In the vast land where only trees surround us, we arrived in the middle of that open space clearing, the bright moon, serving as the only bright light. The cold air crashes on my skin, which sends shivers all over my body. It's not even winter and yet, the wind is extremely cold.
"This is it," Haruto said.
Haruto was the one who introduced this place. Apparently, this is a part of the school property that is reserved for students to train themselves.
"H-Hey, are you sure this is allowed?" Takahashi asked worriedly.
"Don't worry, don't worry! this is part of the school property!" He lets out a reassuring laugh.
"Anyway, why don't we start by showing off our amplitudes?"
"I'll go first then!" Ayane said in her eager tone.
With Haruto agreeing, She walked in the front and took a deep breath. Her face changed to a serious one almost immediately before she summoned a staff, a staff with a thin base and flowered-shaped iron at the end.
She held it tightly with both of her hands, then raised it high to the air, adjusting her grip, and then, she chanted loudly,
"Arise from the ground, and devour the land!" Not long after, several rose vines emerged from the ground, then slowly and gradually swirled around her, forming what seemed like a rising vortex made of vines.
Then, the swirling vines swiftly spread all around, slithering like snakes on the loose. She turned the direction of her staff to the right, which the vines followed after. It seems like the vines follow the movement of her staff. If she moved her staff to the side, the vines would follow.
"Rest." Closing in on her presentation, she whispered, as all the vines melted into thin air. "How's that?!" She exclaimed, looking proud at what she had done.
"That was great!" Haruto complimented warmly, accompanied by everyone's applause.
"Oh my, I guess I'll go next." Akamine then stepped up front as Ayane walked back to her place. From what I remember, she uses Ice.
Before starting, she entered a particular stance, a stance where she stood up, with one of her hands extended in front, her palms open and facing upwards, before closing her eyes and slowly floating in the air.
Right off the bat, floating magic, a magic ability that requires a focus. This is done by altering your energy towards your feet, which allows for a levitation.
Once high up, she summoned a white, black book. The pages of the book turned and turned as she continuously waved her hand, seemingly looking for the right page. Stopping after what seemed like a few seconds, she opened her eyes.
As she did, a huge, whitish-silver magical circle appeared on top of her. Not chanting a single word, she swung her extended hand downward, causing numerous spiked ice crystals to slowly come out of the magical circle.
Lastly, she snapped her fingers, and as she did, the magic circle began rapidly raining spiked ice crystals. A small area of its impact caused the grass around to freeze.
No wonder she's in class A. To reach a level where you only need hand gestures to use a magic ability simply means that you've honed your magic to its highest potential. Her energy control is top-notch.
For her closing, she snapped her fingers again, causing the magical circle to disappear into thin air, as she slowly descended down.
"W-Wow,"
Everyone has their mouth wide open in amusement, but Fujimoto is, as usual, her serious eyes don't seem astonished.
"You're so good, Airi!" complimented Takahashi with gleaming, amazed eyes.
"You're flattering me, Arata. Anyway, who's next?"
"I'll go next." Fujimoto unexpectedly volunteered at her own will. She walked up front, holding a sword on her side.
"I was about to go for it, but I guess I'll let her go first" Takahashi lets out a sigh of disappointment.
"Akamine-san, could you summon an Ice shard in front of me?"
"M-Me? S-Sure." Raising her hand, she summoned a human-sized Ice shard in front of her.
Now, Let's see what she can do. I crossed my arms and looked at her with focus. She doesn't put up any particular stance, only frozen in place and holding her weapon on the side.
Then unexpectedly, she swiftly thrusts her sword forward at a speed I almost couldn't catch up to. It's like she moved at the speed of light. Her sword unleashed a huge shock of lightning bolts towards the ice, which caused it to disintegrate into very small pieces.
Even though the tip of the sword didn't make contact with the ice, the ice was shattered into thin dust, slowly carried by the wind.
That's a very strong lightning attack. Her speed was swift and fast, and her magical prowess was supreme.
Everyone has the expected look of surprise and amusement.
"T-That's awesome," Haruto uttered, dumbfounded.
