Book 1 Chapter 37
【37】36
Goooooo-!
Flames gathered at the tip of the sword.
Leo’s flames burned even more fiercely.
Leo, engulfed in flames, charged forward.
‘Now!’
Howl thrust his spear before Leo entered his range.
Swoosh-!
A massive green aura erupted from the spear tip.
The aura stretched out like a living anaconda, aiming for Leo’s neck.
Leo tried to swat away Howl’s attack with a flame aura.
Whoosh-!
Suddenly, Howl’s aura changed its trajectory like a living snake.
‘I expected this much.’
Leo, unfazed, charged at the defenseless Howl.
Howl’s technique was very tricky to deal with at a distance, but it had the drawback of leaving him defenseless once the distance was closed.
“You fell for it!”
Howl shouted with delight.
Stretch-!
“……!”
Howl’s aura continued to lengthen.
“Snake Prison!”
Snap-!
Like a snake catching its prey, the aura swirling around Leo instantly tightened its grip.
Exclamations erupted from all sides at the incredibly delicate aura control.
Ain, who was watching the situation, curled up the corners of his mouth.
‘Flame aura has the advantage of powerful attacks but the disadvantage of being vulnerable in defense. It’s like a double-edged sword.’
Poison aura also exhibited such a tendency.
That's why it was devoured by the flame aura due to their elemental compatibility.
‘He focused obsessively on aura control training, and he’s acquired a skill that perfectly compensates for that weakness.’
Ain looked towards the silent Leo.
‘But Leo Flobe wouldn’t have charged without a plan.’
‘How do you like it! Leo! I’ll defeat you with this! And…’
Howl turned his gaze towards Celia, who looked surprised, and clenched his fist.
‘Celia! I’ll make you acknowledge that I am your equal….’
“That’s an amazing technique, but the finish is sloppy.”
“What!”
Fwoosh-! Bang-!
Howl’s aura surrounding Leo swelled and then exploded, scattering in all directions.
Goooooo-! Fwoosh!
The flame aura engulfing Leo blazed fiercely.
Leo, in a sword-swinging posture, stared directly at the frozen Howl.
“You should never let your guard down until the flame goes out.”
“Tsk!”
Howl gripped his spear tighter.
Press-! Bang-!
Suddenly, flames exploded from Leo’s feet.
Aura Step.
Whoosh-! Fwoosh!
Leo’s sword tip, shot out like a bullet of flame, was already touching Howl’s neck.
“…Winner, Leo Flobe.”
Ain declared calmly.
Wooowaaaah!
Cheers erupted.
“Wow! Wow! Leo oppa won!”
“…He had that level of skill even in real combat?”
Chelsea jumped up and down with delight in her seat, and Tade muttered in disbelief.
Kal, who was handing popcorn to a customer, also whistled and cheered!
“Who was it who said that first-year would be weak in real combat?”
“Howl was amazing too, but the compatibility was just too bad.”
“Indeed, there’s a reason why these first-years are getting so much attention.”
The upperclassmen evaluated the two’s spar, exclaiming in admiration.
As Leo withdrew his sword, Howl dropped his head with a thud and knelt.
“It’s a complete defeat. The skill gap was overwhelming. To be careless against a skilled person like you… it’s completely disgraceful.”
“Well. To be honest, I never expected you to have that level of technique either.”
The aura control ability, which could only be obtained through immense effort, was surprising even to Leo.
“If your aura had been a little stronger, I might have suffocated and passed out. I underestimated you too, so we’re both the same, I guess.”
Leo smiled and extended his hand.
“It was a great technique.”
Howl stared blankly at Leo’s hand, then took it and stood up.
Leo, who had helped Howl up, patted his shoulder and left the arena.
‘Leo Flobe… as expected, he’s not just standing by Celia’s side for nothing.’
Muttering, Howl trudged out of the arena.
In front of Howl stood the knight academy students from Class 1.
“Howl! That was close!”
