Chapter 48: The Brightest Before the Fall
Magnus stood still, his breath coming in slow, controlled exhales. Mud, thick with water, wrapped around his calves, sealing the gashes Tobias had carved into them. A soft blue glow pulsed beneath the surface, seeping into his skin, reinforcing his joints. His wrists and elbows were wrapped in the same healing coat, the magic reinforcing his bones, easing the strain from absorbing Tobias's relentless buster sword swings.
And the entire arena went still.
Tobias's smirk faltered just slightly. He wasn't the only one staring. The spectators had gone silent, the instructors watching with unreadable expressions. Because this wasn't just water magic.
This was healing magic.
A rare subspecialty of water magic, one that was notoriously difficult to master, and even rarer among warriors. Most healers lacked offensive magic entirely. Yet here Magnus was—wielding earth magic, weaponizing water magic, and now, casually patching himself up mid-fight.
Tobias blinked, then let out a breathless laugh. "No way," he muttered, shaking his head. "You—you were saving that?"
Magnus didn't answer. He simply flexed his fingers, letting the last of the blue glow fade as the pain dulled. The mud remained, hardening around his joints like natural braces. He tightened his grip on his sword.
Tobias exhaled sharply, forcing himself to not react. He had to keep control of this. Magnus was already too strong. If Tobias let him start believing he was invincible, he would be.
So he did what he always did.
He talked shit.
And then he attacked.
The Last Push
Tobias surged forward, every step a brutal calculation. He had barely enough mana left to harden the earth beneath his feet, creating a desperate, makeshift path across the unstable battlefield. The hardened ground wasn't solid—it was floating atop the loose mud like a lily pad on water. Every movement sent ripples through the shifting terrain, and Tobias had to be careful. One misstep, and he was done.
The moment he charged, Magnus sent a storm of jagged rocks at him, launching them from the surrounding terrain. Tobias barely managed to slow down the smaller ones before they slammed into him, but they still tore at his exposed skin. His sleeveless arms were covered in blood.
Each impact sent fresh agony through his muscles, but he didn't stop. He couldn't stop.
Magnus raised his sword to block the incoming blow—
CLANG.
The impact rattled Magnus's entire body. Tobias's swings felt like warhammers.
Magnus's wrists burned, his bones shaking from the sheer force of Tobias's attacks. He couldn't parry cleanly anymore. Every time their blades clashed, the pain shot through his arms like fire. Tobias wasn't relenting—he was pressing forward, forcing Magnus back, step by step.
Magnus erected an earth wall, but Tobias smashed through it like it was paper. Another strike. Then another. The tenacity of the Moran family roared through every swing, an unstoppable pressure bearing down on Magnus with raw, unbreakable force.
And Tobias looked feral.
His arms were bruised, his skin torn from all the stone debris slamming into him, but he kept going. His entire body was drenched in mud and sweat, filthy like a rat fighting for survival.
Magnus gritted his teeth. He needed to end this.
The Mud Coffin.
At first, it was droplets. Little beads of mud, swirling unnaturally in the air, forming around him like a cocoon. The moment they latched on, they pulled.
Tobias gasped as he felt his body sink into itself, the weight increasing exponentially, the sheer pressure snapping through muscle and bone. His breath came ragged. His ribs cracked. His forearm bent at an unnatural angle.
His vision blurred as pain and suffocation mixed into one unbearable sensation.
⸻
From the stands, Jessica's sharp gaze flicked across the battlefield, analyzing everything at once. The air was thick with magic, a burning tension pressing against her senses.
Next to her, Zyrenia was nervously gripping the edge of her seat, eyes darting between Magnus and Tobias. Her fangs barely poked from under her lip as she gnawed in anxious excitement.
But Hannelore—the Ice Queen was breaking.
Jessica had never seen her like this. The Ice Princess, the noble girl who had kept a calm, unshakable face even when six of her classmates died in the forest, looked haunted. Her fingers trembled against the railing, and there was an unmistakable terror in her expression as she watched the mud tighten around Tobias.
Jessica knew why. Hannelore could feel it. The way the mud constricted, the way the water pressure forced it inward—she could sense all of it with her water affinity. She knew exactly how much it was crushing him.
And Tobias wasn't surrendering.
The moment his ribs cracked, the moment the mud pulled tighter, Hannelore screamed.
"Tobias!!"
It shattered through the air, her voice raw, frantic—so loud that Tobias, half-conscious, actually heard it through the crushing pressure.
Jessica's breath caught.
She saw it. The light in his eyes snapped back into place.
Tobias had been fading, his body functioning on bravado and instinct alone, his consciousness slipping. He had been smiling because he refused to let Magnus see him broken. But now—
Now his mind snapped back to reality.
Jessica reacted instantly, yelling over Hannelore's voice.
"He's going supernova! This is his last spell!"
The words hit Tobias like a shockwave. His haze cleared. Magnus was at his limit too.
The tenacity that made the Moran family feared even by the Emperor himself ignited. Tobias would not die here.
With the last dregs of his mana, he forced a thin earth shell inside the mud, barely keeping it from crushing his lungs. The moment he had even a sliver of leverage—
He crashed through it.
The battlefield turned into a brawl.
Magnus, barely holding onto his aura, swung wildly, but Tobias—bloodied, bruised, barely standing—was simply too relentless.
One swing. Magnus's wrist throbbed.
Two swings. His bones shook.
Three swings. He could barely keep his weapon steady.
On the fourth, Magnus raised his sword to block—
—but it wasn't enough.
Tobias's strike sent the weapon spinning out of his hands. He was completely overpowered.
Just as the final swing came down—
A pillar of stone caught Tobias's sword an inch from Magnus's face.
Silence.
Tobias staggered back, his breath ragged. Magnus, still frozen in shock, could barely process what had happened.
Jessica already knew. The only one strong enough to stop that final strike.
The Headmaster had intervened.
Tobias, drenched in blood and mud, barely standing, looked exactly like Jessica did after surviving the monsters in the forest.
The only thing keeping him upright—
Was the unbreakable will of the Moran family.