"Silence, class!" The black-haired man acting as the instructor said, hearing the words of Erin Gruwell, the class became silent as everyone waited for his next words.
"... Now then, class, this is Kenta Logan. He will be attending classes with you all from here on." He said in a fluent tone.
"Kenta, why don't you go ahead and introduce yourself?" He said as he glanced at Kenta. Kenta nodded his head curtly and reluctantly bowed his head before the class.
"As mentioned before by Mr Erin, I am Kenta Logan, and I would very much appreciate it if you all treated me warmly from here," Kenta said. He slowly glanced around at the many different students before him to judge their reactions.
He wasn't surprised when he saw many of them looking at him with either contempt or mockery. However, he was surprised by the many other gazes which were filled with genuine welcome. Among them, the gazes coming from the back, which were filled with students who weren't born into any special position, were especially convivial.
"Good... now then, today everyone is going to do a friendly mock battle with each other, magic swords are allowed, but the use of magic is forbidden. Everyone selects your combatant opponent." Erin instructed, clapping his hands.
At that, the room stirred noisily as the many different students moved around selecting their opponents. 'Hmm... a mock battle. Huh, maybe this is my chance.' Kenta thought as he glanced at Aurora, who was already being surrounded by many challengers.
"Don't look too surprised, as I said before, she is named the strongest, so she received challenges regularly," Leo explained.
"I see... maybe I should just observe for now," Kenta said. He slowly looked around the room and went towards the many different weapons placed around.
Kenta looked at the different types of weapons, checking their quality and contrasting shapes and sizes. 'Hm.' When he saw a small sword inside a black sheath that caught his interest. He slowly unsheathes the sword, and the blade glittered as light reflected off its surface of the blade.
"Oh, nice pick," Leo commented.
"That sword is called a rapier; it is easier to move around with than a longsword," Leo added.
"And what about you? Have you decided what you're going to use?" Kenta inquired.
"Heh, I already have my own sword, you'll see when I enter the stage, telling you now would ruin the surprise," Leo said, his mouth turned into a grin. Kenta looked at him curiously but gave up as he saw Leo had no plans of telling him about his weapon.
Many of the students who are hoping to increase their ranking chose to go against other high-ranking members.
Kenta looked around the room, trying to find a good opponent when...
"Aurora, it's time for me to be named the strongest. Come face me!" A young boy with short, inky black hair said, pointing his finger at Aurora, who stood calmly in the corner of the room with her back leaning against the wall.
However, when she heard someone address her directly, she slowly opened her eyes and glanced at the person.
"You. Um... who are you again?" Aurora asked curiously. "..." The entire room became abruptly silent, which confused both Kenta and Aurora. Meanwhile, "Pfft." Someone's choked laughter resounded.
Many of the surrounding students tried holding back their laughter, while some didn't bother and laughed. The black-haired boy had challenged and faced Aurora multiple times in the past.
Each time she turned him into an ice statue, leaving him incapable of challenging her, but now she was acting as though she had no clue who he was. And judging by the light of puzzlement that shone within those beautiful silver eyes of hers, her cluelessness and utter confusion were genuine.
"Tch, you! Are you saying you have completely forgotten about me?!" He asked, anger visible on his face. However, Aurora only tilted her head cutely. "Are you saying we've met before?" She asks to confirm. Question marks were floating above her head.
Aurora wasn't kidding; she really didn't remember him; she was a simple airheaded girl. She only remembers what she wants to remember. Or things she finds interesting. If someone doesn't leave a strong impression on her, then that person would most likely be forgotten later on.
The number of opponents she had turned into an ice statue was so large that it was impossible to count them on one hand. She also had no interest in wasting her time on a bunch of idiots who don't know their place.
"As I said before, I don't remember ever meeting you before," Aurora responded. She had given up thinking about it. "Will you accept, or not?" The black-haired boy, Jack asked. "... I shall accept," Aurora replied, somewhat disinterested.
Many of the other students also found their own opponents, leaving only Kenta and Leo. "Well... I guess it will be us." Leo said to Kenta with a friendly smile.
"Sure," Kenta replied, indifferently.
"Alright, now that everyone has found their respective opponents, we shall start the first match. Use any weapons you are most comfortable with." Erin said calmly. Both Aurora and Jack stood facing each other on a slightly small stage inside the room.
Aurora elegantly drew the sword sheath at her waist. A longsword with a thin blade that was completely white in colour, a small blue crystallised gemstone was embedded inside the hilt. "Hm, that sword." Kenta squinted his eyes as he felt a lot of magical power within the sword held inside Aurora's hand.
