A deafening silence fell over the practice field. Everyone was probably trying to process what had just happened. I still couldn't quite believe it myself.
My vision was partially obscured by the afterimage of the glowing beam that had shot out from my outstretched hand to pierce Hagen's chest. It had only been a small amount of mana, about the same I'd use for a low-tier spell, but somehow it was transformed into a destructive weapon.
Hagen stared dumbfoundedly at his chest, then back up at me. He started swaying, but before he collapsed, the icicles floating behind him launched themselves at me, in a barrage that would tear me to shreds if it hit. I was on the verge of fainting myself due to mana depletion, but my Tempest Step spell was still active with one use left, so without thinking too hard, I jumped sideways, flinging myself across the wet stone. I didn't have the strength to land gracefully this time, and ending up bouncing and tumbling a few times before coming to a stop.
I really wanted to just lay there and take a nap, but I knew I had to make my victory clear to Instructor Telle, so with a grunt of effort, I rolled onto my back and punched my fist into the air. At the same time, I heard a distant splash of a body falling onto the ground.
"Match over! Winner: Tione!" Telle boomed out. I knew that he purposefully talked loudly so he can be heard in the middle of a match, but gods was it making my ears ringing. I stared up at the sky through the barrier. I didn't see many clouds today, which was a shame because I liked cloudy days. They always made me feel relaxed...
Right before my consciousness drifted away, the barrier vanished, and a vibrant rush of energy shot through my body. My wounds disappeared, and even my stamina was instantly restored to what it was before the match. Normally this would be enough to get me back on my feet, but the combination of the sudden vitality and my mana depletion made me feel queasy instead. I staggered to my feet, trying my best to keep my lunch down as I retrieved my dagger, then made my way off of the Arena. I was immediately mobbed by my classmates.
"That was so cool, what spell was that?"
"It was a Light spell, right? I didn't know you were good with that attribute!"
"Good job putting that jerk in his place!"
I ignored them all and pushed away the crowd.
"I... need some peace... and quiet, please..." I managed to say before flopping onto the grass and laying down again. When they realized I wasn't in a mood to talk, the crowd dispersed, turning their attention to gossip and whatever after-school activities they were heading off to now. I closed my eyes, taking in the sunlight.
A shadow cutting off that light told me someone had approached me, so I cracked open one eye to see a certain brown-eye smiling at me.
"Not bad," he said. "To be honest, I wasn't sure if you would be able to use that Technique properly right away, but it seems like that's all taken care of by the System. But then again, I probably shouldn't treat a sample size of one as conclusive..."
I wanted to ask him what the hell he had done, but I couldn't even muster the strength to open my mouth, so I just grunted and closed my eyes again.
"Ah, right, mana depletion. Well, I'll just wait here, and then when you've recovered we can go see Ms. Ortney."
"Mhm."
Normally I'd take a nap when depleted like this, but my body was too full of energy, so I just meditated, focusing on my mana pathways and the mana flowing into my body from the world itself. There was a rustle as Levin sat down next to me.
He's probably playing with his weird power again. What did he call it? The System? Hm, I lost the bet this time, but I definitely want to find out how that works sometime.
We stayed there for a good half hour. Once my mana was about 30% full, I opened my eyes and did a kip-up onto my feet.
"Alright, I'm ready, let's go," I said to Levin, who had recoiled a bit from my sudden movement.
"All better, just like that?" he asked with a bemused expression, standing up.
"Yep. Now, follow me. Saige is most likely having one of her tea parties at her villa right now. You know how those aristocrat types are."
I took off at a jog, and Levin scrambled to follow after me.
"Uh, just asking, but how far is this villa, exactly?"
"Not far, only about fifteen minutes."
He balked.
"... you mean, fifteen minutes of jogging like this?"
"Yeah? What's the problem? You're a brown-eye, aren't you?"
He didn't respond, but I noticed that he had already started sweating.
A person's eye color reflected what their greatest strengths were, and, consequently, what magic attribute they had the best affinity with. I excelled in intuition and awareness, which meant I had purple eyes and an affinity for Darkness magic. If a person's eyes were brown, on the other hand, it signified that their greatest strength was their physical strength and stamina (and that they were masters of Earth magic).
In other words, this guy should be running circles around me, but he was short of breath after just a couple minutes of jogging.
The more time I spend with him, the more mysteries I notice.
I felt a strong desire to interrogate him and wring every interesting secret out, but the promise comes first.
We ended up stopping once at the halfway point for Levin to catch his breath. My first instinct was to tease him, but, well, he did save my ass earlier, so I let off easy this time. When we did arrive at the villa, though, I noticed he was a bit too sweaty to appear before the Lady Saige Ortney.
"Hey, clean yourself off," I said.
He glanced around.
"With what?"
"What do you mean, 'with what'? Don't you have any water or wind lifestyle spells?"
"... let's say that I don't."
I let out an exasperated sigh, then attuned a minuscule amount of Air mana.
"Here, I'll do this then. Arborea's Breath."
I invoked the lifestyle spell, spreading my mana into the air surrounding me. The spell removed impurities in the air, effectively deodorizing anything within range.
"This spell extends out about five meters from me. Stay completely within that area and you'll be fine."
"Thanks."
I stepped forward and knocked on the door. I counted five seconds before a kindly old butler opened it for us.
"Hello, how may I help you two?"
I executed a perfect bow.
"Greetings, I'm Tione Faulk, first-rank of the junior year. My companion and I have something of importance to discuss with your lady, if she is willing to have an audience at this time."
"Certainly. I will go ask her at once. Please make yourselves comfortable in the waiting room."
The butler stood back and raised an arm to the side, indicating the room he spoke of, before disappearing down the hall. The two of us entered the room. It must've been Levin's first time in such a high-end home, since he couldn't stop staring at all of the decorations and paintings. I, on the other hand, was content to embed myself into one of the super soft couches set up on either side of the coffee table.
A maid entered with a small tray of fruits and cookies and place them on the table, then bowed and left us again.
"Man, I should visit rich people more often," I muttered absentmindedly, picking up a cookie. Levin seemed to have gotten his fill of the scenery, and sat down on the couch across from me.
"Um, no, you sit here," I said, pointing at the empty half of my couch. "That side is where Saige will sit, assuming she comes."
"Ah, right."
And now another mystery: he demands a meeting with Saige, but seems completely unfamiliar with formal etiquette and has never been in a noble's residence before.
Suddenly, a fear struck me.
He's not an assassin, is he!? ... nah, no way.
I rejected that thought as quickly as it came. An assassin wouldn't need to go to such lengths just to reach their target, and it wouldn't be someone with such low stamina. And who ever heard of a brown-eye assassin anyway?
But on the other hand, if this turns ugly somehow, I'll be the one at fault for bringing him here...
Making up my mind, I tapped his shoulder, causing him to look away from his cookie.
"Hm?"
"Hey, this is a bit late, but I'd like to know what we're going to discuss with Saige."
"Well, ideally, I wanted to have this conversation with just me and her—"
"Remember that this meeting is happening on my name, and I'll end up bearing any consequences. I don't want to be a wanted criminal by the end of today, so if it so pleases you, I'd like to know what our topic today is."
He put down the cookie.
"To sum it up... it's about how this world will end in seven years."