Reader Mage-Stubbing August 10! Chapter 160: 160-Thank You For Participating

Read chapter 160 of Reader Mage-Stubbing August 10! by A_Random_Turtle on NovelPedia.

Nora knew Blood magic would be trouble, and yet nothing could have prepared her for what she was currently experiencing. There was an annoying deep, throbbing ache present from the base of her neck all the way down to her toes, and with each second her body heat rose. It was warm now, accompanied by slight swelling and redness in all the affected parts—her joints, phalanges, metacarpals, and carpals. A second ago, she could at least try to move somewhat; now, though, it was excruciatingly painful. She didn’t know very much about biology, but she was certain that blood clotting couldn’t bring about anything desirable at the end of the day. And a spell on such a scale should definitely be a hassle for the caster. “Isn’t this taking a toll on you?” Nora asked. Ivan turned to her and cleared his throat. “Just stay still,” he repeated for the hundredth time. Nora scoffed. “I am staying still. Thanks to a certain someone. But you could at least release the scope of the spell, you know? At least let me move some more places besides my head. It’s painful.” Ivan was silent for a few seconds, visibly considering it. Then he shook his head. “That won’t work on me,” he said. “Stop it.” Nora raised her brows. “I was not being cute. I was asking you genuinely. It hurts.” After a moment of reasoning, Ivan’s Grimoire flipped to a new page, and Nora felt the blood around her knee joints releasing gently. It was not the part of her body she was hoping he would take pity on, but the boy wasn’t foolish—apparently. Her ankles were still locked, so she wouldn’t be able to walk, and so was her arm and hand. Those were needed for her spell casting, to ensure its precision. And Ivan knew that. “Better now?” Ivan asked. Nora flexed her knees. Despite being released from bondage, they still felt stiff, and they would probably remain like that for some while. But in comparison to a few seconds ago, yeah, they were better. “Thanks, darling,” she said, and the courtroom fell silent. Ivan blinked incredulously, then shook his head. “Nasty trick,” he said. “I try my best to be jovial but I won’t let that be the end of me or my team. We have a lot to gain from winning here, and a lot to lose from losing. Please, stop with those attempts of yours. They will not work.” Nora stared back owlishly. For a second she was confused as to what he meant, when she realized he was taken aback because of her appreciation which had, apparently, bashed him. She snorted. “Don’t worry. I have no reason to use such dirty tricks to defeat you. You’ll also find that I am probably the least naughty person in the whole of Prestige Academy. In fact, I might just be the least naughty person you’ve ever met. Rest assured.” And she didn’t care about what he or anyone else had to lose, only what her brother had to lose. Ivan took a moment to digest her words. Then his brows furrowed. “You’re not planning on staying still, are you?” he asked. “Obviously.” “What tricks do you have up your sleeve?” “None that I think I should be telling you.” “You’re frozen. You know I can just walk over and knock you out?” Nora smiled. “Then why don’t you just do that?” She paused. “Oh. Are you scared of me? Scared that if you take even a step away from that throne, you’ll end up losing?” Ivan did not reply. “I must admit, though. You’re right to think that. Because you will lose if you try it.” She was bluffing, but that had always been a tactic she liked. Fake it until you make it. However, Nora did have a plan. The problem was how it would work. As soon as she had learned about Ivan’s Hex being blood, she had done a little research of hers on the ability. After all, compared to the other abilities of the rest of the students of both Nikita Academy and Crown Academy, it was the one that seemed the most complex and troublesome to her and her Hex. What she had found out was that blood was made up of a combination of a lot of elements similar to those found in air, primarily because blood functions to ex