Seeing Seraphina's small and nimble body evading her [Sea Waves] spell, the young noble girl was not startled. Her expression remained cool and composed, as if it was saying 'as expected'.
Following the silver-haired girl's approaching figure, Claire maneuvered her waves to divide and keep a distance from Seraphina, allowing her to make some timely adjustments each time her opponent moved.
Then, she once again gathered her water-elemental mana before her, to cast another spell, but one faster this time.
"Aqua, thou who pierceth even steel and taketh any form, shape thyself to my will and strike as Lux!" Claire quickly recited the incantation of another 2-Star spell, "[Water Bullets]!"
In the next moment following her incantation, dozens of small and compressed water bubbles gathered above the now— dark-blue haired girl.
Those tiny, eyeball-sized bubbles may have looked unimpressive and not in the least intimidating, but this was actually far from the truth!
The water summoned by Claire was magical, and clearly, the noble girl would not have used this spell if it was only that. Those bubbles were small which allowed for a very fast speed, yet this was not even a small part of why they were so powerful.
The amount of water inside those tiny bubbles, not inferior to the large three meter-tall waves she had summoned earlier, was the true reason behind this renowned spell's fierceness.
Yes, the water inside those bullets was compressed. To fit such a big wave inside a tiny bubble, the water must have been compressed to an absurdly high degree!
As if with a mind of its own and under so much pressure, the water's only impulse was to expand outward as much as it could. However, a thin layer of mana was firmly enveloping the water in the form of a bubble, rendering it completely incapable of expansion.
While the water was firmly encased inside the bubble, it did not mean that the pressure of being compacted had disappeared. Instead, it kept building up inside the bubble, until it reached a terrifying level— enough to even crush sharks!
Using the monstrous pressure of the water, the bubbles could propel themselves to reach even higher speeds, reaching just short of breaking the sound barrier.
When the bubbles would finally hit its target, two outcomes were possible.
If the water stopped outside its target, the mana, acting as a container for the water would instantly dissolve, causing the water to expand at horrifying speeds. For the one on the receiving end, it gave off the feeling of being hit by an indestructible wall travelling at lightning-like speed.
In the worst-case scenario, if the water bubbles pierced through the outer shell and made its way inside, the water would expand crazily, taking all the space available and directly crushing the target from within, like a bomb would.
The one who had named this spell [Water Bullets] was undeniably an idiot for choosing the name of this spell solely based on its most unremarkable trait— its speed. [Water Bombs] would have surely been a more fitting name than [Water Bullets].
Of course, all those fear-inducing effects were only possible because of Claire Arest Of Alequessa being a genius amongst geniuses. If anyone else wielding the Water element at the 2-Star level were to cast the same magic as Claire, the name [Water Bullets] would most probably fit their spell like a gauntlet.
Seraphina was not outdone though, something like that could never make its way inside her, and if by accident it did manage to enter her body, it would not cause much damage.
As a 4-Star, Seraphina was much more durable internally than the average person. Moreover, this [Water Bullets] was only a 2-Star spell for a reason. It had a glaring weakness, one that would have rendered it completely useless, had Seraphina been allowed to use her mana.
*SPLASH!*
Claire sent her first volley of bullets towards Seraphina, the water bubbles darted through the air at subsonic speed, not letting the silver-haired girl much time to react.
Seraphina reacted in time and dodged to the side like she often does, however, without the use of her mana or her khakkhara, she could not escape every tiny bullets coming her way.
"Ouch!" the silver-haired girl cried out as she was propelled back by the expanding [Water Bullets]. "You're playing so dirty, Claire!"
If Seraphina had used her mana, she could have manipulated her stronger and purer Light-elemental mana to surround Claire's Water-elemental mana, preventing the water from ever expanding outwards.
However, Claire had precisely chosen this spell according to the rules they had set up. Aside from this weakness, [Water Bullets] was undeniably the most powerful 2-Star spell from the Water spell tree.
"Don't go crying now," said Claire with a smug smile tugging at her lips. Knowing that she had made the 'era-defining genius' frustrated by using her little tricks brought her a great deal of satisfaction.
"I hope this isn't all I need to beat you," Claire taunted her. "I would be very disappointed if it is." she added, sticking out her tongue at Sera.
With that, Claire commanded the four [Sea Waves] on standby, to converge towards the silver-haired girl, while also shooting her second volley of [Sea Bullets].
*Drip, drip.*
The large body of water's rapid and swift movement produced sounds akin to a heavy rain, wetting the entire room in Claire's mana.
Hearing the sound Claire's water made and, seeing the state her room was in, Seraphina decided to take this spar a little more seriously.
The drenched silver-haired girl's eyes frantically darted around the room. Magical water was coming towards her from five different directions, leaving her with nowhere to dodge.
'Realistically, only her [Water Bullets] can actually hurt me, her [Sea Waves] is just regular magical water that she controls...' realised Seraphina in a few milliseconds, as she intently eyed the four incoming [Sea Waves] while also keeping track of Claire's incoming second volley of [Water Bullets].
While it was true that Seraphina had nowhere to dodge, it did not mean she was out of options.
Spotting from the corner of her golden eyes— the incoming bubbles, Seraphina's move became clear, almost too obvious.
Between taking the full brunt of Claire's numerous and deadly [Sea Bullets], or, her inoffensive [Sea Waves], the choice was quickly made.
'I can just go through it, can't I...?' thought Seraphina as her gaze rested upon one of the approaching [Sea Waves]. With the [Sea Bullets] as a reference, this option was literally pointed out. It was so obvious that even someone stupid like Elyott the Baldie could have figured it out.
'Why is she wasting her mana like this...' pondered Seraphina. '...Does she think she can beat me by relying only on her cheap trick?' Seraphina asked herself, her eyes twitching from the thought.
Nevertheless, she still had bullets to evade, and there was only one good option to take here.
Seraphina bent her knees, her weight shifted forward, with the heels of her small, white and wet shoes leaving the ground, preparing herself to bypass Claire's encirclement.
However, just when Seraphina was about to propel herself forward—
The silver-haired girl froze in her steps.
'What if it's a trap...?' Seraphina hesitated, her pupils flickering with doubt.