It seems I was wrong about participation. It wasn’t optional, but mandatory with rotation, likely because of the limited number of cube arenas available.

  I gave my package to the old man, trying my best to convey “don’t open it, not for you” with gestures before entering the arena with Electric Blue. She walked toward one end of the arena, and I decided to go to the opposite side. It seemed appropriate since we’d been fighting each other.

  It wasn’t ideal, but I figured I’d have to fight sooner or later.

  Electric Blue spoke some words before changing stances.

  I was nervous, but had some ideas ready. If my previous experiences had told me anything, I was able to react to whatever magic attack came at me.

  Projectile? Deflect or shield.

  Bindings? Destroy them.

  As long as I can react, I could-

  I felt something whiz past me, nearly grazing the right side of my face.

  What just?

  I withheld the urge to turn around to see what could’ve killed me if she aimed at me instead of missing intentionally.

  Guided by my instincts and not wanting to get hit, I slammed my hand onto the ground. A wall of earth was erected, blocking the line of sight between my opponent and me.

  Why do I keep forgetting anyone can kill me at a moment’s notice? Why am I not acting more urgently?

  I decided to crawl toward one of the edges of the wall I had just erected, not wanting to peek over. That’s when I took notice of the spectators for this fight.

  Some were smiling, some were indifferent, and a few were holding in laughs.

  I ignored them, opting to stay crawling to quickly peek around the edge of my wall. I peeked, staring at my opponent for less than 3 seconds, before retreating behind the temporary safety of my only defense.

  Okay. She has ice powers, and she can send projectiles extremely fast.

  If the fight between the snow-white igloo mage and the vine mage was any indication, she could easily end this ‘fight’ right now and win uncontested.

  I was tempted to peek around again, but decided against it, opting to peek around the opposite edge of my wall.

  Our eyes met, but she was just staring at me. I quickly retreated.

  Okay, it feels like she isn’t taking this fight seriously. Is that confidence, arrogance, or lack of urgency?

  It was starting to feel like a mix of all three. I heard the reactions of the spectators. They seemed to be egging her on instead of cheering. Then again, they know nothing of my abilities. Are her strong abilities an expectation from her peers?

  Well, I have potential too, but that doesn’t mean a thing if I don’t achieve anything.

  The old man’s expression oozed disappointment.

  I should make a move now.

  Was there anything I could do to change the dynamic of this fight? It certainly looks one-sided with a nonchalant ice mage and me hiding behind a tiny wall I made.

  There was plenty I could do, but little I could think of to take advantage of her nonchalance. It needed to be a surprise.

  I stared blankly at the wall, sorting through all of my options and potential scenarios for my current predicament.

  What if I just lobbed the wall at her?

  I peeked over the wall before ducking, barely missing an incoming icicle attack. It didn’t seem like she had any intention of moving from her spot. Was she that confident, or did she not see me as that much of a threat? I mean, I don’t look like much of a threat with how I’m hiding, but still.

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  More options would come to me the moment she was in my field of vision, but it’d also be the same for her. I needed an advantage to overwhelm her.

  One shot. All or nothing.

  I dug up some chunks of the ground I sat on, making sure one was as big as my head. I hoped the spectators weren’t relaying everything I was doing to Electric Blue, betting on their desire to see something interesting over something boring.

  I tossed the chunk toward one of the edges. The moment it was no longer hidden behind the wall, it was enveloped in ice. Geez, talk about overkill. In that split second, I punched the wall, sending the entire thing toward my opponent.

  When it got too close, a spike of ice emerged, shattering the wall as it formed. Luckily, the sharp formation formed upwards in my direction, otherwise I would’ve been impaled.

  What was surprising was the sheer size of the ice spike, its length spanning the entire length of the arena.

  Suddenly, I had another idea, taking inspiration from snow-white igloo mage, but on a much larger scale.

  In my mind, I visualized the entire shape of the ice spike with a grid pattern over it. A grid pattern wasn’t stretched over the entire ice spike, but its top-down and front cross-sections.

  I was going to make this giant ice spike ammunition.

