The location that I chose was near the cave where I had previously trained. I still had access to it, and used it now and then. The only problem that I had with the facility was that I'd return all battered up and bruised by the end.

It usually made the days after a complete nightmare for me.

".....This isn't a bad place."

Leon murmured while looking around.

Surrounded by trees, the area was one of the few flat spots within the forest outside of the Academy campus.

Technically speaking we weren't supposed to be here. In fact, we weren't even supposed to be outside of the Academy campus.

The only reason why we hadn't got caught was because I had explicit permission from Delilah to go out of the Academy walls. The guards in charge knew me which hence why they granted me leave.

And since Leon was my knight it was also not a problem getting him out.

Most likely though, they would notify Delilah of the situation.

I was fine with that.

Clank

Clamping the bracelet on his wrist, Leon looked at me.

I stared back before putting my own.

Clank

"There's three settings. Put it in the second setting. It should limit our mana to the same level."

"Got it."

Listening to his words, I did as he told me and adjusted the setting of the bracelet.

It wasn't hard. There was a small display at the top, and all I had to do was turn the small wheel that was on the side.

[II]

Locking onto the second setting, the mana within my body started to drain.

It wasn't much but I felt a little uncomfortable.

".....Are you ready?"

When I looked up, I noticed that Leon's expression was rather pale.

"Are you alright?"

"I'll be fine."

He didn't seem fine at all.

"I'll take your word for it, I guess."

Bad condition or not, I was sure he'd still be able to hold well against me.

"H-haa."

Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes. Though I didn't show it, my hand was currently shaking. It would be a lie if I said that I wasn't nervous.

Leon.

.....Besides being my knight, he was the true strongest cadet of the year.

The main character of this world.

He was someone that even Aoife would have a hard time defeating, let alone me. It'd be delusional to say I wasn't nervous, but,

I opened my eyes.

'I want to try.'

.....I wanted to see just how far I had gotten over the past half a year in this world.

"Are you ready?"

"....."

I didn't answer immediately and channeled the mana inside of my body.

Clank, clank, clank

Chains wrapped around my left arm.

Then,

Staring directly into Leon's eyes, I nodded my head.

"I am."

"...I'm coming."

Leon's voice faded into the night, his figure blurring away from the spot he had previously been standing on.

In the next moment, he was right before me.

I instinctively raised my left hand.

Clank

Despite the fact that he was using a wooden sword, the moment the sword came into contact with the chains, a loud metallic sound reverberated through the air as I slid back several meters.

"..."

In the silence, I looked at my arm which was entirely numb.

The pain that accompanied the numbness was something else. Thankfully, pain was something I could deal with and I brushed it off just in time for Leon's second attack.

I raised my hand again.

But as if the sword was a snake, it curled around my arm and directly aimed for my exposed torso.

".....!"

In that brief moment, I caught sight of Leon's face.

His gaze...

It was almost unrecognizable. He was usually stoic and hardly showed any emotions, but at this moment, there was something more to that gaze.

It was cold.

.....Chillingly cold, and,

The wooden sword hit my torso.

Bang!

"...."

I remained quiet.

The pain was there. It was certainly there. I could feel it.

My left eye twitched involuntarily as I met Leon's gaze. Then, in that brief moment when our gazes met, I squeezed my right hand.

Threads encircled the surroundings.

They neared his neck, his arms, his legs, and almost every part of his body. Wherever I looked, there were threads.

"..."

His movements halted then.

The two of us stood face-to-face with each other.

Such a moment lasted only for a brief moment before Leon's body suddenly blurred, reappearing off into the distance.

In the moment when his figure appeared again, I reached with my hand in his direction. The mana inside of my body drained rapidly and my hand turned purple.

At the same time, a translucent purple hand materialized right beneath his chin.

".....!"

His expression changed the moment the hand appeared.

Still, he was quick to react.

Bending back, he just narrowly missed the hand.

"Tsk."

I clicked my tongue.

'That was close.'

Still, I didn't stop. I knew that I needed to be aggressive.

Without hesitation, I reached with my hand again.

At the same time, I withdrew the threads.

Swoosh

Dodging again, Leon slammed his foot against the ground and pushed his body in my direction.

Bang!

It was as if the earth had exploded.

In the instant his foot made contact with the ground, everything beneath it shattered, and he appeared right before me. I could hardly catch his movements, but I could more or less guess what he was trying to do.

Bringing my hand forward, I managed to block his first attack.

Clank

Sparks flew and I staggered back.

"....Ukh."

Before I even had the chance to catch my breath, he was on me again.

Clank, clank, clank!

Leon was relentless with his attacks.

Regardless of what I tried, he just wouldn't give me any breathing room. To the point where I started to feel suffocated.

But such a feeling...

'It's similar to the mental examination one.'

Could there be a correlation?

Clank

I was pushed further back.

"Huaa...!"

Halfway through my breath, Leon was already on me. With the wooden sword above his head, his muscles tensed. Instinctively, I brought my hand up to block.

Bang!

But I had clearly fallen for his trap as his foot smashed against my stomach, sending me flying back.

".....Ukeh!"

A sound escaped my lips as I fell on my back.

It came from me hurriedly taking in a breath. Leon's relentless attacks had made it impossible for me to breathe.

The sensation wasn't one that I particularly enjoyed.

And yet, it was also not the first time I had experienced such a sensation.

Rather, I experienced it during the Progression Analysis.

"....."

Blinking my eyes, the world around me felt blurry.

Moving my hand, I felt the coarse texture of the ground beneath me. It was rough, brittle, and...

"Hu!"

I quickly rolled to the side.

