The villainous young master just wants to live a Buddhist-like life.

　In the final duel, Diana, having used her wits, crushed Vanessa's forces with layers of overwhelming force, ultimately securing victory.

　The discontent of the second-year students in the "House of Fools" contrasts sharply with the exhilaration of the second-year students in the "House of Nobles".

　Diana finally felt triumphant, shaking off the gloom of losing to Sarah, and walked triumphantly in front of Dark, puffing out her chest and waiting for praise.

　Dark gave her a half-hearted compliment on her brain, then got up and left the dueling arena to go to the cafeteria with the two girls.

　The "Silver Cup" this week is not over yet; there will be another elimination match for the losers' bracket tonight.

　The participants in this elimination round are naturally Diana and Witt!

　The rivalry between the "House of Nobles" and the "House of Knights" is always particularly captivating.

　The second-year students who entered the cafeteria one after another were discussing the evening's competition. The two sides had not yet started their duel, but they were already arguing heatedly.

　Seeing his beloved girl eliminated by Vittoria, Doron, now burdened with both old and new grudges, led the second-year students of the "Noble Academy" in a heated verbal battle against the second-year students of the Knight Academy.

　Diana and Witte, who were at the center of the discussion, reacted differently.

　Diana and Rose sat on one side, while Dak and Eudora, who was carrying a tray of food, approached from the opposite side.

　They chose a quieter table by the wall, keeping a table's distance from the second-year students of the "Noble Academy".

　Rose and Eudora were talking in hushed tones, while Dark listened with great interest to the verbal sparring between their classmates.

　Diana, of course, was fighting against the mountain of flesh in front of her.

　According to her, she needed to conserve her strength for the duel that night...

　A sharp mind and physical strength complement each other, which is essential for victory in every battle.

　Rose wanted to advise her against overeating, but then she realized that her nutrition always flowed to where it was supposed to go, so she stopped trying.

　And on the other side.

　Witt was surrounded by the second-year students of the Knights Academy because of his victory this afternoon.

　From being knocked into the loser's bracket by Emma in the very first match, he has made a remarkable comeback. Now that he has successfully advanced to the semifinals, he will naturally receive support.

　Now that the first semester of second grade is coming to an end, Victor's relationship with his classmates has gradually become more harmonious.

　In fact, this year's second graders have a very strong learning atmosphere. Even first-year students who didn't like to study have become more diligent under the influence of this environment.

　Witt is not an isolated case; it's just that his talent was already exceptional, and with the occasional guidance from "Blood Princess," his growth rate became particularly outstanding.

　Moreover, the potential of his deck is extremely high!

　To be fair, he has the potential to win the championship.

　In comparison, Diana's Magical Spirit Cards are actually inferior to Witt's in terms of pure strength. However, she possesses Magical Cards capable of creating miracles.

　The outcome of tonight's duel remains to be seen.

　……

　Dinner ended amidst a heated debate among the second-year students.

　Then a group of people flocked to the open-air dueling arena, waiting for the start of tonight's duel.

　As Dark walked into the circular area with Rose, he suddenly discovered that Professor Sylph and Professor Cazell were also there.

　In the afternoons, apart from Professor Pava Jones, only Professor Lily occasionally appeared among the second-year students.

　"Are they also here to observe Witte?"

　Dak was moved and naturally sat down.

　Rose, who was standing next to him, appeared extremely nervous from the moment they entered the dueling arena.

　Her tightly furrowed brows showed she was even more nervous than when she was competing herself.

　"Go, Diana!"

　Suddenly, as if she had seen Diana walk out of the player tunnel, Rose abruptly raised her sign and waved it forcefully, her usual quiet demeanor completely gone.

　Dak blinked, then closed his book and cheered him on.

　Regardless, he still didn't want Diana to be eliminated.

　……

　Then the players from both sides took to the contestant's platform one after another.

　"I was never your match before."

　On the blue team's stage, Witt Gold, who had activated the card table, suddenly spoke.

　Diana looked up and said "Oh".

　Victor Gold, not receiving the response he wanted, fell silent for a moment.

　But he had to bite the bullet and continue, halfway through his sentence: "But I am not the same person I was yesterday!"

　Things change every thirty years, like the east and west sides of a river.

　I understand everything I understand.

　Diana frowned and thought for a moment, then asked in confusion, "Did you shed your skin?"

　Witt Gold: "..."

　……

　The battle began amidst laughter.

　But neither of them was affected... perhaps Witt was...

　In short, the tactical systems of both sides have not changed much.

　Diana uses the "Bear" series of magical spirit cards as her core, supplemented by weapon cards and equipment cards to fight enemies.

　The Magic Card "Power of the Bear" is even more unique.

　Witt God is based on the "Dungeon Monsters" series of Spellcaster cards, supplemented by weapon cards and equipment cards.

　The core magic card is "Holy Sword Curse," which can be controlled by the duelist himself!

　In addition, he possesses a third-tier magical spirit capable of overwhelming second-year students—this is his trump card.

　With Diana's deck lineup, if Wit God can successfully summon the third-tier magical spirit and equip it with enough item cards, victory is assured.

