Editor : Amethyst00



“A first-year, and not even a Seiren student, using Lampas? What kind of disgusting is that guy?”

A shocked voice rang out from the audience.

At the highest seat of the stands, a woman with silver hair and golden eyes shone with interest.

“As expected of the boy chosen by you, Sunbae.”

“You also saw Leo Plov’s worth and tried to make a move on him, didn’t you, Nerzia?”

Rivein let out a small sigh.

Nerzia.

The vice principal of Seiren, dispatched from Dragonia.

From Rivein’s perspective, she was a very young junior.

“That sword he’s using right now is the one you sent that to him as a gift, didn’t you?”

“Yes. But I was surprised he handled it far better than I expected.”

The longsword Leo had received as a gift was made by Nerzia.

A magic sword that could serve as both a top-tier blade and a supreme staff for a magic swordsman who used star sorcery.

In terms of price, it was something that couldn’t even be valued.

“Still, I’m curious how he constructed the magic formula for it to overload after a single casting.”

A magic staff manifests various effects depending on the engraved formula.

Typical effects include faster casting and increased power.

The stronger the staff’s effect, the harder it is to use, but if mastered perfectly, the difference in magical power is tremendous.

‘It’s not surprising that he used Lampas. Even Lunia, the top first-year student, can use Lampas.’

Lampas.

Among star sorcery, it was considered one of the most fundamental spells.

Unlike other formulas that were derived from Luna’s original magic circles, this one was transmitted exactly as Luna had written it herself.

Because it was magic personally created by the Poet, its power was extraordinarily immense.

That’s why anyone admitted to Seiren dreamed of learning it.

However, the price for its power was clear.

It consumed an enormous amount of mana, and its formula was extremely complex.

That’s why first- and second-year students couldn’t even think of attempting it.

‘But Leo Plov doesn’t seem to have enough mana to cast Lampas right now.’

Perhaps he had skill in constructing formulas.

But with his current mana reserves, it should’ve been impossible to manifest Lampas.

And yet he had completed such a powerful spell.

‘That means it wasn’t an ordinary casting.’

That must be why his sword, made from her dragon bone, overloaded momentarily.

“Rivein-sunbae. Can’t we really bring Leo Plov over to Seiren?”

Nerzia turned to Rivein.

“Sunbae, you’re at the age of retirement now. You’ve even been reclusive for a while, haven’t you? Wouldn’t it be better for someone more motivated like me to take charge?”

“If you want Leo Plov that much, why not come to Lumene yourself?”

“That won’t do. I can’t abandon the Seiren children.”

Nerzia was a dragon devoted to guiding students toward becoming heroes.

“In that case, try persuading him yourself.”

‘Though I doubt he’ll listen to you.’

bl

After blowing away the cyclops, Leo tried to chase the leading group.

Until now, he hadn’t been able to speed up much because of the intense interference from the Seiren students.

But with the cyclops’s appearance, that interference had loosened.

Seizing that opening, Leo sprinted to pursue the lead group.

That was when—

“This is as far as you go, Leo Plov.”

“We can’t allow you to advance any further.”

A male and female Seiren student blocked Leo’s path.

“And you two are?”

“Hmph. My name is Garin Trina.”

“And mine is Alice Trina. You must’ve at least heard of us?”

The two elves, who looked like siblings, stood in front of Leo.

“Nope. First time hearing it.”

“What? You’ve never heard of the Trina siblings?”

“We’re ranked 4th and 5th in the advanced first-year class this semester! How can you not know us?”

Garin and Alice looked flustered.

“Yeah.”

Leo nodded casually, and Garin clenched his fists tightly.

“Kh! This arrogant bastard! Not even investigating students from a rival school!”

“Prepare yourself! We’ll make sure you’re eliminated right here!”

As the twins shouted angrily, Leo sighed lightly.

“Leo-oppa. Why aren’t you going?”

“They’re in the way.”

Hearing Leo’s words, Chelsea, who had approached with a puzzled look, swung her staff.

Kwa-ga-ga-ga-gak—!

A tremendous gust blew toward Garin and Alice.

In that instant, Garin used barrier magic to deflect Chelsea’s attack.

Seeing that, Chelsea’s eyes narrowed.

“Not bad.”

Flash! Kwa-ga-ga-ga-gak—!

In a blink, Alice used magic.

Shards of light rained down from the sky toward Leo and Chelsea.

Fwooooosh—!

But the light shards were scattered by another fierce wind that blew in.

