'The first set will be Rachel, Joshua, Michael and Dennis against Alicia Reinhart, Matilda, Johann and Manfred. We have determined that based on your abilities the risk you pose to each other is higher, so we will have you start first so that Elaina has an easier time preventing accidents. On your part, do try your best not to kill each other, and when we say to put your weapons down, put them down. There's a limit to how far even time control magic can go.' (Gwyn)

The teams walk to the field. For some odd reason, every student in the batch appears to be watching, not just the other eight students waiting to go next. And a few unfamiliar faces as well.

'Is this a spectacle, Instructor Gwyn?' (Matilda)

'Depending on your performance, some of you may graduate immediately and be apprenticed to some of our Iron-plated colleagues here until you're capable of independently acting as Copper-plated Adventurers. And live combat like this is rare, so all of you will watch everyone else's final tests to qualify as apprentice adventurers. Hopefully you learn something from each other.' (Gwyn)

'Well, this is an opportunity to prove that Instructor Elaina is mistaken about the possibility of commoners being a match for us.' (Alicia)

Well, it seems she didn't take that comment about Joshua and I being more promising than her well at all.

'Begin.' (Gwyn)

Alicia's sword immediately glows, and in a burst of mist extends to double its original length. Given the last time her ice blade showed up it merely extended her reach by half, she's clearly practiced as hard as Joshua had. And then, in a second burst of mist, the ice blade disappears, leaving a shocked expression on her face. I lunge towards her spear-first, but the spearhead is parried by a blade coming in from the right, which in itself is parried by a second blade coming from my right.

'She's all yours,' Joshua quips, and starts forcing Johann back with wind-empowered strikes. To the left, the sound of metal ringing on metal sounds as the two warhammers clash on shields repeatedly with glancing blows. But as my spearhead approaches Alicia again, she has gotten off the shock of her greatest trump card being unusable, and parries it with precision one might expect more from a rapier than a longsword. Neither Dennis nor Manfred have used their weapons yet, but the drops of exhaustion rolling off their faces indicate a battle of comparable ferocity is occuring in a place nobody can see.

As proficient as Alicia is with her sword, it quickly becomes clear that even with the haft being shortened, the difference in reach is a severe liability in man-to-man combat, with six of my thrusts leaving slash wounds on her arm and side, but none of her attacks even reaching my forearm. Her weapon is made of metal and mine mostly of wood, so while her swing speed is inexplicably somehow both still faster than mine and better placed in spite of similar overall weight, just not being able to close the gap makes it impossible for her to compete on fair ground. Her wounds close shortly after being dealt, but it's clear that her pride and psyche are taking damage even Manfred cannot repair.

I don't think Dennis fully appreciates how important he is here. If she had her full reach with that earlier spell that exceeded a spear's length, she would have eliminated all four of us in less than ten seconds with her skill with the sword, instead of everyone getting mired in this endurance match. At this rate, it's a question of whether Manfred's endurance collapses first, or whether Michael makes a mistake and gets hit directly by Matilda that will decide the match.

And then it happened.

In tears of desperation, Alicia parries my spear a lot more forcefully than usual, and uses the recoil of her swing to intentionally slash her own wrist. Blood should have sprayed into the air, but it instead gathered itself onto her sword, and a piercing pain hits my chest as I feel wind suddenly flow *through* my back. Looking down, what could only be described as a crimson lance has formed, with one end in her hand and its shaft embedded in my chest. Instinctively, I let go of my own haft, and slam both palms onto the shaft of the lance. The pitch of sounds seems to decrease oddly, but a manlier version of what seemed to be Joshua's voice appears to be screaming the word 'No'.

And then a white flash sears through the space in front of me, before Alicia's head slides forward and hits the floor, leaving a bubbling fountain of blood above her torso. The sound of her torso hitting the floor coincides with what could only be the sound of my own body doing the same.

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So this is what it is like to die. Less painful than expected. But I guess that doesn't matter now.

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---Alicia Reinhart's perspective---

I didn't expect this.

This should have been an easy victory. With each of the other two frontliners buying me time, there is no way a lowborn of inferior skill and no magic can possibly fend off my ice blade. I even practiced to make it longer than I ever managed before this, to show the instructors the difference between one blessed by the Gods and the common rabble we are born to rule over.

