Taking a deep breath, Érica looked ahead.
Huge snow-covered mountains were left in sight and even though today the sun illuminated the surroundings with no clouds covering it, the cold temperature did not change.
Inhaling and exhaling in a meditative position, the snow fell on her face gently.
Being here felt like being in another world.
Not only was the view so natural and breathtaking, but the feeling in the air.
With a single breath, Érica could feel the magical energy reinvigorating her body and chasing away the cold.
Looking at her palm, a small snowflake that was created by her will, she smiled.
“That’s excellent,” a voice murmured.
Érica didn’t know where it came from and, unlike the first time she heard it, she wasn’t startled.
That voice was the reason she stayed here and had delayed her return trip.
The snowflakes gathered at one point, and a figure took the shape of a deer.
Its entire body was white, composed of pure snow, and the most impressive thing was that it felt ‘alive’.
“You have a great affinity for the ice element. I can feel it in you. However, you are not a magical beast and affinity will not help you get better,” said the white deer and looking at Érica, he clarified. “Train with human means and you will make progress with effort and dedication.”
Unlike the magical beasts that controlled the element instinctively, humans had to learn spells and then learn to control the element to manipulate it.
She had just created a snowflake, but the difference with an S rank was abysmal and this was her current limit.
She could perceive the ice element around her and, although wonderful, she could not gain control on a larger scale.
Still, she had made significant progress.
From her control, her affinity to her element, and her knowledge.
Being alone in a cabin atop a mountain surrounded by snow and a low temperature, the only thing she could devote herself to was studying.
The holographic clock and the Internet helped distract her and allowed her to keep in communication with her acquaintances and Erica instead of wasting time, focused on her training.
Learning and practicing new spells, meditating to sense the ice element and increase her affinity and her control over her spells... Érica had not wasted her time here.
“Thank you very much for your help,” Érica said in a respectful tone, and looking at the deer, she asked. “May I know your name?”
She had stayed here when this elemental appeared and had given her some excellent advice.
The Andes Mountains was an area where ice-type elementals were found and, for mages, it was an amazing area to train.
Her father had mentioned to her that some mages had encountered elementals and had given her some advice, so she was prepared.
Elementals were creatures that were born of the same element and became aware over time, they were basically creatures with a huge affinity to the ice element, hence they were perfect for giving advice.
This elemental had helped Érica with her advice and she was very grateful.
“Humans call me ‘Gliss’. If you wish, you may call me that,” replied the deer in a simple tone.
“Thank you very much for the help, Gliss,” Érica said with a smile and a respectful tone.
That respect was not only because he had guided her with his advice, but she could not perceive the presence of the elemental in this place.
Snow and ice surrounded Gliss, giving the impression that it was part of the surrounding nature.
The most incredible thing was that it was not a method of concealment, but a natural effect of someone whose affinity was at its highest.
Gliss nodded and disappeared like snowflakes rising into the sky.
He impressed Érica, and she couldn’t deny it.
Looking at the mountain and the sky on the horizon, she sighed and stood up.
“I think it’s time to head back,” she muttered, taking a deep breath, enjoying the feeling of her surroundings.
She had spent more time than planned here.
She had actually wanted to train for a month and go back to the academy, but it ended up dragging on a few weeks longer than she had expected.
From what he had heard, training for the academic tournament had begun and Aurora had officially been promoted to A-rank.
Time passed quickly, and it was said that the academic tournament would begin in October and then prepare for the international tournament the following month.
To her regret, registration for the academic tournament had ended, and the problem was that she had missed too many classes and was going to need to work hard to catch up on all the classes she had signed up for.
“I guess it was worth it.” She muttered quietly as she packed all of her luggage into her space ring.
She could not deny that having trained was something that helped her a lot.
As she had already tidied up the whole hut, leaving it in perfect condition just like the first time she entered, Érica left the place.
This time, as she looked down the long descent path, she felt more encouraged.
First, the cold had lessened compared to the first time she had climbed this place.
For her, that meant progress.
