Chapter 325

325

Glory’s outpost.

Clara approached Leo, who was seated atop the fortress wall.

“We scored a big win in the first skirmish.”

Clara, now seated next to Leo, looked ahead as she spoke.

“We discovered that the king of Harmony is Chelsea and the king of Noble is Kal.”

Clara continued while playfully swinging her legs.

“Plus, we’ve earned many points defending the outpost against the students from Harmony and Noble.”

It was clear that Glory had taken the advantageous position.

“We’ll continue with a defense-oriented approach and intervene when Harmony and Noble battle each other, allowing us to maintain our upper hand. Of course.”

Clara turned to Leo.

“They won’t let us get away with this, though, right?”

Clara spoke with a confident smile as Leo propped his chin on his hand.

“Who do you think they’ll send out from Harmony and Noble?”

“Most likely, they’ll come united. And Kal will be the one leading this alliance.”

Clara paused to think.

“Kal will probably bring out the best combination capable of defeating you.”

“The best combination to defeat me, huh?”

Leo propped his chin again.

“The front will be Warden and Chelsea. The rear will be Abad, and the one to cover the front and rear will be Eliza, right?”

“That’s correct.”

Clara smiled faintly.

“Celia and Duran will likely aim for the advantageous matches against me and Chen Sia.”

Celia, who handled flame Aura, and Clara, who wielded ice magic—based on elemental advantage, Celia had the upper hand.

And then there was water and lightning Aura.

Duran also had the advantage.

The first essential condition for bringing down Leo was to prevent Clara and Chen Sia from joining forces.

“You need to be careful. If you receive a d*ath penalty, we fail right away.”

“Do you think I’ll lose?”

“No, but…”

Clara smiled, recalling her fellow students.

“They won’t back down easily. They’ll surely fight with everything they’ve got, their eyes blazing.”

“Did I show them a clear difference in strength? What do you think would happen if you were in their situation?”

“I would do my best to face them.”

Clara giggled shyly.

“I once had someone teach me not to give up at any moment.”

“Really? Who taught you that?”

Leo chuckled as he spoke, making Clara look slightly annoyed.

“You?”

Leo smirked as he watched Clara, then gently patted her head.

“I’m glad you haven’t lost that spirit.”

“Ummm…?!”

Clara’s face turned bright red as she stammered.

Kal looked at Chelsea standing beside him and scratched his head.

“Chelsea.”

“…”

“Hey, Chelsea.”

“Yes?”

Kal’s sudden poke to her cheek startled Chelsea, causing her to retreat and clutch her cheek.

“Why so spaced out?”

“I was just thinking.”

Chelsea mumbled weakly.

Kal chuckled upon seeing her.

“hmm, In that case, let me give you something good as a friend!”

Kal pulled a small potion bottle from his pocket and handed it to Chelsea with a sly voice.

“It’s an elixir I got from Lord Dwenno’s alchemy book! It’s called the Elixir of Courage…”

Kal glanced around stealthily.

“Arnon drank this and gained courage. I’ll sell it to you for just one gold…”

Pong!

Chelsea uncapped the vial and sniffed. She said,

“…it smells like fruit juice.”

“Ahem, hmm.”

Kal cleared his throat awkwardly.

Chelsea closed the bottle and raised her hand.

“Yieek?”

Anticipating a punch, Kal recoiled in fear but Chelsea simply handed him back the potion bottle and walked away.

Kal scratched his head at her behavior.

It was definitely unlike her usual self.

“Why? What’s wrong?”

“…I’m ashamed of myself.”

Chelsea spoke with a subdued tone.

“Be it Brother or Leo… I’ve merely been content watching them. I may have put on airs as an outstanding student, but…”

Chelsea let her shoulders slump.

“…in truth, I’ve been living without a single goal.”

When Abad, who had saved her, fell,

When Celia fell,

Chelsea ran.

The obvious choice for the king.

But that’s not true.

Even if she hadn’t been the king, Chelsea surely would have run away in that situation.

Knowing the overwhelming force,

Not wanting to fight Leo.

Her instinct led her to reach out to Abad at a desperate moment,

And she couldn’t fight Leo who threatened her.

She felt this miserable because she had merely been chasing people she admired vaguely.

“Brother must be very disappointed in me. So must Leo.”

