The battle erupted just like that, out of nowhere.
And Sain's side was the one who initiated the attack.
There was a reason why Lina was called a "mad woman" by other apprentices—she actually made a move without any hesitation right on Black Street!
The massive fireball emitting deep blue flames differed from the Minor Fireball Technique Sain could cast not just in size, but also in power!
The fireball hurtled straight toward Scarface Jock's face. Because Lina had acted so quickly and Jock had no preparation whatsoever, it seemed that in the next second, a scene of brains splattering and exploding would unfold.
Mages all had frail constitutions. Without a magic shield, a magic apprentice's resistance to strikes wasn't much better than that of a robust adult man.
Mainly, no one had expected Lina to make a move!
A pale white glow suddenly appeared from within Scarface Jock's group.
Sain had magic equipment, so naturally, someone in Scarface Jock's group did too.
This was an emergency alert-type item; the pale white glow came from a short silver staff, which looked similar in shape to Sain's Acid Wand.
The owner of this staff was a pale-faced male mid-level apprentice.
It seemed he originally didn't want to get involved in this senior apprentice battle, nor did he wish to wastefully use his precious magic item.
The magic shield condensed from the pale white magical glow didn't even last two seconds before shattering into pieces under the power of Lina's Great Fireball Technique!
But those two seconds bought a sliver of reaction time for everyone within the fireball's coverage.
Shattering along with the pale white magic shield was Lina's Great Fireball Technique.
However, that deep blue fireball didn't simply vanish; instead, it exploded on the spot, splitting into nearly twenty smaller scorching yellow fireballs.
This was an unexpected turn of events!
Every spell was unique; even if they were all fireballs, they would vary due to the caster's differences.
Lina's deep blue fireball was a special technique she had modified and enhanced. This situation where the fireball exploded and dispersed into twenty minor fireballs wasn't the standard Great Fireball Technique recorded in the magic academy's library.
The formidable strength of a senior apprentice was evident from this!
Moreover, given Lina's consistently displayed genius and outstanding attributes, even though she had just advanced, she was far from an ordinary senior apprentice.
The exploding minor fireballs inflicted considerable damage on Scarface Jock's group.
The main casualties were those entry-level apprentices; with their insufficient strength, being caught in a senior apprentice's magic coverage was nothing short of a disaster.
Additionally, two low-level apprentices who reacted a beat too slow were also affected by the minor fireballs, sustaining significant burns.
In the blink of an eye, just one move had reduced Scarface Jock's group by nearly half.
It was at this moment that Scarface Jock and the others' counterattack finally arrived.
The first to strike was a female apprentice with light red short hair. As a mid-level apprentice, she was quite dissatisfied with Lina's unannounced attack.
In the Black Magic Academy, the ratio of male apprentices had always been high over the years, stemming from the academy's extremely cruel competitive system.
In such an environment, females who could grow into mid-level apprentices or above were almost never weak.
In fact, at times, they were even more ruthless than male apprentices.
Because without sufficient cunning, it was impossible to survive in the bone-crunching Black Magic Academy.
Accompanied by a scream, a sonic wave spell emanated from this female apprentice's mouth.
This was Sain's first time witnessing a sonic magic; its speed was so fast that it exceeded Sain's understanding of ordinary spells.
Indeed, the Black Magic Academy was full of hidden talents.
The extremely fast sonic magic quickly enveloped Sain and Lina. Faced with this mid-level spell "Banshee's Wail," Sain, who was only a low-level apprentice, couldn't help but stagger.
Fortunately, the faint mental strength recovery mechanism from the Acid Wand in his hand prevented Sain from being too affected by this spell.
Moreover, the primary target of the Banshee's Wail was actually Lina beside Sain.
Although she didn't have something like the Acid Wand to mitigate mental strength, as a senior apprentice, Lina endured it with her high mental strength value.
The Banshee's Wail, as a mid-level spell, undoubtedly consumed a lot, and with that mid-level female apprentice's strength, it was hard for her to cast a second one in such a short time.
Thus, the initiative returned to Lina once more.
At some point, she had taken out a pitch-black bracelet from her hand. As her live-in boyfriend, Sain knew this was one of Lina's magic items, which she rarely used.
Rapid incantation chants emanated from Lina's mouth again, and as the pitch-black bracelet emitted a dim black light, it seemed another magical attack was imminent.
It was at this moment that attacks from Scarface Jock and the others followed in succession.
This was the consequence of being ganged up on. Even if Lina's strength surpassed everyone present, she was ultimately just one person, while Scarface Jock's group had eleven low-level apprentices or above right there.
Not to mention, among them were four mid-level apprentices, including Scarface Jock.
The one who struck right after Lina and the sonic female apprentice was Jock himself.
He didn't choose traditional spell chanting methods; instead, he pulled out a short sword from his bosom and charged straight at Sain and Lina.
This was Jock's unique fighting style. Light red flame patterns spread from the base of the short sword in Jock's hand.
It wasn't because Jock's short sword was magic equipment, but because he had infused his fire elemental power into that fine steel short sword.
In the magic world, this had a professional term—Fire Element Enchantment.
Jock's movements were swift, stemming from his years of tempering in the underground world of the Dark Region. The scars all over his body were proof of his strength.
Sain's close combat and reaction abilities weren't bad either, but compared to Jock, he was still a bit inferior.
Because the two of them pursued different paths: Sain specialized in magic, while Jock divided his attention to physical prowess.
However, no matter how fast Jock's movements were, they couldn't outpace Sain!
The enchanted long sword in his hand was already aimed at Lina. Since Lina had struck first, Jock now harbored thoughts of severely injuring or even killing her.
If it were a one-on-one fight, Jock could never be Lina's opponent.
But don't forget, he had over a dozen companions here.
Especially since Lina's nearly indiscriminate fireball coverage earlier had offended everyone.
Lina had clearly not advanced to senior apprentice for long; this was Jock's only recent opportunity to severely injure or even kill her.
"The one to become Master Andes's apprentice can only be me!"
"This year's academy reward is also mine!"
"You ignorant mad woman, go to hell!" Jock roared inwardly, revealing the source of his conflict with Lina.
However, before Jock's ambush could succeed, the three streams of corrosive acid liquid that suddenly appeared before him made his face turn pale and sent chills through his body.