The Wielder of Death Magic

The loud bell resounded across the entire floor; it signaled the start of combat training with Sophie Mirabelle. Most students here were oblivious about her real identity. Nevertheless, some well-informed scholars were mildly interested to see how a so-called demon of death would deal with them. Since the start of the semester, as the Academy lacked any specialist in the combat department, teachers would rotate and do physical enhancement instead of actual combat. Some people agreed while others thought of it as a farce. All their discontent was thrown out of the window when the director announced that an actual battle-mage would teach them the ropes to become strong.

“Staxius, what kind of teacher is Sophie?” Julius asked. Murmurs and whispers filled the room, everyone packed their bags to head for the battle-arena. “I couldn’t say,” he replied monotonously, “-I’ve never had any lessons with her even though I’m her apprentice.” Staxius zipped up the bag and headed outside.

“Lucy,” after walking a few minutes, the gymnasium came into view, “-is this where the supposed arena where us weaklings aren’t allowed?” He pointed at a massive building situated behind said gymnasium, he wanted to vex her. Said buildings seemed to have enough place to welcome approximatively fifty thousand spectators. “O-oh, y-yes...” She replied shyly, her cheeks flushed brighter than a tomato. Her smile concealed by her hands as she tried hiding the embarrassment, memories from a few hours ago still haunted her. Staxius’s plan to win her over was a bit too effective, she crushed on him badly, he laughed internally.

In the middle of a familiar scene, stood atop of some broken down training dummies; Sophie Mirabelle. Her sword fully drawn, stance elegant and not to forget the fact that both fire and sparks ran up and down her blade. Her feet seemed as if she levitated. ‘So, Sophie is a mage who wields three elements: fire, lightning, and wind, impressive.’ Staxius was startled by her strength. Class D wasn’t the only one mesmerized by her stature, it shown in the other foreign student’s eyes.

With a quick wink directed at Staxius, she spoke, “hello students from classes A, B, C and D. From today forth, I shall be your instructor.” She jumped and landed; the wreckage cleaned itself by other bots. “I know that you people like your disparities,” she casually walked around and eyed everyone in their faces; she seemed to gauge their potential. “-why not play a mini-game to see who truly is superior.” She stopped near class A’s group. “There are weapons in your designated starting zone, pick up whatever you like, you shall fight to the death.” Deliberately, she put emphasis on

death

, all were shocked but remained silent. “The last one standing will have a chance to face me. Also, did I mention that this little exercise will be a ranking match?” she walked from one end to the other and stopped dead center of the arena. “Meaning that anyone who performs poorly will be demoted and promoted if you fight bravely.” She smiled; her intention was as clear as day.

.....

“Kill or be killed.”

“Pardon me instructor Sophie, but can we use magic or another method to fight?” The representative of class A inquired. “That’s Emma Mint,” Silvio spoke while she conversed with Sophie. “-she’s a hybrid and the strongest in the first year’s batch; her element is ice,” he spoke and gazed fondly at the truly mighty warrior. “Thank you for that, Silvio.” Staxius dropped all the grudge for he had attained what he wanted. Instead, he befriended everyone.

“Don’t mention it,” Silvio acted as if Staxius had been his long-lost friend. “This won’t be easy,” Rudolph jumped in, “-there are a lot of formidable opponents here, we better watch out,” he was one of Silvio’s friends as well as part of the little delinquent group class-D once had.

“Looking back, Julius, you’ve never told me what hybrid you were,” Staxius asked with his interest piqued. “Oh, my hybrid is one of a kind.” Flustered, he shyly answered, “it’s a mix of lightning and fire. People gave it the name of purgatory flames, it’s a bit embarrassing, sadly I can’t control it’s full power yet.” Despite how he acted the first time around, Julius was a very down to earth modest guy. A fit of rage, jealousy, and family problems all stacked onto each other – Staxius became the perfect victim to lash out at. All that was now part of the past, a memory- a bad one.

“Don’t forget Stein Volheim,” Lucy added in turn, the class seemed to get along, “- He’s a drop out from the noble Claireville Academy. Class B’s leader, people call him a prodigy. He’s element is Tempest, a rare and the strongest wind element.” She took a quick pause, everyone listened fondly. “People usually train to attain that level but he was born gifted. With his current strength, he’s probably a C-rank battle mage just because of the element he wields.” She finished.

