“Is it just me, or are we getting much more challenges these days?” Edward asked, looking at Tony apologizing to a B-Class student… after having rushed at the student in such a way that the poor guy seemed determined to stay as far away from Tony as possible.

Tony still wasn’t aware of how scary he was to the students of other classes…

“He’s got to learn to talk more, everyone’s misunderstanding him as some demonic gatekeeper we all have on leash.” Kazuya replied with a wince as the student couldn’t take it anymore, running away from Tony who seemed more dejected.

“Look, he has that look again, annoyed at his prey escaping…” the other students of the S-Class collectively sighed at hearing someone whispering that.

Tony was quiet, and while he wasn’t as imposing as Edward, Tony was actually one of the more physically fit members of the S-Class.

Everything else about him worked together to make him more intimidating… his elements were Darkness and Lightning, Lightning associated with extreme power and speed, and Darkness being considered the scariest element.

“You know… when I recommended he learn how to close the distance with his enemy… I didn’t expect the end result would look like that.” Edward complained as Tony returned.

Kazuya patted Tony and Edward’s shoulders at the same time, acknowledging that the two both felt a bit sad over the situation for different reasons.

…Granted, Liza, Vince and Jade were snickering behind Kazuya’s back, but Edward and Tony didn’t need to know that.

It had been three weeks since the second Term had begun, and by now it was more than enough time for the other classes to get enough courage to challenge each other.

Of course, despite the capital S for Scary Strong in their title, the S-Class students still occasionally found themselves being challenged once in a while, and following the standard of the school, a battle for a position in the S-Class could only be issued to the lowest Ranked.

The result of that rule was that for the past three weeks, Tony had been in at least two fights a day with the occasional A and B-Class student…

This had the unintended effect of refining Tony’s fighting style even more, now that he was getting more experience fighting other opponents, and his rushing style had evolved slightly.

Due to the influence of Liza, who demanded names for all techniques (such as Jade’s Blade-bomb or Kazuya’s Taser Net) Tony’s rush was now called Beast Blitz (not the final name, due to every other S-Class student disliking it)

Following the example shown by Jade in using Light to boost her movement speed, as well as conversations with Jade about how she got such a large boost out of her element, Tony managed to add Lightning to his charge in such a way as to make himself appear to be teleporting over the field.

Those with strong enough vision could see his movements, his pauses in ‘teleporting’ actually being moments where the ‘voltage’ of his charge would drop momentarily before surging once more.

Kazuya compared it to momentum, the longer Tony kept up the charge, the faster he’d get, and however he struck after the ‘Beast Blitz’ would also gain an increase in power due to the imparted momentum.

A habit that was picked up on by some of his challengers, who were now considering the movement technique as an ‘anti-ranged combatant’ move, as the only real counter for the technique was to run towards Tony.

Tony who fought almost as well as Edward when it came to close ranged ‘unarmed’ techniques?

“It’s similar in idea to my Blade-bombs in that it forces the opponent to move in a certain manner, but there are more weaknesses than it seems.” Jade admitted, getting a nod from Tony himself.

“If I am stopped early, or the opponent is faster than me, it’s pointless. It’s also pointless if my opponent can simply tank my ending attack.” Tony added, knowing the last from experience having tried the Blitz against Edward.

Edward did take heavy damage from blocking Tony’s high kick at the end of the charged up Blitz, but he also punished Tony for giving Edward the chance to strike back, ending the match in a one hit knock out.

“It has its issues, but that’s what sparring is for right? To find these issues and either work around them, or get rid of them.” Vince offered with a smile, getting a nod from the others.

“Well, you all look to be having fun…” Upon hearing the familiar voice, the first years turned to their third year seniors Bobby and Yusuf.

“Ah, Bobby, Yusuf, good to see you two.” Kazuya greeted politely, the other S-Class students nodding to their seniors with respect.

“Nice to see you all too, it’s been more than a month or two right?” Bobby seemed a bit confused, looking to Yusuf for confirmation as the smaller man nodded.

“Yeah… hey, now that I think about it, why haven’t we seen the third years around?” Leah asked, before squeaking upon noticing the attention she gained…

Someday they really had to work out why she was so shy.

“Well that would be because we’re seniors, we’re practically authorized Sage’s already at this point, especially the S and A Classes. We’re given the option of going on missions, so long as we have a chaperone.” Bobby explained, getting bright eyed looks from his underclassmen.

