Chapter 200
Chapter Title: A Race of Rivals
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200
“A first-year, and not even a Seirun student, using Rampas? What kind of monster is he?”
A voice filled with astonishment came from the spectator stands.
In the highest section of the stands, a woman with silver hair and golden eyes watched with a gleam in her eyes.
“He is indeed worthy of being the boy you chose, senior.”
“Weren’t you the one who recognized Leo Flove’s value and made a move on him, Nerja?”
Riven let out a small sigh.
Nerja.
The vice principal of Seirun, dispatched from Dragonia.
From Riven’s perspective, she was his junior by a very long stretch.
“Isn’t that sword something you sent him as a gift?”
“Yes. But I was surprised by how well he handles it, even more than I expected.”
The longsword Leo had received as a gift was an item crafted by Nerja.
It was a magic sword that could serve as both a top-tier blade and a high-grade staff for a magic swordsman who wielded the magic of the stars.
Its value was so immense it was nearly impossible to price.
“Even so, I’m curious what kind of spell formula he constructed to cause an overload with a single incantation.”
Magic staves produce various effects depending on the formulas inscribed on them.
Typical effects include shortening casting time and increasing power.
The more powerful the effects of a staff, the harder it is to use, but if wielded perfectly, the difference in a spell's power is enormous.
‘Using Rampas isn't the surprising part. Lunia, the top first-year student, can use Rampas just fine.’
Rampas.
It was one of the fundamental spells in the magic of the stars.
Unlike other formulas based on what Luna left behind, this spell was passed down in its original, unaltered form from Luna’s grimoire.
As a spell created by the founder herself, its power is immense.
That was why every student who entered Seirun yearned to learn it.
But for all its great power, the cost was just as clear.
It consumed a massive amount of mana, and its spell structure was incredibly complex.
Thus, it was a spell so difficult that first and second-year students couldn't even dream of attempting it.
‘The Leo Flove I see now doesn’t seem to have enough mana to cast Rampas.’
His ability to construct a spell formula was one thing.
But with his current mana reserves, materializing Rampas should have been difficult.
And yet, for him to have completed such a powerful spell meant one thing.
‘It wasn't an ordinary incantation.’
That must have been why the sword, forged from her own dragon bone, had momentarily overloaded.
“Senior Riven. Can’t you really send Leo Flove to our Seirun?”
Nerja said, turning to look at Riven.
“You’re at an age where you should be thinking about retirement. Besides, I heard you’ve been reclusive for a while. Don’t you think it would be better for someone with more passion, like me, to take him on?”
“If you covet Leo Flove so much, why don’t you come to Lumerne?”
“I can’t do that. I can’t abandon the children of Seirun.”
Nerja was a dragon who actively guided students to nurture heroes.
“In that case, you’re welcome to try and persuade him.”
‘Though I doubt your words will reach him.’
***
Having sent the Cyclops flying, Leo tried to pursue the lead group.
Until now, it had been difficult to pick up speed because he was under constant, intense pressure from the Seirun students.
But the appearance of the Cyclops had created a crack in their defenses.
Seizing the opportunity, Leo sprinted to catch up to the frontrunners.
It was then.
“That’s far enough, Leo Flove.”
“We will not permit you to go any further.”
Two Seirun students, a male and a female, blocked Leo’s path.
“And who are you?”
“Hmph. My name is Garin Trina.”
“And I am Aris Trina. Surely you’ve heard of us?”
The two elves, who appeared to be siblings, stood in Leo’s way.
“No. First time I’ve heard of you.”
“What? You haven’t heard of the Trina siblings?”
“Does it make sense that you haven’t heard of us, the ones who rose to the advanced first class in the second semester and took fourth and fifth place?”
Garin and Aris wore expressions of disbelief.
“Yeah.”
Seeing Leo nod so casually, Garin clenched his fists.
“Hmph! Such arrogance! To not even research the students of a rival school!”
“Prepare yourself! We’re going to eliminate you right here!”
As Leo let out a light sigh at the sight of the incensed twins, a voice called out.
“Leo! What are you doing, not moving?”
“They’re in the way.”
Chelsea, who had approached with a curious look, swung her staff upon hearing Leo’s words.
*WHOOSH—!*
A tremendous gust of wind erupted, surging toward Garin and Aris.
Instantly, Garin used barrier magic to deflect Chelsea’s attack.
Seeing this, Chelsea’s eyes narrowed.
“Not bad.”
*FLASH!— CRACKLE—!*
In a flash, Aris cast her spell.
From high in the sky, shards of light rained down on Leo and Chelsea.
*SWOOOSH—!*
But the shards of light were immediately blown away by another powerful gust of wind.
*Step— Step—*
Abad walked up to Chelsea’s side.
“The Llewellyn siblings, I presume.”