“What about class C?” Julius asked. Class A and B were accounted for and the threats acknowledged. However, when it came to class C, Lucy was left clueless. “Oh, their class is filled with strong mages, but no one really stands out. Either they wield fire and something or lightning plus something, they are a mystery.” She gave out what little information she had.

“Alright everybody,” Sophie spoke loudly, “-are your strategy meetings over? Go solo or as a team, I don’t care, I wish to see who truly is the strongest.” She stood firm, method of the fight was undesignated, one could use anything they were proficient at. “Instructor,” the mild silent atmosphere broke, “if anyone dies by accident, who will be responsible?” Staxius spoke out, an indirect question asking if he should hold back. Clueless to who was foolish enough to ask such a question, all turn to check on class-D. The grey suit stood out, the inconspicuous Staxius was finally exposed to all the classes, a roar of gossip soon filled the entire arena.

“Teacher, what is an apprentice doing here, aren’t they supposed to stay with their master?” Someone of class-A mockingly asked. “Judging by the suit, he’s an SSS-ranked mage’s apprentice,” Emma added, her eyes looked as if she had taken a liking to him.

“Silence,” Sophie yelled, the students regained their composure. “-yes, he’s an apprentice, but I’ll tell you his true identity once the battle is over.” She walked closer to Staxius, “Now for your question, in case of fatal injuries, we have healing mages and the top doctors around the country on standby. Don’t hold back,” she faced away from him. “that applies to every single one here.” She headed to the control room.

“Hold on, ?that apprentice was thinking about holding back against us, class A?” An enraged student spoke his discontent. “Look at his smug face, he’s not even carrying any weapons.” Another one added. Their animosity grew, “Calm down everyone. If he truly is that strong, we shall test his might together.” Mint calmed her whole class instantly.

*Three,* Sophie spoke through the intercoms, * Two, One, BEGIN.* The fight started.

“MINT, leave that apprentice to me,” Stein dashed to Staxius’s last location. To his surprise, the grey suit fellow disappeared. “FIREBALL.” Class-C worked together to fend off Stein. They took turns firing by having each student recite their incantation beforehand. This, in the end, proved to be overwhelming, the arena got divided into four quarters. Top left and top right were for class A and B. While bottom left and bottom right was for C and D. A barrage of spells from the bottom left hit practically anyone within twenty meters. Their defense was strong, it seemed impregnable.

Class A and Class B were having a showdown in the upper half of the round arena, Class D slowly got picked off by the teamwork from Class C. Despite their strength, Silvio, Julius, and Lucy were the only one left. The remainder either ran or were defeated by the ice monster, Emma Mint. She used mid-tier magic and was very powerful. Without getting bothered, she ran up and down the arena and shot anyone using ice-spear. The trio from class D managed to stay alive thanks to the flame and lightning magic that Julius could barely control.

“Staxius, where are YOU?” Julius shouted as he fell from exhaustion, the scream resounded across the arena. The battle momentarily stopped but started back again. “TEMPEST BREATH,” Stein blasted away the remaining trio. Unconscious, the only one barely aware was Lucy.

‘Man, what a pitiful battle,’ it was Staxius, he stood over the battlefield and watched the whole battle from the scoreboard. He did nothing against the rules, Sophie just winked for the control room stood a few meters away from him. The battle ended; the ice princess defeated class C with a full-frontal assault thanks to the help of her classmates. She stood alone, yet, didn’t even seem bothered. It looked as if defeating class C was but child’s play.

Class B was annihilated by their own leader, Stein. The only people remaining were the trio from Class D, Emma, and Stein. “HA-HA-HA.” Lucy laughed. “W-what are you d-doing...” Julius asked half-awake, he had used a lot of mana.

Knowing that the battle would end with someone getting brutally massacred, Lucy decided to face the remaining monster, Stein. She knew Julius was strong enough to getaway. With a quick bow of the head, Lucy stepped into the fray and provoked the so-called prodigy.