Editor : Amethyst00



“…How did it come to this?”

Standing in the middle of the training ground, Carl made a sour face as he glanced toward the stands.

Isn’t the most entertaining thing in the world watching a fight?

At the mention of a spar, students from Class 1 all the way to Class 10 had come rushing out.

“What? The one dueling is Carl?”

“Who’s his opponent?”

“Looks like a student from Icott.”

“He actually got challenged because even an Icott kid looked down on him?”

Voices of disbelief rose from all around.

“Well, it’s Carl.”

“Yeah, because it’s Carl.”

But soon, they all nodded like it made sense.

Carl protested with an indignant look.

“Hey! What’s so wrong with me?!”

“You’re hopelessly frivolous.”

“And ridiculously easy to underestimate.”

“Fine then! Wanna bet?”

“Who do you think’ll win?”

“Ooh, that sounds fun!”

Carl grabbed the back of his neck.

While the Lumene first-years chuckled and started placing bets, the visiting academy students wore baffled expressions.

This isn’t what we imagined at all…

Meanwhile, Carl let out a long sigh.

“Guess it doesn’t matter how friendly we try to be.”

Grumbling, he glanced at the Icott boy standing across from him.

“I still don’t even know your name.”

“Rickiden Brick.”

“The Brick family?”

Carl clicked his tongue.

If it was that Brick family… they’d led the Snow Knights of the Birson Kingdom for generations.

Right, the successor’s name was Rickiden.

Which meant the boy before him was the son of a hero.

Even though Lumene was full of children from heroic lineages, actual offspring of heroes were rare.

“I apologize for His Highness’s earlier rudeness.”

“You don’t need to apologize. I’m used to that kind of attitude.”

Carl shrugged.

“And besides, apology or not, you still plan to spar me, right?”

At his question, Rickiden nodded.

“Yes. I’ve heard Lumene adheres to strict real-combat principles. I’ve long wanted to test myself against a Lumene magic student.”

His eyes gleamed with fighting spirit.

'The prince’s manners are garbage, but at least this guy seems decent. There are always kids like this anywhere.'

Carl scratched his head, muttering to himself.

'Still… this one doesn’t look easy. How should I fight him?'

Even at a glance, Rickiden’s skill was nothing ordinary. Carl judged that he could easily pass Lumene’s entrance exams—and maybe even aim for top ranks.

'Yeah… he’s strong.'

As Carl gauged him and began preparing spells, Haviden sneered from the side.

“You’re about to get humiliated in front of everyone.”

Students from the Three Great Academies were generally stronger than Lumene’s mid- or lower-ranked students.

Yet the public perception was firmly that Lumene students stood above the others.

So if Carl lost here to Rickiden, in front of hundreds watching—it would be humiliation beyond compare.

“Pushing your classmate into disgrace… Leo-sunbae, maybe you don’t really consider Carl a friend after all?”

“Just watch.”

Leo smiled faintly.

His relaxed attitude made Haviden frown.

Meanwhile, Carl, finished with his preparations, spoke.

“Shall we begin?”

“Yes.”

Carl pulled a coin from his pocket.

Ping! Clink, rrrrr—!

The clear ring of the coin flipping through the air echoed.

Clink!

The instant it struck the ground, Rickiden reached into subspace and drew his weapon.

Whoosh—!

It was a spear longer than his own height, and he swung it with ease.

Carl grinned.

“Spear technique, huh? Interesting—huh?!”

Cr-cr-crack—!

As the spear swept through the air, a surge of icy aura burst forth. Carl gasped and shot into the air.

The ground beneath froze solid.

A moment later and he would’ve been trapped, helpless.

“Your casting speed’s unlike most mages. Truly, this is Lumene.”

Unbothered by the icy floor, Rickiden closed the distance with aura-imbued steps.

Carl quickly unfolded a spell.

“Fire Arrows!”

Fwoooosh—!

A volley of fiery arrows formed in midair.

Rickiden’s eyes lit with admiration.

