“Vince, at this point… isn’t this going beyond stubborn?” Edward asked the long-ranged specialist of the group with genuine concern, watching Vince take haggard breaths as he focused, his Essence once more attempting to form into a weapon, but bursting apart just as it exited his body, a true sign of how tired he was.

“Edward has a point Vince, no one has ever created a gun as their Armament, and I doubt it can be done.” Jade said, concern on her features as Vince fell back onto the floor.

“I…I…refuse.” Vince gasped out, unable to even keep his eyes open, his head throbbing with pain as if wanting to shut him down.

It was the week before the Inter-Class Tournament, and Vince was the only member of the second year S-Class without an Armament, Jade having summoned her rapier two weeks ago and Leah having her wand a week ago.

“Leave him alone. It’s Vince’s life, and he is free to do with it as he sees fit.” Hiiro cut off the complaints Edward and Jade as they were about to speak, Liza on his back nodding in agreement, resting her head on Hiiro’s shoulder.

“Support, not demean.” Liza added, getting in on the words, Tony walking over to Vince and lifting up his friend, hauling the tired out Soviet by hanging him from his shoulders.

Leah was just watching everything with a bit of confusion, and the occasional glare at Liza’s head…

Liza countered by turning her head and sticking her tongue out, then nuzzling her cheek against Hiiro’s shoulder, leaving Leah fuming…

It honestly looked like two kittens fighting over the attention of a parent cat with the height Hiiro had over the two girls and his neigh unflappable nature.

Of course, it was just an act as Hiiro was actually a bit disturbed by this, mostly because while Liza was upfront, she did nothing about it beyond being a bit clingy, and Leah said nothing but seemed really competitive with Liza…

He really didn’t want to pick one and make the other sad… but he also didn’t think he was the kind of guy who would date two girlfriends at once.

Guys talk about how they’d love it, but that sounded like there were a lot of logistics involved with such a relationship… Hiiro didn’t think it was a good idea.

A few minutes later they were all moving out towards the trains, with Vince still slung over Tony’s shoulder as they boarded the S-Class train… unfortunately, they did so with the first years at the same time.

“…I forgot why we usually left a bit later.” Hiiro said to himself as he stared at the six students opposite them, the only one of the group Hiiro could even remotely say he approved of being their former first ranker, Russell Jackson.

Former, because during the Inner Class Battles, Russell had his throne taken by the former second ranked, the same brat who said that it wasn’t any of his business if Russell lost.

For further reminder, the boy, Wolfgang, no last name, was the one holding a violin during said fight between Russell and Tony.

“I have the distinct impression that you all are looking down on us based on the actions of our former strongest.” Wolfgang spoke, his spiky grey hair retrieving a long stare from Liza who seemed to believe her pure white hair to be superior.

Well, pure white except for the two strands of black, but she liked the extremes rather than the blurring of the two that was silver/grey.

“Oh not at all, in fact we actually quite like Russell. Straight forward people like him are fun.” Edward said with a chuckle, Jade on his side poking him to prevent him from going overboard.

“What our leader means to say, is that Russell has given us reason to admire his attitude, while the rest of your group has given no reason to admire or dislike you.” Jade explained, her lengthy explanation apparently enough for Wolfgang to narrow his eyes.

“How is it admirable when he couldn’t back up his attitude? He lost, his effort was practically worthless.” Wolfgang said, all too certain of his view of the world…

The strong win, the weak lose, and therefore the weak were to be ignored, tossed aside, while the strong were to be worshipped.

It seemed like common sense, and Elem even enforced it considering the Class and Ranking system.

“Sometimes losing doesn’t matter that much. How you lose can also be important, especially if you learn something from the loss. It’s only if you learn nothing from losing that it is wasted.” A ‘weak’ voice went out, as they noted Vince, lying down on the row of seats, his hand holding up his head as he lounged about.

“Hey Vince, you sure you up to talking?” Hiiro asked with a raised eyebrow, knowing that Vince probably didn’t even have the energy to stand.

“Oh this is interesting enough for me to be speaking. What’s up with all the negativity?” Vince asked with a pointed smirk at the first years, Russell looking a bit awkward as he waved, mostly because as soon as he waved his own classmates glared at him.

