"Even a sharp sword will bee dull when you try to cut your friend."— Ashura Doji, One Piece

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  Roy suddenly stopped, causing the girls behind him to bump into each other.

  "Roy, what's wrong?" Ellis asked, looking at him curiously.

  "Your oppos have arrived," Roy warned.

  "What?!" The three girls quickly spread out, summoning their tracted spirits and assuming battle stances.

  A tense silence fell over the forest.

  Cire focused her serying to detect the enemy's presence.

  She sewo distinct auras. Were they scouts, or was there an ambush?

  "I didn't expect them to find us so quickly," Ellis said, her eyes sing the surroundings.

  "Indeed, attag so early in the game isn't a very clever strategy," Ri agreed.

  Just then...

  "Here they e!"

  A blinding fsh erupted before them.

  The girls shielded their eyes.

  But the fsh was just a distra.

  It irit crystal bomb, a on trap with more fsh than actual power.

  However, it had momentarily stuhem, creating an opening.

  Roy sensed a presence rapidly approag him.

  'They're targeting me first, huh?' he thought with a sigh.

  He leaped into the air.

  A giant hand made of saed from the spot where he had been standing.

  And then, more appeared, reag for Roy.

  "Not so fast! O fangs of ice, pierce my enemy! Ice Shot!" Ri shouted, firing an arrow that shattered the sand hands.

  "Roy, above you!" Cire warned.

  "Crush him, Rock Beast Spirit!" a girl's voianded.

  A shadow loomed overhead.

  A heavy object, a clump of hardeh, fell from the sky towards Roy.

  But Roy had already moved.

  The attacker, riding a monstrous rock creature, emerged from the trees.

  She wore a white dress with intricate patterns.

  "That's... the team from the Baluster Kingdom," Cire realized.

  They were the ones who had been gring at them earlier, following the orders of that foolish prio elimieam Scarlet.

  And they were targeting Roy first.

  The Rock Beast roared and charged towards him.

  "O Sword Saint Knight, I and thee, bey shield!" Fianna summoned her Knight Spirit, Geios.

  Geios swung its sword, and with a fsh of light, the Rock Beast's arm was severed.

  Their eyes, finally adjusted to the sudden fsh from earlier, could now see clearly.

  The girls regrouped, f a circle around Roy.

  A sand giant emerged from the ground.

  "Ugh!" Cire quickly backed away.

  "Where's the Sand Elementalist hiding?" she wondered, sing the area.

  Earth Elementalists ofteheir magic to ceal themselves underground.

  But there were no signs of disturban the ground.

  Suddenly, a presence appeared behind Ellis.

  A girl wielding two daggers emerged from the bushes.

  Invisible wind bdes shot out, slig through the trees.

  g!

  Ellis blocked the attack with her Windashnce.

  "You blocked my wind bdes... impressive!" the girl excimed.

  "But you insulted our prince! You'll pay for that!"

  "You're really here for revenge because of that idiot?" Ri said in disbelief.

  Trying to settle a personal grudge during the Bde Dance was incredibly foolish.

  "I pity you, pathetic Baluster Elementalists."

  "How dare you mock me?! I won't five you!" The Wind Elementalist swung her daggers.

  Ri leaped aside, dodging the wind bdes that whizzed past her.

  Suddenly, a bolt of lightning shot towards her from behind.

  Just in time, a Knight Spirit appeared, shielding Ri from the attack.

  It was Fianna's Geios.

  "Thanks!" Ri said with a grateful smile.

  "We're a team," Fianna replied.

  They turned and saw a girl with a bow and arrow emerge from the trees.

  "What?! How did you detect my sneak attack?!" the Wind Elementalist excimed in shock.

  "Hmph, don't uimate us!" Fianed.

  They were now fag four oppos: the Wind Elementalist with her daggers, the Lightning Elementalist with her bow, the Sand Elementalist who had summohe sand giant, and the one trolling the Rock Beast.

  Cire felt a bead of sweat trickle down her forehead. She was starting to get nervous.

  A thick mist had enveloped the forest.

  This was clearly not a natural phenomenon but aal Magic spell.

  The st member of the eeam, a Mist Elementalist, was also nearby.

  "It's time to terattack!" Cire decred, taking a deep breath and regaining her posure.

  "Yes, we 't let them uimate us!" Ellis agreed, standing at the forefront with determination.

  "Let's do this! We will win!"

  "Show them what we're made of!"

  Fianna and Ri also expressed their fidence.

  With Roy there, they weren't afraid of anyone.

  Cire and Ellis charged forward.

  Cire shed out with her Fme Whip, targeting the Sand Elementalist.

  She also unleashed a barrage of fire spells.

  "Fme King's Breath!"

  Ellis frohe Wind Elementalist.

  They were both Wind Elementalists.

  But Ellis's spirit was far more powerful.

  "O winds of disaster, Roar!!!"

  Ellis thrust her Windashnce, ung wind bdes that tore through the trees.

  The Wind Elementalist charged towards her with her daggers.

  Fianna, meanwhile, anded Geios to block the Rock Beast's attacks.

  The Rock Beast's attacks were powerful, but they couldn't break through Geios's defenses.

  Just then, a bolt of lightning shot towards Cire.

  It was an arrow fired by the Lightning Elementalist.

  "Not so fast!" Ri shouted.

  "Ice Shot!"

  She fired an arrow that intercepted the lightning arrow mid-flight.

  She then fired another arrow.

