igni: WhWhats wrong? Did something happen?? Igni did his best to proceed with the conversation, but Elina glanced up at him and let out a big sigh. She turned away and began drawing her circles on the ground once more.

Elina: Its okay. I know I cant be first anymore.. Im going to forever be second. Always second..

Igni: HHey now. Its not like you. Cmon. Dont be so pessimistic..

Elina: BBut I worked so hard..that slash attack. Igni: (Is she talking about [Wind Sickle] {Kamaitachi}?)

Elina was referring to her ability to send the slash of her sword across a distance. To Ignis knowledge, he only knows of two other people who could do the same.

In other words, it was the [Extreme of Sword] Kurara, [Extreme of Life] Celia, and now Elina.

Thats why Igni undoubtedly considered Elina to be a 1st class swordsman.

Igni: Oh, yes! That move. I can count on one hand how many people I know who can do that. I think youre amazing.

Elina: ButI wost.

Igni: (Wost? When she says it, it sounds so cute.)

Elina: Im so jealous. You can only use {Fireball} but youre so strong. No matter how hard I try..I cant beat you..

Igni: BButyou know that I cant participate in the matches, right? So wouldnt it be a waste to lose a match by forfeit? Cmon, Elina. Lets go to your match.

Elina: My next opponent is Fray.

With those words, Igni finally understood what was bothering Elina so much.

Elina: Ahhhhh!! *sob* Its over! Im gonna lose!! But..but I tried! I really, really tried! I even asked father to train me over summer break, and I worked on deflecting {Fireball}!!

Igni: (......she was doing that over the summer?)

Elina: But I still lost!! Im going to lose again! I dont want to lose anymoreeee!!

Elina began throwing a tantrum on the ground.

Igni: (Crap!! The stress is causing Elina to regress into a child!! I need to do something!!!)

Igni: Wait! Thats not necessarily true! In the previous match, Fray didnt do so well. He was having a difficult time with Estea!

Elina: What? Against Estea? Igni: Yes, against Estea.

Elina: II see. He struggled against Estea

Elina suddenly stood up straight with hope burning in her eyes. Ignoring everything that was happening moments before, she placed a hand on her sword handle.

Elina: Hehehe.then I might be able to win..!

Igni: Hm? Do you know how strong Estea is? Elina: Yeah, I fought with her on several occasionsand each time, I won.

Igni: Oh, I see!

Igni knows that Estea is top of the class, but that is determined after compiling together multiple forms of assessment into one grand total.

Igni: (In that case, its totally possible that Elina has a better grade than Estea in certain aspects!)

Igni: Then you have a chance to beat Fray, Elina!!

Elina: YYes! Youre right!!

Elina was now pumped up full of energy and grabbed Ignis hand with both hands.

Elina: Thank you, Igni! Thanks to you, Im ready to face this match!!

Igni: Well, I know how you feel. Anyone would hate to lose.

Elina: ......even you, Igni? Igni: Of course. When you lose, its like someone proved that all of your efforts were for nothing.

Elina: IIgni..!

Igni: But no matter what, efforts are never a waste! Remember how you chopped my arm off? Go into this match with the same amount of fight, and you cant lose!

Elina: Thank you. Really, thank you so much. Ill be going now!

With that, Elina headed towards the field. Her expression was full of pure confidence. Igni followed after her. He suspected that he would see Alicia and his friends there.

So as they both headed to the field, Igni found Alicia and the rest standing near the entrance for the spectators. Since the participants and spectators have different entry points, he parted with Elina there, and Igni headed for the seats.

Alicia: I cant believe you managed to find her, Igni. Igni: I just got lucky.

Igni avoided going into details, and although he looked for an open seat, he could not find any.

The spectator seats were packed with people

Igni: ........theres a lot of people here.

Alicia: I guess well have to watch standing.

Igni: Yeah.

Igni and his group moved towards the back of the spectator seats.

Standing in the back, they looked across the field.

Yoori: Who do you think will win, Igni? Igni: .........well, if Fray fights like he did the last match, then itll be Elina.

While they waited for the two participants to enter the field, Igni answered Yooris question honestly. He wasnt sure why Fray wasnt in top form, but that lag between Spells means Frays skills have significantly dropped.

After a while, the two entered the field and the match began.

As soon as the signal was given, both fired off Spells, and the Spells collided and exploded in between the two contestants!

Yoori: ........amazing.

As he watched, Igni heard Yoori mumbling in awe.

But to Igni, Frays technique was still sloppy. Though Fray used [Light Spells], Elina was able to predict his moves and blocked the Spells accordingly. The only thing preventing Frays loss was his mobility, and Elina had difficulty pinning him down.

Slowly but surely, as if tightening an invisible noose, Igni saw Elina corner Fray inch by inch.

Igni: ........its over.

Elina raised her sword above her head.

The unique stance was unmistakable. She was preparing her [Wind Sickle] {Kamaitachi}.

A flying sword slash is much harder to time than a Spell.

Fray paused as if trying to decide between using a Defensive Spell or not. Frays Magic smoldered inside of him.

Not missing the opportunity, Elina swung her sword downwards.

A moment later, her slash crossed the distance between her and Fray.

But Igni saw no blood as a result.

Instead, Fray stood there unharmed.

Igni: .........!!!

Igni did not miss it.

As Elinas slash flew through the air, Frays arm transformed for just an instant. He had shifted his arm into light particles.

A sword slash was unable to do any harm to it.

Thats why Fray was unharmed.

This was the same invulnerable Defensive Spell the [Extreme of Light] devised.

Igni: .........how did he.

After a second of delay, Fray managed to push Elina out of bounds, and the match signaled loudly of Elinas defeat.

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Extreme Flame Wizard - I can only use fireball but I became the strongest just wanting to be popular with the girls

Written by: Cyclamen

Translated by: ChonkyTranslator

Japanese Title:

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