It was odd behaviour considering that Russell… wasn’t actually that bad a guy… then again, Wolfgang appeared to be the ‘leader’ of the group, and he disliked Russell.

Mob mentality in a small group was weird, but then again, stranger things had happened.

“It’s not being negative, it’s being real… and I must say, I don’t think I appreciate being spoken to like that by someone who seems to be unable to even stand. I take it you’re the weaker one in that group?” Wolfgang accused, and there was a chilling silence.

“…Does it matter what you ‘appreciate’? Does it matter that I’m one of the weakest members of my Class? Stop competing with me when there is danger in your home.” Vince warned, his eyes becoming a bit predatory, scaring the first years a bit.

Even weakened as he was, even being unable to back up his words personally, the look in Vince’s eyes were warning enough.

Do not try him.

“Alright… I’ll leave that alone.” Even as arrogant as he seemed, Wolfgang instinctually knew that he should just give up here.

“Good. I’ll at least admit that I shouldn’t have stuck my mouth in, the conversation wasn’t really any of my business, but I was curious.” Vince added finally, rolling so that he was facing the ceiling instead of the first years.

There was silence, the first years unwilling to speak after being glared at like that by Vince, and the second years finding Vince’s reaction to be strange… it’s almost like he took that reaction against Russell to be personal.

After getting to the train station, Vince stumbled out of the train, his classmates worried, but waved off by the Russian teen.

Watching them leave, Vince frowned, slumping down to a nearby bench, recovering a bit more.

“Losses… aren’t bad if you learn something from it.” Vince reminded himself, looking at his hands, feeling the truth of his words…

They weren’t for Wolfgang. They weren’t for Russell. Those words for himself, thinking about his current struggles.

Feeling up to walking home, Vince got up and shambled along, placing his hands in his pockets.

Vince noted, begrudgingly, that as he walked, people got out of the way, for no reason other than his Elem High uniform, the fear of Sages in some eyes, others just doing so because Vince appeared tired and lethargic…

If anyone from his class saw Vince now, they might be confused on what they were seeing, as Vince was not smiling, smirking, or even just neutral, instead he walked around with narrowed eyes and a scowl…

That was probably the larger reason behind why Vince was being avoided.

“Young master, is that you?” Vince blinked at the voice, turning his head and seeing someone who he hadn’t been expecting to see until he finished his time at Elem High.

“Boris? What are you doing here?” Vince asked, looking around in case another person from the USSR appeared from out of nowhere.

“I was sent here by your grandfather, he wanted you to get the latest parts for your weaponry.” Boris, the burly Russian man with a stereotypical name and short haircut spoke, patting the strap of his backpack.

Boris’ words drew a frown from Vince, knowing that his grandfather probably didn’t mean it in a bad way, but the timing just made it seem like even his grandfather didn’t have any faith in his ability to get his Armament to be guns.

“Just… just come on.” Vince said, gesturing for Boris to follow him, moving towards his apartment at a slow pace, the worker of the Makarov’s following Vince with nary a single complaint.

Boris was also, if the bag wasn’t sign enough, a normal human, one of the many that worked for the Makarov’s.

Opening the gate into the apartments, buzzing himself in, Vince motioned for Boris to follow him, the Soviet man looking at the building with a frown.

“Young master, there is no reason you should stay in such a place, why not get a better building?” Boris asked, Vince looking back to him with a frown.

“What is our family motto?” Vince asked, and Boris immediately quietened, not needing to be convinced any more, not when Vince reminded Boris that ‘to struggle is to live’.

“…Come on, drop the enhancements there, I’ll get out my tools.” Vince said, ordering Boris around, the large man nodding and moving the moment Vince spoke.

Vince, changing into his home clothes, walked back into the living room/kitchen after that to find Boris… cleaning. Arranging dishes, fixing up the cupboard, and so on…

This, this was why Vince stepped away from his family… that, and being invited to the best Sage School in the world in his opinion.

That last bit was a really good reason in Vince’s opinion, but the nagging nature of his family’s servants wore on him.

“Boris.” The man turned, his frowning face looking at odds with the fact that he was holding a feather duster to the unused and very dusty top of Vince’s cupboards.

“…never mind.” Vince finally got out, setting down his tool box and summoning his pistols…

Guns were… important, to Vince. Extremely so.

