(Sarah Rumbles POV)

"That was an interesting battle."

"They were much stronger than we were at that age. Though I found the battle anticlimactic. They could have shown us more, but Amina used too much mana in that attack."

"They're kids, give them a break. It's expected they make mistakes. Better to make them now than on the front lines."

"Yeah, yeah I know."

My instincts suddenly warned me that someone powerful was approaching.

"Don't worry, it's only Quakey-ra."

"Ms Sistina isn't rude to arrive at school without informing me? Also, don't call me Quakey."

The principal Trevor Wells suddenly showed up without moving. Despite his age, he could move faster than the eye could see.

"Ehh, don't be like that. You're too formal. You need to relax."

Trevor stared intensely at Blanche in response.

"I'm sorry Mr Wells-ra."

She apologised immediately. That was a face that Blanche had seen many times. It was essentially engraved into her body to respond like that.

"God, you were a troublesome student. I think I saw you more than my own children. I can't count the number of times you sent your peers to the hospital. You only got away with most of the incidents since your family is a part of the 15 royals."

"Well, those were good old days. I had lots of fun."

Blanche immediately rebounded after apologising. She wasn't sorry at all.

"And I had lots of paperwork to fill because of you. Regardless, that's beside the point. We can reminisce later. I came here to ask about the war."

"Don't the higher-ups tell you everything?"

"I would rather hear it from someone on frontlines. Even if it comes from you, Blanche."

"Rude. So anyway, the war is in the final stages. We have taken over the factories that demons use to feed the armies. At this point, the demon army has practically evaporated. The only problems are the opposing S ranks."

"How many do you think they have left."

It was me who asked that question.

"Well... I don't know. I can give you an estimate of 600 or 700."

"That's nearly twice ours!"

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

"Though the quality of theirs doesn't match up to ours. They aren't particularly strong and a large squadron of A ranks can take a weaker one if they catch them off guard. Though most of them would still die in the process."

"When will the war conclude?"

Trevor Wells questioned Blanche again.

"I would say after we kill all the S ranks. After that, it will be a clean sweep for us. Are you going to join Wells-ra?"

"Yes, I want to be there for the final strike."

Trevor Wells' face suddenly morphed into anger. Behind that face held deep hatred.

"Excuse me, I didn't mean to lose control."

"It's understandable. You hate the demons even more than us. Over 90% of the students you raised have died because of them. Talking about raising students, how do you handle their deaths? You must feel guilty raising students, and then immediately sending them to the slaughterhouse. How are you still sane?"

"I usually clear my conscious by convincing myself that if I wasn't the principal, another person would have to suffer. I'd rather take all the suffering upon myself. Even still, I still hold intense anger. I have no intention of sitting back while the war ends. I don't care if I die, I will participate."

"That's some conviction, sir."

I was surprised the principal opened up to us. I always looked up to him and seeing him so vulnerable was unexpected.

"Well that's enough despair, let's talk about some positive things. How are you going with creating your concept Sarah?"

"I still don't how you were able to create yours so quickly."

S ranks could bring imaginary concepts to reality. For an A rank to advance to an S rank, they had to create and bring a concept to reality.

The easiest identifiable example of this comes from the Mage Emperor, Rebecca Storm. It was a commonly known fact that she was able to use the concept of Justice in her attacks. She literally created the Justice attribute, solely for herself.

Though creating a concept is easy, bringing it to reality is extremely hard and is a roadblock for many A rank mages. Though creating an attribute seems like a minor change, it is not.

Once a person brings a concept into reality, it means they defied the physics of the world. They undergo a major change. Not a physical one, but a mental one.

It is like having an epiphany. The person's view of the world changes and it was like they could see more of reality. S ranks have compared it to when a blind man regains sight. This qualitative difference is what made the massive gap between S and A ranks.

Though me and Blanche had similar mana capacities, skill, intelligence and experience, I would never win against her, even if I had a million tries.

"It's because I'm that good Sarah-ra."

She had a smug look on her face.

"I heard your concept is about the weather."

Trevor Wells then interjected.

"I've got the idea, but putting in practice never works. Whenever I try bending the weather to my advantage, I always resort to using my attributes."

Most mages usually only focus on one or two attributes. However, I could manipulate four attributes; heat, frost, gas and liquid.

This culminated in the ability to manipulate the weather. To advance to S rank, I wanted to create the weather attribute.

Though I could manipulate the weather already, creating the weather attribute will allow for more control and freedom.

For example, instead of using my attributes to create a cumulonimbus cloud and striking lightning from that, I cause lightning to strike from any cloud. It defied logic, but that's what made them S ranks.

"Well good luck with that Sarah-ra. I'd love to catch up more, but I don't expect to have too long of a break. I heard that there was a new ruin discovered in Moria's land, so I'll check that out."

Blanche disappeared only leaving behind cold wind. Though we didn't meet for long, I was glad she was doing well after all these years.

"She didn't even say farewell. There's no hope for her."

The principal sighed, exasperated at Blanche's antics.

"She probably needs a husband to tie her down."

"I would feel sorry for the man who marries her."

The principal and I joked around before he excused himself. He had to visit the other classes. Meanwhile, I focused on my class.

'Julius, Amina, James, Violet, Lisa, Bruno, Christopher... they're all talented, especially the first 4. I can't wait to teach them. It will be a fun year.'

It wouldn't be until months later that I would come to regret those words.