Book 1 Chapter 902

'Leo is going to the dance party with Eliza?'

Kal muttered to himself while watching the duel between Abad and Duran.

'Am I going to die by Elena's hand?'

He remembered his past self who had boasted so loudly.

Eliza had even moved to stop Lil, prompting Kal to act.

And now Eliza is partnering with Leo!

How could he possibly handle Elena's wrath?

'…Should I run away?'

While contemplating this, Kal glanced over at Eliza, sitting with her younger sister, Perenna, in the distance.

For a moment, Kal and Eliza's eyes met.

Kal, about to wave, quietly lowered his hand when he saw Eliza turn her head sharply away.

'By the way, he's going with Leo…?'

The fact he was trying to forget resurfaced in his mind.

'Why?'

It was natural for her to go with someone else since she wasn't going with him.

But the fact that it was Leo was bewildering to Kal.

'Could Eliza also have feelings for Leo?'

He couldn't shake off that thought.

Not to mention, Leo was a cool person even by Kal's standards.

It wasn't just his appearance.

As the hero of the beginning, he was an object of admiration and a guiding light for everyone.

Now that Eliza knew Leo's true identity, he wondered if her feelings had changed.

Once he thought that, Kal felt a tightness in his chest.

He didn't particularly envy Leo or resent Eliza.

He could understand why Eliza would be drawn to Leo.

However, that didn't mean his heart felt completely fine.

'No, it can't be.'

Kal gave an awkward smile.

'It must be that she just happened to go with him… Yeah… happened to…'

Kal, trying to comfort himself, lowered his head.

"Unnie, who do you think will win?"

"…"

"Unnie?"

Perenna, who had been watching the duel between Abad and Duran with a serious expression, looked at Eliza with a puzzled look.

Eliza, resting her chin on her hand, was staring intently at Kal.

Seeing that, Perenna furrowed her brow.

"Unnie, did Senior Kal say something rude to you?"

"No."

Eliza shook her head resolutely and said with a snort while tidying her nails.

"Duran will have the advantage. The duel itself isn't fair."

Answering calmly, Eliza looked at Kal, who was still with his head bowed, and stood up.

"Huh? Where are you going?"

"You watch. The fight between a knight and a mage will be helpful."

"And you?"

"I'm not interested."

It wasn't that she wasn't interested.

It was more accurate to say she couldn't concentrate.

'Hmph. He must be quite shocked. Well, he'll be tormented by Senior Elena.'

Eliza snorted inwardly.

She had gotten annoyed because Kal was having fun chatting with the other girls without even asking her to the party, so she did it out of spite.

As Eliza predicted, it was highly effective.

However, it seemed Kal's shock wasn't solely due to that reason.

'Is it that shocking that Leo Flob and I are partners?'

Eliza sighed softly.

'Serves him right for not even asking me first, who's fault is that?'

Eliza tried to shake off Kal's thoughts, but the image of Kal, looking like a discarded puppy moments ago, kept replaying in her mind.

Eliza stopped as she walked down the hallway.

'He's not seriously thinking there's something going on between me and Leo Flob, is he?'

She absolutely refused to be misunderstood like that.

'Whatever! I don't care!'

Feeling a headache coming on, Eliza returned to her dorm.

***

Zzzap-!

Aura of lightning swirled all around.

Abad, who had ascended to the sky to avoid Duran's lightning strikes, swung his staff.

Whoosh-!

A powerful gust of wind deflected Duran's lightning strikes.

Whoosh-!

Abad soared into the sky at tremendous speed.

While not as fast as Chelsea, who was one of the top five fastest among third-years, Abad also possessed top-tier speed thanks to his wind magic.

His casting speed was also quite fast.

Whoosh-!

Duran broke through the gale and reached Abad's face.

Golden lightning swirled around his feet.

He had pursued Abad with an aura step.

Crack-!

Duran's long sword swung at Abad.

ROAR-!

A shield of wind blocked Duran's sword.

In that brief moment.

Abad created a blade of wind at the tip of his staff and aimed at Duran as if wielding a spear.

His spear technique was surprisingly clean for a mage.

Duran quickly created distance from Abad.

"Hmm. As expected."

Duran's lips curled.

His combat style was fundamentally different from most mages.

"Is this why he's called an all-rounder?"

In their mock combat, Abad had a similar combat tendency to Chloe when fighting Duran.

Chloe, true to her name, fundamentally blocked Duran's approach with overwhelming magical power.

Conversely, Chelsea, a battle mage, closed the distance with Duran without hesitation in their mock combat.

However, the combat methods of both were rooted in magic.

But Abad, fighting seriously, was different.

Abad's 1v1 combat method somehow resembled that of a knight.

The reason Duran felt that was simple.

'Distance.'

Compared to Chloe, a traditional mage, Abad's magical power was weaker.

His close-combat ability was also inferior to Chelsea, a battle mage.

However, as an all-rounder, he could fight in any form.

Therefore, Abad could freely set his advantageous combat distance.