His great grandfather was the man who created the first Sage gun after a normal human shot him in the skull.

Vince’s great grandfather walked it off, being a five Star Sage when it happened, but his interest was piqued… what was this weapon that gave that normal human the confidence to actually attack a Sage of all beings?

And so the man, the Founder of the Makarov family, went and began to learn the inner workings of the weapons, wondering how he could… improve them.

The journey to the creation of the first Sage Gun was a long one, going over years as the man met great and powerful Sages in search of advice, ways to make the weapons greater…

In the end, the man succeeded, a six Star Sage, and in the last few years of life, he had created a working Sage Gun…

But it fell short of his goals…

“The gun, is a coward’s weapon.” Vince spoke aloud, Boris pausing in his actions for a moment, hearing the words before continuing, at a more subdued pace.

“The gun, is a crutch.” Vince said, picking up the new grip, and a screwdriver before setting to work on his pistols.

The work was monotonous and boring to anyone but Vince… but to him, guns were his lifeline.

“The gun is the tool of the weak.” Vince said, checking the magazines for the runes, ensuring that each was drawn correctly and no scratches to damage the stuff…

It was a low possibility considering that Guns were made with the strongest null-metals available, but they had to be working correctly.

After checking everything, seeing all the parts of his weapon, Vince blinked, placing the pistols down, looking to Boris with wide eyes, the man patiently seated at the lone table in the room, two cups of tea down, as Boris gestured for Vince to take a seat.

The reason why Vince was so surprised was because… he had gotten lost in his movements, in his reassembling and disassembling of the two pistols, he had fallen into a trance… he knew that he had because it was much later than when he started, judging by that clock on the wall.

“I have food ready as well, young master. But before we continue, I believe you have one more thing to say?” Boris asked leadingly, Vince looking back down to the weapons as he lifted the two guns by their handles…

Cradling them to his chest as he spoke.

“Guns… are how the weak face the strong.” Vince said, and Boris nodded with a small smile, gesturing for Vince to take the seat.

Vince only did so after storing his guns once more into his pocket space, taking the cup only after breathing in deeply, reminding himself of what he had been doing.

“That they are, young master. I am very glad that you have not forgotten the lessons of your elder sister.” Vince looked down to the guns, a way to distract himself from the person just brought up.

“…How is she?” Vince asked, and Boris’ near permanent frown deepened before he grunted.

“Not good admittedly. The God-Slaying Wolf is still in hibernation, thankfully, but its children roam more excitedly than normal.” Boris said with a sigh, making Vince pale, his hand shaking as he tried to take a sip of his tea.

“O-oh… that’s… that’s really bad.” Vince said, feeling as if his statement was underplaying the severity of the situation.

“It truly is, young master… so I think you know why I am here.” Boris said, setting down his tea cup, Vince wondering for a moment why Boris made tea and then gulped it down every time.

The man made good tea, but that just wasn’t the right way to drink it.

The odd thought helped Vince calm down his mind before he looked Boris in the eyes and spoke.

“You’re here to deliver a message from my sister. What has she ordered?” Vince asked as he set his cup down, reaching out to pick up the piece of paper Boris slid out onto the table.

Looking at the handwriting, mentally comparing it to his sister and finding it authentic, Vince allowed a smile on his face at hearing from his closest living relative.

Even as he read very, very bad things, he was at least glad that she was the one telling him all of it, even with the proxy of Boris…

She couldn’t exactly leave the USSR either… one member of the main family had to remain in the family lands at all times, and the only other main family member, their father, was too weak to go beyond the estate, to do his duty as a member of the Makarov family.

Not that it was his fault… the duty of the Makarov family was a heavy one to bear, and he had done his duty well until Vince’s sister, Anastasia, could become the family head.

“So… that’s the deadline huh? I can’t complete the customary outside years.” Vince said with a sigh, keeping the letter, unwilling to return it to Boris, and Boris not daring to ask for it.

“It is truly unfortunate young master. Your sister has given you leeway. You have until the end of your schooling to become as strong as possible.” Boris warned, and Vince nodded, completely understanding what Boris was saying.

Once his third year was over… whether he wanted to or not, Vince would be forced back to his home… where he might never leave again.

