Chapter 556: The First Impression was Important

She changed into her usual gear in the instructor’s changing room and headed for the mock battle site. Unfortunately, her hair was the same as usual. After all, she felt uncomfortable because she wasn’t used to tying it up. So, she decided to make it in short twin-tails.

We then went to a large field, a little far from the triple towers.

It was a huge, empty field of dirt. It’s probably the size of the Tokyo Dome.

On that mock battle site, the members of the special battle class were waiting after they changed their clothes. It was similar to what Charon wore the other day at the Adventurer’s Guild. On top of her leather and metal armor, she wore a cloak and robe with the emblem of the academy on it.

The students had also formed a neat formation, which showed the high level of their training. Inez nodded in satisfaction at the sight of the students standing upright and waiting without being told to do so.

「Well then, Fran-dono will now show you some of her power!」

Apparently, it was customary for those who were assigned as instructors to first perform a kind of demonstration to show their abilities.

She was told that she could choose one of the instructors to fight with, or she could unleash her magic on this large field. But most of the new instructors choose to use martial arts and magic against the target doll.

We were told that Inez could use Earth Magic and could create dolls, but we decided to go a little flashier.

The first time is the most important, so we can’t afford to be underestimated here.

「Fran-dono, please go ahead」

「「「We’re looking forward to it!」」」

「Okay」

With the eyes of the students on her, Fran strode out onto the field. We were going to give them a good scare.

『First, let’s start with that one』

「Nn!」

The first thing we did was to make a target. Fran put her hands on the ground and activated her magic.

Immediately after she had done so there were shrieks from the students.

It couldn’t be helped though, as the ground in front of us suddenly rose, creating a 15-meter-high spire.

「Th-that’s. No matter how you look at it, that was High-level Earth Magic, right?」

「I-isn’t the Black Lightning Princess a Thunder Magic-user?」

「Or maybe, she’s a magician? Not a swordsman?」

They probably thought that Fran was a swordsman who could also use Thunder Magic. But after they saw her using Earth Magic, they realized that she was also a very skilled magician.

But this was just the beginning.

「Awakening! Brilliant Lightning Rush!」

「Th-this is the first time I’ve seen a bolt of black lightning!」

「Hiii!」

「Fo-for such a kid… To use this much magic is…!」

Many of the students paled as they felt the magic power that Fran, who was clad in black lightning, was giving off. The reason they become talkative is probably to calm themselves down.

I felt like It was already enough to show her abilities, but the real thing was just about to start.

(Master, together!)

『Ou!』

「Haaa!」

『We’re going to be as flashy as hell!』

The first shot was a Thunderbolt of Lightning Magic. Fran fired two, I fired four. And a total of six Thunderbolts struck the earth spire, creating a huge hole with a thunderous roar.

However, that was not powerful enough to collapse the spire. Since it was just for the opening I focused on the impact of sound and appearance.

「Next!」

『Ou!』

Now for the real deal… Both Fran and I used Thor’s Hammer at the same time. My two shots overlapped with Fran’s, creating a spectacular flash of light.

The extremely thick thunderbolts that rained down from the magic circle drawn in the sky above then swallowed the earth spire as a whole.

The students now couldn’t even keep their eyes open anymore. They were screaming, struggling to stay on their feet as the blast, roar, and the flashing lights made them wince.

A few seconds later what the students saw when they opened their eyes was a ruined spire.

「…Ah-ahaha」

「I-in one-shot…?」

「B-but that wasn’t Extreme Magic, right?」

The spire, which was now less than half its original length, was smoking as its surface melted into lava. The upper half part of it must have been vaporized.

It must have been an incredible level of magic to the students. They must have felt as if their blood had gone out of their veins so they could only laugh.

But Fran hadn’t stopped yet.

The students, who had noticed that Fran was nowhere to be seen, looked around to find her.

Immediately after, a tremendous amount of magic emitted from the sky, and at the same time, it seemed that they had finally found Fran. All at once, their faces turned up to the sky.

「Let’s finish up with this」

『Ou. Let’s show it to them』

「Nn!」

The first thing that Fran did was to perform the Sheaths of Wind with all her might. Magic and swordplay. That was what was important to show off about Fran’s abilities.

In front of the students’ eyes, the lower half of the remaining spire was slashed diagonally. A moment later, the students watched in dismay as the spire slid away from the cut at its center.

The fact that they didn’t even understand what had happened showed how awesome it was. That must have been what it felt like.

「Fuh」

『Good job』

「Nn」

That was it. That was what we had planned, but someone then complained.

「Woof woof!」

「Nn? You want to go too, Urushi?」

「Woof!」

It was the first time in a long time that Urushi wanted to relieve himself. When he saw the destruction that Fran had left behind, Urushi’s tail was hanging.

「Let’s do that one then?」

「Woof!」

In response to Urushi’s begging, Fran jumped up into the air again. Once she gained some height in her aerial jump, she activated two magic spells.

She used earth magic to create a plate about five meters in diameter and activated light magic to create a light source on top of it. As a result, a dark shadow was created on the ground.

「Wooo~f!」

In response to Urushi’s roar, a jet-black circle about ten meters in diameter was drawn inside the shadow that was created by Fran.

What Urushi invoked was the Dark Magic, Bottomless Shadow. It was vicious magic that created a field of shadow that swallowed everything on its surface.

Well, it has many shortcomings though. First of all, it couldn’t be activated without a shadow. Furthermore, the speed at which it swallowed was slow, so it was surprisingly easy to get out of. And it seemed to be quite difficult to control, as Urushi couldn’t even move while using it.

Also, while its name was Bottomless, there was a limit to the amount of mass it could swallow at one time. What was more was that it was impossible to retrieve materials and magic stones because it was impossible to release what it has completely swallowed. It also consumed a large amount of magic power.

It was a technique that looked flashy but was not very useful. At least, it could never be used during high-speed combat. Well, it might be useful to momentarily hinder our opponent’s movement though.

It may be of use against sluggish opponents or if he made a surprise attack in the middle of the night. It was also suitable for cleaning up messes like this.

The remains of the spire on the ground slowly sank into the shadows, as if swallowed by a bottomless swamp. And then, a minute later, it was all gone, clean and clear. The field was back to its original empty state.

The students stared at the ground with their mouths wide open as they realized that not only Fran but also Urushi, was out of the norm.