The trio exged fused gnces but obeyed, turning their attention back to the arena.To their surprise, Charles wasn’t celebrating his apparent victory. Instead, he rawled on the ground, barely holding on.

  The truth was that Charles had overextended himself. Maintaining trol of multiple trag curses had drained him pletely. The moment his final spell nded, his mana reserves hit empty, and he colpsed from sheer exhaustion.

  Alex walked onto the field, standiweewo falles. After a brief pause, he cpped his hands loudly. “Well done, both of you,” he said, his voice carrying a mix of approval and amusement.

  Higgs, still struggling to sit up, gred at Alex. “What’s so great about getting tossed like a ragdoll?”

  “And I’m barely standing,” Charles muttered weakly.

  “Well, it seems Higgs is the winner,” Alex decred, his tone calm but firm.

  The three bystanders immediately rushed over to che Charles, relieved to find that he was merely fatigued. “It looks like I lost,” Charles admitted with a wry smile, his voice tinged with both exhaustion and admiration. “Higgs, you’ve improved so much—it’s incredible.”

  Charles had ehe duel with fidence, rgely because he’d trained a year earlier than Higgs and had previously beaten him. He believed he had a psychological advantage. However, Higgs’s remarkable growth had caught him off guard. His agility, mastery of Transfiguration, and strategic use of cealed spells were all executed with precision and calm, earning Charles’s respect.

  “No, I should’ve lost,” Higgs replied, shaking his head sheepishly. “I’m two years older than you, and you haven’t even fully mastered the Iron Armor Charm yet, have you? You never used it during the fight. I had every advantage, but I still pushed myself to the brink of colpse. It doesn’t feel like a victory.”

  “If you won, you won. Don’t overthink it,” Alex interjected, crossing his arms as he looked at the two of them. “By yic, if you faeone youhan you in a real battle, should you just surrender out of guilt? That’s ridiculous.”

  Higgs scratched his head awkwardly, realizing Alex had a point. He hadn’t sidered this earlier when challenging Charles.

  “Senior Charles, your five secutive trag spells at the end were amazing! you teach me?” Bill suddenly chimed in, his excitement cutting through the serious atmosphere.

  Hearing this, Charles couldn’t help but fsh a proud smile. “Haha, Alex taught me that teique, but I’m still w oing the hang of it. The turning angles are tricky.”The teique required intense focus and precise trol, which Charles had spent tless hours practig. However, his smugness was short-lived as Alex promptly kicked him lightly in the shin.

  “You know you’re still bad at trolling it, so why use it recklessly in a duel?” Alex scolded, his voice stern. “It’s not enough to just knoell—you o adapt it to the situation. Using it without thinking is just showing off, and that’s not what I taught you.” Grabbing a piece of chalk, Alex ushered everyoo the nearby . He quickly sketched out key moments from the duel on the bckboard, disseg each move and mistake with precision.

  The group, who moments ago had been basking ihrill of the fight, now looked thhly chastened. Even Bill and David, who weren’t involved in the duel, stood stiffly, heads bowed as Alex pointed out various fws.

  Realizing he might’ve pushed them too hard, Alex sighed and softened his tone. “Alright, that’s enough for today. You all put in good effort, but there’s still a lot to work on. I’ll gradually increase the iy of training. Bill, David, that includes you, so be ready.”The group groaned inwardly but dared not protest. Alex’s no-nonsense expressio no room fotiation, and they relutly nodded in agreement.

  After dismissing them, Alex stayed behind. He pulled out a small rec board with the names of Higgs, Charles, and the others written on it. o eaame were numbers and hat reflected their progress.

  “The data from basic training routines is almost plete,” Alex muttered to himself, jotting down observations. “, I o gather results under extreme ditions. It’s a shame magic reserves ’t be quantified yet. If only I could measure them directly, it would make the data far more accurate. For now, estimates will have to do.”

  Alex had been w on researto “magisitivity” for years as part of the Charms Club. Through rigorous experimentation, he’d developed ways to enhance magical sensitivity, but quantifying magic reserves remained elusive. He dreamed of piling his findings into a book once his research reached a breakthrough. “Maybe Professor Flitwick will have some insights,” Alex decided, tidying up his notes and heading out.

  Professor Flitwick looked up from the part he’d been grading when Alex entered his office. “Quantification of magic reserves?” the tiny professor repeated, his curiosity piqued.

  Alex shared his thoughts with Professor Flitwick, who listened ily. “Your idea is unique,” Flitwick said, leaning ba his chair thoughtfully. “Are you looking to study how training affects a wizard’s mana reserves? It’s an unon subje the wizarding world. Most wizards have enough magic for daily life, so there’s little focus on quantifying mana. I haven’t done any resear that area myself.”

  After a brief pause, Flitwick’s face softened. Not wanting to disce Alex’s enthusiasm, he tinued, “But I offer some suggestions. Have you tried using ruo monitor and measure a wizard’s magic reserves?”

  Alex nodded. “I have, but the maion of magi a wizard’s body is subtle. The measurements aren’t accurate enough.”

  Flitwick tapped his desk, thinking. “In that case, you might have to sider using blood magic.”

  Alex tilted his head. “Blood magic?”

  “Yes,” Flitwick replied, his tone cautious. “It’s a unique branagic that examihe physiology of magical creatures. Many wizarding families dabble in it, often for curse-reted research. It’s a difficult field, involving many in-vivo experiments.”

  Flitwick hesitated for a moment, then locked eyes with Alex. “But I must warn you—it’s as dangerous as bck magie forms of blood magic are ht evil. If you pursue this, you must tread carefully.”

  Alex absorbed the information, his mind already calg. He recalled the books he’d acquired from pure-blood families, realizing some of them tained mentions of blood magic. Why hadn’t he thought of this sooner?

  Sensing Flitwick’s , Alex reassured him. “Professor, I uand the risks. I won’t act recklessly. If I enter difficulties, I’ll report back to you immediately. I won’t dive in blindly.”

  Flitwick studied him for a moment before nodding. He had e to see Alex as cautious aermined. “Alright, but be careful.”