My silver swam through the air above the three metal materials in front of Unice. The arena was paved in earth and fire mana. My job wasn’t to show off, or to distract her. I needed to show her my connection to the silver as clearly as possible.

Her eyes were glued to the silver in front of her. I could see orange mana filling the air around us, coming from her. She had activated the skill I had seen in the cultivation room. The tidal wave of mana swept over me, and I breathed in.

Being surrounded by the element I was attuned to felt like walking alongside an old friend. It invigorated me, and I felt our connection growing. It waved, and I sent a feeling of closeness back. Then I focused on differentiating the metal mana from the earth mana.

At their core, both stemmed from the same source. Their mana was similar to each other, like an older brother or sister. Both belonged to the same family but had their own distinct personalities. Unice was already friends with earth. Now, she needed a connection with metal.

She reached out her hand towards the three metals. I saw the manner inside them shimmering and gazing back at her. They were reacting to her emotions, and her will.

This time only two of them responded.

I could see the two metals clearly now. One was bronze, the other was adamant. I focused fully on those two, ignoring the third. Unice’s hand hovered above them cautiously.

Minutes passed as she meditated. A bead of sweat dripped down her brow, but her expression was calm and collected.

I ran my silver over her hands and activated my mana sense. I wanted to be able to see everything the mana did, so that I could better guide her.

A few more minutes passed, and Unice was starting to worry. Her eyebrows furrowed together, and her fingers were shaking. She’d failed again. Her eyes were still shut-in meditation, but I could see her frustration.

I closed my eyes and remembered how my attunement had been. I could help her after this attempt and let her know how my own had gone-

Then there was a shift in the mana. No. Not a shift.

I felt her mana disappear. It was a small amount, even smaller than the previous session, but this time I was familiar with the sensation. With my mana sense I explored the area where the mana had been.

“I feel it.” Unice’s excited voice broke through my concentration.

My attention snapped back towards her, and I saw her fingertips resting on the metals. They were pressing down, trying to merge physically with the materials. Her eyes were open, but I knew she couldn’t see anything except the companions in front of her.

The mana inside the materials danced and sang out. I could see them, on the edge of their seats, waiting for the final connection.

Then I saw her fingers dig into the metals. They gave way to her, allowing her fingers to sink into them. The bronze was the first, parting at her touch like a liquid. It coiled around her finger and then floated in the air.

She wasn’t done yet. The adamant became her sole focus, and she brushed against it gently. Unlike the bronze it didn’t give way, instead, it bent under her touch, the material looking like putty that was being shaped by her hand.

It slowly formed into a tendril and wriggled slowly into the air next to the bronze. It was still fighting her manipulation. I watched intently as the minutes passed, and then as though someone had flicked a switch, the adamant shimmered and then flew through the air without obstacle.

Unice uncrossed her legs and jumped up into the air. The bronze and adamant followed her, circling around her playfully. Her wide eyes turned to me, and her lips broke out in a smile.

I stood up to congratulate her and then had to balance myself as she barrelled into me.

“Thank you– thank you– thank you– thank you.” Unice hugged me affectionately.

“My pleasure.” I grunted and wheezed.

I hadn’t noticed how muscular she was for a magician. She was squeezing the life out of me.

I saw red hair bobbing towards us. Amanda had a huge smile on her face, and she tapped Unice’s shoulder, drawing her attention.

“Congratulations.” Amanda’s voice was joyful. “Your household is blessed.”

Unice couldn’t keep the grin off her face as the two metals floated around her.

The bronze had reformed into a ball, and it zigzagged in the air sharply, turning at her will. The adamant shimmered like a liquid through the air. It interacted with my silver playfully, and the two weaved across each other in a helix formation. Our methods of control were almost identical.

“You’re already a natural.” I admired her skilful manipulation.

It had taken me months to figure out how to weave iron through the air. Even then, I had never gotten it right until I had connected with silver.

This was the benefit of knowing your proficiency from the moment you attuned to metal.

