Editor : Amethyst00



Leo clicked his tongue as he arrived at the lake in the south of Neigrang.

“This isn’t it. That makes two wasted trips?”

Taking out the map, Leo marked an X over the lake.

‘One left in the east, one in the north. And the last one…….’

Leo turned his head toward the ruined castle.

‘One at the castle ruins.’s

Since it overlapped with his final destination anyway, the lake at the ruins could be checked last.

‘By the way.’

Tucking the map into his chest, Leo turned around.

“So, why have you been following me?”

At his question, the presence hidden between the buildings stepped out before him.

“You knew I was chasing you, Leo-doryeon?”

“Yeah.”

“As expected, amazing.”

“So. The ruins are the other way. Why follow me all the way here?”

“Then why did Leo-doryeon come here?”

“I have personal business.”

“I also have personal business.”

“What is it.”

Shaa—!

“Duel.”

When Chen Xia released her aura, a ripple like silk formed around her.

Like a feathered robe, she wrapped it around her body, lowering her stance with her right hand extended toward Leo and her left hand tucked behind her back.

“Why so suddenly?”

“I wanted to know. The gap between you and me, Leo-doryeon. And……”

Chen Xia’s expression turned serious.

“What kind of person you are.”

Leo drew his sword.

“That all?”

“I also want the position of grade representative.”

At that, Leo burst out laughing.

“Why laugh?”

“No. I just thought it’s the first time you’ve openly shown ambition.”

Chen Xia was one of the top-ranked first-years.

And every one of the top-ranked aimed for Leo’s position as grade representative.

Having always lived at the top, they couldn’t stand being anything less.

But among them, one student had always held back.

That was Chen Xia.

‘She definitely had ambition, though.’

“So why reveal it all of a sudden?”

“It’s a battle royale. A stage where real skill is shown. And……”

Her eyes dimmed.

“I came to see.”

“What?”

Fwoosh—!

Kicking off the ground, Chen Xia charged at Leo.

‘The first strike?’

By nature, Chen Xia was a defensive fighter.

Because water as an element was better suited for defense and evasion than attack.

Among Knight Department students, there had often been debates about who could ever break through her soft defenses.

‘The ones with a chance were said to be Celia and Duran.’

But that was only speculation.

Even the two acknowledged to have the strongest offense among their peers couldn’t be certain they could pierce her defense.

That was how overwhelming Chen Xia’s defense was.

And she had abandoned that advantage to launch the first strike.

‘Well, it’s not like her offense is weak, either.’

Fwoom—!

Leo ignited his flame aura.

Chen Xia’s small hand moved smoothly.

But the attack that followed that softness was brutal.

Her water aura scattered into tiny droplets all around.

Each droplet turned into a sharp needle.

“……!”

Leo hurriedly wrapped himself in flame aura.

Tat-tat-tat-tat!

Hundreds of needles rained from every direction.

Ssshh!

The water needles struck against the wall of fire, creating steam.

It was a massive number of needles, but they couldn’t pierce the flaming barrier.

“Guess I’ll need an awl, not just needles.”

In Chen Xia’s palm, a hand-sized droplet formed, sharpening into an awl.

Fwoosh—!

The awl of water aura shot toward Leo, piercing through the fire.

Whip!

Leo twisted his body to dodge.

As he straightened, the top of Chen Xia’s foot entered his vision.

Chen Xia’s specialty was martial arts.

The biggest drawback of martial arts was the difficulty of closing in against an armed opponent.

But that also meant that if she did close the distance, the opponent would be left defenseless.

Leo raised his free hand to block her strike.

Crash—! Thud—!

A bone-crushing impact shook his arm, and his feet sank deep into the dirt floor.

But he had no time to care.

Chen Xia’s recovering foot followed with a fist aimed at his right side.

Infused with aura, the blow made Leo drop his sword and hastily block with his left hand.

Wham—!

As if struck by a massive club, Leo’s body was sent flying.

