“Hello everyone.”
The students enthusiastically returned her greeting, with Towa sounding just as excited as the elementary kids. It melted my heart.
After a light introduction, Yukihime started to explain about star sorcery, which was the focus of this particular class.
“You all know that star sorcery is powered by star power, correct? Okay, so today, let’s try to learn a bit more about star power itself.”
Yukihime turned her right palm upwards and raised it. A blue light began to emanate – then, a beautiful ice flower bloomed.
“Wooow!” “Cool!” “That’s so pretty!” The students exclaimed in admiration.
“Each person’s star power has its own elemental affinity. As you can see, mine is ice. Ice is a basic element, so many people share this element. I bet some of you are ice elementals too, aren’t you?”
Several of the students raised their hands.
“What element is that guy?”
“His is a bit unusual. He’s a time elemental: a special affinity known as an abstract element that isn’t included in the basic elements.”
The basic elements are fire, water, wind, earth, ice, wood, and lightning. Anything else is categorized as abstract, such as my time element.
“Time? You mean you can affect time? Cool!”
“Stop time for us!”
“...Sorry, I can’t do that. I’m just a G Rank.”
“G?! Lame!” “Even I’m a D already!”
All star sorcerers were ranked from G to A. The G Rank was the lowest, and got assigned to star sorcerers who had star power, but couldn’t use it well, if at all. They weren’t that different from normal people.
Next came F Rankers: people who could do basic things, such as a fire elemental who could light a match. E Rankers could create as much heat as a lighter, but weren’t that different from F Rankers. D Rankers could create fireballs in their palms, while C Rankers were basically human flamethrowers. They were about as powerful as an armed civilian. B Rankers could control fire on an even larger scale than C, and a single one had the potential to do even more damage than a tank. Finally, there were A Rankers. There were only ten of them in the city, and each possessed top class power.
Most high school first years were usually D or E Rankers. Rank was determined by overall star power, activation speed, and range. Not only did I possess a low amount of star power, I also had one other critical flaw: my star power range. I couldn’t use my ability to affect anything other than myself, meaning I couldn’t even stop time.
“It’s true that he’s a G Rank... But rank isn’t everything when it comes to being a star sorcerer.”
“...Hey, Yukihime!”
She was being unusually nice...
“Of course, let’s not forget that I’m an S Rank... The only person in the world who’s been able to surpass A Rank.”
“Whoaaaa!” “You really are amazing, Headmistress!”
...So much for that.
She was right, though. Even though ranks only ranged from G to A, Yukihime was a special exception. She was an S Rank, a class above the rest. She’d even surpassed the ten A Rankers who lived in the city.
And yet I, the lowest of the low, was trying to beat her.
Ever since I decided to surpass her, I kept challenging her and losing. But no matter how many times I lost, I never felt like giving up.
“Well then, shall we begin?”
With the preliminary explanation finished, it was now time for us to continue class by actually fighting. Yukihime and I stood about 15 meters apart on a 30 square meter stage. This star sorcery-enhanced space prevented us from being wounded, but attacks still hurt. A particularly powerful attack could even knock someone out.
“The most important things to a star sorcerer are elements, and...” Yukihime began her final bit of explanation.
“Liberation – Snowbloom.”
As Yukihime whispered those words, a blue light burst out from the palm of her hand, revealing a sheathed blade.
“Liberated star armaments like these can be pulled out at will,” Yukihime explained, as she hung the sheath on her belt.
I outstretched my right hand and took a deep breath.
“Liberation – Chronoslayer.”
A silver light burst out and materialized into a silver twinblade: an unusual sword with two blades extending from opposite sides of the hilt. The side that pointed upwards when I held it was a bit longer – the length of a longsword, while the bottom blade was more like a dagger. The moment I gripped my star armament, my liberated star power caused clock dial patterns to glow in my red eyes.
I brandished my twinblade. Yukihime ordered the students to step back, then returned her gaze to me.
“998. Do you know what that number represents?”
“I dunno. The number of times you wished you had bigger...?”
A huge icicle burst up right next to me. Chills ran down my spine, both physically and mentally. Maybe it was time to stop playing around with Yukihime.
My attempts to insult her were pointless. I’d only be able to salvage my own pride with my blade.
“Alright, let’s do this. Battle number 999.”
“...Oh, so you do know.”
998. Yukihime had asked me what that number represented, and the answer was simple. There’s no way I’d ever forget.
It was the number of times I had lost to her. Yet I still hadn’t given up.
“You know, I think it’s about time I won one of these.”
“I hope you haven’t forgotten about our little agreement, because you’re about to hit 4 digits.”
“Oh, you mean the one where you become my slave?”
“Why would I ever become your slave?! You promised to become my slave if I beat you a thousand times!”
“But if I can beat you even once before I hit a thousand, you’ll become my sex slave, right?”
“Sure. It’ll never happen.”
“Alright, if you say so. I’m gonna make you do some crazy stuff, just you wait.”
“...What? W-Wait, hold on a second... What did you just say? S... Sex slave?” Yukihime went from white as a sheet to bright red.
“I’m gonna do stuff that’s even freakier than what’s in those dirty books you read.” I lowered my voice so that only she could hear me.
“What could be freakier than those?! ...Wait, no! I don’t read stuff like that! I have no idea what you’re talking about!” Yukihime’s face got even redder. She was a pro at digging her own grave.
“I bet you’re real curious about the details. Ready to finish this?”
“I’m gonna shut that big mouth of yours once and for all! En garde!”
That last line sounded like something an evil henchman would say right before they eat the dirt. It was hard to imagine just how strong she was based on how cheesy her lines always were.
“Okay... Here I come!”