“Missions? What kind of missions, if I may ask?” Jade was polite as ever, but her interest couldn’t be hidden correctly as Bobby chuckled, before placing his palms on his hips.

“I don’t know!” The confidence in Bobby’s answer hid the stupidity of it for all of three seconds before the first year S-Class looked at Yusuf with their confusion.

“Sorry about that, Bobby is one of those people with selective memory. If it doesn’t interest him, he’d probably forget it.” Yusuf admitted as Bobby scratched his head with a chuckle.

“To explain, missions Sages go on are separated by ranking and Stars, with the ranking going from D to S like our classes. Of course the Star requirement is quite a bit more important than the other one. A two Star Sage can go on a one Star S rank mission easily.” Yusuf added as Bobby nodded.

“Yeah! And what missions you take depend on your skills and strength. The two of us are authorized for four Star B rank missions currently, though our entire class can go for a S rank mission.” Bobby added, at least remembering that part.

“Missions can be separated into Investigative, Hunting and Defending for the most part, with one or two rarer designations.” Yusuf explained, waving his arm to do his ‘drawing with air’ trick.

Leah really wanted to figure that out, she believed it was done by making air solid in patterns, but she’d have to ask Yusuf about that.

“Defensive missions are obviously about guarding something or someone. They can range from protecting a scientist in a Mystic Zone to delivering a package across countries… that was the one we just got back from by the way, we were delivering a few parts for the engineers at a frontier village.” Yusuf added, Bobby nodding in realization of what he was doing for the past two months.

“Oh yeah… now I remember. I was just zoning out for most of that.” Bobby joked while scratching his head, leaving the younger S-class students to look at him with confusion.

“Right… anyway, then there are Hunting missions. These are all about taking down a target or multiple targets, ranging from Mystic Beasts to the occasional arrest of a rogue Sage.” The younger S-Class students all frowned at the mention of rogue Sages.

Rogue Sages were essentially Sages that were also criminals of any level, thieves, serial killers, drug dealers, any Sage that was a criminal was considered a rogue…

“Very, very rarely will we be allowed to go on a Hunting mission for rogue Sages, and any mission involving them is considered an automatic S rank due to the human factor.” Bobby added, showing his interest in those type of missions.

“Indeed, fighting any human is typically a bit more difficult than fighting a Mystic Beast of just about any rank. Up until their stronger variations like six Star Beasts, they have low intelligence… but humans possess it and are more dangerous. Also, Sages who specialize in hunting down other Sages are called Bounty Hunters.” Yusuf added, looking to Bobby who was smiling…

Made sense, Bobby wanted to be a Bounty Hunter.

“Skipping to the last of the three general mission types are Investigative missions. These missions are all about information gathering, learning the habits of Mystic Beasts, finding Fae villages or simply tracking down a rogue Sage for someone else to fight… anything focusing on research basically.” Yusuf smiled.

He really liked Investigative missions, finding out new things and exploring was what Yusuf wanted to do, especially because his mother used to do a lot of them.

“You mentioned Bounty Hunters, does that mean that Sages are given professions based on which missions they specialize in?” Kazuya asked, curious on the titles.

“Indeed, whichever missions you are good at will give you a general title such as Bounty Hunter, Investigator or Guardian. At some point a Sage begins to become good at multiple job types, at which point they are popular enough to be given a unique title, such as your parents and their title of Kazuya Pair.” Kazuya frowned at the name…

At some point he’d have to get everyone to start calling him Hiiro unless he wanted to be immediately connected to his parents… and he refused to build off of their reputation.

“Yeah, titles are oddly important for us Sages, they distinguish beginners from veterans and heroes. The first title you get is given to you by the school by the way, or if you are a wandering Sage you’d be given one after your fifth mission… whichever mission you completed on your fifth would supply your title.” Yusuf didn’t quite like that system…

A person could complete four Investigative missions, then complete a package delivery mission for their fifth and get the title of ‘Deliveryman’ despite being good at Investigative missions.

It was a slightly flawed system, they knew this already, but it was what worked: don’t fix what isn’t broken.

“It’s an interesting system…” Leah added, thinking it over for a bit.

“That it is… uh… sorry but what’s your name?” Bobby asked, getting everyone to blink as they turned to stare at him, only Yusuf palming his face with a sigh.

“Sorry, it’s just, I have trouble remembering the names of people weaker than me!” Bobby’s apology was only making things worse, and Yusuf was just shaking his head before he heard a crack.

Looking up at the S-class students, Yusuf couldn’t keep the small smile off of his face.