Splash!

He crashed by the lakeshore, sending water columns shooting upward.

“As expected of Leo-doryeon… you even countered in the middle of that.”

Chen Xia winced, tearing away the scorched remains of her blouse sleeve.

Even while flying back, Leo’s flame aura had managed to break through her defense.

Splash.

Dragging himself from the water, Leo shook his stinging hand, staring at Chen Xia.

She smiled at him.

“As I thought, Leo-doryeon is incredible. I went all out, yet you’re still standing.”

“Standing? To you this looks like standing? I’m in so much pain I could die.”

Chen Xia let out a wry laugh at Leo’s grumbling.

‘The fact he can joke at all means he’s fine.’

Still, she readied herself for another strike.

‘I already tried a surprise attack. Leo-doryeon won’t fall for the same trick twice.’

She had other techniques, but now wasn’t the time to gamble.

‘That strike from Leo-doryeon…’

She recalled the first day she had learned the Brave’s Breath.

‘That must have been his maximum firepower.’

Whoooom—!

Chen Xia released her aura.

Her black hair whipped in the force.

Her obsidian eyes turned sapphire-blue.

‘If I can just deflect that sword strike!’

“You’re not being yourself, Chen Xia.”

“What?”

“Water always changes with the flow, doesn’t it?”

Leo tilted his head.

“But right now you’re too rigid.”

“……!”

“Something wrong?”

Her face stiff, Chen Xia forced a smile.

“Nothing’s wrong.”

Leo reached out his hand.

Vmm—!

His sword, drawn by his aura, flew into his grip.

Fwoosh—!

‘As long as I block that strike!’

Focusing her spirit, Chen Xia watched as Leo raised his blade.

Whoooom—!

A scorching heat pressed against her skin.

Chen Xia’s whole body tensed.

‘It’s coming!’

Rumble rumble rumble!

The blazing sword aura swept toward her, and she sucked in a breath.

The Brave’s Breath surged, surrounding her in powerful water currents.

The torrent swallowed Leo’s strike, diverting its flow.

In that instant, Chen Xia felt something was wrong.

‘This can’t be all.’

“I told you.”

The voice behind her made her flinch.

“You’re stiff.”

Tap—!

Leo’s palm touched her back.

He concentrated aura at his palm and drove it into her.

Boom—!

“Khuhk?”

The compressed aura exploded, throwing Chen Xia across the ground.

As she lay sprawled, a sword pressed against her neck.

“You lost.”

Chen Xia let out a hollow smile.

“Leo-doryeon. Are you really fifteen?”

“Of course. How old do I look?”

“Like some old veteran who’s rolled through countless battlefields.”

As she spoke playfully, Leo smacked her head and stepped back.

“What’s this? You’re not eliminating me?”

Suddenly her expression turned cold, her voice like ice.

“Not even Leo-doryeon can be forgiven for this. Mercy like this is unacceptable—”

“You’re mistaken.”

Leo smirked.

“This is a battle royale. What I do with losers is up to me.”

“What?”

“As a loser, you should obey the winner. Some annoying pests are chasing me. Deal with them.”

Leaving those words, Leo leapt away.

“What the…”

Still dazed, Chen Xia caught sight of a flash of light past the buildings.

“He’s my target. Stay out of the way, Eliza Hergin.”

“Don’t be ridiculous! Leo Plov is my prey!”

A familiar voice rang out.

Moments later, Duran and Eliza arrived at the lakeside and froze when they saw Chen Xia.

“Duran-gun, Eliza-yang. The castle ruins are that way, so why did you come here?”

“What about you? Did you also come after Leo Plov?”

Seeing Duran scowl as he approached, Chen Xia gave a bitter smile.

“From the way you said that, I suppose you did too.”

‘So that’s what he meant.’

Realizing Leo had asked her to deal with “annoying pests,” Chen Xia let out a hollow laugh.

“Did you lost?”

