Chapter 4 - Triangular Universe

The two challengers faced each other on the platform, with Taru's mocking expression, while Akira remained as glacial as ever, save for the eyes that scanned and studied his opponent.

"OK, guys, fair play! No excessive blows, when the other is down or ends up outside it's over. Are you ready?"

They both nodded.

"Very well, then start!"

And then the pupils from both classes began to cheer their classmates on as the teachers sat down side by side, with Kaneda merely saying:

"Let's see who taught them best..."

After a few seconds in which they both stood still, the first to take the initiative was Akairo who, pulling his right hand out of his pocket, sent a red stream flowing out of it which within a second gathered to form a dark vermillion sphere of energy that Taru hurled forcefully at Akira.

Remaining still where he was, he levitated from his black trousers his enchantment sheets (note: magic tools widely used especially with a visually focused Centre to make the use of magic easier and less tiring) and pulled three sheets with a large black 4 from the paper pile.

They instantly pulverised and were replaced by 12 cubes of terrain that looked like the gymnasium floor that assembled to form a barrier against which the enemy attack crashed. There was a brief but intense red glare.

Haruki followed the affair with moderate interest, partly because his friend was fighting and partly because he wanted to see if this fight might hold any surprises. On the surface, however, it seemed to him that it would be a fairly standard fight, with attacker, defender, and predictable blows. Haruki sighed slightly and reclined his back against the top step. Those in class 5B continued to make a loud racket. Taru must have been a very popular student.

When the light finally faded, both the sphere and the wall were gone. Then, slightly surprising all the students, Taru started walking forward, his right fist clenched and wrapped in magical energy and his right hand holding a burgundy-red, viscous substance.

At that point, Akira hurled a sheet with the symbol 2 forward, from which a strong jet of wind was released, which Taru managed to avoid at the last moment. But the student from 5A was certainly not finished: he immediately activated three more powerful air cannons. With a leap, the opponent in red avoided the first attack, then with a sideways dive escaped the second, but ended up right in the line of fire of the third.

Then, bringing his energy ball forward, he turned it into a barrier with which he managed to shield the blow, which landed against the ceiling, shaking it violently. Concentrating his magic construct once more, he directed a scarlet ray at Akira. Three sheets with a large 1 released as many flames that collided mid-ring with Taru's attack. At that point, the young Akairo smiled and said:

"So you want to play with fire?"

Immediately the ray of energy ignited into a tremendous blaze, a classic example of ideal transmutation (a type of magic that consists of transforming one concept into another associated with it).

The power of that blast managed to penetrate the fiery triptych and advanced, like a fire in a defenseless forest, towards Akira, who merely remarked: "Quite predictable."

When the fire was within a metre of him, and some of his comrades began to worry, a massive column of water leaked out of the floor, instantly blocking yet another enemy offensive. Haruki yawned softly; he hoped that his friend Akira would have some surprises in store for him, but so far it had been a maddening bore. Strange that Akira was only defending, but it was hardly unsurprising.

His eyes lit up in an instant, however, as his mouth mumbled with barely enough conviction to be heard, "Akira!" Out of the artificial geyser created by the boy with the round black glasses suddenly jumped Taru, who tried to strike him with a fist coated in magical energy, which Akira quickly blocked with a barrier.

With his other hand, which had remained unused up to that point, Taru hurled that red substance that had all the appearance of being simple red ink, which Akira dodged with an only slightly dishevelled expression, at the same time making a backward leap. To everyone's surprise, instead of pursuing his continuous offensive, Taru stopped, his usual confident smile plastered on his face.

"You don't move badly at all, and I must say you do well as a charmer, for a Mad (an informal name by which magicians expert in mathematics were referred to). You did well, but you've lost now. I know the moves of those who use Enchantment Sheets by heart."

The boy dressed in red said.

Akira, slightly shaking his head perhaps in defiance countered:

"I too am familiar with the fighting style of the Environmental Transmuters. Using everything around you concerning your centre to turn it into something dangerous. I can see that you don't care much about hiding your Centre, since anyone would be able to tell from your outfit that it is Dark Red."

"Bingo!" chuckled Taru.

"But knowing that won't do you any good, you know? It's too late now, look at your precious papers..."

At that point Akira turned back to his tools and saw at that moment that they were smeared with specks of ink. Just then sparks sprang from those stains and began to devour the surrounding paper undaunted. Akira was quick to throw them on the ground and could do nothing but watch them become nothing but ashes.

"You managed to avoid staining your clothes, a very deft move, but without your papers you can do practically nothing. Give up..."

Clearly, in all this, the cheering of the students, especially those in 5B, had become even more incessant, and now even Professor Rezu was hinting at a smile under his moustache, with Kaneda merely saying dejectedly:

"I guess the first round goes to your boys. I must say they are quite capable, you know?"

"Evidently they have a good teacher." concluded Rezu in a tone of resentment to the utmost power.

"Then it's over." Haruki thought, a little disappointed for his friend.

"Maybe if he had attacked he could have made it, but you know, if it's not about maths, Akira never heats up..."

Now the whole of 5A was in religious silence, all waiting for what Akira would do. Surrender, of course. The rivalry between A and B was one of those pillars of the school, and to have victory blown away like that was not at all pleasant. But then again, what could Akira possibly do?

