"Well... Let me explain."

Kuro tried to push back as much teachers as he could. The moment they heard he invented an original magic, they couldn't help but go to him. Even if they were teachers, they were still curious about magic and methods to get stronger.

"This magic of m- his, is actually derived from the level 10 magic, 'Gaia's Puppet'. What I did was use its concept of creating earth body parts and applied it to instruments. I thought of using much more simpler instruments, however, considering Kenny's body, drums is the best option I had to go to."

"I see... Then, how'd you make it so that with each beat, an attack comes out?"

"Well that's simple. The reason why we release magic is because of our chants, right?"

As Kuro asked, they all nodded.

"Have you ever thought to yourself as to why you don't need to chant anymore when you've mastered a spell?"

"Huh... Why didn't I think of that..." Merlin says as she was at the background.

"What I made him practice doing is to put his chants on the drum's surface. That way, when he plays it, a spell automatically triggers, so long as he puts in mana. Now, why did he suddenly faint, the moment he hit the wind bomb? Rhythm. In this spell, rhythm is key. When he hits the drum with mana, there will still be leftover mana left before it is fully absorbed in the drum's chant. And because of this, I wanted to abuse that mechanic of mana. So, when he drums again, he'll need less mana than usual to play the next chant, and if you're rhythm is perfect, the leftover mana will increase more and more until you will only need 1 mana instead of the usual 20 or something."

The teachers that listened to him took many notes, but there was still something missing...

"Then, why did Kenny faint?" A curious teacher asked him.

"As I mentioned, the chants on the drums drain mana. The drawback of this technique is if you end the rhythm. Once the leftover mana is depleted, it will absorb the mana of the user as compensation. This is why I told Kenny to use it as a last resort since it will drain so much mana, that you might fall asleep for a week. Lucky for him, I know of a counter for that, but I won't disclose that information."

All the teachers were disappointed, but understood that they must all keep some secrets at some point.

"Ehem... Next fighters!"

"Oh, Gran, you're back."

"Yeah... Good thing I'm fast, else I wouldn't have shown them how powerful the storm is."

"Haha, go get 'em champ."

As they high-fived, Gran entered the ring. With him, he was wearing a scarf with a hood on. His whole body is covered with a huge cloak, covering what's underneath except for his head and huge arcane rifle in the back. Even his hands were covered. His opponent is a fire element user, known as Karin Shimura, an ex-A-ranker with a class of Magic Marksman. On her arm, she has a small crossbow attached, similar to Kuro's. The only difference is that hers has a string and can't be hidden. On her waist is a small bag coated with magic. She's also wearing a small cloak with a hood, usually worn by rangers.

She was known for her unusual way of fighting, being fast, flexible and still being strong. Without missing a workout session, she even worked on her hand-to-hand combat. She temporarily stopped being an adventurer due to her friends, Reinhart Gromm and Leor Glandor, who convinced her to take a break since she never stopped aiming to get stronger. After teaching in the academy for one year, she settled being a teacher, having sparring sessions with different students and teachers whenever she needed was a dream come true for her.

"You ready kid?"

"The storm never waits."

"BEGIN!"

As Merlin shouts, Karin dashes on to Gran with surprising speed, but as a wind user, Gran easily avoids her attack.

*SING*

Suddenly, a blunt dagger flew across Gran's eyes and flew back to Karin.

"Tch."

Disappointed, she immediately aims her crossbow at Gran and shot at him. Gran dodged by jumping, but his hood suddenly flew open. Looking behind, he saw not just the bolt, but even the dagger. He looked back at her to see her dashing like a madman. Gran then flew away from her, until he noticed her reloading her crossbow.

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Gran then prepared a wind sphere around him, and prepared for her attacks. She then fires a bolt with pushed the barrier a bit. Gran finally retaliates by getting his rifle out with one hand and fires a blast of wind. As Gran shot it from his rifle, Karin immediately does a barrel roll, dodging Gran's blow, which cracks the area heavily. She immediately fires a shot as she stood up again, and the wind barrier still stood.

Gran, looking at her shots not piercing through, scoffs at her and this time hold his rifle with 2 hands instead of just his right arm. As he aimed, he saw her crossbow and felt a huge amount of mana unlike before.

*SHIVER*

Fear. His confidence suddenly dropped as he saw it. When she shot the bolt, Gran tried to evade by falling down. It hit his barrier, but instead of being pushed out, it burst the wind barrier instead and even stuck on to the arena's barrier. When it comes to barriers, a wind barrier is a better option due to its ability to push away and redirect attacks. Its durability is irrelevant due to the fact that it doesn't have any. Its caveat is the fact that there are attacks stronger than the force of the barrier. Which is what happened, it only meant one thing.

'That bolt's dangerous. Shoot.'

"Going somewhere?"

