Agatha felt energized. It had been a long time since she had been able to use her body in a violent manner. Way too long. She didn’t consider herself a violent person, at least not by default, but punching things from time to time felt good. The same couldn’t be said for the rest of the class, as they looked at her with dread. Though her teacher just pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. René Dago walked into the field, and before he could say anything about the lack of camaraderie – because she had the feeling he would – Agatha extended a hand to the classmate she had just punched and helped him stand up.

  “W-what…” He coughed. “What was that?”

  “That was a complex series of commands I have yet to teach,” the soldier said taciturnly. He then raised his voice and faced the class. “Before anyone else asks, what Miss Malachite has done here was forcefully recall everyone’s agates. And yes, even her own.”

  It had been a bit difficult to summon her agate and then give it the series fast enough to make it look like it only had affected her opponent, only for René Dago to stomp all over the trick. How uncouth!

  “And no,” he added a moment later. “I will not teach you about it just yet. Only have in mind that Miss Malachite can forcefully recall your agates and you cannot do anything about it. If you have the misfortune to fight against her,” he snorted, “then start planning or praying. Both are equally useful in this case.”

  Normally, Agatha loathed her teacher’s sense of humor, but for once, it got a chuckle out of her. She approached the man to give him his agate after having taken it out of her pocket. Wait, the petite girl realized. It hasn’t been recalled. Did he plan this, or does he always have Protect Summon on his agates? Before she could develop that thought more, the grey-eyed soldier grabbed her hand.

  “We will talk about this,” he said sternly before snatching his agate out of her hand.

  Agatha swayed her hand around as she walked away. You didn’t need to be so forceful about it, asshole. She rubbed her hand and sat down on the grades next to her girlfriend.

  “I am going to be honest,” Christie said, “I completely forgot you could do that.”

  “Eh, the last time I did it was like five months ago, and I think I only did it once in front of you.” When she hit another man at that.

  “Hmm,” the redhead pondered audibly. “I do not think anyone can win against you this tourney either, but I think you are going to regret showing such audacity. This or next year, some will have reached the Third Stratum, and they will be able to defend against your agate.”

  “I will cross that bridge when I reach it, but either way, I still am not without tricks,” the dirty-blond girl couldn’t help but smile. She was just in a good mood after bringing down a man bigger than her, practically twice her weight, with just one punch.

  The duels soon restarted, and this time Agatha was second. The unfortunate soul to fight her this time was one Christina, whom she had seen talking with her Christie from time to time. That didn’t mean she would make it easy for the noble girl, however.

  “Can I use a wand?” Agatha asked merrily.

  “Er…” The brunette-blond girl hesitated with an answer, her eyes filled with dread and the recent memory of her classmate getting beaten. But most importantly, Agatha saw in Christina's eyes that she thought the villager in front of her wouldn’t discriminate because she was now facing a girl.

  And she would be right.

  When one was raised in such a hostile backwater village as Malachite was, girls also grew up knowing how to throw a punch or two. Agatha wasn’t the exception by any means. She was just the best one at it. And depths was she good at it.

  “Wand, please,” Christina finally answered.

  “Roger that,” the petite girl smiled and took out a wand.

  Instead of a handcannon, her wand of choice this time was a slingshot. She could definitely have used a sling, but maybe that was a bit too lethal. Most likely no one would have an issue with it, as everyone here was used to hurling pebbles at several times the speed of a sling, but there was no reason to go as overboard when this was a duel to the first blood.

  “Begin!” René Dago shouted and the noble girl didn’t hesitate in the slightest with her attack.

  The field was only thirty meters in length, so an Amplify Speed agate could cover that distance in a fraction of a second. Unfortunately for Christina, Agatha’s reflex and reaction time were far faster than the average lithorist. No one had actually had time to see the green-eyed girl’s agate as it disappeared that fast. The only trace of its existence was in the fact that Christina’s hair waved a little, even though there was no breeze whatsoever currently.

  Agatha calmly knelt down and picked up a pebble from the ground because she couldn’t use her own agate as ammunition. She eyed their teacher for confirmation, but the man didn’t say anything as the petite girl loaded the wand. She actually wanted to get over with the duel as fast as possible as she was constantly summoning her agate and applying to it the Invert Summon Range series, for it instantly recalled itself, which severely drained her.

  So many commands and summons were needed each second she dallied that even a slight falter of her concentration was enough for Christina to summon an Amplify Speed agate and get it a few meters away from her. Each fraction of a blink was valuable, so Agatha aimed quickly with the slingshot and nailed the noble girl on her thigh. Christina failed to react at the impact as thirty meters was too much of a distance for a slingshot, and the pebble landed with nearly no power nor accuracy remaining.