What young Mr. Sosu did was to take a deep breath and, after a sigh coming straight from his lungs, say:

"I guess I have no choice. To please Mr. Kaneda and save what's left of my reputation in the classroom, I can only do this. It's not that this interests me much, but my grandfather always told me as a child that honour is something that must be defended by all means and with all one's might. All right, I'll use it!"

After this speech with a motivational content but delivered in his usual passive tone, as if it were the description of a theorem, to the general amazement first of Taru, then of Kaneda and finally of everyone, including Haruki, Akira bent down and, crossing his fingers with his arms stretched out to the maximum, touched the ground of the platform with his palms and said evocatively:

"From One to matter, from opposites to spacetime, Fire and Air, Water and Earth, cubes and pyramids, even and odd, the All and the Universe in four levels, the world in three lines, life in a 10. Illuminate the Truth, Sacred Tetraktys!"

It was then that a triangular sulcus appeared in the ring with 10 dots stacked with 4 dots at the base, and then followed by 3, 2 and 1 at the top of the triangle.

It was the famous and celebrated Pythagorean Tetraktys, for the Greek philosopher the basis and symbol of the entire universe. Taru's face was coloured with surprise and sudden terror as he stammered.

"What, you don't need papers, you're a natural Mad?"

"I don't believe it, he can already perform ideal transmutations without any tools of enchantment or favourable environment? With such an abstract Centre? That's university curriculum!" exclaimed Kaneda at the same time, with even Rezu not hiding his astonishment.

"Without any support even the simplest spells are very tiring, but if I want to win I have no other choice. So what do you say? Shall we resume?" said Akira, sketching the faintest of smiles.

In the meantime, his classmates had begun to murmur, most of them to express their surprise, but some also to sing unexpected praises for this reserved boy, who had managed to refine his magical abilities perhaps more than anyone else in the class.

Haruki, on the other hand, remained silent, still in shock: he knew that Aki was very studious, but up to that point... then all those words of appreciation, Kaneda standing up and loudly encouraging his pupil, all that made him feel a bit... jealous, yes, but above all excluded, locked in a bubble that refused to burst.

While Haruki was lost in thought, the clash had resumed, but this time with reversed fronts: inside the platform, Akira was free to cast his spells from anywhere, while Taru could only try to avoid or block them. From under the red boy's feet suddenly appeared a brown 4, from which a column of earth sprang out, forcing Taru to retreat.

However, behind him, with a gesture of his hand, Akira made a 2 appear, which generated a powerful blast of air that made the poor helpless young man crash against the enormous parallelepiped, but above all against his opponent. At that point, taking a step forward, Akira stretched out his right hand, from which sprang like a small torrent a wave-like 3, which struck Taru with a terrible current, pushing him towards the end of the ring.

Rebounding for a moment, the rubicund student generated a barrier behind him, managing to stop himself before it was too late. Then he slumped to the ground, exhausted by the sudden and unexpected siege. He gritted his teeth furiously and emitted a loud shout, then shouted to his opponent:

"Let's see if you can stop this one!"

In a very short time, all the energy that the painted pylons, that the now fallen leaves on the road, that his clothes and those of his comrades gave off because of their colour, built up inside him and, straining like never before, he pushed it out hard to create his most powerful, hottest and most devastating flame he had ever created. Taru lunged forward and released his strongest technique.

SCARLET FLAME

Akira, who had been watching all this in silence, merely stated as his opponent approached 'Eh... I think I'll have to try to end it here too. After all, I won't be able to maintain this spell for long.″

And saying that, he bent down, resting his left limb on the ground. The Pythagorean symbol carved into the ring began to glow, then the floor began to change colour, coming to resemble the image of the Universe. And there, inscribed in the triangle, appeared a gigantic 10, the sum of the four elements, the All.

Lifting his hand, Akira seemed to tear away that magnificent work of art, which accumulated to form yet another sphere, coloured with galaxies, a world in miniature. With a burst, Akira came towards Taru and, once they were within arm's reach, countered his attack with his deadly blow, representing a perfect and rational world, summed up in 2 figures, born of 4 principles, enclosed in 3 sides.

TRIANGULAR UNIVERSE

The impact of the two blows was tremendous and shook all the windows of the gymnasium and even the walls, generating a wave of wind that made everyone jump out of their seats, including Haruki who had been speechless until then, unsure of what to think or even if he should think at all.

The devastating force of the two teenagers was enough that both professors got up to ascertain their condition. Fortunately, everyone saw the two challengers almost immediately, facing each other and mostly unharmed except for some minor damage to their clothes. Both were panting, though Taru more heavily.

The situation remained like that for almost a minute, with all the spectators in religious silence. The one to break it was Akira, who commented rather dryly:

"Too bad, I was hoping to knock you out with this move, but I'm still not strong enough, after all I've only just started using these kinds of spells a few months ago. Oh well, whatever. Good job, you did very well. I give up."

And as he turned and took the first step towards the edge of the platform, if it could still be called that, he added: "Good fight."

Then, very calmly, he climbed down and went to sit with his comrades on the steps, to everyone's amazement. For a few more seconds, no one uttered a word. Even the teachers were too stunned to speak.