“Ugh! It was a golden opportunity to get revenge for the bathroom cleaning!”
“What kind of monster is that? Real combat isn’t even his weakness!”
The Class 1 students comforted Howl.
“Elegant! Student Howl! It was a splendid match! If it weren’t for the elemental compatibility, you could have crushed someone like Leo Flobe! So don’t be discouraged!”
“Professor Sedgen. Even if he’s your student, please refrain from biased remarks.”
Professor Ain pressed his temples, speaking to Professor Sedgen who was shouting loudly.
At the unexpected welcome, Howl scratched his head awkwardly.
Then he spotted Celia approaching him and tensed up.
Celia smiled brightly at such a Howl.
“You were pretty good, weren’t you? You were cool.”
“What? Oh! Uh! Yeah! Yeah!”
Howl’s face reddened as he answered awkwardly.
‘Howl is innocent, unlike how he looks.’
‘Celia is surprisingly oblivious in that regard.’
‘But shouldn’t they have realized by now?’
It was when the Class 1 students were wearing subtle smiles.
“Leo, you did great. When did you train your aura so much?”
Celia approached Leo and asked.
Howl clenched his fist.
‘Leo Flobe! I will make you my new goal!’
This persistent boy made up his mind to catch up to Leo.
Watching Howl reinforce his resolve, the Class 1 students clicked their tongues and ate popcorn.
Leo, who had perfectly adorned the first sparring match with victory, sat to one side and watched the remaining spars.
“Class 5, Iliana Raden, step forward.”
“Heave-ho! Who’s my opponent!”
“Class 10, Chen Xia, step forward.”
“Gasp!”
Iliana, who had stepped forward confidently, was surprised when she was pitted against Chen Xia.
“Nice to meet you.”
“Yeah, nice to meet you.”
Chen Xia and Iliana exchanged greetings.
‘I’ve grown a lot too! I can even challenge for top of the class!’
Aura shimmered around Iliana’s body as she tightly gripped her rapier.
Clatter-!
Chen Xia, a martial artist, had no weapon.
Instead, a blue aura shimmered at her fingertips, and water droplets began to form.
Her aura characteristic was water.
The water droplets at her fingertips intertwined like threads, soon creating a silken wave.
As Chen Xia’s hand moved as if dancing, the wave gracefully formed at her fingertips.
“Hmph!”
Iliana took a deep breath and pointed her rapier at Chen Xia.
“Haah!”
Aura exploded, propelling Iliana’s body forward.
Leo sighed at the incredibly fast and ferocious charge.
“That fool.”
Bang-!
“Squeak!”
Clatter! Roll, roll, roll!
Iliana’s intense charge was not only futilely blocked by Chen Xia, but her attack was even reflected.
Iliana, who had fallen and was rolling miserably on the floor, her eyes spinning.
“Chen Xia, victory.”
It was a match where overwhelming power clearly stood out.
However, since this test was quite disadvantageous for Iliana, a magic swordsman, no one had high expectations.
Chen Xia, with clasped hands, bowed respectfully and left the sparring arena.
Iliana struggled to raise her clenched fist to the sky and shouted.
“B-but I had good momentum against Chen Xia! I wasn’t intimidated!”
“Could you please be quiet? It’s embarrassing.”
“Yeah, just pretend to be unconscious. Please.”
As the Class 5 knight academy students spoke coldly, Iliana looked tearful.
“Class rep! The kids are saying I’m embarrassing!”
Leo said, looking at Iliana complaining.
“Your impulsive personality is the problem. You know Chen Xia’s skill well, don’t you?”
“I know! That’s why I charged with good momentum, wasn’t it! Since I can’t break through with swordsmanship alone no matter what, I had to at least show some momentum!”
“What a thing to brag about.”
Leo clicked his tongue, watching Iliana fold her arms and shout proudly.
Iliana was also a highly skilled individual, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say she was among the top ranks of the entire grade.