“Ouros is going to freak.” Unice’s voice was cheerful. I’m going to show up to him tomorrow and then bam. He won’t know what hit him.”

“I hope you don’t mean that literally.” I joked.

“I mean, maybe a little, just with the bronze.” Unice smiled sheepishly. “And my mum is going to freak. I wonder how I’ll show them, I need to think of a fun surprise.”

Her grin widened. I could see her thinking of the possibilities. Then she raised her head towards the bronze and adamant.

She twirled her fingers and watched with wide eyes as the metals fluttered at her command. I could see she hadn’t fully accepted her breakthrough. The two materials returned to her orbit, and she brought them into her hand and cupped them gently.

“Hello there. I’m Unice.” She said carefully.

Amanda shot me a look, but I smiled and shook my head at her. This was normal. I knew what Unice was going through, I’d responded the exact same way.

After a moment Unice looked up at us.

“Thank you so much, again.” She closed her hands over the metals. “I need to get home and show my family as soon as possible.”

“Don’t forget your other metal.” I spoke.

The lone ball of material had been left on the stone altar when Unice stood up. I bent down to pick it up and felt it call to me. I had been trying to avoid connecting with the metals when Unice was attuning, but now that I had freed up my concentration, I could feel the connection between us.

It was silver.

The bead hovered up towards me and I passed it to Unice. She rolled it between her fingers with a smile on her face.

“I can feel a connection growing, but it’s not quite there yet.” Unice frowned. “I haven’t unlocked metal manipulation. Ouros got it immediately when he attuned.”

I looked at the two other metals in her hands. She wasn’t making them float anymore and was holding them tightly.

The movement from before must’ve been because of the elemental boost that she'd gained from the moment of attunement. It was the gift given by mana that Tago of metal had taught me about in class.

I’d gained metal manipulation the moment I’d attuned, I hadn’t realised it wouldn’t be that way for everyone.

The amount of skill that she had shown for the small period of time she had been able to manipulate the metals was impressive.

“I’m sure you’ll unlock it soon.”

Unice nodded and I saw her frown turn into a smile.

“My family is going to celebrate. I need a party.” Her eyes shone. “Do you have a texting regent? I’ll let you know when the celebration is. The official one, and the one just for my friends.”

She put the metals away in her pocket and brought out an orb made out of stone. I looked at it with interest, it was similar to Amanda’s in design, but the material itself was different. It didn’t feel like ordinary stone to my senses, something had been done to it.

I brought out my book and we tapped the two regents together. A new glowing symbol appeared in my book. Unice stepped back and I could see excitement in her eyes.

Her family was dedicated towards raising earth magicians, that was what Amanda had told me. Having not one, but two, metal magicians would be a major cause for celebration.

There were also the types of metals that she had proficiency in to consider. Adamant was valuable, I didn’t know how she would get a hold of more without paying for it, but if she could, then her family wouldn’t have to worry about money for the rest of their lives.

Ouros had wanted to attune to it for that exact reason.

Unice left after another round of saying thank you and skipped out of the arena doors. It left me with a warm feeling in my chest.

“It’s nice to see someone accomplish their goals.” I said to Amanda

“Not to mention the celebration dinner she’s sure to have.” Amanda’s voice was filled with joy. “Nobles make sure it’s big. They want to show off.”

I’d been to a single one, William’s birthday, but I hadn’t been able to take full advantage of it at the time.

I did remember the food being great.

There were the family issues that I needed to take into consideration. Unice didn’t know about my family, and the same nobles that her family was friends with may not be the same ones that were at William’s party.

More importantly, I had changed so much physically that it was unlikely that people would recognise me unless I went up and talked to them. I was also a student at Koshima academy. That alone gave me a status of my own, a slice of prestige that would earn me respect.

The party that Unice had mentioned for her friends still sounded like the better event for me, but a formal one wouldn't be an issue. Maybe.