“Yes.”

“Where did he go?”

Chen Xia replied, “That way.”

When Duran moved to chase, she spoke up.

“Duran-gun. I’m injured. Could you escort me to Nella-yang?”

“Why should I?”

“Because this is an inter-department tournament, and we’re both in the Knight Department. Surely you’re not going to abandon a fellow classmate just for personal rivalry?”

Smiling sweetly, Chen Xia made Duran scowl.

“You fox!”

Now that she had invoked the Knight Department, Duran couldn’t ignore her.

“Do as you please. I’ll go finish off Leo Plov.”

Eliza mocked, making Duran’s face twist in rage.

“Eliza-yang. Since I can barely walk, could you give me a ride?”

“Xia. If you were in the Summoning Department, maybe. But right now, you’re an enemy.”

“My, my! I helped you with your studies and all, and now you throw me away when I’m no longer useful? Is that it?”

“W-what?”

“You swore you’d repay the favor every time you borrowed my notes!”

“I-I will repay it! Just… not now…”

Eliza grimaced.

Outside of her major classes, she wasn’t diligent.

Chen Xia, kind as ever, had helped her during midterms.

And now she was bringing it up.

“So much for acting all noble. You’re no different from the rest of the lowlifes.”

Duran sneered, making Eliza’s eyes flare.

A smile tugged at his lips.

‘If I can’t fight Leo Plov, then you won’t either.’

As if to invite her, Duran grinned, and Eliza snapped.

“Fine! We’ll go together! Together! Xia, we’ll stick together until the central fortress. After that, we’re enemies!”

“Thank you, Eliza-yang.”

Manipulating both of them with ease, Chen Xia sighed as she looked toward the direction Leo had gone.

‘I don’t know why you’re avoiding the central fortress… but hurry back, Leo-doryeon.’

bl

Central Fortress.

“Don’t overstep!”

Whoosh! Boom!

“Gah! It’s Celia Zerdinger!”

“Damn it! We were so close!”

Naturally, students were gathering at the only safe zone in the city—the central fortress.

To enter, one had to pass through one of the four gates to the north, south, east, or west.

Scaling the walls was possible, but with so many students stationed around, anyone trying would be bombarded, so no one dared attempt it.

But even the gates weren’t easy.

Because each gate was guarded by students from other departments.

“Damn! We can’t get through here! Let’s try somewhere else!”

Jurgen’s party left the wall guarded by Celia and arrived at the west gate.

But when they saw the student holding a staff as tall as herself, they groaned.

“Chloe Müeller!”

At the west gate stood Chloe, gripping her towering staff.

‘That only leaves the south and east gates. If those are guarded by other honor students, it’ll be a nightmare!’

The Summoning Department’s second place, Eliza, was chasing after Leo now.

‘Please, Walden! Just hold one gate!’

If caught outside when the curses triggered, they’d be weakened and become easy prey for those inside.

Depending on the curse, they might not even be able to resist before being wiped out.

Jurgen’s mouth went dry as he turned toward the south gate.

Screeeech!

“Huh?”

At the shrill cry from above, Jurgen looked up in alarm.

Chloe, too, raised her eyes.

There, a vicious-looking black wyvern soared.

“Black Wyvern?”

“No way! A top-grade summoned beast can’t appear here!”

As Jurgen’s party reeled in shock—

Craaaack—!

The black wyvern opened its jaws and spewed a breath attack toward them.

“Uwaaaah! Wh-what is this?!”

The acidic breath melted the ground.

Jurgen’s face hardened as he looked up.

‘That’s not a familiar! Could it be a monster? Do monsters like that exist?’

He scoured his memory, trying to identify it.

But there was no way he could recognize it as Fafnir, the monster thought extinct by the Great Heroes of the Age of Calamity.

With another roar, Fafnir unleashed its breath toward Jurgen’s party.

Kyaaaaaaah!

“Damn it! Just dodge for now!”