“Oh? Then, if I may ask, do you know any of our names Bobby?” Edward asked having absently cracked his knuckles in a near silent threat… an ineffective one, but the fact that it was made impressed Yusuf.

“Oh I know the little one is named Leah von Krown… as for the rest of you, I’m a bit lost. I remember that you’re the prince of the Empire, Gregory Valzard’s brother so your surname should be Valzard. And the guy with the katana is a Kazuya, can’t remember his first name though.” Yusuf could practically see the fighting spirit of the S-class soar at this unintentional insult…

“Bobby, please shut up. No matter how nice of a guy you are, this habit of yours keeps you from getting a good reputation.” Yusuf added, looking to the younger students with an apology written all over his face.

“I can’t help it Yusuf! A warrior must always be looking forward and well…” Bobby looked to the younger students and they immediately understood the unspoken words.

He was beyond them, and he would not turn back to look at those weaker.

“Yes, you certainly act like an Emperor with that attitude.” Yusuf said, making Bobby’s face turn into a grimace at his unofficial title…

It was what everyone in Elem High called him though.

The Emperor, ever since his first year in which he defeated a third year student, undefeated but for his battles against the third and second year S-Class students during that time, by his second year Bobby would henceforth be undefeated…

Looking at Yusuf, Bobby didn’t consider the title a compliment though.

“Again, Bobby does not mean any insult by what he says, he was just raised weird. Just a recommendation, but if you want him to remember you, do something memorable.” Yusuf added, making the students nod, getting his point.

To be remembered, you must do something or be strong enough to be worth remembering for Bobby.

“Well, interesting as this conversation was, I’d really like to get some food…” Yusuf realized as he checked a watch on his arm, noting that the break time was almost over…

But before he and Bobby could move, they were stopped by a snap of the fingers, a wall of ice blocking their path.

Turning to look at the source, Yusuf sighed, seeing a man with deep blue eyes and blonde hair, his red tie and the stylized ‘A’ on his right arm signifying his position in the school.

“Yusuf Grant, I challenge you to a battle for a position in the S-Class, wagering the earnings of my next three missions!” the other senior shouted as Yusuf sighed, shaking his head.

“Ludwig, I thought you agreed to stop challenging me after I defeated you in the last school-wide tournament… but well, I do need a bit more spending money, and at the same time I can punish you for messing up the floor.” Yusuf said as a gust of wind blew, the chunks of ice being carried into the wind to create a cool breeze in the room.

Thankfully, the cafeteria was the place most students congregated during an interval, and considering how competitive most Sages are, having a fighting ring nearby was a necessity, hence why Bobby just patted Yusuf on the shoulder and attempted to walk away.

“Aren’t you worried about the fight?” Kazuya asked before Bobby could get out of earshot, Bobby turning to look at Kazuya and then looking back to Yusuf.

“Yusuf is someone I acknowledge as an equal. I don’t think I’d lose against Ludwig, so I doubt Yusuf would either.” Bobby believed his reasoning to be sound and walked away without another care.

Watching the preparations for the fight, the two seniors stepped into the ring, already fixed after Tony’s ‘rampage’

Both Yusuf and Ludwig stood in the ring, both having removed the jackets of their uniforms and standing in the button up shirts, Yusuf wearing a pair of gloves as well as they focused.

“Six Arts.” Lisa stated, and as if it was prophetic, both Ludwig and Yusuf focused, their Essence condensing after being altered by their elements and forced into a shape.

For Ludwig, his didn’t so much as condense as it shaped itself, widening, extending, a long handle forming as his essence formed into his Armament, a great-sword with a wide base, wide enough to practically be a shield in its own, the blade a shining ice blue, darkening towards the spine of the blade with specks of light acting like stars within.

Yusuf’s weapon on the other hand was much more plain… the younger S-Class students all looked twice just to make sure they were really seeing their senior holding a cane of all things in his hands.

“…Scary…” Kazuya said absently, getting nods from Jade and Leah.

“Yeah, that giant sword coming for you, I wouldn’t want to be Yusuf.” Jade offered as Vince shook his head.

“Nah, the scary one here is senior Yusuf… look with your element sight, remember, he’s a Wind Sage.” Vince reminded, getting the others to ‘look’ closer.

Indeed, Yusuf’s weapon was a cane, but upon looking closer, with the assistance of the element sight, the truth was shown as hundreds of tiny vents were layered across the cane creating a mosaic pattern across the circular length of the ‘wood’.

