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----Areishia Spirit Academy.
It was an aristocratic academy that trained Shrine Maidens from all across the Austia Empire and cultivated them into first-rate Elf Users.
The academy possessed an Elf Forest and an academy city, covering an immense area. Its faculty included instructors whose strength rivaled that of the imperial capital's spirit knights. Its scale was no less than that of a small nation, making it akin to an independent miniature state with considerable autonomy.
Recently, however, a palpable tension had gradually begun to spread throughout Areishia Spirit Academy, one that even outsiders could clearly sense.
The reason was simple: the Spirit Sword Dance Festival was about to begin.
The grandest ritual, in which offerings were made to the Spirit Kings—beings equivalent to the world itself—and the strongest Elf User was decided: the Spirit Sword Dance Festival.
Not only could the winner make a wish to the Spirit Kings, but they could also gain unimaginable prestige and become an Elf User revered by every major nation, practically an idol celebrity in the world of Elf Users.
Naturally, those able to participate in the Spirit Sword Dance Festival were true elites carefully selected from every major country.
Thus, as an academy dedicated to cultivating outstanding Elf Users, Areishia Spirit Academy had been granted three slots to recommend teams for participation.
That alone showed just how high Areishia Spirit Academy's standing was within the Austia Empire.
Not to mention that the academy's headmistress was known as the continent's strongest Elf User, a figure people respectfully called the Twilight Witch.
In order to compete for the right to attend the Spirit Sword Dance Festival, the