Chapter 028
Chapter Title: Star Magic
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Duran's ball, wrapped in an aura of lightning, flew toward the goal.
"Wind Shield!"
In an instant, Chelsea urgently cast a defensive spell.
A powerful gust of wind erupted from Class 5's goal.
The ball, which had been flying at an incredible speed, momentarily slowed.
But its momentum wasn't gone.
It had only been held in place for a literal split second.
No one could rashly catch it, as it was wreathed in a lightning aura.
Even if they tried, it would surely pierce through Chelsea's defensive magic and fly into the goal before anyone else could touch it.
"A useless gesture!"
As Duran scoffed, Leo shouted.
"Karl! Get ready to do that thing I told you about!"
"Agh! If it weren't for toilet duty!"
Karl summoned his mana.
Karl was an earth-attribute mage.
The specializations of the earth attribute were defense, and weight!
A faint brown mana emanated from Karl's body.
Leo grabbed the hand of Karl, who had protected his body with defensive magic and reduced his weight with gravity magic, and threw him toward the goal.
The plan was to use a human shield.
*Whoosh! Fwoosh-!*
Karl's body flew toward the goal.
*Wham-! Shwwwww-!*
At the same time, the ball also succeeded in breaking through Chelsea's defensive magic.
Karl, now lighter than the ball, reached the front of the goal faster than the ball thanks to Leo's strength.
"It's useless! You'll go into the goal with the ball!"
Duran sneered.
But just before the ball hit him, Karl used magic to increase his body weight to the maximum.
On top of that, Chelsea hastily cast a shield spell on Karl.
*Thwack-!*
"Guek!"
*Thud-!*
Only Karl, struck by the ball, went into the goal; the ball bounced away.
If the ball is caught before it hits the ground, possession is maintained, but if it's dropped, possession is lost.
*Tap-! R-r-roll.*
The ball rolled across the ground.
*Tweet-!*
"Possession goes to Class 5!"
"Kyaaah! You were so cool, Karl!"
"Your spirit of sacrifice for our class! We won't forget it!"
As Leo, Chelsea, and Karl's teamwork barely succeeded in defending, cheers erupted from Class 5.
Karl gave a sorrowful smile as he looked at his classmates, who only remembered his sacrifice and didn't seem worried about him.
"Sorry, Karl."
"Are you okay?"
"Leo, Chelsea... you're the only ones."
Karl was moved as he watched Leo and Chelsea approach with apologetic smiles.
"That was cool. What kind of strategy was that?"
Nella, who had come over to heal him, asked languidly, and Chelsea replied with a bright smile.
"Operation: Friend Shield! It's a defensive strategy Leo came up with, predicting this kind of situation!"
"Using a friend as a tool for victory. A brilliant decision."
Karl wanted to cry.
Meanwhile, Iliana, holding the ball, swung her arm around and around.
"Alright! Alright! Let's go for another score...!"
*Ziiiip-!*
Something like a whip shot out from Class 1's side and snatched the ball from Iliana's hand.
"Ooooooooh! Howl!"
"So sexy!"
"As expected of the successor to the Snake Spear!"
Having reclaimed possession in an instant, Class 1's morale skyrocketed.
Iliana, who had been staring blankly between her empty hand and the ball now with Class 1, put her hands together and bowed her head to Karl.
"Sorry, they took it."
"Give me back my sacrificeeeeeee!"
***
"Well, well! What brings you to the training grounds at this hour, Senior Ain!"
"What a silly question. I'm here to observe the combat class, of course."
Ain and Ren had run into each other in front of the training grounds.
"Huhu! I see. Right. Students Celia, Duran, and Chen Xia are in class right now! As their major professor, you must be eager to see how skilled the aces of the Knight Division are in combat!"
"I came to observe all the students of the Knight Division, Ren. Not to blatantly watch someone in particular, like you."
"I also came to observe all the students of the Magic Division."
Professor Ren shrugged.
The two weren't simply senior and junior colleagues.
Both were graduates of Lumerne and had known each other since their student days.
Of course, it wasn't a good relationship; they had maintained a 'rivalry' as members of different divisions.
It was common knowledge among the professors and current students that adding the Summoning Division professor, Yura, to the mix would create the perfect explosive combination.
"By the way, I was surprised when I heard you professors were in charge of the first-years."
"It is the first time you two have been in charge of the lower years."
"Come to think of it, Ain, you were Professor Sedjen's first student, weren't you? What was he like back then?"
"The same as now. He cared terribly for the students in his class. Professor Halind has changed a lot since then, though."
"By the time I was a fifth-year, he was already being called the Wailing Wall."
Recalling their school days, the two professors entered the training grounds.
And were surprised.
"Bastera? In the very first class?"
"How unconventional."
Realizing it was Class 1 and Class 5 playing Bastera, the two professors' eyes lit up.
*The score is 1-0, with Class 5 in the lead.*
It was an unexpected result.
The aces of Class 1 were all out in force.
It wasn't intentional, but Class 1 was an elite class packed with students who had high average scores on the entrance exam.
A showdown between the top class and the bottom class.
No matter how meaningless entrance exam scores became after a few months, right now, there was a clear difference.
*Leo and Chelsea. Iliana and Dade. And Nella... one could call them the aces of Class 5, but the other players are not.*
Ain wore an expression of interest.
"Amazing."
Ren, who was watching the game, remarked in admiration.
"Student Leo is clearly a natural-born leader."
"I certainly felt that from the entrance ceremony."
Class 1 was overwhelming Class 5 with individual plays based on their outstanding skills.
