Haa... Haa..

The arena had gone completely quiet.

The only sound in the whole space was mine.

Lysander looked at me from across the dirt floor and I looked back at him and neither of us moved.

Then he thrust.

The hairs on the back of my neck rose as my body screamed for me to run away. I instinctively pivoted myself away from where my opponent had lined his attack. A sharp pain burst from my shoulder as hot blood seeped into the sleeve of my robe...

"Seems like Mr. Sebastian has picked up someone worthwhile after all," Lysander acknowledged.

As far as I was concerned, this wasn’t some assessment anymore.

He had aimed for my heart.

Would I have been able to defeat him, I wasn’t sure. There were too many factors that played into this; the quality of our swords, the use of long range mana manipulation.

Taking a moment to charge his next attack, he let out two more consecutive thrusts, but I knew what to expect.

The wind leaving his blade in near-invisible bullets, the same spell that had opened my shoulder, just aimed at different points.

The spell travelled in a straight path based on the direction of his jab, so while the speed of the spell was frightening, there were holes to take advantage of.

The first one I ducked under and it took another few hairs with it. The second I caught on the flat of my blade and redirected, the force of it travelling up my arm and into my shoulder. Immediately after, I willed mana into my legs and dashed toward him.

I had to shorten the distance between us now that I knew he had a long range spell at his disposal, but I knew even in terms of melee combat, it would be a hard battle.

I had a body that was more than several inches shorter than what I had been used to when sword fighting and a much smaller pool of mana to utilize. I didn’t have that much of an advantage against a veteran fighter with a body enhanced with mana.

The only advantage I had was the fact that Lysander didn’t know what I had up my sleeve.

Focusing mana into my free hand, I ran my fingers down the blade of my sword, imbuing it with fire. Approaching him, I swung down to release an arc.

I could see the concentration on Lysander’s face as he willed more mana into his rapier until it, once again, glowed in a silvery white. He fanned away the flames with a powerful swing, leaving an ever-so-slight window for me to take advantage of.

Gathering mana into the sole of my left foot, I molded the spell to manifest into the proper form.

"Blaze Shift"

The explosions erupted under my foot in sequence, each one feeding into the next, and I was beside him before the swing had finished

"How..." was all he could manage. His mouth agape, his rapier was still held up from his defense against my previous attack that I had used as a feint.

My position wasn’t optimal.

Without enough time to form a proper spell, I simply strengthened my body with mana as I thrust my sword forward.

"Gather and unleash!"

[Gale’s Vortex]

I was barely able to rescind my attack and jump away as an intense swirl of airstream burst out from him, surrounding him in a protective twister.

The Guild Hall manager was hidden from view within the twister of wind and debris, allowing me some time to prepare for his next attack.

The spell was released to reveal him, sweating and panting, with his sword arm tucked closely to his side like a snake about to lash out; his left arm was stretched out... palms open... aimed directly at me .

He was obviously chanting as the blade of his rapier began glowing even brighter in silver.

"Pierce those who stand against me!" he roared as his rapier disappeared into a blur of countless thrusts.

This was just an exam,

Right? Was he actually trying to kill me?

"Screw this," I muttered to myself as I concentrated the last of my remaining mana deep.

Hell’s...

"Aqua Sovereign."

The water arrived before the words finished leaving his mouth.

A column of pressurized water descending from above the arena floor, aimed at the space between us, hitting the ground with enough force that the impact shook the seats above and the dirt floor cracked outward from the point of contact in a ring.

The vortex of thrusts dissolved into the water. The force of it drove outward in every direction and I planted my feet and covered my face and took the edge of it across my arm and chest, the impact pushing me back two steps before it dissipated.

The arena was completely silent.

I lowered my arm.

The dirt floor between us was wet and cracked and steaming. Lysander was standing on the other side of it.

He looked at my hand. And exhaled slowly.

"I apologize,"

"I pushed this further than an assessment warranted. That was my error. You have already demonstrated more than enough."

I looked at him.

My shoulder was still bleeding.

"The rank," I said.

He looked at me

"S+, Potential classification. The combat rank I will record as provisional A pending formal review, because what you demonstrated today goes beyond what A class assessment criteria were written to accommodate. The potential classification is not provisional."

....

S+ potential.

I hope those gods enjoyed it. Time for reward I guess

"The fox mask stays on until you choose otherwise," Lysander said. "The result will be filed under The Plotter until further notice. That was the arrangement."

"Yes,"

He inclined his head once and turned toward the corridor.

He stopped at the entrance.

"Tell Sebastian," he said, without turning around, "that we are even."

Then he went through the door.

***

I walked out of the arena the way I had come in.

Sebastian was standing at the entrance.

Lina was beside him.

She looked at my shoulder immediately.

"You are bleeding,"

"I am aware."

"How did you get hurt."

She then grabbed my hand and told me to sit while she asked her spirit to heal. Her eyes were filled with water.

"Hey why are you crying?"

"You are bleeding a lot."

"It looks worse than it is."

She looked at it.

"The result," Sebastian said.

"S+ potential, Provisional A combat rank pending review."

"And yours," I said, looking at Lina.

She had been holding her result document since before I came out. She looked at it now as though she had forgotten she was holding it, then held it out.

I read it.

S plus. Confirmed. No provisional notation.

I folded it and handed it back.

"Ready," I said.

She took the document and looked at my shoulder again.

"You need that looked at before we go anywhere."

"The academy has medical staff."

"That is quite far away."

"I have been bleeding for the last twenty minutes," I said. "Another thirty is not going to change the

situation significantly." Also I can use Remis to heal.

She looked at me.

"Fine, I will go to the medical shop."

She put her result document back inside her coat and her hand found my sleeve the way it always

found my sleeve.

The fox mask stayed on until the gate.

Then I took it off and held it by my side.