Strength 99999 but the Holy Sister

Vivian pursed her lips, not daring to make any loud noise. She curled up there as if she was about to run away, with her eyes tightly closed.

"I was afraid of being disliked by Elsa, so I kept it a secret..."

In fact, it’s not just this one thing.

Because he was afraid of making changes to the status quo and afraid of being hated, but he didn't want to deceive Elsa, so he always wanted to bring it up but didn't dare to.

Perhaps because she saw the confusion in Vivian's heart, Elsa did not ask any further questions.

"I heard from Filia that you trained all day again today. You must be tired, right? Then tell me about the witch tomorrow. Go to bed early today. I'll be there to cheer you on at your match tomorrow."

Vivian nodded silently, but it looked like she wouldn't be able to fall asleep for a while.

—Are you really that excited? Elsa found it strangely cute.

But if I don’t go to bed early, it will affect tomorrow’s tryouts.

So Elsa secretly cast a sleeping spell. This holy light magic was learned from Tricia. To be honest, it worked quite well - Vivian fell asleep quickly.

……

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199. Winning or Losing Doesn’t Produce an Answer (4K6)

The next day, the selection of holy nuns was held as scheduled.

Early that morning, Elsa and Vivian, led by Mary, arrived at the competition venue—the martial arts arena in the City Lord's Mansion. This was originally used as a training ground for the Knights and Magicians. It was the only place in the city with a sufficiently wide and sturdy ground. The stone slabs on the ground were magically reinforced and extremely solid.

"Vivian, come on."

Elsa smiled, cheering Vivian up, but Vivian pursed her lips slightly, her eyes flickering, not daring to meet Elsa's eyes. Everything that happened last night was still vivid in Vivian's mind, and she was still confused. She had no idea how to face Elsa.

"Don't think too much, just play seriously."

Aisha said, noticing Vivian's uneasiness.

Vivian nodded slightly.

Then Elsa and Vivian separated - Elsa did not need to participate in the selection, she attended as an invited guest, and Vivian had to go to the back to draw lots and conduct inspections. The drawing was to determine the opponents and matches, and the inspection was to ensure that the contestants did not bring any equipment and props that would undermine the fairness of the competition.

In fact, every candidate participating in the competition can only use the standard equipment provided by the church, including props, so there is basically no possibility of taking shortcuts or cheating.

Elsa met Bishop Pittman and Sir Hibborn again. The referees were elites selected from the Knights, the Magicians, and the Church Monastery, and the audience seats were also representatives nominated by all parties. Elsa saw familiar faces such as Sister Mary, Marvin, Buck, Fred, etc. among them.

Elsa simply waved to them as a greeting.

"The selection will last for three days. In the end, we will select the four with the highest overall scores from the eighteen candidates for the Holy Sister title to go to the Holy City to participate in the next round of trials."

Bishop Pittman said this while explaining the detailed competition system and rules to Aisha.

Arriving at the venue, Elsa discovered that there were only about two hundred people here, including magicians who were responsible for recording the stadium with magic stones, priests who were responsible for dealing with special situations, guards who maintained order, and so on. Apart from them, there were only a hundred real referees and spectators.

This is not surprising, because the Holy Sister Selection Competition is not for performance, so it has always been held internally and not open to the public, and no outsiders are invited as spectators. The audience here only exists as witnesses and must remain silent throughout the process.

It must be said that this was Elsa's first time participating in such an occasion.

"Also, there is one more thing."

Hibern said thoughtfully.

"Do you remember the investigation plan I mentioned yesterday? Actually, I just learned that the forest witch is actually Miss Vivian Trawins' mother."

"Vivian's mother?"

"Yes, so I decided to tell you about this first."

"That's it..."

Elsa pondered.

If it were before last night, Elsa might have been a little more surprised, but now Elsa could only guess what kind of person Vivian's mother was. Vivian had hardly ever mentioned her mother to Elsa, so Elsa could only guess.

Elsa recalled the first time she went to her girlfriend's house in her previous life, and was treated as "the daughter's good friend" by her girlfriend's parents.