  “The winner is Miss Malachite,” René Dago announced.

  “That seems a bit unfair,” Christina added.

  “And underwhelming,” the black-uniformed teacher added. “We can extend the duel if you both agree, but that would most likely mean facing the same scenario as Master Trastar.”

  “I… think I am fine,” the noble girl added with a nervous giggle.

  “Then the duel is over. Please, Miss Rivera and Miss Malachite, hand my agates back.” The only good thing about that exchange was that this time the man didn’t nearly snatch her finger alongside the agate.

  Agatha drowsily observed the rest of the duels. A headache was starting to form after abusing her head so much. The human brain wasn’t made to blast rocks with hundreds of commands to keep other rocks from existing. Still, the dirty-blond girl made an exception for her girlfriend.

  Agatecraft wasn’t exactly a dignified discipline – especially when it was students performing it – but the redhead was an exception to it. Agatha knew how much it taxed Christie to use her sea of stones, but she kept her back upright and a serene composure as she fought in the arena. Her ceaseless agates truly behaved like a lithic sea, covering the place in waves that threatened its opponents.

  And the opponent in question was Mateo.

  As much as Agatha underplayed him, the boy had a keen mind. She could see it in his eyes how he knew that if he stayed ten meters away from Christie, his opponent wouldn’t be able to fight back. But considering the field was small and even her girlfriend’s default recalling range covered its whole width, the only route of escape Mateo had was upwards. Veronica hadn’t taken it in the previous duel because she wasn’t fully aware of it, but Mateo also failed to take it because of his lack of ability.

  Ten meters was a lot of height. Lethal easily.

  The scholarite might know that he had to go upwards, but that took a heavy toll on the mind. Just like the brain wasn’t made to bombard an agate with so many commands, nor was the body to stand that high with little to no assistance. After all, before Agatha had flown into the skies to escape from the behemoth, she had practiced beforehand. Even before getting to the Third Stratum.

  Mateo had none of that. And he wasn’t exactly as swift with his body as he was with his mind, so as he tried to replicate Agatha’s airwalk, he slipped.

  The sea of stones approached him as he fell, not in an offensive manner, but to catch him. Fortunately for the boy, that assistance was uncalled for as the agate in his chest pocket stopped him midair.

  “The duel is over!” René Dago called out and the tons of green and red agate vanished a moment later, retreating in a wave of annihilation that was born from the redhead’s body. “Master Librar, I understood the intent behind your tactic, but have in mind that when performing stunts like that you actually have to follow through with them.”

  The boy with the auburn-orange hair nodded softly, his eyes looking away as a blush crept over his visage. Agatha couldn’t help but feel sorry for her friend as she always improvised all of her acrobatics without a second thought. If anyone had to get that lecture, it was definitely her. But at the same time, she had never failed any hijinks she had first-timed.

  The duels quickly continued, and once again, it was her turn. This time, she did something different. Instead of using Invert Summon Range, she used Invert Speed Range as she feared her opponent might have found a workaround, as it was the last of the three boys who had unlocked lapiloquia. The answer quickly proved to be a resounding no, but it was still funny seeing his face as the agates remained static in the air instead of being recalled. The boy hadn’t allowed for a wand, so this time she just chucked her agate at his forehead after she made a sprint for it, by virtue of Invert Speed Range not recalling her lone agate.

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  She almost dislodged her shoulder with the fractured gesture as her sapphire almost weighed a kilogram – not the most throwable of objects, even if it had the perfect shape – but most of the brunt was taken by the boy’s forehead either way.

  Christie’s next opponent was Cristobal himself, and the outcome… Agatha couldn’t say she was surprised, but the resolution had certainly startled her.

  Her girlfriend performed the same burrowing technique – And she has the nerve to say she isn’t a bunny… – by hiding underneath her myriad of agates. So far, so good. Cristobal himself recreated the moves of his previous classmates by taking to the skies with Control Anchor. But it was the next movement that changed everything.

  The ground below Christie gave out and she fell into a pit. René Dago instantly called the duel as over.

  “Huh?” Agatha blinked slowly in confusion as she saw her tall girlfriend appear half her usual height as her legs were buried into the ground. Her bewilderment was also shared by the whole class.

  The petite girl could guess what had happened, but at the same time, it made no sense to her. How has he performed lapiloquia if he wasn’t touching the ground? Before the whole class could begin whispering as they all usually did, their teacher provided them with an answer.

  “I understand your surprise,” he started. “What you have seen here goes against your current knowledge. How can someone perform lapiloquia without touching the medium they are manipulating? After all, lapiloquia is not like lithorica. There are no Strata that increase the summoning range. But to that, you have gotten the answer a long time ago.”