“I’ll have to double check closer to the day if I can go.” I had a few things to consider before I wanted to attend a noble’s party. “Let’s-”

I raised my hand and my voice cut off as a ball flew towards me. My earth manipulation activated, and I stopped it from smashing into me.

“That’s cheating.” I lowered the ball and saw Amanda grinning behind it.

“I thought I saw a venomous bug on you.” Her smile was radiant. “I was saving your life.”

I stared at her, and she waved her hand dismissively.

“It’s gone now.” She raised an eyebrow at me. “Are we going to train?”

“Of course, and thanks for the save. I’m glad you didn’t try to burn it off me.” I spoke.

I tried to catch her off-guard and threw the ball back to her. She stopped it in mid-air with a smile. She had been expecting my retaliation.

“Flattery will get you nowhere when we’re in competition.” She winked at me. “Nice try.”

The sound of chirping reached our ears, and I looked towards the doorway. Gold and Agni were talking in the hallway.

“Oh, that’s right. I forgot I asked Agni to meet us here around this time.” Amanda put down the lava ball. “We’ll have to do tag first, is that okay with you?”

I saw her fingers clench nervously.

“If it’s okay with you, then it’s okay with me.” I spoke.

She nodded and the two birds flew through the doorway and paused as they took in the sight of the arena. I held up my arm for Gold and he flew onto it.

“How did you find your way here?” I asked Gold.

He pointed his beak towards Agni.

“She can find me whenever she wants to.” Amanda held the phoenix in her hands. “This is why we’ll need to play tag first.”

I took a look at Agni and saw something strange.

The entire bird's body was glowing a radiant yellow. It was nearing the colour of gold, and the flames emitted from its body matched its feathers in colour.

I’d never seen Agni looking like this, it was like a spell had been cast on her. She turned and chirped at Gold. Gold squawked and then jumped into the air and moved towards the side of the arena.

“Alright, let’s do this.” Amanda spoke to Agni.

She raised her hands and I saw Agni disappear in a storm of golden fire. The flames enveloped Amanda, spreading from her hands and over her uniform. Some of it fell into the surroundings, but most of it coalesced behind her and a blaze of fire emerged from her back.

Two golden-yellow wings unfolded into the air, each one composed of a delicate mix of feather and flame.

“This is how I fly.” Amanda opened her eyes.

They were bright red.

Within her irises I saw yellow embers flickering into existence. Her hair was a tide of fire that grew and swept across her waist. Agni had disappeared, and in her place Amanda had transformed.

“That’s the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen.” My eyes widened.

Waves of heat caressed my skin, the fire mana vibrated in response to Amanda’s presence. Amanda held her hand out and I saw the mana retreating into her palm.

As I took in her transformation a memory floated to my mind.

I had seen something like this before.

When I had been at William’s island and the arena there was attacked, the headmaster had transformed into a brilliant blaze of fire. I hadn’t seen it up close, but what I was seeing now was similar.

Could all fire attuned do something similar? Maybe it was just the exceptional ones. This ability was clearly part of her bloodline.

Amanda was more human than the headmaster. I hadn’t been able to see his features at all, but Amanda still looked like herself, only she had delved deeper into the flames that she normally kept under control.

“So then, are we going to do this?” Amanda grabbed the shield regent and started to activated it.

Then she stepped into the air.

Her wings flapped behind her, brushing flames over the earthen surface. Like ripples in a pond they cascaded over my body, but they were cool to the touch and harmless.

The shield shimmered to life around her, filling the arena with an orange glow.

I brought my hand up and smiled.

If Amanda was going all out, I would too. It was time to show my friend what I could do. My fingers brushed against the flames that coiled around me and I focused my concentration. Within my body my mana answered my call.

Inside me an endless ocean of gold reacted to my will. My manapool rose at my will and cascaded through me, transforming into orange mana as it travelled through my body and I cast my spell.

Spires of stone appeared in the ground around me, growing into the air and trying to stab Amanda’s shield.

The battle had begun.