"Show yourselves!" Sidir shouted.

"This is stupid. Why do we even need to hide?" Cyrus said, standing up and revealing himself. "So what do we have here?"

"Cyrus!" Sidir shouted. "Then does it mean that-"

Adriana stood up and walked closer, seeing that hiding doesn't have any meaning anymore.

"A-" Sidir almost said Adriana's name but he paused and looked sideways. He saw the glaring eyes of Sera looking at Adriana.

"What a coincidence! The four of us gathering here!" Adriana beamed with a smile.

"Stop with your pretentious acting! You don't fool me!" Sera shouted before stomping on the ground. Suddenly, a large plant similar to a cape sundew sprouted from the ground in front of her. The plant was metallic green in color and it has long sharp leaves containing a number of small granular tentacles. Its tentacles' ends is then covered with a pinkish liquid.

"What do you mean by that? I never remember learning from you." Adriana sarcastically said, feigning ignorance.

"Sera! You should just calm-" Sidir said, walking closer to her.

"Shut up Sidir! Are you with me or not?" Sera glared at Sidir and pulling him back.

Cyrus started to laugh. "Have you really awakened Sidir? It seems nothing have changed." He then looked at Sera. "Are you sure you want to fight? I'm pretty confident I can take you all on." Two ivory white flintlock like pistols appeared in Cyrus hands.

"You! You still dare to mock me!" Wads of white paper started to come out from inside Sidir's yukata like uniform. The paper then turned to flocks of paper cranes floating around him.

The encounter turned chaotic as the people from the two groups started to activate their awakened abilities. The other group who was initially against Sidir already have started backing up, preparing to run. Compared to the classmates he had in the earlier combat class, Kron could see that the people here are far experienced in their abilities. Still, he cannot risk them failing for not following the rules.

"Let's stop! We should not waste our time fighting!" Kron said, walking beside Cyrus.

"Huh? Who the hell are you?" Sidir shouted. "Stay out of this!" The paper cranes started to dive like birds toward Kron.

Kron didn't expect the sudden attack from Sidir. He wanted to talk this through. Fighting was not something he had in mind. He was frozen in place as he started to think on what to do. The paper cranes was just a few meters away from hitting him when rays of light unexpectedly appeared and shot through the paper, destroying them.

"What are you doing? Don't just stand there." Cyrus said before pointing his gun at Sidir. "You started it! Don't regret it!" Cyrus prepared to click the triggers on his guns.

The third member of Sidir's team quickly ran in front of Sidir before summoning a large pavise with a black and white spiral design. He was just on time as the storm of bullets made of light arrived, barraging the large shield.

"You won't be able to keep on hiding there!" Cyrus shouted, increasing the intensity of his attacks.

"You think I'm hiding from you?" Sidir shouted, summoning countless paper cranes from behind the pavise. The paper cranes started accelerating, this time targeting Cyrus.

"Let's see who would fall first!" Cyrus started running around looking for an opening while defending from the cranes.

"Cyrus! Sidir! St-" Adriana wanted to stop them just like Kron but a leaf of Sera's plant suddenly appeared beneath her, causing her to jump back.

"Do you really have the time to be concerned for them? You didn't even notice that you are still within my plant's range." Sera stated as another leaf of its plant pierced the ground and appeared behind Adriana.

Adriana dodged the attack sideways but she was still cut in her right arm. The tentacles of the leaf also scrapped the wound, leaving its pink liquid. Adriana spit on her wound and tried to remove the pink liquid but she learned that it was very hard to remove. It has become like a gum and it also amplified the pain in her wound.

"I have enough of this!" Adriana's smile finally disappeared. Her face is now filled with a venomous look. "If you want to fight then let's fight!" Adriana's shadow started to deform. It doesn't look humanoid anymore. They started to split and form tendrils wiggling and creeping towards Sera. The tendrils then shot out from the shadow becoming an actual physical attack aiming at Sera. Fortunately for Sera, her plant's long whip-like leaves stopped the attack, causing the leaf and the shadow to be entangled together.

"Hah! No more acting?" Sera grinned. "If you want your shadows to reach me, you would need to get closer!"

Kron broke from his startled state. He still didn't expect that a fight would suddenly broke out. After all, they were told that they should avoid harming other students. He was still thinking of a way how to stop the fight or even just thinking that they should just run. He doesn't think that the enemy would give chase to them. Unfortunately, his teammates don't look like they would be too eager with that suggestion. Still, he would be in danger if he does not do anything as he was still in the vicinity of the fight. Sidir kept on sending his army of paper cranes while Sera's plant has leaves that suddenly shoots out beneath them. Kron thought that Cyrus and Adriana would be much stronger than the two but it seems that the skill between the four was not that far from each other.

"What could I even do? They all seem so skilled." Kron told himself as he saw the very close fight between the five. He was starting to lose his confidence.

