6 One's Amplitude.

In the vast land where only trees surround us, we arrived in the middle of that open space. The cold air crashes on my skin, which sends shivers all over my body. It's not even winter and yet, the wind is extremely cold.

"This is it,"

"H-Hey, are you sure this is allowed?" Sora asked with a hint of worry in his voice.

'Don't worry, don't worry! this is just an open space unowned by anybody!"

He lets out a boasy laugh. Honestly, I'm not sure if this is allowed but, it really seems like an isolated place unowned by anybody.

"Anyway, why don't we start by showing off our amplitudes?"

"I'll go first then!" Ayane said in her eager tone.

With Sora agreeing, She walked in the front and took a deep breath, and let it out. Her face changed to a serious one almost immediately before she summoned a staff, which I assumed was her weapon, and I was right. A staff with a thin base and flowered-shaped iron at the end of that staff.

She held it tightly with both of her hands, then, raised it high to the air, adjusting her grip, and then, she chanted loudly,

"Arise!"

Not long after, several rose vines emerged from the ground, then slowly and gradually swirl around, forming what seemed like a rising vortex made of vines. Then, the swirling vines swiftly spread all around.

It seems like the vines follow the movement of her staff. If she moved her staff to the side, the vines will follow.

"How's that?!" She said, looking proud at what she did.

"That was great!"

"Oh my, I guess I'll go next."

Akamine then stepped upfront as Hina walked back to her place. Ice amplitude is something I should be cautious of. I use a fire amplitude but Ice can be controlled in many different ways, one is freezing the opponent, one can melt but what if your whole body is frozen? It will stop the energy, as well as your organs and blood from running throughout your body and that will be the end for you.

Before starting, she entered a particular stance, closing her eyes and slowly floating in the air. Once in mid-air, she then waved her left hand, summoning her weapon in front of her. It was a book of some sort.

The pages of the book turned and turned as she continuously waved her hand, seemingly looking for the right page. Stopping after what seemed like a minute, she extends her hand with her index and middle finger pointed straight, and her palms facing down.

With no chants, she swung her arm downward, causing numerous Ice crystals to pop out of the ground, sharp-pointed ice crystals. Then at her command, she summons more, they pop out in rapid succession and eventually formed a circle of ice around her.

No wonder she's in class A. I honestly did not expect her to be this good.

Then, she spreads her arms out, and in the next instance, all the ice simultaneously shattered into small pieces and releases a huge gust of cold wind all around her surroundings before she slowly lowered herself to the ground and closed her book.

"W-Wow,"

Everyone has their mouth wide open in amusement, but Fujimoto is as usual, her serious eyes don't seem astonished. Is she really that emotionless? I'm not sure, but my gut definitely tells me that there's something that she is hiding.

"You're so good, Akamine!"

"You're flattering me, Sora-kun. Anyway, who's next?"

"I'll go next."

Fujimoto unexpectedly volunteered at her own will. She walked up front, holding a sword on her side.

"I was about to go for it, but I guess I'll let her go first" Sora lets out a sigh of disappointment.

"Akamine-san, could you summon an Ice shard in front of me?"

"M-Me? S-Sure."

Raising her hand, she summoned a human-sized Ice shard in front of her. It looks like she's planning to cut the ice into small pieces.

Now, Let's see what she can do. I crossed my arms and looked at her with laser focus eyes.

She held her weapon on her side with one hand. She doesn't put up any particular stance, only frozen in place and holding her weapon. Just then, she swiftly thrusts her sword forward at a speed I couldn't catch up to. It's like she moved at the speed of light. Her sword unleashed a huge shock of lightning bolt towards the ice. Even though the tip of the sword didn't make contact with the ice, the ice was shattered into thin dust, slowly carried by the wind.

That was a little...extreme, to say the least.

Looking to my side, everyone has the expected look of surprise and amusement.

"T-That's awesome," Sora said dumbfoundedly.

"Thanks". Fujimoto calmly walked back.

"E-Ehem! Anyways, Why don't you go next, Kyosuke-kun?"

"Me?"

"Y-Yeah, We'll go last..."

"Sure."

Looks like her show really struck him. I walked towards the front and turned my head to Akamine.

"Could you do the same for me?" I asked,

"S-Sure."

She summoned a human-sized Ice in front of me. I'll just do this very quickly. I summoned my weapon beside me and assumed a fighting stance, holding my sword upfront with a single hand.

"How should I do this?" I thought to myself. Maybe with something simple? Or something bigger? Yep, let's just go with simple, I don't want to burn this whole forest down. I tightly gripped my sword and exerted some energy.

The tip began shining brightly in yellow color, and not long after, it was enveloped in flames.

"W-Wow," " Oh my,"

I could hear them saying various things from the sidelines. Now, let's get this over with. I swung my sword and slashed the ice in half, the blazing sword smoothly cutting it like butter. Then, the flames spread out and gradually swallowed the rest of the ice.

I then withdrew my sword into thin air before I walked back into the crowd. And as expected, the results were the same.

"Anyway, who's next-"

Just as Sora spoke, Fujimoto stepped in and interfered. She walked towards me and pointed the tip of her sword directly at my face, the blade just an inch away from me before saying,

"Kyosuke Ryo-kun, would you care for a duel?"

She asked in her unusual fierce tone. I wonder what brought this attitude up. If I were to agree, I could increase my knowledge about her amplitude and maybe erase some threats in the future, and if I don't, well, nothing is gonna change.