Extending from these vents were tiny puffs of air, twirling around the cane, unseen but felt by those close enough.

“Alright then, let’s begin.” Yusuf said, a calm smile on his face as his opponent was already scowling.

“This is just even more proof of how skilled our seniors are.” Tony added with a mumble, having noted the difference in their attitudes to the fight.

The biggest difference between Yusuf and Ludwig was not their weapons and elements but instead how relaxed they were, Yusuf had his cane held loosely as if holding a rapier, whereas Ludwig was tense, edging forward slowly as he held the great sword as if it had no weight.

At some unseen signal, both began to move, with Ludwig lunging forward to attack Yusuf, his first swing being a massive overheard swing.

“A telegraph punch?” Edward seemed confused, wondering at the obvious attack…

“Maybe it is, but between you and me, I’m the weapon expert. The great sword is best used in that manner; it’s a domineering weapon that uses its weight as a way to destroy its opponents.” Kazuya offered, and indeed the swing was fast, and was it to hit, it would do heavy damage…

But Yusuf simply smiled as he moved in counter to the massive swing, sidestepping as he flicked his cane, slamming the blunt weapon on top of Ludwig’s weapon, creating a crater.

Instead of trying to lift the weapon while Yusuf’s cane was above it, Ludwig used the great sword as leverage to launch a kick in Yusuf’s general direction, forcing Yusuf to back off while spinning his cane, creating a shield of still air to block the kick.

“That cane is really versatile, and compared to the great sword, emphasizes more with controlling the element than physical strength.” Leah noted with bright eyes looking at the wind shield and considering the applications for it.

She was surprisingly confident when it came to talking about her passions, but…

“Oh…” and there it was, Leah started off confident, but got more shy as time went on after speaking, eventually getting back to her ‘base’ level shyness.

While the other six members of the first year S-Class sighed in union at Leah’s shyness, the fight moved on, Yusuf still on the defence as Ludwig attacked using his massive blade, at one point condensing some Essence onto the edge of the blade and swinging to send off a flying slash of ice.

Yusuf responded by stabbing his cane into the ground, pushing out his arms to his sides and then slamming them together in a massive clap, disintegrating the ice slash before it could reach him.

“Air pressure… pressure is force, and enough force can do damage, hence why when you move fast enough you start being pushed back.” Jade explained, thinking to the idea of a racecar driver being forced into his seat at certain speeds.

“Yeah, if you were between something and enough air pressure was pushing you into it, you’d be flattened like a pancake. In this case, Yusuf had the slash in-between two equal air pressure barriers in a way.” Vince nodded in approval, grin still in place.

“Not only that, but his stabbing of the cane into the ground was actually to stabilize the source of the air Yusuf used for the attack…” Edward noted, impressed at the move.

“He simultaneously defended and attacked with that move, even if the blade didn’t break, the force was even greater the closer you got to Yusuf.” Kazuya was considering the applications as he watched the fight…

Kazuya’s fighting style was all about versatility, he could use all ten Elements to roughly equal degrees, but how one fought with one Element would differ for another.

The only solution for Kazuya was to gain experience and ‘steal with the eye’ so to speak.

It was for this reason that Kazuya was capable of the Taser Net which his own father used, it was used against him and he learnt how it worked from his father, who was capable of the same technique without even using bits of metal to jump the voltage around.

If Kazuya tried it like that, he’d burn through too much essence though, which was why he eventually got the idea of using the bits of metal to lessen the cost.

“Now Ludwig… I see you have improved since we last fought half a year ago, for one, you aren’t even breathing heavy after sending off your Ice Age Slash.” Hearing the name of the technique, Kazuya could only cringe…

The other members of the first year S-Class all seemed to like the name, metaphorical fires burning in their eyes to have ‘cool’ special attacks like that.

At least they didn’t shout out the names of their attacks… Kazuya was thankful for that.

“I have improved… but it seems you still play around…” Ludwig growled out as he held his sword at the ready, Yusuf chuckling as he removed the cane from the ground.

“Of course I do… spars like these are the only place I can try random things for fun.” Yusuf said with a smirk, getting Ludwig to grind his teeth together.

“But you are right, I’ll be ending this now, sorry to say.” Yusuf admitted, flourishing his cane as he pointed it to the ceiling.

“Oh, here’s the Maestro!” the S-Class heard someone shout, confusing some as Yusuf pulled the cane back, the cane shortening slightly to resemble a conductor’s baton.