'He’s leagues above the mages I’ve faced until now. Casting that many attack spells while maintaining flight magic? He’s battle-hardened.'

And his skill was undeniable.

'I can’t underestimate him just because his mana pool is smaller. Still… it ends here!'

At fourteen, Rickiden had been praised from childhood for his prodigious talent.

Of course, every Lumene student had a similar story.

But Rickiden was exceptional, even among prodigies.

Clenching his spear with both hands, his eyes gleamed.

“Avalanche!”

Fwoooosh!

As he swung, a tide of snow-imbued aura surged forth, transforming into an avalanche crashing toward Carl.

“Gahhh?!”

Carl’s scream echoed as he was swallowed, buried under snow in the middle of summer.

“Wow… amazing!”

“A knight unleashing such a wide-area attack?”

“Looks like Icott can’t be taken lightly either.”

The other academy students were impressed.

From Class 1, Celia smirked.

“Not bad. He’ll pass.”

“Yeah, his skill’s impressive.”

Chloe lifted her eyes from her grimoire and nodded.

“See? Lumene’s nothing special.”

“I could’ve blocked that kind of attack once or twice myself.”

A few Emerald students looked underwhelmed.

Then a commotion broke out in the back.

“Hey! You can’t all bet on Carl!”

“Yeah, then the wager doesn’t even work!”

“Come on, it’s the perfect chance! Anyone bold enough to bet on Rickiden Brick and go for an upset payout? No one?”

While everyone stared in disbelief at the Lumene first-years’ chatter—

Crash!

“Uuughhh! S-so cold!”

Carl burst out of the snow, clutching himself and shivering violently.

Rickiden calmly readied his stance.

'As expected, he’s not going down that easily.'

He gripped his spear tighter, eyes sharp.

Carl sniffled, shuddering.

“Geez… what’s with snow in the middle of summer? Ugh—!”

Then he looked at Rickiden.

“You’re right. Head-on, I don’t stand a chance.”

The gap was obvious.

But still, Carl grinned.

Then he opened subspace—and dumped out an arsenal of weapons.

Rickiden hesitated.

“A mage with weapons?”

“See, I may not be much, but here’s some advice from someone who’s been at Lumene longer: sticking to rigid thinking is a bad idea!”

Whooooom—!

Carl unleashed mana, and the enchanted weapons floated in the air.

Rickiden narrowed his eyes.

“Telekinesis magic.”

Clack—!

He lowered his stance, spear at the ready.

Fwoooosh—!

At the same time, he charged.

'Don’t assume it’s just ordinary telekinesis. This guy isn’t one to take lightly.'

Determined to end it quickly, he flared his aura.

Carl grinned.

“That’s what I mean—you shouldn’t be so rigid.”

Bzzzzzt—!

The weapons hovering in the air began glowing different colors.

One longsword turned red and shot toward Rickiden.

He batted it away with his spear—

Boom! Fwoooosh—!

The blade erupted into searing flames.

“A magic sword?!”

Rickiden hastily threw up an aura armor, barely fending off the fire.

“Alchemy’s my specialty. Pure offensive spells aren’t really my thing.”

Carl pulled out a one-handed crossbow.

“Unlike those monster freaks, the moment I let someone close, I’m toast. And besides, I’m a support track, not combat.”

Clack—!

He aimed at Rickiden, smiling.

“So I gotta play dirty.”

Thwip—!

The bolt flew, easily deflected.

But then—

Thunk! Clatter! Ssshhh—!

The bolt shattered like glass, spilling its contents.

The sharp stench made Rickiden’s head spin for a moment.

“Poison?”

“I can use it, but wouldn’t really pull that in a spar.”

Carl smirked, setting the crossbow aside.

“It’s oil.”

“Oil? What for—”

“See? That’s rigid thinking again.”

Carl grinned wide.

“This is special oil I synthesized. Highly volatile, and when exposed to mana, it keeps burning. The stronger the firepower, the fiercer and longer it burns. A very nasty concoction.”