Step, step—

Abad approached Chelsea’s side.

“The Trina siblings, huh.”

Garin’s lips curved upward.

“Then you should know about us, right?”

“First time hearing it.”

When Abad smiled pleasantly as he replied, Alice pointed furiously at Garin.

“This is all your fault! Because of you, I got dragged down too! I shouldn’t have teamed up with you!”

“Don’t be ridiculous! You ever think the Lumene students don’t know me because of you? And you—watch your tone with your older brother!”

“You were only born thirty seconds earlier!”

“I’ll tell Mom?!”

Watching the Trina siblings’ bickering, Chelsea said seriously,

“If we just leave them alone, won’t they self-destruct?”

“Probably not. They’re quite skilled.”

As expected of Seiren’s 4th and 5th-ranked first-years, their ability wasn’t to be underestimated.

“Leo, we’ll take care of these siblings. You go on ahead.”

“Leo-oppa, go! go!”

“I’m counting on you.”

Leo smiled and left them behind.

As Abad had predicted, Garin reacted quickly, but Chelsea blocked his interference.

“Alright then, show me the strength of the Trina siblings.”

When Abad spoke gently, Alice flinched and blushed.

“Uh, yeah… please take care of us.”

“Ugh.”

Alice kicked Garin.

Leo immediately went on to chase the lead group.

He wasn’t the only one who’d escaped that chaos and resumed pursuit.

Flash—! Kwa-ga-ga-ga-gak—!

Leo leapt aside as beams of light shot toward him from every direction.

He narrowed his eyes at the half-elf boy holding a magic staff.

‘Luca Eneres, was it?’

The third-ranked first-year of Seiren, right after Lunia and Eiran and the grade representative of his year.

Despite the cold weather, Luca’s clothes were light, as if he didn’t even feel the chill.

Crackle—

The ground around Luca began to freeze.

“Sorry, but I can’t let you pass any further. If you go after them too, it’ll be too hard on Eiran.”

Crack—!

In an instant, the ground from Luca’s feet to where Leo stood froze solid.

It happened in the blink of an eye.

But Leo didn’t miss that brief moment.

He jumped, narrowing his eyes at the faintly smiling Luca.

‘That’s not magic. It’s the power of elementals. But he’s not summoning one… I felt the same thing on the school trip—what is this guy?’

Luca was using the power of elementals.

But it wasn’t a power gained through a contract with one.

He was literally wielding the elemental’s power himself.

[Could it be the blessing of an Elemental Lord?]

‘The blessing of an Elemental Lord?’

[Yes. I’ve heard from other elementals that there was once a person who inherited an Elemental Lord’s power. That person could use elemental power directly.]

‘Now that you mention it, I remember reading about that long ago in a book.’

Recalling what he’d read in his past life, Leo narrowed his eyes.

‘So this guy inherited the power of an Ice-attribute Elemental Lord?’

[That seems very likely.]

Leo clicked his tongue.

The frigid, freezing weather.

If Luca had indeed inherited the power of an Ice Elemental Lord, then this place was practically his home ground.

‘Breaking through this won’t be easy.’

Leo was clicking his tongue when—

“What are you doing here, Plov.”

A dull voice came.

Turning his head, Leo saw a huge male student, Walden was standing there.

“I’m having a bit of pickle.”

“Hmph.”

Snorting at Leo’s words, Walden summoned a fire elemental.

Whoosh—!

The fire elemental was instantly absorbed into Walden’s fist.

Elemental Armor.

A high-level elemental technique that let one imbue their body with a elemental’s power.

Fwoosh—!

Without hesitation, Walden charged at Luca.

Swoosh—! Boom—!

And he threw a punch at Luca, who looked a head shorter than him, without a shred of hesitation.

A massive explosion erupted, flames swirling everywhere.

This was Walden’s specialty, [Elemental Explosion]. It's so fierce even upper-year Lumene students clicked their tongues at it.

Crackle—!

But Luca endured the attack and instead froze Walden’s right arm.

“Hm.”

Walden looked down at his frozen arm and exhaled.

“Fighting me in close quarters is too reckless.”

When Luca spoke with a smile, Walden’s lips curled upward.

Whoosh—!

He raised the heat and melted the frozen arm.

“Perhaps. It might indeed be reckless.”

“Judging by your Spirit Armor, you’re a close-combat elementalist… you’re a poor match for me—”

Wham—!

Before Luca could finish, Walden charged again.