"You think I can't get near you?" Adriana said as she then charged at Sera. Her shadows occupied the leaves while she jumped left and right, dodging the plant's range attacks. It was throwing its sticky liquid at her. Once she got close, she pulled a pitch black dagger from her hip. "Try blocking this!"

But before she could attack her, another set of leaves came out of the ground, striking at Adriana. She tried to cut off its leaves with her dagger but she was only able to scratch it. Additionally, the other leaves got through her and causing her another set of injuries. She was tricked. Adriana have 2 summoned plants. She even counted the number of leaves that Sera's plant have. She thought that the first plant was sending its leaves from the underground but there was actually a second one moving beneath them. This was the reason why Adriana was having a hard time calculating the range of Sera's attacks.

"So predictable! Unfortunately for you, I already have 2 Drosgum plants!" Sera laughed hard before looking sideways. "Stay there weakling!" Her plant lashed out at Kron who was trying to sneak around her.

"I can't get near! What could I do?" Kron stepped back. He was not sure what he could do. The enemies' range was too long for him. Both Sidir and Sera was too hard for him to approach. He could see that his teammate are having a hard time and he would just be a burden if he rushed in. He has now two choices either watch and believe that his two teammates could win or he must need to improve in order to be able to help. His choice was of course, to improve.

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"I need to find a way to increase my range! My range is anything I touch and anything inside my aura." Kron evoked the invisible spherical aura on his two hands. He was trying to increase the energy that he was using as he desired to make it bigger. It was a success. From, a radius of a meter. It doubled into two meters. Still, it was not enough. He tried to force it even more but he was losing energy fast and it was not growing. "No! There must be something more I could do!"

In a flash, two words came to his mind. Combine and transform. It was the same as when he touched the seed. No, it might have also been the reason why he could understand the more complex books that he had read. He does not know the reason for his sudden enlightenment but this is what he currently needs to continue progressing. "Combine! That's right! The two spheres are now overlapping each other! Its a waste! I just need a single large one!" With that thought in mind, the two spheres on each of his hand disappeared. What replaced it was a single large sphere which he was the center. It was not only as simple as adding the two together, it seemed the bubble around him could reach 5 meters.

"This is it! But where could I even use my ability?" Kron told himself. He could now use his ability with a longer range but he started to think on where could he use it. He could change a long branch into metal but what then? Throw it? How about the trees? What for? Defending? He then looked at the battle between Sera and Adriana. Adriana kept dodging with an occasional attack using her shadow while Sera's plants are lashing from above and striking from below. "The ground! That's it!"

"The space above is useless...I need to transform it.." Kron could see that the sphere seems not the optimal shape if he wanted to increase his range. He started to desire it to change. Little by little, it started to change shape. From sphere to a square. From square to a rectangle. Finally, it became like a long wide carpet. Its range was far above than he expected. It was just a little short of Sera's position from where he stand. "I could finally help! But I need something else!"

Kron cut off a large leaf from a nearby plant. "I hope this works!" Kron suddenly stepped in towards the battle.

"What are you doing? Keep away from the Plant!" Adriana shouted.

"Don't worry about me! Focus on her!" Kron shouted.

"You still haven't learned your lesson huh!" Sera said, commanding her plant to attack Kron.

The plant lashed at Kron, but he blocked it using the large leaf turned steel like holding a large fan. Kron was getting pushed back but he was getting its attention.

"Is that his ability?" Sera thought, before turning her focus to Adriana. "No. You won't get near me!"

To her surprise, her other plant hidden underground did not help her. Adriana's path to her was completely unfettered. It was too late for her other plant to help as Kron was keeping it occupied.

"What's happening? The ground.." Sera uttered. She could finally feel that something was wrong. Her plant was telling her that it can't get above the ground. Something was blocking it.

Adriana was also confused why Sera wasn't protecting herself with her plant so she was still being cautious. Still, the path forward was a risk she was willing to take. "Take this!" Adriana stabbed her with the pitch black knife in the stomach. It only caused Sera minimal harm but tendrils of darkness extended from the dagger restricting her. Sera's control over her plants also seem to be weakening as they disappeared and returned to her inner world. With Sera's defeat, Adriana was also able to notice something shining on the ground.

Kron turned the compact ground just below the surface into a whole bronze alloy carpet. With a closer look and parting some soil with her foot, Adriana saw the imperfect metal carpet. It has some small holes or uneven parts but it was good enough to actually prevent the Drosgum plant from attacking underground. Sera was also able to understand it now as she is lying on the ground, unable to move. She could feel how the ground is harder and even more stable. A little while later, the ground returned to its normal soil composition.

"You lost!" Adriana said, looking down at Sera.

"Hmph!" Sera scoffed, looking at Kron. "I would have won without him!"

"Excuses! it was a team battle after all." Adriana replied. She doesn't seem happy even after they won.

"Looks like you lost Sidir!" Cyrus said. He stopped attacking, looking at Sera. "It seems that Sera has lost but what would you expect from Adriana."

