Nace and someone named Grud went up first, wearing their battle gear, and I stood by the stage to cheer Nace on. Although we just met yesterday, I had a favorable impression of the guy; he's nice. 

Standing opposite him is a guy named Grud. He's a tall, skinny dude wearing a loosely fitting uniform with a black tunic over it. From the way his back is hunched, I could pretty much guess how listless the guy is. 

Nace then pulled out his saber, taking on the stance he did when we had sparred. Too bad for him, there's no gleaming sun here to catch his opponent off guard. 

Grud, on the other hand, took out a Scyhte with a dark blade. Dude straight-up looks evil with the get-up. I mean, I don't mean to judge, but hunched back? With a Scythe? He might be a villain. 

With the professor acting as the referee, they acted. 

I noticed that Nace dashed just like he did when he fought me. To my surprise, he executed the same move—tilting his sword slightly so that a gleaming light reflected in his opponent's eyes.

But where exactly does the light come from...?

Grud stood there unfazed, pulling his Scythe's blade onto his eyes, shielding it from the light. However, it did the job as Nace suddenly vanished from where he was to Grud's back. 

Nace swung his sword across his opponent's back, but Grud somehow managed to block it with the body of his weapon. Grud glared behind him, at Nace, before swinging wildly towards his direction.

Nace dashed back, dodging the attack. 

For a while, they only stood, watching each other. 

And then Nace began to chant, "[Fu] [Da]."

Huh? What kinda spell is that?

His eyes began to glow a bright yellow along with his hair. 

"A Super Saiyan!" I shouted, garnering weird looks from the onlookers as well as Nace, Grud, and even the instructor.

Kheum!

Nace focused on his fight, squinting his eyes at the unflinching Grud. He dashed. This time, faster. He swung. Sharper.

Grud lowered his stance and brandished the scythe in front of him. 

Both weapons met, and the collision almost blew the stage off. 

Nace gave a flurry of blurry slashes while trying to get close to Grud, who, I guess, had the superior reach. I mean, look at the arms on this guy.

Meanwhile, Grud continued to be on the defensive; he almost looked tired of it. 

As they fought, I had a thought.

This spell of Nace. It's engraved. I knew because as he fought, Grud continuously tried pummeling his head with the butt of his scythe, and a few times, it grazed Nace. 

What would the fire command then do if it is a buff? I wondered.

As the fight grew more intense, I noticed Nace panting, his [Fu] [Da] waning slightly. 

Grud might actually be a tank with a defense like that; Nace hasn't landed a single hit.

Then it happened: Nace lowered his stance even more — almost to the floor — and swiped at Grud's knees. 

Grud had no way of stopping Nace's attack.

To everyone's surprise, however, Grud opted to attack Nace as well, risking his legs for Nace's wide-open back.

Before any of their attack could land, the instructor clapped, and a wind swept the arena clean. Nace's hair instantly returned to its original black color as if blown away by the wind. 

I only noticed it now, but Grud had a similar mist floating around him like smoke. The wind similarly blew it off.

"Alright, we've seen enough," He walked towards both of them and ushered them down the stage, "For starters...Grud," He looked at him, "Focusing on the defense and attacking only when necessary, keeping your opponent at a distance using your more extended reach. Pretty Good."

He then looked at Nace and sighed, "On the other hand, just because you got frustrated, you immediately resorted to extreme engraved spells. You even used two at the same time—you risked your entire back just to deal damage to your opponent's legs. Why didn't you fire off long-ranged spells instead? Because there's no way you can't."

Both Grud and Nace stepped off the stage. Nace had a downcast look on his face, while Grud...still looked like Grud. It was apparent that Nace wasn't satisfied with his performance. I thought of going up to him and comforting him, but alas, I couldn't muster up the courage. 

The mock battles resumed. This time, it's a girl named Samantha and Viola on the stage.

Samantha held a staff taller than her petite physique, while Viola had a short sword held with one hand.

