The Shadow in the World of Magic

by MagicName88

Hikigaya Hachiman's only goal is to find the wife and daughter of his deceased guardian in a wasteland filled with powerful monsters. For him to do that, he must become a knight and bond with others, but the first person he was forced to approach is a noblewoman who wants to do research with the power of science. The biggest challenge for the young mage's adventure begins.[AU]

7. Chapter 7: Swiftness and Strength

Recap of the previous chapter: Hachiman battled against the mysterious hooded woman who was accompanied by two gogmagogs while Yui made her escape. He defeated the two giant monsters but when he fought the hooded woman, it was a losing battle as she proved to be too powerful for him. Knights arrived in the nick of time to defeat the hooded woman while Hachiman "died" as his equal feedback and met Wylfrid in The Realm Before Purgatory. The news of the hooded woman spread through the city and after being given advice from his guardian, Hachiman, with newfound resolve, went with Yukino in the Iron Market to find a blacksmith to help forge metallic parts of their scientific invention. In his slumber, fragments of his forgotten past had returned.

Disclaimer: I do NOT own the Oregairu series as it is respectfully owned by the author and studios.

---

Chapter 7: Swiftness And Strength, Two Combined Into A Dangerous Force.

As the sunset descended further into nighttime, Yukinoshita and Hikigaya went back to the blacksmith couple who seemed to have finished crafting the metal parts. The young dark mage released a sigh of relief because of that while the Ice Queen smiled at the completion. Hijiri noticed the two students walking towards them and so he waved with a huge grin.

"Oi! You went back here just in time!" The male blacksmith shouted.

"Whoo! I thought my eyes were about to pop out," Sheila wiped the sweat on her forehead using a small brown cloth. "Making these small parts is hard. Your invention better work. I don't want my suffering to be for nothing."

"Do not worry, Sheila. It will work," Yukinoshita reassured her while looking at the parts closely. "These are really well-crafted. As expected of you two."

"Hah! Of course, we did! Who do you think we are?" Sheila said with confidence while patting her well-toned bicep. "Come on, check the parts if it really fulfilled your criteria."

"Okay," While the two ladies analyzed and discussed the metal parts crafted, Hijiri approached Hikigaya while cleaning his hammer with a cloth.

"So, how's it going?" He asked nonchalantly which made the young dark mage confused. This blacksmith was speaking to him without any hint of hostility. Hikigaya was already well-known in the city and perhaps the entire world when he first came here. It didn't even take a single movement of the wind for the citizens to express their hatred for him and his dark magic when his presence spread the city. He thought either the blacksmith named Hijiri saw him differently or he was good at hiding his true emotions.

"It was tiring but a decent day overall." Hikigaya answered his question with arms crossed each other.

"Kinda expected, to be honest," Hijiri laughed while arranging materials and tools on the wooden table. "Yuki is not someone who can give anyone a break as long as she's getting passionate about her goal."

"Yeah, she's a real pain in the ass."

"Haha, you get used to it. She's a really sweet girl so you can get along with her quite nicely... if it's your true intention that is," Hijiri's last line sounded hostile as the cheery tone disappeared. He slowly approached the young dark mage and glared at him with a hammer clutched in his right hand. Hikigaya wasn't surprised by this sudden change of tone and only looked at him with an indifferent expression. "What's your relationship with Yuki, and how did you get into her business."

"Ah, there it is. I was wondering how long would it take for him to snap at me," Hikigaya thought and sighed. "Didn't you watch our conversation a few hours ago? We're not on good terms. I'm the unfortunate slave forced to work for that witch."

"A slave yet talking back to his master? That's weird and far off."

"Talking back is the only weapon I have against her and so far, and I lost all those battles. I don't have any ability in me to hurt or do any shady business with Yukinoshita. Whether you believe it or not is up to you." Hikigaya said with a wave of a hand.

"Well, I did enjoy watching you two bantering," The male blacksmith scratched his white beard. "To be honest, that was the first time I saw her being so talkative about something besides science. It's a mixed feeling for me because it's you who brings her into that. But then again, I have my fair share of experiencing the same thing you're going through."

"You have?" Hikigaya asked in curiosity to his last sentence.

"I met Shiela on Raimei and people over there are not really nice towards foreigners," Hijiri explained while pulling down the yukata to reveal a burnt mark on his right shoulder. "And I mean not REALLY nice."

"They're as arrogant as many people say," Hikigaya commented as he stared at the mark. "A lightning mage?"

"What kinda question is that? All the people there in Raimei are lightning mages. Those who aren't will live in the outskirts of the land and are banned from setting foot there regardless of their status. When I first heard it from the others who visited there, I thought it was ridiculous and didn't believe them. But after going to that kingdom for the first time, I already told myself not to go there again."

"Wait, only those INSIDE the kingdom are very discriminate towards foreigners, and foreigners are also banned from the kingdom so how did you get in?" Hikigaya leaned forward a little with very interest in the male blacksmith's story. Hijiri looked left and right as if he was checking any people who might be eavesdropping on their conversation. He ordered the young dark mage with a gesture to lean even closer. Hikigaya complied and Hijiri whispered his answer.

"I used to be from a noble family," His answer made Hikigaya looked at him with a shocked expression.

"Are you serious?"

"Yeah, it's up to you if you believe me or not."

"No, I don't see any lies from you. At least based on your expressions and body language."

"Wow, you have that kind of skill? Pretty useful and creepy."

"When you live in a world where no one can trust you or even see you as a human being, you need to know how everyone ticks, distinguish their words if they have truths or lies. I can't afford to be gullible to kind people."

"It must've been hard for you," Hijiri tidied his yukata to hide the burnt mark. "I don't know what you've been through but I'm glad you're still standing strong."

"He's glad? What a strange man." Hikigaya said in his mind, confused by the male blacksmith's quick change of view towards him. It was only a few minutes ago that Hijiri showed his hostility to him and began questioning him for Yukinoshita's sake, and now he was relating to the young dark mage because of having a similar experience and telling him about it. "Was his animosity just empty as a way of testing me?"

"Back to my story, my father and I visited the kingdom because of an invitation received from the Raimei King to form relationships as a way to show the kingdom's willingness to be peaceful to heal the scars of war. Unfortunately for us and other foreign noble families invited, while the royal family welcomed us with open arms, the rest of the Raimei nobles and citizens, weren't so welcoming. I swear we had the most awkward conversations with them and the citizens are even worse than the nobles. Throwing pebbles at us and breaking glass windows in the place we stayed at night. I remember a guy who tried to mug me in the middle of the market. It didn't end well for him."

"You handled that by yourself and no guard was there?"

"Nah, and I don't have any escorts with me since I'm more of a free man. So, I met her the same day as that failed theft attempt," The male blacksmith pointed his thumb behind him at his wife who was still busy checking the metal parts with Yukinoshita. "Turns out, that guy was her husband and he's an idiot. She came to me and apologized on behalf of her husband and by the gods, it was love at first sight."

"What? She's married."

"A shaky marriage. She works as a blacksmith and he is a knight. And a lousy one at that. The other invited nobles and I only saw him being drunk in a corner of a street or just playing around with other women. When I saw that, it was as if an opportunity came knocking on my heart. So one night while that dumb husband of hers was out drinking with his pals, I made my move and asked her out."

"Did she say yes?"

"Nope, she shouted at me like a screeching wisp and we argued for an hour. After that, we became friends."

"That is the weirdest beginning of a friendship I've ever heard." Hikigaya said in a deadpan tone.

"Meh, it was a start," Hijiri shrugged his shoulders. "Anyways, I got three more days left thanks to my father complied to my request, so I made it all count, doing sneaky moves on her in each hour. On the last day, I finally got her."

"In the span of a week? She must be desperate to escape her ex-husband." The young dark mage leaned his back on a nearby wall with arms crossed.

"Well, I didn't say I got her heart at that time. She just asked me to join us outside the kingdom, that's all," Hijiri pulled a chair close and sat on it. "Of course, that same day, the idiot found out and spread the word after fighting with his wife. Surprisingly, she beat him up real good."

"I know a certain woman who has the same unladylike trait." Hikigaya imagined a certain single female teacher punching her partner. The image of that made his spine shivered

"Haha, women who can bite back are my type, that's why I fell in love with Sheila," the male blacksmith chuckled. "Things really went downhill from there: Sheila got harassed by the folks; father ordered me to stay away from her, and didn't have any good night sleep without anyone breaking in. She and I got out of the kingdom without telling our families and after a couple of years, we eloped here where we both get an equal chance in life. She taught me everything she knew about forging, and now we're a blacksmith couple."

"Why are you telling me all this so suddenly? We aren't that close," The young dark mage asked while giving him a scrutinizing gaze. The more he interacted with Hijiri, the more confused he was at the male blacksmith's behavior.

"I said I had the same experience as you're having trouble right now, didn't I? So I told you that experience so we can, y'know? Get to know each other as pals." Hijiri answered with a carefree tone but Hikigaya wasn't convinced by such a reason. "And what I'm trying to teach you is that we can find a way to make the shittiest metal into something useful even if it's covered in dirt. I'm sure you can."

"We all hope to find the good things out of the worst events."

"That almost sounds the same thing Wylfrid-san told me back in the Realm Before Purgatory." Hikigaya thought while remembering the entire discussion he had with his deceased guardian. It was truly helpful advice but the main flaw of it was that his mindset was still on the ideal of realism. He was never a man who would fight battles with sheer willpower and enjoyed the thrill of it like those knights were. As long as there were safe options for him to gain an advantage, he would take it. Using the male blacksmith's metaphorical words, Hikigaya would rather find the better metal for a sword, than waste himself in searching for a way to make the most useless metal into value. That idea was engraved into his very soul in his childhood to survive from cruelty. So it wouldn't be simple to change that same ideal that helped him lived this far.

"I have a gift for you," Hijiri interrupted Hikigaya's thoughts as he lifted a wooden rectangular box while the young dark mage stared at it with actual curiosity in what contained inside it. Hijiri wasted no time and opened the lid to reveal a sheathed katana with writings on the red sheath in a language that Hikigaya was too familiar with. Its handle was dark blue and the guard looked like a white lotus flower. The young dark mage had little grasp towards the beauty, effort, and craft of swords. As proof: the sword he was carrying on his back. However, it didn't mean he couldn't appreciate the fine arts of forging, and now, he couldn't help but be amazed by the design of the weapon Hijiri revealed. The mentioned male blacksmith grinned from seeing Hikigaya's curious and dumbfounded stare. "You like it? This is one of my first weapons I forged back when I was still a novice."

"I don't know a thing or two about swords... but it is beautiful," Hikigaya then remembered what Hijiri said earlier and wore a confused expression. "Wait, you're giving me this?"

"Yup, I feel like you're a worthy wielder of this blade," Hijiri took the katana out of the box and unsheathed it to reveal its clean, iron blade. "it's just a normal katana but I bet you can make use of it better than anyone by using magic."

"I appreciate the gift, but I have my one and only sword right here." Hikigaya said while holding the handle of his sword.