"Let her go Adriana. We could share the soil that we found." Sidir still wanted to fight Cyrus but he knew that they would not win once Adriana joined the fight. First they are already at a disadvantage against Cyrus. What's more is that he heard what Sera said that she lost due to Kron joining the fight. Lastly, he didn't want to fight against Adriana.

"We don't care about your soil. We already have something for our own. Kron! Cyrus! Let's go!" Adriana said before pulling out the dagger from Sera. She then jumped away. She doesn't really seemed to be in a good mood after the fight.

Sera was able to move again but she was severely weakened.

"Really? We will not take their soil?" Cyrus does not seem to agree but he seem to not really care that much. Unlike Adriana, he was satisfied with his performance. He was overwhelming his two opponents little by little. "It will take more than a defender to beat me. Maybe next time, bring a support too!" Cyrus told Sidir before he left laughing.

"That shit!" Sidir whispered, grinding his teeth before looking at Kron. "What are you looking at?"

"You should take care of your teammate first." Kron said before trying to leave.

"Wait!" Sera shouted, forcing herself to speak. "Adriana called you Kron? I'll remember that! I'll take my revenge next time."

Kron turned his head back and nodded then continued on his way. Kron felt relieved as they were away. They won but he knew that he was the weakest link in their group. The pressure that he felt when fighting in a group was much higher than when he just fought alone. It was as if he didn't want to disappoint others.

Adriana kept running straight without any goal. Like Kron, it was as if she just wanted to get far. She only stopped when she found a secluded place with a dried up pond surrounded by trees. She found a nearby tree stump and sat on it. Cyrus stopped near her and leaned back on a neighboring tree on the right while Kron just sat on a nearby ground on the left of Adriana.

"I can't believe I was actually losing to Sera!" Adriana seemed full of anger. She was not angry at Sera but at herself.

"But you didn't actually lost yet." Kron said. He felt that Adriana was being too harsh on herself when she seemed to be much better than a lot of people he saw.

"Thank you for your concern but I don't need your pity." Adriana exhaled, trying to calm herself. "I know that I lost."

"Told you. You care too much about what others think. If I were you, I won't waste time with insignificant people and just focus on myself." Cyrus frankly said. He doesn't seem to be surprised at how Adriana is acting.

"You might be right. I must be too distracted of useless things." Adriana sighed. "I might have been disillusioned of how strong I am because of the people surrounding me."

"Heh! Just admit that you start liking the attention. Even I like attention," Cyrus mockingly said. "But its a good wake up call right?"

"I told you I don't!" Adriana shouted before smirking. "But I suppose, I should also give my gratitude to Sera next time."

Cyrus then turned to Kron. "And you. Why do you seem down? We just won."

"Its nothing." Kron looked away, trying to hide what he was feeling.

"Then let me ask a different thing." Cyrus paused. "Why did you just stand when Sidir attacked you? Are you planning to get hit?"

"I didn't think that he would suddenly attack. I thought we would just talk or walk away." Kron frowned. He didn't really thought that they would suddenly be in a battle. His immediate thought during that time was how to avoid or stop the fight.

"Talk? Flee?" Cyrus curled his eyebrows, looking disappointed at Kron. He could see Kron's pacifist attitude. "Do you think that Sidir would care if you are hurt? Additionally, What took you so long to act?"

"I was still expecting that the fight would just stop. We could get punished for fighting, couldn't we?" Kron didn't completely agree with Cyrus but he knew that he made a mistake in his decision.

Cyrus suddenly laughed. "That's it? You are scared of the punishment? Do you actually think the teachers would care if no one died?"

"Stop it Cyrus! He is a transported." Adriana shook her head. "He does not even know a lot about this world."

"So what? Did you know why I joined him?" Cyrus turned back to Kron. "I thought you are someone who could stand on the same level as me."

"I'm sorry if I am not someone that you expected." Kron's tough facade was starting to break. The continuous interaction with people with strong personality was starting to take a toll on him. Without someone to rely on, his old self was trying resurface. He was starting to think again about the girl who always helped him and the friends that he could blend with.

Cyrus frowned. "What are you saying sorry for? Did I say that you failed me? And even if you did, so what? Who am I for you to care about? What I am saying is I think you are capable but its up to you to prove it to yourself."

"You still haven't changed Cyrus. Same level as you huh? Still pretty arrogant," Adriana chuckled, before tapping Kron. "You don't need to listen to him. He just like talking shit to people. "

"He is right! Why am I still always getting scared? I am not the same as before." Kron did not like what he was hearing from Cyrus but he can't help but agree on some of them. He had a habit of avoiding any fights and any scenario that would make people pay attention to him but it seems that it would not be the best case of action every time. Kron stood up, feeling anew. "We still need to find a soil for our pot right?"

Cyrus smiled seeing that both Sera and Kron lifted in spirits. "Well yeah! because Adriana didn't take their purple soil!"

"Hmph! Why would I take that! We could find something better than that!" Adriana replied.