Reader Mage-Stubbing August 10! Chapter 175: 175-A Trick Or Two

Read chapter 175 of Reader Mage-Stubbing August 10! by A_Random_Turtle on NovelPedia.

The news came back to the remaining contestants of Prestige Academy just before the next fight that Man-Shik was stabilised and he would be fine. Merlin breathed a sigh of relief at that. The battle had been heart-wrenching for him, because a loss could have delivered a big blow to the team. He was glad everything had turned out well, and they were now tied with Crown Academy. All they had to do now was to keep the momentum going. He turned to the tv screen, setting his eyes on the next fight that was just about to begin. Oh Jihye stood on one end of the arena with a mildly smug expression and a hand on her waist as she leaned to her side. Across from her was Dante Russo, a B-Class Mud Mage. He had light olive skin complemented by his jet black slicked back hair, and more prominent was his confident posture, like nothing in the world could faze him. He scoffed into a smile and pointed at Jihye. “Give up,” he started. “I’m giving you the chance not to disgrace yourself, pretty lady.” “Why, thank you,” Jihye started with a mocking tone. “Your chivalry knows no bounds, ser.” Dante smiled. “I like you. I won’t go easy on you, so become my girlfriend when it all ends.” Jihye jerked back slightly and her smug expression turned into something akin to disgust. “No, thanks. You’re not my type.” She immediately turned to Instructor Park who had decided to let their conversation flow. “How about we start already?” Instructor Park was fine with that. She immediately took a few steps back and announced for their fight to begin before leaving the stage. Jihye’s Grimoire took flight as her hand still rested on her waist, and the same was true for Dante, just different in that his arms were folded. Despite the fact that a duel was about to ensue, and one that kept everyone on the edge of their seats not only because of what was at stake, but due to how they had been mesmerized by Man-Shik’s fight, there was an air of nonchalance about the current two contestants, like they were too prideful to admit that they fight could go either way. Well, Oh Jihye was. She had even been lackluster during the dialogue to help her with understanding how she could come out on top. It was like she couldn’t fathom the possibility of losing. Merlin hoped that such would truly be the case. Because that sort of attitude against a student of the number one academy in the world was a recipe for disaster. Oh Jihye raised a lazy finger, making the first move. The atmosphere around Dante warped like a wobbly, shimmering mirror, and pellets of water surrounded him almost instantaneously. His face scrunched as he glanced at the countless tiny water orbs staring down at him as though his nose was stung by a terrible smell. Then he turned to Jihye and revealed a smile. She gave him one back and moved her finger down. The bullets shot forward. Dante, however, had long been prepared without anyone noticing. Apparently, his folded arms had not been him taking the fight unseriously. Countless tiny holes appeared around his arms, and a brownish viscous substance shot out of them creating countless tiny shields around him. Jihye’s water pellets were obstructed. “You’ll need more than that, pretty,” said Dante, still doing nothing on the attacking front as more pellets rained down on him. Jihye responded with a raised eyebrow and shifted her posture slightly. Merlin didn’t see it as her succumbing to the pressure, but only making herself more comfortable. Because in the next instant she raised her finger languidly once more, and the pellets froze. Then they exploded. However, that didn’t cause any troubles whatsoever. The exploded water was simply sucked back into the atmosphere, and this attracted an incredulous look from Dante. At least for half a second. “Oho. I’m interested,” he hooted. “What do you have for me?” Jihye sighed. “Do you realize that mud is made up of a large volume of water in comparison to the other fine particles it possesses? So when you keep on adding a lot