Strength of an S-level

“Wait Tachibana-san, I don’t want to fight you!”

Another batch of wind daggers came flying down towards me. This time, my ice wall was barely able to withstand the attack.

‘This is bad. Her attacks are getting stronger. I don’t think I can defend for much longer.’

‘Wait a sec, I’m pretty sure the commotion we’re causing should’ve alerted the people outside. Why is no help arriving?!’

“Pathetic, simply just defending to wait for help to arrive? Just give it up. It’s pointless, I’ve surrounded this entire room with a wind barrier that will suppress any noise coming from inside.”, Tachibana-san says as she launches another batch of daggers towards me.

My ice wall broke. I had to jump and roll over from side to side in order to dodge the rest of the daggers.

But by some luck, I managed to get into a position wherein my power adapter was now within arm’s reach.

I took a quick glance at my adapter, then redirected my eyes back to Tachibana-san…I have an idea.

“How’d you know that I was killing time in hopes that someone outside will come to help? Can you read minds too? That’s amazing!”

Tachibana-san paused her attacks. Visibly confused by the stupid question I blurted out.

“Are you really that du- “

Tachibana-san’s response was cut short as a wall of ice quickly rose up below her.

I took this opportunity to try and get a hold of my power adapter.

“Hahaha, nice little trick there.”

The dust (ice shards from the impact) settles and Tachibana-san appears unscathed.

“A weak surprise attack won’t be enough to even scratch me”.

“Well, I wasn’t actually trying to attack you.”

“Huh?”

I raise my right hand to show her my power adapter.

“Pfft… Hahaha, go ahead put it on so you can at least entertain me. This fight is so one-sided, it’s boring.”

Tachibana-san continues to laugh at me.

“I don’t intend on trying to beat you. Like I said earlier, I don’t want to fight you.”

I pressed the button on the adapter to turn it on before throwing it away.

Tachibana-san paused her laughter and grinned.

“Heh, you’re actually pretty smart.”

I guess she already realized what I did…Yes, I activated my power adapter to alert the academy’s peacekeepers. Now all I need to do is try to survive long enough for them to arrive.

“They said keep the collateral damage to a minimum. But I guess it can’t be helped.”

A gust of wind entered the window and now the noise from outside can be heard again.

I guess she dismantled the wall she had outside.

“This would’ve been easier if you just cooperated. You forced me to do this…”

“Fujin’s Tanto…strike!”

‘Fujin’s? Fujin’s spell set?!’

I have two options right now, accept my death or launch another S-level spell to counter her. The second option might also kill me since I don’t know if I have enough magic power to launch an S-level spell. Normally, if a novice tries to cast a spell above his magic capacity, the power adapter will cancel the spell from casting. In my case, not having a power adapter would mean that I would risk casting a spell that will drain all my magic power.

‘Alright, think what to cast...”

“Winter Wyvern’s breath!”

The last thing I remember was feeling a strong gust of cold icy wind passing by my face.

~~~~~

“Hey mom! Look what I found!”

“Where’d you get that book Toshi?”

“My friend Gregor gave it to me! Check this out, Gregor said it’s about magic!”

“Magic? Hahaha what in the world is that?”

“Uhhmm...Gregor said magic can make you do lots of fun things, like flying!”

“You and your friend have a really broad imagination huh. Well anyway, you can enjoy your book after your soccer practice. Your coach already called twice, hurry up and change!”

~~~~~

“…’’

‘Another dream huh. No wait those aren’t dreams, they’re my memories.’

“Hold on, where am I?”

“Hmmphh...Ughhh”

“Who’s there!?”

I look to my right and see another bed where a lady was currently doing some stretches. I think I recognize this person.

“Usami-senpai?”

She quickly got up and rushed towards me.

“Kazuchi-kun!!! You’re awake! Aheeem… I accidentally fell asleep! Sorry!”

“Am I dead?”

“Huh?! Of course not! Why would you say that?!”

“Well then why is there an angel right in front of me?”

“Angel? Wha- “

Usami-senpai paused. She turns around quickly and dashed towards the door.

“I think you might have hit your head somewhere and that’s making you say weird things. I’ll go get the doctor!”

“Alright.”

…

I took a deep breath before recalling my confrontation with Tachibana-san.

“I can’t believe I managed to survive that. I casted that spell and it didn’t kill me. Though I guess I might have expended too much magic power and that caused me to faint afterwards.”

Footsteps could be heard approaching the door. The door opened and four people came in; Usami-senpai, Senzo-senpai, my mother, and the doctor.

“We’re back!”

“Shinzo!”

“Mom?”

“Thank goodness you’re alright.”

“Kazuchi-kun! We were so worried! We thought you died from magic exhaustion when we found your body amongst the rubles of what used to be the utility building.”

The doctor steps forward.

“Well surprisingly, it seems that you didn’t pass out due to magic exhaustion. You simply just experienced too much shock from the that skirmish you were in. So you can choose to be discharged out of the hospital anytime you want. Just get some rest.”

“Mrs. Kazuchi, please follow me so we can discuss the paperwork regarding your son’s discharge.”

“Wait here Shinzo, I’ll be right back.”

“Don’t worry Mrs. Kazuchi, we’ll stay with your son until you return.”

Mom smiles and nods at Senzo-senpai before exiting the room.

“Man! What did you do back there?! We were responding to an illegal power adapter activation then all of a sudden, Boom!, the building where we were supposed to enter was decimated right before our eyes!”

“Afternoon classes were cancelled and the police came did a search and rescue- “

“Tachibana-san!”

“Captain?”

“No! Uruha Tachibana! Where is she?! Did they find her?!”

"You were the only person retrieved during the search and rescue."

'I don't know if I can trust these guys but I need to tell someone about Tachibana-san's true identity'

"Well you see, Uruha- "

"What about Uruha?", a voice can be heard coming from somewhere in the corner of the room.

"Ohh captain! You're here!"

"Can you two leave the room for a minute? I'd like to discuss something with Mr. Kazuchi."