Chapter 140
Chapter 140
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 140
Chapter Title: Wanna Fight?
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Right? Wanna fight?
“Now?”
“Yeah.”
I just stood there, dumbfounded.
‘…Let’s think this through.’
First off, he was pissed that I actually came in second. You know, the whole ‘This guy who’s only trained for four months is right on my tail?’ line of thinking.
‘Is he messing with me?’
He’s the one who taught me to get this good. That possibility hadn’t even crossed my mind.
Second, he spotted some flaws while watching the broadcast and wants to fix them on the spot.
But why drag me out here all aggressively like we’re starting a brawl?
Third, he’s just bored.
Fourth…
‘No clue.’
Still, the second one seemed most likely.
“I trained exactly like you taught me. Did I mess up any moves? Even if I did, we can go over it later in Bayern.”
“…”
Leo didn’t respond. His face was a complicated mix of thoughts, making it hard to read his expression.
A long while later, he finally spoke quietly.
“How’d training with Yulia go?”
“Great.”
“How exactly? Be precise.”
“She was seriously skilled. Plenty of moves worth learning.”
“Precise.”
I smiled as I looked at him.
What more precision do you want? Leo already knows how Chelinggen moves.
Those guys have been friends since their days at the 3rd Training Academy, long before they were rivals. No way he doesn’t know.
“No matter how I moved, she adjusted to get good results. Didn’t have to worry about anything else, so no pressure. Happy now?”
“So she synced up well with you?”
“Pretty much. And she was nice about it.”
It really is a shame. Missing out on training sessions with Chelinggen.
‘I should suggest doing it together Saturday mornings.’
Lost in thought, I heard Leo murmur quietly after a beat.
“I’ll do that too.”
“Huh?”
“I’ll do the same for you.”
‘…Huh?’
Hold on.
Even though it came out of nowhere, a sudden hypothesis popped into my head as the most likely explanation.
“Sounds like there’s a misunderstanding here.”
But I didn’t have time to press further.
Elias warped in right away, hand on the ground.
“Uhahahahaha!”
“What’s with him?”
Elias kept cackling and punched Leo’s leg.
“Ow, we’re seventeen and pulling this crap~ Oh man, what did I just witness?”
“You gonna keep bringing up that half-year age gap?”
Elias ignored him, laughing his head off, then suddenly looked up.
“Hey, the kids think you two are fighting. Class 1-A’s in an uproar.”
“Then why not stop it?”
At my words, Elias’s eyes gleamed.
“Who’d stop a show this good? I’m dying to know who wins.”
“…Yeah… fair enough. Leo, what’s the real reason you dragged me out here knowing this would happen, and why say ‘let’s fight’?”
I had a guess, but better to hear it straight.
Guessing just leads to bigger misunderstandings, especially with Elias here distracting everyone.
“You actually wanna fight? Let me explain from the start. He totally twists words.”
At Elias’s words, Leo snapped his fingers, casting a soundproof spell in reverse. Elias pounded the air with a baffled look.
Leo spoke as if it were nothing.
“Enough. No need to go that far.”
Boom—
Before I could finish, Elias, stuck to the floor, yanked Leo’s leg and toppled him.
Elias clamped a hand over Leo’s mouth and pinned his arms with mana.
“Ah, soundproof’s broken now. No, Luca, you’ve been ghosting our messages lately. Suddenly off visiting Hans in the hospital!”
“It wasn’t sudden—I put him there. Shouldn’t I check on him…?”
I watched Leo struggle to shake off Elias’s arm as I replied.
Leo’s not getting out of this easily.
I’d never sparred with Elias, so I hadn’t gauged his skill before, but now it hit home.
Elias started struggling with Leo’s attacks and spat out words like rap.
“So I was like, ‘Isn’t it ‘cause of Leo that you’re ignoring us?’”
“Leo’s why I ignored you guys?”
“Yeah, that day…”
Boom!
Leo twisted his trapped arm and stomped instead. Sky-blue mana shot at Elias. At the same time, vines shot from somewhere, wrapped Elias’s arm, and flung him far away.
‘Whoa.’
Been a while.
Leo’s unique ability to freely amplify or drain plant life force.
Last saw it when we took down Chimera Iri, and nothing since.
In the novel and here, Leo preferred honing his core strength over relying on his unique ability.
Thud!
Elias used mana to land before hitting the ground. He was still covering his mouth, startled by the throw.
Leo shook off the lingering mana on his face and muttered in disgust.