A corner of Garin’s mouth curled up.
“You two must know about us Trina siblings, right?”
“Never heard of you.”
When Abad replied with a bright smile, Aris pointed a finger at Garin.
“This is all your fault! Because of you, I got dragged down too! I knew I shouldn’t have teamed up with you!”
“Don’t be ridiculous! Have you ever considered that the Lumerne kids don’t know about me because of you? And you? Is that any way to talk to your older brother?!”
“Being born thirty seconds earlier is a big deal?!”
“I’m telling Mom!”
Watching the affectionate display of the Trina siblings, Chelsea spoke seriously.
“If we leave them alone, won’t they just self-destruct?”
“I doubt it. They’re quite skilled.”
As the fourth and fifth-ranked first-years at Seirun, their skills were not to be underestimated.
“Leo, we’ll take care of these two. You go on ahead.”
“Go get ‘em, Leo!”
“I’m counting on you.”
Leo smiled and entrusted his back to them.
Just as Abad predicted, Garin reacted swiftly, but his interference was blocked by Chelsea.
“Now then, why don’t you show us what you siblings are made of?”
As Abad spoke with a gentle smile, Aris flinched for a moment, her face turning red.
“O-Okay. It’s nice to meet you.”
“Ugh.”
Aris kicked Garin.
Leo immediately resumed his pursuit of the leaders.
He wasn’t the only one who had escaped that chaotic mess to chase the frontrunners.
*FLASH!— CRACKLE—!*
As beams of light shot out from all directions, Leo dove out of the way.
He narrowed his eyes at the half-elf boy holding a magic staff.
‘Was his name Luka Eneres?’
Ranked third among Seirun’s first-years, after Lunia and Eiran, and the year representative.
Despite the cold weather, Luka was dressed very lightly.
It was as if he didn’t feel the cold at all.
*CRACK—*
Suddenly, the ground around Luka began to freeze.
“I’m sorry, but you can go no further. If you catch up, I think it will be too hard on Eiran.”
*CRACKLE—!*
In an instant, the ground from where Luka stood to where Leo was standing froze solid.
It happened in a fraction of a second.
But Leo did not miss that brief moment.
Having jumped, Leo narrowed his eyes at Luka, who wore a troubled smile.
‘It’s not magic. It’s the power of a spirit. But there’s no sign he summoned one. I felt it during the school trip, too… what is this guy?’
Luka was using the power of a spirit.
But it wasn’t power gained from a contract with one.
He was literally using the power of a spirit himself.
[Perhaps he has the blessing of a Great Spirit?]
‘The blessing of a Great Spirit?’
[Yes. I’ve heard about it from other spirits. They said there is someone who inherited the power of a Great Spirit. That person can wield the power of spirits.]
‘Come to think of it, I remember reading about that in a book long ago.’
Leo’s eyes narrowed as he recalled the contents of a book he had read in his past life.
‘So this guy inherited his power from the Great Spirit of Ice?’
‘There’s a high probability.’
Leo clicked his tongue.
The weather was bitterly cold.
If he had indeed received power from the Great Spirit of Ice, then this place was like his own backyard to Luka.
‘Getting past him won’t be easy.’
Just as Leo was shaking his head, a voice came.
“What are you doing here, Flove?”
A bored voice rang out.
Turning his head, he saw a male student with a massive build, Woreden, standing there.
“Having a bit of trouble.”
“Hmph.”
Woreden snorted at Leo’s words and summoned a fire spirit.
*FWOOSH—!*
The fire spirit was instantly absorbed into Woreden’s fist.
Spirit Armored.
It was an advanced spirit technique that allowed one to imbue their body with the power of a spirit.
*WHOOSH—!*
Woreden charged at Luka without hesitation.
*SWISH—! KABOOM—!*
And without a moment’s pause, he swung his fist at Luka, who was a full head shorter than him.
A massive explosion erupted, and flames whipped through the surroundings.
It was Spirit Explosion, the specialty of Woreden, who was called a monster by the students from the southern region.
*CRACKLE—!*
It was a blow from Woreden that even Lumerne’s upperclassmen would be wary of.
But Luka withstood the attack and, in return, froze Woreden’s right arm, the one he had punched with.
“Hmm.”
Woreden looked down at his frozen arm and exhaled.
“A close-quarters fight with me is too reckless.”
As Luka said this with a smile, the corner of Woreden’s mouth curled up.
*FWOOSH—!*
He then generated a burst of fire, melting the ice on his frozen arm.
“Indeed, it might be reckless.”
“Seeing as you use Spirit Armored, you seem to be a spirit master specializing in close combat… you’re at a disadvantage against…”
*WHOOSH—!*
Suddenly, Woreden charged at Luka once more.
“...!”
Completely unfazed by Luka’s ice, Woreden swung his thick arm and slammed it into Luka’s neck.