I was still very young at that time, and even now I still feel nostalgic when I think about it.

Meanwhile, Hibern, who was standing by, had been carefully observing Elsa's expression. Seeing that Elsa was so calm, he felt a little relieved.

"You shouldn't ask me about this matter. Instead, you should discuss it with my friend, Vivian, and her mother herself."

Aisha said.

Although it is very important to investigate Luther and the clues of the abyss magic, Elsa also believes that such matters should respect the witch's own ideas.

"Once you have their consent, you can contact the monastery in Mallaig as planned. Once you have confirmed everything, I will escort the personnel there."

After all, she is Vivian's mother, so Aisha doesn't mind serving as a guard.

And Shiburn finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Elsa's words effectively meant she agreed. All that remained was to discuss matters with Trawins and her daughter. Hibern felt that even though she was a witch, as long as he offered her the right benefits, there was no reason for her to refuse, right? After all, it wasn't a dangerous job; it was simply assisting with the investigation.

At this time, the game began.

The holy nuns entered the venue one after another and were divided into two teams according to the results of the draw, waiting on both sides of the venue. Elsa saw Vivian who had changed into a combat nun uniform, and Vivian also saw her.

In the first match, both sides used hammers and spears as weapons respectively. Elsa watched them compete attentively. Both of them were nuns trained in the Dammas Church Monastery. They were equally strong and knew each other's styles. The fight was very close, and in the end, Sister Hammer won with a decisive blow. In Elsa's opinion, the strength of these two nuns could be considered strong among the silver medal adventurers. If they were given suitable weapons and received a period of intensive training in the Holy See, they would undoubtedly be able to compete with the gold medal adventurers.

Among ordinary people, a gold medal adventurer is already considered a very remarkable character.

But for the position of Holy Nun who needs to protect the Saint, being a gold medal adventurer is far from enough.

So Elsa was not really as optimistic about Vivian as she said, and she would not use nice words to encourage Vivian like Filia did - because the strength Vivian showed was only between gold and silver medals. According to Vivian herself, she had never received any systematic training. She either learned magic from her mother or taught herself. Although she had a lot of experience in defeating monsters, her actual combat experience with humans was extremely poor.

Compared to those nuns who have been trained and cultivated since childhood with the goal of becoming combat nuns, this is Vivian's overwhelming disadvantage.

In the second and third games, the nuns fought with all their might, and naturally they were injured or unable to stop fighting for a while. This required the priests and magicians who had been on standby to take action. They would judge the moment of danger and deploy shields for both sides, and injuries would be treated quickly.

In the fourth game, Vivian appeared. Her opponent was a heavy warrior holding a shield and sword, and a ponytailed nun with a determined look.

It has to be said that luck was not on Vivian's side.

The weapon Vivian chose was a silver-white steel staff and several magic stones. This was a typical combination for a battle mage. The so-called battle mage was actually a popular term. Any mage who majored in combat magic could be called a battle mage. The skills they learned were all designed for combat. Of course, some people were accustomed to calling those mages who were famous or braver than warriors on the battlefield battle mages.

Aisha stared at the center of the training ground.

Vivian took a deep breath, saluted her opponent, and then stood back a distance.

Following the referee's low shout, Vivian immediately set up several magic circles around her, and the ponytailed nun rushed towards Vivian without hesitation. Although the arena was very spacious, she was still quickly surpassed by the full sprint of a warrior whose strength was infinitely close to that of a gold medal adventurer.

It seemed that she had no intention of giving Vivian any chance to perform.

But Vivian had obviously given her own way of responding. Elsa saw Vivian's aqua-colored hair slowly floating up as she chanted quickly, and ice cones took shape and suddenly stabbed towards the ponytailed nun.

This was just a very basic elementary magic, which Elsa could also do. Although Vivian's multitasking skill of being able to construct the magic circle under her feet while distractedly throwing out several ice cones was eye-catching, it was still a very basic spell after all, with average power, and could not cause much trouble to the opponent.