“…I’m going to go to bed. Take the couch.” Vince said, standing, unwilling to eat the food Boris made, making the stoic man frown at the waste of a hot meal…

But that was just a sign that Vince truly was troubled by what he had learnt… understandable.

As much as he joked around, Vince was a serious person, giving his all to anything he did…

“I… what do I do?” Vince asked himself, sitting at the edge of his bed and cradling his head in his hands, wishing for guidance…

Looking at the letter once more, Vince looked for anything, anything his sister could have said that would have helped him right now… then realized that he was looking at it wrong.

Holding his hand behind the page, and willing his Light to flow forth, the light shown through the page, revealing the ‘invisible ink’ that the siblings used to communicate more silly, private things… nothing to do with orders or family business, just the care of siblings.

And seeing the lines, Vince felt his mind blank for a moment.

Vince, never give up just because something is ‘impossible’.

What is impossible for others, might not be for you… and you’ll never know what is possible, if you don’t try.

I couldn’t turn the family weapon into my true weapon… but maybe you will find a way? I trust your potential, that mind that sees things that others do not.

Vince chuckled, wondering how his sister knew exactly what to write to help him out now… and then shrugged, his sister seemed near prophetic when it came to dealing with him, he had long since given up on surprising her.

If his classmates let him keep trying even with no sign of improvement, giving warnings but accepting his wishes…

And if Anastasia believed that he could make his Armament a gun…

Well, Vince would just have to figure out was wrong…

He didn’t have a lot of power, and it was late so he had to sleep soon… but looking at his guns, summoned into his hands from his pocket space, and thinking, thinking…

Vince ended up falling asleep with his guns in his hands, something super dangerous were they normal guns.

When Vince woke up in surprise at his alarm going off, sitting up in his bed and looking around wildly, Boris was gone, the Soviet man probably headed back to the family home, if not, Moscow, and leaving Vince to his thoughts.

“Damn I’m going to be late…” Vince cursed as he rushed to get a shower and run out, only saved from being late by a pre-made breakfast left by Boris.

Getting to the train station and huffing, he walked into the train, seeing that there was only one other student on the train.

Russell.

The first year looked awkward at Vince’s appearance, Vince looking to the boy for a moment before dropping to the seat opposite him, sighing out loudly.

There was quiet as the train began to move, the two not speaking, just being silent…

Eventually, someone couldn’t take it anymore… namely Russell.

“Why did you defend me, yesterday?” Russell asked quietly, and Vince looked at Russell, actually looked at him.

The younger Sage wasn’t as excited as he normally appeared, he looked tired, just plain exhausted, and Vince found that he could eerily relate…

Just like Vince, Russell was a person that seemed to have a public persona, and a private persona.

Vince knew, his public persona was jolly, kind of silly at times, and teased a bit, a great difference from his private persona where he was serious, cursed more, and tired.

Both were actually how Vince was, but he couldn’t constantly be one of the two.

Russell seemed similar now to Vince, even if the two persona’s Russell had were not as polarizing as Vince’s own, Russell’s private and public personas were close to the same, one was just a bit more quiet.

Vince looked outside the window, looking as the walls of Berlin passed him by.

“…I didn’t. I was defending myself.” Vince said, looking back to Russell, Russell taking a sharp breath when Vince trained his eyes on the boy… Russell looked down into his lap, clenching his fists.

“…Oh.” That was all Russell could say on the matter, drawing a scoff from Vince before the gunner looked away again.

“…You get the lesson on the Six Arts yet?” Vince asked, Russell looking up from his hands at the senior S-Class student.

“Yes, a bit before the end of first term. Creation, Armament, Clad, Manifestation, Diversity and Elemental Evocation.” Russell said with picture perfect clarity…

Even though Vince had it taught as ‘Emission’ or ‘Control’ instead of ‘Creation’ the three meant the same thing to Sages.

“My class is busy with Armaments. Everyone else already has one, but I’m still behind… because I believe my Armaments are guns.” Russell looked very confused by that, Vince saw the confusion out the corner of his eye.

“But… Armaments are all termed as ‘basic’ weaponry. Complex systems such as guns are impossible, right?” Russell asked, and Vince wanted to nod, but held himself back before shrugging.

