Now I have a target on my back because I'm related to the student council president. That's just wonderful, I thought.

The instructor signaled for us to start. Tasha inched towards me, carefully analyzing my every move. To my surprise, she suddenly jumped towards me with a high kick. As I had assumed, her speed was no joke, and she almost managed to hit me.

I spun and countered with a jab, but she effortlessly dodged and swept under for a low kick. I stepped back, just barely avoiding her blow once more.

She's really good.

We both got only a few seconds of breath before we were back in combat. With each blow she sent, I dodged and weaved. It was like a never-ending catfight. But finally, she got sluggish, and fatigue started to catch up with her. I was able to take advantage of this.

She went for a kick to my head, and I warded it off with my arm and jabbed her in the gut with my knee. She fell backward, hitting the ground.

I had won. The instructor called off the match, and I decided to go help Tasha to her feet.

She took my hand and stood up, saying, "You're stronger than I anticipated. I haven't met a lot of people our age who can defeat me in pure martial arts."

"Well, I have been training since I can remember. Your skills, though, are nothing to scoff at," I replied. For someone her age to achieve that level of martial ability was rare. I found myself wanting her to get into the school and hoped the instructors took her martial prowess into account.

"Thank you, Falyn," Tasha said as we walked back into the crowd. Haz made his way over to us, and Tasha instantly bowed at the sight of him. "Hello, Prince Haz. It's an honor to meet you."

Haz's face turned bright red. "It's fine; you don't have to call me that, nor bow. I am a normal attendee as of right now, so please."

I had never seen Haz stumble over his words like this. Tasha lifted her head, looking him in the eyes. "Are you sure?"

"Y-yes."

"Then what should I call you?" she asked, tilting her head.

"Just Haz is fine."

"Well, okay. Will do, Haz," she said with a smile.

As we watched the rest of the bouts, Tasha and Haz began talking and seemed to hit it off really well. Maybe this was the cute girl he was looking for.

Soon after everything was finished, the secretary showed herself once more, this time with a giant glass ball. "We will now move on to the third test," she gestured to the glass orb set up on a podium. "This will be a magic potency test. This ball can only take a certain amount of mana before it explodes."

She held up an arm and shot a fireball toward the glass orb. The orb exploded in an array of colors like a firework. Attendees watched in awe and amazement at the sight. Then, a few seconds later, the pieces of exploded glass began to glow and reform the ball on the podium. In the span of seconds, the glass orb looked as if it had never been touched.

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"Once it explodes, it will do that. The maximum amount of spells you can use is three. If you cannot destroy the glass orb with the spell amount you are given, then you fail." She looked around, making sure everyone understood the instructions. "If everyone understands, then you may start now."

The first student stepped up. He was a larger boy, taller than the rest. He shot a gale of wind, but the ball didn't budge. He then shot another gale of wind, with the same result. "What the heck?" he said as he shot one last gale of wind, getting the same result.

And it continued like this. Seven people had tried, but none had managed to break the glass orb. Some people even started looking at the student council secretary like she was some strange freak.

“I want to give it a go,” Tasha said as she stepped up.

Tasha raised her palm and stomped her foot. Giant jagged shards of earth shot toward the glass orb, but nothing happened. She did it again, but this time I could feel much more mana being put into it. Her face cringed at the large output.

The shards shot toward the orb at a much more potent speed this time and finally, the orb exploded.

“Yes!” Tasha said as she jumped up.

Seeing the orb explode and reform once more, the other attendees seemed to have a new outlook on the situation and their morale appeared to boost.

Hanz nudged my shoulder, “If she did it, that means we have to pass. If we don’t, we’ll look weak.”

Tasha walked back towards us and seemed to hear what Hanz said. “What is that supposed to mean?” She said, her face somewhat contorted in anger.

Hanz had no words.

Tasha lifted her leg and kicked him in front of the glass orb, “Why don’t you give it a go then? Let's see how you do.”

Hanz stumbled and looked back at us, embarrassed.

She really doesn't care, does she? “I just want to say, I thought you did amazing, Tasha,” I whispered.

Hanz clicked his tongue and raised his palm. An orb of lightning formed and he sent it flying toward the glass orb. It didn’t destroy it. “This thing is truly tough,” he said, surprised.

I was surprised as well. I was expecting that to destroy the thing, considering I had seen that spell many times firsthand.

He began charging his spell once more, this time putting more mana into it. He unleashed it once more. Lightning fizzled and arched toward the glass orb. Once it collided with it, the orb exploded.

Going later or last in these sorts of tests was always the best thing to do in my opinion. By doing this, you could see what works and what doesn't and prepare for it. Now that two people had destroyed the orb, I knew what I had to do.

If one looked closely, one could see that it wasn't just about mana potency. This test was about potency and accuracy.

I stepped up immediately after Hanz finished, and the glass orb had reformed. I raised my palm and aimed it directly at the center of the orb. I sent a spear of water and a small dart of wind immediately after, both hitting the orb in exactly the same spot.

The orb exploded instantly, and the crowd gasped at my achievement.

I knew the ball was impossible to explode with one point of force. It had to be hit twice for it to explode, which is why I sent the spear of water and the dart of wind. It looked like I did it with just one try, but in reality, it took two attacks.

I walked back to where the other two were standing.

“Amazing job, Falyn,” Tasha said.

“Thank you,” I replied.

Hanz sighed, “Show off.” His eyes met mine, “So you figured it out too, huh? I didn’t realize until after.”

“Yeah, when the secretary did it, I had my suspicions but wasn’t sure. It was only thanks to you two going first that I was able to confirm the theory.”

“Guys, am I missing something?” Tasha asked.

“You didn’t realize?” I asked.

“Realize what?” She asked.

“For the glass orb to explode, it needs two potent hits in the same spot,” I explained.

Her eyes widened at my words, and she seemed to piece it together in her mind. “I see.”

The rest of the attendees finished up, most of them not figuring out the key to destroying the ball.

The secretary stood up in front of the crowd once more, “Now for the last and final test. It will be held in the training arena, and it will be full one-on-one magical battles with no restrictions.”