Ashrosaliera Inmopotalten Empyreanel Säpphroaleryst was utterly outwitted and defeated. She lay wailing on the floor and rolled over to her side. The girl curled up into a ball and hugged her bloody nose.
Roshia deactivated her [Water Armor] and walked over, putting her foot down on Ash's thigh.
"You got one thing wrong about me, arrogant brat."
Roshia Naveria kicked Ash in the guts hard, causing the girl to yelp, groan, and cover her stomach.
"I don't just know 2 advanced spells, I know 4! I didn't waste my life away like you; I practiced them day and night. However, I'll give you credit; you made me use three and waste nearly half my mana pool without using your B-Rank Fireball. You thought you could win while holding back, huh?"
Roshia then shifted her shoes onto Ash's ribs before pressing down with a bit of weight.
"UGAHHHHHH! STOP IT!" Ashrosaliera screamed, writhing in agony yet unable to cover all three spots—nose, stomach, and ribs—with only two hands.
"Apologize to me now! I don't even want your kind as a pet anymore." Roshia exclaimed, still keeping pressure on her foot. "Say it!"
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Stop it! It hurts!" Ash yelped, trying pulling Roshia's feet away.
"Sorry for what? Do you even know what you did wrong?"
"I'm sorry! For trying to burn your face! For mocking your voice!"
It was in this moment that Roshia realized something; she widened her eyes as she stared down at Ash.
"You're not even sorry for any of the things you said… You don't even know what you did." Roshia muttered, "You're even more pathetic than I thought, you're just saying sorry to get out of trouble."
Roshia's expression changed from anger to disappointment, or mayhaps even disgust, as if she was stepping into some nasty and not a schoolmate. Her lips twisted in a sour frown, nose slightly scrunched, eyes narrowing with quiet revulsion.
"You don't deserve mercy."
Roshia removed her foot from Ash's body, just so she could give Ash another kick in the guts, before sighing.
"Don't you ever disrespect B-Class again, and stop provoking people. Or you'll die."
Roshia stood there, looking down at Ashrosaliera while fixing her jewelry and earrings, as she was concerned that they had been exposed to a lot of different changing elements in the last five minutes. She then noticed something was near Ash's chest.
"A pendant?" Roshia said in a surprised tone, she knelt down to grab the thing for a better inspection.
It was a necklace with a beautifully carved Fire elemental symbol made of ruby. Roshia Naveria chuckled at the sight and ripped the thing straight off Ash's neck, breaking the chain halfway.
"A Fire mage wearing a Fire necklace? That's so tacky. You don't see me going around carrying a water flask, and badges exist, you know. But I'll be taking this as a token of atonement."
The fire pendant suddenly flashed bright red, as if there was some kind of magic coating on it, which confused Roshia, because she didn't feel any different if it was a defense mechanism, so she leaned in to get a better look at the thing…
But then,
"Wind Magic: Air Shot."
"AH!"
A [Wind] spell was cast, a shot flew through the air towards Roshia's arm, which stung like an ant bite, causing her to shriek in pain and drop the necklace to the ground.
Zofia Adinberg, the beastman, came marching towards Roshia Naveria, her feline tail raised high in alert. She used one hand to adjust her eyeglasses while her dominant hand faced the noble girl, ready to cast more magic attacks.
"Guh, you're the other F-Class from yesterday!" Roshia yelled, getting into stance, "Are you here for trouble, too?"
"Quite the opposite," Zofia calmly answered, with sharp eyes piercing into Roshia. "I was just looking for a quiet place to read and heard screaming, turns out it's two students fighting. I'll report you to the guidance counselor, but that necklace looks valuable, and stealing it is an unacceptable felony."
Upon hearing that, Roshia took a deep breath and tried to force out a smile. She calmly approached Zofia with her hands in a non-threatening pose, with both palms raised into the air away from Zofia.
Zofia, however, didn't trust Roshia quite yet, so she kept a distance, walking back two steps whenever Roshia took one.
"Come on, dear," Roshia said, all smiling. "I was watching what happened yesterday, this brat said some really degrading stuff, being all loud and obnoxious, she even made you cry, didn't she?"
Zofia didn't answer, and a bead of sweat ran down her cheek as she gulped uneasily. And Roshia continued,
"She attacked me first, mind you. Everything I did was in self-defense. But if it will ease your little ball of fur, I won't take the necklace." Lying through her teeth, Roshia glanced up and down at Zofia with a rather interesting look, "And you're one cutie. Much more sensible than that loudmouth, too. What do you think about making 12 gold coins a week, straight from the viscount's daughter?"
Before Zofia could make sense of the offer, she noticed a short figure with white hair and red eyes rising from the dirt right behind Zofia.
Ashrosaliera was gasping for air, all tired, but she managed to stand on her two feet.
She was holding the fire necklace in her hand, and she looked in horror as it glowed red upon leaving her body.
She remembered the words of her mother.
"This necklace is for us to monitor you. If you take it off or if you dare to use your SSS-Rank skill, I'm going straight to the academy, and I'm going to…"
Ashrosaliera looked up at Roshia, who turned around, and their eyes met.
"You noble bastard. I didn't even dare to take this off when bathing," she whispered.
"Kettlehead! Don't do anything stupid!" Zofia yelled. "Let the guidance counselor deal with this!"
Ashrosaliera should've heard that clear as day, but it seemed as though her ears were covered by anger, and her eyes were shadowed by fear. Words were coming into her head, but not words of affirmation and pieces of advice from Zofia, nor was it anything that was coming out of Roshia's mouth; she didn't hear any of that.
The only thing Ash remembered was one of the first lessons that Dad taught.
"An open palm means spreading five fingers, or a full release of magic, which is common and preferred… But I'll show you these 6 gestures to control the output power of your spell. Most would find them useless, but you won't"
His words came pouring back into her like a waterfall.
Ashrosaliera Säpphroaleryst raised her hand, aiming towards Roshia, but it was not an open palm; instead, she closed her hand into a fist.
"Because of you, I'm going to get spanked!" Ashrosaliera shrieked in genuine fear and anger, "This is the weakest I can go, don't die!"
From the fist of her hand came mana.
"Fire Magic: Fireball," Ashrosaliera said, "One sixth output!"