The rules of dodgeball in this world were simple. Don’t let the ball of lava hit you or your opponent wins. Also, don’t pop it, and definitely don’t let it pop and splash its contents onto you. The arena would stop any permanent injuries, but it wouldn’t make the faculty happier. Tago had us practice a couple of rounds after explaining what to do.

The ball would rest in the middle of the arena, and each party would try to manipulate it towards themselves. Then the winner could throw the ball first. That was in the arena, this was different.

Amanda immediately grabbed the nearby ball with her hand and threw it at me.

A drop of sweat rolled down my forehead as I focused on the lava in front of me. The fire element fought against me. Amanda had gained control over it the moment she’d held the regent.

When I practised my earth manipulation it was against Indra. I had no experience fighting against other people, let alone a person manipulating an entirely different element.

When I was competing against Indra, I would try to take over his control of the earth element.

The lava was an element, but it hadn't evolved from earth like metal had. It was composed of both earth, and fire. The regent itself eased the mana connection for students and separated both elements from each other.

Tago had warned us not to try and manipulate it if the lava broke free.

“If you’re feeling tired you should drop the ball.” I spoke. “I can do this all day.”

“Your mind games will get you nowhere.” Amanda’s voice was strained. “Your sweaty forehead is shining more than the lava.”

That one hurt.

There was a shift inside the ball, and I felt Amanda moving the fire towards the top. This was something that dodgeball on Earth didn’t have. We could move the mana to try and shift the weight of the ball.

Her flames pressed against the roof of the regent, and it floated towards me.

The first person to throw the ball had the advantage, because the force of the throw would work against the person defending. They would need to spend a moment stopping the ball, at which point, the opponent would gain full control of their element.

It was a delicate game of cat and mouse, my earth moved to surround Amanda’s fire at the top of the ball, and the flames wriggled out of my grasp.

I wasn’t going to let it go that easily.

I gestured with my hands and the earth gave up on surrounding the fire, and instead focused on spinning the ball. I thought I could distract Amanda long enough to grab control.

It didn’t work.

Instead of controlling the regent’s spin, it flew out of my path and bounced onto the floor beside me. Amanda looked at me in surprise.

“That didn’t go as planned.” I admitted.

If I couldn’t even keep the ball in the air, then I would never get it to bounce off Amanda. I would need to use my manipulation skills more precisely, and in smarter ways.

Fighting for control of the lava was like trying to claim territory. The moment someone flanked you it was all over.

All I had done was sweep the board and made us both lose.

“How did we do?” I asked.

“As beginners I would say you are average.” Tago nodded. “The intricacies of dodgeball are many and discovering each tactic on your own will improve your manipulation skills immensely.”

“There’s more activities for our other skills, right?” I spoke.

I was happy to train earth manipulation, but I wanted to focus on improving all of my skills. Amanda was nodding her head as well.

“The faculty has developed training exercises to suit all needs.” Tago turned towards the other equipment in the room. “However, consent to share your skills with each other is needed.”

Our elemental manipulation skills were common knowledge, but any other skill we possessed wouldn’t be revealed.

“I’m fine with it.” I nodded.

Every skill I had told the faculty about I was okay with Amanda knowing. I turned to look at her and saw her nodding.

Tago gestured with his hands and two stone slates appeared in the air. He handed me a stone and I saw it had the words ‘earth creation’ written inside.

“School policy dictates this method be used to double check. Sometimes students forget their own skills and reveal something they don’t want to.”

“This is fine.” I spoke.

Amanda was staring at her slate wearily. She was looking for a lot more reluctant now, but then she nodded.

“Good.” Tago held a new regent. “Then this will be our next activity.”

It was a racket but shaped strangely. Unlike a tennis racket, it was a long thin bar with a single disk at the top that spread outwards. It looked like a saw blade had been attached to a pipe.

“Have either of you ever used shielding magic before?” Tago asked.

I looked at my shoulder where Gold usually resided. I had activated shielding regents before, but the puffer was the expert.

“I haven’t.” Amanda shuffled nervously.

I could see her fingers clenching the slate tightly.

“The process is simple. A single burst of mana will activate the shield, and there are several types of shields that may be used. They are attached to the settings and are easily controllable as long as you are activating the regent. Your main focus should be on levelling your proficiency in your skills.”

Once the regent was activated, several symbols glowed in succession. Each one represented a different method of shielding.

There was a simple rectangle shield, a circular shield, a shield that covered the entire body in an orb, and a shield that randomly generated holes in its defences.

Tago showed us each of the shields and shook his head when I asked about the last one.

“You will not be using that mode.” His tone was firm. “It requires an extremely high level of proficiency in yours and your opponent's skill.”

“Um.” Amanda’s voice drifted towards us.

Tago and I turned towards her, and I saw her hair flaring up. She tucked the loose strands behind her ears and gazed up at Tago.

“Does this activity always require me to fly?”

Tago’s stone body was difficult to read, and we stood there as he processed her question.

Then he nodded.

“The inscriptions we have in our arena will prevent you from being harmed and prevent you from losing most of your balance while in the air. Although you can still move yourself fluidly and the inscriptions will not interfere. This setting can be turned off on request, but it is the default.” Tago tried to pass her the shield regent. “Is this okay with you? If not, we shall pick another activity to work on.”

I saw Amanda hesitate.

“We decided that flying during spars is off-limits.” I clarified.

“I see.” Tago pulled the regent back. “Then I shall put together the next activity.”

A hand wrapped around the regent and stopped him.

“What do we have to do in this one.” Amanda asked. “I can always make a decision after hearing it out.”

Tago let her take the shield and she cradled it in her hands.

“The activity is simple.” Tago turned to me. “Andross, you must focus on aiming your ability at Amanda. If she is hit within five minutes, then the round goes to you. Each match will last a maximum of three rounds.”