The battle began with Samantha immediately casting a defensive spell—a translucent shield—while simultaneously summoning spiked whirlwinds directed at Viola. 

Viola sidestepped, letting the spiked winds whistle past her short purple hair. She followed up with a spell on her own, directing her blade toward Samantha and summoning purple glowing swords all around her that bombarded Samantha's shield.

Samantha doubled down on her defense, but cracks began to appear, and before I knew it, her shield shattered—then the professor quickly stepped in front of her, shielding her from the barrage of purple swords.

Samantha fell to her bottom, pale. Her opponent crushed her without even as much as a fight, only defending.

At the corner of my eye, I saw Nace with a frown, biting his lip.

The instructor helped Samantha off the stage, "Well, you all saw what happened--nothing much to say but great job to both," he flipped a page on his checkboard, "Next! Ennahon and Ji-Yeong, up on the stage, please."

I froze.

The moment the instructor said my name, my stomach dropped.

"Ennahon and Ji-Yeong, up on the stage, please."

I didn't move right away. Couldn't. My brain was still trying to catch up. I was supposed to just watch today—cheer for Nace, maybe learn a spell or two by osmosis.

But now?

I realized too late that I am supposed to fight. And what's worse, a vampire prince.

I turned to look at Ennahon, and he was already standing. Calm, collected, cloak swaying slightly as if the very air around him bowed in courtesy. His pale face betrayed no emotion. Not even amusement.

I, on the other hand, was frozen in place--I felt a certain confidence in my body, but my mind blurred with anxiety. I'd seen what vampires could do in the game...and now I'm supposed to fight one for real?

I wanted to ask the instructor if this was a joke. Just a harmless little prank to break in the new guy. But the look on his face told me otherwise. This wasn't a joke, "Come on up, Ji-Yeong."

At this point, Ennahon was already on stage. He brushed his blonde hair back as he put something on his head, a band of sorts.

Nace sat just a few feet away, still chewing his own failure like glass, though his eyes encouraged me for some reason. Grud hadn't even smirked during the whole match, like it was too easy to be proud of. Samantha had crumbled behind a shield. And here I was, about to go up against the scariest person in the room.

My feet felt like stone. My mouth was dry.

I wasn't ready.

I don't think I ever would be.

But then I remembered what I told myself that morning.

If magic brought me here... then maybe magic can get me back.

And maybe surviving this match is the first step toward doing just that.

So I took a shaky breath, stood up, and made my way to the stage.

Each step I took reminded me of the time I had just graduated. It felt like a lifetime ago. And similarly, my mind opened up as soon as I stepped in front of Ennahon.

It was as if I had taken on a new personality, I felt...in control. Confident. Like when I had my hand on a mouse and keyboard.

I slowly exhaled and turned to the professor, "Can I put on armor at least?" I asked.

"Suit yourself, but hurry up," he grunted. 

I nodded. I took my dagger and made a slight slit in the air as I muttered [Inventory] and took out the red, crystalline tunic.

I put it on and stood as still as I could to face Ennahon.

As soon as I lifted my eyes to meet his, it glowed green. I saw an almost unreadable expression on his face; his eyes widened as he stared at me. He looked shocked? 

He then took out two golden bracelets and fitted one on each wrist. From what I could see, both are engraved with glyphs and runes I can't understand--different from what our Practical Mana Application's professor showed us.

"Are you both ready?" 

I nodded, and so did Ennahon.

"Begin!" 

Immediately, I dashed back, trying to recall all the spells I remembered from the game.

"[Astar]!" I shouted and right away, I felt my body lighter, as if weightless. I took out my dagger and pictured it in my head, trying to mold its shape into a long, thin sword.

All the while, Ennahon just stood, as if waiting. 

Looking at my dagger, I was surprised that it had taken on a different shape...just not what I had expected.

It resembled a long, pointed stick—a needle.