He waved his hand.

Fwoooosh—!

The floating weapons all turned into magic swords.

“They’re cheap one-use enchantments, but combined with that oil? They’ll hurt.”

“Tch?!”

Rickiden’s eyes widened as Carl’s enchanted swords lunged.

Craaaash—!

“Arghhhh!”

Rickiden’s scream rang out.

Carl, leaving him behind, shoved his hands into his pockets and smirked.

“Done.”

The visiting academy students all gaped, mouths wide.

Meanwhile, Chloe murmured in awe.

“To push enchantment magic that far… Carl’s amazing.”

“Yeah. Among first-year mages, he’s the king of unconventional tricks.”

Celia propped her chin on her hand.

“If you know Carl, fine. But no matter how much more skilled you are than Carl, if you don’t know him well, you’ll be caught off guard once and suffer.”

Carl's Enchantment Magic

Since the field trip, when Leo had praised him, Carl had worked tirelessly to refine his enchantments.

Now he could not only create magic weapons at will, but also freely alchemize the items he enchanted.

He’d filled in his shortcomings with ingenuity.

Haviden’s eyes blazed.

Carl came down from the stage and high-fived Chelsea.

“Victory through trickery!”

“Don’t call it trickery—call it strategy.”

At her words, Chelsea paused, then beamed.

“Victory through scheming!”

“Hey!”

“Schemer! Schemer!”

Class 5 students chanted and cheered.

“You guys seriously?!”

Carl clutched his head and wailed, but when he saw Leo smiling at him, he smirked.

“Well? How was that?”

“Excellent.”

“Heh. Just the result of trying to keep up. Thanks to you, Leo.”

It had been Leo’s endless advice that helped Carl refine his unique combat style.

“See that? That’s the skill of Lumene’s so-called weakest! You arrogant brat!”

Chelsea taunted Haviden.

“…Please don’t call me the weakest,” Carl groaned.

Haviden scoffed.

“So at Lumene, relying on tools counts as skill?”

“Of course.”

Chelsea crossed her arms boldly.

“Survival means strength.”

At Lumene, students were thrown into ceaseless competition and combat—not only during their studies, but even after graduation.

To avoid being weeded out, they had to use everything available: tools, strategies, anything.

Chelsea smirked.

“Now it’s our turn. I’ll grind you into paste.”

As the flames faded, she stepped onto the stage.

Haviden followed with a sneer.

bl

“To spar with Chelsea Lewellin, famous for the Gigantes subjugation—is it an honor?”

“Of course. You can even go home and brag to your mom and dad.”

Chelsea smirked and gripped her staff tighter.

Haviden, snickering at her, raised his aura.

At that moment Chelsea’s eyes twitched.

‘Spiritual power?’

As she thought that, wind surged, and a wind elemental was summoned.

The wind elemental soon took the form of a horse.

“Hmmm.”

Chelsea narrowed her eyes as Haviden mounted the wind elemental with a showy move.

“Nice toy you’ve got?”

“It’s an artifact passed down in our royal family.”

Haviden curled his lip.

An item that manifested an elemental in a specific form.

Since it supported the tricky art of elemental summoning, it was very rare and powerful.

‘A spirit knight, huh. I didn’t know that.’

Chelsea, who knew about Haviden, considered.

“Well then. Shall we see your skill, Chelsea Lewellin?”

Whoooosh-!

Haviden charged at immense speed toward Chelsea.

Gripping his spear, Haviden lunged with a thrust, while Chelsea deployed magic.

Whoooosh-!

At a speed almost invisible, Haviden stabbed his spear at Chelsea.

In that instant, Chelsea’s body floated in the air like a leaf in the wind.

The attack missed.

Slowing his charge, Haviden, holding the reins of the wind elemental, laughed as he watched Chelsea descending in midair.

“As expected, impressive. But for a mage to respond properly to this speed won’t be easy.”

Looking at the confident Haviden, Chelsea smiled faintly.

And then she said.

“The wind isn’t used like that, you know?”