“I’ll go in from the left. Cover me Lynn,” Haru spoke to me

“On it! Isaac!” Lynn called out

“Roger that!” The zone around Isaac then started to freeze. Alongside with his ability, a mark appeared on his left hand and shone in color teal, prove of his gift in ice magic. From there, it froze the ground towards the three at a rapid speed. Even though there were many trees obstructing our view from the three, it was obvious where they were. They continuously kept firing spells towards us at the start of the match; it must have been an eyesight emblem that allowed them to see us. Upon following it, the three were spotted.

There were many types of battlefields that Aqua Academy could materialize in their arenas. Right now, through a random chance, we were fighting in a forest field. A really simple field actually, but because of the terrain change, it was hard for untrained students to move in. Upon being told we were going to fight a three on three match, Professor Luden had given us time to allow us to formulate a strategy and learn about each other.

“I’m a level four. My emblem can freeze anything within range and when frozen, I can control it to do anything. They call it Dominion,” Isaac had spoken. It was strong ability. The longer the battle continued, the more field he would control. The fact that he was not a level five was surprising. It must have a huge drawback.

“I’m a level two. All I can use are the basic four.” The basic four were the natural elements that mana could convert to, fire, earth, water, and air. While the basic four was the essence of everything, without anything to enforce an element, it would not have the strength to deal significant damage. Anyone could learn the basic four with some training. Without any question, Isaac had his arm crossed and nodded his head without any disapproval. Despite being only a level two, it seemed like he wasn’t in spite of the weak. A really polite man. After a brief moment, all eyes went onto Haru. Without being able to perceive what we were asking, Haru had only looked at us puzzled.

“Ah! I’m a level three... I can create high-frequency vibration. My weapon is a katana,” Haru spoke with the most courage she could. It was back in the classroom where Lynn had failed to notice Haru’s katana laying to her side. In all schools, personal weapons were accepted as long as it was registered.

In the school arena, everything was converted to ether, the essence of mana. In this form, any harm delt would directly drain the supply of your mana, rather than your physical form. If you run out of mana, you lose. That was the game of school’s arena.

Our winning conditions were simple, but that was what made it difficult. It is easy for anyone to see what the winning condition was for us, especially in a team match. With every melee fighter, the winning condition would be decided on them. They would have to get close and finish the match. The plan was to let Haru get as close as possible with me as support and Isaac as a distraction. On the other team, they seemed to have been a group of three mages. Their plan was simple, to attack together and defend together.

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Upon finishing the trail of ice, Issac immediately pulled the crystal off the ground, creating spikes to separate the three. Just as planned, two were pushed to the right and one was isolated to the left.

While this was all happening, Haru had been skillfully moving through the terrain. At the same time, her strength’s emblem on her right hand was shining in pink, prove of the activation of her ability. While some fireballs and spells would fly towards her, it was easily countered with my own spells. While some went through, Haru would dodge some and repel some. It was obvious that she had movements that required practice and lots of training. Being able to repel magic alone with weapons were considered a talent. It seemed Haru had confidence in her abilities, but her self-esteem, however, was lacking. A mismatch for a good reason.

“Tsk! You markless trash. As if this is enough to take me down,” the isolated student screamed. Knowing he was in trouble, he quickly threw out a mana shield to cover him. Most likely, it was an emblem ability. Being able to solidify mana was rare. However, because the mana shield did not have an element, it was easily shattered through Haru’s high-frequency blade. It was simply a bad match-up. Immediately after, the man had tried to leap away when he had realized.

It was all however a mistake. As soon as he leaped away, he had leaped right into one of his own ally, knocking both of them down. Haru then was able to finish both the two who were dazed with a cleave through their body, robbing them off all their mana and rendering them unconscious. It was unknown if it was just a single cleave or multiple slashes. It all happened in a quick moment wheres many eyes would not be able to follow. When a person empties their mana pool, their consciousness is as good as gone. Mana was the essence of the mind. As time pass, bodies would naturally convert the ether in the air into mana for themselves.

A few second before, Isaac had been fending off the two who he had separated. As soon as the trail of ice had separated them, he had reformed spikes from the side of his wall and forced them further to the side. One had been able to escape the wall of ice by immediately blasting through it and dashing over. As soon as he did though, he had collided with his teammate on the other side of the wall. The other one who was isolated with him was not able to follow; the ice had already reformed before he had made it. Additionally, Isaac had already had created another layer of ice on his other side, trapping him. From there, Isaac was able to end the match by continuously robbing his freedom away.

At the end of the match, the field had started to fade away.

“Nice work there,” Isaac said gave Lynn a high five. As soon as he did, we both had turned to Haru who was sheathing her blade.

“Good work Haru,” we both said as we made our way to Haru. Raising both our hands, we both gave her a high five at the same time. Without even realizing, Haru had responded to the two and gave both of them a five at the same time. From the side of both their eyes, they were able to see a smile escape Haru’s mask. With her smile, Lynn sure that both Lynn and Isaac had no complaints about the match.

When the medics had finished taking the unconscious three away, we had made our way back to the arena’s seat. Many classmates were still not giving us the recognition we had deserved. It was obvious from their eyes, despite their silent voice. Before the match had started, many were already placing bets onto the opposite team.

In Aqua Academy arenas, they were built for only a single match at a time. There were, however, multiple arena buildings. When every match had concluded, it was already time for lunch.