***

One month later.

Ever since their first training session, Leonor and the other four girls had looked enthusiastic and happy learning with their teachers.

They gained a lot of knowledge that matched their passions. However, for Leonor herself, the intensity of her training was far higher compared to the other girls.

Besides Edmund’s ambition to make her stronger, Leonor struggled at first when she had to control two different powers.

Lilith, who was inside Leonor’s body, never expected training in human magic to be this troublesome and difficult.

However, she still kept trying without giving up.

Today, all of them gathered in the backyard of the Aschwin Mansion. Today was their first day gathering as one group.

Sera and the others waited at the side of the yard, watching ahead where Edmund alone would fight Leonor’s group.

Edmund stood without wearing armor over his clothes, only holding an iron sword tightly in his hand.

In front of him, Edmund saw Leonor and the others ready in their outfits, along with the weapons they used.

The party had five people and stood in an arrow formation. Denise, as the Knight, stood at the front. Nicole, as the Assassin, stood in the second row right behind Denise. Leonor, as the Mage, and Aya, as the Summoner, stood side by side in the third row. Lastly, Helena, as the Priest, stood in the final row.

Edmund looked at their formation, then glanced sharply to the side. Among the people there, his attention focused on Sera.

That woman taught them an S-Rank party formation!

So she’s challenging me.

His attention fixed forward again, seeing Denise and the others preparing themselves with serious, cautious expressions.

"What are the rules for the spar?" Edmund asked.

"Simple," Sera said, crossing her arms, "You and them will fight for 30 minutes. They can use all their basic skills, while you can only use basic attacks."

"What do you think, Edmund?" Sera asked, looking at him with satisfied eyes.

Edmund drew his sword and pointed it forward, "I hate you, Sera!"

"Alright. The spar between Edmund and Leonor’s Party... begins!" Sera declared.

Denise was the first to leap forward, swinging an iron sword with a fairly light weight compared to Edmund’s sword.

The first attack was launched toward Edmund, a sword slash technique with sword energy that was fairly weak.

Edmund narrowed his eyes. He did not dodge the sword slash, but destroyed it until it split in two.

The attack was successfully split apart. However, unexpectedly, the blue light from the sword slash shone brightly.

What? An explosion?!

Edmund jumped far backward, and an explosion occurred, startling him. His attention focused to the side, staring at Natalie.

"You taught her an explosion attack technique?"

"Denise is careful and agile. She could learn it quickly," Natalie replied.

Tch! I hate all of them.

Right when Edmund was moving away from the explosion, his sensitive hearing caught the sound of footsteps from his right side.

Nicole appeared after using stealth, pointing her dagger toward Edmund’s face.

Edmund raised his sword and blocked Nicole’s dagger blade with his own.

Unexpectedly, Nicole’s other hand manifested a purple dagger and prepared to attack Edmund from the front.

Mana Weapon Manifestation?

"How can she use Mana Weapon Manifestation?"

"Nicole is quiet, but she learns fast. At first, I didn’t want to teach her, but she wanted to master that ability," Luna replied.

Edmund kicked Nicole’s body and jumped to the side, successfully landing and planting his feet on the ground.

Edmund’s gaze fixed forward. A medium-sized fireball shot powerfully toward him.

He could have split the fireball apart, but the rules forbade him from using sword skills.

With no other choice, Edmund leaped high into the sky and successfully dodged Leonor’s attack.

The fireball exploded with enough force to hit the magic barrier around their battle arena. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

While floating in the air, Edmund’s attention focused forward again. Aya had successfully formed the manifestation of an eagle beast, aimed toward Edmund.

I’m trapped!

Sera and the others raised their heads to the sky. Sera smiled with a grin when she realized Edmund could not act while in the air.

"You lost, Edmund," Sera said.

Edmund stayed silent for a moment, then smiled faintly when he realized he had no other choice.

Edmund’s eyes opened, glowing white along with the mana aura radiating from his body.

Sera was shocked when she saw the change in Edmund’s mana aura, "You cheated. You used Absolute Affinity!"

"Absolute Affinity?!" Lyla and the others exclaimed in shock.

Leonor looked up at the sky, watching Edmund step on the air and move as fast as the wind, changing positions until he fully arrived on the ground.

Aya, Denise, Nicole, and Leonor were stunned, "He’s so fast!"

Edmund arrived and planted his feet on the ground. Leonor and Aya turned and aimed their magic staffs toward Edmund.

The man looked back and realized their attacks were aimed at him, which meant they were aimed directly at Helena.

Edmund could actually dodge those attacks, but the two attacks would keep going and could possibly injure Helena, who was in the very back row.

"Don’t, Leonor! Cancel that attack," Sera said.

"Pull back your beast summon, Aya!" Lyla said firmly.

Aya and Leonor shook their heads, trying to cancel the attacks but unable to do so.

Edmund narrowed his eyes sharply, moved as fast as the wind, and hugged Helena at his side.

The man immediately jumped away, dodging the magic eagle and fireball attacks from Aya and Leonor.

BLAST!

An explosion occurred when the attacks hit the barrier wall.

Edmund successfully saved Helena, while the girl beside him looked pale because she had almost been hit by Leonor and Aya’s attacks.

Slowly, Edmund landed and released Helena. Rosie came into the arena, and Helena immediately ran to hug her teacher.

Edmund stared at them sharply, then stabbed his sword into the ground with force.

"Your teamwork is truly terrible!" Edmund declared.

"You almost injured Helena, even though she’s a priest and important for restoring your HP and stamina," Edmund explained.

"Leonor... Aya! You attacked without thinking and almost hurt Helena," Edmund said.

Leonor and Aya looked at each other, then lowered their heads weakly and apologized for their carelessness.

"Denise... Nicole. You two were too passive at the front and did not help much with defense when the enemy threatened from behind," Edmund said.

Denise and Nicole realized their mistakes. They would train hard.

Sera and the others came over and tried to calm the situation. However, Edmund immediately narrowed his eyes and stared sharply at Sera.

"This formation doesn’t suit their party. Their teamwork hasn’t formed yet."

Edmund pulled his sword out of the ground in annoyance and sheathed it roughly.

"Next time, use a common and easy formation!" Edmund declared.

"But I was trying to—"

Edmund’s eyes glowed white when Sera tried to argue with him. Sera widened her eyes, feeling the strong burst of mana energy that everyone there could feel.

Sera’s heart pounded unevenly when her eyes met Edmund’s glowing white eyes. Edmund released an aura of intimidation toward Sera.

"Do as I say!" Edmund declared.

Sera fell silent, her head lowered and her eyes closed. "I-I will."