But that red-haired scumbag ruined everything. He pretended to just be a nerd, but somehow, his magic is strong enough to block even my will. And without reach, even with the force of earth magic and the speed of wind magic enchanting this blade, I physically cannot touch her.

She's nothing but a waste of space. One good at making people want to die in her place, maybe. Her spearwork isn't anywhere comparable to Silas. She has no magic. She doesn't even have the looks needed for a woman to appeal to anybody of high station when they don't have the talent to live on their own. And they dare say she is superior to me!?

If I was born with a worthless piece of meat between my legs, I would have been the head of my house by now. Instead I'm being humiliated by this lowborn scum piggybacking off the talent of that redhead pipsqueak.

If this goes on, I'll only take more injuries when she thrusts on point from dumb luck. Manfred has a limit to how long he can stop me from bleeding out. The musclehead in their group isn't as dumb as he looks either, he hasn't taken a single hit from Matilda head on, and at this rate he never will.

I cannot use water in the air. The nerd will evaporate any water I gather faster than I can gather it. But this isn't the limit to controlling water, is it? The probability of water spontaneously condensing and spontaneously freezing is low. Much lower than the probability of water evaporating in this heat. Even though he is weaker than me, the situation favours him.

I need a source of water. My waterskin has water. If I splash it, I can freeze it faster than he can evaporate it. He is inferior to me. But if I reach for it, she will run me through. She has no talent, but she has a longer weapon than me. I cannot afford to let up.

What if I stab her waterskin? Her reach is too long. I can do it, but I will be stabbed at the same time I stab her. In a real combat, she will die and I will live, but this isn't a real combat. The instructors will declare both of us to be out of commission even if I take the wound in a trivial location. I cannot afford to lose here. Not as long as I bear the name of Reinhart.

...

There is another source of water.

The judges have not declared my loss from taking wounds to the arm or side. If I merely take a wound to the arm, they will not disqualify me, and Manfred has at least 3 minutes of stamina remaining.

My blood will flow from my wrist onto my blade. My blood will extend from the tip of my blade. My blood is my blade.

I am my sword!

And I will pierce through everything that stands in my way!

...

And it is done. They will consider her downed, and once she lets go of my blade, next, I will -

And the world spun around wildly. Is this Elaina's trick again? I've seen this before. I will will the fluids in my head to -

Is that my body? Why is there blood coming out of my neck?

Why is that redhead's sword stuck in that wall? Did it pass through me?

Oh. My head is here. My neck is there. That's not a good thing.

Shit. What are those incompetents doing? I thought she was supposed to prevent this.

Guess I'll die.

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---Kurt's perspective---

Man, this is such a waste. The prettiest girl in the class is getting cut up for nothing. This profession sucks.

Maybe after the combat, I can heal her. Maybe she'll take notice of me when I make her look as good as she did before. I do remember, after all. That immaculate skin.

The Gods really are unfair. Magic is one thing, but why do the nobles get to look like that as well? Maybe if I was born better looking, I'd have a better chance of talking to someone like her.

Well, I guess I have to work hard on my own appraisal later. If I'm one of the only healers remaining, surely they'll ask me to join them when we graduate, right? Nobody wants to risk dying after all. I guess the Gods haven't completely forsaken me at least.

Well, win or lose, there's no question that Alicia will pass at least, no matter what happens. Her bladework is as beautiful as her, and you'd have to be blind not to see that.

Wait, is she slashing herself?

Why? Why would -

'NO!' (Joshua)

Is he... throwing his sword? In a battle against -

Blood sprays from Alicia's neck as his sword bends around it and embeds itself in the wall behind her. She falls to her knees clutching her neck, as the sword in her hands seems to have extended threefold into something now better described as a pike than anything else. Directly through the chest of her opponent.

Shit, Manfred's not going to be able to deal with this alone. I have to go. Surely he will treat Alicia, so I guess I'm stuck with preventing the death mage from dying.

Isn't Elaina supposed to have stopped this? What the fuck is she doing -

And Elaina's body hits the floor by my side, a pool of blood expanding from her bounteous chest.

Oh, shit. I guess I have to deal with her, then. Hopefully someone else gets to the death mage in time.

It's not like she's worth more than Elaina is.