“……!”

Completely ignoring Luca’s freezing, Walden swung his thick arm and struck Luca’s neck.

Thud—! Whirr—! Splash—!

Crackle—

As his arm began to freeze again, Walden melted it with his fire elemental and said,

“It’s simple. Either I’m incapacitated by your freezing first, or you’re knocked out by my hits first. That’s all this fight is.”

Walden’s lips twisted upward.

“Get up, Luca Eneres.”

“Cough, cough… I see…”

Luca coughed up blood, wiped his mouth, and smiled wryly.

“Seems I picked the wrong fight.”

“I’ll handle this one. Go on ahead, Leo Plov.”

“Ah, yeah. Don’t overdo it.”

“Don’t worry about me—worry about yourself.”

As the sneering Walden stood blocking Luca, Leo was finally free of all interference and started running at top speed toward the leading group.

Even now, several students who had escaped the chaos earlier were still running ahead, between Leo and the first group.

The Seiren students persistently obstructed Leo’s path.

And on top of that, the obstacles kept coming.

‘Too much time’s been wasted. At this rate, the lead group will get too far ahead.’

Cutting through every interference and speeding ahead, Leo thought of the three at the front who had run without hindrance.

At their pace, it wouldn’t be strange if they were already near the finish line.

‘Maybe Duran and Eliza have already overtaken Eiran?’

Given their speed, Leo figured they might have left Eiran behind and started competing against each other.

The other two Seiren riders seemed unable to break free from the persistent obstruction of the Lumene students.

As Leo sprinted at incredible speed toward the finish line—

“Don’t run away!”

“Face us!”

From afar came the furious voices of Duran and Eliza.

Leo looked over, dumbfounded, to see them still madly chasing Eiran.

‘Wait, why are they still here?’

Contrary to his expectations, the three hadn’t gotten that far at all.

Then Eiran, being chased by Duran and Eliza, spotted Leo and ran toward him crying.

“Leo-nim! Save me!”

Terrified, Eiran hid behind Leo’s back.

“…What’s going on here?”

“I-I don’t know! The Lumene riders said they won’t leave me alone…!”

Patting the trembling, tearful Eiran on the head, Leo asked Duran and Eliza, who had come up to him,

“Why are you so desperate to eat her alive?”

“Move, Leo Plov. I must have a duel of honor with the one who clearly ignored me.”

“I’m first. Duran Moira.”

‘Why are they talking about duels now…’

Leo clicked his tongue, looking at the two hotheaded first-years.

“I think there’s been a misunderstanding. She’s not the type to ignore or insult anyone.”

“Then why didn’t she even glance at us?”

When Eliza frowned and crossed her arms, Leo replied dryly,

“Maybe you’re just mistaken.”

At those words, Duran and Eliza looked at the trembling Eiran, who hiccuped pitifully.

The frail-looking elf before them looked every bit the victim.

There was nothing about her that suggested she had ignored them.

Duran and Eliza’s expressions turned awkward.

“Seems I was mistaken.”

“Sorry. I lost my temper for nothing.”

They hurriedly apologized.

Eiran, still trembling behind Leo, cautiously peeked out.

“N-no. I must’ve behaved in a way that made you misunderstand.”

“A-anyway, let’s have a fair match from now on.”

Eliza forced a smile to lighten the mood.

Eiran nodded brightly.

Her pure, gentle smile only pricked their guilty consciences further.

Seeing that, Leo nodded.

“Good, now that the misunderstanding’s cleared up—”

“Huh?”

Leo suddenly grabbed Eiran and snatched the headband symbolizing her role as rider.

“Ah!”

Eiran gasped in shock.

“Disqualified.”

Leo smiled and patted her shoulder.

“We’re enemies, after all.”

“H-how could you… I trusted you…”

Eiran’s voice trembled, her face filled with tears.

“Leo Plov! That’s despicable!”

“How could you be so cruel to someone who trusted and asked for your help!”

Duran and Eliza shouted angrily.

“There’s no such thing as ‘despicable’ in a competition.”

Leo said indifferently, turning toward the finish line.

“I’m going first. If I get caught by the ones chasing from behind, it’ll just slow me down.”

Without hesitation, Leo dashed toward the finish line.

“Uuuh… that’s too mean, Leo-nim…”

“D-don’t cry.”

“Please don’t cry, okay?”

Flustered, Duran and Eliza crouched down to comfort the sniffling Eiran, who sat on the ground crying.