******
Black arms moved toward Clémentine’s group, specifically toward Nicole.
Nicole swung one black arm to push it away and when the second one came up trying to catch her leg, she pulled backwards.
*Bang*
*Bang*
*Bang!
Leslie fired quickly and Alice’s black arms, who weren’t moving much, swallowed the approaching bullets.
“[Wind Swords]” Chanted Dalia, the new mage of the group.
Two swords formed from wind were shot towards Alice instead of her arms.
“That won’t be enough,” Alice muttered, black arms reaching out from the darkness of her back, they covered her, avoiding the attack.
She had pulled six arms out of her back and that was enough to put Clémentine’s entire team in trouble.
Two black arms chased Nicole, two black arms chased the weaker members and the others she used to protect herself.
In this case, the weakest members of the group were Dalia and Leslie.
“...”
Clémentine wordlessly caught the two arms chasing her companions with her telekinesis, holding it back as long as she could.
Her expression trembled as the arms snailed and small tentacles extended from that same arm.
“Isn’t that cheating?” Venali hesitated in a strange tone.
Aurora, who heard that question, nodded.
Alice was restrained and allowed to use six black arms, instead of all the ones she could pull out, which meant she was an advantage to Clémentine’s group.
“Apparently they are part of her same initial arm, so no,” Cithrel replied, glaring at Alice.
That disadvantage was useless when Alice could create more arms from the same black arms that came out of the darkness on her back.
Such a fact proved that Alice was not an easy opponent.
*Bang*
“[Air Cuts]”
Leslie started firing again and Dalia cast another air magic spell to cut the tentacles off before they spread.
Unlike her previous spell, this one was weaker in strength but could be cast faster and in greater numbers.
The tentacles were cut off and assimilated again into that black arm that was composed of a strange physical mass.
Still, it wasn’t enough.
“Watch out!”
Nicole’s warning came late and the black arms that previously defended suddenly attacked, surprising the group.
As if that wasn’t enough, the other arms following Nicole swerved, heading towards the group.
“Ugh...”
Clémentine recoiled as she also stopped Nicole’s arms, but when the previously defending arms arrived, she let out a groan at the force pushing her back.
“We surrender!” Leslie exclaimed with a sigh.
The arms immediately stopped and moved away to return to the shadow on Alice’s back, disappearing.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know how to react to those arms,” Dalia said with a strange expression.
She looked surprised and scared.
Looking at Alice from afar was cool, but facing her was quite scary.
“No need to apologize. It was my fault, too. I have trouble with training weapons,” Leslie commented, shaking her head in disappointment.
Unlike her personal weapon that could change design, these training weapons were normal in every way.
Their bullets depended on the opponent’s stamina and, hopefully, would cause a little pain. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to stop someone like Alice.
Alice didn’t feel pain when they damaged her black arms and the weapons Leslie used were useless if they didn’t hit the real body.
“I think you guys are being too pessimistic. Alice seems like a tough opponent even for me,” Cithrel interjected with a soft smile and, looking at Dalia, added. “Besides, changing spells to adapt to different attacks was pretty good.”
Switching from a spell with greater cutting power to one with a speed and amount of cuts was splendid, and more so when their targets were only small tentacles looking to grow.
“Would she be a tough opponent?” Nicole asked, looking at Cithrel and then Alice.
Aurora wasn’t the only one who was curious, as all the other students watched as well.
Alice, too, raised her eyebrows, waiting for Cithrel’s answer.
“It’s hard to say who would win accurately, but it would be very difficult to fight her,” Cithrel replied with a simple tone and, after thinking carefully, she added. “I think I would stand a chance if I keep my distance and use powerful spells from afar.”
She wasn’t being arrogant; she was just analyzing the situation very well with the little information she had.
Aurora nodded at her words.
She herself was having trouble taking on someone like Alice and it was normal for the students, they were at a disadvantage.
“If everyone had attacked the main body, Alice using only six arms would have been suppressed long enough for you to have time to prepare a more powerful attack,” Aurora pointed with a serious tone.