  The whole class frowned in confusion and exchanged gazes with one another as, in the background, Cristobal helped Christie get out of the hole he had made. Even as the class exchanged whispers, no answer seemed to come out.

  “Master Librar, you have a good memory. Can you refresh us on the Range command’s description? The whole description.” René Dago added at the end, already anticipating an answer he wouldn’t be satisfied with.

  The gazes of all classmates redirected to the scholarite – who slightly blushed – but with a sigh, he was able to recover his composure, and he started reading from memory.

  “Range: This command increases the operational range of agates. This factor increases both with the quality and Stratum of the agate, making it one of the better scaling commands out there. Amplify addendum: When the Range command is amplified, it creates a buffer zone akin to a new command and recalling range, therefore massively increasing the effective range of agates when a chain of Range agates is created. It must be noted that this buffer zone does not include a new increased summoning range, and thus, any new agates are limited to the lithorist’s existing summoning range.”

  Agatha frowned after Mateo finished talking. He’s not insinuating what I think he’s insinuating, right?

  “As you might have thought, yes,” René Dago nodded, “this is the Amplify Range command at work.”

  “But the description states outright that the Amplify Range series does not include a new summoning range.” A girl said from the grades behind Agatha.

  “Excellent observation, Miss Rivera, but alas, we are not dealing with the summoning of new agates here, are we?” The soldier’s grin crept up to his short beard. Agatha turned her head and found the auburn commoner blushing. Though it didn’t look quite like shame. “The Amplify Range series provides certain boons for lithorica. Boons that are limited. But that is for lithorica. You need to learn that you are now juggling two disciplines at the same time. Two disciplines that can synergize with one another. Master Echevarria used an Amplify Range agate to work as his proxy for the ground, enabling him able to manipulate the bedrock even if he was high in the air. But if you think this is the only synergy between the disciplines that exists, you are in for a megalithic surprise.”

  This whole revelation gave Agatha a lot of ideas, alas, she still had yet to unlock that discipline to put them to the test. With any luck, she would be good at it. At least she had the body to support it, unlike most other girls in the class. At this point, Christie was even more athletic than all the other noble girls. And talking about Christie…

  “Are you alright?” Agatha asked her girlfriend after she sat down next to her.

  “Yes. A bit shellshocked and dusty, but overall fine,” Christie finished the sentence with a sigh of exhaustion. “I expected to lose to you by virtue of the Invert Summon Range series and not… this. I feel ashamed of my unfounded confidence.”

  “You still put quite the fight,” the dirty-blond girl smiled. Whenever she smiled, that made Christie happy, which in turn made her happy. “But now that I think about it, what are you going to do when other students reach the Third Stratum? Are you not going to be completely useless without being able to protect your agates?”

  “I will cross that bridge when I reach it,” the redhead said and Agatha felt a strong sense of déjà vu. “I was never here to cause pain with my sea of stones, only to stop it from causing pain. And either way, I still have my head and lapiloquia. Whenever that one arrives.”

  “You have a beautiful head,” Agatha blurted out.

  “What?” Christie turned to face her and squinted at her.

  “I… uhm…” The petite girl had no response, just a growing blush.

  “That was the worst attempt at flirtation I have seen in my life,” Agatha wanted to correct her. It wasn’t flirtation, just the plain truth, but instead she closed her mouth and just pouted. “Whilst you should work on your speechcraft, I believe you have more important things to attend to now.”

  As Christie was the last duel of the round, the remaining students got their luck drawn again. Agatha was in the first turn, fortunately not matching Cristobal. Hmm, it looks like I will fight him in the finals this year too. She put a quick end to this duel, and the class’s best lapiloquist did too. Soon enough, her thought came true, and they stood one against each other at opposite sides of the field.

  “Can I use my wand?” She asked like she had done all those duels before.

  “Be my guest,” Cristobal bowed formally with a hand on his shoulder.

  If another person had done it, Agatha would have interpreted it as a provocation, but from Cristobal, it was just natural. She didn’t know what the boy had, but his interest in battle rivaled Agatha’s. Not lust as such, but interest. A connoisseur of a thrilling match. It wasn’t about quantity, but quality. The more variables, the more interesting the outcome.

  “Begin!” René Dago gave the order, yet none moved.

  Agatha observed him in detail. His lapiloquia has a maximum range. Every time someone has used it on this tourney, it was always at close range after they or their opponent closed the gap. This means that if I make a break for it, I will be in his range. Logic dictates that I keep my distance and I try to hit him with my slingshot. The petite girl smiled, looking at the noble boy remaining still and also examining her. But that’s boring!