  It struck the Lightning Elementalist, who couldn't rea time.

  Ri's speed in summoning and firing her Elemental Waffe was unmatched.

  By this time, Cire had defeated the Sand Elementalist, Ellis had defeated the Wind Elementalist, and Fianna had subdued the Rock Beast.

  Within moments, they had defeated four of their oppos.

  "Well done!" Roy praised them with a smile and a thumbs up.

  The girls beamed, proud of their victory.

  The battle had been so swift that their oppos didn't even have a ce to escape.

  Well, except for one...

  The Mist Elementalist, who had been hiding in the shadows, had fled.

  But it didn't matter.

  ...

  ...

  Roy approached the four unscious girls and collected their Magic Stones.

  "Sorry, but I'll be taking these," he said.

  In a mihey would be teleported back to the main hall.

  "Great! Now we have four more Magic Stones!" Cire excimed with a grin.

  "But don't let yuard down," Roy warned, handihe stones.

  Just then, teleportation circles appeared beh the unscious girls.

  They dissolved into particles of light and vanished.

  "It's a shame that Mist Elementalist escaped. We could have had one more Magic Stone."

  "Don't chase after her. They're a cautious team."

  "I didn't expect to be attacked so soon."

  "Yes, we should find a pce to set up camp quickly."

  ...

  Cire nodded in agreement.

  They weren't getting carried away by their initial victory.

  "I was right about Roy," a girl's voice said from a distance.

  A group of five girls in military uniforms were the battle from a hilltop.

  They were the Dragon Knights, one of the teams favored to win the Bde Dance.

  They were using a Dragon Spirit's "Dragon Eye" magic to observe the battlefield from afar.

  "Yes, this is the worthy sacrifice my Dragon Blood craves," Leonora Lancaster decred, lig her lips as she stepped towards the edge of the cliff.

  A powerful aura emanated from her, and her eyes glowed with a crimson light.

  'Lady Leonora's Dragon Blood is awakening...' Her vice-captain, Yuri, felt a chill run down her spine.

  A wave of dread washed over her.

  The Dragon Blood ecial ability passed down through the Draia royal family, allowing them to wield the power ons.

  This was the fourth time Yuri had witnessed Leonora's eyes turn red.

  The first time had been two years ago, during the Dragon Knights' entrance exam.

  Leonora had single-handedly defeated all the other didates in a matter of minutes.

  It was a terrifying dispy of power. Fortunately, no one had been killed.

  If her Dragon Blood fully awakened, even Yuri and the others wouldn't be able to stop her.

  Leonora finished her observation and turo her subordinates. "Tonight, we hunt," she decred.

  Yuri and the others nodded silently.

  This was the Dragon Knights' code for ung an attack.

  ...

  As the sun began to set, Roy and the girls finally found a suitable pce to set up camp.

  It was a clearing beside a geream.

  They could catch fish for food, and the clear water erfect for their sing rituals.

  Since Roy was in charge of keeping watch at night, the girls took oask of setting up the tents and preparing dinner.

  They knew Roy had plenty of food stored in his spatial magic.

  But they wao cook a delieal themselves.

  Night fell.

  When Roy finished setting up the tents, he found a table den with food.

  There were grilled fish with herbs, stew with various spices, aable soup made from dried ingredients.

  "This looks delicious," Roy ented, sitting down on a stoool.

  The girls gathered around the table.

  "Si's our first day, we have to boost our morale with a delieal."

  "We finally have a ce to show off our skills. Of course, we have to make it special."

  "Exactly!"

  "Try it!"

  ...

  Cire and the others were excited to have their cooking praised.

  "Then I shall dig in."

  Roy took a bite of the stew.

  "...!"

  "Is it... good?" Ri asked nervously.

  "It's not bad. Is this really made from ed food?"

  Due to their limited ingredients, they had used ed food iew, but it was still quite tasty.

  Roy's standards were high, thanks to Saeko and Shizuka's cooking.

  "I-I'm gd you like it," Ri said with a happy smile.

  It seemed she was the one who had made the stew.

  "As expected of Ri."

  Roy couldn't help but think it was a waste for someoh such ary talent to be a noble dy.

  "My position as the chef is in danger..." Ellis mumbled dejectedly.

  "Don't worry, Ellis. Your cooking has a homely feel to it. I like it too," Roy reassured her.

  "Homely? Like... a husband ing home to a delieal...?" Ellis blushed, her mind wandering.

  "Cire and Fianna, your cooking is also great," Roy added, seeing their expet gazes.

  Just as they were enjoying their dinner, a fiery red light suddenly desded from the sky.

  The intense light blihe girls momentarily.

  Just before it reached them, an ice wall materialized, blog the attack.

  The fiery bst had no effe the ice wall.

  "What... what was that?!" The girls were fused, staring at the ice above them.

  Then, a massive shadow nded where the attack had struck.

  A bck dragon, its wings spread wide, blog the moonlight, nded before them.

  Fmes erupted from its mouth, illuminating the night.

  A girl in a bck military uniform emerged from the fmes, her crimson eyes glowing menagly in the darkness.

  "Leonora... that's a rather rude way to greet someone, for a Knight," Roy ented, frowning slightly. Was she being influenced by her Dragon Blood?

  "Roy... I have something to say..." Leonora decred, raising her hand dramatically.

  "The Dragons of Draia always give their all, even when hunting Monsters," she finished.

  Her dragon spirit, Nidhogg, unleashed a torrent of fmes from its mouth.

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