The moment I heard Tago’s voice echoing across the arena I ceased all control of the dirt around me and cancelled my skill. I willed the dirt and stone to separate from Amanda, helping her out of the ground.

She still had her flames activated.

“Student Amanda, the fight is over.”

Tago’s voice boomed across the arena.

Amanda blinked and looked around her, seeing me and my lack of opposition. She nodded her head and the waves of golden flames brushed over her and retracted into her palms.

Agni appeared in her hands, chirping loudly, and flapping her wings.

“Are you okay?” I walked up to them.

Agni looked at me and chirped happily. I could also see a smile tugging at Amanda’s lips.

“Who do you think you’re talking to?” She puffed her chest out in pride. “I’ve been drowning in flames since you were in diapers. A little dirt doesn’t scare me.”

She smiled and raised Agni towards her head for the bird to hop on.

“You caught me by surprise.” Amanda rubbed her chin and looked at me curiously. “I thought you’d be a cuddly puppy in a fight. I’ve never seen you using your element to do anything similar.”

“I’m not going to trap people underground at school.” I rolled my eyes. “And I don’t think you go around stabbing people with flames either. How did you even melt stone? Shouldn’t I have lost from being near that much heat?”

Amanda shook her head and raised a finger towards me. I could see the flames at the tip of it, but I didn’t feel any heat.

“Think of it like a carving knife, precise and targeted at a single point.”

I stared at the flame and shivered. She could melt a human being if she wanted to.

Fire magicians were scary.

“Don’t give me that look, you stabbed me with a spear!” Amanda held out her other hand and I could see my silver spear in it. “Why didn’t you move it away with the other earth?”

I felt a faint blush crossing over my cheeks. I’d forgotten about the spear when I was moving the dirt, and she must’ve grabbed it the moment it hit her.

Even until the end she was still able to pinpoint the deadliest attacks to try and nullify them.

“I can’t use earth manipulation and metal manipulation at the same time.” I waved my hand and the silver returned to me in the form of a bar.

“That’s good to know. Next time I’ll put that information to good use and beat you down with it.” Amanda gave me a cheeky smile. “If you can’t do both, how did you keep me trapped and stab me at the same time? Wait. You don’t have to tell me that.”

She realised what she had said, and I could see her embarrassment. She’d gotten caught up in the moment and asked about my skills.

I didn’t care.

“I have a skill for ensnaring people.” I sat down next to her. “I hadn’t used it in a fight yet, so I didn’t realise how much it would help me. It completely took over control of the earth, so I could manipulate my silver to attack you.”

The live test had worked even better than I could have imagined. When I was using stone grasp against metal dummies it wasn’t the same as using it in a real fight.

The ability had completely freed my concentration so that I could use other skills.

This was the benefit of having specialised skills in my repertoire.

“Why didn’t you take off into the air?”

Amanda tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

“I forgot. The moment you trapped me the first time, Agni and I got our thoughts crossed and went with what was comfortable.”

Amanda brought out a bottle of water. The moment I saw it I realised how thirsty I was and brought out my own.

I felt like I had run a marathon after that quick fight.

We sat side-by-side, taking deep breaths as our adrenaline calmed down. Gold joined us and sat on the ground beside me.

There was movement in the arena, and I saw rocks gathering across the floor into the form of a person.

“Students, is that your final battle for the day?” Tago asked us.

Amanda and I looked at each other and then back to the professor.

We nodded at him.

“I didn’t realise how tiring it would be.” I was feeling it in my bones and my mind.

Concentrating during the fight and using my skills one by one with split second decision making drained my mental stamina. Having to keep track of the entire arena with my mana sense at the same time was overkill.

It had to be done, or else I wouldn’t be able to see Amanda clearly once I blocked off my vision with my earth attacks.

Feeling objects through the dirt only got me so far, it was like trying to distinguish things while blindfolded. I knew something was being grasped, but not what it was.

In a high intensity situation, I needed to use both earth manipulation and mana sense at the same time to have a hope of aiming my spears properly.

“Very well. I have other things to attend to, but I thank you for the entertaining display. You are both very talented and I approve of you taking steps forward in your practical studies.”

Tago’s rocks dispersed onto the ground, and I looked around the arena floor.

“It’s hard to tell if he actually left or is still here and just messing with us.” I laughed.

Amanda was quiet, and I could see her looking at her fingers thoughtfully.

“The claws I used to break your stone spears are a skill.” She spoke. “I can make about six of them at one time, and they operate individually from each other. After doing a single action a claw will disappear. I can’t summon it again until all six are used up.”

She folded her hands in front of her as she spoke.

I knew that she didn’t have to tell me that, and that she was entrusting me with a lot by doing so.

“Thank you for your trust.” I gave her a gentle smile. “I will now use this information to destroy you in our next fight.”

She laughed.

“Bring it on.”

She stood up and stretched, walking over to the side of the arena, and picking up the shielding regent we had left there after our game of tag.

