It is already quite late in the night, yet even then, there are two students of the Galilea Magic Academy who are standing face to face with each other on the path between the Male Dormitory and the Female Dormitory.

It would be wrong to assume that these two are in a lover’s rendezvous; however, despite knowing each other, it is only through rumors that they often hear about each other, and this is the first time that they have personally met each other.

With a blade lodged deep within his arms, even slashing through some shallow bits of his bones, one of the students, Novus, stares at the beautiful senior student in front of him, the smile of confidence in her face something that made him feel a bit annoyed, especially when it was already the second time that she had attacked him.

’That hit is strong, but not something I can’t handle... should I retaliate a little bit?’ Perhaps it is because this sharp lady is gradually tearing his disguises apart, but right now, he is inexplicably feeling more annoyed than ever before; the thought of standing his ground against this lady instead of just concealing himself gradually pops into his mind.

"That’s twice already, Senior Medea."

Those words just came out of him the moment he felt the pain of the blade piercing through his flesh and, to some degree, even his bones, the amplification of pain due to his talent causing him to grit his teeth for a moment before he forces himself to just endure the pain.

’Yeah, twice... even those other freshmen claiming to be on the top of their year’s food chain won’t be able to defend themselves against my attacks you know?’ meanwhile, seeing that her blade is lodged within his limbs once again, Medea thought to herself, the way he carries himself in battle confirming to her all the more that he is truly nothing similar to the rumors surrounding him.

’Not to mention... this toughness... my blade could even cut through beast and monster’s flesh, but this... Is the Argenta Family’s unique magic something related to body reinforcement as well?’

Knowing well that the existence of her family’s Blade Enchantment Magic is tied not only to the reinforcement of any attack that came from a blade-type weapon, but also provides reinforcement to the body as well, Medea doesn’t dismiss the possibility that the young man’s family has a unique magic related to reinforcement of the body as well.

To her, it makes further sense for that to be the case as she felt the force of her attack returning to her as soon as her blade stopped, as if she had just hit a wall that she would never be able to move, this being the first time that she had ever encountered another person who was capable of doing so outside of the other geniuses in her clan.

"That’s not something a mediocre person can block, Junior Novus~~"

As she said those words, she utilizes her unique magic to reinforce not her blade, but rather, her body, given that she is already well aware of how difficult it would be for her to pull back her weapon without utilizing her physique’s explosive strength.

Meanwhile, Novus is watching each of her motions intently, and it doesn’t stop at that, as he also expands his senses, prepared to respond to any interruption of the normal flow of mana in his surroundings, intending to show a little bit more of his strength to deter this lady away.

Mana surged, two flows, two waves clashed against each other as the two combatants started drawing in mana for themselves, this act of each other pretty much confirming their intent to truly engage in a battle, and they won’t back down before they can have a few exchanges at the very least.

One pulled, one pushed.

Medea’s physique exploded in power in an attempt to free her armament from her underclassman’s wounded arm, the way she pulls still making sure that she deals some damage as she maintains pressure to damage his arms even more, the confidence in the fact that he will use healing magic once again giving her the chance to release her inhibition a little bit.

Meanwhile, Novus just endures through the amplified pain such an attack deals to him, clenching his jaws as he follows through while his upperclassman attempts to create distance between the two of them, where Medea takes a step back, and he pushes through, mana wrapping his arms as well as his fist as he launches it straight towards the lady’s guts.

Something shattered.

Moving quickly in an attempt to guard against the oncoming attack as she freed her blade from his wounded flesh, the handle of Medea’s blade cracked a bit, causing her eyes to grow wide in surprise as she knows how tough the material used to make her armament is, that single sound causing her to reinforce herself with mana even more as she prepares her body from the aftershock of contact.

Despite the slight disadvantage of her weapon being damaged in this exchange, Novus seems to sustain a worse disadvantage than her, his hand limping as his bones were shattered from contact between his fist and the handle of her blade.

’Hiss... even with healing magic, that must’ve hurt...’ she thought wide-eyed, feeling all the more impressed at this junior she just picked out of a random whim as she saw the serious, calm expression that he is still sporting on his face, meaning that even if he is as hurt as she expects he is, he is still doing his best to bear with it right now.

’It fucking hurts...’ were the words in his mind as another wave of pain hit his mind once again, True Immortal Blood already starting to patch his broken, or rather, shattered hand up, his body already preparing to take the next step to follow up with another attack yet again.

And it isn’t only him, as Medea already composes herself, both her fair, dainty hands holding the blade tight once more, both of them measuring up each other, trying to spot a weak point that they can exploit.

"Hey, come on, that’s not fair~~"

"Fufu~~ there’s nothing fair in this world, you know~~"

Before these two can even commit to their next exchange, however, both of them felt presences approaching from the distance, forcing them to look at each other in an odd tacit understanding that they can’t really be seen acting like this here, prompting them to move away, rushing towards the trees, not only hiding behind said trees’ trunks, but rather, above their branches.

’Fast...’ seeing each other climbing different tree at the same time, the two of them thought in appreciation towards each other, the female upperclassman wondering even more whether this junior, a few years younger than here, is truly her equal, while the male underclassman wondering just what sort of genius is this senior who, despite her graceful shape, seems to possess a powerful physique as well.

And both of them are wondering about each other’s prowess as it is way too rare, to the point it is nigh impossible, for a mage already busy enough mastering mana and magic as is, to spend time improving their body to the extremes as well.

Looking at the passerby who are already far enough, Medea then directed her attention back towards Novus, a graceful yet ever so teasing smile on her face as she asks.

"Shall we take it somewhere else, Junior Novus?"