A new year at Nine Petal Academy means a new crop of students, including a boy who can't control his magic, a thief, an angel, and even a suit of armor? Adela, Lei, and their friends are tasked with welcoming the new class of first years and helping...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"Coming from who knows how far is the mysterious boy in blue, Nate!" Ms. Key yelled.
I gasped. Wait, why didn't she mention his surname? She made sure to say both of Aurelius' surnames.
Nate smiled and waved to the audience as if he were some kind of superstar. Seriously, that guy rubbed me the wrong way. It didn't help that there was something off about him. Sonata's 'mysterious' sure was an understatement.
"On the other side is his opponent, the girl in gray, the one with the cunning mind of a thief! It's none other than Kinsei Kanja!"
I smiled awkwardly. Ms. Key sure had a way with words, making me sound like a big shot. The crowd sure seemed to love it as they burst into applause.
"Who will win the first match of block B? Let's find out! Begin!" Ms. Key yelled at the top of her lungs.
"Tekkyū!" I yelled, spreading my arms. A pair of iron balls flew out of the palms of my hands. The one on my right zipped over to Nate while the other I had orbit me.
Nate avoided the ball I threw at him and dashed toward me. I sent my other after him and repeated the spell, forming an additional two more. "Tekkyū Barrage!" I yelled as I cast Tekkyū over and over again.
Nate smiled as he avoided each one of my iron balls. How could I stop him? A smile dotted my face as I recalled Ling's match with Aurelius. She had used roots to stop him. I should do the same, but instead of wooden roots it would be metal coils! And I had just the spell to do it!
"Kinzoku-sen!" I yelled, slamming the ground with both my hands. Nate gasped as metal wires tore through multiple white tiles. A smirk crossed my face. Got him now!
He jumped back and clapped his hands. "Ignis Angelus!" he yelled. A fire angel manifested before him, melting both the wiring and the iron balls.
"Damn it!" I yelled, leaping back. What now? My metal magic's melting point was too low to take on that thing.
Nate smiled as he held his hand out. "No hard feelings, but I'm ending this now."
His fire spelled dashed at me and unleashed unbearable heat. The pressure alone was suffocating, adding the heat to it, made it feel like Cianio. To think that the difference between us was this big. No, that alone couldn't even begin to describe the size of our gap. Nate didn't appear to break a sweat at all.
Hot tears streamed down my face. It was still too early for me to fight against them! Ling was right about me. I was the weakest!
"Kanja!" Carter yelled.
I glanced at him. There was a look of despair in his eyes as if he were the one losing.
"Don't give up, Kanja!" he yelled. "Keep on fighting! Remember our training."
My hands twitched. I wanted to continue fighting, but my body felt like lead.