She kept the fact that there were some failures by the students and mostly hesitated when attacking.
Though in that sense, it was normal when Leslie, Clementine, and Nicole had faced Alice before in intense training and it hadn’t ended well for them.
Leslie and Dalia, who could perform ranged attacks, sighed.
They defended themselves and gave Alice space to take them out with ease, such actions were their biggest mistake.
Aurora avoided mentioning the fact that Alice had bigger tricks that she could have used if this was a real fight, and at this point, she was holding back.
The students listened to the flaws the others saw and as a group headed to the dining hall.
Cithrel was supportive and gave advice, especially to Dalia, who was a mage.
As a Terranovian, she was quite experienced in battle and could teach and advise students, and they well received her advice.
Arriving at the dining hall, the entire group sat at the same table after ordering food.
“There are a lot of students,” Aurora muttered.
The dining hall by this time was almost packed, with several groups gathered together, some exhausted and others as lively as their table.
During the tournament, it was normal to put aside the secondary classes, and the students focused on training, solving their doubts with the teachers and with experts like Edward and Venali.
The students in the combat class were the ones who were putting in the most effort for the academic tournament and some ambitious ones were aiming for the international tournament.
“Time of the year when everything gets hectic,” Clémentine replied with a half-smile.
She wasn’t kidding.
Third-year students hired computer science students to scout for information on potential opponents for the international tournament, and they weren’t the only ones busy.
They often visited healing students and alchemists to ask for all kinds of potions, either to heal faster from training or to stay studying longer.
There was very little information on the international tournament and although they were unaware of the rules, everyone wanted some ‘consumables’ in case they were needed.
Like the concoction to see through the night, there were other concoctions to enhance other senses, aid reflexes, or increase strength for a short period.
And then there were the crafting students, where blacksmiths and enchanters designed items, weapons, and equipment for students in need.
The hero academy had a section for those students and while it wasn’t as amazing as other academies specializing in the subject, it had very good equipment for them to develop their skills.
The best part was that Director Vincent had increased the budget for that class, allowing them to design equipment better than standard.
Although most of the students in those classes were focused on cold weapons and they could not design drones or create firearms, as Leslie would have liked.
While such weapons would not be as necessary for individual combat, since training weapons were forced, it was going to be different for group combat, where there was greater freedom.
“I will soon have new equipment to match my current progress. So hopefully I’ll improve for the group tournament,” Leslie commented with a touch of excitement.
“I heard they will limit the effects so that students with a higher financial ability won’t bring weapons with them that will get you the win easily,” Clémentine interjected with an odd tone, looking at her companion.
Some objects were powerful.
One example was the scrolls created by the Archmages that contained spells with S-rank strength... If a student could afford such an item, they would basically have victory in a fight assured.
While those scrolls were single use, being a consumable item, no one denied it was powerful and excessive for an academic tournament.
Limiting the effects to a basic standard for everyone was the best solution.
That meant that no matter how strong an external item was, its effect would be limited to some extent.
“It doesn’t matter. As long as they let me use my weapons, that’s good enough for me.” Leslie replied without looking upset.
Aurora gave a smile.
Money, in its own way, was a kind of force, for better or worse, it was.
It was counterproductive to depend completely on money, but it was also stupid to believe that money didn’t matter.
Leslie depended on technological advancement, and therefore money, but she could adapt to different situations.
As the entire group sat chatting about preparations for the tournament, Andrés entered the dining room and approached the group.
“Did you see it?” Andrés asked with a serious expression.
“Did something happen with the tournament?” Leslie asked with a frown at that unspecific question.
“No, I’m talking about the statement from the Church of Time and Space and the Church of Order on their website,” Andrés answered.
Aurora and the entire group went into the internet using their holographic watch.
—On the last day of September, the Church of Time and Space will make a worldwide announcement on a subject that concerns all earthlings. The world is about to change uniquely and unimaginably, however, there is no need to panic, humanity is strong and together we will prevail.
The announcement stunned everyone.
