My blade clashed against Erika's, sparks flying into the air. We traded slashes of our sword, equally matched. Erika took a step back, and then slashed twice. I dodged to the left, and she followed up with a quick kick. After somersaulting backwards to dodge, I swung my blade in a counterattack, using a wind spell to launch a slash straight at Erika. Erika took one look at the slash and used her sword to bat it away, yawning as she did. "Is that really its Raiden?"
It was just a farce though. I had used the split-second distraction the weak spell had given me to charge up two powerful magic spells. A light spell in my hand, and a flame spell on my sword. Noticing the flame spell, Erika grinned excitedly, as she charged up one of her own. I released the light spell, allowing it to envelope the area and block out Erika's vision. I then combined the fire spell with a lightning spell. The long black blade in my hands was covered in flame and electricity. I dashed forward with the blade at my side, and I could sense Erika do the same.
Just as our blades were about to collide-
"STOPP!" We suddenly pulled back our attacks. A second later and an explosion of magic would've rocked the entire arena. We turned to see who exactly had interrupted our battle. We saw Himitsu standing, his dark coat blowing in the wind. "No no no no no! That is not at all what I wanted when I said come up with a unique ability. Just combining two different types of elemental magic is too restrictive!"
We were currently in the training arena. Continuing off of the lesson that Himitsu had mention prior, he allowed us to break off and do whatever we wanted to try and stimulate our brains to come up with these unique ideas. Erika suggested that we mock battle. All around us, people were taking, harnessing magic, thinking, or just outright laying on the ground lazily.
"Well, what exactly do you want us to do?" Erika asked, the frustration in her voice clear. She was not a fan of having her battle interrupted.
Himitsu pretended as if he didn't hear the sass in Erika's voice. "An ability is something unique. Something that takes advantage variety that layering magic sequences provides you with. Take for example, one of the abilities of the headmaster." Himitsu's mention of the headmaster caused a few of the heads nearest to us to turn in curiosity.
"It is thought that he simply has the ability of precognition, but no such magic sequence exists. Instead, his ability to seemingly dodge and avoid any attack actually comes from the layering of multiple magic sequences. Mainly, he makes use of the forces of wind, as well as repulsion and gravity sequences, to alter the movement of his foes, as well as increase the speed of his own movements." Himitsu noticed the confused looks.
"Ahh, bad example, none of you have actually seen the grandmasters power in work." He chuckled to himself. "When you do get the chance to see how he uses his magic, he will surely be impressed." He seemed to be lost in his own thoughts about the grandmaster's excellence. It was only Erika's loud, "ahem" that brought him back to attention. "Oh right. I can't exactly force the creative process into you, but, if you want to get a start, or learn the method." He paused for a few seconds, before looking around. "Talk to the prince. If he even has the time to spare." Himitsu then left.
I stood there flabbergasted for a few seconds. Why did he say it as if I was going to know who that was? I turned to Erika with a questioning expression on my face. Before she had the chance to answer however, a voice from behind me did.
"The prince. Probably the most famous person at this school. Though I guess his fame isn't as great as I thought considering you don't know about him. Either that, or you're a completely socially inept loner."
I turned around and saw a familiar face. The same blonde-haired girl who had been hanging around with Aura when she talked to Nova about their mock battle. She still was sucking on a lollipop, and her storm gray eyes seemed to be looking right through me. I wondered what she was doing directly confronting me, and even seemingly making a joke.
"Oh....." I spoke. I'm sure that both her and Erika could see the fact that not a single bit of understanding had dawned on my face. Erika sighed, and the blonde girl smiled a bit.
"Think of him as a prodigy. By far, he is the greatest magical student in this entire academy. He has insane amounts of magical energy, an insane number of spells memorized, and most importantly, one of the best magical abilities you'll probably ever see. According to the headmaster, it's only one step away from being an S-rank ability."
All of that praise helped me paint a picture of what kind of enigmatic figure this prince guy was. If all of that information was true, then the title of prince was more than deserved. Still, I didn't really understand what was going on. This girl I barely knew was explaining information about this guy I barely knew and was being very vague about it at that.
"Could you tell me his name?"
"His name? Sure. It's Shindo." Everyone around us instantly silenced as the girl in front of me namedropped the prince. Even Erika seemed a bit shocked at that. I couldn't really understand the reactions.
"Shindo..." I muttered to myself. If this guy truly was as good as they say he was, then...
My mind returned to the two incidents in which magic spells were cancelled by a third party, with insane speed and accuracy. Once in the luncheon, and the second time during my battle with Erika back when we first got our wands.
Then could it be? He was the one responsible.
For a second, my mind raised at the prospect of meeting this prince, of talking to him. However, just as quickly as it appeared, it was shot down.
Don't lose sight of your mission.
Those words snapped all of the curiosity out of my body. I could not betray Kami, or my mission, My interest in this prince would just have to be forgotten.
"Thanks. I'm Raiden by the way." I held out a hand awkwardly, not really sure how to close out this conversation I didn't initiate.
Her smile seemed to have grown a bit wider, as she realized something. She then took my hand, shaking it up and down a few times.
"Nice to meet you Raiden, my name is Phi." With that, the mysterious girl who called herself Phi turned around and walked away.
The entire time, she had never taken her eyes off of my stomach area.