"Yeah, it's a dirty and chipped sword and that supposed to be unusable, yet from what I heard from your fight with Merek, you can turn it as sharp as steel with Hearten spell."

"The news of that spread rather quickly."

"Anything interesting can reach the city's ears. Anyways, I'm giving this to you so in case your sword breaks, you can use this."

"This sword won't break," The young dark mage said in a slightly angry tone. "My magic won't let it happen."

"All weapons break. Even if a sword is blessed by a spirit or a god, it will break eventually by other means. Your sword is no different," Hijiri sheathed the katana, put it back inside the wooden box, and closed it. "Just take it. A thank you gift for standing in Yuki's side and being strong throughout your life."

"... Fine," Hikigaya hesitantly accepted the gift and carried it with one hand. "Thank you for the gift."

"Your welcome." Hijiri said with a nod and the two women approached them.

"Alright, our work is complete. Metal parts are 'Yuki approved'." Sheila said with a thumbs-up and winked at her husband.

"We must go now, Hikigaya-kun," Yukinoshita showed him a sack with various metal objects in many different shapes inside. "We have everything we need... What is that wooden box you are holding?"

"A present from me," Hijiri answered the question for the young dark mage. "Anyways, glad that we forged them to your liking, Yuki. Thanks for stopping by."

"It was my pleasure, Hijiri-san. Thank you for fulfilling my request," Yukinoshita bowed to the blacksmith couple in gratitude while Hikigaya lowered his head slightly to do the same. As the two students walked away while arguing with each other, Sheila looked at Hijiri who was standing beside her watching them leave.

"Did you really give the kid your very first accomplishment as a blacksmith?" She asked him with a confused expression.

"Yup, and I know I joked a lot about someone like him coming to our shop and all other insulting crap," Her husband scratched the back of his head and smiled. "but after hearing more about him through the years of living here and talking to him earlier, I'm like 'yeah, this guy's the one."

"But he's a dark mage." Sheila said with an obvious display of discomfort.

"Yeah, that was my reaction when he was walking beside her hours ago. But I think we have nothing to worry about," Hijiri wrapped his right arm around her waist and kissed her on the cheek for reassurance. "How come you're uncomfortable around him and not others like elves and dwarves."

"That's an issue with race, this one is different."

"I don't see it that way. This kingdom is supposed to give everyone an equal chance. An equal footing while ignoring all differences in status and whatever. The kid deserves that too."

"But for you to give him one of your precious creations? Isn't that way too much?"

"Probably, but you gotta remember that before I met you, I'm a huge gambler which is kinda why father was so happy I left the family."

"Yeah, your father wasn't even trying to hide it," Sheila shook her head and held a shovel. "I should've broken his legs to teach him a lesson before we ran away."

"Welp, can't go back to the past, now can we?" Hijiri then heard a customer calling for them. "But I'm happy with our life right now."

---

"I see, he gave you a katana as a gift," Yukinoshita said as she and the young dark mage walked side by side through the market. Hikigaya carried all the materials they purchased in a large sack as well as his sword and sack of school materials while she insisted on holding the wooden box since both of his hands were occupied. Many bystanders glanced at the odd pair with some staring at Hikigaya in a mix of hatred, disgust, and arrogance. Of course, the pair of students ignored all of them and focused on their conversation as they walked their way out of the market. Yukinoshita opened the box slightly to get a peek of the katana given by the male blacksmith and was impressed by the design. "Did you perhaps threaten him to give you this? It is impossible for him to just give such a high-quality sword to an arrogant idiot who doesn't take care of his own sword such as you."

"Believe me, I'm just as surprised and confused as you are when he gave it to me as a present," Hikigaya sighed as they turned to the left and exited the market. "You think there's a chance he put a magic spell that would make the katana explode or some sort of curse?"

"Absolutely not," Yukinoshita denied his questions with a hint of venom in her voice. Hikigaya noticed that and thought he might've offended her for having such a view towards Hijiri. The Ice Queen glared at him which of course, didn't affect him at all as his face was purely indifferent. "Hijiri-san doesn't know any curses nor does he have such a magic spell. I'm disgusted to admit this, but you must have left an impression on him."

"Heh, jealous because I was given something precious to him and you didn't?" Hikigaya asked with a teasing grin.

"Nonsense. I'm only questioning Hijiri's intention to this act when he is clearly not aware of just how unclean you are, how barbaric your actions will take to break the katana in a matter of seconds, and how uncaring you are in handling your belongings as well as the entirety of your existence."

"First of all; I have at least, a decent sense in taking care of my hygiene. Second; While I may move like a barbarian in battle, I performed my actions carefully enough to be tactical in situations. Lastly; I know how to give courtesy and respect so I will take care of the katana that HE gave to ONLY ME and not SOMEONE WHO KNOWS THEM FOR SOME TIME NOW." Hikigaya emphasized some keywords and phrases loudly to irritate the Ice Queen and it seemed to have worked judging by how her eyebrow flinched and the temperature dropped when her glare intensified. Before they could begin another petty argument, a man ran towards them while shouting.

"YOUNG MISTRESS!" The man had black hair combed to the left and was wearing black trousers, a six-buttoned double-breasted tailcoat, gray vest, and white gloves on both hands. Yukinoshita looked at the butler with a deadpanned expression while Hikigaya raised an eyebrow with a look that he remembered him. The butler stopped right in front of them as he panted to catch his breath and lifted a finger, signaling them to wait for a moment until he could speak. "Y-Young mistress! We've been looking everywhere for you! Why are you here?"

"Didn't I tell you I'm going somewhere with an acquaintance?" Yukinoshita sighed while touching her forehead.

"And I said that I refused to let you go by yourself without even an escort." Kazuya retorted while shaking his head and then looking at her with a serious expression.

"And then I retorted that my acquaintance is quite strong so I would be fine," Yukinoshita said with arms folded and looked at Hikigaya who was looking up in the nearly dark sky with a smirk on his face. He suddenly sensed her icy glare attacking him but his response was giving her an arrogant grin which irritated the Ice Queen further until she coughed lightly to regain her usual composure. "He may not look like it, but he's very capable of fighting. I understand that you are not convinced, Kazuya-san. His appearance gave an aura of a simpleton and a possible pervert who is so full of himself that he-"

"Oi, can you not give him that impression of me?" Hikigaya requested with a vein popped in his temple.

"I find that quite difficult since giving him such flowery lies about you would make him feel even more skeptical of your capabilities."

"Most of what you said about me wasn't even true, you damn lying gorgon. Could you not fight me with lies because it only makes you a coward than a cunning bitch."

"You see, Kazuya-san? His manner of speaking is very vulgar. But rest assured that he's not what you think he may b-"

"I only speak in this kind of manner to those who I see as someone beneath me and some tyrannical Ice Queen that can't hold back her own ice because she couldn't feel anything."

"And you can't hold back your own stupidity because of-"

"Enough!" Kazuya shouted and stopped their bantering. He looked at the young dark mage with a scrutinizing gaze and nodded in approval. "From the looks of it, you do look quite strong and your magical energy is no laughing matter. But even so, young mistress: your safety is not fully guaranteed without proper escorts. Now that it is almost night time, we will escort you safely home whether you agree or disagree."

"It seems I have bo choice," Yukinoshita released an exhausted sigh and looked at Hikigaya. "I'll take the materials with me so let Kazuya-san carry it."

"Okay then," Hikigaya gave the large sack to him and the butler felt the hefty weight of it. But, he could still carry it with ease perhaps not as much as the young dark mage could. Yukinoshita gave back the wooden box to him and went towards Kazuya's side.

"Goodbye, for now, Hikigaya-kun. I'm grateful for your assistance throughout the evening. We'll meet again tomorrow." Yukinoshita said with such calm and ladylike tone that Hikigaya was caught off-guard by it.

"Uh, yeah. See you tomorrow." He responded with a nod and walked away. Meanwhile, Kazuya stared at his retreating form in bewilderment and looked back at his mistress.

"Y-Young mistress, h-he's that kid in the fore-?!" Before he could complete his sentence loudly, water suddenly flew on his mouth and immediately turned into ice to prevent him from speaking any further. The butler noticed a small blue magic circle on the palm of Yukinoshita's right hand and an opened leather water flask she slightly pulled out in her shoulder bag. She walked forward, leaving him behind.

"Don't be so loud, Kazuya-san. Remember, we promised them not to leak their secret," The Ice Queen said as she closed the flask and pushed it back in her bag. Kazuya could only nod and make muffled noises in response and quickly followed her to the carriage. What they didn't know was that Hikigaya stood watching them from afar. He couldn't hear their conversation but it didn't matter to the young dark mage as his gaze focused on the butler following the Ice Queen while having a little difficulty carrying the heavy sack.

"There's no doubt about it. That guy is that knight who was with that girl in my childhood memories," Hikigaya said in his mind while remembering the two dreams he had in the aftermath of the duel and recently this evening when he slept on that bench. "If that's him, then that means Yukinoshita is that girl I met in my childhood? Or maybe that guy quit his job in taking care of the girl then worked as a butler to Yukinoshita? No, I can see Yukonshita's resemblance to her. Then why didn't she mentioned it?... Damn it, my memories are still too hazy."

Hikigaya shook his head to brush away those thoughts and walked into an alley. Then, he jumped from wall to wall until he landed on the roof and quickly but carefully leaped from roof to roof until he reached Hiratsuka's house. Hikigaya knelt down to knock one clay tile off the roof a few times and after a few seconds, the clay tiles moved to reveal the entrance and he went down into the attic. It didn't take long for him to hear the muffled sounds of bare footsteps pounding the wooden floor and the door swung open to see his adorable little sister in plain green yukata running towards him and gave a very tight hug.

"ONII-CHAN!" Komachi shouted in excitement.

"Okay, okay, get off me," Hachiman pushed his little sister, successfully escaping her tight and deadly hug. He immediately thought that if Komachi did that on a normal person, that person would be dead from either suffocation, deformation of organs, skeletal fractures, or all of the above. Hachiman felt glad he was physically adept in an inhuman level. Without it, he would suffer an untimely death in the arms of his little sister. When he stood up and tidied his attire, Komachi noticed the wooden box on the floor and looked at it in curiosity.

"What's this, onii-chan? Is this a present for me?" She asked in an excited tone while examining the box and opened it for her to see the sheathed katana. Wow! It's so pretty!"

"Give me that. It's not for you," The older brother quickly snatched the box from ger and closed it, which made Komachi pouted angrily and began utilizing her martial arts lessons from Hiratsuka in an attempt to hit him. Unfortunately, he blocked every attack she threw at him without putting much effort with one hand while staring at her with an indifferent expression. "Stop that. You can't hurt me."

"Oh yeah?! Then what about... ha... that time when I...ha!...punched you in the gut and... ha! You groaned like you're in pain?!" Komachi asked between pants and grunts as she continued to fight her older brother, only to keep failing at landing a single hit.

"I didn't put my guard up that time so that doesn't count," Hachiman climbed down of the attic while still dodging and blocking her attacks effortlessly. "Hmm, you're getting good. Although I don't know much about martial arts, I can tell your movements aren't excessive and tiring."