Unnoticeably, she was behind him as he fell.

"What the?!"

She then hugged him tightly as they fell head first.

'Hmm? He's hard...'

Gran struggled a lot, but he couldn't get out. He looked up and saw the ground come closer and closer. As they got very close, she immediately shifted herself and put Gran as the first one to take the hit. However, she released him from her hug and stood on him. Gran immediately prepared a wind bomb on his chest and exploded it, blowing him and Karin away from each other. As Gran landed, she was heading at him full speed ahead.

"Tch, damn it. Wind, hear thy call..."

Gran then opened his cape, revealing not 1 arcane pistol, but a total of 19 arcane pistols with his arcane rifle in hand.

"Show them the might of the storm upon which lays waste to all..."

Suddenly, all 19 arcane pistols floated with its barrels facing Karin. Annoyed, she loaded her crossbow, aimed at his legs and shot. Gran couldn't move, he had no choice but to take the hit. His eyes widened at the pain, but he wasn't trained for nothing. His training with Kuro brutally punching him at all parts of his body, though it didn't help him get stronger physically, his focus now remained unfazed.

"Come to me, show me the true form of the gun devil, set its guns ablaze! Gun Gale: Online!"

"Pfft." Kuro laughs at the chant he made for his spell.

The pistols that were facing Karin suddenly shone, and fired along with his rifle as he knelt with one knee. Rapidly firing at her, Karin rolled as she evaded and shot again, but with his barrier erected, it bounced off of it.

"2"

As she shot, Gran counted as he kept firing at her. She shot again as she kept evading.

"3"

She couldn't get near him due to his wind barrier reflecting her and her shots. Right now, she only has one chance. With her enhanced attack prepared, she dashed onto him. Gran relentlessly fired at her, but she continuously bounced it off with her dagger as she kept controlling it. Though, not all of them were blocked, she was hit countless of times with the assault of 20 guns non-stop attacking her. As she finally reached him, she punched the barrier with her crossbow and attacked at point-blank distance. The impact blew off Gran and his magic, finally ending his barrage.

"Guh!"

"I won kid."

"Well, if it wasn't for that annoying crossbow, you wouldn't be able to evade my next attack. Look up, I already lost anyways so there's no point in attacking."

As she looked up, she saw all of the wind bullet that were shot by him covering the sky.

"That was supposed to rain on you without giving you any chance of dodging it."

"Well I'll be..."

As Gran sat up, the wind bullets in the sky began to fade.

"Who made those... Things?"

"Ah, these are arcane pistols, and this huge thing is an arcane rifle. They cost mana to shoot, but won't require any limited ammunition.

She whistles in amusement. Unbeknownst to them, teachers were already trying to pry in information.

"So, who made those?"

"Ah, it's from our leader, Kuro."

'Him again?!' This was the reaction of all the teachers. They all looked to him and saw Levy preparing herself by warming up with Kuro's assistance.

"So uhh, what's with that crossbow then?"

"Ah, this? This baby's name is 'Twilight'. Whenever I shoot the 3rd bolt, the next bolt will pack a lot more punch."

"Isn't that unfair?"

"Oh come on sweetie, you had 20 of those... Shooting things! What's more unfair than that?"

"Hah, I guess so."

"Another question hun, how'd you shoot 'em all up?"

"Ah, our leader made it possible. He created a skill for me, and it does this. It's power will be decreased by a lot, but so does the mana cost."

"How does it work?"

Kuro suddenly appears in between them and interferes, "Well then, I know it's all fine and dandy knowing all the answers, but we should prepare the arena and treat Gran's leg."

Karin and the teachers were astonished. They never heard of any footsteps, nor any presence. Kuro then took Gran up... But not before pulling out the arrow.

"ALLEY-OOP!"

"GAHH! YOU PIECE OF-"

"THEN FRY IT UP REAAALLLL GOOD!" Kuro then proceeded to fry his leg with both white and red fire.

"AAAAGGGHHHH"

Everyone was shocked. Outright burning an injury as major as a bone fracture like that is surprising. But Karin, the one closest to them observed at how he healed. She saw mana on the bone fragments as it slowly formed itself back into shape. Kuro then proceeded to recreate everything in the bone, its blood vessels, its marrow, everything through the use of the white fire. Then Kuro proceeded to the muscle where he fully healed it as well along with the blood vessels.

As he healed it, Karin and Kuro themselves ignored Gran's plea for help while Levy and her opponent just stood in the arena. By the time Gran's leg fully healed, he collapsed, making it easier for him to carry him princess styled while levitating all his equipment.

"Alright, you guys can fight now. Miss Karin, just announce the results after the battle, I'm sure you also wanna watch the battle." Merlin says as she guides all the teachers away from the battlefield.

"Ah... Well if you say so."

The next battle begins.