"D-Duel?! Fujimoto-san, please calm-"

"Fine."

I said as I summoned my sword once more.

"Sora-kun, please be the judge."

I looked at him. He looks unsettled, to say the least.

We stood on our grounds and assumed a stance.

"Ready, start!"

He shouted. The moment it started, again, at the speed of light, she lunges towards me and thrusts her sword forward. Argh, she didn't fail to amaze me. I moved my torso to the side and jumped back, looking for a possible opening within her vicinity.

If I carelessly dash forward, I will definitely lose, I need something as a distraction. I tried looking around for something but she gave me no time to breathe. Swiftly dashing towards me, she swung her sword upward. I dodged to the side at the skin of my teeth, and a small portion of my uniform got cut.

I then attempted to counter by swinging my sword towards her but then, out of nowhere, with her open hand, she stopped the momentum of my sword in its track.

Her bare hand isn't the one blocking but instead, there's magic on it, which creates a barrier the same size as her palms. Although It's not visible to the naked human eye, I can sense it.

With nothing to use as a block, she took the chance and with her other hand holding the sword. Thrusting forward, she releases a chunk amount of electric magic towards me. I moved to the side but unfortunately, it grazes past my abdomen and wounded a slight cut on my skin.

What a talent, I'd say. It's not every day that you could see raw talent like this. So she is fast, before you knew it, you have been decapitated if this is a real battle. With nothing to do, I pushed her sword back and put some distance between us.

I should probably use my amplitude as well.

"Ablaze."

I chanted under my breath. The flames covered my sword as I raised it up with one hand. I took a deep breath before swiftly dashing towards her. I dashed towards her at a speed faster than before, and possibly the same speed as hers. I swung vertically and as expected, she effortlessly parried mine. Tsk, that speed is a drag.

I broke from the contact and jumped a little distance back. As soon as my feet felt the ground, I threw my sword towards her and ran towards her from the opposite side of the sword, creating a double attack.

She slightly adjusted her feet and body positioning, from what I can read, she is planning to jump above to avoid both. Just as planned, I sneakily hid my hand behind my back and gathered energy at the tip of my middle and index finger.

Looks like she didn't notice as she continued bending her knees and proceeding to jump. As the sword was about to reach her, she jumped. Meanwhile, her eyes stared at me, probably cautious about what I would do. Now then, I unleashed the fire and swung my arm in her direction. Again, as per plan, She swung her blade towards me to block, or perhaps to scare me, whatever the reason is, it doesn't matter.

I swiftly changed my momentum, turned my body around, and grabbed my flying sword. As soon I held it, I swung in her direction. If I'm correct once more, since she doesn't have enough time to block with her sword, she's gonna use her previous spell, a spell where she gathers energy in her palms and creates a small barrier, and from there on, it's just a matter of timing.

She proceeds to block with her palms. Now, I'd like to see what my unused spell can do,

"Disperse"

As it collides with my blade, It releases a strong shockwave fused with flames, which sent her flying on the ground, back first. I then jumped high in the sky, then from there, I threw my sword towards Kyouko, who was lying on the ground, with the tip facing her. It lands and stabbed the ground beside Kyouko's head, maybe only an inch distance. Either way, that was enough to widen her eyes.

I landed on the ground and walked towards her. I crouched down and looked her in the eye.

"Nice duel."

I said bluntly and stood back up to withdraw my sword back. I took it out and made it disappear before walking back...

"Likewise."

She said as she stood up and wiped the dust from her uniform.

"Now then, I still have some matters to attend to, If you'll excuse me."

She said as she walked right past me and into the school grounds. I stopped and watched as her shadow slowly fades from view. Looks like this time I got caught up more than I assumed, but at least I've learned something. Something that might be the trump card in overthrowing every single one of them, including the whole council. It's just a guess but you can't say what will happen in the future. Hopefully, it does what I want.

Thinking about my goal more, I pondered hard thinking about what to do once I passed that exam. I want to eliminate those who stand in the way of my graduating from this school. No need for honors, or awards, just pure graduation.

"Now, then how about-"

Just as Sora begins to speak, I cut him off.

"Count me out. I'm too exhausted to continue. See you all tomorrow."

I said as I waved them goodbye and made my way back to the dorms. I quickly took a shower and changed my clothes before dumping myself on the bed.

...

Meanwhile, in the dark vicinity of the council's office, in the dark hallways, stands Fujimoto Kyouko and a certain person with that certain person leaning on the wall and scratching its head.

"So, what happened? It's already 6 pm, Yukinoshita-san and Kibou-san are already out."

"Oh, looks like they got off early from council works."

"Yeah, yeah."

"Anyway, I did what you said."

"How was it?"

"He's pretty dangerous, to say the least."

"I see."

"Hey, why are you doing this?"

"Doing what?"

"Blackmailing me and forcing me to spy on some first-year students."

"Oh, about that. I just want to know more about them, and perhaps beat Kibou Shiouru-san's record."

"Oh, where he expelled roughly half of the first-year students last year?"

"Yeah."

"Childish, I should probably get going."

"Before you do, Yukinoshita-san told me that you're planning on joining the test? Are you sure? You're gonna take two tests this month in total."

"Of course I am."

She said as she turned around and walked away.

"Kyosuke Ryo, maybe I should check his paperwork out."

That person opened the door to the council room and entered.