“Now, move in rhythm.” Yusuf said, his eyes narrowing in a predatory manner as Ludwig attempted to dash forward…

Only for something to his ankle just before his foot could touch the ground, causing Ludwig to almost flip sideways.

“Again, dance.” Yusuf’s expression did not change, keeping the same saccharine smile as Ludwig attempted to correct himself, only to be tossed further into the air by a platform of air.

“…” everyone was silent, minus the occasional exclamation of surprise from the watchers as Yusuf treated Ludwig as a ragdoll, tossing him here and there without worry.

Looking at the fight with elemental sight only made it that much worse, as a large area around Yusuf was dyed green, showing that all the air within that space was under his control…

“This is the power of a four Star Sage? And to think that each Star is ten times stronger than the previous one…” Tony said absently, too in awe to even worry about being shy.

If anything, the person who was most surprised and terrified of the display was Leah, as a Wind (and Water) Sage, she realized the space for what it was.

The fight ended s moment after, Ludwig being hurled out of the space and the stage, landing on the ground coughing in pain.

“I win, by ring-out. Good luck next time Ludwig, maybe focus on control?” Yusuf offered as he turned and walked back to his juniors.

“…Senior Yusuf… did you create your own atmosphere just now?” Leah asked after everyone else congratulated their senior, getting Yusuf to look at the girl in surprise.

“Oh, indeed, that’s what I did. It’s really difficult, and I can only make a space that big because I’m now a four Star Sage, but back when I first entered this school I could barely make one three metres in diameter.” Yusuf joked as he scratched his head, only to pause at seeing the stare from the typically shy Leah.

“Atmospheric Lock, a technique created and defined by Rabia Baqri over one hundred years ago during the beginning of the Fae Wars, it was first used by Rabia Baqri to kill over ten thousand Fae in one battle. It was due to this achievement that Rabia Baqri was eventually given the title King of Wind.” Leah said, surprisingly stern to the eyes of the other students of the S-Class students as she stared at Yusuf whose face was now carefully neutral.

“Many speculate on the technique, but few know how to do it or how it even looks, especially after the King of Wind vanished from the public eye roughly twenty years ago. So how do you know it, senior Yusuf?” Leah asked, deadly serious about this topic as Yusuf looked into her pale green eyes.

“My mother taught me and my father how to do that technique. And for the record, my mother no longer carries the Baqri name, she is Rabia Grant currently.” Yusuf said, the implications quite obvious…

“So you are the son of a King…” Leah said, looking at Yusuf who frowned.

“Indeed, Yusuf Grant, Prince of Wind… at least, that’s what the higher ups who know who my mother is call me. Everyone else calls me the Maestro.” Yusuf admitted begrudgingly, disliking the idea of living off of his mother and her fame.

“…Senior, could you teach me that technique?” Leah asked, getting wide eyes from some as Yusuf looked to her, his eyes now narrowed much like they were when he faced Ludwig.

“No, you would barely be capable of a two, maybe two and a half metre space. It’s worthless to anyone below three Stars, and even then…” Yusuf leaned a bit closer, causing Leah to step back subconsciously.

“As you said, few know how to do it, or how Atmospheric Lock looks… so let me ask you in return… how do you know what it looks like?” Yusuf asked, Leah’s eyes widening as her pupils began to shake, gaining a far off stare.

“…You aren’t ready for that, Leah Marx… but, you’ve intrigued me a bit. I tell you what, battle me in the school-wide tourney, and we’ll see after that.” Yusuf said, turning.

“Atmospheric Lock is a personal technique for me. I won’t teach it to anyone weak… to be in the S-Class is to be a monster. Some of you aren’t there yet.” Yusuf said, looking over his shoulder at the younger students, notably not looking at Liza.

The bell rang shortly after Yusuf walked away, leaving the S-Class students to walk in a slow shuffle to their class.

“…Guys… we really need three Stars.” Edward offered, getting nods from the other five, Liza clinging to Kazuya much like a koala would cling to a tree.

“Yeah… you could tell that Bobby meant no harm by what he said, but Yusuf actually agreed to some extent… But the real question is this.” Kazuya turned to the others, a frown on his face.

“Are we just going to accept our weakness, or are we going to get stronger and prove that Bobby was wrong to forget our names?” Kazuya asked, everyone beginning to smile/smirk, their answers clearly given.

“That was so corny though.” Vince’s complain was ignored as they stepped into the class, dead-set on getting stronger…

For most of them, it was to prove Bobby wrong… but for Leah, it was to prove her worth.

As one of the monsters of the S-Class.