(Emberheart’s perspective)

  They didn't give up on trying to breach my magic. In fact, they were trying even harder now.

  The corruption that had been invisible before was now manifesting like a puddle trying to expand outward from their body, dissipating as soon as it got too far away.

  What was the plan here? To enter a contest of who had bigger reserves?

  "Your fire is special. It doesn't burn like normal." They took a step back. I followed.

  "It doesn't," I agreed.

  They would probably try to learn my magic now. Try to adapt to it.

  Their adaptation was slow, though. Had it been the same corruption as in the forest, I probably would have had to increase the temperature already. But they were making an effort. They used denser corruption, so even when the heat dispersed it, the inner layers would take at least a second to reach.

  Finding success in this strategy, they moved to the offensive. Their body became encircled in corruption as they moved to the side, reaching the wall and touching it, spreading the corruption across the stone.

  I accompanied their movements, keeping myself in front of them. A quick magic circle, and I touched the wall. An eruption of fire burst out where they'd corrupted it, destroying the corruption and burning their arm severely.

  The corruption enveloped the arm again, but the wounds remained.

  "So strong. S-ranks are so strong." They tried to take a step back.

  I wove another spell circle. I had a few ways of making progress, but I had to be fast before they adapted further.

  When I moved in, they moved back. The corruption stood behind like a second body, dispersing much slower now.

  My spell hit it, vaporizing it immediately. Another spell circle, and chains made of fire materialized on the walls, cutting off their retreat.

  Noticing they were trapped, they advanced in my direction. The increased heat made the corruption around their body disappear, but it reformed, faster and stronger. It was lasting two seconds now before dispersing. I had to retreat a few steps to avoid getting caught.

  My retreat gave them newfound confidence. The corruption was spreading at a pace where dissipating it required concentration, stopping me from using spells. The corridor was covered in corruption now.

  Not good.

  But I wasn't nervous. All of this was within expectations. I was facing a force that adapted to my every move, and Kai had asked me to try and keep the thing alive.

  It didn't feel rational. The boy was already dead. But we didn't know the limits of Kai's power. Perhaps a body was all he needed to bring someone back. Whatever his reasons were, I had no reason to worry.

  This wasn't a fair fight.

  It never was.

  Another magic circle, and a wave of fire washed the corridor clean of corruption. The creature encircled itself in dense corruption to survive the spell.

  "You still have more power..." They looked at me with curiosity.

  "That was my full power. And you're still standing." I lied, wanting to end this soon.

  It worked. They didn't know how to detect lies. Perhaps didn't even know it was a possibility.

  The corruption became denser, so dense no sign of the boy could be seen. Just a humanoid corruption armor advancing.

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  "This is it... I can now handle your heat!" They advanced toward me.

  I didn't try to stop them. I resigned myself to watching as they approached, my passive mana barely able to scratch the dense corruption around them.

  Most people assumed my magic was something grand. Magma, plasma, the sun, or whatever hot thing they could think of that looked impressive.

  Except for her.

  The new school was a big place. They said it could even rival Celestia in the future, though it had the issue of being even more exclusive.

  While Celestia accepted any person with great potential, this one was proud of only taking the best mages. In terms of ranking, the cutoff point was somewhere around the middle of B-rank.

  I'd studied at a more basic school due to my age. I probably would have ended up coming here eventually, but that was before my parents decided to test me with a mana reader and discovered I was a potential S-rank.

  Now I was having to skip about three years of education to conform to expectations.

  It bored me.

  The other students were almost a non-factor. Most teachers focused on me from day one, and all the activities were simple enough. I was happy to at least be learning something more advanced than magic missiles.

  But there was one girl who kept looking at me weird.

  She wasn't like the others. They looked at me with interest, with fear. She looked mad.

  Every activity, she would give her all. If I made ten mana spheres, she would try to make eleven. If I made a magic circle, she tried to make it better.

  She wasn't successful most of the time, but those times she was, she would look at me with a grin. Like she'd just proven something to the world.

  It was fun competing with her. It distracted me and gave me motivation to make an effort. Perhaps it would have ended at that, just a friendly rivalry I'd eventually forget.

  Had she not been an excellent mana reader.

  "You're an Emberheart, right?" she asked me. It was her first time actually talking to me.

  "Yes, I am." I looked at her, puzzled. Why would she ask after all this time?

  "So you have fire mana? Then why are you S-rank?" She asked it so bluntly, hands on her hips, leaning forward to lower herself to my height.

  "Um... Sorry, I..."

  "Yeah yeah, can't tell me, but come on. It has to be something more. Your reserves are great, but nothing astronomical. And your skill is just a bit lower than mine." She grinned.

  That was a lie. I was more skilled than her. But I didn't feel like it would be a productive discussion.

  "Sorry," I said, trying to lighten the situation. Some people had asked about my magic before, but my parents had always taught me to keep it hidden. Revealing your magic could be dangerous.

  If it was anyone else, it would have ended there. But instead, she smiled, taking it as a challenge, and took a step back. She put her hand forward.

  "Fine then." She touched her lips with her finger, then approached a step and repeated the gesture.

  "What are you doing?" I asked.

  "Well, isn't it weird? I mean, if you had fire mana, you'd think it would be hotter the closer I get. But it's just... warm." She took another step forward, almost touching me.

  "Mana is..."

  "Constant at all distances, yeah. But higher concentration of heat mana will cause the air to be hotter, unless you were keeping something insulating it. Like a big coat or something, which you clearly don't wear." She was still smiling.

  "I think I should..."

  "Just another minute. Now, if it were based on magma or one of the other things, it would run into the same issue. And besides..." She touched my forehead. "Your temperature is just average. No, you wouldn't be able to control it that well. Only I would."

  I'd already given up on trying to say anything.

  "So your mana is not about fire or something hot, but you still can make fire magic and make others feel warm around you. And yet you wear normal clothes, which means you're not bothered by the heat. It's almost a paradox." She looked at me for a long while before pointing directly at my face. "Your ability is heat... No? Okay."

  She tried to guess. Failed. I finally had enough and turned to leave. Such a weird interaction. Such a weird girl.

  "Just kidding! I knew it from day one." She laughed as I walked away. "Your affinity is temperature!"

  Temperature.

  How did she figure it out? How did she do it so fast? How talented of a mana reader could one person be?

  I wished I could have asked her about it. I pretended she was wrong, tried to play it off. But we both knew she was right.

  My ability didn't make things hotter. I didn't produce fire. It was deeper. More fundamental.

  In front of me, the now completely frozen statue of corruption still smiled, thinking touching me would bring it the win.

  The first part of the plan was done. Now it was up to them.

  I looked at the corruption in front of me, considering whether I'd feel better just outright killing it.

  Would it have any meaning? It barely had a will of its own. The correct option was to try using it to find whoever was responsible for the circle in the forest. Whoever started this by killing Anya's brother and putting him inside that circle.

  But I couldn't help but feel a hint of satisfaction at my work today.