Thoughts Before the Duel

Fran stood in the makeshift Duel Arena, gripping her longsword, which pointed diagonally to the ground. She made no defensive stance and looked at the Church Warrior opposite her.

She agreed to the duel because she wanted to see closely how these Church Warrior obtained their power from the Goddess of Ocean Currents.

Since becoming a full-fledged researcher at the Northern Lands Society, she has found herself increasingly resembling a true sorceress—curious about everything and eager to understand its underlying principles.

She couldn't explain whether it was something she was born with, but something else had been bothering her thoughts.

Or perhaps it was the impact of her becoming a researcher that affected her.

After all, who can say for sure what happens in another world? Perhaps once you learn how to register, you'll be affected by it.

Meanwhile, in the high stands, Blake sat in the main seat, looking down with great ease, as if the matter had nothing to do with him.

Beside Lord Blake, Bishop Gillian displayed the complete opposite of the lord's leisurely demeanor.

Her expression was calm, her eyes fixed on Fran below, like a statue.

"Gillian ...Bishop Gillian ..."

Hearing Blake's call, Gillian snapped out of her daze and turned to Blake, saying:

"I apologize, Lord of Snow Bear Territory. I was thinking about something else and didn't respond to you immediately. I'm truly sorry."

Blake chuckled and said:

"It's alright, Bishop Gillian, you haven't missed this exciting duel; they haven't even started yet."

"But now you'll have to be on your guard, because they're about to begin..."

Gillian glanced at Blake and thanked him:

"Thank you for the reminder, Lord. May we witness a spectacular duel."

Gillian turned her gaze downwards again, while Blake tactfully began talking to someone on the other side.

Gillian's fingers are now moving up and down rhythmically, a sign of her unease.

Fran's immediate acceptance of the duel with the Church of the Goddess of Ocean Currents was something she hadn't expected.

In her understanding, even mages of the Sword Chant School would avoid competing with others if possible.

Because once a mage reaches the Formal Mage stage, no matter how much Sword Chant School mage trains their Combat Technique or Breathing Technique, they can no longer rapidly increase their strength.

Although their excellent swordsmanship provides a solid foundation for their spells, they are ultimately still mages.

The strength of the Sword Chant School of mages lies in their magic, which is also their only source of power.

Therefore, even for mages of the Sword Chant School, the best way to improve their strength is usually to study spells.

At most, it's just that more of the mages in the Sword Chant School become Battle Mage; they are not fundamentally different from mages in other School.

So when Fran excitedly agreed to the duel with the Church Warrior, she was rather bewildered.

All of this made her wonder if the other person was a mage from the Sword Chant School, or perhaps a mage from the Alliance?

However, after she asked why the other party agreed so readily, the answer she received made her somewhat uncertain.

"I've never fought a priestess from the Goddess of Ocean Currents's Church Warrior before. I'd like to see what their fighting style is like."

This was a very standard answer from a learned mage, which made Gillian even more uncertain.

Logically speaking, a mage who has ascended from the Spirit Realm would never give such an answer, because their power comes from exploring the Spirit Realm. For them, fighting is not important; what matters most is whether they can gain something from it.

She had originally planned to try to entice Fran with a reward after Fran refused the first time, to see Fran's reaction.

But things have developed far beyond her expectations. After learning that Fran was going to duel with the church's knights, Blake showed no sign of panic.

Instead, they were very excited and made a big fuss about it, even informing everyone in the city so that others could come and watch the duel.

In Gillian's view, Blake's behavior was very much like that of those lords, who were all keen to watch the matches, as it was one of their few forms of entertainment.

But at this critical juncture, Blake's behavior was very abnormal. She couldn't understand it at all. The other party was the city lord's man; shouldn't he be doing his best to stop him?

Even if Fran really did represent the Alliance, Blake should have known something about it. Even if Fran accepted it, the matter should have been kept quiet in a small room and not made a big fuss about it.

But Blake did exactly that, making her already chaotic thoughts even more confused.

In fact, Blake's thoughts were very simple. Unlike Gillian, he didn't dwell on whether Fran was really Battle Mage of the Alliance.

All he wanted now was for Fran to cooperate and create the illusion that he had received aid from the Alliance.

He knew that the Northern Lands Society truly existed, and that his own life had been changed by the Northern Lands Society.

So his only worry was how to let others know that he had the Alliance's 'protection'.

Just then, Fran was about to have a duel with Church Warrior, so he simply asked Fran for her opinion. After receiving an indifferent reply, he went all out to make a grand spectacle of it.

The purpose was to tell everyone in the city that the person beside me that day was the Alliance Battle Mage.

As long as Fran doesn't deny it, he doesn't need to explain much to others; they'll all know not to provoke him.

The perspective shifts to the Duel Arena, where the Church Warrior opposite Fran is sweating profusely.

Before he entered the arena, Bishop Gillian had explained that the purpose of the duel was not to win, but to find out Fran's true identity.

That's why he was specifically chosen—someone who had previously fought against many mages from the Sword Chant School at sea. His task was to confirm whether Fran was using a skill from the Sword Chant School.

This put him under immense pressure, as he had never undertaken such a mission before, not even when encountering the Alliance ships at sea and engaging in conflict.

That means you just need to fight with all your might and don't need to think about anything else; those are things only the victors need to consider.

But now he's actually competing while wearing shackles, and he has to try his best to observe his opponent's movements, as well as their Combat Technique and spell configurations.

Fran, on the other hand, didn't consider all that. Her identity as Battle Mage was genuine, and even without the Alliance's orders, these people still wouldn't dare to touch her.

She accepted the challenge simply to see what the powers bestowed by other Deity were really like.