"Ready?" Cynthia asked then and flexed her fingers a few times.
Caius nodded still with a frown and the Combat Magic Professor flashed him a dry smile before she made an exaggerated move with her arms so a spell circle appeared and conjured up a massive ball of water that went flying at Caius.
Unlike the last time he had gotten attacked, Caius was a lot more ready but didn't go for his best defensive spell. He didn't really go for defenses at all. If he had any chance of winning this, efficiency was key.
Cynthia was beyond him in terms of combat magic experience and while she was restricting herself to Third circle spells, she was many circles above that and boasted the mana reserves to match it. She also knew how to conserve her mana better than Caius, so she could easily outlast him. All in all, Caius decided he had to make every attack count.
Fortunately, he had spent his time leading up to this moment well.