We walked out of the arena room with grins on our faces.

Fighting was really fun.

I got a kick out of the battle, and I couldn’t wait to do it again. I had noticed differences from today compared to when I fought with William.

My earth manipulation was smoother, my spear creation was faster, and I had acted more decisively this time.

If I gained the stone or earth spear skills, I would be able to use my strategy with ease and add more variety.

Earth manipulation was my handiest skill, but it also required the most concentration. While I had it activated, I was restricted in what else I could do.

“We’re doing this again, right?” Amanda asked from beside me.

“Absolutely.”

There was no doubt about it.

“But we do need to keep practising with the other exercises.” I added.

I’d noticed improvements in my abilities from playing dodgeball and tag. My wall had been created using earth creation, and the speed was far faster than before I had started practising with Amanda.

My earth manipulation was the same. It was hard to put it into words, but there was a feeling of smoothness to my actions that hadn’t been there before.

It was slight, but if I could improve these aspects then it would be more beneficial than simply fighting with levelled skills.

“Yeah. Each thing we do has its own benefits.” Amanda fed a treat to Agni. “We were communicating better as well. There wasn’t even a freak out.”

Gold squawked in indignation from my shoulder and Amanda laughed and fed him a treat as well.

When we got to the front desk Amanda scheduled our next practice session for tomorrow, and then added one for every day except for Inné.

The last day of the school week would be her fight with Alexis.

“You know, I was wondering if you wanted to meet my friend today.” I slipped the words in casually as we stepped out of the dome. “He’s free, and he lives somewhere on campus, I think.”

Amanda froze in her tracks.

“I mean, you don’t have to if you’re not comfortable with it.” I added. “But I say the sooner the better.”

Amanda’s hair flared lightly. They were bright orange flames that I was starting to associate with indecision and curiosity. I was becoming better at reading the different cues she gave off.

We took a turn into the garden, and I saw multiple elements of mana floating around me. Like usual, I touched the water and fire mana, trying to see if I could get a reaction from either.

I felt a small tug, and I stared at the tiny mote of water mana I had reached towards. Had I felt a connection with it for a moment?

Maybe it was my imagination.

Maybe not.

A smile crossed my face. I would have to investigate this further.

There was a process of attuning to new elements. It was necessary to focus on first attuning with elements that didn’t clash with your own.

Earth and water were neutral with each other and were safe to be attuned to at the same time. It was the next natural step if I wanted to try and learn a new element.

Amanda was deep in thought beside me, and we took our time walking among the flowers. Agni and Gold flew into the air and weaved between the flower beds and the trees around us.

“Where?” Amanda spoke.

“We can go to the usual spot where we sit with William.” I pointed towards the treeline. “It’s nice and comfortable, and familiar.”

“Yeah, that’ll be great.” She nodded.

I brought out my texting regent and sent out a message to Gerial. A faint glow confirmed he’d received my message. I didn’t want to say his name out loud, just in case it attracted attention.

I waited until we were sitting beside the tree to let him know where we were.

“Is he that shy?” Amanda rested a hand on her hip as she saw me checking the nearby area.

“No, I just don’t want rumours spreading.” I shook my head. “On the first day he walked me to class, and it looked like people wanted to stab me for being near him.”

“Of course they did, they all wanted to be in your position and the only way to get there is to eliminate the competition.” Amanda rubbed her temples.

“People can have more than one friend.” I objected. “Wait, no, I get it.”

I knew that the other students wouldn’t see it that way. They saw friendship with a Marked one as competition.

Everybody wanted to be in first place.

Amanda bit her lip as the waiting time extended, and fiddled with her hair, twisting it’s strands into curls and inspecting their ends.

“I’ve told you what he’s like.” I gave her a pat on the back. “He’s a bit stiff, but not formal. Just greet him normally and you two will be joking in no time.”

I felt a tug at my heart.

He was here.

The air filled with the sound of a snapping twig and Amanda’s head shot up towards the source. She grabbed my arm for support, her grip tightening as footsteps approached us.

She looked like she was preparing for a monster’s arrival.

I didn’t speak my thoughts. She was stressed enough as it was.

A few seconds later a boy appeared, approaching us step-by-step, his purple eyes gazing at us calmly.

There was no invisibility or pompous atmosphere. Both of us had agreed that the best way for him to introduce himself was to act as ordinary as possible

I saw Amanda’s eyes widen, the reality of the situation finally hitting her.

“Hello,” He spoke. “I’m Gerial. Nine years old. Despite popular fiction stating otherwise, it is not possible to gain an invincible body by snorting my bones. Also, it’s nice to formally meet you.”

Amanda’s fingers dug deeper into my arm, and I held back a wince.

Then she took a deep breath, and I felt her grip on me loosen.

“Hello. My name is Amanda.”

Her voice was soft.

“It’s nice to meet you too, Gerial.”