Taking a deep breath, Érica looked ahead.
Huge snow-covered mountains were left in sight and even though today the sun illuminated the surroundings with no clouds covering it, the cold temperature did not change.
Inhaling and exhaling in a meditative position, the snow fell on her face gently.
Being here felt like being in another world.
Not only was the view so natural and breathtaking, but the feeling in the air.
With a single breath, Érica could feel the magical energy reinvigorating her body and chasing away the cold.
Looking at her palm, a small snowflake that was created by her will, she smiled.
“That’s excellent,” a voice murmured.
Érica didn’t know where it came from and, unlike the first time she heard it, she wasn’t startled.
That voice was the reason she stayed here and had delayed her return trip.
The snowflakes gathered at one point, and a figure took the shape of a deer.
Its entire body was white, composed of pure snow, and the most impressive thing was that it felt ‘alive’.
“You have a great affinity for the ice element. I can feel it in you. However, you are not a magical beast and affinity will not help you get better,” said the white deer and looking at Érica, he clarified. “Train with human means and you will make progress with effort and dedication.”
Unlike the magical beasts that controlled the element instinctively, humans had to learn spells and then learn to control the element to manipulate it.
She had just created a snowflake, but the difference with an S rank was abysmal and this was her current limit.
She could perceive the ice element around her and, although wonderful, she could not gain control on a larger scale.
Still, she had made significant progress.
From her control, her affinity to her element, and her knowledge.
Being alone in a cabin atop a mountain surrounded by snow and a low temperature, the only thing she could devote herself to was studying.
The holographic clock and the Internet helped distract her and allowed her to keep in communication with her acquaintances and Erica instead of wasting time, focused on her training.
Learning and practicing new spells, meditating to sense the ice element and increase her affinity and her control over her spells... Érica had not wasted her time here.
“Thank you very much for your help,” Érica said in a respectful tone, and looking at the deer, she asked. “May I know your name?”
She had stayed here when this elemental appeared and had given her some excellent advice.
The Andes Mountains was an area where ice-type elementals were found and, for mages, it was an amazing area to train.
Her father had mentioned to her that some mages had encountered elementals and had given her some advice, so she was prepared.
Elementals were creatures that were born of the same element and became aware over time, they were basically creatures with a huge affinity to the ice element, hence they were perfect for giving advice.
This elemental had helped Érica with her advice and she was very grateful.
“Humans call me ‘Gliss’. If you wish, you may call me that,” replied the deer in a simple tone.
“Thank you very much for the help, Gliss,” Érica said with a smile and a respectful tone.
That respect was not only because he had guided her with his advice, but she could not perceive the presence of the elemental in this place.
Snow and ice surrounded Gliss, giving the impression that it was part of the surrounding nature.
The most incredible thing was that it was not a method of concealment, but a natural effect of someone whose affinity was at its highest.
Gliss nodded and disappeared like snowflakes rising into the sky.
He impressed Érica, and she couldn’t deny it.
Looking at the mountain and the sky on the horizon, she sighed and stood up.
“I think it’s time to head back,” she muttered, taking a deep breath, enjoying the feeling of her surroundings.
She had spent more time than planned here.
She had actually wanted to train for a month and go back to the academy, but it ended up dragging on a few weeks longer than she had expected.
From what he had heard, training for the academic tournament had begun and Aurora had officially been promoted to A-rank.
Time passed quickly, and it was said that the academic tournament would begin in October and then prepare for the international tournament the following month.
To her regret, registration for the academic tournament had ended, and the problem was that she had missed too many classes and was going to need to work hard to catch up on all the classes she had signed up for.
“I guess it was worth it.” She muttered quietly as she packed all of her luggage into her space ring.
She could not deny that having trained was something that helped her a lot.
As she had already tidied up the whole hut, leaving it in perfect condition just like the first time she entered, Érica left the place.
This time, as she looked down the long descent path, she felt more encouraged.
First, the cold had lessened compared to the first time she had climbed this place.
For her, that meant progress.