In contrast, Class 5 was playing with a focus on cooperation.
The core of that was Leo.
He was predicting the opponent's movements at every moment and, at times, responding to Class 1's attacks with flashes of ingenuity.
Ren looked regretful.
*He's only using aura!*
It would be great if he used magic too, but Leo was only using aura.
Of course, it couldn't be helped.
Leo's ability to analyze magic formulas was outstanding, but his mana reserves were small.
As a result, his main combat ability had to be his aura.
Ren glanced at Ain with an anxious expression.
As expected, Ain was also watching Leo intently.
But unlike the anxious Ren, he was watching the game with a very satisfied look on his face.
Feeling vexed, Ren shouted inwardly.
*Student Leo! Please use magic too~!*
Ren watched Leo with a desperate heart.
Meanwhile, the game was moving into its latter half.
As Bastera required the full mobilization of supernatural abilities, it was incredibly draining.
Normally, a game lasted an hour, but with the stamina of the current first-years, about twenty minutes was the limit.
Just then, a fearsome attack from Celia shook the net of Class 5's goal.
"Celia! You're amazing! I think I'm in love!"
"Celia! Let me be your little sister!"
The students of Class 1 let out cheers.
Celia had managed to score by breaking through three Class 5 students who were forming a human shield in front of the goal.
"A-are you a monster...?"
Karl, who had been hit directly by the ball, muttered with a horrified expression before his head drooped and he fainted.
"Haa-! Haa-!"
However, Celia, who had used all her strength, was also exhausted.
"I took down three of them, and there's not much time left! If we just block this one attack, we can counter and win, so we have to turn this around!"
Celia shouted with difficulty.
Having lost the advantage they had barely maintained in an instant, the mood in Class 5 was at its worst.
Conversely, Class 1's morale soared to its peak.
From the rear, Chloe glared at Class 5.
The one who had performed most brilliantly in this game was, by far, Chloe.
Although she had allowed a surprise score early on, she had perfectly blocked Leo and Chelsea, the core of Class 5's offense, ever since.
They had tried all sorts of methods to catch her off guard, but they couldn't get past Chloe.
Watching Leo prepare for an attack, Chloe made a vow.
*I will not lose.*
Ever since the first magic class.
Chloe found herself conscious of Leo, even when she tried not to be.
She had never thought she could fall behind anyone in magic.
She believed her ability to analyze magic formulas was superior even to Abad, who was considered the strongest mage among their peers.
And in reality, it was.
A genius of formulas, hailed as one of the greatest ever by the Northern Magic Tower.
That was Chloe Müller.
And yet, she had fallen behind in magic analysis from the very first class.
*I absolutely cannot lose to Leo Flove.*
Chloe clenched her fists tightly.
With Celia out of commission, a gaping hole opened in Class 1's defense.
"Attack! If we don't score now, we'll definitely lose!"
Iliana shouted.
Chelsea blocked Duran, who was rushing to mark Leo.
The other players also did their best to create a one-on-one situation between Leo and Chloe.
With swift movements, Leo weaved through Class 1's formation and ran toward the goal.
With the checkmate that was Celia gone and Duran tied up by Chelsea, it was no exaggeration to say that no one could stop Leo now.
But Class 1 also had an ace up their sleeve.
Chloe stood in Leo's way.
"You're not getting through."
"Sorry, but if it's one-on-one, I think I have a decent shot at breaking through."
Chloe smirked at Leo's words.
*C-c-crack-!*
Leo's eyes twitched.
In an instant, ice coalesced in the air, and ice sculptures appeared.
Four ice sculptures, identical to Chloe, blocked Leo's path like living dolls.
"No way! Ice clones? She can use such a high-level magic formula? Not even my brother is that good!"
Chelsea was horrified.
"These aren't just simple clones!"
Magic circles unfolded around the ice clones.
Each one could be considered a mage in its own right.
"To use a formula of this level at her age? She's a genius."
Leo said in admiration.
Chloe's eyes twitched.
"Are you mocking me?"
*And this is coming from the guy who got first place on the magic theory exam!*
Glaring at Leo with fearsome eyes, Chloe scoffed.
"Either way, you can't get past me! So just give up!"
"You're right, I can't break through this with my aura ability."
Leo smiled faintly.
"With my aura ability, that is."
*Fwoosh!*
*Mana?*
Chloe was taken aback.
She never expected him to use magic at a moment like this.
Leo's body multiplied.
*Illusion magic? How shallow!*
She had been caught off guard, but she could easily counter illusion magic.
Attacking a player with magic was against the rules, but illusions created by magic could be attacked freely.
*Which one is the real one?*
And for Chloe, finding the real one amidst simple illusion magic was an incredibly easy task.
She focused mana into her eyes and looked at the illusions.
In that moment, Chloe's face stiffened.
*I can't tell which ones are fake!*
Without knowing which was real, she couldn't attack recklessly.
But there was a more surprising fact than that.
*This... this magic is...!*
While Chloe stood in shock, Leo bypassed her and casually put the ball into the goal.
Too stunned to even react, Chloe collapsed to the ground.
A perfect illusion magic where the real one couldn't be identified.
The magic Leo had just used was one Chloe also knew.
But Chloe couldn't use it.
Because what Leo had used was not human magic.
Chloe stared blankly behind her.
As the illusions vanished, leaves scattered in the air.
A magic system different from its very foundation.
"Elven... Star Magic?"
Mirage.
What Leo had used was a magic created by Luna, the founder of Nebula.