Gaze Restraint Magic

On one side of the basin, the battle has reached a fever pitch.

The duel between Ubel and Wirbel was less a contest between mages and more a close-quarters battle between two top warriors.

Both wielded short staves, perfect for close combat. Their movements were lightning-fast, the wind whistling through the air as they collided, producing dull thuds and Sparks of magical energy.

Their figures rapidly intersected, separated, and intersected again in the forest clearing; ordinary magic, the ranged spellcasting upon which they relied for survival, seemed superfluous and clumsy at this moment.

"Tsk!" Wirbel parried Ubel's tricky thrust, using the momentum to retreat half a step, and grinned cruelly. "Hey, are you really a mage? An ordinary mage would have been taken down long ago if I got this close..."

Ubel flicked her wrist, and her short staff, like a venomous snake, struck Wirbel's ribs again, her face still bearing that enigmatic smile, "Who knows? Senior, and besides, you don't seem to have much right to judge me, do you?" Her attacks were like a whirlwind, relentless and unstoppable.

Wirbel parried the attack, his smile fading as he said in a deep voice, "... Enough with the small talk. I've been holding back because you're a student of the academy, understand? If I were serious, you'd be dead already."

Ubel chuckled, his short staff tracing an arc that forced Wirbel to parry again. "Is that so? Come to think of it, I think I also had... well, about thirteen chances just now, enough to easily take your life? Senior, how do you say that's calculated?"

Wirbel paused slightly, his sharp gaze sweeping over Ubel's seemingly relaxed face. After a moment of silence, he coldly snorted, "Hmph... Since you put it that way, don't blame me for being ruthless."

Before he finished speaking, and without any obvious spellcasting action from Wirbel, Ubel suddenly felt a tightness all over his body, as if he were firmly bound by invisible shackles and unable to move.

"I can't move...?" Ubel tried to mobilize his magic, but found that even the flow of magic had become incredibly sluggish, as if he were stuck in quagmire. "Not only my body... but my magic is also bound? A powerful binding spell..."

Her mind raced. "If he has this kind of magic, he should be able to catch the Stille easily... Oh, right, the prerequisite is that he has to find those little creatures that are good at hiding first. If he can't find his target, even the best binding magic is useless."

At that moment, Wirbel's voice came. "My 'Gaze Binding' spell can render you immobile. Killing you now would be effortless. Now you understand, right? Although you may have held back, if I had used this move from the beginning, you wouldn't have had a chance to fight me and would have been defeated instantly."

He paused, then, seemingly to demonstrate his control, deliberately released the magical restraints. "So, hand over the Stille, and leave. I don't want to hurt my junior sister too badly."

Ubel flexed his newly freed wrists, his mind racing:

"Yeah... If he had used that move during the sneak attack, I wouldn't have even had a chance to react... Should I use that move? Hmm, that's a bit of a hassle... After using it, who knows where in the world I'd have to find that Lowell guy... Lose? I wouldn't necessarily lose, but..."

She suddenly realized a crucial point. "Wait a minute, if his magic can really trap me indefinitely, he's only about five meters away. Why doesn't he just come over and take the Birdcage? Is he really so lazy that he can't even move those few steps? Unless..."

A knowing glint flashed in her eyes, and she deliberately spoke, "That's not right, Senior Wirbel? If your magic can truly keep me immobilized, then forget about taking the Stille, I shouldn't be able to stop you from doing whatever you want to me. You can do whatever you want. So..." Before she could finish speaking, she suddenly threw the Birdcage in her hand diagonally upwards!

Wirbel's gaze unconsciously followed the Birdcage for a fleeting moment.

It was that brief moment of space!

Ubel's figure lunged forward like a ghost, the tip of his short staff gathering an extremely sharp point of light, aimed directly at Wirbel's eyes! If this strike landed, the consequences would be unimaginable.

However, Wirbel reacted extremely quickly, leaning back sharply at the last second while simultaneously retreating rapidly. Ubel's short staff narrowly grazed his nose, the "Nothing Is Uncuttable" magic attached to it being incredibly sharp. Although it only injured his flesh, it cleanly severed several large trees nearby, leaving smooth, mirror-like cuts.

Ubel was once again bound by the Gaze Restraint Magic.

She glanced at Wirbel's slightly rapid breathing and the bloodstain on his nose, her tone carrying a hint of matter-of-fact mockery. "So, your magic requires you to keep my entire body covered in your vision to activate, and during activation, your own casting speed and movement speed will be greatly affected, right? You're afraid I'll notice this, so you're pretending to be generous, hoping I'll hand over the Birdcage myself."

From afar. "Zhang Liang's ultimate move..."

Wirbel wiped the blood from her nose. "Hmph... So what if it is? Aiming for my eyes, you ruthless woman."

Ubel tilted his head. "Isn't that a reasonable judgment? By restricting your vision, magic naturally becomes useless."

"That's not very reasonable." Wirbel grinned. "Even without your eyes, I can still lock onto you with my magical senses. Aiming for your neck is the quickest way to end the fight; you should be able to do that. Being too weak won't get you anywhere in this world. I've seen too many guys like you—naive, and their end is rarely good. I've seen too many 'geniuses' like you on the border battlefield, all because of a moment of weakness..."

