The next morning, the Elizabeth Academy of Magic officially held the opening ceremony for this year's Magic Exchange Competition. To arrive at the venue before most people, Astrid woke up Amalia in her arms as soon as it was dawn, then got up to wash and tidy her hair.

Compared to the welcome banquet held in the palace last night, the opening ceremony of the exchange competition was on a larger scale and involved more people. Many professors from the academies would appear, and the academy dean would also be present to give a speech.

"Astrid, I heard before that there would be exhibition matches at the opening ceremony..."

In the dormitory washroom, Astrid was standing in front of the mirror tidying her silver hair that reached her shoulders when she suddenly heard Lyra, who was chewing cleansing grass beside her, speak.

"...Do you know who is performing?"

Unlike the casual lectures in university in her previous life, which were of no substantial help and required deliberately pulling students to fill the seats and create atmosphere, the Magic Exchange Competition was held once every four years. All the young genius mages from various countries could participate. Not to mention the students of Elizabeth Academy of Magic itself, even some small and medium-sized nobles not invited by the academy were willing to buy tickets to watch.

As for the exhibition matches, they were a must-have item at the opening ceremony of the Magic Exchange Competition. There were sparring matches between students, as well as high-intensity duels between professors, which were outstanding in both viewing pleasure and practicality.

After all, when two powerful mages clashed, even without deliberate teaching, the onlookers could learn something from their every move, which made the trip worthwhile.

"I haven't paid much attention to the students..."

Astrid placed her hands behind her neck, lifting her long hair while raising her neck, her beautiful eyes slightly narrowed as she looked at the light above her head.

"But I know a little about the professors. Lady Charlotte seems to be competing this time."

The higher the level of magic cultivation, the harder it was to improve. The professors of Elizabeth Academy of Magic were generally at the level of peak Magnus, and only a few could reach the level of Arcanist mages. Since Charlotte, who had the strength of an Arcanist mage, was participating in the exhibition match, her opponent must also be an Arcanist mage

"Countess Charlotte is competing?"

Lyra also realized this and spoke in a daze.

"If that's the case, this exhibition match..."

"...Can I see two Arcanist mages duel?"

Astrid nodded upon hearing this, let down her hair, and turned to walk out of the washroom.

"Yes, most likely."

It was estimated that no one knew about Charlotte's promotion to middle tier Arcanist mage except herself. She wondered if the other party would reveal this in front of the public in this competition.

Seeing Astrid leave, Lyra hurried to wash up, soon returned to the room, changed into casual clothes, and left the dormitory.

They went to the restaurant for breakfast together. Although Astrid and the others had not yet arrived at the venue, they could already feel some of the excitement of the competition along the way. The students coming and going were all discussing the exchange competition, and their excitement was evident.

To make the students feel more involved, the academy suspended all classes during the competition and encouraged students to attend the matches in person and write exchange notes based on the progress of the battles to strengthen their own abilities.

Hearing the discussions rising and falling around her, Lyra ate her bread in small bites, pricking up her ears to listen, her gaze occasionally falling on her plate and occasionally on Astrid across the table.

Although she knew in advance that the scale of this competition was huge, Lyra couldn't help but feel a little surprised when she found that everyone in the academy seemed to be immersed in the atmosphere of the exchange competition.

Everyone really valued this competition...

Gently chewing the bread in her mouth, the slight sweetness brought by the combination of saliva and starch, Lyra quietly brought her legs together, the tips of her small leather shoes touching the floor, and rubbed them slightly with force.

After half a minute, the pink-haired girl spoke softly.

"Astrid, will there be many people watching the competition after the opening ceremony ends?"

Undoubtedly, Lyra asked a question that exposed her intelligence a little. Astrid glanced at her and replied while drinking fruit juice.

"Of course, those who can participate in the competition are the young talents of various countries. Who wouldn't want to see if they have any real skills?"

