Before entering the effective range, Howl thrust his spear.
Squish-!
A massive, thick green aura spurted from the spear tip.
The aura extended like a living anaconda, aiming for Leo's neck.
Leo tried to block Howl's attack with his fiery aura.
Whoosh-!
In an instant, Howl's aura changed its course like a living snake.
âI expected this much.â
Leo, undeterred, charged at the defenseless Howl.
Howl's technique was very difficult to counter when at a distance, but it had the weakness of leaving him vulnerable once the distance was closed.
"Got you!"
Howl crowed in triumph.
Zzz-!
"âŠ!"
Howl's aura continued to stretch.
"Snake Prison!"
Snap-!
Like a snake capturing its prey, the aura coiled around Leo and squeezed him tightly.
Amazement poured out at the incredibly precise aura control.
Ain, who had been watching the situation, curled his lips.
âFlame aura is powerful for attacks but has the weakness of being vulnerable to defense. Itâs like a double-edged sword.â
Poison aura also exhibited similar characteristics.
Thatâs why it was effective against flame aura.
âHe must have focused on aura control training to compensate for that weakness.â
Ain looked at Leo, who remained silent.
âBut Leo Flove wouldnât have charged without thinking.â
âCome on, Leo! Iâll knock you down with this! AndâŠâ
Howl turned his gaze to Celia, who looked surprised, and clenched his fist.
âCelia! Iâll make you recognize that Iâm your equalâŠâ
"Great technique, but the finish was clumsy."
"What!"
Rumble! Boom-!
The aura that had enveloped Leo swelled and then exploded, scattering in all directions.
Roar-! Rumble!
The flames of Leo's aura burned fiercely.
Leo, in a stance to swing his sword, stared at the frozen Howl.
"Fire should never be taken lightly until itâs extinguished."
"Grgh!"
Howl adjusted his grip on the spear.
Snap! Bang-!
Suddenly, flames exploded from Leo's feet.
Aura Step.
Whoosh-! Rumble!
Leo's sword, now a bullet of flames, shot forward and was already at Howl's throat.
"âŠWinner, Leo Flove."
Ain declared calmly.
Wow-!
Cheers erupted.
"Wow! Wow! Leo won!"
"âŠDid he really have this level of skill in a real fight?"
Chelsea jumped up and down in excitement, while Taid muttered in disbelief.
Karl, who had been handing popcorn to a guest, whistled and cheered.
"Who said that first-year would be weak in a real fight?"
"Howl was amazing too, but the matchup was just too bad."
"Indeed, thereâs a reason why this yearâs first-years are getting so much attention."
The upperclassmen evaluated the two and marveled.
As Leo sheathed his sword, Howl dropped his head and knelt.
"Complete defeat. The skill gap was overwhelming. To let my guard down against someone of your caliber⊠it was a complete embarrassment."
"Well, to be honest, I didnât expect you to have such a technique."
The level of aura control, which required tremendous effort to achieve, was even surprising to Leo.
"If your aura was a bit stronger, you might have suffocated and fainted. I underestimated you too, so weâre even."
Leo smiled and extended his hand.
"Great technique."
Howl, with a dazed look, stared at Leo's hand and then took it, standing up.
Leo patted Howl on the shoulder and left the arena.
âLeo Flove⊠no wonder he stands by Celiaâs side.â
Howl, muttering to himself, trudged out of the arena.
In front of him, the students of Class 1 stood.
"Howl! That was a close one!"
"Ugh! It was the perfect chance to get revenge for the bathroom cleaning!"
"What kind of monster is he? He had no weaknesses in a real fight at all!"
The students of Class 1 comforted Howl.
"Elegance! Howl, that was a great match! If it werenât for the matchup, you could have crushed Leo Flove! So donât be discouraged!"
"Professor Sedgen, please avoid biased remarks, even if itâs for your own student."
Ain, watching the boisterous Professor Sedgen, pressed his temples and spoke.
Surprised by the unexpected reception, Howl scratched his head awkwardly.
Then he noticed Celia approaching and tensed up.
Celia smiled at the nervous Howl.
"Pretty good, huh? It was impressive."
"What? Ah! Uh! Yeah! Yeah!"
Howl blushed and responded awkwardly.
âHowl is surprisingly innocent despite his appearance.â
âCelia is rather insensitive in that regard, though.â
âBut at this point, shouldnât he realize it?â
The students of Class 1 smiled subtly.
"Leo, good job. When did you practice your aura so much?"
Celia asked as she approached Leo.
Howl clenched his fist.
âLeo Flove! Iâll make you my new target!â
This tenacious boy resolved to catch up to Leo.
As Howl, determined, was watched by the students of Class 1, they clicked their tongues and ate popcorn.
Leo, who had won the first match perfectly, sat to the side and watched the remaining matches.
"Illyana Raden of Class 5, step forward."
"Yah~cha! Whoâs my opponent!"
"Chen Xia of Class 10, step forward."
"Ah!"
Illyana, who had stepped forward boldly, was taken aback when she faced Chen Xia.
"Please do your best."
"Sure, do your best."
Chen Xia and Illyana exchanged greetings.
âIâve grown a lot! I could even aim for the top of the class!â
Aurora surged from Illyanaâs body as she gripped her rapier tightly.
Swish-!
There was no weapon for Chen Xia, a martial artist.