“How long since 3rd Training Academy graduation and you’re still acting like this? You like playing intellectual?”
“Isn’t it better if I say it? You’ll just clam up, regret it later, and make a mess. Like calling him out to fight right now—what’s that about?”
“…”
Leo clamped his mouth shut, no comeback for that.
More importantly, I think I just spotted the real culprit behind all this.
“Eli, what’s that about me ignoring you because of Leo?”
“What you did to Hans is exactly what Leo does to you all the time. Hans got off light, honestly. We let it slide before ‘cause nothing to compare it to, but now it feels unfair.”
He’s right.
How does he nail it so perfectly?
Elias glanced at Leo, who’d averted his eyes with a complicated look, and grinned like it was hilarious.
“I was always baffled watching you two train. But you, Luca, probably thought that was just normal~”
“So?”
“So I joked that you were pissed at Leo’s sparring style, and boom, this happens.”
“…”
I smiled at Elias.
Elias smiled softly back at me.
“Why are you smiling?! You’re the cause!”
“No, even I didn’t expect Leo to bolt out like that. Normally, he’d just ignore it!”
Fair point.
It’s the kind of prank they pull on each other, and Leo usually lets Elias’s nonsense roll right off.
Guess something hit a nerve this time.
Elias cast his own soundproof and whispered.
“And Narke and I guessed this together—was I wrong? I just suggested going easy during training.”
Even Elias thought it was over the top.
Well, beating wasn’t the goal anyway, and thanks to it, I caught up to 15 years in four months. No complaints now.
Must’ve been that convo with Narke the day I hung up mid-call, fist throbbing, that sparked the misunderstanding.
As Leo tried to dispel the soundproof, Elias dropped his first and teased.
“Perfect timing too—Luca’s got someone as skilled as Leo but nicer to train with. Then he spars Hans, figures out the truth, and now worries you won’t spar with him anymore…”
“Enough. I didn’t think that childish.”
Leo grumbled.
“…Heh, sure. Anyway, you dragged him out ‘cause he might spar with Yulia from now on? Timing’s impeccable~”
“…”
“Isn’t talking it out right away the best way?”
There was steel beneath Elias’s playful tone.
He didn’t know Leo had ditched magical medicine for combat after seeing Luca’s mana, but he knew the always-calm Leo wasn’t one to hate someone openly or show it.
Elias had long sensed Leo wanted something from Luca and was expressing it the wrong way.
He came to prevent a repeat.
‘Though this time, it wasn’t heading toward a deep rift.’
Even before Elias showed, Leo had straight-up said he’d do it like Yulia.
Unlike his childish 1st-year self, this time his intent was pretty clear.
Elias now looked at me seriously, then rolled his eyes toward Leo, signaling.
‘Got it.’
He wants me to state my position directly.
Now I see—Elias toppling Leo and spilling everything was for Leo’s sake.
Leo had skipped the crucial part.
Instead of talking, he’d assumed my thoughts, decided I’d pick Chelinggen, and blurted he’d spar her way.
‘Looking back now…’
The ‘let’s fight’—meaning ‘let’s spar’—was probably him trying to prove right then he could do it like Chelinggen.
No, not ‘probably.’ It fits.
‘…’
Earlier he denied thinking that childish.
Still, good we didn’t fight. If he’d come at me seriously, I’d be in the afterlife by now, mid-spar.
I nodded and spoke up.
“Yeah, I’ll be straight. After sparring Hans, I was briefly dumbfounded. True.”
“…!”
Leo’s shoulders twitched.
Didn’t even mention avoiding contact ‘cause I wanted to punch him on sight, but this got a reaction. Fun.
“But just briefly. Whatever, this progress in four months? All thanks to you.”
“…”
“Deep down, you don’t think your way was wrong. Right?”
“Yeah.”
He nodded without hesitation, his conviction shining through.
“Your method worked like a charm. I had to go all-out just to land one hit. You said you’d do it Yulia’s way? No need.”
“No need?”
Elias snickered at Leo mid-sentence, but Leo ignored him and asked seriously.
Yeah, might as well lay it all out.
I met his sky-blue eyes earnestly.
“No plans to switch sparring partners. No demands to change your training style.”
“…”
“Clear now?”
Leo stayed silent a while, then smiled faintly.
“Good.”
“…”
A chill edged that smile. He was smiling, but it felt oddly ominous.
‘Like crossing an irreversible river.’
Why?