“I don’t know really. Everyone is telling me that my Armament being guns is impossible, that my Armament is going to be a bow or maybe even one of those bows with triggers to fire… that me thinking that it’s guns is just a fantasy.” Vince admitted, and Russell blinked, frowning.

“That’s dumb. How do they know that it’s impossible? I mean, everything had to start somewhere, no one thought a train was possible until someone created it right?” Russell gestured to the train they were in, and Vince blinked, a small amount of surprise in his features.

“You… have a point. But there are definite difficulties with what I’m doing… I can’t create the guns beyond the general shape, they won’t solidify into a functioning Armament, just a gathering of power.” Vince pointed out, and Russell blinked, looking awkward for a moment.

“Uh, I haven’t really been working on that… you know, two Star Sage and all, I wouldn’t even have the power for it until three Stars.” Russell reminded Vince who his conversation partner was, getting the older student to palm his face with a sigh.

“Okay, Armaments are… weapons from your soul. They are the best weapons for you even if you don’t know what they are. To create one, you need to release your power, Essence is the relatively new term for it, and then try to contain in in the form of your weapon.” Vince started doing so with his hands, a strange glittering shape filled with leaves and seeds appearing in each of his hands, the blocks becoming L-shaped, much like pistols.

“Your power will follow the path of least resistance, leading you to the best weapon for your power. A person might think their weapon is an axe, but then when trying, they find their Essence forms easier as a sword, meaning the sword is the best weapon for you.” Vince continued the explanation, Russell looking at Vince’s hands with wide eyes.

“Now, after figuring out what your weapon is, you simply need to condense your power. If you have troubles at this stage, it’s probably because you either do not have enough energy, which means you need to increase your physical strength, or you do not have enough control to condense the power, which means increasing mental strength which is your ability to control power.” Russell looked at his own hands, then at Vince’s hands… where the blocks which may be weapons started to vanish, most of the energy flowing back into Vince, but most disappearing.

“What just happened?” Vince sighed at Russell’s question, slumping back into his seat.

“My guns. They won’t solidify. Any other weapon I try just doesn’t come out correctly, swords, axes, I even tried a bow once even after I promised myself I’d never do so… and it didn’t work either. In fact, it was way harder.” Vince complained, and Russell held a hand to his chin, thinking.

“So they won’t form, despite it being the easiest shape to take…” Russell looked at Vince’s empty hands, and then looked back to Vince’s face… then back again…

“…Maybe have guides?” Russell said finally, getting Vince to look at the younger Sage with a very confused expression.

“Guide? What do you mean?” Vince asked, hoping for something, anything that could help him get the edge he needed for the Inter-Class Tournament.

“Like… tracing a picture. You’re drawing it yourself, but you’re not at the point where you can seamlessly do it. So… just trace the picture.” Russell tried to explain, uncertain if he was getting the point across…

Luckily for Russell, and Vince, the latter was used to deciphering Tony’s rushed out words and stutters, so looking for meaning in what might be gibberish to others was something Vince was good at.

“What you mean to say is… wait a minute.” Vince reached into his storage, removing his pistols.

The same pistols he knew inside out.

The same pistols he had been disassembling and reassembling since he was given them at age ten.

With a deep breath… Vince focused his power.

Ten minutes later, Vince slammed open the door to the training area for the second years S-Class, his classmates pausing in their exercising to look at the smirking Vince.

“Makarov, you’re late, though I see you’re ready to start anyway.” Izuki spoke, though Vince barely seemed to hear the teacher as he pointed at Edward, confusing the burly prince.

“Hey Edward… what’s say you and I battle for rank?” Edward, no, the whole room seemed surprised at Vince’s words, no one had ever competed for rank outside of the Inner Class Battles.

“Uh… sure? You need collateral for that though…” Edward pointed out with a frown, even if he wouldn’t want anything from Vince, it was kind of the rules when something as serious as rank was being fought over.

“I’ll bet my earnings from all the missions we take this year.” That was… a very hefty bet, considering that included the entire year, and the missions they had already done, nine in total.

Even if the money was used, Vince would need to make up the difference and get it to Edward if he lost.

“That’s more than sufficient collateral, we will act as witnesses to this match, go over there and start.” Miya pointed out, grabbing her husband with a smile on her face, excited to see the fight.

“Vince, why?” Jade asked, not needing to clarify more than that as Edward’s gauntlets appeared over his fists, Vince cracking fists before he looked over to Jade.