"Are you surprised? That sword is an ice-type magical sword that can freely control the ice-type elements." Leo explained. The sword in Aurora's hand glowed subtly, while snow could be seen scattering around the blade. Meanwhile, Jack took out a Halberd.
Erin stood between both Aurora and Jack as he was about to act as the umpire of the match. Aurora wore a composed expression on her face as she took a stance with her sword. Jack also took a stance with his Halbert as the blade radiated a strange energy.
"Begin!" Erin raised his hand as he declared.
Swoosh!
Jack quickly closed the distance between them as he heard the signal. And with a quick motion of his hand, he swung the blade of his halberd towards Aurora. However, with proficient reaction time, she easily blocked the Helbert with the blade of her sword, forcefully changing the trajectory of the Halberd into another direction.
"Tch, take this!" Jack exclaimed, swinging his halberd towards her neck, while his intention wasn't to kill her. He at least wanted to land a good blow, "!?" But just as the attack was about to make contact, the gem on Aurora's sword glowed subtly as a block of ice appeared before her, easily blocking the blade of the halberd. Jack tried pulling out the blade of the Halberd, but it was in too deep; no matter how much he pulled, it wouldn't budge.
Meanwhile, Aurora swung her sword horizontally, easily cutting through the block of ice!
Clang!
Jack's face grimaced as he used his Halberd to stop her sword. Once the block of ice broke, the ice shards scattered away. Soon, the blade of the halberd started to shine with black energy. He quickly swung his halberd vertically. Meanwhile, Aurora swung her sword horizontally.
Clang!
A loud metallic sound echoed from the collision of both swords. Kenta watched their fight from a distance with deep interest. Judging by the way she moved her body, he could easily tell she was well experienced, while Jack was simply using brute force to overpower her.
"Maybe she really is worth fighting," Kenta said, as he observed the way she moved her body. "Of course, she is, as I said before, she was trained personally by the previous headmaster," Leo commented.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Both Aurora and Jack exchanged blows several times. However, each time their weapons clashed, Jack was sent back. Half the stage was covered in frost and snow, "Tch, this woman... she is taking control of the surroundings." Jack muttered bitterly; he knew if this kept up, then there wouldn't be a safe place for him to stand anymore.
Aurora's magical energy was gradually seeping through the stage. If she wanted to, she could control it to a certain extent. "In that case, then how about this!" Jack exclaimed. He thrust the blade of his halberd into the ground, sending a fierce shockwave to spread through.
Sensing the impending danger of the attack, Aurora kicked off the ground and leapt smoothly into the air!
The shockwave easily destroyed the frost and cleared the snow. However, the stage shook slightly as though the foundation was damaged by the attack.
Some of the shockwaves threatened the safety of the spectators, before it could spread through the classroom, one of the formations carved directly onto the stage glowed, and a transparent barrier surrounded the stage.
The barrier was strong enough to easily block the shockwave. '... That's.' Kenta recognize the barrier. It was similar to the one they had in Zaril's city training ground when he had gone to get his identification card.
While still being in mid-air, Aurora held her sword upwards, and many swords of ice materialised, turning their trajectory towards Jack, who stood on the stage.
Swoosh! swoosh! swoosh! swoosh...!
Many of the ice swords shot outwards like a bullet closing onto Jack and leaving behind streaks as they made their way towards him.
But Jack swung his Halberd, cutting down the many ice swords targeting him. Aurora had made sure not to put too much force into them to prevent them from accidentally killing him... But their force was enough to easily knock him out once contact was made!
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
Jack continued to swing his Halberd, cutting down the incoming ice sword. No matter how much he cut, more kept coming his way in different and calculated patterns.
One closed in from behind, sensing the attack, he swung his sword behind him, destroying the ice sword, but then...
Two came from the front, the blade of Jack's halberd glowed, releasing dark energy as he struck them down.
But just then...!
As Jack finished cutting down the two from the front, he heard a voice directly in his ear, "I believe we're done here." Aurora said coldly. The blade of her sword was placed against Jack's throat. Sending a shiver down his spine.
"... I see. So that was your plan, you wanted me to keep all my attention on those ice swords while you sneak up behind me." Jack muttered, dejected, realising it was his loss. "Hmph, you lost the moment you took your eyes off of me," Aurora replied. Erin came up onto the stage and declared the ending of the first match.
"Heh, as expected of Lady Aurora, she is truly unrivalled."
"Lady Aurora is a genius among geniuses."
"That punk had nothing on the class prodigy."
The students stirred noisily as they showered Aurora with praise.
Aurora calmly walked back down the stairs of the stage and gently fixed her messy white hair. However, for a moment, her silver eyes flashed with a peculiar light as she made eye contact with Kenta's ever-indifferent blue coloured eyes. It was now the start of the next match. Two boys were now going to face each other.