The trial for first-years started with Elite Class being the first and Class D as the last. We were told before that the weapon we requested during the enrollment will materialize once we entered an illusion field.

     The Elite Class gave their all they've got despite of being already in the top. I remember that Tachibana-sensei said that there is a privilege that was given and only known to the students of Elite Class so I guess it is a major one based on their performance right now. 28 out of 30 students of the first-year Elite Class passed that trial, and that one is not surprising since it is already expected. 

     The next class that will undergo the trial is the Class A then followed by Class B, Class C, and finally, Class D. As the class section goes lower and lower, the excitement among the spectators, especially the students drops because of the skill levels. Class D, which is the lowest section and class where I'm in, proved it. 

     My classmates can't even deliver a clean strike to the enemy. The movement was too slow as if they're still new into this kind of world. More than half of the Class D students were finished but there's still no ambiance of challenge that shrouds the entire field... until a certain student broke it.

     Her black hair sways left and right as she took her entrance on the field. She holds her weapon, which is also a katana, on her right hand extending it on the side. Based on what I can see, it is just a simple one with no ornaments or distinguishable feature. Her free hand was straightened down forming a 10° angle with her slender body. The aura she's emitting is pure killing instinct. Relax, this is just a simulation.

     She stopped walking, indicating that she's ready to fight. We're all waiting fot her spirit, which is a plain looking god named Zariel, to be summoned but she's still not doing it. Maybe she has a plan that we don't know.

     "Start."

     The announcer, which is an AI, spoke that caused Mirai-san to rush towards Xin'Ya, who is forming a smug face. Aside her appearance that truly caught everyone's attentions, and even the hearts of some, she's the first one who didn't summoned her spirit at first.  Even the Elite Class were intrigued by her. They're probably thinking that Mirai-san is a talent that was being wasted in Class D.

     Every strike that Mirai-san executes is heavy and swift. Her footwork is too snappy and her senses are sharp. She's used to this kind of thing. There are times that she will release her left hand from the hilt of her katana to perform wider strikes. After few moments, she will place her left hand again for heavy strikes. I suddenly remember Stacia's fighting style but the difference is that she's ambidextrous.

     After defending for a minute, Xin'Ya started to take offensive actions by spinning her naginata-like weapon rapidly on her front then to the either sides. She doesn't plan to take quick, clumsy strikes just to immediately defeat her enemy. She's prioritizing her defense... or maybe not. 

     Xin'Ya stopped and she evaded to her right, shifting her whole body during the moment. She bent down her right knee and lowered her upper body. She changed her grip on her naginata, the head was on her front now. She found a completely blindspot on Mirai-san. No matter what Mirai-san will do, she will be hitted by Xin'Ya's naginata. But instead of panicking, she smiled. 

     "Zariel!"

     A vortex of pink petals formed on her left and a spirit appeared from it. He used his weapon, which is a bamboo pole, to block Xin'Ya's weapon and surprisingly, it was successful. The head of her enemy's weapon was stopped but it didn't pierce the bamboo pole. That thing is sure hard. 

     "I apologize, eternal fox. I won't let you harm my master," Zariel said and forcefully swung his weapon like a batter. 

     Xin'Ya was pushed by at least five meters but she landed gracefully. She returned to her stance but her body is a little bit groggy. 

     "I-I-I-I apologize for my insolence, God Zariel," she said and straightened up her body to bow down in rapid succession.

     All of us here, even the instructors and the student council presidents, were shocked on Xin'Ya's attitude towards her enemy's spirit. Well, he is just the god that her race worships. I tried to see Tachibana-sensei's reaction and as usual, she was disgusted. No. Even the word "disgusted" is not enough to describe what she feels right now.

     Zariel placed his weapon on his right shoulder and laughed. "I mean, you can harm my master after you defeated me."

     "Oh, wow. You're so heroic to the point that I want to abandon you right now," Mirai-san said to her spirit with a dagger-like stare towards him. 

     "You're so cute when teased, master," Zariel replied. 

     The male students were entranced by Mirai-san's attitude towards her spirit. It was indeed a formidable view... for them. It was quite unexpected that some of the girls were also feeling the same way on Mirai-san as if they're ready to change gender just to let Mirai-san date them.

     "B-B-B-But hurting my god will be a taboo," Xin'Ya said as if she didn't know what to do.

     "Is that so? Then I order you-" Zariel interrupted on speaking and... he disappeared.

     No, that's not it. He took one vehement leap towards Xin'Ya, which is his worshipper, that caused the ground beside Mirai-san to create fractures. He's now in front of her enemy, ready to perform a diagonal strike.

     "To fight me seriously!"

     Xin'Ya can't hide the astonishment on her face. I don't know if because of her god's order to her or to the action Zariel performed. She knew that that strike is powerful so she had no choice but to take few steps backward. Zariel didn't hesitated to chase Xin'Ya by striking her in a rapid succession.