'He's more troublesome than… Chloe and Chelsea combined.'

A strong fighting spirit emanated from Duran's eyes.

Of course, that didn't change the fact that this fight was still advantageous for Duran.

Zzzzzt- Zzzt- Zzzt-!

Sparks of golden aura erupted from Duran's body.

"Abad. What did I do wrong to you?"

Duran asked with genuine curiosity.

Duran knew he had a bad temper and Abad was gentle.

Because of this, Duran thought he must have made a mistake regarding Abad.

Duran considered Abad a close friend.

Therefore, separate from the duel, he wanted to apologize if he had done something wrong.

Abad gave a wry smile at Duran's question.

"You haven't done anything wrong to me."

"Then why are you fighting me so seriously?"

Abad, who had been silent while looking at Duran's puzzled face, finally spoke.

"It's because of Celia."

"Celia Gerdinger?"

"Yes."

Gooo-!

A magical glow flared in Abad's eyes.

"I can't stand seeing Celia with another man."

"…"

At those words, Duran showed a rare expression of surprise.

"Abad. Did you have feelings for Celia Gerdinger?"

"Yes."

"That's surprising."

Impressed, Duran lowered his sword.

"To challenge someone to a duel for the woman you love. You're more knightly than I thought."

Duran chuckled and generated lightning.

"I acknowledge you as a knight, Abad Rwallyn."

"I'm a mage."

Abad burst into laughter and raised his mana.

Duran didn't intend to drag it out.

If he gave her any more time, an incredibly powerful spell would be completed.

'I have to end this before then.'

Abad also knew Duran would make his move.

Gooo-! KAGAGAGAG-!

Wind and lightning clashed in the air.

***

Abad opened his eyes.

Someone was peeling an apple next to the hospital bed.

"Chelsea?"

"I'm afraid it's me."

Celia's disappointed voice was heard.

"The match…?"

"Are you an idiot? For you to win against Duran in a pure 1v1 duel is the same as winning against me. Do you think you can beat me?"

Even between evenly matched opponents, there are strengths and weaknesses.

1v1 combat is literally the domain of the knight class.

"I lost."

"Of course."

Abad let out a hollow laugh.

Watching Abad, Celia took a bite of the apple she had peeled.

"Duran told me to cancel our partnership."

"…!"

"You told Duran about me, didn't you?"

Abad gave a wry smile as he looked at Celia, who opened her eyes lazily.

"Duran is discreet."

"I know."

Celia swallowed the apple and clicked her tongue.

"I wasn't planning on going to the dance party with you anyway."

"I know. I just felt a base emotion."

"A base emotion?"

"Jealousy. The thought of you entering with Duran was unbearable."

"…"

"It seems my feelings for you are deeper than I thought."

Celia sighed and poked the peeled apple with a fork as she looked at Abad, who was avoiding her gaze and looking out the window.

"Even so, don't do anything foolish. Like I said before, it's not that I dislike you either."

"…"

Abad said nothing.

Watching Abad, Celia said.

"Let's do this."

"What?"

"If you can beat me even once in a 1v1 duel."

"If I win?"

"I'll marry you."

*Thump-!*

"Really?!"

"Yes."

Celia smiled.

"Otherwise, I have a feeling you'll do something reckless. Well, it won't be easy, of course."

"That's fine!"

Abad's face lit up with joy.

Abad, sitting up, grabbed Celia's wrist.

"Celia! I challenge you to a duel!"

"…"

Celia looked at Abad with a look of exasperation.

"Do you really think you can beat me in a 1v1 duel right now? And…"

Celia pulled her wrist away and shoved the apple she had poked with the fork into Abad's mouth.

"Even if you win, what are you going to do by marrying me right now!"

"Well. As the heir of Rwallyn, we need to secure the succession."

"My family was in chaos just recently because of brother Liss! And succession? What kind of lewd thoughts are you having?!"

"These are things an heir to a noble family naturally considers."

His words were fitting for an heir of a prominent family.

Abad laughed at that.

"Stop that laugh. Before I turn you into melted butter."

Tsk- Celia clicked her tongue and said.

"Whatever happens, it might be impossible for you to beat me in a duel for the rest of your life."

"Making the impossible possible. That's what a mage does."

"You talk a good game."

Celia looked bewildered.

"Speaking of which…"

Celia, crossing her arms, let out a hollow laugh.

"If I have your child, the head of the Rwallyn family might wield fire aura. It would be so absurd…"

"What did you say? Who's going to have whose child?"

A chilling voice from behind made Celia freeze.

Chelsea, who had entered the ward unnoticed, was glaring at Celia with a terrifying expression.

"You vixen! What are you planning to do to my brother!"

Leo grabbed Chelsea, who was about to rush at Celia with a flushed face.

While calming the raging Chelsea, Leo looked at Celia.

"Celia."

"Why?"

"Don't do anything foolish like what Liss did. Your uncles might kill Abad."

"That won't happen! Say something sensible!"

Celia yelled back.