“To struggle is to live… and I’m feeling very alive right now.” Vince said, his smirk going a bit predatory as he stalked to his position opposite Edward, his guns appearing in his hands, drawing a frown from Izuki and Miya…

“He hasn’t gotten his Armament yet… maybe he thinks this fight will be what pushes him to gaining it?” Izuki guessed, and Miya shrugged, uncertain as to why Vince seemed so… confident, when he was at a disadvantage.

“Begin!” Miya shouted, Edward’s hands snapping to in front of him, guarding at any sudden attacks Vince might execute, his caution correct as a seed impacted his guard, vines bursting from the seed and trying to lock Edward’s arms close to his body in a move similar to a bear hug.

Edward was barely bothered, his Gauntlets lighting themselves on fire, burning through the vines within seconds as he rushed forward, worried about this fight but knowing that there was little to no way he’d lose in a close up fight.

Vince wasn’t idle, raising his Wood-Element gun and firing a few times into the floor while backing away from Edward, Edward stomping his foot to try and get the seeds out of the ground with his Earth Element.

Vince smirked at that action, his Light-Element gun firing in a blur, each shot hitting the seeds and causing them to burst into life, massive sunflowers looming over Edward, each plant spitting out a few beams of light at Edward in an attempt to harm him.

“Sunflowers, cliché… but effective.” Hiiro pointed out, the flowers were known for their connection to the sun, the primary source of Light on their planet.

“Helps visualize attack.” Liza pointed out, Leah standing next to her nodding.

“It’s important for spell-users, the intent behind a spell can vastly change the effects, even a simple shield spell can be changed from a flat wall, to a orb surrounding the user, or be given an angle and used to charge into the enemy in a manner similar to a shield bash.” Leah’s blurting out of so much information had the rest of her classmates staring at her with surprise for a moment…

Well, all of Leah’s classmates ignoring Edward who had dug down into the ground, raising the Earth to block the blasts as if building a wall, and Vince who was shooting seeds at that wall.

The seeds burst into simple grass, by the way, the wall becoming brittle when the grass went from bright green to decayed in barely a few seconds.

Roots made dirt cling together, but Earth that once held roots was more brittle than others due to the absence of the roots, like removing the stitching from clothing.

“Leah is the expert on spell-casting after all… of course she knows a lot.” Jade said with a smile, almost as if taking credit for her friend’s thoughts…

Not actually, but Jade truly was proud of Leah.

Watching Edward get pelted with blasts of Light, and developing light burns, the class noted that, so far, this was par for the course.

Vince never lost a fight without having injured his enemy first, an attitude that was admirable when he was on your side, but really annoying when he wasn’t…

“Vince… give up, this is going to hurt.” Edward said after ducking, weaving, and blasting apart a few more plants and attacks from Vince, now fifteen metres away, a very short distance for Sages.

“Oh I know it’s going to hurt Edward… that’s the point.” Vince said, holding up his guns, aiming them at Edward with a wide, maniacal grin.

“I need to stress test this!” Vince shouted, his energy… condensing. Gathering.

Into his guns, drawing wide eyes and dropped jaws as Vince’s energy focused, swirling around his guns, the weapons changing shape, little by little…

Both guns soon looked identical, both having a flared out barrel with a spike beneath the exit of the barrel, a yellowish white with green leaf-like patterns etched into the grips of the guns, the bottom of the ‘magazines’ also having small studs on them, likely for hitting someone with the base of the guns…

It was, unmistakeably, an Armament.

No, more than that… it was an actual gun Armament.

“Holy crap… that boy just…” Izuki uttered, he was the first to speak as Vince started to spin the pistols about on his fingers.

“Knew he could do it.” Tony spoke with a small smile on his face watching his best friend smile, relishing in the surprise on everyone’s face.

“But… it’s, guns can’t be Armaments…” Jade muttered in confusion, Leah placing a hand on her shoulder to get Jade’s attention.

“Couldn’t. Gun’s couldn’t be Armaments… until now.” Leah pointed out as Edward’s surprise eased off his face, an uneasy smile resting on his face now.

“So you figured out a way to do it. Guess you made me eat my words… so we going to continue?” Edward asked, raising his fists.