"Really? Thanks, I've been training a lot with Aunt Hiratsuka," Komachi suddenly stopped in front of him and formed the brightest smile he had seen in his entire life. He thought that if the sun would disappear, her smile would lit the world and bring daytime. While thinking his guard was down, the little sister quickly punched him again in the stomach. However, to her surprise, Hachiman caught her fist in time before it could land.

"Komachi, how dare you use your divine cuteness and innocence to fool your Onii-chan," The older brother let go of her fist and shook his head in disappointment at her action. "That's a huge minus on your Komachi points."

"Hmph! Whatever, stupid Onii-chan." Komachi pouted and walked ahead of him towards the living room while Hachiman watched her with a sigh and followed suit. His homeroom teacher sat at the dining table eating a small bowl of rice, fried tempura, and a crisp salad with vinegarette. She noticed him behind an angry Komachi and greeted him.

"Oh hey. Glad for you to be staying here," Hiratsuka said while taking a bite of tempura using chopsticks. "Grab a plate and some chopsticks, there are still more of these."

"Thanks, but I'm not really hungry." Hachiman sat on a nearby couch and stretched his neck when putting the wooden box on the table. While eating, Hiratsuka noticed the box and quickly swallowed the contents in her mouth to speak.

"What's that you got there?" She asked with a curious gaze.

"A katana." The little sister answered before him while still pouting as she put down a bowl of rice.

"A what? I've never seen you use one before, not even holding one." The homeroom teacher said while eating the crisp salad.

"Yeah, this is a gift from someone and first time having a katana," Hachiman opened the box and pulled out the sheathed sword to show it to Hiratsuka in all of its beauty. "It's really cool, to be honest."

"It is- Wait, someone gave you that as a present? You don't think it's cursed?" She asked with caution shoed in her expression.

"Or have some sort of trap spell?" Komachi followed with the same expression.

"I said that too, but I think there's nothing to worry about," Hachiman said as he unsheathed the weapon as the blade shined, reflecting the light of the lanterns around the room.

"Hmmm~ Does this have something to do with your date with Yukinoshita?" Hiratsuka asked with a teasing tone and the question made Komachi spilled her food from her mouth and looked at her older brother with widened eyes.

"EEEEEHHH? SERIOUSLY?!" The little sister shouted so loud that her voice reached outside where bystanders jumped in surprise. "O-Oniichan went on a date?! Someone is ACTUALLY interested in HIM?! THIS Onii-chan?!"

"While I agree with you that it would be shocking that someone like me got a girl, you don't have to say all that, you rude, insensitive imouto," Hachiman pinched and twisted her right ear in anger while glaring at her pained expression as she struggled to break free from his clutches and began punching him, only for him to once again block her attacks with ease. "Besides, it wasn't a date. I was just carrying her errands, that's all."

"And it's just you two so that counts as a date." The homeroom teacher continued her teasing but the older brother just ignored that and focused his attention on the katana as he let go of Komachi's ear while seating back on a couch. The "aunt" and "niece" returned to eat their dinner while talking about mundane things as he stared at the reflection of himself from the blade. After a whole hour, Hiratsuka and Komachi finished their dinner and the latter insisted to clean the dishes. The homeroom teacher reluctantly accepted her offer and approached the young dark mage who was still staring at the blade. "Oi, do you even know how to wield a katana?"

"I just swing it like how I did with any sword," Hachiman answered with a raised eyebrow, confused by her question.

"A katana only has a few similarities with other swords. There's a huge difference in how you use them."

"Seriously?" Hachiman sighed. "Can you teach me?"

"I'm more of a hand-to-hand fighter. Sorry," Hiratsuka held her chin in thought about something and after a few seconds, she spoke with a grin. "But I do know someone."

"You do?" He asked with a cautious expression. The grin made him thought that the homeroom teacher was plotting something that could potentially get him in trouble. If she truly was, then tonight might be her last peaceful night no matter how much punishment he would take against her monstrous power. Hachiman folded his arms and gave her a scrutinizing gaze. "Who is it?"

---

Next Day

"Huh, I didn't notice she was my classmate until now," The young dark mage thought as he glanced at a girl with silver hair, large, sparkling blue eyes, and light skin tone. Her attire consisted of a dark blue vest, frilly shirt, brown pants, black boots, and of course, the signature, white magic academy cloak. She was just reading a book while sitting at her desk as she, along with the entire class including Hikigaya himself, waited for the first period to begin. "What an odd choice of clothing for a lady. What do they call it? A tomboy? It doesn't matter. According to Hiratsuka-sensei, this girl is from a family of famous swordsmen in Taiyokigen who use traditional eastern weapons. A student who was born not from noble nor royal blood, but from a family who proved their abilities and effort. Now that's the kind of person I would at least tolerate being with. The question is: How in all the gods' names am I going to ask her? I don't exactly know what she thinks of me but I can safely assume she thinks the same as everyone else: A mage cursed with dark magic who-"

"I told you I'm fine, Yumiko," The voice of a certain orange-haired girl reached his ears, and turned his head to see her talking to the group. Yuigahama already began attending class as if nothing bad happened to her two days ago. The entire academy expected her to return in a week but she was only absent for one day and now many students and teachers were worried. They weren't concerned about Yuigahama's injuries and fatigue since being from a noble family, she was already treated by a doctor using a healing spell. What concerned them was her mental state. Obviously, experiencing such a terrifying event would make everyone think the orange-haired girl was traumatized, stressed, or overwhelmed in fear. However, they saw none of that as Yuigahama reassured her friends with her usual bright smile. "Look, am I not appear fine to you?"

"But still, that monster must be terrifying, right?" Miura held both Yuigahama's hands in worry. "I just think you need more rest."

"You don't have to worry! I'm back in full strength and ready to get stronger," Yuigahama answered with determination in her eyes, reassuring her friends and other classmates surrounding her. "Come on, the class is almost starting. Let's go back to our seats, okay?"

"If you say so..." Miura said in a soft tone, uncertain of her friend's display of normality. She then felt a hand on her right shoulder and turned to see Hayama smiling.

"Yui's fine. Believe in her." Hayama's statement echoed in Miura's mind that made her think about it for a few seconds before nodding in agreement. The bell on the teacher's desk rang as it signaled the beginning of class. Everyone went back to their seats and Hiratsuka entered the classroom with books in hand. As she approached the desk, the homeroom teacher slowly looked at every student until her eyes met Hikigaya's glare and she grinned at his expression which irritated him even more. Before anyone would notice, she began the lecture and wrote on the blackboard. Hours passed and after two classes, it was time for physical fitness.

Each class will have a physical fitness session for three consecutive days every week for every class. Four classes in the same year will join together in the training grounds and four teachers will train and then supervise their students. There are three reasons for implementing these rules: Firstly, it is to organize the students accordingly so that the physical fitness class can fit through all the class schedule while covering every student in the academy into that class. Thereby, balancing the academic subjects, physical training, and magical practices; The second reason is to avoid too many people in the training grounds that would result in being too constricted for training.

Right now, their routine for today was sword combat without magic which was what Hikigaya wanted.

"This is honestly my first time attending this class," The young dark mage thought as he looked around the training grounds while being stared at by his classmates, and all students from three different groups which he ignored all of them. Hikigaya had never attended the physical fitness class because he didn't see it as important when he already considered himself master combatant with his inhuman physical prowess. That attitude earned both the teachers' and the students' frustrations and anger since while they were tiring themselves, he was being lazy and skipped class. Obviously, he received punishments such as extra homework and a minus grade but he was confused that they didn't consider suspending him or better yet for him, expelling him from the academy. Hikigaya speculated that the homeroom teacher might've done something to convince the faculty and the principal. The reason why he attended this class now was that he thought it would be the perfect opportunity for him to interact with the silver-haired girl. As such, he wasted no time and walked in the middle of the crowd of students to find her. However, someone pulled his left sleeve which caught his attention and so he turned around to see the girl he was searching for. Hikigaya was surprised that she approached him of all people but it did serve his purpose. His two main problems now was finding out her reason for approaching him, and whether or not she would heed his request. He looked up and down to scrutinize her person. She was wearing a cowhide suede leather vests over white long-sleeved blouses and black pants. The same attire as all students here in the training grounds except him which made him stood out.

"Umm...Hikigaya-san," The silver-haired girl spoke his name hesitantly. "Will you be my partner?"

"EEEEHHH!?" Everyone near their proximity heard her request and the rest of the students looked in their direction in curiosity to see what it was about. Hikigaya blinked twice while processing what the girl just said. It seemed that luck was on his side but was that luck a disguise that would be revealed to be a misfortune? What could be the reason for her to willingly ask him, of all people, to be her partner?

"Wait, what if she's not doing this willingly? Oh, I see. She must've lost a bet or something and the punishment is this. Ah, I pity you for being friends with such idiots. But it did give me the opportunity I needed as long as she'd cooperate," The young dark mage said in his mind and only responded with: "Alright."

"Eh? Seriously?!"

"Is this the end of all life?"

"Why him?!"

"That man is going to corrupt everything that shines."

Everyone including the teachers both shouted and whispered among each other in shock to this development that was happening before their very eyes. Again, Hikigaya ignored all their expressions of contempt and it seemed that the girl was doing the same considering how she just smiled in delight to his answer.

"Alright, everyone! Stop fooling around and choose a partner!" A male teacher shouted and the students complied as they asked around whether it was female or male, classmate or someone in a different class. Yuigahama just stared at Hikigaya's back with disappointment.

"I want to be his partner..." But then again, I might get in the way," She thought until many of her classmates suddenly surrounded her, begging them to be their partner. She didn't know what to do and was conflicted until someone grabbed her right hand and pulled her towards him. Yuigahama looked behind to see a man with long brown hair with the top portion of his head braided and tied into a ponytail. "Ah, Oliver-san!"

"May I be your partner?" Her fiancee asked with a smile.

"Okay!" Yuigahama answered with a smile of her own but not before looking back at the young dark mage who was speaking with the silver-haired girl.

"I'm so glad I'm able to talk to you, Hikigaya-san," The silver-haired girl spoke to him while smiling. "I was really interested in you for a while after your duel with Merek."

"I see," Hikigaya said with ab indifferent expression. "I'm also interested in your abilities, so this is a really good opportunity to see it up close as my partner."

"Hahaha, I'm not that great compared to you or the others, but I'll try my best."

"Hmmm... I don't sense any lies from her. I guess I really got her attention from that duel," His thoughts were interrupted by the sudden rumbling beneath everyone's feet on the ground as trees grew, small hills and plates of earth rose, and a river and ponds were formed. The walls disappeared and the area transformed into a literal forest that stretched far into the horizon. It was as if they weren't inside the training grounds anymore and were transported outside. "They're using Nature's Rule for this? Those teachers are getting serious with this sparring session."

"And also letting us use our real weapons," The silver-haired girl looked at her katana strapped on the left side of her hip and then looked at his usual double-edged sword which was also strapped on his hip. "I wonder why..."

