This is... Ikki Kurogane?
Stella had always kept her eyes on Ikki Kurogane's figure, especially when it began to blur... At that moment, Stella already knew that Ikki had pulled far ahead of her.
If she wanted to catch up to him, she would have to put in much more effort to even have a possibility.
However, these were not the main issues.
Ikki had said it earlier: this was just a lesson. What mattered wasn't the victory or defeat against Teacher Jingliu, but finding one's own path through continuous battle.
Clearly, Ikki had found his!
But Stella clenched her hands, the expression on her face quite terrible.
"Then my path... what is it?"
The girl seemed to know what her answer was, but she appeared exceptionally hesitant.
"That's all for today. Go back."
Just like after the battle between Skirk and Shizuku Kurogane ended, Jingliu picked up the unconscious Ikki Kurogane from the ground with one hand, like grabbing a chick, and disappeared within a few seconds.
"Ah, it really hurts... Teacher Jingliu really doesn't know her own strength."
"Give it a rest, what's wrong with a little pain? They're all superficial wounds; they'll be fine in a couple of days. It's better than being seriously injured, right?"
The students lying on the ground gradually regained some strength as time passed and began to crawl up.
They had also seen everything that just happened. If anyone in this class could pose a threat to that new teacher, it would only be Ikki Kurogane and Stella.
Of course, the primary one was Ikki Kurogane.
This student who fought Jingliu one-on-one had already become a legend in the class, even though he hadn't caused her any actual harm, simply because he had cut her blindfold!
But Stella paid no attention to the students behind her, keeping her gaze fixed on Jingliu and Ikki...
There wasn't much to say about Ikki, as he was unconscious and likely wouldn't wake up anytime soon.
But Jingliu was different; the moment her blindfold was cut, every student's eyes widened.
Although they had long known Jingliu was a great beauty, actually seeing her still left them in awe.
Stella was also a beauty, but she didn't focus on that. Instead, she noticed some small details in the look Jingliu gave before leaving.
Three gazes...
Before leaving, Jingliu had looked at three people.
The first was Ikki Kurogane, who had cut her blindfold.
The second was Stella, who used flames.
But as for the third... Stella couldn't figure out who it was.
Jingliu had clearly looked in that direction, but from Stella's perspective, there was nothing there but a shadow.
No, now isn't the time to think about that!
The most important thing is my own path!
After glancing in the direction Jingliu had left, Stella slowly departed from the training ground. However, she didn't return to her dormitory; instead, she headed toward the academy's back mountain.
Ever since becoming roommates with Ikki Kurogane, Stella had gradually developed a habit of morning jogs, through which she had become familiar with the academy's layout.
Thus, Stella needed to find a suitable place to confirm a certain idea of hers...
Meanwhile, a certain white figure saw everything. The moment Stella left, it warped through space to follow her.
—
"Hah—!"
In the back mountain, Stella tightly gripped the Lævateinn, which was wreathed in flames, and easily sliced through a row of trees in front of her.
Even the occasional sparks of fire were controlled perfectly by Stella, not affecting the surrounding trees at all.
Yet despite delivering such an impressive strike, Stella's face showed no satisfaction. Instead, she stared silently at the crimson greatsword in her hand.
Stella was extremely talented. Just looking at her evaluation as a Blazer, it was clear she was destined to become a top-tier powerhouse.
Attack: A
Defense: A
Magic Capacity: A
Magic Control: B
Physical Ability: B+
Luck: A
There was a reason Stella was ranked as an A-Rank Knight.
Among the six evaluations, Stella managed to achieve four As and two Bs, which spoke volumes about her incredible potential.
But potential alone wasn't enough. If she couldn't transform that potential into actual strength, she would ultimately remain a powerhouse who failed to reach her full growth.
"My swordsmanship is excellent..."
Stella had begun learning swordsmanship at a very young age. As a royal Princess, she could naturally hire the best teachers to accelerate her growth.
"But compared to truly top-tier swordsmanship, there's an insurmountable chasm."
Compared to ordinary students, Stella's swordsmanship was definitely among the elite, but compared to true powerhouses, it wasn't even worth a second look!
From the day's battles, Stella had already realized the limits of her swordsmanship.
During the battle, Ikki placed more importance not on the attack of the swordsmanship, but on the manipulation of flames.
Jingliu was the same; she never took Stella's swordsmanship seriously from start to finish, neutralizing it with ease, while occasionally dodging Stella's flames instead.
"So, my path was never swordsmanship, but the ability to manipulate flames!"
While swordsmanship could certainly enhance Stella's own strength and give her a foothold in close-quarters combat, it was useless in battles against the truly powerful.
"If I want to become a truly powerful person, I must push my advantages to the limit!"
Even though the sky was already pitch black, a "sun" suddenly appeared out of nowhere in the back mountain of Hagun Academy.
That was the radiance belonging solely to Stella Vermillion!
"My true advantage isn't swordsmanship or technique—it's power! Absolute power!"
Stella gathered all the heat onto herself. Flames swirled around the young girl like subjects surrendering to their emperor.
But Stella still felt it wasn't enough, so she continued to gather her flames, concentrating all her magic power onto her body.
If Ikki Kurogane could develop Ittō Shura to concentrate all his energy into a single minute, why couldn't Stella?
"As long as I know the principle, I can definitely do it too!"
"By concentrating magic power into a single point, I will surely reach the pinnacle!"
What is this?
As all the magic power converged, Stella seemed to see a crimson dragon roaring within the scorching phantom...
Is it my imagination?
Why did I see a red dragon?
Stella didn't understand any of it, but when she tried to manipulate all the gathered magic power, an accident occurred.
The uncontrolled "sun" easily set the forest on the back mountain of Hagun Academy ablaze.
As the saying goes: "Burn the mountain, and you'll rot in prison."
Stella had actually accidentally destroyed the environment of the academy's back mountain during her practice...
This incident would likely be the laughingstock of Hagun Academy, and even all other academies, for a long time to come.
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