On the grass not far from the treehouse, the chessboard-like "magical projection arena" that Ilena had just carried over with Mage Hand had been placed on the smooth rock where they often played or picnicked. The apprentice witch Ilena, who was about to take her promotion exam, and the Stardust Witch Fran, who was in charge of the exam, stood on opposite sides, placed their hands on the "board," and closed their eyes, projecting themselves into the magical device, which resembled an ancient Roman arena.
Under the trees outside, where flowers bloomed and the lush green lawn had been tended with magic, stood a certain little girl, looking terribly excited as she waited to see the two of them beat each other's brains out, and a certain large skeleton floating silently beside her.
Of course, a certain unlucky plush teddy bear was hanging from the waist of her skirt, its neck in Annie's grasp!
(...)
(￣?￣")
"Hey!!"
☆?(o*?ω?)?
"Big skeleton, who do you think will win?"
?(?ˉ??ˉ?)
Annie had more or less forgotten the name of the Lich she had summoned over half a year ago. She vaguely remembered it was something like Kel'... something, but that sort of thing didn't matter. So she rudely called him by his nickname and asked him in a sweet voice.
"My lady..."
"If we're judging purely by magical power and combat experience, there's no doubt that the Stardust Witch Fran has the advantage. Ilena is still too young, after all."
"But..."
"Sometimes victory doesn't depend on how much magical power you have or how much experience you've accumulated. With enough determination, even a magic apprentice with meager abilities can kill an Archmage with the simplest Cone of Cold, just as a Ghoul might manage to bite a powerful Paladin to death?"
"However..."
"None