Sigh—like dawn mist slipping through fingers, it’s only a guess.

Rain Moon Willow’s battle began, a drumbeat under clouded skies.

The second-year senior didn’t relax an inch, like a drawn bow at full moon.

She stacked buffs to the brim, and light swarmed like fireflies into a shield.

At her gesture, the glimmer whooshed forward, a river of stars rushing at Rain Moon Willow.

Rain Moon Willow looked strange, head bowed, hands clutching her temple like winter guarding a seed.

Ice walls rose around her like crystal cliffs, cold and clear as a glacier’s spine.

The barrage shattered on the frost bastion, like waves breaking on jade reef.

Her ice constructs were indestructible unless she dispelled them, a vow etched in permafrost.

The senior tested twice, then let the storm die, like a hunter easing the bowstring.

If Rain Moon Willow kept turtling in the walls, more arrows meant nothing but wind.

“Your state looks off. Do you need to pause?” Her voice was steady, like noon sun on marble.

“No need…” Rain Moon Willow’s weak reply drifted out, thin as snow breath behind glass.

She dissolved the defense herself, frost petals sighing into air.

“Let’s continue.” Her tone cooled like a lake at dusk.

“Alright.” The golden-haired senior’s gaze sharpened, a blade catching light.

Her Authority was light-control, a lantern bound to reactions.

She couldn’t steer pure light, only the light born of elements, like sparks waking from flame.

Her Authority amped those reactions and seized their glow, a hand on a comet’s tail.

The air seemed to burn, heat rippling like mirage over desert.

Points of light streaked like meteors, hot and fast, spearing toward Rain Moon Willow.

Each star carried dense divine mana, a god-scented sting that promised ruin on contact.

Rain Moon Willow watched calmly, eyes cool as moon over still water.

Frost twisted up into an icy tornado, a dragon of winter coiling skyward.

Extreme cold became a natural bastion, like a polar night swallowing noise.

The field tilted toward her with time, slow as hoarfrost eating leaves.

“Thunderstrike!”

The golden-haired senior raised her right hand, a flash in her eyes like flint.

The sky birthed a terrible bolt, a white serpent tearing cloud to lace.

It speared through the cyclone and struck Rain Moon Willow, boom rolling like a temple bell.

Smoke billowed, a gray veil lifting from shattered quiet.

Hope first, a flutter like a sparrow under the ribs—smoke means no wound? Qianya blinked.

The referee’s voice cut through like a gong, clean and final.

“Battle over. Lu Yun wins this bout!”

“Huh?” Qianya froze, confusion rippling like wind over wheat.

Cheers burst around her, a tide of voices foaming with praise.

“No wonder it’s Lu Yun-senpai. She won even against Dawn Sugar Snow’s little sister!”

“Lu Yun-senpai’s strength is wild. If that was me up there, I’d fold like paper.”

“Right? Her Authority boosts magic too much. I can’t hit even a tenth of her power.”

Is Lu Yun-senpai a star here? Qianya glanced around, eyes skimming like swallows over a pond.

She jolted—Rain Moon Willow! Fear pricked like cold rain.

On the screen, the referee was helping Rain Moon Willow, her eyes cartoon Xs.

She’d fainted, clean as a candle snuffed—no wounds, no blood.

Relief spilled from Qianya like tidewater ebbing off dark stones.

The referee carried her down, steps steady as oars in calm current.

“Qianya, let’s go check on her?” Xuewei’s voice was soft, a ribbon on a breeze.

“Mm.” Qianya nodded, heart settling like dust after thunder.

In the medical room, Rain Moon Willow lay weak on the bed, pale as moonlight on porcelain.

Her sister tended her with care like spring rain, warm and patient.

By the time Qianya and Xuewei knocked, Yueyu looked much better, color like peach blossom returning.

“Come in,” came the reply, gentle as a reed’s rustle.

“Yueyu, are you okay?” Their worry hung like mist.

“I’m fine…” Her voice was faint, a snowflake melting on the tongue.

Qianya’s expression shifted, wry as autumn smoke.

Rain Moon Willow treated Xuewei far better than her, warmth like tea kept just for family.