******
Black arms moved toward Clémentine’s group, specifically toward Nicole.
Nicole swung one black arm to push it away and when the second one came up trying to catch her leg, she pulled backwards.
*Bang*
*Bang*
*Bang!
Leslie fired quickly and Alice’s black arms, who weren’t moving much, swallowed the approaching bullets.
“[Wind Swords]” Chanted Dalia, the new mage of the group.
Two swords formed from wind were shot towards Alice instead of her arms.
“That won’t be enough,” Alice muttered, black arms reaching out from the darkness of her back, they covered her, avoiding the attack.
She had pulled six arms out of her back and that was enough to put Clémentine’s entire team in trouble.
Two black arms chased Nicole, two black arms chased the weaker members and the others she used to protect herself.
In this case, the weakest members of the group were Dalia and Leslie.
“...”
Clémentine wordlessly caught the two arms chasing her companions with her telekinesis, holding it back as long as she could.
Her expression trembled as the arms snailed and small tentacles extended from that same arm.
“Isn’t that cheating?” Venali hesitated in a strange tone.
Aurora, who heard that question, nodded.
Alice was restrained and allowed to use six black arms, instead of all the ones she could pull out, which meant she was an advantage to Clémentine’s group.
“Apparently they are part of her same initial arm, so no,” Cithrel replied, glaring at Alice.
That disadvantage was useless when Alice could create more arms from the same black arms that came out of the darkness on her back.
Such a fact proved that Alice was not an easy opponent.
*Bang*
“[Air Cuts]”
Leslie started firing again and Dalia cast another air magic spell to cut the tentacles off before they spread.
Unlike her previous spell, this one was weaker in strength but could be cast faster and in greater numbers.
The tentacles were cut off and assimilated again into that black arm that was composed of a strange physical mass.
Still, it wasn’t enough.
“Watch out!”
Nicole’s warning came late and the black arms that previously defended suddenly attacked, surprising the group.
As if that wasn’t enough, the other arms following Nicole swerved, heading towards the group.
“Ugh...”
Clémentine recoiled as she also stopped Nicole’s arms, but when the previously defending arms arrived, she let out a groan at the force pushing her back.
“We surrender!” Leslie exclaimed with a sigh.
The arms immediately stopped and moved away to return to the shadow on Alice’s back, disappearing.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know how to react to those arms,” Dalia said with a strange expression.
She looked surprised and scared.
Looking at Alice from afar was cool, but facing her was quite scary.
“No need to apologize. It was my fault, too. I have trouble with training weapons,” Leslie commented, shaking her head in disappointment.
Unlike her personal weapon that could change design, these training weapons were normal in every way.
Their bullets depended on the opponent’s stamina and, hopefully, would cause a little pain. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to stop someone like Alice.
Alice didn’t feel pain when they damaged her black arms and the weapons Leslie used were useless if they didn’t hit the real body.
“I think you guys are being too pessimistic. Alice seems like a tough opponent even for me,” Cithrel interjected with a soft smile and, looking at Dalia, added. “Besides, changing spells to adapt to different attacks was pretty good.”
Switching from a spell with greater cutting power to one with a speed and amount of cuts was splendid, and more so when their targets were only small tentacles looking to grow.
“Would she be a tough opponent?” Nicole asked, looking at Cithrel and then Alice.
Aurora wasn’t the only one who was curious, as all the other students watched as well.
Alice, too, raised her eyebrows, waiting for Cithrel’s answer.
“It’s hard to say who would win accurately, but it would be very difficult to fight her,” Cithrel replied with a simple tone and, after thinking carefully, she added. “I think I would stand a chance if I keep my distance and use powerful spells from afar.”
She wasn’t being arrogant; she was just analyzing the situation very well with the little information she had.
Aurora nodded at her words.
She herself was having trouble taking on someone like Alice and it was normal for the students, they were at a disadvantage.
“If everyone had attacked the main body, Alice using only six arms would have been suppressed long enough for you to have time to prepare a more powerful attack,” Aurora pointed with a serious tone.
