From behind the old man standing in front of me, imposingly, I heard a voice. It was my summoner’s.

  I looked behind the old man to see him waving at me happily as he ran over to where I was standing.

  So, he’s in this class too.

  The old man and my summoner briefly exchanged some words before the former returned to where he zoomed from, walking normally as his robe’s tail dragged across the dirt.

  If your mother gave you that robe, I’m certain she’d at least hit you once for treating it so horribly.

  I heard my summoner speak the nickname he’d given me and motioned for me to follow him to where everyone was.

  When I arrived, he introduced me to the others who weren’t fighting. I think I heard some names, but I didn’t hear them clearly enough to confidently sound them out. I let my summoner handle introductions as I observed the small gathering. Among them was the girl with Electric Blue Cotton Candy hair. She seemed to have the same deep-in-thought from the previous times I encountered her. I wonder what she’s thinking about.

  The other two were a boy with light brown hair and a girl with blonde hair; the former of the two took a glance at my package before turning to see what their peers were doing. The blonde seemed to be enamored by the performance of her classmates fighting each other with their magical abilities, even cheering on someone.

  I look around, seeing how close and chaotic all of the fights were to each other. Even though they were one-on-ones, I couldn’t help but feel concerned that a potential bystander, whether it was a spectator or a non-participating fighter, would be collateral damage from someone’s assault.

  The blonde girl seemed to be cheering for either the Ice or Wind mage, who were fighting each other.

  The other two fighters were between Earth and Vines, and Fire and Water.

  On the Earth and Vines side, terrain was being erected for cover, but that simply gave more advantages to the vines, giving them more places to attack from. The Earth mage erected a wall to stop the incoming vines, but they simply grew around it, restraining the Earth mage shortly after.

  On the Fire and Water side, I noticed someone who isn’t Water assailant fighting against Fireboy. This water mage’s attacks felt haphazard, having less volume, velocity, and force in them. All of the attempts at attacks were swiftly dealt with through Fireboy’s well-placed bursts of flames. He even smacked one away using a flame-enveloped fist.

  When the barrage of water attacks ceased, Fireboy replied with a fireball as large as his torso.

  Wait, is he?

  I thought Fireboy was trying to kill this water mage, but halfway through, the fireball exploded, with the resulting blast knocking the water mage off his feet.

  That’s when I noticed something. The resulting blast sent a shockwave that traveled over the dirt, but it stopped abruptly, and certain parts of it didn’t end at the same time. Each section of the shockwave hit an invisible wall, revealing the shape of a square.

  That was how all of the fights were being hosted at the same time.

  Did that old man set this up?

  I turned to look, seeing him silently observing the battles of all participating fighters.

  Then a thought occurred. With how big this underground space was, who’s to say I wouldn’t end up fighting him or another teacher as part of an exam?

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  The old man noticed me staring and looked right back at me. From that brief interaction, I could tell he was sizing me up. He then went back to observing the remaining fights.

  It’s weird. All the other classes mandated participation in some activities to varying degrees. Here, it felt like participation was optional.

  The lazy side of me wanted to take full advantage of this class and treat it as a free period to take a break from the other classes, perhaps silently observe alongside him so that I could gather ideas on how to utilize my power.

  But another part of me felt like I’d be wasting this chance if I did.

  I saw Fireboy and the water mage walk past the invisible barrier, rippling briefly like a drop dropping onto a calm lake.

  Fireboy sounded apologetic for overwhelming the water mage, but the water sounded dismissive, saying words I believed to be equivalent to “it’s fine,” or “don’t worry about it.” Fireboy hastily spoke a bunch of words, but one of them stuck out to me.

  “Akoa.”

  That’s the same term Mr. Blonde said when I presented- no, after he finished reading the comic I wanted to proofread.

  It sounded like a name, but I doubted Mr. Blonde wanted me to talk to someone I had no business interacting with. I barely knew a thing about the water mage. Maybe he was a sibling to the girls I threw dodgeballs at? Even if that were the case, what did that have to do with wanting to apologize to the people I’ve wronged directly?

  I shifted my focus to the battle the blonde girl was cheering at. Looking around, I’m certain that for the duration of when I stepped onto the field and the moment I walked over to where everyone was sitting, everyone was paying attention to this fight. I don’t believe a single person was turning their head from elsewhere. Perhaps everyone knew how it would end beforehand?

  I saw the Vine Mage struggling to free the captured Earth mage from their binds. The old man conjured his staff and waved it, cutting the Earth mage free from their prison without harming their body. A cloud of dust appeared when the cut ended.

  The old man exchanged some words with the pair. From his movements, I guessed he was checking the Earth Mage’s condition while talking sternly to the vine mage. Again, I heard another “Akoa” come from the Vine mage’s mouth.

  After their exchange, the two left their area, leaving a ripple rippling across the invisible barrier.

  That left the middle fight with the Ice and Wind Mage.

  Looking closer, I had noticed it was the same Wind Mage who was fighting against the Vine Mage when I was still exploring the school before my classes began. Her strategy seemed to be different from what I saw then. Instead of dancing around and making careful, calculated attacks with her wind blades, she was controlling a violent wind within the confines of the invisible cube. Stray ice and dirt were swept up, effectively making a violent miniature tornado.

  The Ice Mage was on the defense, holing themself up in a small igloo. Its height was slightly higher than the waistline of the Wind Mage, but it proved an effective defense. The thing is, it looked extremely cramped. I could only guess their crouching form was hidden in the igloo.

  Can’t she just chip at it with multiple wind blades?

  Those looked extremely effective against the Vine mage. Sure, she was overwhelmed eventually, but I’m sure there were situations where she could win against him.

  I only watched as the wind speed started to slow. Debris started to drop, and the Wind mage seemed to be panting from exhaustion. Moments later, sections of the igloo were sent toward the Wind mage at high speed, blurring towards its target.

  The wind mage retaliated, sending a wind blade to cut the incoming attacks. Unfortunately, she only got one of them, as the others landed. Seconds later, the ice expanded, enveloping and restraining her.

  The igloo crumbled away, revealing a boy with snow-white hair. I could see their breath from how cold it was inside the cube, which was weird since the temperature felt perfectly nice where I’m at. Must be another feature of those invisible cubes.

  It was quiet, but I heard another “Akoa” as the Snow-white-haired boy stood over the Wind Mage. It might just be me, but it felt condescending.

  …

  After their match finished, everyone who was sitting down stood up, and the old man stood before the newly formed crowd. It looked like he was about to announce something.

  He announced something in a monotone voice, among them being what I’m certain was my summoner’s name. It was hard to decipher the other words. Reactions were mixed, as someone groaned in complaint. That groan dreaded exercise and exertion. I did too, but I understood that whatever would happen next would likely occur again in the future, days, months, perhaps even a year.

  I saw my summoner walk toward the box on the left, while the blonde girl and the brown-haired boy went to the one on the right. That left the one in the middle, and I saw Electric Blue walking toward it.

  I didn’t see her partner. Maybe they don’t want to participate?

  She stopped halfway, turning to face me, speaking one of the terms I heard the old man say during his announcement.

  “Nolval.”

  Now that I think about it, it sounded like he was saying names in pairs.

  Wait, am I her partner for this?