Ice cones appeared not only in the air, but also on the ground, but they were all easily shattered by the opponent's heavy shield. The ponytailed nun's powerful body rushed forward like a bull, and for a moment the ice chips in the field were scattered all over the place. At this time, some referees had noticed a slight change. The ice chips in the field did not disappear, but were still suspended in the air. The dense ice chips began to condense into a thick white mist, like pieces of thin knives, sharp and everywhere.

The Ponytailed Nun could only use a ray of magic light to block the tiny ice knives that were everywhere in the air, otherwise she would be pierced like a hedgehog during the charge.

But the ubiquitous ice debris had begun to block her way forward, turning it pure white.

At the same time, it also blocked the view of the referee and the audience, which made the magicians and priests on standby sweat - they stared at the thick fog, ready to take action at any time, in case the two people did not stop and caused irreparable damage.

Elsa narrowed her eyes slightly, her gaze piercing the thick fog of icy shards. She saw that the magic circle at Vivian's feet was almost halfway complete. Elsa could tell that the magic circles Vivian had constructed simultaneously must have a sequence of activations, each one seamlessly coordinated and connected. As long as one was successfully completed and triggered, the remaining attacks would continue uninterrupted until the magic power was exhausted or victory was achieved.

The magician cannot fight the warrior in close combat, and ordinary small spells can hardly pose a threat to the warrior, so Vivian must decide the outcome with one move, which is also what the magician is best at - destruction, endless and continuous attacks.

So Vivian was buying herself time, while the other party was trying to ruin it all.

In the blink of an eye, the turbid air wave pushed away the fog, and a sword was swung towards Vivian. Vivian nimbly ducked to avoid it, and with her backhand, she condensed more ice cones and rushed out. They were shattered or hit the ground and turned into powder, replenishing the dispersed white fog.

The ponytailed nun had already rushed to Vivian's side. In an instant, a violent storm of attacks rushed towards Vivian. Her sword was neat and powerful, and every move was as well-trained as the square Chinese characters. In contrast, Vivian sometimes jumped from the ice, and sometimes flexibly used her ice skates to clear a path for retreat. In the white mist, she was as light and graceful as a butterfly.

The distance that the ponytailed nun could see was very narrow, and she was timid and unable to move freely, but Vivian was able to seize the gaps in the opponent's movements as if it were flat ground, and narrowly avoid or block the attacks again and again, and even launch sharp counterattacks from time to time.

Vivian at this moment was completely different from her usual weak and gentle self. Her eyes were sharp and her moves were decisive. The ice and snow were her home ground. She didn't need to see the other party. As long as the other party was still in the ice and snow, he could not escape her perception.

Vivian's tactic is to shorten the gap between magicians and warriors in frontal combat by blocking the opponent's vision.

The clanging sound rang out like a rainstorm, it was the collision of magic and the strong shield.

The magic circle was about to be completed, but the next second, with a dull sound, it exploded. Elsa saw that the ponytailed nun changed her moves at a very strange angle. Vivian, who was dancing on the tip of the knife, finally failed to dodge this time and was hit by the shield from the waist.

Her body flew backwards from the white mist, leaving a trail of snow-white ice on the flat ground. Vivian did not pause, and quickly bent down and stood up. The staff in her hand was covered with ice, and the next moment she suddenly slashed horizontally, colliding violently with the giant shield that rushed out from the thick fog. Vivian deflected the sword to relieve the force, and the giant shield did the same movement, which caused Vivian's attack to be like being attracted by a magnet and unable to retreat. However, the sharp tip of the sword was revealed under the shield, as well as the embarrassed but still confident face of the ponytailed nun.

I have to say, it was a beautiful and tricky sword.

Vivian had no choice but to hold her staff across her body, supporting it with her shoulder. The surging magic power suddenly burst out, forcibly pushing the incoming sword and the giant shield away one step.