　However, without special methods of summoning, it is not easy to summon a third-tier magical spirit.

　However, Witt God made significant changes to the selection of low-star magical spirits, reducing some straightforward magical spirits and adding some magical spirits with special ultimate skills, which made them significantly more difficult to deal with.

　Despite being difficult to deal with, the saying "one force can overcome all methods" still has some effect.

　Therefore, at the beginning of the duel, Diana actually had the upper hand, but Witt God was extremely resilient and managed to drag it out to the later stages, eventually... successfully summoning a third-tier magical spirit.

　After that, Diana suffered defeat after defeat. Even when she finally fought to the death against the third-tier magical spirit, she was too exhausted to turn the tide and ultimately lost.

　"The victor: Witt Gold!"

　The referee's pronouncement mingled with thunderous applause, causing Witt Gold, the contestant on the platform, to slightly raise the corners of his mouth.

　He has never been an introverted person.

　It possesses many characteristics that align with the "Knights' Academy".

　He had been overshadowed by several other students in the same grade, so he had no chance to shine.

　Now that the tiger at the very top is no longer in the mountains, he finally has the confidence to dominate.

　Witt Gold's eyes darted around, searching for the tiger in the circular stands, thinking that one day he would definitely be able to touch the tiger's tail.

　……

　The sky cleared, the rain stopped, and Witt felt he was back to normal.

　……

　Although he had expected the outcome, Dark still sighed slightly when he saw Diana actually lose, wondering if he should take some time to tutor her.

　However, for an aspiring mage, forcing extra lessons can sometimes have the opposite effect.

　Every mage has their own path.

　The academic life is just the beginning of a mage's life.

　What archmages should truly learn in the academy is not how to become stronger in a short time, but rather... mastering the methods of learning!

　Only by mastering learning methods can one continue learning and making continuous progress after graduation, ultimately reaching their ideal state.

　And this is precisely what Diana lacked most.

　You can teach someone for a while, but not forever.

　Dark shook his head, thinking about how to enlighten Diana.

　But that's really too difficult.

　……

　As the applause subsided, Dark replayed the duel in his mind, pondering whether there were any abrupt changes in the proceedings.

　But he still didn't get anything out of it.

　He turned to look at where the professors had been and found that the place was now empty.

　Presumably, the professors all left after the duel ended.

　"Looks like we'll have to wait until next week."

　Dak withdrew his gaze and pondered for a moment.

　"Next Friday will be the final day of the Silver Cup."

　"If Witt wants to win the title, he must beat Emma and Sara in a row."

　"Given his current level of skill, he is unlikely to be able to conduct experiments on the target."

　"At that time, they might show some of their true colors."

　At this point, Dak stopped thinking.

　Then he called Rose over and said with a smile, "Want to go to the night market?"

　Rose was still annoyed by Diana's failure when she suddenly heard Dark's invitation. She paused for a moment, then instinctively said, "Ask Diana..."

　"Yes, of course I'll go!"

　After meeting up with them, Diana's cheeks puffed up like two steamed buns, looking like she was about to devour every last bit of food at the night market.

　She is not the type to be discouraged by temporary successes or failures.

　Although stopping at the semi-finals of the Silver Cup this time will temporarily discourage her, it will eventually become the motivation to work even harder.

　"Just wait, once Diana sheds her skin, we'll definitely win back!"

　It was what she was muttering that almost made Dak unable to hold it in.

　……

　The traveler's street was already brightly decorated, and many shops had put up Christmas trees and hung up signs for "Christmas Specials".

　Many stores seem to have drawn inspiration from the marketing of model Easter eggs and simulated cards, and have started some "Christmas gift" lotteries where customers can spend money to win gift boxes to hang on the Christmas tree.

　This "blind box" marketing strategy has gradually spread, and students are always enthusiastic about it.

　At the entrance of the All-People Duel Club branch, a gashapon machine was found out of nowhere and was selling very well.

　Eve and her team not only included rare simulation cards and small elf models in the gashapon, but also stuffed in the last remaining "flower cards" in preparation for a final promotion before Christmas.

　That night, instead of going to the store, Dak went to the night market with Diana and Rose, watched some festival performances, and ate some foods that they didn't usually eat.

　Diana was quickly tempted by the food, completely forgetting her defeat in the duel. She grabbed Dark's hand and ran around the food stall, yelling all the while.

　While taking a break, Dak quietly pondered what Christmas gifts he should prepare for them.

　Last Christmas, he prepared a "Christmas candy gift bag" and "button-shaped eyes for a zombie teddy bear" for Diana, and a signed copy of "Claire's Travelogue" for Rose.

　Diana and Rose reciprocated by giving each other a life-sized teddy bear and a complete set of thermal underwear.

　One looks like a gift for a child, and the other looks like a gift for a father.

　While both gifts were somewhat subtle, a year later, Diana and Rose should both be more mature, so perhaps we can look forward to this year's gifts.

　Suddenly, Dak stopped in his tracks and glanced at the street, where a senior student was still setting up a stall at the end of the semester.