Chapter 160
Chelsea was a girl who had grown up with nothing to envy.
Born into a good family, with wonderful parents and an excellent environment.
And even gifted with outstanding talent.
She was the darling of her family and was able to do whatever she wanted.
It wouldn’t have been surprising if she’d gone astray.
But she didn’t, because she always had someone beside her to look up to.
Abad Lewellin.
Chelsea’s older brother and the heir of the Lewellin family.
Chelsea did her best to follow in Abad’s footsteps and help him.
At first, she tried to become an all-rounder mage like Abad, but after realizing she had even greater talent for combat magic, she switched her focus.
Everything was for the future of her family and her brother.
Then, one day—
She met a boy.
A white-haired boy who was always with Celia Zerdinger, her rival since childhood.
At first, she found him annoying and detestable.
Anyone close to Celia would just be another obstacle to Abad being the best, or so she thought.
But that opinion soon changed.
That day.
Seeing his back as he faced the impossible without hesitation was enough to capture Chelsea’s eyes.
Like a hero from the fairy tales she’d read as a child.
Leo’s presence powerfully drew her gaze.
Chelsea never dreamed of becoming a great hero.
Admiring and aiming for heroes was always an effort made for her beloved brother.
She poured all her effort into simply wanting to help him.
That’s why, in a sense, Leo was the first person she’d ever given a second look.
‘I still respect my brother.’
Chelsea tightened her grip on her staff.
‘I want to be a great help to him and to my family.’
That hasn’t changed.
‘But there’s nothing wrong with chasing what I want, too, is there?’
From a certain point, that boy took a place in her heart.
The more she watched, the more she admired, the more she was drawn in.
Leo became just as significant to Chelsea as the brother she respected so deeply.
‘Leo is like a hero from a storybook.’
The girl who once vaguely dreamed of being a hero was gone.
‘When I watch him, my heart pounds.’
Meeting a real-life hero instead of just reading about them in books.
‘I want to be like Leo. Someone amazing that others can look up to.’
It wasn’t concrete yet, but little by little, Chelsea was shaping her own vision of the future.
Abad, watching her from afar, smiled gently.
“Wow. Your sister’s something else, isn’t she?”
Jureden, vice-rep of Class 8, clicked his tongue as he approached Abad.
“She wasn’t always this good, was she? She’s a battle mage, but to be matching Haviden up close…”
“Yeah. She’s changed so much it’s surprising.”
Whooosh—
Chelsea’s wind swept across the training field, even ruffling Abad’s hair.
‘That’s right, Chelsea. Wind doesn’t only blow one way. It should be free. You can be anything you want.’
Watching his sister chase her dream, Abad smiled fondly.
Nearby girls squealed at the sight of his smile.
Abad glanced at Class 5’s section.
He caught sight of Leo, chin in hand, quietly watching Chelsea.
Abad knew Leo was the one who inspired the change in his sister.
‘Makes me a bit jealous.’
He gave a wry smile, then turned his attention back to Chelsea.
‘Show them how much you’ve changed, Chelsea.’
—
Whoosh—!
“Grr!”
Haviden’s eyes widened.
He readied his spear and swung at Chelsea.
Crash—clash—!
Wind [Aura] scattered.
Chelsea blocked Haviden’s attack with her staff.
“How dare you! A mage playing knight?!”
Haviden shouted in anger.
Chelsea grinned.
“Playing knight? I never did that.”
Swirl—
Wind [Mana] whirled around Chelsea.
“I told you, that’s not how you use wind.”
Repeating words someone once told her, Chelsea’s body moved fast.
Crash—!
“Gasp!”
Chelsea disappeared from Haviden’s sight, making him gasp as he quickly deployed [Aura Armor].
Chelsea appeared behind him.
She jabbed Haviden in the back with her staff.
Whoosh! Bang—!
The wind that had been protecting Haviden scattered instantly.
Chelsea narrowed her eyes.
“Wind Break!”
Crack—crack—crash—!
“Argh!”
Hit by magic at point-blank range, Haviden and his spirit were sent flying.
Splash—!
“Grr!”
Haviden’s eyes widened.
‘She’s neutralizing my wind? How?’
Wind [Aura] was useless against Chelsea.
Her pure ability to manipulate wind was on a completely different level, but Haviden refused to admit it.
‘It’s just because I’m not using enough output!’
Crack—crack—crash—!
A storm of [Aura] raged.
But Chelsea just batted away Haviden’s attacks using wind as if it was nothing.
“How… how?”
“I regularly face people who wield far stronger wind [Aura] than you. Attacks like that are nothing to me.”
Chelsea looked down at him, her chin held high, which made Haviden’s eyes flare with anger.
“Then block this!”
Whooo—!
[Aura] gathered at the tip of Haviden’s spear.
Chelsea’s eyes moved quickly.
Armored in wind, Chelsea deflected Haviden’s relentless close-range attacks from atop the wind spirit.
Watching her block Haviden head-on, the Knight Department students began to tense.
“Hey, is that even possible?”
“Her close combat’s almost at Knight Department level, isn’t it?”
Everyone knew Chelsea was aiming to become a battle mage.
And it was no secret she’d trained hard at close combat.
But her ability was enough to shock even the Knight Department students.
Her moves as she blocked Haviden’s attacks were on another level.
“Was she a magic swordsman?”
A Knight Department student asked in disbelief.