I listened intently and saw Amanda was as well. Tago hadn’t handed me a shielding regent.

“Amanda. Your task is simple. You must dodge Andross’ attempts. The shield is not there to protect you. It is there to provide a bigger target.” Tago tapped the regent in Amanda’s hand.

Her body was covered in a solid orange glow that expanded into the surroundings. It increased until it was over two meters wide and high, and I saw it phase through the floor.

Then Tago adjusted the buttons again and the shield quickly retracted until it was a second skin over Amanda’s body.

“The size is adjustable. As you become better at dodging and Andross improves his aim you will slowly decrease the size of the target area.”

The purpose of the game was becoming clearer to me now. I wasn’t practising my earth manipulation here, instead, my earth creation would be used to target Amanda.

Could I do that?

Most of my earth creation practice had focused on emptying it into the inventory so that I didn’t crowd the places I was in.

I had never tried aiming it on purpose. The closest I had gotten was when I’d tried to crush Eli by creating stones inside his house.

It was similar to the practice method I used in my mental construct. Except the stone spears I created flew into the air with my will, not by using the earth creation ability.

“What’s the name of this exercise?” I asked.

“We call it tag.” Tago replied. “The focus, after all, is on tagging your opponent.”

I chuckled and the two gave me a strange look.

“Did I miss a joke?” Amanda still glowed with the light of the shield.

“I just thought it was a funny name for the game.” I smiled. “I like the concept. I’m happy to give it a try if you are.”

Amanda nodded and the next fifteen minutes were spent testing the shield against my attacks. Amanda quickly grew used to using the shield and it was made easier by the fact that my creation ability didn’t have any force behind it.

I could expand my creations towards her, and into the air, but without using earth manipulation the stones tickled the shield.

I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to be starting from the ground, or if I was allowed to create stones in mid-air.

I don’t think Amanda noticed my earth creation ability. She had seen me bring out dirt from thin air for Gold to sit on, and my silver bar as well.

She assumed I was taking it out of my inventory.

Despite our practice intentions, Amanda stayed on the ground.

“I need Agni’s help to fly.” She retracted the shield. “But I have the hang of it now.”

“Agreed.” Tago didn’t take the regent back. “However, we must still adhere to the standards set by the academy.”

We were required to spend the rest of our lunch break learning the intricacies of using the shielding regent. I got a turn as well and saw that there was more than just the earth symbol layered into the regent.

Shield, defence, protection, and more. The symbols were complicated and specific to the functions of the region. The protection symbol was multi-layered, and I knew it was a variant of the original. It had more lines than the one I was familiar with.

This regent was more intricately made than the lava containment ball. By the end of the lesson Amanda and I could expand and retract it at will, and switch through the different types of shields.

I was looking forward to testing this out tonight. Amanda would use it, but examining new regents was always exciting.

“I have focused on preparing the two skills that will benefit you the most.” Tago was finishing his lesson. “If you wish to practice a specific skill, or if your systems class professor determines a new skill pathway for you, please let me know and I will aid you in practising these new priorities.”

“Please remember to be at the booked room half an hour after school ends. We will be cleaning and preparing your equipment before then.”

He took back the regent from us and we soon found ourselves walking through the corridor. I had a smile on my face and a bounce in my step.

“I guess I found your sweet spot.” Amanda’s voice floated towards me. “You’re a levelling fiend.”

“Not true.” I denied it. “I’m happy because… Well, it’s hard to explain. I really liked the games- I mean - the exercises.”

The idea that we would be playing tag and dodgeball using magical abilities brought a smile to my face that I couldn’t take down.

I was also excited about the possibility of learning new ways to use my skills. Indra was amazing at connecting to the world around him, but when it came to practical applications of skills he didn’t possess, like earth creation, he couldn’t help me.

Trying to tag someone with my earth creation ability while they were in the air had never occurred to me. I had seen magicians walking in the sky, but it was usually an application of solidifying or manipulating their element and not true flight.

I could sit on the stone chair and rise into the air if I wanted to. It was slow, and impractical, but it looked cool. I was still practising the creation of stone steps in mid-air, but the results had been less than promising.

The stones would fall before I could activate earth manipulation. I wanted them to stay in place so I could move in the air safely. If they fell even an inch, I risked missing my step and tumbling onto the ground.

We turned into the final corridor, and I stopped. There were two people in front of us chatting.

It was Alexis and Unice.

Alexis had a gentle smile on his face and his hand rested against her shoulder.

“Try again with Ouros tomorrow, I’m sure you’ll get it this time.” His voice rumbled with confidence. “Then your family wil- Amanda?”

Alexis stopped mid-sentence. Unice turned and her eyes lit up as she saw Amanda and I walking towards her.

“Hey, hey!” She smiled. “You said you’ll be here tonight, right?”

Had we said that to her? I couldn’t remember mentioning it out loud. I must have said it in passing.

“Can I join you?” Her eyes pleaded with us. “I need the help of a metal magician, and I won’t see Ouros again until tomorrow’s measuring.”

She rushed up to us and then gazed at me.

“If we do the exact same thing we did today, I’m sure that I’ll be able to see how you’re connecting to metal. I was so close last time, I could feel it.”

I looked at Amanda and she stared at Alexis. Her brother blushed slightly, and then gestured with his hand towards Unice.

She smiled. “I don’t mind.”

I looked at Unice. She had been incredibly close to breaking through during the break. I wasn’t going to stop her from achieving her potential.

“Sounds like a plan.” I held out my hand and Unice shook it. “We’re booked for half an hour after school ends.”

“Thank you so much.” Unice took a step back and jumped with joy. “This attempt will be the one. I can feel it in my bones.”

“Today I’ll unlock my metal element.”