But it was just one step. The power of the ponytailed nun was beyond Vivian's imagination. This move was obviously enough to easily knock over several trolls the size of adults, but when it fell on the ponytailed nun, they only took a step back and attacked again.

Vivian knew that she was forced to fall into the opponent's rhythm, which made her look serious - in close pursuit, if it weren't for the huge disparity in strength, most mages were no match for warriors.

Vivian changed to holding the staff with both hands, and the magic power turned into ice and spread rapidly with her as the center. The wall of ice was broken by the giant shield before it was formed. The giant shield was also attached with magic, and rushed towards Vivian again like sticky candy, but Vivian stepped on the ice like a hawk flying through the forest to avoid the frontal attack. The magic staff retracted the frost spikes on the tip of the staff and smashed it directly into the opponent's chest with a blunt blow, but was blocked by the sword pulled back at an incredible angle.

The surging magic power erupted with the force that could shake mountains and rocks. The sword that the Ponytail Sister used to block the attack made a violent vibration, and the shoulder armor on her arm was dented an inch. The ground under her feet, which had been strengthened by magic, shattered into pieces and turned into dust.

But the Sister with the Ponytail also slid her sword sideways and rushed forward as if to die together. Vivian hurriedly stepped back, but at this moment, the Sister with the Ponytail kicked with magic power and directly shattered the ground under their feet. Vivian's feet were empty and her center of gravity was unstable. The huge shield was already in front of her - the other party did not seem to want to hurt her, so she did not use a sword, but a shield.

boom.

Vivian held her staff horizontally in front of her, and the ice shattered into pieces, breaking the staff in her hand as well. Vivian was knocked away.

"The winner is decided! Both sides stop!"

The referee shouted as a magical barrier rose between the two, preventing them from continuing to fight.

Vivian lay on the ground, and the heavy blow to her abdomen made her unable to move for a while.

She lost.

She felt a little regretful about losing, because the magic circle in the white mist was about to take shape. If she had been given a few more seconds, the outcome of the battle would have been different.

But strangely, Vivian didn't feel lost or depressed by the outcome or the pain in her waist. Instead, she felt relieved, as if the worries deep in her heart had been relieved. She had been struggling with the question of what to do if she was chosen? What to do if she wasn't? Such choices troubled her and made her anxious.

But now reality has made the choice for her, so she feels relieved.

But such ease still did not tell her the answer to where her future should go.

At this time, a man dressed as a knight came forward to check the injuries of Vivian and Sister Ponytail, but Sister Ponytail had already come to Vivian's side and extended her hand to her.

"Are you ok?"

The ponytailed nun helped Vivian up and gave her a gentlemanly smile.

"What a delightful battle, Miss Trawins. I'm glad to have fought against someone as powerful as you. I hope, if possible, that we could become friends."

She said.

……

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200. Let’s Talk Outside (4K3)

"Another letter? Is it from Vivian?"

Sophia's meditation was interrupted by the arrival of the priest. She came out of the hut with a tired face. The priest looked at her with a peaceful gaze and solemnly handed a letter to her.

The priest was a man in his fifties. Although his face looked a little old, he stood straight, looked pious and solemn, and the cross pendant was worn neatly on his chest under his black robe.

"This time it's a letter from Lord Sir Hibourne himself."

"Sir Hibourne?"

Sophia was stunned for a moment, as if she had just come back to her senses from the argument with Grace.

Her impression of the title "Sir Shiburn" still remains from more than 20 years ago. At that time, Sir Shiburn was an old general who had made great achievements in the Demon King's War, but later, the old general died in the assassination of the remnants of the Demon King's army.

Obviously, the current owner of this territory has long since changed hands, probably to the descendants of that old general.

Sophia initially thought it was a letter from Vivian, which disappointed her. But then her doubts began to well up. Why would a knight she'd never met write to her? Was it about Vivian? Or was it connected to Grace's recent appearance?

Thinking of this, Sophia became a little uneasy.

"Do you need me to read it for you?"

asked the priest.

Sophia shook her head slightly.

"Thank you... but no need, I can do it myself."