“Rep! What kind of magic did you use on Chelsea?” Eliana gasped.
“I didn’t use any magic,” Leo replied.
“Then what?”
“We just sparred a lot during training.”
It was already well known that Leo had trained with Chelsea since the start of the semester.
But nobody knew the extent of her growth.
So far, only Chelsea’s magical prowess had been showcased, never her close combat ability.
But the second semester was different.
It was time to show everything she had.
Training with Leo all first semester was finally paying off.
“Wow.”
Eliana stared at Chelsea, mouth agape.
As impressive as it was, no one in the Knight Department thought they’d lose to Chelsea at martial arts.
The real problem was that Chelsea was a mage.
‘If she starts using real magic, the Knight Department is doomed!’
With the sparring evaluations coming up, the Knight Department students could only get nervous.
“No way…”
“You think it’s impossible?”
Chelsea sneered.
“The world’s bigger than you think, little frogs in a well.”
She slammed her staff into the ground.
Crack—crack—crack—!
A violent whirlwind erupted.
Screech—! Screeeech—!
“Arghhhh!”
Caught in the whirlwind, Haviden spun like he’d been tossed in a thresher.
Whoosh—!
Thud—!
His magic dissipated, and Haviden crashed to the ground.
“Urgh! Ugh!”
The world spun madly for him.
Seeing Haviden so thoroughly defeated, Chelsea scoffed and stepped off the field.
“Oooooh!”
“Chelsea! Chelsea!”
“You’re amazing, big sis!”
“Small but strong!”
Cheers erupted among the Lumene students.
The boys were especially excited.
Chelsea was naturally one of the most popular girls in her grade.
Smiling confidently at her classmates, she flashed a V sign and ran over to Leo.
Sighs and groans echoed among the boys.
“Leo Plov.”
“That lucky guy!”
Ignoring them, Chelsea beamed up at Leo.
“Leo! Leo! How was it? Did I do well? Wasn’t I amazing? Praise me like you did for Carr!”
Leo burst out laughing at Chelsea’s eager chatter and reached out to pat her head.
“Yeah, yeah. You did great. You’ve grown so much.”
“Hehehe.”
“I don’t think you need to train with me anymore.”
“Huh?”
Leo smirked.
“I think you’ve found your own path.”
As a battle mage, Chelsea had perfected her own style.
She was now a fully fledged mage in her own right.
Chelsea looked flustered at Leo’s words.
“I’m still not good enough! I have so much more to learn from you! So, um… what I mean is…”
“She wants more of Leo’s training,” Carr chimed in.
“Yep!”
When Carr helped, Chelsea nodded right away.
“Oh, Chelsea. If you want to keep up that hard training, does that mean you’re into that sort of thing…”
“What nonsense! You want to die?!”
Chelsea punched Carr in the side with a full swing, eyes blazing.
“Argh!”
Doubling over, Carr rolled on the ground as Chelsea kicked him without hesitation.
Leo was still laughing when—
“Chelsea Lewellin!”
Haviden, wiping his mouth, staggered over.
Eyes wide, teeth gritted, he was clearly struggling to hold back the dizziness.
‘Humiliation!’
It was the first time he’d ever been defeated so completely by someone his own age.
And to vomit in front of everyone.
As a crown prince.
As a knight praised as a genius, it was his first real taste of humiliation.
Haviden trembled.
Rikid sighed as he supported him.
“What now? Didn’t get enough?”
Chelsea said indifferently.
“I admit defeat! I’ve never experienced anything like this!”
“Huh?”
“From today on, I’ll redouble my training to catch up with you!”
“You wish. I couldn’t care less about you.”
Chelsea replied with an annoyed voice.
“Sigh… Of course you don’t. You were overwhelmingly strong. But I’ll work until you have no choice but to notice me!”
“Hey. Heh, I think he’s fallen for you,” Carr snickered, still clutching his side.
Chelsea stomped on him with a fierce look.
“Yeah. Maybe Carr’s right, maybe I have fallen for you,” Haviden said honestly, even as Chelsea scowled.
Booing erupted from Class 5.
“Wow~ Our youngest is getting confessed to in front of everyone.”
“Ah, to be young.”
“Kids are cute.”
Teasing voices came from all sides, making Chelsea grin wickedly.
“Hope you can handle the consequences!”
“Yikes!”
Everyone scattered in fear.
Chelsea started to chase after them, then stuck her tongue out at Haviden.
“If you want to confess to me, get at least as strong as Leo first!”
Then she glared and ran after the classmates who had teased her.
“You’re all dead!”
Her fierce shout was soon followed by screams all over the place.
As Haviden watched Leo walk by to try and break things up, he clenched his fist.
“If I can just catch up to him…!”
Carr, clutching his side, stood up.
“He really doesn’t get it.”
“What do you mean?”
Eliana clicked her tongue and waggled her finger.
“Telling him to get as strong as the class rep basically means he’ll never hear a yes.”
Tide shrugged and added,
“It means not to bother aiming for a tree you can never climb.”
Haviden looked dumbfounded.
“But we’re all just people…”
“People?” Carr, Eliana, and Tide all shook their heads.
“He’s on a different level.”
With her signature languid smile, Nella looked at Leo’s back.
“Sometimes, it feels like he’s from another world.”
As the Lumene students all agreed, Haviden stared blankly.
‘Just how incredible is he?’