I am Just an Average Tamer

"Hey! Did you hear?! Someone actually challenged the Ace!"

"No way! It hasn't even been a full day!"

"The Aces remain their position for atleast three months who the hell's crazy enough to do that already?"

"I don't know, but it's happening. Now!"

Dozens of voices buzzed with excitement, students rushing toward the main path that led to the arena grounds.

Kai and Serena glanced at each other.

They both stood at once and moved through the bustling walkways of the academy grounds.

Kai's gaze flicked to the signs around the campus, he remembered the layout well from the student handbook.

A right turn near the main academic tower, past the central courtyard, and beyond the looming clockspire brought them to a vast circular plaza enclosed by towering stone walls.

The arena.

It stood proud and open-skyed, a massive coliseum carved of white-stone pillars with archways that reached high into the air.

Magical glyphs hummed faintly along the walls, glowing with subtle light, reinforcements to protect both crowd and combatants.

There were seats arranged in concentric rings rising around a circular battlefield of polished obsidian tiles, carved with faint etchings, symbols that channeled energy, suppressed lethal force, and enhanced visibility for the spectators.

Floating crystals hovered above, projecting close-ups of the battlefield below for everyone to see.

Students filled the seats, murmurs and excited chatter echoing off the walls as anticipation buzzed through the arena like static in the air.

Kai's eyes drifted to the center of the arena.

And there she stood.

Lei Mei, the academy's current Ace.

Tall, poised, with sharp green eyes and flowing green hair tied in a warrior's braid, she stood at ease.

Across from her stood the challenger.

The girl with platinum-silver hair and emerald-green eyes.

She stood calmly, back straight, gaze focused and unshaken. Her presence was quiet, but undeniable, like a winter breeze that could cut through flesh.

Kai's breath caught in his throat.

His eyes widened.

A single word escaped his lips, so soft it was nearly swallowed by the noise around him.

"…Lira?"

He blinked.

Then.

Serena practically sprinted ahead, sliding into an empty seat near the edge of the stands.

"Front row. Hell yeah," she grinned, eyes gleaming.

Kai followed, slipping into the seat beside her, gaze never leaving the center of the arena.

Down below, the referee, a tall man clad in dark robes lined with silver, raised his hand between the two duelists.

"Combatants, are you ready?"

Lei Mei gave a graceful nod, her jade eyes gleaming with silent confidence.

Across from her, Lira lifted her chin slightly.

Her platinum-silver hair shimmered under the overhead lights, and her expression remained unreadable.

She gave a simple nod, her emerald gaze locked onto her opponent.

The referee sliced his hand down through the air.

"Begin!"

The arena erupted in cheers.

"Let's go, Lei Mei!"

"Show her why you're the Ace!"

"I love you, Lei Mei!"

Nearly every voice rose for the green-haired prodigy.

The crowd adored her, many still starstruck by her speech during the entrance ceremony.

Her elegance, strength, and charisma made her feel like the academy's untouchable queen.

Lira, though equally beautiful, had said nothing.

Done nothing, at least, not in the public eye.

Only a few sharp-eyed students who recognized her whispered her name.

"Isn't that…?"

"No way, that's her?"

"She's from Elsworth family, right?"

Then.

Lira raised her hand—and with a swirl of cold mist, a sword of gleaming ice formed in her grip.

Without a word, she dashed forward, her pace deliberate, not too fast, not flashy, just... composed.

Lei Mei didn't even flinch.

Just before Lira closed the distance, a surge of prismatic light pulsed beside the Ace.

A spirit circle unfurled like blooming lotus petals, and from it emerged a crystal wolf, sleek and majestic, its body a fusion of glimmering quartz and living energy.

Its tail, sharp and blade-like, snapped up—

Clang!

Ice met crystal.

Lira's attack was intercepted, sparks and frost scattering through the air. She slid back slightly, keeping her footing, eyes calm.

Then—

Lei Mei had lifted a hand. From above, blades of compressed air came slicing down like falling guillotines.

Lira's eyes narrowed.

She pushed off the ground and leapt back just in time, the blades carving thin gashes into the floor where she'd stood.

The crowd gasped.

"She dodged that?"

"She's fast…"

But there was no time to rest.

The crystal wolf snarled, paws digging into the obsidian tiles before it lunged forward like a cannonball of gemstone fury.

Lira didn't move.

