Hunter Academy: Revenge of the Weakest

Chapter 966 223.2 - Mage and Archer

From the far side of the platform, Lilia narrowed her eyes.

The flickering sigils that hovered around Irina weren't fire-based. She recognized that instantly. No heat distortion. No mana flare matching elemental alignment. They were clean, geometric-refined.

And the moment they formed, the feel of the battlefield shifted.

Lilia adjusted her stance, sliding half a step back, not out of fear but calibration. Her fingers hovered above her quiver, her bow still pulsing with the residual mana of her last volley. She was already preparing a new technique, ready to dismantle Irina's flame paths once again-until she felt the tension in the air twist.

"That's not flame.'

It had been months since she last sparred with Irina-perhaps longer. Half a year, maybe more. But in her mind, Lilia had never stopped updating the Irina-model she fought against.

Irina Emberheart: fire-aligned, aggressive caster. Blazing tempo. Strong mana bursts. Controlled, but reactive. A pure mage-strong in a straight line, vulnerable to collapse if rhythm is broken.

At least, that's how she had known her.

Yet now, none of that profile fit.

Irina wasn't just countering. She was anticipating.

The moment Lilia changed vectors, Irina was already there. When Lilia altered her pulse timing, Irina slowed hers. When she broke flame lines with inversion shots, Irina abandoned the field entirely and brought out non-elemental constructs.

And that was what unsettled her.

'She's not adapting to me. She's moving ahead of me!

Lilia exhaled slowly through her nose, the faintest furrow lining her brow.

She had fought her share of mages, and she had designed her techniques with that in mind. She understood how elemental control worked. She knew how long it took for a fire glyph to prime, how mana density impacted combustion delay. Her arrows weren't just about power-they were tools, tuned for pressure, for rhythm disruption, for overwhelming control.

But none of it was working.

Irina was weaving around her like she'd read the entire playbook already.

No, not weaving-conducting.

Lilia's fingers brushed across the fletching of a new arrow, one she hadn't used yet in this fight.

'She's changed!

That realization settled heavier than she expected. Irina's reputation had always been that of a prodigy mage-aggressive, powerful, yes, but not this. Not this kind of precision.

And now?