Xuewei did say she has Tangxue blood… Is that why? The thought stung like sweet wine.

If only I’d had the nerve to take a sip back then—what a loss, like pearls slipping into sand.

“Big Sis, I tried my best.” Her words were small, a shell in two hands.

“Mm, I saw,” Dawn Sugar Snow murmured, stroking Yueyu’s hair like smoothing river silk.

Yueyu narrowed her eyes, pleased as a cat in sun, and bumped her softly like a willow in wind.

Rain Moon Willow’s talent… must be fierce, like iron under lace.

Back on the stage, even Lu Yun looked surprised to win, a phoenix blinking mid-flight.

Would Yueyu truly be felled by that bolt? Doubt flickered like moths around a lamp.

“Big Sis, we don’t have evening classes, right?”

“Right. We can rest this afternoon.” Her tone was warm, a hearth in rain.

“I want to play at the academy’s underground aquarium!”

“Alright, I’ll go with you…” Dawn Sugar Snow’s hand never stopped, a brook running over pebbles.

Afraid that stream would break, Yueyu hugged her arm tight, clinging like ivy.

I feel out of place here, Qianya thought, a leaf on a foreign river.

“By the way, I found a great grilled-fish place at the cafeteria.”

“If four go together, there’s a special menu to order.”

“Yueyu, Dawn Sugar Snow, interested?” Her invitation fluttered like a red paper charm.

“Grilled fish…? Yes~” Xuewei smiled, eyes bright as lanterns.

“Mm-hmm! I love fish the most!” Yueyu perked up, joy like sunlight chasing fog.

Her earlier weakness scattered, like frost under noon.

Does she really love fish? Qianya blinked, then laughed at herself, a ripple smoothing back to glass.

Merfolk eat fish, right? Sisters loving fish makes sense, like tides loving the moon.

“Qianya, you?” Xuewei asked, voice light as petals.

“I’m a Blood Elf. Even if you drag me along, I can’t eat much.”

“Uh? We didn’t ask you to eat a lot…” Xuewei’s look tilted, a crane’s head cocked.

Yueyu cut in without mercy, crisp as winter air: “You’re just there for the headcount. What are you imagining?”

Qianya’s mouth twitched, then she laughed, bells scattering sparrows.

“Ah, I thought the reward only unlocks if we finish enough fish.”

“Not impossible,” Yueyu said, a spark under snow.

“We’ll know when we get there. Yueyu, you look fine—can you get up and come?”

“Sure, Sis. I’ve rested.” Her smile was small, a moon peeking through cloud.

“Hehe, truth is you’re totally fine.” Dawn Sugar Snow teased, eyes bright as morning dew.

“That senior nearly panicked when you toppled.”

“So mean, Sis. I’m very delicate,” Yueyu pouted, lips like cherry buds.

“Hmph~?” Dawn Sugar Snow arched a brow, amused as breeze teasing strings.

She clung tight, yet claimed to be fragile—vine boasting it’s a feather.

The Student Council had logged their stats yesterday, neat as ledgers in bamboo.

Rain Moon Willow’s physique outpaced Dawn Sugar Snow, wild as a colt on frost grass.

But she’s lazy; her grasp of magic and divine mana is a lake she’s barely skimmed.

In real fights, she throws two tricks, then tanks hits head-on, like granite under rain.

“I’m really weak, Sis. You know that.” Yueyu’s whisper curled like smoke.

Dawn Sugar Snow let the argument go, soft as a leaf turning.

She crouched and scooped her up, lifting like water gathering into a wave.

“Time for grilled fish, Yueyu. Stay in bed longer and it’ll swallow you like mud.”

“Sis! I haven’t changed yet…” Yueyu blushed, tapping her arm, a cherry knocking porcelain.

A heartbeat later, Dawn Sugar Snow shaped a dress of water, ripples weaving into silk.

“There, all set. Learn more magic, okay?” Her smile was spring sunlight.

Yueyu clicked her tongue, a tiny spark of sulk.

She’d hoped Sis would help her change—now that wish dissolved like sugar in tea.