No idea why now, but that answer made Leo’s mana obsession hit viscerally.
Not Leo-level, but Chelinggen eyed my mana curiously too.
Seems serious magic users get hooked on unusually vibrant mana.
Maybe that’s how they end up professors after decades of research.
‘How did he skip grad school?’
“Hey, doesn’t that feel refreshing~ Huh? Don’t just dig holes in the ground—talk it out~”
Elias laughed heartily.
Leo gave Elias a smile loaded with emotions.
“Doesn’t mean you get to tackle me outta nowhere. And we were talking fine before you showed.”
“Ehhh~”
Elias shook his head, pretending otherwise.
Still, without him, Leo never would’ve spoken up.
Situation wrapped up, time to head back.
“Can I go now?”
“Why? Post-exam’s free period—no need.”
“Gotta reply to Yulia. You dragged me out before I could.”
Leo replied with a bored look.
“I’ll pass it on tomorrow. Cool?”
“Hahahaha!”
“…”
His icy tone drew awkward laughs.
Pass what? Planning to train with her this weekend.
Nothing says one partner only. I’ll do Chelinggen too.
‘Absorb both styles—win-win.’
We’ve gotten friendly anyway; sparring’ll bond us more.
As I planned to call her myself later, Leo shook his head.
“Luca. Actually, called you for something else too.”
“Something else~?”
Elias mocked openly.
I got it, but asked anyway.
“What?”
“Gotta go to Bayern. Got word last night—first victims immune to treatment.”
Immune?
My face hardened.
Means even suppressing and hospitalizing them leads to death. Until now, attacking the Vitriol mass inside restored them.
Elias, now serious, chimed in.
“Embargo kept it out of today’s papers. Can’t prevent spread by publicizing anyway—not like other cases.”
“Right.”
Without the emotional angle, reporting makes sense, but not here.
It’d amplify panic, hike mortality.
“Why report to me?”
“Cut it off—said I’d relay before dinner. No point knowing early; can’t ditch exam.”
Leo answered.
“Hm, okay. Fatalities?”
“Three so far.”
I nodded and warped.
Royal emergency warp point meant no border checkpoint anymore.
Checked my watch, shifted hair and eye color with divine power.
‘Two-hour window.’
Adelbert training scheduled—gotta keep that.
“Who’s been proxy?”
“Disease Treatment Division Chief.”
Leo handed a file from my desk.
Proxy orders and morning investigation summary.
‘All good, but…’
Couldn’t pinpoint the failure stage yet.
Victim traits? Or changed meds in Plleroma’s water/soil?
“Need on-site beyond hospital.”
“Yeah.”
Former, no issue. Latter…
‘Culling the unfit, huh.’
I stood.
“Gonna check reports personally.”
Leo nodded, shed school robes, grabbed his wand.
* * *
‘Ah, damn…’
One hour pre-exam, Adelbert rose then slumped back, cursing inwardly.
Eyes kept drooping.
Not bedtime, slept plenty for exam.
Actually barely slept, but after senior smacked his nape, he crashed and woke refreshed.
Elias’s friend—methods weird, but slept enough. No fatigue reason.
‘But…’
Boom!
Chair toppled; he hit floor, blinking slowly.
Made no sense.
Sleeping pill?
Who’d dare? In school, his locked room?
Thoughts didn’t last.
Mana surged backward, like days ago.
Adelbert’s vision blackened.
* * *
Checked rampage sites for diffs, returned for Adelbert appointment.
Too early for conclusions, but non-mages showed zero changes.
‘Not at training grounds.’
50 mins pre-exam.
Warped to dorms.
At Adelbert’s door, knocked.
Knock knock—
“Junior.”
“…”
Dead silence.
Knocked harder.
Mana-sensing: weird vibes inside, no proper presence.
No way…
‘This guy sleeping?’
One hour to exam? For real?
Mana-infused knock, twisted knob.
‘Not his style.’
No room warp known. Admin might open, but…
‘Waves are odd.’
Impossible in this 5-layer barrier school.
“…”
Unlikely, but if my guess right, admin’s bad move.
They’d send staff over admitting risky me.
That ‘one-in-a-million’ true? Nightmare for Adelbert and staff.
But need witness now. Can’t get framed if trouble.
Tapped ear artifact, called prime suspect.
“Elias.”
He picked up fast.
[Yeah, what~?]
“Get Narke for your cousin’s room spot. You, stick by Leo.”
[What?!]
Door-pick time.
Slammed mana into knob.