Touma, you really need to work on your running skills because it's pretty sad when Stiyl can outrun you. Worry not though, we have a comprehensive program to prepare you for your next competition.
Running as a team is important if you want to survive the dangerous competitions.
Now you are getting it, Touma! Run as a team and nothing can stop you!
Summary:
Touma follows Oriana through the crowds and at the same time he calls in Motoharu and Stiyl for help. Oriana makes a break for it and runs through a bus depot where she lays down numerous magical traps. Motoharu and Stiyl use Touma to get through the traps, but they lose track of Oriana. Stiyl attempts to find Oriana with a tracking spell, but Oriana has put a counter-spell on Stiyl which hurts Stiyl whenever he tries to use magic. Motoharu tells Stiyl to use magic while he uses a spell to determine the location of Oriana's counter-spell tag, and both of them hurt themselves in the process (as Motoharu is an esper and therefore bleeds every time he uses magic).
Always good to have a little fun right after the grueling training.
Your training has prepared you for this. You can do it, Touma!
Touma: Uh... can I reconsider this for a moment?
Motoharu determines the counter-spell tag's location which happens to be inside a nearby stadium where a middle school ball-tossing competition is scheduled to take place. On the way to the stadium, Motoharu explains that the spell tag is dangerous to anyone who touches it. Motoharu and Touma sneak into the stadium pretending to be middle school students who are competing in the event. At the event, Touma discovers that his side is up against Mikoto's school, and Mikoto is present and not too happy to see Touma. During the competition where the other students are busy tossing balls or blasting the other side with their abilities, Touma and Motoharu and checking the baskets and poles for the spell tag. In the heat of the competition, a group of students knock over two poles which are about to fall on a girl. Touma pushes the girl out of the way and puts himself in harm's way, but Mikoto saves him by blasting the poles away. Touma notices that Mikoto is standing near a pole with a piece of paper stuck on it. Thinking that the paper is Oriana's spell tag, Touma tries to warn Mikoto, but his poor word choice makes Mikoto think that he is declaring his love for her and that gets Mikoto all flustered. Touma ends up having to tackle Mikoto to prevent her from touching the pole, but he discovers that the paper was just a harmless label.
The day Mikoto has fantasized so much about...
... is not today.
Always a good idea to look before you touch.
At this moment, Touma is confronted by Seiri who is overseeing the competition. Seiri wonders what Touma is doing at the competition of another school, and in the middle of the talk she touches the pole with the spell tag and is hit by the counter-spell. Touma quickly nullifies the spell with his right hand, but Seiri remains unconscious and has to be taken to hospital. Now that Seiri has been hurt, Touma is fired up and vows to stop Oriana.
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This was an improvement over last week. There was a bit of action, and the narrative was easier to follow. The first action segment consisted of Touma, Motoharu and Stiyl trying to get through Oriana's traps, but it was animated well and it was fun seeing Motoharu and Stiyl use Touma as a tool/human shield to get through the traps. There was the usual exposition right in the middle about the difference between magicians and wizards, but at least it was fairly short.
The rest of episode was about finding Oriana's counter-spell, and that culminated into an annoying scene between Mikoto and Touma. I understand that the series is trying to make Mikoto look all cute and flustered (and she is cute when her face turns red), but was it that difficult for Touma to say "Don't touch the pole" instead of "I don't want you to get hurt", "I can't explain right now", and "Just come over here"? That was a frustrating conversation. Touma needs to work on his language skills, but at least Mikoto can indulge in her fantasy a bit longer.
In the end, Touma and friends didn't really accomplish much other than to spook Oriana into a more defensive mode, but Touma is now motivated after Seiri has been hurt, and that'll probably lead to Touma punching Oriana in the face next week if the last two arcs are any indication. If Touma does end up punching Oriana, that'll be the third arc in a roll where the situation was resolved with a guy punching a girl in the face. Don't know if that means anything, but just something interesting to note.
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