Chapter 54: Mia’s Skills

The moment she was about to close the final distance toward her target, the MantisShrimp suddenly vanished, pulled away through the competition’s built in teleportation safety measures. It was retrieved instantly and transferred straight to the medical team, so the school nurse could begin treating its severe injuries without delay.

Cassandra’s eyes flashed with irritation the moment her target disappeared, but she reined herself in quickly rather than letting the emotion take hold. This wasn’t about an Amazon losing touch with her own passion or desire. If anything, the true principle behind being an Amazon lay in learning to master one’s own self control above all else.

She fixed her gaze briefly on Roman, the sharp tongued owner of her now vanished target, before turning back toward her own summoner, who stood waiting at the far end of the platform with an approving smile.

"Mark Moulow, the recently awakened Amazon summoner, wins the battle!" the referee announced with real energy, sparking a fresh wave of boisterous reactions throughout the surrounding stands.

A smile crossed Mark’s face as he recalled his summon back into her soul space before making his way down from the stage to rejoin the others waiting in the crowd. He paused mid step the moment he spotted Mia already climbing the platform stairs, her usual sly, knowing expression settled comfortably across her pretty features. Their eyes met for a beat that stretched just a little longer than felt entirely comfortable.

Still, Mark kept walking, hands tucked into his pockets. As he passed her, Mia leaned in just enough to murmur something meant only for him to catch.

"Nice work out there. You did well, genuinely. Couldn’t have asked for a better show."

Her eyes gleamed briefly before she swept past him without a second glance.

A faint chill traced its way down Mark’s spine at the strange, unexpected compliment coming from someone like her, though he accepted it regardless and kept moving. He couldn’t quite place why she’d bothered saying it at all, but he shook the thought loose before it could take root too deeply. Maybe it was simple irony on her part, or maybe it was just another quiet form of intimidation, the kind she’d always been known for.

Reaching his seat in the stands, he found Hermione already waiting, her expression bright and unmistakably fond, as though she treasured his presence the way someone might treasure a rare, precious gem. She patted the empty seat beside her, and once he settled in, she leaned in close enough that her shoulder brushed lightly against his. Even with the fabric of their clothes separating them, he could still feel the warmth radiating from her, enough to send his nerves and excitement both climbing at once.

A few nearby students shot envious glances their way, though that attention barely registered against the larger buzz surrounding the ongoing competition. Mark and Hermione stayed like that for a while, comfortable and unhurried. Hermione studied him with those ruby red eyes of hers, the same ones that never failed to make his heart stumble slightly.

"Seriously, kudos on that performance. You definitely gave everyone their money’s worth."

Mark met her gaze with a small, crooked smile, scratching absently at the back of his head. "Well, you’re the one who kept reassuring me the whole time, like you genuinely believed I had this. Honestly, that’s on you."

"Yeah, I’ll take credit for that one," Hermione admitted with a nod. "Mine’s still a ways off, though, given how the bracket’s been arranged. I’ve been going over the pattern from the earlier rounds to get a sense of it."

Mark raised an eyebrow, letting out a short, teasing laugh. "Wait, seriously? Did you actually read through some entire manual or textbook for this? Please don’t tell me you did that research sitting in the library, which is quickly becoming your second home at this point."

His teasing pulled a soft giggle out of her, one hand rising to cover her mouth. Mark could only sigh playfully in response, unable to keep the smile off his own face.

Down on the platform, Mia stood facing her next opponent, a fellow sophomore, dark skinned, with curly braided hair and broad, athletic shoulders. Her expression stayed casual and composed, though a flicker of real anticipation showed clearly in her eyes as she squared up for the match.

"Never thought I’d actually end up facing you of all people, but I guess fate really does work in strange ways," Amanda said, absently twirling one long braided strand around her finger.

"Oh, shut up, you shit. There’s no such thing as fate or destiny in a match some school administrator threw together on a spreadsheet somewhere, you dunce," Mia shot back sharply.

That was simply her usual, harsh way of greeting an opponent, and Amanda seemed to take it in stride, a small, unbothered smile crossing her face rather than any visible offense.

"Okay, I can respect that. Always straight into the cold, unfriendly opener with you."

A portal opened beside Amanda, and a large ant emerged from within, its body encased in layered, glossy dark brown armor.

Its shell caught the sunlight with a polished, almost glasslike sheen, heavy mandibles clicking together eagerly, as though already anticipating a meal. The creature moved on four digitigrade legs, its remaining two forelimbs working in tandem with its powerful mouthparts.

This was the Warrior Bulletant, a 5.2 Elite Tier summon.

