The very air chilled.

".....When was the last time you were scared?"

Julien's voice layered, echoing in the air.

Leon's steps came to a sudden halt.

In that moment, his body stopped listening to him. Sweat started to form in his palms and his breathing started to quicken.

"Haa... haa..."

It all happened so suddenly that Leon had a hard time understanding what had happened.

Before he knew it, Julien had already helped himself back up.

He struggled to do so, but he was still able to get up.

Julien's body was battered, and blood was leaking down from the cuts all over his face. He looked extremely frail.

He looked like he'd topple over with just a touch.

And yet,

His body refused to move.

'Why?'

"Looking at the way you look right now, perhaps you have."

Julien's voice was like a quiet whisper.

It smoothly transmitted in the air before entering his mind.

"Haa.... Haa..."

Leon felt his breathing quicken yet again.

'What's going on...?'

He looked down to check his hand.

It was trembling.

"Ah."

And then he realized.

'Emotive Magic.'

Julien had finally started using Emotive Magic.

Fear.

"H-haha."

A laugh escaped his lips.

So this was how his emotive magic felt.

He had always been curious. Wondering just how immersive it was considering that it had enabled him to rank first within the year.

He now knew.

Gripping his shirt, he clenched his teeth.

It felt suffocating.

"Ha... Haa..."

To the point where he almost stepped back.

".....It's intriguing, right?"

Julien's voice continued to echo in the background.

"It first starts with the sweats."

He seemed to be describing his current situation.

"Then, your heart starts to beat faster."

For some reason, his words...

"...Your breathing hurries to match that pace."

They synchronized perfectly with everything that he started to feel.

"The sound drums at your mind."

It felt creepy.

"Thump! Thump! Thump!"

Leon swallowed his saliva.

He was having a hard time keeping his head clear.

"It goes something like that, right?"

Before Leon knew it, Julien was already standing a few feet away from him.

He was merely a step away from him.

"....!"

His entire body froze the moment he looked up to meet Julien's gaze.

Memories of the past replayed themselves and his body started to shake.

A distant past that he wanted to forget.

But that wasn't all.

Currently, the Julien that stood before him.

.....He felt extremely pressuring

To the point where Leon had a hard time meeting his gaze.

"It's annoying, right?"

Julien's head slowly reached for him.

As if time had started to slow down, Leon stared at the hand which reached for his shoulder.

Leon stared at the hand, frozen.

His entire body simply refused to list him to him.

The hand drew near.

And then,

"N-no..."

Leon snapped out of it the moment the hand was about to touch him.

Bang!

Sinking his foot against the ground, he mustered every little bit of strength he had to push himself back.

Swoosh

Just narrowly, he managed to avoid his hand.

"Haaa... Haa..."

But it was close.

Had he been a second later then he was sure Julien's hand would have reached him. He could only shudder at the thought of what would've happened had the hand touched him.

"..."

The surroundings turned quiet.

Leon looked up and met Julien's gaze as he stood quietly.

The two eyed each other from their respective distance.

Neither said a word.

"Haa... Haa..."

The only sound that Leon could hear was the sound of his heavy breath.

The more he looked at Julien, the more intimidated he felt.

It was steadily piling up with the seconds.

Standing a few feet away from him felt like he was holding onto a large boulder over his shoulder. One that progressively grew heavier by the second.

'....I don't have much time left.'

That much was becoming clear to him.

There was no second that passed where he didn't notice the worsening of his condition. From the sweat to the beat of his heart. All of them were getting worse.

"Haa, this..."

Quite frankly, he had been confused.

Back at the mid-terms he had shown skills that were far superior than what he had shown now.

Based on what Leon had managed to glimpse of Julien, he hadn't been confident before the fight.

He thought he'd lose.

Or at least, put up a good fight.

And yet...

The fight turned out much different than he had anticipated.

Yes, he had been flustered at times, but he had been in utter control throughout the entire exchange.

It had been disappointing.

....But that was the past.

'Right, I keep forgetting...'

Julien's forte.

It wasn't his individual skills.

No, rather.

It was his emotive magic.

"Are you not going to make a move?"

Julien's voice echoed again, and Leon's head flicked up to stare at him.

The back of his hair stood on end the moment their gazes met and his face showed signs of cracking.

'How am I going to handle this...?'

He was stumped.

The fear...

It had taken over his mind and was making it hard for him to think clearly.

Still, he had to do something.

Staring at Julien, he could tell that he was injured. In fact, the only reason why he didn't move was because he couldn't move.

'Right... I can do this.'

Clenching his teeth, Leon gripped onto the handle of the wooden sword.

He had just taken a step forward when,

".....Uh?"

He tripped onto something and stumbled forward.

Thump!

Before he knew it, he was on the ground on all fours.

Turning his head back, he noticed a small thread on the area he had been in

'When did it...'

"Ah..."

A shadow cast over the area he was in.

Leon looked up and his gray eyes met with Julien's hazel eyes.

At that moment, Leon opened his mouth but the words refused to leave it. The fight. He could still continue. He still had a few cards up his sleeve, but,

"....."

"....."