“Oh I was waiting for you, you were doing such a good imitation of a Venus-flytrap.” Vince said with a chuckle, Edward awkwardly chuckling as he caught the comparison.

“Continue!” Izuki shouted, the two students moving once more…

Except this time, Vince rushed forward instead of running away, once more drawing wide eyes.

“Is he getting overconfident?” Miya asked aloud with a frown, only for Tony to speak up.

“No. He’s a-aiming for a win.” Tony said with narrowed eyes, no one caring for his single stutter what with him getting better at speaking without doing so.

Hiiro narrowed his eyes, realizing what Tony was saying, and looking at those guns that Tony was holding…

“What is it…” Hiiro wondered, as so far each Armament he had seen had some kind of… trick, to it, a unique quality that each Sage had.

Bobby’s axe doubled as a cattle-prod, Edward’s Gauntlets could change into an Element entirely or even mix incompatible Elements such as Ice and Fire, Hiiro’s Monochrome Spear could change size… each weapon had something more to it.

When Edward was close enough, he let loose a straight jab, Ice bursting from his fist to make it a giant lance, Vince raising his left hand and blasting the spear of Ice with Light, knocking it upwards slightly as he aimed his right hand pistol at Edward’s chest…

Edward, having seen that the left gun just fired Light, covered his chest with fire, ready to burn away any Wood Element attack sent his way…

And yet, Vince didn’t stop smiling as he pulled the trigger.

When the burst of concentrated Light hit Edward, Edward’s eyes widened, the ice covering his arm disappearing with his loss of focus.

“Wait, wasn’t the left gun the Light gun? How?” Jade shouted in confusion, Hiiro immediately understanding the trick.

“It’s the ability of the Armament, either it shares abilities between the two Guns, allowing him to draw from a ‘shared’ magazine instead of having a different Element per gun, or he can swap the two guns without any sign of having done so.”

Vince, had he heard this, would have both complained and praised Hiiro in the same breath, because this was the truth, his Armament did the former, reading the two magazines and melding the two, allowing him to use both as if having a singular ‘feed’ for both guns.

It helped explain why Vince was having such trouble generating his Armament, as his Armament would require the creation of Runes for Spells in the middle of solidifying it…

He would basically need to cast every single Spell in his arsenal at once to summon his Armament…

But by carrying the magazines, the Runes etched into them along with the force directors in his actual pistols, and then using Essence to overwrite the metal around those parts…

Vince truly couldn’t have done this if it weren’t for Russell’s suggestion… Vince had to remind himself to bully Russell’s classmates for the kid at some point… that or train him, whichever was easier.

Capitalizing on the moment Edward was surprised, Vince’s pistols began to spin, Vince pausing the guns in their rotation from time to time, blasting Edward as much as he could before Edward could truly defend himself.

Edward didn’t really have any time before the blasts of Light hit his elbows, two more shots hitting his knees and making him buckle with a wince, Vince blasting his arms a few times before spinning around to his back, both pistols pointing at the back of Edward’s head.

The attack barely lasted a second.

“I’m thinking of calling that combo the ‘Makarov Execution’. What do you think?” Vince joked, knowing the fight was over, and Edward knew it was too… Vince just had to supercharge one of his shots of Light and Edward would be having a hole in his skull.

Vince would be damn tired after that, but it could be done. Edward knew he was done.

“…Winner, and the new third ranked, Vince Makarov!” Vince removed his power from his pistols, leaving the original versions of the guns in his hands, both vanishing into his storage as he held out a hand to help Edward up.

“I think you’re an ass, and that the name is too fitting.” Edward said with a sigh, wincing as his burns stretched and contracted with his movement, the other members of the class rushing up, with Jade healing Edward, all babbling about what had just happened…

In the Headmaster’s office, Donovan sat quietly in surprise.

Then he smiled, moving to his computer and opening a file, a document containing titles for Sages after graduation.

The majority of the students were ‘To Be Decided’ or TBD, and a few were ‘Hunter’ or ‘Delivery Woman/Man’ and even a ‘Bounty Hunter’ or two…

And moving to a certain name, Donovan changed it from Hunter to a different title… a title reserved for those who changed the conceptions of those around them, those who journeyed forth into the unknown.

Vince Makarov- Pioneer.