"Thanks". Fujimoto calmly walked back.
"E-Ehem! Anyways, Why don't you go next, Kyosuke-san?"
"Me?"
"Y-Yeah, We'll go last..."
"Sure."
Looks like her show really struck him dumbfounded. I walked towards the front and turned my head to Akamine.
"Could you do the same for me?" I asked,
"S-Sure." She summoned a human-sized Ice in front of me. I'll just do this very quickly.
I summoned my weapon beside me and assumed a fighting stance, holding my sword upfront with a single hand. "How should I do this?" I thought to myself. Maybe with something simple? Yep, let's just go with simple, I don't want to burn this whole forest down.
I tightly gripped my sword and exerted some energy. The tip of my blade began shining brightly in yellow color, and not long after, the whole blade was enveloped in flames.
I dashed in swiftly and swung my sword slashing the ice in half. The blazing sword smoothly cuts it like butter. The flames soon spread out and gradually swallowed the rest of the ice.
I withdrew my sword into thin air before walking back into the applauding, amused crowd.
"You looked so cool there, Kyosuke-san! Anyway, who's next-" Just as Haruto spoke, Fujimoto suddenly stepped in and interfered.
She walked towards me and pointed the tip of her sword directly at my face, the blade just an inch away from me. "Would you care for a duel?" She fiercely asked.
What an unexpected happening. I wonder what brought this attitude up, but it's interesting.
"D-Duel?! F-Fujimoto-san, please calm-"
"Fine," I responded calmly as I summoned my sword again.
"Haruto-san, please be the judge," Fujimoto said. Haruto looks unsettled, to say the least.
"Oh my, looks like things took an interesting turn."
"A battle between the strongest! This is exciting!"
"U-Uhm... Should we like... Interfere in, or something?"
I could hear muttered voices from the side, but my focus was still on Fujimoto, who was looking at me with her sharp, cold eyes.
Eyes her holding a sword, with this unsettling, cold and menacing aura around her make her akin to a fierce lion, ready to chomp down on her prey.
She stands out from not just everyone, but the whole class in general. A silent girl who has this much menacing aura, and a speed as swift as the light, surely she's someone special.
It will be interesting to see how things will turn out. I could learn a thing or two from this duel.
We stood on our grounds and assumed a fighting stance.
The cold wind crashes against my skin, further making the atmosphere tense.
"Ready, start!" The moment Haruto shouted, she didn't waste any time. She immediately lunged at me at the speed I almost couldn't follow, and thrusts her sword forward, followed by her lightning strikes.
I dodged to the side at the skin of my teeth, and jumped away from her, trying to look for a possible opening.
I was pondering my head for a possible tactic, however, she gave me no time to breathe.
Like a wild monster, she dashed towards me, covered in that monstrously menacing aura around her, and swung her sword upwards once she reached me.
This speed is almost impossible to dodge by a normal human!
I parried her blade and forcefully pushed it towards the ground.
"You are strong, Kyosuke-san." She remarked,
"I could say the same thing to you. You're monstrous."
"I'm glad I have that kind of impression on you."
After those words, she summoned a ball of purple lightning sparks in her hand while she kept our blades glued together, and swung it in my direction.
"Ablaze." I chanted. Soon, my other hand was covered in a fiery energy. I stopped her attack with those hands.
The collision of the fire and lightning caused an explosion, which forced us to jump back, away from each other.
"T-That's sum wild stuff right there..." Takahashi remarked in amusement...
I'll end this. I'm feeling really sleepy.
I gripped my sword tightly with both hands and dashed towards her, preparing to swiftly swing my blazing sword.
Both of our magic-infused blades clashed against each other, releasing a huge shockwave of energy all around.
"Thunderstrike." She whispered under her breath. Then, after that chant, her power grew stronger as she now emitted a purplish aura.
"That's quite strong." I complimented. However, I can still go further. I exerted much energy, completely reaching the strength of her lightning. I broke our contact, and immediately swung downwards from the side, aiming for her feet. She re-adjusted her stance and immediately parried mine. However, defending from such an unpleasant stance will put her at a disadvantage, which will be my opportunity.