After speaking, in order to have a clearer reference for her previous statement and to allow Lyra to have sufficient psychological preparation to participate in the competition, Astrid continued.

"Elizabeth Academy of Magic is the most elite magic academy in the entire Valeria Empire. The scale of spectators for every official competition will be larger than the duel between Lyra and Reneth. By the finals, even the Emperor and the four Grand Dukes of the Empire might come to watch."

Astrid's words were not fabricated at all. The value of this Magic Exchange Competition was greater than any previous joint competition between academies.

It could be said that the winner who could win the championship would surely be remembered by the entire aristocratic circle of the Valeria Empire.

Hearing Astrid say this, Lyra, who understood the importance of this competition, clenched her dinner fork. While excited, she also felt a touch of nervousness.

This time, she was not just a spectator, but also a participant who would be watched by countless people.

After finishing dinner, they came to the venue where the opening ceremony was held. Although they were supposed to take their seats in advance, Astrid was not the only one with this idea.

After greeting Linda, Lydia, and others, Astrid sat down in the student spectator area. Elizabeth Academy of Magic had set up student areas and VIP areas according to the identity of the audience. For example, people like Lucas, Alistair, and Monica, who were neither students nor accompanying scholars, were all arranged to watch the duel in the VIP area.

Her gaze shifted, and seeing her unlucky imperial brother sitting in a distant seat, Astrid breathed a sigh of relief and slowly crossed her legs.

Thanks to the academy's arrangement, otherwise, if she had sat next to Lucas, she might have lost two or three points of interest in watching the match due to the other party's presence.

Time quietly passed, and more and more students arrived at the venue for the opening ceremony, and the empty seats beside her gradually filled up.

Twenty minutes before the opening ceremony began, Astrid noticed Monica and Iris also entering the venue. They were mixed with the exchange students from the Kingdom of Velys and sat in a corner slightly away from the dueling platform.

The moment Astrid's gaze fell upon them, Monica seemed to sense something and looked towards a certain spot in the venue with her orange-gold eyes.

Their gazes briefly met. Monica curved her lips and nodded in greeting from afar. Astrid also slightly nodded in return, acknowledging her greeting.

However, before her gaze completely shifted away, Monica faintly sensed a subtle attraction. Her gaze shifted, and through the hundreds of meters, she saw the pink-haired figure beside Astrid, her beautiful eyes narrowing.

With the enhancement of the Clarity Art, she could clearly see the pink-haired girl holding a knight's sword.

The distance was too far, and the aura emanating was too weak. Although Lyra was within the visible range of the naked eye, Monica's feeling towards her was always vague.

"..."

After observing for a moment, Monica withdrew her gaze, supported her cheek with her left hand, and gently hugged her ample chest with her right arm.

There was no hurry to verify. Seeing that her position was very close to Astrid and she was constantly talking to her, they must know each other.

The exchange competition will last for a long time, and she had plenty of opportunities to interact with that person.

Another twenty minutes passed, and a young woman walked onto the stage. Facing the refractive screen magically outlined on the field, she opened her pink lips and said.

"Welcome everyone to the Magic Exchange Competition hosted by Elizabeth Academy of Magic. I am the host of this opening ceremony, Evelyn Protheus."

Looking at the linguistics professor in a tight-fitting gorgeous dress in the center of the venue, Astrid blinked, with a hint of surprise in her eyes.

The original work didn't provide much information about the host of the exchange competition, so even Astrid didn't expect that the person who would come on stage would be Professor Evelyn, whose bedroom key she even had.

However, looking at her flawless face, curvaceous figure, and simple and elegant attire, her image was indeed impeccable, a true femme fatale who could captivate people's minds.

"I believe many audiences have traveled a long way to be here, so without further ado, let's officially begin the opening ceremony of this competition."

"First, we invite students who have graduated from Elizabeth Academy of Magic to bring us a wonderful magic performance."