  Without hesitating, Agatha sprinted toward Cristobal Echevarria. The boy instantly shot his agates at her, but she activated the Invert Speed Range series, making the agates lose all their momentum and become petrified midair. Yet they started moving a moment later. Slowly, but they moved. He’s not using Speed anymore. Control or something else then. The velocity of the agates was slow enough that Agatha had the freedom to ignore them for a couple of seconds more, but once they closed onto her, she was forced to activate Invert Summon Range, her own agate recalling from the gesture.

  She was inside of Cristobal’s lapiloquia range by that time, yet no underground attack came. The petite girl kept activating the series so the blond boy didn’t have the liberty of using his own agates, but he still failed to react. No lapiloquia, no lithorica, no movements.

  What’s he planning? Agatha was disconcerted, but she didn’t allow her concentration or her legs to falter. Can’t worry about that now that I am close to him. I only need to land this punch on his…

  Her thoughts were interrupted as the ground underneath shook.

  She jumped.

  A pothole just opened where she had been standing. She then realized she wasn’t looking at him. The petite lithorist turned her head around with enough force to break something, and he found her opponent summoning his agates. Invert Summon Range! She shouted mentally as she panicked; her head overloaded and her body midair.

  As his agates were forcefully recalled, Cristobal smiled. A moment later, something hit Agatha from the back.

  She tumbled onto the ground with force, her body rag-rolling on the ground even as she curled into a ball to mitigate the impact. Even then, it wasn’t enough as she felt her sight span around. And even then, she still kept pushing Summon and Invert Summon Range commands out. Agatha tried to stand up, but everything was spinning. A bone or two might have been broken too.

  “The duel is…” She heard René Dago speak.

  “No!” Agatha shouted and stood up through sheer willpower and rage, ignoring her concussion. “Duel is not over!”

  The black-uniformed soldier looked at her and then he looked at her opponent. “Do you agree, Master Echevarria?”

  “I agree,” he said calmly, his smile still up. “I would like to see what Miss Malachite can show me.”

  Agatha felt it once again. He wasn’t mocking her. He truly wanted to see her. But most importantly, he wanted an interesting fight. She couldn’t help but smile herself, even through all the pain. But pain was something she had always been pretty resilient towards. Rocks hadn’t broken her bones back then, and sure as depths they wouldn’t do now.

  The dirty-blond girl corrected her posture, even if everything was still spinning and she was covered in dirt. The blond boy still didn’t act. He didn’t want to win – well, he probably wanted to, but that was secondary to him – but instead he wanted to see a move like the one that defeated him in the first tourney.

  Never before had Agatha felt more humbled. The behemoth had certainly been an experience, but that was a force of nature; now she was fighting an equal. She pursed her teeth with her tongue; some sand had made it inside her mouth. Her ears rang, but at the same time, never before the call of the earth was as loud as now.

  Stones speak in raw sexism, Agatha thought mid-duel, probably a consequence of her concussion. They just don’t fucking like woman, always prioritizing the boys. But I don’t need fractured lapiloquia, because jewelry is a girl’s best friend!

  Unlike all the previous times, this didn’t feel natural. This felt forced. But that was only because she wholeheartedly seized the lithic might with her own fractured hands.

  Agatha of Malachite smiled and ran forward.

  Cristobal Echevarria instantly reacted by summoning his agates around him, even those in the First Stratum.

  She didn’t care for any of that.

  Duplicate! She ordered and her agate summoned and split, yet even split, it looked as big as always. Invert Speed Range! She commanded one of the split agates. All her dizziness was gone; she had never felt as much clarity as today. A mind retroactively cleared of any fog.

  Duplicate! Agatha ordered again to the other agate. But she wasn’t done yet.

  Amplify Control!

  Control Anchor!

  Two agates moved independently as a bigger one dropped to the ground. The first was shot toward Cristobal, while the second she used as a platform as another pillar of rock threatened to hit behind her. Even when her balance was still a mess, Agatha used the agate locked in place as a fulcrum to throw herself high in the air and resummon it a moment later beneath her feet.

  Agatha smiled as she lurched, perfectly recreating the scene of the previous tourney. Only that now she had thrice more agates at her disposal. Cristobal’s lapiloquia had failed; she was now away from the ground. His agates had been wielding Speed, and he lost precious fractions of a second as his mind had to individually switch to Control and Protect Control.

  He was too late. He hadn’t been ready to fight against a Fourth Stratum lithorist, and yet, Cristobal smiled back at the sight.

  The active command wasn’t Speed as it had been nullified, yet an agate moving faster than thought hit him in the thigh, spelling the end of the duel and proclaiming the petite lithorist’s dominance.

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