There was something cathartic about exercising until instinct takes over your body and the rush of adrenaline makes you believe you can do anything. I let out a yell of satisfaction as my stone constructs knocked against the orange shield.

Amanda swooped back down to the ground, careful not to do anything that might make her panic. She had grown better at moving from side to side, but she couldn’t move up and down at the same time.

That was how I had gotten her.

I’d bested Amanda in two of the three matches and my earth creation constructs had become faster now that I was used to making them.

There was only one problem.

“You’re not getting much diversity in your constructs.” Amanda huffed as she gave me the post-game analysis. “You’re faster, but nothing is changing when it comes to the actual shape. You’re basically stacking cones.”

She was right. I watched as Agni appeared in her hands, Amanda’s golden wings dissolving.

“Tago said that I should go and look at some natural formations and pictures in the school library. The Zodiac library probably has some too.” I crossed my legs. “Also, he said he would give me some reference sheets tomorrow to use.”

School had bitten significantly into my training time. I had always juggled hours of inscribing with hours of magic practice.

Now, it was impossible to do both perfectly.

The upside was that I was quickly learning to use my abilities in more practical and efficient ways. When I did get the time to practice my skills, I would level quicker and be stronger with them.

Amanda took a sip of water and cracked her neck. To our side I could see Gold watching us and I waved my hand at him.

He flew over and his talons gripped the ground beside me and rested. He knew Amanda and I weren’t done yet.

“Tago will be here soon.” I raised my inventory into the air.

The earth constructs around me liquefied and flowed into my inventory. Four giant stone spires swirled above me, disappearing into the tiny box.

“I don’t think I can copy whatever Alexis can do.” I spoke. “Are you sure you have enough mana left?”

Amanda and I were going to spar today, and the game of tag had been our way of warming up. We skipped dodgeball and booked the arena for a longer time.

“I will by the time the professor arrives.” Amanda pressed a finger to her lips. “Alexis seems to be able to do everything I can. His fingers can turn into flames, and he can emit heat. He can also manipulate fire. However, he still has the two floating bows that he controls that I have to get past.”

I recalled the weapons that Alexis had brought out in his fight against William.

How would I replicate that against her? I couldn’t.

“What about your wings?”

They were the biggest advantage Amanda had if she could continue dodging his arrows while airborne.

“He shouldn’t be able to conjure them.” Amanda pointed at Agni. “My ability stems from our connection. My brother’s phoenix still hasn’t appeared.”

Amanda saw my thoughtful expression and shook her head gently.

“You don’t have to fight like him. Any practical experience will help, even if it’s dodging in different ways compared to tag practice.”

I nodded and lifted my inventory in front of me. A single stone block fell onto the ground. I gestured with my thumb towards the side of the room and the block flew over there.

Then another joined it.

Soon, there was a ring of stone surrounding us. Amanda ran her hand over one of the blocks and I could see her fingers shifting from flesh into flames.

A faint smile touched her lips and I saw she had placed a small crimson bead onto the stone.

I felt a shift around me as the fire mana surrounding me was drawn towards the beads.

Amanda guided it with her hands, pointing towards one bead at a time and directing the mana into them. The beads grew bigger each passing second, flames tumbling out of them only to be forced back in by Amanda.

It looked like they were going to explode.

“How many of those do you have?” I could feel my stone block heating up.

Even contact with the beads would hurt me under normal circumstances.

“Secret.” Amanda winked. “You asked if we could use regents, do you still want to?”

“Maybe next time.” I shook my head.

I'd wanted to test out my mask during a fight. If I could hide myself within the earth or behind walls and be unseen even to magic senses, then it would be a huge advantage.

I was sure Amanda wouldn’t be able to recognise the materials used to create the regent, but Tago of the earth was supervising us.

I couldn’t be sure he wouldn’t sense the adamant within my mask. His metal counterpart wasn’t present, but both were created by the same magician.

Amanda finished at six beads, each of them resting on a stone block that was overheating by coming into contact with them.

That was with Amanda using fire manipulation to keep most of the heat inside the beads.

“Students. I have arrived.”

A voice resounded around us.

I stared upwards towards the ceiling where the voice had originated from. When I looked down again, Tago of the earth was beside me.

“Professor. Thank you for supervising us today.” Amanda greeted him.

“Thank you, professor.” I spoke.

Tago shifted his body towards our weapons. He placed a hand against my stone block, and I saw it shimmering with earth mana. He was casting a spell, but I wasn’t sure what it did.

He quickly pushed away from the stone block and then moved onto the next ones. Once he was done, he turned towards me.

“Your silver. May I check it?”

I raised my hand and my silver flowed from my inventory until it was above my fingers. I pointed towards the professor and the silver formed a bar in front of him.

He repeated the process, and I narrowed my eyes as I saw metal mana flow into the silver. It wasn’t as smooth as the control shown by Tago of metal, but it was still metal magic.

The golems could use both types of magic, despite their physical appearances of being made of one type of element.

“Clear.” Tago nodded his head. “My apologies for the delay, it is a necessary procedure that I double check for the existence of regents that have not been declared for the fight.”

I pursed my lips at his words. I wouldn’t do that to Amanda.