"Most likely because of that monster incident. They're stepping up challenges so we could be ready for any unfortunate events against that hooded monster."

"I see... It's really scary that there's a monster who could use magic. And a very strong one at that."

"It is indeed. That's why we need to train hard to be strong enough to face a problem like that. You better not run away when that happens."

"I won't. If I do run, then it'll be my fault that many people would get killed." She said with a serious expression.

"Huh, that's a little admirable," He thought with a genuine look of approval.

"Alright everyone, listen up!" This time a female teacher spoke on top of a small floating platform with three other teachers. "In this sparring session, it'll be a battle royal amongst pairs. There will be five matches! Each of the first four matches will be a battle between 38 pairs, the last pair standing wins and advances. The final match will be between each of those pairs who earned their victory on their first match. Now would anyone like to volunteer for the first match?"

"What do you think, Hikigaya-san?" The silver-haired girl asked.

"Hmm... Let's just participate in the fourth match so we can watch the winners of the previous three," The young dark mage suggested. "That way, in the final match, we'll know who we're gonna be dealing with and win."

"I'm fine with that." She agreed as they along with many other students who didn't participate went to the nearest large floating platform to watch the first match. There were eight floating platforms with each of them had 19 students standing. Hikigaya looked at each group and noticed Hayama in the middle.

"He's not participating? Looks like he got the same idea as mine. As for his partner..." He then noticed Miura hugging the light mage's arm and talking to him with joy. "Why am I not surprised?"

A gong was struck once and the sound echoed far into the makeshift forest, signaling the beginning of the first match. The pairs participating were positioned in different locations, distant from each other. This way, the pairs would have time to come up with strategies as the match began. Hikigaya wanted to observe them but something caught his attention or someone. There she was, standing and watching the match on a floating platform far away from him. Her blue eyes emanated focus, her silky black hair tied into a ponytail, and her training attire (Which was the same as everyone else) complimented her figure perfectly despite lacking a certain area on her physique. While many were captivated by the battle royale, others were enchanted by her unmatched beauty. Gazes of admiration, infatuation, and competitiveness surrounded her but she ignored all of them since she had adapted to this kind of environment. Any person, especially men, would feel like the heavens came down to their world and blessed them with an angel. Like a piece of art manifested into a living being with every action displayed grace and divinity. However, for someone who was subjected to unbearably forced labor, and painful frost bites from her venomous words, he saw her as an ugly, and powerful monster disguised as a human.

"Yukinoshita?! Her class is joining us in this activity?" Hikigaya thought as he stared at the Ice Queen in bewilderment which then turned into annoyance. "Not only am I going to worry about that light mage, but her too? This is gonna be so back-breaking... But then again..."

"Hmm...? Hikigaya-san?" The silver-haired girl noticed something odd about the young dark mage. He was grinning. And what confused her was that he wasn't paying attention to the match and instead looked at somewhere else. "Is there something...?"

"Hmm? Oh, nothing. It's just that this will be a lot more interesting than I thought." Hikigaya answered while maintaining his grin. "So, I get to fight both Blonde Boy and the damn Ice Queen. Maybe we should win the second match to get into the final?"

Before he knew it, the first match ended with the sound of the gong echoed. The winning pair was a man with shoulder-length orange hair tied into a ponytail wielding a long spear, and a girl with shoulder-length black hair and red eyeglasses wielding a bow and arrow. The forest looked like a battlefield with all the fallen trees that were cut down either by a weapon or a magic attack, and the ground had craters and cracks.

"Two of Hayama's goons. What's their name again? Toru and Lina? Taku and Kana? Meh, it doesn't matter." The young dark mage shrugged as he and the rest of the students waited for volunteers for the second match. Everyone's attention suddenly went to Hayama and Miura whose tile of the platform beneath their feet slowly descended into the forest and flew to a random location. They all cheered for the pair and Hikigaya's eye twitched at all the praises and maddening display of admiration.

"Mr. Hayama is fighting!"

"Hayama-sama!"

"OOH! Lady Miura is his partner?"

"She's as fierce and beautiful as always."

"So Hayama-kun is next, huh?" The silver-haired girl commented. "Honestly, I'm excited to fight him."

"Then let's fight him now," The young dark mage's words surprised her.

"What happened to 'observing the winners?'" She asked with a raised eyebrow in confusion but she was actually glad at his suggestion.

"I'm reconsidering my thoughts and concluded that doing this crap competitively is unhealthy for young knights like us. Let's just jump in to experience the height of our youth." He answered while watching Hayama waving at the students who chose to watch and the others participating. Hikigaya wasn't entirely focused on what he just said as he began imagining scenarios of his battle with the light mage and creating strategies. He wouldn't care for getting in the final match if it weren't for Yukinoshita being participating in this activity. He wanted to fight both Hayama and Yukinoshita... And possibly Miura since he heard that she was a powerful mage. The structure of this activity made him and all the students conserve as much magical energy and stamina as possible for the final match. They even need to be careful in using elemental magic because the equal feedback would hinder their combat performance dramatically. Hikigaya averted his gaze from Hayama and looked at the silver-haired girl who was silent for a few seconds thinking about his suggestion with a finger on her chin.

"Alright! Let's do it!" She finally agreed and touched the tile beneath their feet as a magic circle appeared on it. The tile slowly descended and everyone's eyes shifted towards the unusual pair. Hikigaya already expected words of contempt but he was surprised when others expressed a different reaction.

"They're fighting too? This is going to be historic!"

"That dark mage had no chance!"

"Yeah, he's done for!"

"I might need to use clairvoyance for this. Both of them are fast!"

"I wonder what the dark mage has in store?"

"Well, this is... curious," That was his only comment in his mind before the tile finally touched the ground.

"So what's the plan?" The silver-haired girl asked while holding the handle of her katana firmly with a right hand.

"DIdn't I just say doing this competitively is unhealthy? No plan, we beat them and get to the final match."

"So in other words, wreak havoc on the first pair we see?"

"Pretty much."

"Honestly, that's a fun idea." The gong was struck and the second match had finally begun. The unusual pair ran straight into the woods without a plan. Hikigaya's only goal was to face the light mage while at the same time, learn more about the silver-haired girl's skills with the katana. He was actually killing two birds with one stone. Once they entered the battle, he would observe her actions even while fighting Hayama. Also, if they did win this round and made it to the final match, he would face Yukinoshita. He was very confident that the Ice Queen would make it even though he had only witnessed a small portion of her overall abilities. Suddenly, a magic blast was fired towards them. Hikigaya sensed it coming and tackled his partner to save her. The blast hit a tree behind them which exploded in half. While lying flat on the ground with her back, she looked at the blasted tree with widened eyes. "T-Thanks."

"No problem, we're lucky that we're surrounded by bushes. Easy to hide." The young dark mage looked at the direction where the blast came from, only to see nothing but the woods. "They're going for the stealth approach. Taking us down from long distances. I would've praised their choice but in this situation where my patience is running out, I call this annoying."

"Umm... Can you get off me, please?" The silver-haired girl's words confused him and looked to find out what she meant. He realized that he was on top of her and quickly sat up

"Oh, sorry, I-" Before he could finish his apology, a magic blast was fired aiming at his head that was popped up behind the bushes from the enemies' point of view. Hikigaya was fast enough to sense its attack, so he rolled to the side and evaded the blast while at the same time moving away from his partner. "-was trying to save you."

"It's no problem, I would've been down for the count way too early if it weren't for you." She thanked him with a smile and crouched up low enough to hide from the enemies. Instead of being enchanted by her bright smile that could rival the most precious of gems, he was bothered by it. Her reaction was the exact opposite of what he expected but he shook off the thought and returned his focus on the battle. Hikigaya removed his slippers and crouched in a squatting position to touch the ground with both hands. He closed his eyes for a few seconds in concentration while the silver-haired girl watched him in wonder. "What are you doing?"

"Shh..." He shushed his partner to be quiet for a moment and so the girl waited until his eyes were opened and pointed in a direction in front of them with a finger. "The long-ranged nuisance is over there, about one kilometer away. Meanwhile, his partner is over there on the right in the same distance. Based on "

"Wow, are you using magic?"

"No, it's more of a survival skill." He leaned slightly forward in preparation to pounce at the enemy as the ground beneath his feet glowed white. " Anyways, I heard that you're fast. I'll take the long-ranged moron while you take the guy sneaking towards us. Can you do that?"

His question made her smile differently. He felt something changed around the girl as she held the katana even tighter and slightly drew it to show the golden blade collar. The silver-haired girl's expression emitted focus as a large white magic circle appeared behind her.

"Can you please repeat my target's location?" She asked without looking at him. The young dark mage smirked at her display of confidence and focus. He told her again their locations and now they were about to attack.

Meanwhile, the opposing pair just stared at the direction the long-ranged student fired with his Enziel spell: Mana Shot. They saw a twinkle of light on where the unusual pair was and so they prepared themselves for an attack. However, what was about to come didn't change the result of their fates. Two consecutive explosions occurred at the location with one closer to them than the other, and a gust of wind blew at the partner who was sneaking under the bush. Two blurry figures appeared out of nowhere and suddenly, the long-ranged student felt immense pain in his abdomen. He looked down to see the young dark mage with his right fist sinking into his flesh. The pain was overwhelming enough to lose consciousness as the student fell down. As for his partner, two long cuts that intersected into a cross shape appeared on his upper body. The cuts were at the shoulders and reached on the waists. Blood spilled on the ground from the injuries and fell down unconscious, lying prone. Behind him was the silver-haired girl who already drew her katana and sheathed back in while Hikigaya stared at her in amusement.

"So that wind spell increased her speed but did that applied to her swings as well? I'm pretty sure the instant we pounced, she drew the blade further. She swung it two times at the guy and it was so fast, all I see was a blur of her right arm. Not to mention, she cast the magic circle without pointing her palm to it." He analyzed in his mind while walking towards her. "Oi, that sword swing you did."

"Hm?"

"Was that part of your wind spell?"

"Oh, yeah. My wind spell can increase every movement. But believe me, I can swing that fast without it," She answered while scratching her cheek. "It's really part of my technique."

"Interesting..."

"Not really, I'm pretty sure you can do it even faster."

"Probably, but I don't know how to wield a katana."

"Oh, right. From that duel, you don't fight like a proper swordsman. It was almost as if you just knew the right points to hit and just swing. Well, if you want, I can teach you."

"Wow, this is going way too smoothly. I wonder what's going to ruin this scene." After that thought, he sensed danger coming as the sound of fire blazing through the woods and came towards them. Hikigaya raised a right hand forward and cast a basic barrier spell to block the attack. He underestimated the attack as it forced him to use both hands while maintaining to stand firm. "Me and my twisted yet beautiful and brilliant mind. Damn, this fire spell is strong. This could only belong to one woman."

