Sparring partner?
Whose sparring partner?
For Leon Wolfgang?
What a joke.
He, the eldest son of the Duke Lucas family, was here to be a sparring partner for the heir of another ducal family?
It was an insult.
A naked, blatant insult.
Bell's blood rushed to his head instantly; he almost turned and left on the spot.
But he couldn't.
He froze at the door, looking at the man sitting leisurely behind the desk inside the room.
Leovet Victor.
His only, his last straw.
Bell gritted his teeth hard, swallowing the humiliation and anger that were almost erupting out of him.
He lifted his foot and, step by step, walked into this black stone tower.
Every step felt like he was treading on his own dignity.
“Instructor.”
Bell stood before the desk, head lowered, his voice dry.
Leovet did not look at him, his gaze still fixed on the azure wind blade spinning in his hand.
“Didn't you want me to help you?”
“This is the first lesson.”
“Prove your value.”
His tone was flat, as if he were speaking of the most ordinary thing.
Bell's fists clenched tightly at his sides.
Value?
His value was to be a stepping stone for another genius?
“But I...”
Bell wanted to say he was no match for Leon.
The lifelike ice crystal butterfly at the opening ceremony had already proven that Leon's talent in mana control far exceeded those of his age.
And he himself, just a few hours ago, had failed to even manifest the most basic water ball spell.
In this sparring match, he would lose miserably.
“No buts.”
Leovet interrupted him, finally looking up, his eyes which seemed to see through souls staring directly at Bell.
“He, Leon Wolfgang, came to the Ignis Branch alone to challenge me.”
“And you, Bell Lucas, came to beg me for your life.”
“Your goals are different, but you both need to prove to me that you are worth my time.”
As Leovet spoke, his gaze shifted to Leon, who had remained silent.
“Leon, your goal is Cecilia Lucas, correct?”
A flicker of emotion appeared on Leon's cold, arrogant face.
“The kingdom cannot have only one genius.” His voice was like the man himself, cold and sharp. “I will surpass her.”
Bell's heart gave a sudden jolt.
Surpass Cecilia Lucas?
He didn't even dare to think of such a notion.
Leovet smiled, stood up, and walked between the two.
“Very well. Then, today's training is simple.”
He pointed his fingers at them respectively.
“Bell, your task is to last ten minutes against Leon.”
“As for you, Leon...” Leovet's voice carried a hint of playfulness. “Your task is to make him collapse in submission within ten minutes, but without harming a single hair on his head.”
“Do you understand?”
Leon nodded without objection.
Without harming a single hair.
This meant he couldn't use any directly offensive magic.
This was a hundred times harder than simply knocking him down.
It was the ultimate test of mana control.
And the ultimate humiliation for Bell.
The training ground on the top floor of the tower was empty and oppressive.
There was no referee; the only spectator was Leovet, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed.
Bell and Leon stood ten meters apart, facing each other.
“I will not go easy on you,” Leon spoke, his voice devoid of emotion.
Bell did not answer.
He took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.
He couldn't lose too pathetically.
At least, not like a clown.
He recalled knowledge from his past life about fighting and strategy.
The world of magic was essentially the application of energy.
Since the total amount of energy was worlds apart, he could only look for opportunities in the efficiency and method of its application.
“Begin.”
The moment Leovet's voice fell.
Leon moved.
He did not chant; he simply raised his hand.
The stone floor beneath Bell's feet instantly became as smooth as a mirror.
Extreme ice.
Bell's center of gravity shifted, and his foot slipped, nearly causing him to fall.
He hurriedly channeled mana to steady his lower body. The heavy sensation of the earth element rose from his soles, allowing him to regain his footing on the ice.
Immediately after, the ice began to tilt, vibrate, and even rise and fall like waves.
Leon hadn't even thought about attacking.
He was playing with him.
He was using absolute mana control to show Bell the gap between them.
Bell gritted his teeth, focusing all his energy on maintaining his balance, looking wretched.
At this rate, he wouldn't last ten minutes; he wouldn't even last one.
He had to counterattack!
Bell gave up on maintaining balance on the ice. He channeled all his mana and stomped hard on the ground.
“Earth Wall!”
A thick wall of earth rose from the ground, blocking the path between him and Leon.
Then, he pressed both hands against the wall, mana surging wildly into it.
Knowledge of resonance and frequency from his past life's physics flashed through his mind.
He didn't choose to reinforce the earth wall; instead, he used a specific frequency to vibrate every particle of earth that composed it.
“Vibration!”
The earth wall did not shatter; instead, it acted like a struck tuning fork, emitting a low hum.
The next second, the entire wall disintegrated!
Countless fist sized chunks of earth, enhanced by high frequency vibration, shot toward Leon like buckshot!
This wasn't magic.
This was his own method of attack, created by combining his past life's knowledge with the magic of this world!
For the first time, a look of surprise appeared on Leon's face.
He hadn't expected a simple Earth Wall spell to have such a variation.
Facing the overwhelming barrage of earth chunks, he simply raised his other hand.
“Ice Wall.”
A crystal clear wall of ice rose instantly before him.
The earth chunks slammed into the ice wall with muffled thuds, but they couldn't budge it an inch.
However, Bell's goal wasn't to attack.
The moment the earth wall exploded, he had already charged toward Leon under the cover of the dust!
He wanted to get close!
It was his only chance of winning!
Bell's figure burst through the dust, and Leon's pupils constricted.
He reacted extremely quickly; an ice spike rose from the floor beneath his feet, attempting to block Bell.
Bell timed it perfectly, suddenly swerving. His right foot kicked off the ice spike, and his entire body twisted at an incredible angle, dodging the subsequent ice thorns while closing the final distance!
His right hand was already balled into a fist, carrying the strength of his entire body as he smashed it toward Leon's chest!
Just as his fist was about to touch Leon.
An extreme chill surged from all directions.
It was not ice, and it was not frost.
It was the air.
The temperature of the air around him was sucked away in an instant, dropping to a terrifying freezing point.
Bell's movements became incredibly slow at that moment.
His blood felt as if it were about to freeze, his muscles stiffened, and even his thoughts began to lag.
He watched helplessly as his fist, in slow motion, stopped less than a centimeter from Leon's chest.
Then, it could not advance another fraction.
Leon stood where he was, unmoving.
He simply looked at Bell, his ice blue eyes showing no mockery, only the absolute calm belonging to a genius.
He had lost.
Completely and utterly.
Leovet, leaning against the wall, curled his lips into an unreadable arc.
He raised his hand and snapped his fingers.
The chill that froze everything vanished instantly.
Bell was like a fish out of water, his strength gone. He knelt on one knee, gasping for air.
“Time is up.”
Leovet's voice rang out.
“Bell Lucas, you lasted ten minutes.”
“Though it was unsightly.”
Bell looked up, his eyes full of unwillingness.
Leon withdrew his hand and turned to look at Leovet.
“I did not make him submit completely.”
“No.”
A raspy voice came from the floor.
Bell struggled, pushing off the ground to slowly stand up.
He looked at Leon and said word by word.
“I... submit.”
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