Through the amplification barrier, Evelyn's mature and charming voice echoed throughout the venue. Astrid crossed her hands, supporting her knees.

The so-called magic performance was actually the release of spectacular magic by multiple people, but the scale was much larger than ordinary performances, and the variety was not just fireworks, but also combinations of different elemental magic.

In a sense, the steps and procedures involved in such complex spectacular magic were more numerous than those in conventional magic, and the difficulty of releasing it was higher.

As soon as the woman finished speaking, a mass of ink-like blackness suddenly shot up on the stage, rushing towards the sky with a sky-obscuring momentum.

Just as most people thought something unexpected had happened, the ink spread out, blocking the sky and plunging the entire venue into darkness.

The next second, sporadic lights appeared. On the deep black curtain, starlight flickered, and the light dyed with other elements revealed various colors, some dazzling like fire, others gentle like water, intertwining and flowing, forming a brilliant river of stars flowing in the darkness.

Lyra looked at the brilliant and dazzling scenery above her head, her mouth opening unconsciously, her sky-blue pupils reflecting tiny fragments of light.

As expected of the most important magic competition in the entire empire, the first scene of this spectacular magic was enough to be stunning.

Her thoughts paused for a moment. The river of stars before her was like a lake with a stone dropped into it, and ripples of light spread out, like a vortex that seemed to be deeply recessed into the sky.

Heaven and earth seemed to be reversed at this moment, and everything became dreamlike.

............

After the spectacular magic performance, the second event was the exhibition match between students. This time, there was also a person Astrid knew, the youngest son of the Duke Thomas Redgrave, Vorelter Redgrave, who was currently a fourth-year senior.

It was his deliberate provocation that made Lyra's one-on-one duel so difficult, and it directly led to the destruction of Reneth's magic talent.

Seeing the man appear on stage, even Lyra frowned unconsciously, secretly hoping that Vorelter would be defeated quickly.

Having witnessed the tragedy that befell Reneth, even if it was just an exhibition match, she did not want to see this arrogant nobleman, who treated human lives as worthless, win.

Perhaps a god of destiny heard Lyra's prayer, and Vorelter, a middle tier Magnus, fell into a disadvantage in the collision of the final magic, and was ultimately defeated.

Seeing Vorelter leave the stage in defeat, Astrid curved her lips and said softly.

"Happy?"

Although Astrid did not turn her head to speak clearly to anyone, Lyra knew that she was asking her, and nodded.

"Yes."

"...I don't want Vorelter to win."

In Lyra's opinion, there was nothing wrong with admitting this.

The incident back then was still vivid in her memory. Although she had been comforted by Astrid, Lyra no longer had excessive guilt, but she still harbored strong aversion towards the perpetrator of the tragedy.

Hearing this, Astrid let out a soft sigh from her nose and said with a smile.

"Lyra is quite vengeful..."

"But it's good that you remember, I don't really like that guy either."

The Duke Thomas was a supporter of the Second Prince Alistair's faction, and his son Vorelter would naturally not be polite to her, who was her overt ally, the First Prince.

However, this was not the best time to target him. Vorelter was at best a guard dog. The truly threatening one was Alistair, who stood behind him.

When the two princes were both injured, she would come out to reap the benefits. As for Duke Thomas, it wouldn't be too late to discipline him after Amalia's position was stable.

After gently comforting Lyra a few words, Astrid moved her hand from her leg to the right armrest. Feeling the cool and smooth touch like silk, she turned her head and saw Amalia's ink-black long hair leaning against her.

Her fingertips played in the strands of the cold and proud loli's hair, and Astrid saw the light mirror displaying that the next magic duel was about to begin.

Charlotte, an "early" Arcanist mage specializing in wind magic, would duel with Kelet Brown, an early Arcanist mage specializing in fire magic.

It was rare for two Arcanist mages to have a real duel in public view, which was the real highlight of this exhibition match.