"Heeh~, you can block that with just a weak spell like that?' The familiar voice of a girl reached the unusual pair's ears and saw a silhouette of a woman behind the smoke. It walked closer and exited the smoke to reveal herself to be Miura, holding a sword with its blade enveloped in fire. Right beside her was the light mage himself, Hayama with a sword in hand. "Not bad, dark mage. But I didn't give my all on that attack."

"She's lying... And that fire spell just now could've turned us into ashes! I know you couldn't care less about me but at least think about my partner, you damn Fire Bitch!" Hikigaya looked at her with a deadpanned expression and then looked around his surroundings. The trees and bushes were burned to ashes with some were reduced into charred tree trunks and twigs. The ground was burnt black while the only green grass left was where he was standing on that stretched away behind him into an arc. The silver-haired girl was also behind him as she was looking at the burnt woods. He sighed as he drew his sword and pointed the blade at them. "Right... By any chance of finding us here in this vast, and the illusion-made forest is all luck?"

"Does it matter? You two are here, right in front of us as our enemies," Miura said with a confident smirk as the flame on her blade intensified. "Or what? Are you actually afraid of us?"

"Not one bit..." Hikigaya answered while giving them his own confident smirk. A magic circle appeared on the chipped and dirty blade, and an aura of darkness enveloped it. He pointed the blade at Hayama while the silver-haired girl went by the young dark mage's side as she held the handle of her katana firmly.

"I've been waiting for this moment where we could spar at least once," The light mage said while posing a fighting stance. The atmosphere around them was tense. The audience who cheered and shouted words of encouragement were silent, watching closely at the fight they all had been anticipating ever since word of both the dark mage's and light mage's enrollment in this academy. Even the teachers couldn't help but felt the excitement in anticipation of the clashing of their swords. Hikigaya put all his concentration on Hayama while the silver-haired girl focused on Miura since she knew that her partner desired to fight the light mage. The rest of the remaining participants hid further away from what was about to come and hoped that they wouldn't get caught in the destruction. Without warning, the fight began with Hikigaya propelling himself forward using the Hearten spell's explosion. Hayama was caught off-guard as the young dark mage grabbed his neck and pushed him far away from their partners.

"Hayato!" Miura summoned a blue glowing sphere to fire her Mana Shot spell but realized her mistake of that action immediately as she felt a gust of wind behind her.

"Wind Magic: Aeros Surrender." The silver-haired girl approached the fire mage at blinding speed, ready to draw her katana. However, the moment she approached her proximity, A huge flame engulfed Miura and the silver-haired girl tumbled back from its force.

"Fire Magic: Flame's Embrace," Miura spoke while walking towards her opponent. The silver-haired girl could only see the fire mage's silhouette behind the flame. "It's very impressive how you cast a barrier at the last second I cast this spell. If you didn't, your right arm would get burned."

"Thank you for the compliment." She said while sweat dripping on her face. She walked around the fire mage in a circle to analyze her situation. "She's completely engulfed in flames. "There's literally no openings of her spell. It's too big for me to even get close to her without turning my body into complete charcoal. I guess this is a long-range duel then."

"Here I come!" Miura ran while summoning two blue glowing spheres and fired Mana Shots. The silver-haired girl tilted her body to dodge one blast and then drew her katana to swung at two more blasts before running away to avoid touching the flame. She raised her left hand sideward and released a magic circle as big as her person. Mana seemed to gather in the magic circle and formed a shape. Miura could see the arms, legs, and head. It appeared to be wearing a helmet, chest armor, shoulder guards, sleeves, thigh protection, and shin guards. It was also wearing a mask that had long sharp canine teeth that stretched outside the mouth.

"A samurai?" Miura wondered at what she saw. Indeed, the silver-haired girl created a samurai made entirely of mana as he glowed white and blazed like a flame. "So that's your Ziel puppet? That's pretty amazing."

"Enziel Magic: Warrior's Slash!" The samurai created a katana made of mana and swung the blade which released a crescent-shaped projectile at Miura. When it touched the flame, the projectile disappeared as if it was incinerated into nothing. The Ziel puppet continued to attack with the same spell but the result was still the same. Miura continued running towards her with two mana spheres firing while the silver-haired girl and the Ziel puppet retreated while dodging all the blasts. The samurai kept using Warrior's Slash while running even if the attack spell was useless against the fire mage's elemental defensive spell. The Ziel puppet suddenly disappeared and the wind mage cast Aeros Surrender to escape into the woods before Miura could even process what happened.

"Fast as always... You can't hide from me!" Miura's shout echoed through the forest. She cast a clairvoyance spell to search her opponent. However, the only things she saw were trees, bushes, and a fog of mana around her. "All mages can suppress their mana so that they won't be noticeable by the clairvoyance spell. That doesn't mean they can completely hide by doing that. The only way to truly hide from the spell is to intentionally spew out your magical energy everywhere and THEN suppress it in order to hide behind the fog."

One of her mana spheres floated upward and changed its shape into a pyramid.

"That's why one of the first spells we all need to learn in all Enziel class is an Enziel spell that is better than the basic clairvoyance." Miura grinned as the mana pyramid glowed brighter. "Enziel Magic: Trinity Wisdom!"

The pyramid emitted a huge wave and the mana sphere fired a mana shot through the bushes on her right. The silver-haired girl jumped out of the bushes to evade the blast and ran. Miura chased after her while continuously firing mana shot in hopes of hitting the wind mage once. Suddenly, a barrage of explosions gained everyone's attention as clouds of dust and soil rose above the trees, all for both the audience and participants to see and wonder what kind of a battle between the two mages with elements that were opposite to each other had become. Both Miura and the silver-haired girl stopped for a moment to watch all the debris and trees flying from the explosions. They wished to watch the fight instead of facing each other, but that kind of escalation in magic power might lead them to get unintentionally hurt by the clash of swords. And so, they continued their own battle while internally cheering for their partners to win.

"That dark mage doesn't stand a chance against Hayato!" Miura shouted while firing a mana shot at the silver-haired girl who hid behind a tree until she ducked to evade the blast that shot through it. "Even if he's some kind of freak that can punch against armor, Hayato is far superior at everything that dark mage can't do!"

"Even after watching that duel, you still think that?" The silver-haired girl argued while running and her Ziel puppet using Warrior's Slash to cut the trees near the fire mage in order to for them to fall on her and blocked her way. The fallen trees only incinerated into ashes the moment they touched Flame's Embrace and so Miura just ran through all of them. The Ziel puppet used its katana to block all incoming mana shots to protect its master and continued attacking with the same spell. "Hikigaya-san proved himself to be the most unpredictable mage who can do things we least expected. If you can't see that, then you'll regret that you can't watch what other amazing things he would do in the future."

"Tch, If I have that time to regret that, then I'd rather spend that time to have tea with friends and be with Hayato," Miura said with a glare and raised her sword up in the air. "Fire Magic: Fyrian's Ring!"

"Uh oh," The wind mage looked up and saw Miura's mana pyramid changing its shape back into a sphere and glowed yellow. A giant wall of fire immediately appeared out of nowhere and surrounded them both in a massive circle. The silver-haired girl turned around to face the fire mage since she had no escape no matter where she looked. Her only option was to fight. "She used her mana sphere instead of casting a magic circle to cast fire magic and then amplifying it too. Not exactly uncommon to Liberator mages but something like that would take intense focus and transferring the runes written in her fire magic circle into that mana sphere. It's kinda surprising she would work this hard when she barely put the effort in the academy most of the time."

"Finally, I don't want this battle to be a game of cat and mouse," Miura said in a confident tone and the mana sphere above them flew back down to her side. "Now, are you going to fight or surrender? It's best you do the latter to save the trouble for the both of us."

"Of course, I'll fight. Your Flame Embrace won't last long after all unless you want the equal feedback to kick in." The silver-haired girl crouched as if she was prepared to sprint while holding the handle of her weapon firmly. The samurai imitated her and emitted a strong aura of magical energy. "Let's see who can hold out longer."

"A battle of attrition. That might not be good either..." Miura thought.

---

"This is honestly not looking good for me," Hayama mumbled with heavy breathing as he steadied his stance, holding the sword tight while being surrounded by a cloud of soil created by Hikigaya's frequent use of the Hearten Spell's propulsion to fight him in equal speed. He heard the sounds of explosions around him which meant the young dark mage was circling around him to raise confusion. He then heard one last explosion from behind and waited for him to appear in a flash. For a few seconds, Hayama was confused that his opponent didn't appear and it was all silent. His expression was suddenly full of realization and quickly looked up to see a silhouette falling towards him and exited the cloud to reveal Hikigaya with his dirty and chipped sword raised upward. Hayama quickly jumped away to evade the attack as the young dark mage swung down his sword the moment he landed and made a huge crater on the ground. Hikigaya was quick to act as he jumped with the Hearten Spell and charged at him. Hayama blocked the attack with his sword and went on the defensive. "He was much faster than the time he fought Merek. What did he do to move this fast?"

"You look tired, Hayama Hayato." Hikigaya stopped attacking and spoke while tapping his shoulder with his sword. His voice sounded sarcastic and began mocking him. "I genuinely expected better from the best student in the magic academy. I really do."

"You expect too much... of me," Hayama said while still breathing heavily from exhaustion. "Besides... I was caught off-guard from how much stronger you've gotten in the past week... or maybe you were holding back when you fought Merek."

"A little yeah, but there's a good reason for that."

"Heeeh~? Mind telling me the reason?"

"Sorry, but telling you that means learning the secret to my ability," Hikigaya shook his head and stretched his neck. "The reason why I didn't use Hearten Spell to go faster is because I might accidentally get off stage and lose. It's not exactly hard to touch the ground with my feet and change directions, but it's not easy either."

"That's a shame... But at least I... have the honor of facing you at your best." Hayama crouched and touched the ground with a hand. A golden magic circle appeared underneath him and glowed even brighter. "Light Magic:... Radiant Blessings."

"Hm?" Hikigaya watched as Hayama's body was enveloped in light and then suddenly disappeared. The young dark mage readied himself by closing his eyes, waiting for the attack. A light flashed from behind. He opened his eyes and turned around to face Hayama who swung his sword, aiming for his left side. Hikigaya tried to block it, but Hayama disappeared with a flash of light and then reappeared from behind once again. Hikigaya quickly held his sword in a reverse grip and moved it to his back to successfully block Hayama's sword. The clash of swords continued once again with Hayama using the light spell to increase his speed while Hikigaya used Hearten spell on the ground with his feet and pour too much mana to make it explode for propelling himself. Both were equal in speed using their own spells. However, the gap in their overall strengths was clear as the more it dragged on, the more Hayama was exhausted from being more on the defensive. Shockingly to him, the blade of his sword chipped from clashing another time with the young dark mage's sword.

