2-8: Weak

“One…two…three…”

Physical Education started some minutes ago. The teacher told us that we could use this class to practice anything. In my case, I was trying to increase the distance my mana creations can reach. Sadly, I can’t surpass the fifteen meters without losing precision and control.

“...Chord…”

“Hmm? Oh, it’s Fran.”

Instead of practicing some kind of spell, Fran used this time trying to practice with the violin. Apparently the quality of his spells depends on how good he can play, so for him that wasn’t different from whatever the others could be doing.

“What if…”

Intrigued by what would happen, I threw a tiny rock at him. Just as it was about to hit, it was repelled by an invisible force. At least he's ready for a surprise attack.

“Interesting.”

“Hmm?”

I looked behind me, and a guy with short brown hair and glasses was looking at us accompanied by a girl with long purple hair. Both were wearing the uniform, so it was obvious that they’re students, but they weren’t people from our year.

I had an idea of who they were, but just in case, I tried to hear what they were talking about.

“Someone interesting Mary?”

“Hmm…Maybe that guy that is playing the violin.”

“Musical magic, an interesting way to use spells, but always considered worse than any other magic.”

“I heard that it’s good for attacking the area.”

“Yeah, but try to play perfectly in a stressful situation.”

It was impressive how they were talking about Fran’s magic like that without doubting before saying anything. I just hope Frans didn’t hear any of that.

“Someone interesting for you Leonard?”

“Well…”

I tried to figure out who he would say, but his eyes were moving too fast. Still, he looked at me for a second before looking at the girl.

“No one.”

“Do you mean…?”

“Yeah, this is a disappointing year.”

They turned around like they were saying that staying here would be a waste. I was about to do something, but then I remembered how I ended the conversation with Cloe two days ago.

“So, you’re gonna do it?”

“Yes…or I’d like to say that.”

“I wasn’t waiting for that.”

“Two days is too soon. A predictable performance would be boring for the audience. I want to be a real challenge.”

“I see, then just use that day to memorize his appearance.”

Starting a fight would be stupid, so I had no reason to approach him.

I stood up trying to find a better place to practice. But then, I saw Fran's face again. He definitely heard everything.

“So, Leonard, where are we gonna go now?”

“I wanna see the advanced class, after that we could go to-.”

Leonard stopped talking when someone grabbed his uniform. That was me.

“...Do you need something?”

“It’s just…He heard you.”

I pointed in Fran’s direction, but Leonard was confused.

“And?”

“You could apologize.”

“...Why?”

“Huh?”

“If you know what is happening then you know what I said. I wasn’t wrong with what I said.”

“Your words hurt him.”

“Again, and? Musical magic doesn’t have a conventional structure, and the things that can be made with it are really limited. Maybe the range is good, but that’s all.”

“...”

“Maybe you can’t understand it because you’re only able to do magic wasting mana.”

“How did you-.”

“Sensing mana isn't difficult for me. Maybe you were born with a unique talent, but like your mana, you're wasting it.”

“...”

“Now, can I go? I have places where-.”

I pulled even stronger on his uniform. I was about to say something, but the teacher noticed what I was doing.

“Thomas! Stop already with-.”

The teacher quickly stopped when Leonard raised his hand, smiling.

“There’s no problem here, I know what he wants.”

“But-.”

“I’m the one who invented that rule, I have to obey it.”

Leonard lifted up my chin and looked at my eyes gently, but it didn’t feel like real gentleness.

“Let’s fight in a good zone.”

I did what he told me, and everyone looked at us, so I must give them a good show.

“Do you feel ready?”

“Yes.”

Leonard didn’t make any fight posture or anything else, he was just in the place, waiting.

“I can heal our wounds, so we don’t need the spell to weaken our spells.”

“Great…”

“Also, you can do the first move.”

In any other circumstances I would notice what he was planning, but I wasn’t thinking with logic at that moment.

“Catch!”

My first move was using my mana strings to tie him. Surprisingly, he didn’t do anything. The battle just started and I already had a huge advantage.

“Impressive. Your control of the mana is pretty good.”

“Thanks, but that was just the start!”

The next move was supposed to be launching him and then hitting his body against the ground until he couldn’t move. But, in that moment I was able to see the difference between us.

“Let’s see.”

With a simple touch, the strings that tied him were destroyed and the mana ended up dispersed.

“What did you do?”

“You just threw pure mana. Maybe you got an interesting form, but I can undo it easily with my hands.”

Even when he was explaining what happened, I noticed that he was careful to not reveal exactly what he did. If he’s being that careful then I can actually damage him.

“So you need to touch them…”

“Hmm?”

“Show of sharps!”

I created strings again, but he quickly dodged him. Trying to reach him, I did a dance while my hands moved in different directions, making the attack unpredictable.

“Amazing! Maybe they look the same, but they’re sharper!”

“It seems the rumors about you are true.”

“You’re gonna do this until I get tired?”

“That would be boring!”

I quickly removed my shoes and started running in his directions. When he prepared for direct combat, I did a jump and created a bouncy surface in the air, getting a big altitude.

“A place that I can’t reach, and the strings are in an even better position, this looks bad for me!”

“Cage!”

The last part of the attack was doing a cage with the strings and closing it to damage him. If I stop the attack quickly, it shouldn’t kill him. But, I was being too optimistic with that idea.

“Now…can we stop playing?”

I got a bad feeling, and his next word confirmed it.

“Release.”

Suddenly, I felt my strings being cut. I landed and quickly looked at him to see what was happening, and what I saw in his hand was a twin sword.

“You can feel proud, the previous record of making me show my sword was forty seconds.”

“Does that mean that I’m a challenge?”

“It’s the opposite, if I didn’t do it, it could look like I’m actually struggling.”

“Then, I’m gonna make you struggle, for real.”

Although I said that with confidence, I was thinking what else I could do. If he can cut my strings then most of my attacks are gonna be useless.

“Time for doing an experiment.”

Instead of attacking with the strings, I did some basic structures with mana and used them for swinging in different directions.

“You’re gonna kick me with the speed you get with that?”

“Something better!”

In the last swing, I kicked in his direction. He was ready to counterattack, but my attack failed.

“What?”

“I got you!”

I did a bouncy surface, going back to him with even more speed. He turned back and moved his sword, so I filled my hand with sharp mana, punching the sword.

“Ngh!”

“That was a close one.”

“Yeah, and I have-.”

Suddenly, a cut appeared on my shoulder. I got distracted by the pain, and Leonard used that distraction to kick my torso.

“Guh!”

“You really thought you could just punch my sword without consequences?”

With a quick spin, I was kicked again, hitting the ground some meters far from my opponent.

“Ugh…”

“It doesn’t matter how much you can block my sword, you will always receive the damage.”

I tried to attack again, but that cut basically left my arm totally useless. With no other option, I headed to the place where I threw my shoes.

“Dang it…”

“Don’t worry, I can wait.”

Trying to ignore him, I took my gloves and put them on my hands. If I can’t defeat him with my other techniques, I will use my win condition.

“Be prepared…”

I did rhythmic moves trying to activate the Tragedy laugh. He responded by running in my direction.

“Too late!”

I did the final move…but one second later, I felt great damage on my chest and on my back. I looked down, and I saw a lot of blood staining my uniform.

“What…”

Instead of answering to me, Leonard looked at the rest of the students and talked out loud.

“I hope everyone learned the mistakes he committed in this fight. I hope for a real challenge next time.”

“...”

“Kazu!”

I heard a voice calling my name, but I blacked out before knowing who did it.

Just then, I noticed how weak I actually am.