Instead, her ice blade suddenly shattered, not broken, but deliberately undone into a cloud of razor-like shards.

With a flick of her fingers, the tiny projectiles spun through the air like snow caught in a storm, guided with unnatural precision.

Tink! Tink! Tink!

The shards slammed into the wolf's charging form.

Its momentum slowed as its crystal hide was pelted with freezing cuts.

A few shards lodged into weaker joints, frost spreading where they struck.

The wolf staggered, growled, but didn't fall.

Even with shards embedded in its crystalline hide, it growled, claws dragging against the stone floor, tail slicing through the air like a blade.

Lira's eyes narrowed. She raised her right hand, and the wolf lunged again.

But this time, she didn't stop it.

Instead, Lira calmly placed two fingers to her lips and blew.

A soft whistle. Barely audible.

Then the temperature dropped sharply.

Frost curled outward in jagged veins along the floor.

A pale mist began to gather behind her, thick, coiling, and out of it slithered a beast.

Not just any beast.

Hiss!

An ice serpent, nearly twice the size of the crystal wolf, its scales carved like frosted armor, laced with blue runic patterns that glowed faintly.

Two curled horns spiraled from its head, and each breath it exhaled chilled the air into a biting fog.

The entire arena gasped.

Serena blinked. "Is she also a beast tamer?"

"No," Kai muttered, his eyes sharp. "That thing's not tamed. That's a contracted elemental."

Crash!

The crystal wolf was mid-charge when the serpent struck.

In a blur of motion, its icy tail lashed out, colliding with the wolf's flank and sending it skidding across the arena floor.

Shards of crystal scattered in every direction.

Lei Mei narrowed her eyes. "You brought out your trump card early?" she asked, voice calm, unbothered.

Lira tilted her head slightly. "That wasn't my trump card."

Then she snapped her fingers.

From above, a snowstorm brewed in the air.

Lira's figure began to fade into the white.

Serena leaned forward. "So, she's manipulating the environment now."

Kai didn't reply. His eyes were glued to Lei Mei.

The Ace simply stood still, expression calm, as the storm swirled around her.

Then—

She raised both arms.

A radiant circle of glowing glyphs formed beneath her feet.

One pulse, two pulses—

And then, in a burst of spectral light, two spirits appeared beside her.

On her left: a crystal wolf, its tails gleaming like glass, body shimmering with refracted light.

On her right: a spectral bird, made of pure translucent wind and light, eyes glowing white, wings flaring out wide.

The snow couldn't touch them.

The moment Lira's storm reached them, the bird flapped its wings once, and the snow was pushed back in a powerful gale, creating a clear zone around Lei Mei.

Lei Mei raised her hand.

"Go."

The crystal wolf darted forward, phasing between snow flurries like living moonlight, a blur of reflections.

The spectral bird soared high, disappearing into the skies above the storm.

Lira's eyes flicked up, and she snapped her fingers again.

Her serpent opened its mouth, and a beam of frozen magic shot upward, a swirling breath of ice aimed at the sky.

BOOM!

The spectral bird dived, avoiding the blast. And in return, it screeched, launching dozens of compressed wind blades down at the serpent.

The beast snarled, taking the hit, its scales cracking slightly, but it countered with a spin, unleashing a frozen shockwave in all directions.

Meanwhile, the crystal wolf clashed with the serpent head-on.

Fangs met fangs.

Crystals clashed with frost.

Each attack from the wolf chipped at the serpent's armor, but each snap from the serpent threatened to crush the fox whole.

For a moment, it was pure elemental warfare, crystal versus ice, speed versus strength.

But then, Lira moved.

She dashed through the storm, guiding the flow of battle.

Lei Mei saw her coming, and with a flick of her fingers, she sent two glowing orbs into the air.

The spectral bird responded instantly, letting out a piercing call.

A barrier of swirling wind wrapped around Lei Mei, deflecting the ice spikes Lira hurled at her.

The crowd was going wild now.

"Holy shit, they're both monsters!"

"Who's stronger?!"

"Look at those summons!"

Back in the stands, Serena whistled. "Okay. That's hot."

Kai's eyes never left the arena.

In the middle of the battlefield, Lira came to a stop, one hand raised, the serpent circling her protectively.

Lei Mei, too, paused, her bird hovering high above, her wolf returning to her side.

The storm cleared slightly.

They locked eyes.

Time for round two.