"Looks like your sword is at its limit even with the Hearten spell," Hikigaya taunted and Hayama cast Elemental Casing to imbued his blade in light. He swung the blade at Hikigaya on the left side only for the latter to block it with just the left arm. The reason how that was possible was because of casting on his left sleeve Hearten at the moment the light mage's blade pushed the fabric to came in contact with his skin. Hikigaya released a small grunt of pain from that while Hayama was shocked at this kind of action. Not wasting the opportunity, the young dark mage thrust kicked Hayama's stomach, making him tumbling away and landed on his feet. Hayama held his stomach to ease the pain before noticing Hikigaya swung the sword that was now covered in a dark aura and fired a black crescent projectile at him. The light mage cast a magic circle on his weapon and it transformed into a shield, blocking the incoming attack on time but not without struggling to keep his feet strong to the ground. The shield then turned into four daggers with two of them floating in the air and pointing their blades at Hikigaya. "He's really good at weapon transformation and it looks like he gives up on close combat. Not that it'll matter."

"So you're planning to fight me while keeping distance?" Hikigaya asked mockingly while slowly walking towards his opponent. "That won't work. You used a lot of that light spell to match my speed earlier. It won't be long until the equal feedback occurs."

"Good point," Hayama smirked as he prepared himself to fight with two daggers floating by his side and the other two were held in both hands. The two flying daggers moved towards Hikigaya but the young dark mage himself just shattered their blades with ease while wearing an indifferent expression. His instincts alarmed danger and so he quickly jumped away from what was coming. However, he felt intense pain in both legs as if something sharp and tiny stabbed them. When he landed, Hikigaya looked down to see shards of the dagger's blade sinking further into his flesh. Three pieces each in both legs. He tried to pull one out but it only sank deeper until it was inside his leg and moved like a parasite along with the other shards. It was excruciating, but he resisted well while standing firm and grinned at the light mage who gave him the same expression. "Enziel Magic: Offensive Parasites. Now we're even."

"Tch, Cheap move."

"This isn't just a battle between knights, it's also a battle between mages."

"Fair point. So this is a battle of attrition, huh?"

"Afraid so..."

"Then you gonna have to hold on for who knows how long because I don't fall down easily... Not anymore."

"Not really surprising..." They both just stood and had a staredown. The battle had drastically changed into an endurance match. Hayama must defeat Hikigaya before the equal feedback occurs while the latter must defeat him as quickly as possible before his legs gave out. The first move was made by Hikigaya as he ran towards the light mage without propelling himself using the Hearten Spell. Still, he was quite too fast for Hayama to dodge which then had no choice but to block the attack. Hayama used Radiant Blessing to move behind him and tried to thrust his dagger at the young dark mage's back. However, Hikigaya caught the blade with his left bare hand before it even touched his back. The dark aura around Hikigaya's blade intensified and he pierced the sword into the ground while still holding Hayama's dagger.

"Dark Magic: Black Sphere!" A purple magic circle appeared on the ground underneath their feet and a shadow rose. Hayama let go of the dagger and jumped away from the young dark mage to avoid being trapped in a black sphere with him. As the sphere formed, black tentacles came out of it and went after Hayama who began dodging them as soon as he landed. He tried cutting some of them, but they were regenerating and so the only option is to evade all of them while finding a way to break Hikigaya's defenses. There was a sudden pain on his right thigh, so he looked down to see one of his own dagger piercing its flesh as blood dripped onto the ground. There was a small hole on the black sphere and a hand visible outside. It seemed Hikigaya threw it while distracting his opponent with those tentacles. Hayama quickly removed the dagger off his thigh and used Radiant Blessing to go to the other side. He raised his left hand forward and released a golden magic circle on it. He moved his hand through the magic circle and then pulled back with what appeared to be a pole made of light and prepared to throw it like a javelin.

"Light Magic: Flash Javelin!" The light mage threw the pole and it traveled towards the black sphere in the blink of an eye. The sphere shattered instantly which shocked Hikigaya.

"I couldn't even sense that attack coming! And it's not like the spell is strong enough to break my sphere, no. His element just counters mine. Simple as that," Hikigaya thought in annoyance to Hayama's attack. He noticed him pulled out another Flash Javelin from the golden magic circle and so the young dark mage propelled himself forward with the explosion from Hearten to stop him. Hayama used Radiant Blessing to evade his charge and merged the two daggers into a sword. "Yup, it takes time for him to pull out his spell. I guess that's another reason why he went for my legs with an Enziel Spell... Shit, the pain grew when I used Hearten to go faster. I need to use them for the right moment."

"Dark Magic: Nocturnal Abode!" Hikigaya raised a hand up in the air to release a purple magic circle as darkness began to envelop everything. All the light mage could see was darkness stretching endlessly without even a single object in sight. He quickly raised his hand up in the air to release a golden magic circle as it shined a light that was too bright for Hikigaya.

"Light Magic: Blinding Domain!" The huge black dome created by Hikigaya's spell was crumbled and was replaced by a massive dome made of light. Everything was too bright for the young dark mage that even closing his eyes couldn't protect them from this blinding light.

"What in the-" Before he could finish his sentence, his instincts alerted him of an approaching attack. Instead of dodging it by tilting his body, he jumped far away from it to avoid getting caught by those same shards from the daggers. His instincts warned of that same attack following him fast and his response was putting his hand on the ground with a giant purple magic circle underneath. A black substance spread underneath him and shaped into a figure of a gogmagog's face. It opened its mouth, revealing the shadowy shape of sharp teeth and a red light glowing inside. The air was being absorbed along with the light in the dome and Hayama's last dagger into the mouth as if it was a vortex. "Dark Magic: Essense Eater!"

"What is this?!" Hayama asked in shock at the young dark mage's spell while watching the dome of light being eaten by the shadow monster. The light finally faded but Hikigaya's vision was still blurry from the overwhelming brightness but he didn't need that to fight Hayama. He squatted and touched the ground with both hands to find him, only to sense that the light mage was far away in a distance. Based on Hayama's current position and movement, he seemed to be preparing for another...

"Shit!" Hikigaya jumped away in an attempt to dodge but a projectile of light grazed his far right. Blood spilled from the injury and pain spread through the right side of his body. He gritted his teeth to resist the urge to scream while covering the injury with one hand to stop the bleeding. "It's too fast... and I expect he's gonna do another one of that. I can't get over there in time before he throws that spell. I need to dodge it, then use that short time or this is my defeat."

"He almost managed to dodge that? And I think he's staring in my direction. He's more amazing the longer I fight him." Hayama couldn't help but compliment his abilities while preparing for another Flash Javelin. "I can do three more light magic spells before the equal feedback. I need to make this last shot count. If he managed to evade that and closed the distance, then I have to fight him with Radiant Blessing and go back to that endurance match."

"I need to time this right..." Hikigaya mumbled as he squatted and touched the ground once again to anticipate the attack. He sensed that Hayama already prepared another one of that light magic spell and was about to throw it. "Sense it, Hachiman... From his footing to every small movement of his muscles... His expression, the speed of his arm to the wind blowing him."

"What's he doing? Is he preparing to dodge?" Hayama analyzed his opponent's current action. "If my judgment is right, his body can't handle the damage I did on the previous shot. The wounds on his legs appeared to stop bleeding but I can still sense the shards moving inside. I can hit him..."

Silence ensued with both of them staring at each other from distances away. This moment would turn the table of this fight. One needed to succeed. Each passing second the pain in both Hikigaya's legs and right side of his body increased. It was almost torture for him to endure it while maintaining focus. Hayama was the same but in a different situation. Physical exhaustion began to hinder his body and the continuous use of light magic spells caused his vision to become slightly blurry. He even used a huge amount of his mana. The audience watched the two mages' approaching the climax of their battle. This could not only decide the victor of this match but also decide which element would triumph with the status quo on the line. Would light illuminate the darkness? Or would darkness consume the light? For Hikigaya, he cared none of that. He already knew that these people shared concerns for this battle as if this would decide the fate of the world. This was just a duel for interest's sake, nothing more. He shook away his thoughts when he sensed Hayama moving.

"Here it comes!" Hikigaya cast Hearten with his feet to the ground, ready to evade and charge at his opponent quickly. The ground underneath him glowed as sweat dripped down his cheek. His focus on Hayama was so much that everything else around him disappeared as if all were unimportant except for his enemy. The sound of leaves from the trees being moved by the wind was the only thing he heard. He couldn't even hear his own breathing and heartbeat. The pain all over his injuries disappeared but he could still feel his body reaching its limit. He saw it. Hayama's arm swinging forward, his teeth gritted together and his left foot slid forward.

And then...

The sound of the light mage's spear echoed through the forest.

---

Meanwhile

The battle between two ladies continued with both being incredibly exhausted. The silver-haired girl breathed heavily with her katana held in both hands. Her Ziel puppet stood right beside her imitating her stance. Miura was also panting as the Flame Embrace shrunk until her appearance became visible. There were burnt red scars on her left cheek and right arm as the sleeves were burning. The equal feedback proved to be beyond her strength for this current situation and so she finally removed the spell despite the risk. Two mana shapes were floating by her side with one turning into a cube while the other remained a sphere.

"The fight is going too long. I need to end this or I won't have enough strength for the final match," Miura thought as she analyzed her opponent's current condition. The silver-haired girl was also injured from their battle: cuts and grazes on her limbs; The leather vest was burnt on the sides, showing the reddening of the skin in her hips; And her cheeks had bruises. "At least I dealt enough damage to probably be unable for him to use that wind spell."

"Looks like we're almost at our limit," The silver-haired girl said while sheathing back her katana and posed a stance. The Ziel puppet imitated her actions and emitted an intense amount of magical energy. She closed her eyes and took deep breaths, obviously preparing to attack. Miura took a step back and controlled the cube to fly in front of her in preparation for a defensive spell. The silver-haired girl opened her eyes to reveal her blue pupils glowing and took one last inhale to hold her breath in. A drop of sweat dripped down on both the ladies' cheeks, waiting for the moment that would end the battle once and for all.

"With this one swing, a gust of wind will bluster all my enemies. Even when the grasslands are against me-"

"Not gonna happen!" Miura shouted as her sphere fired a barrage of mana shots and the silver-haired girl jumped away while still holding the sheathed katana with her samurai imitated her actions. As the massive ring of fire that surrounded and trapped them were slowly shrinking, the silver-haired girl continued her chant while evading the fire mage's attacks that were now fired with two mana spheres. On the back of her mind, Miura felt something big was about to happen and that feeling grew stronger the more the silver-haired girl chanted. "He's doing the same thing as I did when I cast Fyrian's Ring! He transferred the elemental runes into that Ziel Puppet."

"-the wind from my blade will cut them clean. This one swing... will even slay the most gigantic and venomous of serpents. This name will echo even in the lightest breeze once I drew this sword..." She slowly drew the katana and immense pressure was felt by the remaining participants watching in a distance, and the most pressure by the fire mage. Miura crouched on all fours as she struggled to even raise her head. The pain was overwhelming to the point that resistance of any form was futile. Miura's laid prone to the ground and then managed to stand back up on all fours until she saw a bright light from the Ziel puppet.

.

.

.