Upon seeing Chelsea’s deflated spirit, Kal scratched the back of his head and mumbled, pointing vaguely toward Abad.

“Don’t call him ‘Brother.’ I feel too ashamed to face him right now.”

Ignoring her, Kal scratched his head again.

“Is it bad to have no goal?”

“What?”

“Take a look at me. My goal…is to stay attached to Lumeran as long as possible. With this title, I’ll work as a supporter, try my luck, and earn lots of money.”

Kal grinned and made a coin shape with his fingers.

“With that money, I’ll buy and sell potions and live comfortably, doing nothing but playing around.”

“…It sounds pathetic.”

“Being told this so directly makes me sad too, but look, even those pathetic goals exist, don’t they? Having goals isn’t necessarily good, and not having them isn’t necessarily bad.”

Kal giggled.

“Leo absolutely won’t be disappointed with you. Instead, I bet he’s curious when you’ll set your own goal.”

Chelsea blinked.

Though they come from different backgrounds with different family standings and different positions in school,

Kal had been since the start her equal.

And that’s why at this moment,

His words carry more weight to a deflated and lost Chelsea.

“You don’t need to find a goal right away. What’s important now is to confront Leo.”

“Are you not scared?”

“Of course, I’m scared. I’m responsible for the combat now. If I make a mistake, how much would Eliza scold me?”

Kal shivered.

This was different from the fear Chelsea felt.

Chelsea’s fear was the gap between herself and Leo.

But for some reason, Kal being his usual silly self made Chelsea laugh.

“This is secret, okay? Don’t tell anybody.”

“What is it?”

“Well, the brave Aron… he is, in fact, a huge coward.”

Tight!

“Yaaaaargh!”

Chelsea mercilessly stomped on Kal’s foot.

Kal collapsed, rolling around on the floor in pain.

“Where did you buy the potion?”

Chelsea scoffed as Kal awkwardly stood up.

“It’s true! Ask Leo!”

Kal looked offended.

“That’s ridiculous.”

Chelsea looked disbelievingly.

Kal, looking at her said,

“I didn’t believe it at first either. But eventually, he became the bravest one stepping forward.”

Kal smiled.

“I realized courage is overcoming fear.”

Kal handed the potion bottle to Chelsea.

“And this is the actual fruit juice that Aron used to like.”

Chelsea looked down at the potion bottle.

Kal gave her a thumbs-up and then moved to the back.

Then he looked up.

Before Chelsea’s eyes appeared the walls of Glory.

Seeing the wall, Chelsea took a deep breath.

Smack!

She slapped her cheeks, took a deep breath again, and drank the potion in one go.

“Mmm! It’s delicious!”

Her eyes gleamed.

She felt her courage surge.

“Alright! Let’s give it a try! Come on! Come on! Come on!”

Whoosh!

Just as Chelsea was getting pumped up,

A storm suddenly burst in front of her.

“Huh?”

“Looks like you’re ready.”

Leo appeared in front of Chelsea with his sword raised, ready to attack.

Chelsea hastily prepared for battle.

“Whoooaaaah!”

“Leo’s making a surprise attack!”

Chaos broke out around them.

Whoosh!

When Leo swung his sword, Chelsea swung her staff.

Clang!

The blades of wind crossed each other.

Leo chuckled.

“Not bad.”

“Someone trained me well.”

Chelsea smiled confidently.

Whoosh!

“Close-range combat using wind…I won’t lose easily!”

Chelsea channeled mana into the long staff in her other hand.

Booooom!

Leo, who had tried to surprise Chelsea, was sent flying into the sky.

Zzzt!

Lightning aura enveloped Leo.

In an instant, the water shield protected him.

“Sia Chen.”

“I guess Duran will have to fight me anyway. I’ll deal with you.”

“Hmph.”

Duran scoffed.

Flame! Sizzle!

At the fortress wall, flames and ice erupted.

The clash between Celia and Clara signaled the start of the attacks from the Harmony students and Noble students.

Thud!

Leo landed on the ground.

Looking at the four people in front of him, his gaze rested on Kal at the back and he smiled.

“Kal, did you prepare well?”

“Of course!”

Kal raised his thumb.

Seeing this, Leo smiled.

“Then?”

The expression vanished from Leo’s face.

“That means you’re ready to experience the difference in strength.”