I check my mana reserves first. Despite having regenerated mana during class, I used some of it for my dictating spell and the rest is not nearly enough for a battle. My ring is still out of juice too. I look at the group of around thirty students crowded in front of me. What can I use to exert my full dominance with what little mana I have?

Regretting my rashness, I sigh. If only I set the match for tomorrow or later, I would be much better prepared. I feel for the necklace on my neck. Though I haven’t studied what runes were engraved, it should be made of at least a medium quality mana stone, if not another high level one. If I could use the mana from the necklace, I would do so, but the mana within now only works with the runes. Channeling the mana for another purpose would damage the runes and render them useless.

Looking towards the forest in the distance, I have a sudden epiphany. What if I use the mana of other living beings? Mana that is not purified by me or channeled from a mana stone won’t be under my control, but since mana can be channeled, mana should be able to be channeled from other living things. My mind wanders to a conversation I once had with Teacher Broffenberg.

“If I happen to run out of mana in the middle of battle, what would I do?” I had asked.

She replied, “There is a reason Tier Mages are specifically used as the quote on quote ‘mana reserves.’”

“What if they’re not willing to give their mana for a spell? Could I force the mana from them?”

Looking at me with sad eyes, she said, “No one has been known to force another living being to use mana. If you must resort to that, you should never have fought that battle in the first place.”

A voice snaps me back to reality. “So, are you ready for a beating?”

It’s the leader of that group. All of them just happen to be girls; I’m guessing any guy that they tried to recruit can’t and won’t bear to hurt me. I smile. “Bring it.” Before anyone else can make a move, I mutter, , and the ground within a radius of ten meters around me dips downward from pressure. All of the attacks thrown at me fall flat on the ground in front of me. A few of them charge, only to be stopped short and forced to the ground, unable to move once they enter the zone. “Do you give up?” I say, raising my brow and crossing my arms. I feel like a final boss, one from guild raids in games.

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“With this kind of spell, you will run out of mana quickly. Why should we give up?” one of them answers.

“I have much more mana in reserve than all of you combined,” I bluff, glancing around with my eyes for a quick solution. Out of the corner of my eye, I notice all of the windows of the school are crammed with spectators. I can’t do something that reveals my full prowess. “If I change the shape of my spell to encapsulate all of you, none of you would be able to move and I could cast another spell to obliterate your entire group. It’s only because this is a friendly match that I don’t do that.” Wasting time isn’t helping. I continue searching for something to use as I run my mouth.

The leader of the group says, “I don’t believe you would have enough mana to do that. Besides, you’re not the only one who can use magic.” That’s it. I can redirect the mana. The leader, at the front of the group outside of my field, points toward me and yells, !

Before the spell can sweep toward me, I mutter, . Thankfully, she’s quite dumb. Dispel only works if the user casting it has a bigger mana pool than the enemy, and the size of my pool is second only to Teacher Broffenberg, but that’s not the point. She used a spell that I fully know and understand. This means that I can theoretically redirect the spell. Feeling the burden of my gravity spell lighten off of my own mana pool, I smile.

“Keep casting. You won’t be able to,” I taunt. This spell is really much too efficient; the amount of mana it uses is negligible. If I can’t forcefully use mana from another living being, I’ll just redirect the mana that they use to feed my own spell.

Angrily, the mob throws a bunch of elemental based attacks at me, from fireballs to ice shards to mud balls, all made of mana. I smile with my teeth and mutter for every spell that I see. The immobilized girls in front shriek when they hear all of the spells. “You’re not even sparing your own friends?” I suspect that after this, there will be a lot of broken friendships.

“Keep talking!” the leader yells, throwing out a lightning bolt.

I redirect the spell’s mana and respond, “You’re ganging up on me. Of course I will! Everyone is watching. Please, stop embarrassing yourself.” I move closer to them, and more of the cobblestone cracks. Eventually, the entire group falls and their spells cease. Leaning down, I catch the leader by her chin. “Is this enough? You don’t even know the meaning of being cocky, and then accuse me of being it. The description you were looking for is attention-seeker, of which I also am not. Do you understand?”

Her eyes are wide. I hope this school has treatment for trauma. “I-I understand,” she stutters, lips trembling. “C-could you ple-please let us o-off, now?”

Withdrawing my hand, I release the spell and hear a collective sigh of relief. Looking back toward the building, I glance over all of the students watching before I turn and leave, the feeling of exhaustion overtaking my body. Did I make a mistake revealing this much power? The fake Price and his people will definitely be more on guard with me now.