Staring into Julien's gaze, whatever resistance he had vanished.

In the end, he let go of his sword.

"Fine."

And he tossed it to the side.

"...You win."

He had lost...

Leon closed his eyes.

'It's all on me.'

In the end, the main reason for his loss was due to his negligence. He had been so focused on his skills that he had forgotten the one thing Julien was known for.

His emotive magic.

"Haaa..."

He took a deep breath.

Sitting down, he placed his hands over his knees.

Overwhelming.

That's how he'd describe Julien's emotive magic.

Having felt it for the first time, he finally understood why people feared Emotive Mages. The craziest part was that this was most likely just the starting point for Julien.

Leon could already envision how nightmarish Julien was going to be in the future once he developed his emotive abilities further.

'.....It's frustrating.'

Dealing with someone like that.

"You lost."

"I know."

".....I just wanted to remind you."

Julien sat by his side.

He too placed his hand over his knees.

Taking a quick glance at him, Leon got a better look at his face. It was battered up and was bleeding everywhere.

His face cracked, and before he knew it,

"....Haha."

A laugh escaped his lips.

Taken aback, Julien turned his head.

"What?"

"No, it's..."

Halting his laugh, Leon massaged his face before feeling the corner of his lips lift.

Julien frowned.

"....It's what?"

"Your face."

"My face?"

".....It looks stupid."

"....."

A silence ensued after his words.

Staring at Leon, Julien didn't say a word. Perhaps because he was too tired to argue, he eventually shook his head and leaned back to stare at the moon.

"Perhaps."

He ended the conversation there.

Rustle~

The breeze wafted through, scattering Julien's hair.

Leon stared at him for a short moment before also leaning back to stare at the moon.

'It feels oddly calming.'

Beneath the moonlight,

The two enjoyed the brief moment of peace.

In the end, Leon lost.

But,

Oddly enough,

'.....I'm not disappointed.'

***

Not far from them, Aoife stood in silence.

She had witnessed the entire fight from start to finish. With her abilities, it wasn't hard to conceal her presence from them.

Furthermore, with her family name, she had no trouble going out of the Academy.

What could the guards do?

At worst, they'd report the situation to her uncle.

Not that she was scared.

He knew about how much of a busybody she was.

It was just who she was.

Currently, she was at a loss for words.

It was hard for her to describe what she had witnessed.

"....."

Just like Leon, she had expected Julien to fight with the skills that he had displayed several times in the past. In particular, the ones he had shown back in the mid-terms.

And yet,

He hadn't done that.

Rather, he almost appeared like a completely different person.

It made Aoife question whether he truly was taking the fight seriously or not.

There were changes here and there, but in the end, Leon was able to overpower him. Aoife had just been ready to leave when a change occurred.

'.....When was the last time you were scared?'

Even now, she could recall the words he had spoken.

She may not have experienced it first hand, but taking note of the changes in Leon's demenour, she knew that it was no joke.

Emotive magic.

Julien had finally used it.

.....And it was overwhelming.

Leon.

The second person who had ranked above her. He looked completely powerless under Julien's words.

It was as if his body refused to listen to him.

That was probably when the fight ended.

There was not much else that happened. It was sort of one-

sided. With 'fear' completely taking over his mind, Leon had been unable to notice the thread placed beneath his foot, tripping over it.

That was the moment that marked the end of the fight.

In the end, Julien had won.

"...."

Pursing her lips, Aoife turned around and quietly left the scene.

On the way back, Aoife's thoughts continued to drift towards the last scene.

In the end, the only thought in her mind was,

'Emotive Magic.'

She needed to find a way to counter it.

It was far too scary.

".....Aoife."

She had just taken a step further when a warm voice called out for her.

Her body froze.

Rigidly turning her head, her eyes fell on the familiar figure. With his long blonde hair, piercing yellow eyes, and striking features, he looked like the sun himself.

"Uncle."

Aoife felt her left eye twitch.

"So, like..."

And she tried to make excuses.

"I was just going out to take a brea"

"I already know."

Atlas cut her off and Aoife lowered her head.

"....."

"You still haven't changed. Regardless of how old you are, you're still a busybody."

"....I know."

Aoife pouted.

She didn't like to be reminded of this.

It was just that whenever something piqued her curiosity, she'd stop at nothing to relieve her curiosity.

"It was a good fight, wasn't it?"

Hearing her uncle's words, Aoife blinked.

"....You saw?"

"Oh, oops."

Atlas covered his mouth.

"Ha."

Aoife didn't know how to react.

No, she did.

Hopping forward, she hugged his arm.

"Uncle~"

And started to act coy.

It was the surefire way of getting him to calm down.

"You also watched it? You're just as guilty as I am. Forgive me for this one. Let's just leave it at this, okay?"

"Alright, stop. I'm not mad."

And it worked.

With a helpless look, he gave in.

"I didn't see a thing."

"....Thank you!"

Aoife happily hugged his arm.

But what she didn't notice was the subtle narrowing of his eyes as he gazed back towards where she had come from.

In that brief moment, Atlas's lips curled as he mumbled,

".....Interesting."

Once again, his interest had been aroused.

Phecda.