*THWACK—! WHOOSH—! SPLAT—!*
*CRACK—*
Woreden used a fire spirit to melt his arm as it began to freeze again and spoke.
“It’s simple. It’s a battle of whether I’m incapacitated by your ice attacks first, or you’re incapacitated by my attacks first, isn’t it?”
The corner of Woreden’s mouth curled up.
“Get up, Luka Eneres.”
“Cough. Cough. I see…”
Luka coughed up blood, wiped it from his lips, and wore a troubled expression.
“It seems I’ve run into the wrong person.”
“I’ll handle this one. You go on ahead, Leo Flove.”
“Oh, right. Don’t overdo it.”
“Don’t worry about me, worry about yourself.”
Woreden said with a sneer as he blocked Luka’s path.
Completely freed from his pursuers, Leo began to run at an incredible speed to catch up with the lead group.
There were still quite a few students ahead of him besides the frontrunners, those who had managed to avoid the earlier chaos and run on.
The Seirun students persistently obstructed Leo.
On top of that, there were continuous obstacles.
‘I’ve lost too much time. At this rate, the gap between me and the lead group will be too wide.’
As Leo broke through all the obstacles and rapidly pursued the lead group, he thought of the three frontrunners who had run on without any interference.
At their pace, it wouldn’t be strange if they were already nearing the finish line.
‘I wonder if Duran and Eliza have overtaken Eiran?’
He thought that with their speed, they could have easily left Eiran behind and be competing among themselves.
The other two Seirun representatives seemed to be unable to shake off the persistent interference from the Lumerne students.
As Leo was sprinting towards the finish line at a tremendous speed, he heard something.
“Don’t run away!”
“Fight us!”
The furious voices of Duran and Eliza echoed from a distance.
Leo looked on with an expression of disbelief at Duran and Eliza, who were maniacally chasing Eiran.
‘Hey, why are these guys still here?’
Contrary to his expectations, the three of them hadn’t gotten very far.
Just then, Eiran, who was being chased by Duran and Eliza, spotted Leo and ran towards him, crying.
“Sir Leo! Please save me!”
Terrified, Eiran hid behind Leo’s back.
“...What is this situation?”
“I-I don’t know! The Lumerne representatives said they wouldn’t let me get away…!”
Patting the head of Eiran, who was too frightened to even speak properly through her sobs, Leo asked Duran and Eliza as they arrived before him.
“Why are you two so dead set on catching her?”
“Step aside, Leo Flove. I must have a duel of honor with that girl who so clearly disrespected me.”
“I was here first, Duran Moira.”
‘Why are these two talking about duels again?’
Leo clicked his tongue as he looked at his two famously hot-headed classmates.
“There seems to be some misunderstanding. She’s not the type to disrespect you two.”
“Then why did she not even give us a second glance?”
As Eliza crossed her arms and scowled, Leo replied nonchalantly.
“You must have been mistaken.”
At his words, Duran and Eliza looked at Eiran, who was trembling so hard she was hiccuping.
The somewhat frail-looking elf appeared to be the victim in every way.
There was nothing about her that suggested she had disrespected them.
Duran and Eliza wore expressions of embarrassment.
“It seems I was mistaken.”
“I’m sorry. I lost my temper for no reason.”
Duran and Eliza hastily apologized.
Watching them, Eiran, who had been trembling in fear, cautiously peeked out from behind Leo.
“N-No. It seems my attitude must have caused a misunderstanding.”
“A-Anyway, from now on, let’s compete fair and square.”
Eliza said with a forced smile, trying to lighten the mood.
At her words, Eiran smiled brightly and nodded.
Her bright and innocent appearance pricked at Duran and Eliza’s consciences.
Watching the scene, Leo nodded his head.
“Alright, now that the misunderstanding is cleared up.”
“Huh?”
Leo grabbed Eiran and snatched the headband symbolizing her as a representative.
“Ah!”
Eiran let out a startled scream.
“Eliminated.”
Leo smiled and patted Eiran on the shoulder.
“We’re enemies, after all.”
“B-But… I trusted you, Sir Leo…”
Eiran’s eyes welled up with tears as she looked like she was about to cry.
“Leo Flove! You’re despicable!”
“How could you be so cruel to someone who trusted you and asked for your help!”
Duran and Eliza condemned Leo.
“There’s no such thing as despicable in a competition.”
Leo just smiled nonchalantly and turned towards the finish line.
“I’m going on ahead. It’ll be a pain if I get caught by the ones chasing from behind and get held back.”
Leo ran towards the finish line without hesitation.
“Sniff… That’s so mean, Sir Leo.”
“D-Don’t cry.”
“Please don’t cry. Okay?”
Flustered, Duran and Eliza tried to console Eiran, who had collapsed to the ground, sobbing.