"Burn." Soon, a fire lit on the grass ground underneath her.
"What?!" She broke contact and jumped away. Her, dodging, is the last part of this battle. Being in mid-air restricts your movements. Without any footholds, you can only do a few things. And that's the chance I need.
While she was still in mid-air, I immediately reassumed my stance and lunged at her. We clashed our blades together, however, with proper momentum, and having the ground as my "boost", I was able to push her back and throw her towards the ground.
She violently landed on the ground, back first. Her face displayed an expression of surprise and hurt. I guess this concludes it.
I then jumped high in the sky, and from there, I forcefully threw my sword towards her, letting it fly at a speed that almost looked like it disappeared. It landed and stabbed the ground just beside her head, maybe only an inch distance. Either way, that was enough to widen her eyes.
I landed on the ground and walked towards her. I crouched down and looked her in the eye. "Nice duel," I said bluntly and stood back up to withdraw my sword back. I extended my hand out, and I pulled her up.
"Likewise," She said as she stood up and wiped the dust from her uniform. "Now then, I still have some matters to attend, If you'll excuse me." She walked right past me and into the school building. I stopped and watched as her shadow slowly faded from view. Looks like this time I got caught up more than I assumed, but at least I've learned something.
I need to train myself, I'm sure there are more students stronger than Fujimoto out there. If I'm going to get an achievement for my mother, I need to exert more effort.
"That was an exciting match! Now, then how about-"Just as Haruto begins to speak, I cut him off. "Count me out. I'm too exhausted to continue. See you all tomorrow." I said as I waved them goodbye and made my way back to the dormitory.
...
The hallways within the student council office lie dark, filled with darkness, only having the moonlight shining through the window as the guide. The air was cold, and the atmosphere was sombre.
Walking through that was Fujimoto Kyouko, who seemed relieved, as her expression was relaxed, and her cold aura was no more.
Upon reaching a certain room, she quietly opened the door. The creaking sound broke the silence, as she slowly unravelled the darkness within that room.
She groped through the walls in search of the light switch. She turned it on, revealing an office, with a working desk in the middle.
The surrounding bookshelves were a mess as if someone had rummaged through them violently.
Kyouko lets out a sigh upon seeing this scene. "Ryujin, what in the world did you do here?!" She yelled out as she walked into the room, her expression exasperated.
"U-Uh... O-One sec."
A voice replied, seemingly coming from under the desk. Not long after, a male figure stood up, yawning as he did.
"Care to explain what this is about, Ryujin?"
Ryujin, a handsome, tall male in the white, council uniform, with messy, oceanic blue hair, stands before Kyouko, his vibrant, green eyes looking to the side, squinting as if he's thinking of an excuse.
"Your uniform is a mess, wrinkled and unbuttoned. If I was a stranger, I'd really doubt you for being the fourth seat." She uttered in disappointment.
"Don't blame me! The tasks handed to me were super mentally taxing! I looked for different information from the bookshelves nearby!"
"This and those, and that. Whatever. Anyway, I am here for what you want."
"Oh, that. What happened?"
"He's good. He beat me up pretty badly."
"I can't tell if you're being sarcastic or serious based solely on your tone."
"That's up to your imagination. I already did my part in your absurd and unfair task." She murmured in a vexed voice.
"Scary."
"He has great sword dexterity and speed almost on par with me. As per the rest, you can handle them."
"Alright, I'll delete the photo now." Ryujin surrendered, raising his hand, before grabbing his phone in his right pocket.
"See? Deleted." He showed his phone to Kyouko the he indeed deleted a picture of him.
"How dirty. Next time you do that, I'll kill you." She muttered in a cold, murderous voice as she glared at him.
"Alright, alright. Don't worry, I had my fun."
"Good." She turned around and was about to leave when Ryujin asked something.
"Are you sure about your decision? In also participating in the exam?"
She stopped in her tracks, before letting out a sigh.
"I've you many times, yes, I am certain." She said In the most determined voice.
"Alright, I wish you good luck."