Instead, blue aura swirled at her fingertips, and droplets of water began to form.
Her aura characteristic was water.
The droplets at her fingertips intertwined like threads and soon formed a silk-like wave.
As Chen Xiaâs hands moved gracefully, the wave adhered to her fingertips elegantly.
"Huff!"
Illyana took a deep breath and aimed her rapier at Chen Xia.
"Ha!"
The aura exploded, pushing Illyana forward with incredible speed.
Leo sighed at her fierce charge.
"Idiot."
Boom-!
"Gah!"
Crash! Roll! Roll! Roll!
Illyanaâs fierce charge was not only blocked by Chen Xia but also reflected back.
Illyana, who had tumbled and fallen to the ground, had her eyes spinning.
"Chen Xia, victory."
It was a match where Chen Xiaâs overwhelming power was evident.
However, since this was a knightâs examination, it was quite disadvantageous for Illyana, a swordsman, and no one had high expectations.
Chen Xia, who had clasped her hands, bowed politely and left the arena.
Illyana, struggling to raise her fist, shouted.
"Well, at least I had good momentum against Chen Xia! I didnât back down!"
"Be quiet, itâs embarrassing."
"Come on, just pretend to faint. Please."
The students of Class 5 spoke coldly, and Illyana made a pained expression.
"Class President! They say Iâm embarrassing!"
Watching the complaining Illyana, Leo said.
"Your impatience is the problem. You know Chen Xiaâs skills, right?"
"I do! Thatâs why I charged with good momentum! I had no confidence in breaking through with sword skills alone, so I had to show some momentum!"
"Boastful."
Leo clicked his tongue as he watched Illyana, who was standing with her arms crossed and declaring confidently.
Illyana was also a top-tier student in the entire grade.
âThe opponent was just too bad. If she could use magic, it might have been different, but this is a knightâs examination. If she had been more cautious, she wouldnât have lost so miserably.â
As Leo shook his head, his eyes met Chen Xia, who was sitting with Class 10.
Leo waved back at Chen Xia, who smiled and waved.
âAs I thought, Chen Xia has the best balance among the first-year knight students.â
In the case of Celia and Duran, their aura characteristics were specialized in offensive power.
On the other hand, Chen Xiaâs water aura characteristic was well-balanced for both offense and defense.
Leo thought about Chen Xiaâs skills while observing the matches of his other classmates.
The improvement in the skills of students who were in the lower ranks at the time of admission was noticeable.
Among them, there were cases where students who were far more skilled than him were defeated.
Even among the mixed emotions, the top students in the admission test showed a different level.
Celia, who had quickly subdued her opponent, approached Leo with an elegant flick of her hair.
"How was it?"
"Youâve grown."
"Of course."
Celia narrowed her eyes.
"Leo, Iâm taking the top spot in this exam."
Leo smiled at Celiaâs confident declaration.
"Take it if you can."
Celia smiled and returned to Class 1.
Watching her, Illyana said.
"Popular, huh?"
"Jealous?"
"No, I told Nella too, I donât want that kind of popularity."
***
Midterm exam period.
After the final written exam, the Language Studies class, the students of Class 5 swarmed Chelsea.
"Hey! Hey! Chelsea! Show us your answer sheet!"
"Iâll go first!"
"Karl, your grades are always at the bottom, so just wait your turn!"
"Thatâs not true!"
The competition to see Chelseaâs answer sheet, who had the highest score in the written exam in Class 5, was unexpectedly fierce.
Chelsea, seeing her classmates swarm her, waved the test paper.
"Who gets to see it first?"
"Big sister Chelsea! Me first!"
"Sis! Me first!"
"You look especially beautiful today, sis!"
The students of Class 5, clinging to the youngest Chelsea.
"Hehehe."
Chelsea, watching her classmates, smiled smugly and laughed.
"Even if you show it, the grades wonât change now that the exam is over."
Leaning on the window in the back of the class, Leo propped his chin and said, while Nella smiled lazily.
"Hehe. Still, people want to know their scores as soon as possible, right?"
Shaking his head, Leo put his writing tools in his bag.
"I only have the joint practical exam for Hero Studies and Combat Studies left. You still have Magic Studies and Summoning Studies, Leo."
In the knightâs combat exam, Leo passed with a perfect 5-0 record.
Among the five matches, the strongest opponent was Howl on the first day.
Besides Leo, Celia, Chen Xia, and Duran also achieved a perfect 5-0 record.
Nella had one loss.
"If only I hadnât faced that unlucky Duran, Nella could have had a perfect record too!"
Chelsea, who had just distributed the test papers to her classmates, said as she hugged Nella.
Nella, one of the strong candidates for a perfect record, added a loss after facing Duran in the third match.
"I did well against Duran, so Iâm satisfied."
Nella smiled and stroked Chelseaâs head.
"By the way, Leo, howâs your summoning practical exam practice going?"
"Itâs going well."
"You hardly ever come to practice, though?"
Taid, a summoning student, asked with a puzzled look.
The summoning practical exam was one of the biggest events for Lumernâs first-year first semester.
Leo smiled at Taidâs question.
"Iâm practicing hard in places you canât see."
"Typical Leo. Youâre so full of confidence. Whatâs your expected goal?"
Leo, seeing Chelseaâs shining eyes, said matter-of-factly.