Ubel's smile remained unchanged as he pressed on with interest, "Really? I'm a pacifist, I don't usually use such force. What happened to them afterward? Go on, I want to hear it."

Wirbel abruptly stopped talking, realizing he'd said too much, and waved his hand impatiently. "I don't have time to chat with you! I need to go support my teammates! You've already lost. Promise me you won't resist anymore, and I'll spare your life. After all, I don't have the kind of magic that can keep you trapped even after you're gone."

Ubel blinked, her tone teasing, "Oh dear, really? Senior Wirbel doesn't trust his teammates that much? Shouldn't they be partners you can trust to entrust your back to?"

Provoked by her, Wirbel's expression remained unchanged, but his eyes flickered, as if some memories had been stirred within him, and his tone carried a subtle, complex undertone:

"... Fine, I might as well tell you... My troops have been fighting the remnants of the Demons race on the border for years. I've seen plenty of... naive guys like you who show mercy to their opponents."

"For example, once, a Demons put on a pitiful act in front of a close friend of mine, saying something like, 'There are many Demons students at the Continental Magic Academy, and they have already been certified as friendly Demons. I also hope to abandon darkness and join the light...' My foolish friend believed him. The next second... that Demons ripped out his heart with a single claw... Haha, what a naive fellow. People like that usually don't survive long on the battlefield."

He paused, his tone hardening with a hint of self-deprecation. "However, perhaps I should be thankful that my childhood was relatively normal. My grandfather once told me that when he was a child, he was forcibly conscripted to the battlefield by the king at the time, and his parents were taken hostage... and he was only eight years old! His teammates were women and children... and his opponent was King Anthony."

"Just imagine, eight years old! If King Anthony hadn't had divine intervention and defeated that tyrannical fellow... humph, perhaps we would have experienced that hell, and my childhood routine might have consisted of mercilessly killing women and children..."

"In short, my 'Gaze Restraint' spell is designed to control these cunning Demons immediately when encountering them, preventing naive individuals like you from dying due to unnecessary soft-heartedness. Now do you understand? If you do, surrender quickly! Even though I trust Ehre and Scharf, I don't want to just stand here staring at you!"

Ubel nodded thoughtfully. "Hmm... I see. I've always felt that a person's strength in magic is more or less related to their personality. So that's how you got your magic... But I've also heard it said that if you have absolute power, being soft-hearted is an option... Also, why don't you want to keep looking at me? What, am I not pretty enough? What type do you like?"

Veins bulged on Wirbel's forehead. "... Stop talking nonsense! Surrender now!"

Ubel pouted, "Tsk, you're so boring, senpai. Well then I'll vote..." She suddenly stopped, a strange smile appearing on her face, "Looks like I don't need to."

Almost as soon as Ubel finished speaking, Wirbel felt something hard gently press against her back. A calm, unwavering girl's voice sounded from behind her:

"Please don't move, Senior Wirbel."

Wirbel froze, slowly turning his head in disbelief. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of Fern had silently appeared behind him. Her staff was pointed steadily at his back.

"Tsk... What a joke." Wirbel's expression remained unchanged, still grinning. "Ehre actually lost to you... and I didn't even sense a trace of your presence before you got so close... I hadn't relaxed my magical awareness the entire time."

Ubel chuckled, switching into taunt mode. "Oh dear, it seems your 'trust of teammates' has a problem? Trusting teammates should mean they believe you can quickly take care of me and then go support them, right?"

Wirbel glanced at her, then looked at Fern: "Hey, Fern, your opponent is Ehre, right? What did you do to her?" Although he seemed to be subdued, his imposing manner remained undiminished.

Fern, holding his staff, stated in an unwavering tone, "The barrier has been destroyed by Frieren. Leaving the basin area disqualifies you from the exam. I've already thrown Senior Ehre outside the basin."

Wirbel's face darkened. "... They're really quick. One of the conditions for passing the test is that all three team members must be present... I've lost." He was quite straightforward, immediately dispelling the magic on his short staff to show his defeat, and turned to leave. As he turned, the restraining gaze placed on Ubel naturally dissipated.

Ubel cracked his knuckles, watching Wirbel's retreating figure with a half-smile, and raised his short cane again, aiming it at him.

As if he had eyes in the back of his head, Wirbel said without turning his head, "It doesn't matter if you attack me from behind now. It's just going from one-on-one to one-on-two. Even if you team up, you still can't beat me."

"Miss Ubel," Fern said softly, her tone carrying a hint of disapproval.

Ubel shrugged and put away her staff. "Alright, alright, I know." She looked at Fern, and after Wirbel walked away, a hint of curiosity in her eyes as she sized up this "honest man." "But I didn't realize you were so good at lying. You look like such an honest kid; you don't have the magic to throw someone out of the barrier so quickly, do you?"

Fern showed no reaction to this comment, and simply continued, "We should go and support Mr. Lanto."

Ubel sensed the distance and waved his hand, "Don't worry, that Glasses Guy is quite strong. The magical fluctuations over there have long subsided; he'll probably handle it even faster than we do."

Sure enough, it wasn't long before Lanto emerged from the forest, his mage robes perfectly still, indicating he was unharmed. He adjusted his glasses and looked at Fern and Ubel: "Is it resolved?"

Fern nodded. "Resolved."

Ubel added with a smile, "Thanks to little darling Fern for 'mediating' in time."

Please don't call me that.