     Leap. Strike. Repeat. 

     Step. Evade. Repeat. 

     That was the current actions Zariel and Xin'Ya were doing, respectively. The latter's not planning to block any attacks from her enemy. There must be something enchanted about that bamboo pole. The battle is obviously one-sided in favor of Zariel. Eventhough Xin'Ya is an "Enforcer's" spirit, she's still no match against her god. But a certain thing happened that removed the odds. 

     "Return."

     Zariel disappeared after her master invoked the chant to dematerialize him. Mirai-san tried to slash her katana on the enemy's right side but it was successfully deflected through spinning of Xin'Ya's naginata.

     "So you waited for a perfect opportunity, huh?" Xin'Ya smirked and quickly performed a roundhouse kick, targeting Mirai-san's left cheek.

     "But too bad, I already predicted your- huh?"

     Xin'Ya went off-balance, causing her to stumble on the floor. Her face was the first who touched it. It surely hurts. She tried to immediately stand up but Mirai-san's katana was already pointed on Xin'Ya's face. Her weapon was also stomped by Mirai-san's left foot. Her body was pressed by a bamboo pole.

     "Hahahaha. That was quite a dirty trick, master," the plain looking spirit said.

     We're all confused on what just happened. When did Zariel appeared again? Mirai-san dismissed her, right? She doesn't have the experience and knowledge for her spirit to show up anytime he wants so how is that possible. 

     "That's a legal move. I summoned you while she's blabbering about predicting my actions," Mirai-san replied, further extending her katana to the now suppresed Xin'Ya.

     "I lost," Xin'Ya said and sighed. 

     The crows cheered on Mirai-san's victory. Her manipulation of her spirit is very admiring. She dismissed Zariel then quickly summoned him again after finding the perfect chance to do it. 

     Mirai-san retracted her katana and started to walk away from Zariel, who extended his hand to Xin'Ya to help her stand up. She's indeed a girl with the potential of being an "Enforcer" so why did she ended up in Class D? 

     "That's a good fight, eternal fox."

     "I'm not worthy of such appreciation from my god," Xin'Ya said and bowed her upper body.

     "I'm not saying things to those who are unworthy of it," Zariel replied and started to follow his master.

     The crowd is still in rage when my name was called. I stood up on my seat and walked towards the field. I came across Mirai-san. Our gaze met each other. 

     "Good work."

     "Good luck, Hiji-kun."

     That words we gave and received were meaningful for us. We're not interacting with others and we have a...  maybe a secret relationship? I mean in a way that no one knows that we're acquaintances so obviously, it is a secret. I took my first step inside the white field and a katana, pure black in color, materialized on my hand. The weapon I requested for is a simple katana. I'm more used on things that were simple.

     My enemy regained her composure and is ready to fight again. I summoned Stacia and showed up beside me. I can hear my heartbeat clearly. It was so loud because of the nervousness I feel right now. My breaths were heavy. I actually have a plan on how to survive the last minute, the time when Xin'Ya will start to attack, but I'm not sure if it will work out. I just need to trust to myself and Stacia. I don't know why but she knows all of my plans. I don't even need to tell her about it because she will do it flawlessly and exactly like I imagined.

     "Start."

     The AI spoke indicating that my two minutes had started. I tried to focus myself but my eyes saw someone in the audience side. She's standing and waved her hands like crazy. A male student near her is stopping her from doing it but the girl is still doing it. That scene captured the attention of the students. That stupid idiot is distracting me and maybe she doesn't know that. Please, stop my older sister.  It will bring shame to her name.

     Fifteen seconds had passed but there's still no activity on the field. 

     "Won't you take the oppotunity to strike me during grace period?" Xin'Ya asked with a tone of bewilderment. 

     "I don't plan to exhaust myself on an enemy that is not fighting back."

     "That's... quite a logic," she replied. I'm sure she didn't expected that answer.

     The last minute is approaching fast. I tightened my grip on the hilt of my katana. Stacia is holding hers on her left hand, meaning that she will prioritize swiftness over intensity of strikes.

     I silently counted on my mind each second that passed. I need to do it to prepare myself because she might instantly rush if I didn't track the time and I was right. When my mind went to 40, she started to rush towards us. Her eyes were staring Stacia then to me then back to Stacia again then back to me again. She's cautiously monitoring on the next action we will do.

     Stacia reacted on it by taking five rapid steps and strike her katana to the right. Xin'Ya stopped running to deflect it. Stacia twisted her whole body rightward to do a roundhouse kick to Xin'Ya but instead of doing it, she used her left foot, that was still on the ground, to take a step back. She shoulf just simply do it without making a fake roundhouse kick but maybe she's up into something. I took that chance to engage into battle.

     I executed series of strikes on Xin'Ya and as expected, she's blocking it all with ease. There are times that Stacia will attack her but she evades it everytime and returns to her stance. I'm repeating the same thing everytime but Stacia stopped doing it after her 3rd try.