  Tracing along the imaginary lines, the ice spike was split into dozens of ice cubes. The tip of the spike remained as a cone, as I felt it’d be too small to be used as ammunition. The cubes and cone were split a fair distance from each other after the spike shattered. Then I sent all of the ice towards her in waves, opting for a continuous barrage over sending them all at once.

  The counterattack seemed to intimidate her, as it was her turn to hide behind the defense of an igloo made of blue ice, crouching down before enveloping herself.

  I’m not going to make the same mistake.

  I erected another wall to hide behind, before taking more chunks of the arena floor to use as ammunition, splitting them into equally sized cubes. I peeked from behind my wall produced to accommodate me standing, then quickly retreated, before sending the volley of cube-shaped earth toward her defense. It still held up, a testament to her ice’s durability.

  I visualized the top of the igloo being separated, and flung the top to the side of the arena, before gathering some of the debris and making it float, intending to send it at her vulnerable self.

  Suddenly, the old man stepped between us, shouting something, conjuring his staff, and pointing it at me.

  I stopped, letting the debris fall.

  When he confirmed I wasn’t a danger, he moved to Electric Blue, who was sitting in her roofless igloo. I couldn’t hear what either was saying, but it seemed like he was checking up on her.

  The whole scene played out like a rescuer finding a traumatized survivor under rubble that fortunately didn’t harm them. The rescuer did their best to comfort the survivor before asking them to get up from their spot. The survivor got up, struggling as their legs shook, but they were able to walk nonetheless.

  I was the disaster the survivor was being rescued from.

  After the two walked out of the arena, I followed after them, following some unspoken rule that the one who left the arena last would be declared the winner.

  It was clear I was the winner, but it wasn’t worth celebrating.

  When I stepped out of the arena, my summoner and his opponent were already sitting outside. As for the blonde girl and brown-haired boy, they were still in the arena, but seemed so caught up in my exchange with Electric Blue that they forgot they were supposed to be fighting each other.

  Everyone who wasn’t Electric Blue or the old man gave me the same look. A mix of disbelief, apprehension, fear, and a tinge of fury directed at me. I’m certain they had strong opinions of me for traumatizing one of their peers.

  Perhaps it’d be best if I didn’t show up for this class tomorrow.

  …

  Class ended, and I followed my summoner out of the underground field. It turned out there were 2 sets of stairs leading to the location, and almost everyone opted to take the set of stairs I didn’t choose. The only ones who didn’t were the blonde girl, the brown-haired boy, the snow-white igloo mage, and Fireboy.

  I couldn’t get a read on why some of them choose to follow me. Snow-white seemed intrigued by my display of power, having a combination of glee, wonder, delight, and fascination on his face. My impression of him was someone attracted to overwhelming feats of power.

  The blonde girl seemed concerned, while the brown-haired boy looked angry, although it felt subdued.

  Fireboy was the hardest to get a read on, having an indifferent, poker-face expression. He helped me drive back the water assailant bully, something I’m thankful for. I just don’t know how he feels now. Stoic? Uncaring? I just wish I didn’t have this stupid language barrier, because right now, more than ever, I wanted to be able to talk to them. If I didn’t, it felt like whatever opinions they had about me would only be enforced the longer it remained.

  Does this mean I have to learn a new language from scratch?

  The idea felt barbaric, but more misunderstandings would occur the longer I abstained from learning, just because the idea felt annoying.

  I heard my summoner speak, giving me the package I had given the old man. Oh, right. I was holding onto that before being selected to fight.

  “Thanks,” I spoke aloud before taking it, not really caring about the difference in spoken languages between me and everyone else.

  Speaking got different reactions from the others, making them speak more words I didn’t care to memorize, despite the necessity to, given my situation. I heard 3 different voices from the group that joined us. It was clear the girl was speaking, leaving the remaining boys who weren’t my summoner.

  Although I was starting to become familiar with their cadences, I didn’t care enough to deduce the one who remained silent. I felt a bit shitty right now and needed time to think about how things would change from this point forward.