A/N: Well, as some of you may know, it will soon be possibly illegal to write Fanfiction in some areas and I am unfortunately affected so that stop writing announcement may come after all… I apologize in advance to my dear readers if I am suddenly unable to continue my work and hope that you will forgive me if the time comes.

"Right, now how do we go about this?"

"Well, if Rumiru has the same problem we have then that means that we can destroy mountains too, the issue is, it seems our aim is horrible."

"Yea, we never do hit our target during the practicals, I guess with what little time left we could try to improve our aim."

The two Louises then set out to attempt to improve their accuracy with the time they were given to prepare. They got some servants to set up cans and prepared their wands. Soon after, the makeshift training grounds were littered with craters and scorched earth. Even the nearby tree had a chunk of its trunk blown apart by one of the explosions.

"How many times did it take to hit the can?"

Both Louises were panting slightly from the heavy casting.

"I took ten, how about you?"

"I got it in fifteen so you are sort of more accurate."

"We can't be sure though, I think I just got lucky."

"With nothing else to go on we should just accept that as fact for now."

"Then we should formulate some kind of plan to combat that Zerbst."

"She will likely stay afar and launch firebolts at us. Based on that, one strategy would be to just dodge and launch explosions at her until we get a clear hit."

"Though we would be leaving our lives to pure chance."

"Hmm, maybe we could try and go for her wand then it would be much safer to attack from a distance."

"But that would probably end up being more dangerous…"

"Ugh, there's got to be a surefire way to win this!"

In anger, one of the Louises kicked a rock off the ground and aimed her wand at it before it suddenly blew up.

"How did you do that?"

"Do what!?"

"You just perfectly accurately blew up the rock!"

Dumbfounded by her achievement, the Louise thought for a moment before answering,

"I don't really know… I just wanted it to blow up so I transmuted it… Oh!"

"We can beat Kirche with this!"

"Right, instead of aiming for her, we just have to aim to transmute the dirt below her!"

"Get ready Zerbst, I'll teach you who can't do anything right!"

The two Louises hurried to their duel location of Vestri Court and confidently awaited their opponent. Said opponent appeared a few moments later with a large crowd, obviously enticed by the prospect of seeing an actual duel and Kirche herself.

"So you're already here, Zero Louises. I can't wait to show you that a Zerbst will always triumph over a Valliere."

"Don't underestimate us Zerbst!"

"You will regret provoking me!"

"Ooo I'm so afraid, the Zero is threatening me!"

The crowd laughed at Kirche's false fear and jeered at Louise.

"Who do you think you are Zero Louise, know your place!"

"Yea, you can't even cast a proper spell!"

"You are a failure of a mage!"

Just as Louise was about to explode in rage, the official witness of the duel, Guiche de Gramont, stepped in.

"Now now, we should let the Zero have her chance at glory, no matter how slim it is. It is my duty as the duel's official witness to ensure its fairness so kindly keep your jeers until after she fails again my dear classmates."

The jeers stopped and the duelists stood opposite each other across the courtyard.

"I'll be nice and let you have the first move, Zeros…"

"Heh…"

Both Louises raised their wands and aimed at either side of Kirche.

"Explosion!"

Two deafening explosions rang out on either sides of the red haired mage as the Zeros casted their spells and obliterated the earth around her. A smoke cloud engulfed the area and no one could see what happened to Kirche. A fireball soon came flying out of the haze and struck the grass between the two Louises, scorching it and leaving behind a small black circle.

They barely managed to dive out of the way but a wind spell from Kirche soon cleared the smoke and, with a few coughs, a barrage of fireballs were sent their way. Both Louises instinctively dodged in opposite directions so as not to collide into one another. After Kirche finished her attack, she noticed that both Louises had sustained some minor burns and their clothes had been singed slightly by the flames.

In an effort to conclude the fight before the Louises could launch a counter attack, Kirche poured all her remaining willpower into her signature spell in an attempt to defeat them. She began the chant immediately after her spell while they were stunned by their burns. The crowd looked in awe as they heard the unique chant that Kirche had constructed for her spell.

"Ardent Flames!"

She pointed her wand forward and immediately a gout of red hot flames shot out of its tip, completely roasting anything with its heat. Despite the heat of the flames, they were rather slow and in a last ditch attempt to survive, one Louise threw a nearby rock over the fast approaching wall of flames while the other watched it closely with an unsteady wand. As the rock reached the peak of the throw, it fell behind the wall of heat and Louise gave it two seconds before casting her spell.

"Explosion!"

A large explosion occurred directly in front of Kirche's face, knocking her off her feet and covering her entirely in soot. With her willpower diminished and strength gone, Kirche von Zerbst slowly felt her eyes close unwillingly. Despite fighting it as long as she could, she soon sank into unconsciousness.

The crowd looked on, dumbfounded by what had just happened. The referee, Guiche, headed to check on Kiche for a moment before reluctantly announcing Louise as the victor of the duel. Louise and her other self fell backwards in exhaustion smiling at their success. However, the students erupted into jeers and accusations of cheating were shouted.

"Kirche lost!?"

"Impossible!"

"There's no way you could've won!"

"Zero must have cheated!"

"Kirche was a Triangle Class mage, there's no way the Zero could have beat her!"

"Boo!"

Suddenly the jeers stopped when a certain bald Professor made an appearance and students parted to allow him passage.

"I am disappointed in you Miss Valliere, you should know that duels between nobles are forbidden. The headmaster has been informed and proper disciplinary action will be taken. However…"

His face changed from a stern one to one of care and concern.

"I'm glad you managed to prove yourself Louise, just don't do it again."

The Louises smiled at the praise of their Professor but both slowly slipped into unconsciousness due to exhaustion from the fight.

Louise awoke back in her room and looked around to find that her other self was not there. It was already some time in the evening as the sky was now an orange gold colour. She remembered that the other Louise had been more heavily injured in the fight and so headed to the infirmary in search of her. She briefly wondered where Rumiru had gone but pushed the thought aside to prioritize ensuring the safety of her other half.

She entered the infirmary to find both Rumiru and the other Louise. Rumiru was tending to the other Louise, bringing her a plate of food and massaging her feet after. The look of bliss and relaxation on the other Louise's face made the original feel rather envious. She then understood why Rumiru was not present in her room, he had prioritized the more injured of his Masters, which was the proper course of action she supposed.

"So, how are you feeling?"

"Nothing too bad, just some burns and a scraped knee from diving away from the fire a bit too late."

"When did the healer say you would be recovered?"

"About a day or two at most, though I will be spending the night here."

"Well tomorrow's the day of the Void so you won't be missing any classes."

"True. So what are you planning to do tomorrow? I'm probably stuck here."

"Hmm… I will take Rumiru to get a sword, after that duel some nobles might be out to get us so he needs to learn to defend himself."

"Huh? Me?"

"Yes you, make sure to train properly, be grateful I'm willing to spend money on you!"

"Yes Master!"

"Good, we will set off at dawn so make sure to wake me up on time!"

"Yes!"

"Now I will return to the room, be sure to take care of her! I expect you to remember to tend to me as well afterwards!"

"Understood!"

The Louise in the medical bed chuckled slightly at the behavior of the other.

'It sure seems my other self has become rather full of herself from the duel, guess she forgot he was a fellow noble…'

A/N: And that's a wrap, well that took longer than I thought it would, also wrote above target again. Now it is time to move on to the next story so see you guys next cycle. As usual, review, favourite and follow if you've enjoyed. Don't forget to check out my other stories, community and poll as well. Story status information can be found on my profile and you can make suggestions on my forum.