Bang

Dirt flew on my back as I pushed myself up from the ground.

I then brought my knee in front of me and shielded myself from the incoming strike.

Swooosh

"Ukh...!"

The attack came.

Clank

My entire body shook.

I felt it within my bones.

Ta...! Ta!

Taking several steps back, I caught a glimpse of the deep imprints I left behind on the way.

"Kh."

My face twitched the moment I paused.

'I think I broke something.'

Still, I could move it and without a second thought, I moved to the side and dodged his strike.

Bang

The tree behind me shattered in one single hit and I secretly swallowed to myself.

'I tanked that?'

How was my body still in one piece?

I took that moment to distance myself from him.

"Haaa... Haaa..."

By now, my breath was heavy.

While I couldn't see myself in the mirror, I knew that I was currently looking extremely pathetic.

'.....Good thing I rejected the Professor's offer.'

Had I accepted the proposal, I was almost certain the outcome would've been even worse than the current one.

"Are you trying?"

There were hints of disappointment in Leon's voice.

Looking up, he was standing where he previously was with a frown.

".....I've seen your strength. Why are you holding back?"

Strength my ass.

I was on drugs.

"Are you going to take the fight seriously?"

"....."

Without making a sound, I closed my eyes.

It became clear to me after the exchange I had with him that the gap in our skills was still quite noticeable.

.....And that was fine.

I didn't for one second believe that I had a shot at beating him.

That said, it wasn't as though I had revealed all my cards just yet. There was also a certain trump card that I was hesitant to use.

If possible, I didn't want to use that move.

"Huuu."

Taking a deep breath, I opened my eyes again.

The world that I knew had turned gray. Looking around, everything felt dull to me.

Leon was staring back at me with the same indifferent gaze of his.

"....Are you ready?"

Even his tone sounded indifferent.

I wanted to laugh, but I couldn't. I simply... was not me at the moment.

Swoosh

Without saying a word, I had already made a dash for him. Chains wrapped around my left hand.

He raised his sword and swung downward diagonally.

".....!"

I didn't dodge.

Bang!

The hit landed exactly on my shoulder. My body shook, but I didn't care. The only thing on my mind at the moment was Leon.

I stared at his image before me and felt my lips curl.

Without hesitation, I clenched my right hand and threads emerged from behind him, stopping his movements.

Bang

My fist hit him squarely in the cheek and he staggered back.

For the first time, I had hit him.

The damage didn't appear to be much, but in that moment, something dripped down from his nose.

It was, red...

"Haaa... Haaa..."

My breath quickened. So did my heartbeat.

More...

That red.

I wanted to see more of it.

Within the colorless world, the only color staining it was red.

Swoosh

Without care, I charged at Leon.

Bang, Bang!

A familiar scene repeated.

Dashing at Leon, he'd counter-attack and hit me all over. I'd disregard each and every one of his attacks, exchanging blow for blow with him.

Through his footwork, he was able to mitigate the damage that his body sustained.

Sometimes, he'd tilt his chin just enough to reduce the impact from my punch or sometimes even avoid the threads carefully set up around him.

Not that it mattered to me.

'More, more...!'

At this very moment.

All I cared about was red.

I wanted to see red.

Bang, Bang, Bang!

We continued to exchange blows. I ignored the pain, and just went wild. Such reckless fighting method clearly flustered Leon who started to look overwhelmed.

"Hahaha."

I laughed then.

I felt like I was close.

Close to seeing even more red.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

I continued to swing and charge forward.

'More...!'

Leon took as step back.

Clank!

And then another.

Clank...!

And then another one.

"Mo-Ukh...!"

But that all came to a stop after a certain moment.

Just as I had taken a step forward and was mid-swing, my body froze. It just stopped moving.

"Uh....?"

My arms sagged and I blinked.

"What the, huh?"

My body.

It refused to listen to me.

Regardless of how hard I tried, it just wouldn't budge.

And just as I tried again to move my body, something flashed from my right side. Before I even had the chance to understand what it was, I was lying on the ground.

The moon shone brightly from above and the left side of my face hurt like hell.

'....Ah, so it's come to this.'

I looked up slightly to see Leon in the distance, supporting his body slightly on the nearby tree.

"Haaa... Haa..."

I could practically hear his breathing from where I was. I could also see the bruises and cuts all over his face.

He clearly didn't have an easy time.

Still, compared to my injuries, they were probably nothing.

The victor was clear for everyone to see.

He had won.

.....And I had lost.

"....."

This was the expected outcome, and yet...

'Why do I feel so frustrated?'

My left hand twitched.

I could now move my arms, if ever so slightly.

"H-huu..."

Taking a deep breath, my chest trembled.

I hurt all over, but that pain...

It was nothing compared to the sense of frustration that I was currently feeling.

'I don't want to lose.'

It wasn't as though I didn't accept my loss.

He was clearly better than me.

Still, I didn't want to lose.

'...Not when I've yet to do everything.'

There was still something that I could do.

It had been a while since the last time I had used it.

The mental toll it would have on my mind wasn't something I could deal with for a short period of time.

In fact, it had taken me several months just to feel okay again.

It wasn't an experience that I wanted to relieve again.

But...

Rustle!

Hearing the faint rustling sound, I bit my lip.

Leon was coming over.

Rustle!

"....."

His steps drew nearer.

In that moment, I brought my left hand over my right where a tattoo rested.

Rustle!

'....."

He was just a few meters away from me.

I could feel it.

....And when I raised my head, my eyes met with his.

That was when our eyes locked.

And just before he could say anything else, I pressed it.

The first leaf.