“Not all duels in the arena are held between friends.” Tago turned towards Amanda. “Are you only using these objects?”

Amanda nodded.

Tago didn’t check the beads, and I could see Amanda wasn’t surprised.

I don’t think regents could even be made with pure fire.

Flames were constantly shifting and moulding them into a set shape for a long period of time and then activating it with magic would be impossible. Or at least impractical enough that it wasn’t worth it.

“We will be going over a couple of ground rules. Please know that I will be supervising you at all times, and should I feel the match needs to be stopped I will stop it even if there are protests.”

Tago explained the rules and regulations of the match in depth to us.

The magic of the arena would mark us when we had been hit with enough damage to severely harm or kill us in an unprotected environment.

The moment this mark appeared the match was over.

There were also supplementary rules that formed the bulk of the conversation. If we broke any of them the match would immediately be over.

No tampering with the symbols on the walls.

Give a few seconds for an opponent to surrender if they are not moving after an attack.

When surrendering early, immediately release control of all manipulated materials to signal the end of the match to Tago.

If a fighter becomes noticeably uncomfortable to the point of disorientation, immediately stop the fight and help them or wait for the supervisor to help them.

“The reason I am present is because my abilities will allow me to supervise all of your actions on the battlefield, whether above ground or below it.” Tago finished.

“Please note this match is also being recorded by staff and may be used for training purposes.”

We nodded. That condition had been attached to the option of recording the match for viewing at a later date.

Amanda and I weren’t sure what we would learn from it, but we were certain that we needed to cover all of our bases just in case.

“Any questions?”

Neither of us had any.

“Then we shall begin.”

Tago’s body crumbled onto the arena floor and Amanda, and I stood up and walked to the opposite sides of the arena.

Agni stayed on Amanda’s head, but Gold flew towards the entrance. He settled onto the thick frame of the door and watched us.

The magic of the room would protect him.

“Good luck!” Amanda shouted.

“You too!”

I turned around and saw that she was positioned as far away from me as possible. I had the advantage in this environment, stone blocks lining a path between us.

I wouldn’t be limited to only my earth creation skill, and my earth manipulation reached far wider.

I took a deep breath and became conscious of the floor beneath me.

Dirt and stone mixed into one sea of mana before me.

I could feel the anticipation rumbling underneath my feet, the willingness and readiness to fight at the slightest provocation

All of the earth was primed and ready for my command.

Waves of golden fire brushed over the earth, and I saw an ocean of red mana cross my path, and then retract as Amanda recalled it into her body, Agni disappearing and two golden wings illuminating my sight.

“The match will begin in five… four… three…”

Above us Tago’s voice resounded out and my body tensed. My hands rose and the earth held its breath.

“One…”

“Begin!”

My hand jutted out and a wall of earth roared into existence around Amanda, snuffing out the light of her fire and darkening the arena.

Without hesitation I clenched my hand and the earth entombed Amanda from all sides, holding her down. I could feel her struggling as she was beset from all sides.

I wasn’t done.

One by one the stone blocks lining the arena floor broke, stone pieces floating in the air. With a single thought they spun and transformed into pointed spears.

I gestured with a single finger towards the coffin of earth and spears shot into it, piercing Amanda from all sides.

Except they never reached her.

As the stone weapons flew towards Amanda there was a pulse in the air. Heat crushed my skin and throat, a byproduct of the flames swirling inside the earth coffin.

Six beads moved within the dirt, spewing forth flames, and pushing away my control. In moments there was a cyclone of earth and fire in front of me.

The moment my stone spears touched the flaming walls, they were stopped.

Six hands of crimson flame appeared in front of them.

Fingers of flame curled around the stone, crushing it like twigs, and a figure appeared from within the cyclone, moving one step at a time across the arena floor.

Blazing red eyes gazed into my own. Indifference and power radiated from Amanda’s body, her footsteps drowned out by the grating of our powers clashing.

She lifted her hands and her wings fluttered behind her, pushing a wave of golden flames towards me.

I crossed my arms and a wall of stone appeared in front of me, blocking the flames.

Amanda’s laugh echoed over it, and I felt something touch the wall. Her fingers had transformed into flames, and she was melting the stone like butter.

She was making her way towards me with ease. And she was stepping on the ground to do it.

The moment she touched the wall I parted the ground around her.

I could feel her surprise as the floor disappeared from underneath her. She didn’t have time to fly in the air before I dropped her into the underground of the arena.

Waves of hardened earth gathered around her, and I flung her towards the opposite side of the arena.

Straight into my trap.

Her head smashed into a stone block I had placed underground, the momentum from my earth manipulation making sure it would cause damage.

Before she could react, I took over the stone and it enveloped her body.

[Stone Grasp]

I activated my skill, and I felt the stone becoming stronger, and harder. My attention was freed as the skill took over and snared Amanda in its grasp. I didn’t have to manipulate the earth around her, so I could finally focus my attention on my trump card.

A single spear of silver shot through the arena towards Amanda’s captured form. The earth parted to let it through, and it stabbed into her.

A mark appeared in the air above the arena, and I could feel the silver spear stopping as it touched Amanda’s skin, leaving her unharmed.

“Congratulations, student Andross.”

Tago’s voice rang across the arena.

“You have won your first fight.”