She kept the fact that there were some failures by the students and mostly hesitated when attacking.
Though in that sense, it was normal when Leslie, Clementine, and Nicole had faced Alice before in intense training and it hadn’t ended well for them.
Leslie and Dalia, who could perform ranged attacks, sighed.
They defended themselves and gave Alice space to take them out with ease, such actions were their biggest mistake.
Aurora avoided mentioning the fact that Alice had bigger tricks that she could have used if this was a real fight, and at this point, she was holding back.
The students listened to the flaws the others saw and as a group headed to the dining hall.
Cithrel was supportive and gave advice, especially to Dalia, who was a mage.
As a Terranovian, she was quite experienced in battle and could teach and advise students, and they well received her advice.
Arriving at the dining hall, the entire group sat at the same table after ordering food.
“There are a lot of students,” Aurora muttered.
The dining hall by this time was almost packed, with several groups gathered together, some exhausted and others as lively as their table.
During the tournament, it was normal to put aside the secondary classes, and the students focused on training, solving their doubts with the teachers and with experts like Edward and Venali.
The students in the combat class were the ones who were putting in the most effort for the academic tournament and some ambitious ones were aiming for the international tournament.
“Time of the year when everything gets hectic,” Clémentine replied with a half-smile.
She wasn’t kidding.
Third-year students hired computer science students to scout for information on potential opponents for the international tournament, and they weren’t the only ones busy.
They often visited healing students and alchemists to ask for all kinds of potions, either to heal faster from training or to stay studying longer.
There was very little information on the international tournament and although they were unaware of the rules, everyone wanted some ‘consumables’ in case they were needed.
Like the concoction to see through the night, there were other concoctions to enhance other senses, aid reflexes, or increase strength for a short period.
And then there were the crafting students, where blacksmiths and enchanters designed items, weapons, and equipment for students in need.
The hero academy had a section for those students and while it wasn’t as amazing as other academies specializing in the subject, it had very good equipment for them to develop their skills.
The best part was that Director Vincent had increased the budget for that class, allowing them to design equipment better than standard.
Although most of the students in those classes were focused on cold weapons and they could not design drones or create firearms, as Leslie would have liked.
While such weapons would not be as necessary for individual combat, since training weapons were forced, it was going to be different for group combat, where there was greater freedom.
“I will soon have new equipment to match my current progress. So hopefully I’ll improve for the group tournament,” Leslie commented with a touch of excitement.
“I heard they will limit the effects so that students with a higher financial ability won’t bring weapons with them that will get you the win easily,” Clémentine interjected with an odd tone, looking at her companion.
Some objects were powerful.
One example was the scrolls created by the Archmages that contained spells with S-rank strength... If a student could afford such an item, they would basically have victory in a fight assured.
While those scrolls were single use, being a consumable item, no one denied it was powerful and excessive for an academic tournament.
Limiting the effects to a basic standard for everyone was the best solution.
That meant that no matter how strong an external item was, its effect would be limited to some extent.
“It doesn’t matter. As long as they let me use my weapons, that’s good enough for me.” Leslie replied without looking upset.
Aurora gave a smile.
Money, in its own way, was a kind of force, for better or worse, it was.
It was counterproductive to depend completely on money, but it was also stupid to believe that money didn’t matter.
Leslie depended on technological advancement, and therefore money, but she could adapt to different situations.
As the entire group sat chatting about preparations for the tournament, Andrés entered the dining room and approached the group.
“Did you see it?” Andrés asked with a serious expression.
“Did something happen with the tournament?” Leslie asked with a frown at that unspecific question.
“No, I’m talking about the statement from the Church of Time and Space and the Church of Order on their website,” Andrés answered.
Aurora and the entire group went into the internet using their holographic watch.
—On the last day of September, the Church of Time and Space will make a worldwide announcement on a subject that concerns all earthlings. The world is about to change uniquely and unimaginably, however, there is no need to panic, humanity is strong and together we will prevail.
The announcement stunned everyone.
