Before handing over that necklace, Enrico had honestly been disappointed in how he had handled its creation. The reason was simple—he had made other items like it, but there was a problem.
"Only those who possess pure magic can use them."
[And that means you can't use it.]
He just looked up at the sky in desolation. The only ones who could possibly use those items were people like Elaris, who had a unique ability, and Kai when he awakened his third magic.
"I worked so hard and failed so many times to improve my ring…"
[You look like you're in a drama anime. Stop it. I'm starting to feel sorry for you and I hate that.]
'…Well, anyway, I can use this to improve even more in the future.'
Looking at the necklace he would give to Elaris, he clenched his fist slightly. Even if improving his items was harder than he thought, he wouldn't give up. The better his items were, the higher the chance that he and his friends would survive.
'I hope the princess likes it.'
"I'm loving this feeling."
The princess looked at her hand with anticipation. She had never felt such strong control over mana as she did now. Even though she still wasn't a complete circle seven, she possessed one of their traits—and better yet, she felt she wasn't even using the necklace to its fullest.
"I wonder how my sister will react?"
Shaking her head so as not to show the slightly cruel smile forming at the thought of her sister, she refocused on her enemy.
Snowfall stepped back, and the snow above the arena began spinning more violently, forming a heavy vortex that pressed the air downward as she started merging with the snow again. Elaris kept her feet planted on the frozen ground while feeling the field respond more clearly to her own mana.
The vortex descended in the form of multiple compressed spikes at once. Elaris surged upward, wings beating hard, breaking through the first line by direct impact while the second grazed her shoulder and the third was deflected by a short punch that scattered fragments across the arena.
"Ice Beast Fist."
Breaking through the white storm, she found Snowfall at the center of the attack, and the two collided midair—fist against snow blade—creating a shockwave that opened another deep fissure in the already devastated ground.
Snowfall tried to freeze the air around her again, but the ice failed to fully close due to the constant interference of pure mana circulating through Elaris. That was enough for the princess to advance within the attempted prison, striking directly into the creature's abdomen and forcing her full materialization for a second before spinning and delivering a kick that sent Snowfall crashing into the ground, forming a new crater.
The creature merged with the terrain, using the ground as an extension of her body, causing spikes to erupt beneath Elaris's feet in rapid succession. Elaris leapt at the last instant, though two still pierced her leg before she beat her wings and created a spiral of pure ice that crushed the rest.
Snowfall passed through the frozen ground and emerged behind her, cutting her back with a blade formed from her own arm and sending her falling a few meters before regaining balance in the air.
'She's strong even with my new advantage, but—'
When they touched the ground again, they advanced simultaneously without long preparation, trading direct blows as snow exploded at every collision and ice shattered beneath their feet. Even with all her courage in facing a lost battle, Snowfall's expression showed difficulty and sadness at disappointing the little girl cheering for her.
"Very well, Snowfall. You're doing an excellent job."
'This is all that irritating creature's fault… I want someone to cheer for me too.'
Both decided to make their final moves, even though they already knew who would win. Snowfall concentrated all remaining snow in the arena around her body, creating a thick layer that increased her density and turned each movement into a heavy strike, while Elaris maintained her stance and let pure mana circulate uninterrupted.
"You're a good opponent and you don't give up. If I pass this trial completely, I hope we can be good companions if your lord recreates you."
Her opponent's expression flickered in surprise before returning to normal a second later. When Snowfall lunged with her arm transformed into a long, thick blade, Elaris did not retreat; she spun, dodging by centimeters, and responded with a direct sequence of short blows, each impact breaking part of the compressed snow layer. The creature attempted to turn intangible again while retreating, but the process was slower than before. In that small delay, Elaris concentrated all her mana into the gauntlets.
"Pure Ice Impact."
The ground cracked beneath her feet as she launched herself forward, appearing before her opponent and delivering a downward strike charged with pure ice and concentrated magical impact. The blow struck directly, piercing the remaining defense and hurling Snowfall into the center of the arena.
The surrounding snow immediately lost form. The vortex above dissipated, the spikes stopped growing, and the extreme cold began to fade. Snowfall tried to rise once more, but the ice no longer responded with the same strength. Skadi sighed at the sight, a little proud that she hadn't given up, yet saddened that she had not won.
"What a shame. I wanted to see one of my creations win."
Seeing she still resisted, Elaris advanced one final time, striking the ground with both gauntlets and creating a circular wave that crushed the creature, trapping her beneath a firm layer of pure ice that she could not manipulate. Snowfall remained still, and as if she had finally accepted defeat, she began to fade—not because of her ability, but because she no longer had mana to use.
"Congratulations. You passed the trial. Now let's see if you deserve the blessing after reuniting with your companions."
Skadi had approached from behind as Elaris dispelled the form the necklace had granted her. When the little girl vanished, Elaris realized she had likely gone to fetch her companions, so she sat down on a fallen tree.
"They must be less injured than I am, so they should be fine—"
"Your companions are here, princess."
Looking up, she saw her companions—and they saw her as well. As they looked at one another, she realized Enrico, Kai, and Valença were actually quite injured. The four simply stared at each other without much expression.
'It really was much harder than I thought.'