‘Her opponent was too bad. If she could use magic, it might be different, but this is a knight academy test. Still, if she had been more careful, she wouldn’t have lost so futilely.’
Leo shook his head, then made eye contact with Chen Xia, who was sitting on the Class 10 side.
Leo waved back at Chen Xia, who smiled and waved.
‘I thought this before, but Chen Xia really has the best balance among first-year knight students.’
In the case of Celia and Duran, their aura characteristics are specialized in offensive power.
Conversely, Chen Xia’s aura characteristic, water, had a well-balanced offense and defense.
Leo observed the spars of his other peers, thinking about Chen Xia’s skill.
The improvement in skill of students who were in the lower ranks until admission was remarkable.
Among them, there were cases of students defeating those who were significantly more skilled than themselves.
Even amidst the mixed emotions, the top students from the entrance exam showed that they were in a different league.
Celia, who swiftly subdued her opponent, elegantly swept back her hair and approached Leo.
“How was it?”
“You’ve grown.”
“Of course.”
Celia narrowed her eyes.
“Leo, I’ll take the class representative spot in this exam.”
Leo smiled faintly, watching Celia declare confidently.
“Take it all you want. If you can take it.”
At his words, Celia smiled brightly then returned to Class 1.
Iliana, who was watching from the side, said.
“You’re popular.”
“Are you jealous?”
“No, as I told Nella, I’ll decline that kind of popularity.”
***
Midterm exam period.
After the last written exam, Linguistics class, the Class 5 students rushed! and swarmed Chelsea.
“Hey! Hey! Chelsea! Show me your answer sheet!”
“I’m going to see it first!”
“Kal! Your grades are going to be rock bottom anyway, aren’t they? So you can see it later!”
“What kind of talk is that!”
The competition to see Chelsea’s answer sheet first, as she had the highest written exam scores in Class 5, was more fierce than expected.
Chelsea waved her test paper, fluttering it, at her classmates who swarmed in front of her.
“Who should I show it to first?”
“Sister Chelsea! Show me first!”
“Unnie! Me first!”
“You look especially beautiful today, Sister!”
Class 5 clinging to Chelsea, the youngest in the class.
“Ho ho ho.”
Chelsea covered her mouth and burst into laughter, looking smug at her classmates.
“The exam’s already over, so does it matter if they do that?”
Leo, sitting in the back of the classroom by the window, rested his chin on his hand and spoke, while Nella gave a languid smile.
“Hehe. Still, it’s human nature to want to know your exam score a bit earlier, isn’t it?”
At her words, Leo shook his head and put his writing tools into his bag.
“The only exams I have left are the joint practical exam for Heroics and Combat Studies, but Leo, you still have Magic Studies and Summoning Studies left, don’t you?”
In the Knight Academy sparring exam, Leo passed with a perfect record of 5 wins.
The strongest opponent in his five spars was Howl, whom he fought on the first day.
Besides Leo, Celia, Chen Xia, and Duran also achieved perfect records.
Nella, however, had one loss.
“If she hadn’t met that unlucky Duran, Unnie Nella could have had a perfect record too!”
Chelsea, who had just distributed exam papers to her classmates, hugged Nella and said.
Nella, who was one of the strong candidates for a perfect record, added one loss after meeting Duran in her third spar.
“I’m satisfied, I fought well against Duran.”
Nella smiled, stroking Chelsea’s hair.
“By the way, Leo oppa, how’s your practical practice for Summoning Studies going?”
“It’s going well.”
“You barely come to practice separately, though?”
Tade, who was in the Summoning Studies department, asked with a puzzled look.
The Summoning Studies practical exam was traditionally one of Lumerne’s biggest events for first-year, first-semester students.
Leo smiled at Tade’s question.
“I’m diligently practicing where no one can see.”
“As expected of Leo oppa. You’re full of confidence, aren’t you? So what’s your target?”
Leo said as if it were obvious, looking at Chelsea whose eyes sparkled with curiosity.
“First place, of course.”
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