     "Return!"

     Stacia vanished on the field making it an one on one fight between me and Xin'Ya. I took five seconds to strike Xin'Ya to see on how she deflects my katana. I summoned Stacia again to see on how she will react. Stacia appeared on Xin'Ya's left and the enemy evaded on her right. I dismissed herand summoned again but this time, she appeared on the right and Xin'Ya moved to her right.

     That is enough. I now finally have my trump card. I don't need to defeat the enemy. I just need to survive. But I prefer if I win because I defeated Xin'Ya, not on just surviving.

     The battle returned on being an one on one fight. I striked Xin'Ya again rapidly and when I executed a downward slash, her naginata blocked it in horizontally. This is it. I need to do it now. 

     "Stacia!"

     I lowered my upper body. Stacia came out behind and did a horizontal slash, targeting Xin'Ya's throat, that is just a little highed on her naginata. Xin'Ya stepped back to avoid it. While she's still in mid-air, I did the most crucial part of my plan.

     Stacia faded and reappeared behind the enemy and thrusted her katana on Xin'Ya's body. What happened was so fast as if Stacia blinked behind Xin'Ya. Xin'Ya was completely shocked by it causing her to receive the stab from Xin'Ya. The katana pierced on her body.

      I raised my upper body and lowered my guard since it is already over. Stacia removed her katana on Xin'Ya's body. Xin'Ya said that she lost. Her face shows the expression of pain despite of us being in an illusion field. The audience clapped and shouted vigorously on my unexpected victory. I saw that Hira-neechan is the most energetic of them all. President Manato is stopping her but he can't handle her. I'm very sorry for what my stupid sister is acting right now, President Manato. 

     After my fight, the rest of the students from Class D did their part but they were all defeated. The passers were announced. Apparently, 64 out of 150 first-years passed so aside the 20,000 yen we'll receive, we will also acquire 10,000 merit points. 

     The trial for first-year was proclaimed as finished so the students were now on their way to go to either Dormitory Island or Shopping District Island. I decided to take my leave but someone from the crowd of seniors called me. When I looked around to see the owner of the voice, a girl with red twintail is approaching me. 

     "Akane-senpai," I said while looking down on her because of her small height. 

     "Congrats on passing the trial, Hiji-san," she said and her face formed a bright smile.

     "Thank you, Akane-senpai."

     "I didn't know that you're very skilled."

     "That's not true. It is just my plan worked out."

     "But it is quite rare for a Class D student to do that kind of thing."

     "Is that so? I-"

     I was interrupted when something hitted my body. It was a short girl with a pink hair that. hugged me and rubs her head of my chest. 

     "P-P-President Karasuma?!"

     This stupid pink haired girl looked to Akane-senpai and tightened her arms around me. "You don't have the right to flirt Hiji. He's mine only. Be aware of that," Hira-neechan said. 

     "I-I-I-I-I'm not flirting him! I-I-I'm just congratulating him," Akane-senpai said in a flustered manner. 

     "It's still the same."

     "Hey! At least put some shame on your stupid self," I complained and pushed Hira-neechan and I was finally released. 

     "I would gladly destroy my reputation to protect you if someone like this twintailed child seduced you," Hira-neechan said and placed her right hand to her mouth while giggling. 

     "S-S-S-S-S-S-S-Seduce?!" Akane-senpai can't contain her embarrassment anymore so she held the hems of her skirt and lowered her head.

     "Why don't you just die? In that way, you can protect me against other people especially to an idiot like you," I said, showing my irritation to her. 

     "I won't do it. I still need myself to become the mother of your child."

     I-I-Is she freaking serious?! I can't hold this conversation. I'm totally regretting being a Karasuma just because of the existence of a girl named Karasuma Hira.

     "That was a gallant victory, Karasuma Hiji," another student said.

      The ambiance between us shattered because of the same student's arrival. The crowd around her was being divided into two. Her blonde hair wobbles for every elegant steps she make. Behind her is a girl that holds a parasol. Their image is the very definition of the word "royalty".

     "And who you might be?" Hira-neechan asked to the newcomer. 

     "I deeply apologize for my sudden intermission, Pacific Maiden," the blonde hair girl said and placed her right hand on her left chest. "I am Margaux Whitestone, the daughter of the royal family of England."

     "Ooooh! You're a royal blood!" Hira-neechan said but instead of being intimidated, she was amazed.

     "I am indeed a royal blood," Margaux replied. 

     "What do you need?" Akane-senpai asked. Well, we're both expecting what will happen next and she's probably prepared for it. 

     "Oh? I didn't noticed that some filthy leech resides here right now," Margaux replied, looking to Akane-senpai to provoke her. 

     "Just say what you want to say. I want to get some good rest right now," I said to Margaux. 

     "Is that so? Then-" She breathed heavily and looked at me before continuing.

     "Be my personal butler, Karasuma Hiji."