"Wind Magic: Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi!" With one swift movement of her arm, the silver-haired girl fully drew and swung the sword. The light flashed once from the Ziel puppet as it imitated her action in sync. An invisible force destroyed the mana spheres and blew the ring of fire out. Nearby trees were cut in half smoothly and the remaining participants saw this from afar. Suddenly those participants lost consciousness after a breeze past them. The fire mage's pupils were dilated and then fell down to the ground. The silver-haired girl knelt down in exhaustion as the Ziel puppet bowed to her and faded into nothingness. She chuckled between heavy breaths and fell down in a sitting position while staring at the fake sky. Her body shook from an intensifying pain surging through. It was as if the blood within her would burst out and her flesh would fall apart. She screamed but forced herself to grin at this predicament. "Wow... hah... That took a lot more in me... than I thought... But it's worth it..."

---

Thirty seconds ago

A cloud of soil covered the area full of trees that were still standing and some fell. Two silhouettes were present behind the cloud. One was standing and looking down at the other who was lying on the ground with his back. The one standing pointed a sword at the fallen one and as the dust cleared, all eyes were filled with bewilderment while the other three people were filled with relief and joy. The one who was standing was Hikigaya as he held his usual dirty and chipped sword and pointed it at Hayama who was on the ground. This scene showed the clear victor of the battle. One that disappointed and anger some, and at the same time, intrigued others. Hikigaya Hachiman won the battle with one final cost: His left ear.

He predicted the timing of Hayama's throw and then jumped forward with the explosion of Hearten Spell propelling him. However, Hayama adjusted his throw at the last second and barely managed to at least give him a new injury. Hikigaya's left ear rang which was annoying, but that didn't matter because he dealt the deciding blow to the light mage.

"So it's my win," Hikigaya declared confidently while Hayama grunted and clutched his abdomen. The young dark mage punched him so hard, he might've broken a few of his ribs. With that, Hayama was unable to fight which meant that it was Hikigaya's victory. Although there were still other pairs they needed to deal with, the young dark mage wasn't really worried since the rest were weak. All he needed to do was find the silver-haired girl to see if she required assistance in handling Miura. A strong gust of wind suddenly blew in front of him and his instinct screamed danger and so he raised his left hand forward to cast a basic barrier spell. He felt a strong magical energy pushing the barrier, stronger than the gust of wind. He waited until the wind disappeared along with the magical energy. "Could this be her doing?... Oi."

He looked down to see Hayama not moving at all with pupils dilated. Hikigaya crouched to check if he was still alive by putting his right, undamaged ear on his chest. A feeling of relief was visible in his expression when he heard the light mage's heartbeat.

"He's just unconscious. Did his exhaustion finally got the better of him or was it that huge magic earlier? I need to check on her," Hikigaya concluded in his mind and stood up. The pain in his legs returned with a sting which made him knelt on the ground for a moment. Despite closing the wounds with Essence Eater, the shards were still inside the legs. Just when that issue was the only one he needed to be concerned about, all the other injuries from the Flash Javelins came back as well. Hikigaya went on all fours until he stood up while resisting all of the excruciating torture within his body. He felt the shards disappearing in his legs. While it was great, this would cause the internal bleeding to become worse. He walked into the woods in search of his partner and after a few minutes of walking, he found the battlefield between the two ladies. Fallen and burnt trees, craters on the ground, and smoke almost covered the area. "Wow, better hurry. She may be in trouble."

He walked further deep in the aftermath of the battle and then saw something strange. There were fallen trees everywhere but that wasn't what bothered him. What bothered was that cut on their trunks were very smooth. It was as if they were all cut down by the strongest blade. The young dark mage continued his way and finally saw both Miura and the silver-haired girl lying on the ground in the center of a huge charred circle. He quickly ran to see both were unconscious but in different reasons. Miura was obviously defeated by whatever the silver-haired girl did since her eyes were wide open with pupils dilated. Meanwhile, the silver-haired girl looked like she was too exhausted and injured to remain awake.

"Whatever you did, that was amazingly strong." Hikigaya praised the unconscious wind mage while carrying her with his arms supporting her back and legs. The sound of the gong being struck echoed which signaled the end of the match. He saw a white tile in the middle of the woods and stood on top of it to lift them up to the floating platform for winners. He noticed the silver-haired girl waking up when she opened her eyes and her body flinched. "You okay?"

"Yeah... Did we win?" She asked while looking around to see they were flying which made her eyes widened.

"Yeah, the next match is gonna start soon so we need all the rest we can get before the finals." Hikigaya explained while noticing three people standing on top of the victor's platform. The first winning pair of the first match, Tobe and Ebina, watched them approach the platform. Tobe gave the young dark mage a disapproving look while Ebina just ignored them and focused her attention on Hayama and Miura who were being treated by a doctor. The third person was what seemed to be a teacher for Hikigaya since the teacher wore a black robe with gold trimming and a golden crest printed behind it. The teacher approached them with two very small bottles of red liquid. The bottles were so small, it could be carried with two fingers.

"Here are your healing potions." The teacher spoke with professionalism and seriousness in his voice.

"Really? That small?" The young dark mage complained while looking at the bottles with a deadpanned expression.

"The purpose of this activity is to let you students experience what a battle looks like," The teacher explained. "Here, this will teach you how chaotic and unpredictable a battle between mages would be and how are you going to overcome situations such as being surrounded by enemies, encountering an enemy stronger than you, or thinking strategies to complete an objective. That was supposed to be the case but you students just turned the match into a 2-on-2 battle without declaration nor warning..."

"It's not my idea. I just wanna fight Hayama Hayato. Besides, you should give them some credit because that was a sound yet only logical strategy against me. Waiting for me to tire myself out after a difficult battle and then use that chance to strike me down deserves some praise, right?"

"I suppose so, even though it's not their genuine intention... Anyways, in this current situation, you must learn how to adjust your strategies and fighting style when you are at your exhausted and injured state. You must find a way to win the final match with what little resource and healing items you have while in the worst conditions."

"I see..." Hikigaya looked back at the first winning pair and noticed the injuries and small potions they drank. Tobe had a bandage wrapped around his forehead while Ebina also wrapped her left arm and right leg with it. Hikigaya gently laid the silver-haired girl on the floor and took one potion to drink it. After finishing with the bottle and feeling its effects, he helped her drank the healing potion by supporting her head with his hand and putting the bottle in her mouth, and tilting it slowly. "How are you feeling?"

"Feeling better... But I still can't move a finger," The silver-haired girl answered while forcing a chuckle. "Sorry, I don't think I can go on to the final..."

"As disappointing as that sounds, I'm okay with that," Hikigaya agreed with her to forfeit. He then helped her in wrapping the bandages around her red burns and other injuries. "You need to rest. It seems your fight with Ms. Salamander took a toll on you."

"Did you just call Miura-san, 'Ms. Salamander?"

"Isn't she? I mean, she's a fire mage, and I swear I could see her spitting out flames every time she yelled angrily and-"

"Pfft, hahahaha." The silver-haired girl couldn't help but laugh at his mockery towards Miura. However, that laugh lasted short as it was replaced with grunts.

"Take it easy on the laughter."

"Sorry, haha... But despite all that, Miura-san is really nice."

"Her? Probably. It's easier to imagine her being nice than that Ice Queen."

"You and Yukinoshita-san get along well, huh?"

"Me? Getting along with her? Please, I'm just being forced to work as her slave."

"Really? But you two do talk a lot like friends."

"How in the god of wisdom's name think we are talking like friends? We only argue a lot."

"I think arguing with each other is part of being friends. Besides, it's almost been a month since you two first interacted. With the way you two argue, you should've left her and never talk to her again, but you didn't and still continued to be friends with her."

"I told you, I'm a slave to her and I can't escape."

" Yes, yes. Whatever you say," The silver-haired girl said while rolling her eyes with a smile.

"By the way..."

"Yeah?"

"What did you do back there?"

"I just infused my elemental magic into my Ziel puppet and then just knocked everyone out."

"Combining two different kinds of magic? That sounds awfully advanced."

"That's because it is. Mostly liberators and exhibitors can learn that ability."

"It wouldn't hurt if I try at least once, right? Tell me how it works.

"Well, you need to align your understanding and awareness with the self to your view on the world."

"What does that mean?"

"Uhhh... Like... Umm... To create a spell that combines both elemental and Enziel, what you know about yourself needs to connect with what you think about the world around you. The former represents Enziel magic while the latter represents elemental magic. As of-"

The sound of the gong being struck reached everyone's ears, interrupted the conversation between her and Hikigaya. The third match had begun and he noticed a certain female student participating with her female partner.

"Yukinoshita? This should be good." He said while observing the match closely with intense focus, learning what would he be anticipating in the final match. Yukinoshita created a mana pyramid and used the Trinity Wisdom spell in search of something. She and her partner walked into the woods. He noticed the direction they were going led to a nearby lake. "They're going to a lake so Yukinoshita can use water magic."

"It's not really a bad plan. Her leather flask won't be enough to fend herself against two mages." The silver-haired girl said but she couldn't watch since she was unable to move.

In order to cast elemental magic, there must be a source.

For fire magic, it either comes from the heat of the sun or the heat inside their bodies.

For lightning magic, the source comes from the energy of the clouds being attracted to the mage's magical energy.

Earth magic can use the ground or any forms of earth

Wind magic uses the air in the atmosphere and the air inside one's body

Unlike other elements, water is an element that is difficult to find a source or even bring a source to cast a full-power spell because there was never a guarantee that they would fight in any bodies of water. In battle, water mages always carry things such as barrels or leather flasks full of water as a source for casting their elemental spells. Because there is no guarantee they'll be able to fight in a river or any bodies of water, they have to carry one. That is one of the reasons why water mages are being ridiculed as "weaklings" and being purposely mistaken as "tavern keepers" or "mage merchants".

And of course, despite being the best student among the second-year students, there were still many who continued to mock Yukinoshita Yukino for being a water mage. Her family was also in the same situation but on a smaller level because of their continuous records of accomplishments. Hikigaya was aware of her circumstances which was why he was willing to work with her after a month of activities in the True Science Institution. It was her determination to push her beliefs to advance civilization and endurance to any failures and mockery that changed his opinions of her: From an arrogant noble to a strong and confident mage. Of course, he didn't want to admit that to anyone, especially to the Ice Queen.

"Hmm?" Speaking of which, he watched her changed the mana pyramid into a cube and summoned another mana cube. They flew under the lake and the water glowed blue. The mana cubes rose from the lake a few feet away from each other but he witnessed something bizarre. Between the mana cubes, a massive sphere of water rose along with it. The audience also noticed that and they shouted praises and compliments to Yukinoshita. Hikigaya couldn't help but be impressed and also compliment her.

"Wow, not bad." He mumbled with a smirk.

"What? What happened?" The silver-haired girl asked in an excited tone while desperately trying to move.

"Yukinoshita used an Enziel Spell to lift a giant mass of water." He explained. "And now she and her partner are on the move with it."

"Wow."

"Yeah..." Hikigaya heard something from behind and turned around to see the teacher casting a spell and a fog appeared above her with the image of the participants fighting in the forest below. The silver-haired girl watched with a cheerful expression and looked back at the teacher.