They resembled oversized, wingless wasps, built around powerful pincers and a clearly visible stinger. Their venom carried a potent neurotoxin, blocking nerve signals outright and triggering violent shaking alongside temporary paralysis in anything unlucky enough to get stung.

A second portal opened as Mia called her own Mantis forward.

Its compound eyes remained as intricate and alert as ever, constantly scanning the surroundings for danger. The moment those eyes locked onto its opponent, its bladed arms folded smoothly into a ready striking stance, antennae twitching rapidly, as though it had already marked its next target.

The two summons clashed almost instantly.

Blades rang out against armored pincers as the Mantis darted swiftly around the Bulletant’s heavily plated frame. The ant answered with a flurry of rapid stinger thrusts, forcing the Mantis onto the defensive for several tense exchanges.

Students watched with growing, genuine interest.

"Those two are actually pretty evenly matched," a sophomore boy near the front remarked, leaning forward on his elbows.

"The Bulletant’s armor’s soaking up most of those slashes without much trouble," a junior beside him added, arms crossed.

"Sure, but good luck actually landing a hit on that Mantis," a freshman girl a row back chimed in, eyes tracking the blur of motion below.

Amanda suddenly grinned the moment her summon found an opening.

"Now!"

The Bulletant surged forward with startling speed, leaping high off its digitigrade hind legs before slamming down toward the Mantis in a crushing stomp.

Several students leaned forward, breath caught in anticipation.

"That’s got her, that’s definitely got her!" a sophomore boy blurted, half rising from his seat.

But just as the strike landed, the Mantis phased, turning briefly intangible.

The Bulletant’s crushing blow passed straight through it, as though striking nothing more than empty air.

"Wait, what?"

"She phased right through it!" a junior girl gasped, hand flying to her mouth.

The Mantis snapped back to a solid, tangible state directly behind the ant, striking hard at the base of its neck in one clean, swift slash.

The blade sheared its head away entirely.

A wave of shocked reactions rippled through the stands.

"That’s actually insane," a freshman boy muttered, eyes wide.

"She waited for the exact split second of impact to phase out," a sophomore girl added, clearly impressed despite herself.

"Is that it? Is the match already over?" someone else called from a few rows back.

Yet the Bulletant’s headless body kept moving regardless. Its remaining instincts and sensory organs still tracked its opponent well enough to let it spin around, driving forward in one final attempt to strike the Mantis.

The sight visibly unsettled several students nearby, more than a few hands flying up to cover open mouths, especially among the girls, several of whom looked genuinely rattled by a scene that felt lifted straight out of a horror film.

"It’s still moving? Even without a head?" a freshman girl whispered, gripping her friend’s arm.

"That’s actually kind of horrifying," her sophomore neighbor agreed, grimacing.

Amanda’s expression shifted as she stepped forward, both arms extending toward her opponent. She launched a rapid pair of stinger projectiles at blistering speed, channeled through her summon’s Echo trait.

Mia simply turned intangible again, pale and ghostlike, letting both attacks pass harmlessly straight through her.

Then she vanished entirely.

"Wait, where did she go?" Amanda’s eyes went wide as she suddenly felt the air shift sharply behind her.

Mia reappeared directly at her back, delivering one quick, precise chop to the nape of her neck.

Amanda’s eyes rolled back instantly as consciousness left her all at once, her body crumpling to the platform with a heavy, dull thud.

The stands erupted into another wave of mixed gasps and excited chatter.

"She didn’t even need her summon to finish off the actual summoner," a junior boy said, shaking his head slowly.

"That’s the real danger with her Echo build," his sophomore friend replied. "You can’t just focus on the summon. You have to watch her the entire time too."

"Yeah, seriously," a freshman added from nearby, still staring at the unconscious girl on the platform.

Mia let Amanda’s body settle before shifting back to her normal, solid state, a mischievous smile spreading across her lips.

She glanced toward her Mantis, now freed entirely from having to deal with the still twitching, headless Bulletant, its summoner already knocked cold.

Pointing toward the Mantis first, she declared, "That one’s called Scythe Ghost." Then, turning her finger toward herself instead, "And this one right here, I call Phantom Puff and Slash. Cool, right? Impressive, even."

A few students traded uncertain glances.

One of them finally muttered under his breath, "She’s absolutely going to keep giving every single move some ridiculous name like that."

Another student laughed quietly. "Yeah, well, that’s just Mia being Mia."

Mia’s smile only widened further as she stood proudly at the center of the platform, clearly savoring both her decisive win and the wave of attention still rolling toward her from every direction.