As for Emerald Sparrow's Magic Power Beam, after shattering Xia Liang's Magical Barrier, it seemed to still retain some of its potency, shooting straight into the wall of the training ground and leaving a few charred pits.
"Good response, very calm, but this Magic Power Beam... After shattering the Magical Barrier, it still retained nearly the power of a Magic Bullet?"
This made Emerald Sparrow, who was standing by, raise an eyebrow and look up at Asou Haruka next to her, "Is this your team's secret weapon?"
Asou Haruka smiled without a word.
Not only did she smile without saying anything, Emerald Sparrow, at that moment, also slightly lifted the corners of her mouth, as if she were smiling.
"Can I rest assured now?"
She looked at Xia Liang, "Use all your strength."
Xia Liang was panting slightly at this time.
Although in the recent gamble, she hadn't expended much magic power, her tightly stretched nerves weren't something she could fake. Even though a Magical Girl doesn't have a heart or respiratory organs, that didn't stop her from breathing deeply subconsciously, trying to relieve the tension she felt.
The opponent was strong.
In just one round, she had realized this fact.
Not only because the opponent had been a Magical Girl for longer and therefore had more abundant magic power, but also because her opponent's techniques were clearly richer than her own.
Xia Liang had no previous battle experience with Magical Girls, but from a logical analysis, the "diversity of techniques" in a Magical Girl's duel was very important.
Even for a Flower Rank Magical Girl, her main combat strength could essentially be broken down into a few major aspects: magic power, stamina, skills, Spell Techniques, unique strengths, and magic attire. And since magic attire and unique strengths were a Magical Girl's ultimate trump cards, they were definitely meant to be held back for as long as possible to play a trump card later on.
And now, in the confrontation with Emerald Sparrow, just one round, under the premise that the opponent had only used basic skills, had forced Xia Liang to use her Spell Techniques without gaining the upper hand.
This meant that in the next clash of the contest, she would have to use even more Spell Techniques or even bring out her own magic attire right away.
So, should she use her magic attire?
Xia Liang began to assess within her heart.
If she were to deploy her magic attire—Diversion—at this point, then she could certainly catch her opponent off guard. She could even use the opponent's magic against them, which would certainly resolve her disadvantage in the magic power clash from earlier.
But merely using the magic attire to bridge the gap between her and her opponent's magic power—could that truly guarantee a victory?
Emerald Sparrow was also Leaf Rank, undoubtedly possessing the capabilities of magic attire and Spell Techniques, and in terms of time as a Magical Girl, her Spell Techniques would only be more proficient than Xia Liang at the moment.
In other words, if she tried to use her magic attire to compensate for the gap in magic power with her opponent, then she wouldn't have any trump cards left. And when the opponent deployed their magic attire, it would essentially be the moment of her own defeat.
At that moment, Xia Liang suddenly understood why her opponent told her to "use all your strength."
Emerald Sparrow was right, even though it was just one round, Xia Liang had already reached a point of no return.
Temporarily suppressed on a foundational level, unable to match the overall diversity of techniques, if she continued to fight tentatively, she would face the situation of exhausting all her trump cards and still not winning.
If the two were engaged in a card game, her hand was admittedly worse than her opponent's. And the one with the lesser hand looking to defeat the opponent, by normal rules, could not afford to play cards conventionally.
So, it seemed there was only one method of victory left.
—Play out all her cards and rely on the element of surprise to win the round.
And the element of surprise was precisely what she had at her disposal now.
This was still a few nights ago, when Xia Liang went to Emerald Sparrow to express her desire to learn Spell Techniques. Emerald Sparrow had told her,
"I've told you so much about the techniques for barriers; you just need to grasp a bit of the principle for now."
Packing away the Favo Rune that represented the Magical Barrier, Emerald Sparrow stroked her hanging hair, "If you want to win the upcoming duel, then you might need to rearrange the sequence of learning Spell Techniques. You need to learn something else first."
"Something else? What?" Xia Liang cocked her head.
"When you first awakened your magic attire, I had made you a promise."
Emerald Sparrow leaned back slightly, resting on the chair back, "Your magic attire had a hard time exhibiting any lethal capability at Seed Rank. If you wanted it to be lethal, there would be many Spell Techniques that could work in conjunction with your magic attire after reaching Leaf Rank."
"I seem to remember you mentioning that..."
After a brief recollection, Xia Liang nodded, "So, you're saying I can learn those Spell Techniques now?"
Emerald Sparrow sighed lightly, "The reason I was asking you about your views on Spell Techniques was precisely because of this consideration. Your magic attire just fits too well with certain Spell Techniques, to the extent that using those techniques could greatly enhance your combat power in a short period. However, those techniques are often very profound, and I'm worried that you would spend too much time on them if you're too eager to succeed."
"Isn't increasing combat power a good thing?"
"The combat power you increase at Leaf Rank, no matter how exaggerated, won't compare to even a little finger's worth after you've mastered your unique strength."
Emerald Sparrow let her eyelids droop, "There's a saying that goes, 'Don't pick up sesame seeds only to lose a watermelon.' It's more or less the same idea."