"Thank you,"

"Your welcome, enjoy the match while resting." The teacher said with kindness. Hikigaya and the other winning pair continued watching the match, but more specifically Yukinoshita and her partner. The Ice Queen's partner raised her hand up in the air and cast a magic circle to emit a beacon of light into the sky, all for the participants to see.

"What are they doing? They're gonna get surrounded!" Tobe asked loudly with an expression of bewilderment.

"That's what they wanted," Hikigaya intervened. "They're trying to lure their enemies."

"A trap, huh?" Ebina suggested.

"Nope. Judging by that woman's expression, a trap is not their strategy." He denied her suggestion while watching the pair in the forest closely. "It's more like they're confident enough to take them all down than having a cunning plan."

"Pfft, that's ridiculous," Tobe said while laughing. "I know Yukinoshita-san is amazing and all, but they can't take on like... uh..."

"74 mages."

"... 74 mages? By the way, I already counted that before you." Tobe folded his arms together in irritation.

"Well, we're about to find out." Hikigaya and the others turned back to watch. As expected, many of the participants were running towards where the beacon of light came from. Yukinoshita created a mana pyramid and it floated above their heads and entered inside the huge sphere of water. She raised both hands up and concentrated with eyes closed. A blue light glowed through the center of the floating water and a blue wave was emitted from the pyramid. Her eyes opened to reveal glowing blue pupils and the floating water shook.

"Water Magic: Nerodia's Hunt!" Yukinoshita shouted and floating streams of water came out of the sphere. Those floating streams shaped into snakes made of water and flew quickly towards the enemies that were close in their area. Hikigaya noticed many of the participants were very close to their proximity. Some decided to hide and wait for something to happen while others continued to sneak forward in an attempt for a surprise attack. Whatever plans they had, those plans were immediately crushed by the Ice Queen's spell. The water snakes just came at them like projectiles and knocked them out unconscious. Because of the speed, the water snakes traveled along with the masterful control of maintaining their liquid bodies by Yukinoshita, they could destroy trees and possibly tear people in half by just charging through them. Fortunately, Yukinoshita's control of the spell prevented that terrible fate to happen. There were still some participants trying to retreat as far away as possible but she reacted quickly. She created more water snakes from the floating sphere and they all traveled at terrifying speed towards the remaining opponents. One student tried to block it with a Ziel puppet that looks like a bird. However, the water snake changed directions and attacked him from behind. The others attempted to dodge or hide, but the water snakes kept following them until their targets were successfully hit. The audience watched what could be a total massacre. Many expected Yukinoshita's victory but not like this. Even the young dark mage was shocked at how powerful she was.

"I never thought she could be this strong..." He thought. "She might be able to take more than one gogmagog if she had that much water with her. I don't think I can beat her now. No, I can. With this spell I finally created, she and all the strongest mages won't beat me."

"I feel bad for those guys down there," Ebina spoke with a drop of sweat om her cheek. "They're all just dust to Yukinoshita's power."

"Nah, we can take her," Tobe said with confidence but Hikigaya noticed from his tone that it was a little forced. "We just have to lure her away from any water we might come across and then she's just an easy lady to beat."

"Good plan, but even with that extent, you can't defeat her," Hikigaya refuted.

"Pfft, as if you would know. What, have you fought her before?"

"Yes, I do know because I understand that damn Ice Queen. It's not just her magic that made her the best student, it's her intelligence. The only strategy that could... well, not exactly defeat but at least force her to be on equal footing with you is to get rid of that first," The young dark mage pointed at the mana pyramid being shown at the cloud the teacher cast. "You can't do anything when you're gonna get spotted by that spell so that's your first step."

"What's the second step?" Ebina asked out of curiosity while giving him a scrutinizing gaze.

"Find that out on your own using what you have. One thing though, is that finishing them off fast is the best... or rather only good option."

"A sound strategy," The teacher praised him. "Retreat would suffice more, but in the end, you all have to face that pair."

"Ah, it's over." The silver-haired girl said as she saw four remaining participants dropping their weapons to the ground in front of Yukinoshita and her partner. The gong was struck to signal the end of the third match and indirectly announced the victors. Shouts of admiration just burst from the audience from the Ice Queen's performance. Hikigaya grinned at the result, obviously excited to face her soon. The winning pair stood on top of a tile and it flew towards the platform the young dark mage and the others rested. When the tile landed, Yukinoshita scanned the people here until her eyes reached Hikigaya. She sent a smirk at him which didn't really do much as he maintained his grin.

"Ara, I see you're recovering well, Hikigaya-kun." Yukinoshita said while approaching the young dark mage and folding her arms together.

"Yeah. Hayama's tough but I won in the end." He said with confidence which made Tobe glared at him.

"Yes, I know. I watched as you were struggling and get pierced by his attacks. It was very satisfying to watch."

"Uhuh, just make sure to savor that satisfying smirk of yours before I'll punch your face."

"Goodness, your barbaric nature never ceases to amaze me. Keep that up and I will not see you as a proper human."

"Pfft, proper? Let me tell you something about proper-" While the two science members argued with each other, the people in the platform just watched at their display of rivalry.

"Since when did those two get along?" Ebina asked with bewilderment in her expression. Others also shared the same as well except for the silver-haired girl.

"I did see them talking to each other often since last week," The silver-haired girl answered while watching the cloud. "But they sound so familiar with each other so it's probably longer than a week ago... "

"I must admit, it was really surprising that you and Totsuka-san became partners." Yukinoshita said while holding her chin.

"Yeah, I can't blame you. Even I'm surprised Totsuka wanted to partner with me." Hikigaya said while nodding his head.

"But I saw you approaching him first. What made you decide that he would be a good partner?"

"Well, it's not exactly her skills nor the activity itself that-... Wait, Him? He?"

"Did I say something wrong?" Yukinoshita asked with genuine confusion on her face as she raised an eyebrow thinking of what was wrong. She then realized what he just asked and chuckled. "Did you think all this time that Totsuka-san is a girl?"

"... She... He isn't?"

"It's pretty common to everyone here. They would often mistake him as a girl even though they knew his true gender already. Believe me, I was shocked as you are when I discovered this. Her... His appearance and even his voice were quite feminine." Both science members turned to look at the silver-haired gir-... boy named Totsuka who was watching the cloud above him that showed the next pairs to participate.

Ah! It's Yuigahama-san and Seerwind-kun!" His words caught their attention.

"And she's... not looking good," Hikigaya said as he along with the others watched the cloud to see the image of Yuigahama with her partner, Oliver at her side descending to the forest with a floating tile. Yuigahama didn't look well. Her eyes just stared down with dilated pupils and she seemed to be having erratic breathing. When the tile landed, her state got worse. She stood still with shaky legs and her eyes were full of tears. Oliver held her hand and wrapped his other arm around her shoulders in an attempt to comfort her. Hikigaya ticked his tongue at the sight. "Of course she wouldn't be alright after just one day of absence."

"She needs to quit the activity," Yukinoshita said in agreement to his statement. "Yuigahama-san clearly needs more rest."

---

Unpleasant memories flashed in the orange-haired girl's mind. Everything was all in the same place: The forest.

From images of the hooded monster to all the damages and overwhelming strength she displayed, those memories became too much for her mind. Yuigahama's legs couldn't maintain standing on foot and so she dropped into her kneed and clutched her head with both hands. The hatred that the monster showed towards her was also overwhelming. Yuigahama didn't know why she was targeted or why someone... something like that hooded monster wanted to kill her. And that was what made it more terrifying.

The unknown.

The lack of understanding.

Not knowing something, especially something as terrifying as that incident two days ago, would lead to paranoia from overthinking. No matter how hard she tried, the fear nor the paranoid thoughts wouldn't at least subside. The traumatized girl raised her head to look in front of the woods. Her sight was in a poor state as she had double vision and went blurry every second. She could've sworn she heard a voice talking to her but she ignored it while looking further up into the fake sky. She stared specifically at the platform where the victors rest. She couldn't see him from that high up but she knew he was watching. Yuigahama could just tell that Hikigaya was worried about her.

Pathetic.

That wasn't what she wanted to be looked upon.

While it did give a hint of joy for him to care for her, the overwhelming emotion in her mind was full of frustration.

She had spent a month training by following the things she did with Hikigaya and Yukinoshita. And with her new Ziel puppet, various possibilities appeared for her. And yet, here she was, on her knees and paralyzed like a statue that would symbolize weakness.

Pathetic... truly pathetic...

Which was why...

"Sitting still won't do anything," Yuigahama thought with a healed resolve. Her vision began recovering until everything was clear. The shaking in her legs stopped and she wiped the tears in her eyes. Oliver's voice finally reached her ears He was comforting her for the last thirty seconds.

"-is fine for you to forfeit. Rest is important." Her fiancee said with a worried expression. "Do not push yourself too far."

"No," Yuigahama slowly stood up but with wobbly movement. She gently held his hands and moved his arm off her shoulders. Her expression of paranoia was replaced with the usual warm smile that Oliver was used to seeing. Yet, he felt that there was something different about that smile. She raised a hand sideward and a magic circle appeared. She took one deep breath before chanting.

"As you stand and appear before me, my loyal friend, just your presence will protect my beloved. Through the farthest lands, the highest peak, and even the deepest pits, you will stand beside me at the moment of my call." She suddenly glowed golden and the light covering her gathered in front of her, forming a golden orb until it shook and slowly turned into a huge dog with a height that would reach Yuigahama's chest, rounded ears that were high on its head and carried so the front edge framed its face. Its mouth was big enough to bite an entire human arm off with those sharp teeth. The glowing gold fur blazed as it was made entirely of mana, the long tail had a glowing orb floating at the tip and the dog's eyes had blue flames. Yuigahama formed a bright smile when she was her trusting companion.

"Sablé!"

"At your command," Sablè spoke while bowing his head down.

"Are you sure?" Oliver asked with worry still in his expression.

"Yeah, let's kick their ass!" She answered loudly while raising her fist up in the air. Her Ziel puppet howled in response to her cheery emotion. Oliver sighed and smiled at her.

"Alright then. But please mind your language. It is very unladylike." He said as he unsheathed his sword preparing for battle while Yuigahama laughed nervously and scratched the back of her head.

And with that, the fourth match had begun.

---

TRIVIA:

1) Alright, I'm already guessing that the first thing you thought about Totsuka's Ziel puppet is a Jojo reference. Well, you're half-right. Her Ziel puppet is more of a reference to Devil May Cry with Vergil's ability to summon a doppelganger.

2) The Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi spell and its chant is a reference to a legendary Japanese sword of the same name.

3) The name "Nerodia" from Yukinoshita's water magic spell, comes from the scientific name of water snakes.

So yeah, this is Totsuka Saika's introduction to the AU. Do you all like it? Or maybe I should've done differently?

I think I'm going to focus more on this fanfic than the other one I'm still working on. I have big plans for this one and my imagination is going wild! This story might be going to be a lot longer than I thought I'd imagine. I hope you're all with me on this journey because this will be a bumpy and fun ride!.

As always, thank you for reading this fanfic. Please post your honest opinions of this on the reviews as they will help me make this story better.