Inside the training room, Leo started his magic showcase with his Tier 1 spell, Flame Barrier.
Just like Dark Barrier, Flame Barrier was a defensive magic spell, and it created a ball of flames around him, but unlike Dark Barrier, it doesn’t require more shadows to strengthen it. Furthermore, it also has an offensive property to it, where it burns enemies that touch it.
For his Tier 2 magic spell, Flame Blast, it functions just like Mana Blast, but instead of pure mana, it creates a burst of flames in front of him. Of course, it is much more powerful and destructive than Mana Blast while requiring less mana.
His Tier 3 magic spell, Flame Dash, is a movement spell, but unlike Void Step, he doesn’t teleport. Instead, he moves in a straight line at extreme speed.
Flame Tempest, a Tier 5 magic spell, creates a fiery tornado that sucks in nearby enemies.
For his Tier 6 magic spell, Meteor, Leo can summon a literal meteor engulfed in flames to fall from the sky, causing massive destruction.
The spell was so powerful that it violently shook the entire training room, startling Leo for a moment, as he thought it was going to collapse on them.
“Not bad. Not bad at all!” Eve laughed out loud after witnessing Leo’s Meteor spell.
“Alright! For your last spell— Dragon’s Breath, I want you to use it on me!”
“What?!” Leo exclaimed. “Isn’t that very dangerous?”
“Are you underestimating me? You won’t be able to hurt me.” Eve said with a grin on her face.
“Oh? What if I can?”
“Let’s bet on it.” Eve suddenly said.
“If you can hurt me with Dragon’s Breath, I will give you an S-Grade artifact. However, if you lose… You will owe me a favor.”
pᴀɴᴅᴀ-ɴoᴠᴇʟ ‘She’s willing to bet an S-Grade artifact but only wants a favor in return? This sounds suspicious as hell!’
“You won’t be able to hurt her.” Lilith suddenly chuckled. “There’s a reason she’s willing to bet an S-Grade artifact.”
“We won’t know until I try.”
Leo nodded a moment later, “Alright! I’ll accept your challenge!”
Sometime later, Leo and Eve stood about 20 meters away from each other.
“Whenever you’re ready.” Eve said to him.
Leo took a deep breath and proceeded to cast Dragon’s Breath. However, he didn’t immediately release it and silently overcharged it.
An invisible aura appeared around Leo while he overcharged the spell, causing the space around him to distort, and if one were close to him, they would feel an intense heat coming from his body.
Then, a large dragon head made out of flames materialized behind Leo.
‘This little monster… Does he plan on blowing up this whole place…?’ A small grin appeared on Eve’s face.
Once he overcharged the spell until he almost ran out of mana, Leo released it.
The dragon head behind Leo opened its mouth, spewing out a sea of flames that quickly consumed Eve’s figure as well as half of the room.
The Dragon’s Breath lasted for several seconds before the dragon head closed its mouth and disappeared.
However, the flames did not disappear and continued to burn the training room.
Leo swallowed nervously when he saw the fiery scene, and he wondered if he had gone overboard.
Suddenly, he felt a gentle breeze blowing inside the room.
‘Where’s this wind coming from?’ Leo wondered to himself.
This gentle breeze grew stronger, and within seconds, it became a strong gust of wind. Furthermore, this wind seemed to be gathering at Eve’s location.
Eventually, a small tornado was formed inside the room, which absorbed the flames in the room.
Once the tornado consumed enough flames, Leo was able to see Eve and the real situation.
“What the hell…?” A shocked look appeared on Leo’s face when he saw what Eve was doing.
The flames in the room were being sucked by Eve— or more specifically, by the ring on her finger, almost as though it was a vacuum.
Within seconds, the ring finished absorbing all of the flames in the room.
“What just happened?” Leo asked her afterward.
“Fire Eating Ring. It’s an S-Grade artifact that can absorb all kinds of flames and release it as an attack with enhanced power, which I won’t be doing since it’s quite dangerous.” Eve said.
“Isn’t it cheating to use an artifact?” Leo then said.
Eve chuckled, “Even without the Fire Eating Ring, your flame wouldn’t be able to hurt me. After all, I am immune to fire attacks.”
“Immune to fire? How did you achieve that?” Leo was intrigued.
“I consumed a treasure that granted me immunity to fire. It was a dragon’s heart— one that belonged to a fire dragon,” she said.
“You ate a dragon’s heart…?” Leo swallowed nervously.
“A dragon’s heart isn’t what you’re thinking. It’s not a literal heart but a crystal made out of mana. When mana is too dense and powerful, they can condense into a crystal.” Lilith explained to him.
“Anyways, I win this bet. You owe me a favor now, Leo.” Eve said to him a moment later.
“And what do you want me to do?”
“I will let you know when the time comes.” She smiled.
“As long as it’s not anything crazy…”
Sometime later, Eve said to Leo, “We’re going to spar now. However, you’re only allowed to use fire magic. This also means you’re not allowed to use your sword— just magic.”
“Okay.”
Eve handed Leo a high-grade mana potion before they began so that they could fight longer.
While training with Eve, Leo deactivated several passive skills such as Double Cast so that he wouldn’t raise any suspicions.
And over the next several days, Leo would train day and night with Eve, getting beat up by her more than once a day.
In the blink of an eye, an entire week has passed since Leo started training with Eve.
“Camille, there’s a visitor requesting for you.” A teacher went to see her in the infirmary.
“Who is it?” She asked.
“He said his name was Khrome.”
‘Khrome? Why is he here?’ Camille wondered inwardly as she followed the teacher to meet with Khrome.
