The Greatest Celestial Summoner

Noah sat down to signify that he was hit and Ain grabbed the ball. As they passed each other, Ain could see a complicated expression on the older boy's face.

'Yeah… That older boy is going to make fun of him for this… Guess I should spread some equality.' Ain hummed as he grabbed the ball.

He looked around at his targets and saw them all relatively stationary. Their distance was far enough that he had to approach, so it made sense that they didn't pointlessly run around and waste energy.

Although Ain was sure that none of them had such a complex thought.

He made his way over to Kian, casually tossing the ball up and down as he did. Naturally, the boy was prepared to run when Ain threw the ball.

 With a preliminary toss, Kian easily ran out of the way.

'As expected. I need to narrow his escape somehow.'

Sophia walked opposite of Ain so that she was the furthest away from him, and Annalise was a little way off, throwing her hands up in the air as if trying to get Ain to target her.

An idea came to Ain, causing him to smile.

'I can probably get one of them.'

He threw the ball again, this time aiming at Kian's arm. Since he was most likely going to dodge whatever Ain threw at him anyway, Ain decided to push Kian closer to Annalise.

"Is that all you got?" Kian taunted.

'Real charming.' Ain thought.

"I wonder." He said, throwing the ball just a little short of Kian.

The oldest boy, getting a bit too comfortable dodging, moved a little too early, putting him exactly where Ain wanted without having him turn his attention to the ball.

This time, he tossed the ball with an even more considerable amount of Mana behind it, straight at the head of Kian.

Caught off guard by the increase in speed, he dropped to the ground, the ball touching and brushing through his hair.

"Hair doesn't count!" He was quick to call.

"I figured." Ain chuckled.

"Wooow, Ainie! You can throw so well!" Annalise chimed from behind.

"It doesn't really matter, though." Ain continued.

Annalise stood right behind Kian. Just like Ain, she jumped forward to catch the ball, but unlike the young boy, she did it with one of her tiny hands.

'Oh… Oh No.' He panicked slightly.

That wasn't supposed to happen. Her words caused Kian to look behind. By the time he did, he already had another ball flying at his head. This time, he threw his whole body to the side, only for Ain to catch the ball.

Right away, he threw it at Kian, who rolled out of the way, narrowly avoiding it.

"W-wait… Wait! Wait! Wait!" He cried out as he realized he was now caught between two mutant 2-year-olds.

With a loud laugh, Annalise threw the ball straight at Ain. He managed to catch it again, but the speed and force behind it caused him to fall over backward. Luckily, his arms were held high, showing everyone that he still, indeed, caught the ball.

"Why won't you catch it?" Ain tauntingly asked Kian, throwing it straight at his back.

Since he was still on the ground, he couldn't catch it, getting eliminated from the game.

"Argh!" Kian continued to cry in frustration. Although he still obediently sat down.

Ain picked up the ball once again, but instead of trying to throw it at Annalise, he held his arm.

"Anna! Don't throw it so hard! My arm hurts!" Ain shouted in a half-joking manner.

His arms seriously hurt. Even with him offsetting a good amount of the momentum in her throws with Mana, soreness still radiated through both of his limbs.

"Huuhh? But you'll just catch it again if I don't throw it so hard!" She contested.

'I can probably catch it one more time before my arm gives out. No, Even if I do get it back from her after I throw it… With how little Mana I have, I can probably only throw it once or twice more anyway. Is the pain worth it when there's no guarantee I can get her?' Ain wondered to himself.

The answer was yes.

He didn't need to think for long before deciding that. He was invested now. That being said, he didn't see how he could get Annalise right now. She was faster and stronger than him, and in an open field like this, there wasn't much in the way of tactics he could use.

Shrugging the thought off, Ain prepared to throw the ball again.

'Meh, fuck it. Might as well try.'

Instead of throwing the ball at Annalise, he threw it straight up. When it fell back down to about his face, he slammed his tiny fist into it with his Mana.

Although his throw was definitely faster than when he threw it normally, it didn't matter to Annalise, as she easily caught it between her hands.

'Seriously… HOW!?' Ain questioned frantically.

He had expected this outcome, though. Before Annalise could grab the ball, he started running away.

It took him a moment to find Sophia, but she was resting near her brother. They were chatting about something, but Ain couldn't tell from this distance. Not that it mattered. He just needed someone else to grab Annalise's attention.

"EH?! Ainie! Come back!" Annalise shouted as she started chasing after him.

When he glanced back, Ain was honestly a little terrified as the distance between them shortened.

Annalise once again threw the ball at him, and he only managed to dodge because he tripped over himself, falling to the ground and allowing the ball to fly over him.

Ain had plenty of time to run, thanks to her strength, but all was still for naught.

Mana aside, Ain was panting as he ran. His running pace had already slowed significantly. He barely made it to the other kids, who were patiently waiting for him.

"Hi." Sophia waved.

"H-hello," Ain answered without thinking much of it.

Then he realized that she wasn't running… Followed by the pain of a leather ball slamming into his spine and sending him to the ground.

"Owie…" He groaned.

Catching up to him, Annalise was laughing like a maniac as she picked up the ball.

"Yaay! I got Ainie!" She jumped in the air.

She then turned her attention to Sophia, who put her hands up in surrender.

Sophia was honestly rather confident she could dodge Annalise for a while, but she saw no way to win. It wasn't worth getting her dress dirty.