Irina was confused.
Her usually sharp eyes were wavering for several reasons, but at the root of it all was the girl standing beyond her.
‘Is this… even possible?’
No matter what magic she used or how she attacked, the girl neutralized everything without even blinking.
At some point, she had even taken out a small notebook, leisurely jotting down notes about Irina’s spells.
***
“『Lightning』!”
— Crackle!
“…Activation time, 2 seconds. Power… roughly mid-to-lower tier of the third rank, I suppose.”
Watching her magic being evaluated in real time made Irina nervous, even though she knew this training wouldn’t affect her grades in any way.
She still felt uneasy about attacking a girl who was far younger than her.
However, as she continued to attack, only to see Letter remain completely unharmed, a mix of stubbornness and competitiveness began to take root within her.
Most of all, if she failed to land even a single hit, she felt as though Letter might be disappointed in her.
After all, who would want to teach an inept magician who couldn’t leave even a scratch despite giving it their all?
‘I can’t let this end like this.’
She wanted to prove to Letter that she had the potential to excel in the Ascension Trial.
She wanted to show that her words to her sister Lilian—that she would make her recognize her—were not just empty talk.
So in the end, she used a triple-layered spell.
***
“『Divine』”
“『Ice Spear』”
“『Giga Gravity』”
A massive spear of ice slowly formed in midair, wrapped in a sacred light.
At the same time, gravity pressed heavily around the small girl’s shadow.
“…Here I go.”
Irina’s slender staff sliced through the air, sending the ice spear hurtling downward.
A thick wave of cold spread in all directions.
— Crack!
The sound of a massive ice crystal shattering against something solid rang out in succession.
Bright fragments of light scattered through the air, accompanied by powerful shockwaves.
— Stagger.
“Ugh…?”
‘Had she overexerted herself?’ Having poured all the mana in her body into that last attack, nausea washed over her.
The exhaustion that had been amplifying by the second robbed her of the strength to remain standing.
Yet, even as she collapsed onto the floor, she refused to lower her head.
She had to see the results of the magic she had pushed herself to the limit to cast.
— Whoosh!
A sweat-soaked arm swept through the air, dispersing the lingering mist.
She wanted to see—just a glimpse—of a mark left behind, even the smallest effect of her final attack.
But what she saw instead was a complete contradiction to her expectations.
The soft sound of approaching footsteps crushed her last sliver of hope that there might be some visible injury.
“Binding the target with gravity magic, then fusing physical and divine power into the attack… It would be quite effective against a large monster, for sure.”
The young face, completely unscathed, casually made that remark while snapping a finger.
In that instant, glowing particles of mana surfaced above Irina’s body and began seeping into her.
— Swoosh.
‘…It’s warm.’
A gentle warmth spread through her, washing away the fatigue that clung to every fiber of her being.
The sense of mana depletion also gradually faded.
And yet—
She couldn’t shake the crushing disappointment in herself.
Even though she had used every spell she knew, utilized every possible tactic, she felt unfulfilled.
She had never underestimated Letter, not even for a moment—so why did it feel so frustrating that she hadn’t been able to land a single proper hit?
***
Despite that, she didn’t have time to dwell on it.
Instead of sighing in relief, she found herself tensing up so much that cold sweat trickled down her spine.
“Now, let’s move on to defense.”
“…Defense?”
“Now that I’ve seen how far your offense can go, it’s time to see how much you can endure.”
The very person who had effortlessly blocked all of Irina’s attacks was now declaring that she would attack her.
With the intent to kill.
***
The small figure turned away and walked some distance before returning to her original position.
“Get ready,” Letter called out.
Irina was completely caught off guard.
She had just realized the vast gap between them—only to now be told to withstand an attack?
That was enough to make her eyes tremble.
But on the battlefield, an enemy wouldn’t wait for her to be fully prepared.
“Here I come.”
— Shiver.
A chilling aura burst forth from the young figure.
Then came the incantations—plural.
“『Accel』 『Heated Sunlight』 『Lost Star』 『Wolf of Void』 『Poison Thorn』…”
One after another, each spell was monstrous in its power, materializing into reality from a mass of writhing mana.
‘Could the training grounds even withstand this?’
The ceiling of the training arena was painted with intricate, glowing magic circles, like a starry sky.
The sheer pressure from just facing them made Irina’s fingertips tremble.
‘I’ve made a mistake.’
Only now did she realize—she should never have judged Letter by her appearance.
She should have understood the true weight of someone bearing a dragon’s crest at such a young age.
Somewhere along the way, because they had interacted without any barriers, she had allowed herself to forget.
But the reason Irina had taken an interest in Letter in the first place had been because of Letter’s overwhelming power.
— Tap.
A small index finger lightly touched the empty air before her.
In an instant, all the magic circles simultaneously burst into radiance.
Even with the highest-tier defensive spells layered over her and the divine protection of a sacred beast—
For some reason, Irina felt like she wasn’t going to survive this.
“Hmm….”
Blink, blink.
Her vision, which had been fixed on the sky, gradually became clearer.
As Irina became aware of her own breathing, her senses started to return.
***
“Oh, you’re awake?”
“…Professor?”
The sound of approaching footsteps followed.
Soon, Letter stopped right in front of Irina and handed her a long lollipop.
“Don’t bite it with your teeth. Let it melt in your mouth—it’s tastier that way.”
“…Okay.”
Only after unwrapping the lollipop did Irina remember—she had passed out.
Letter’s barrage of magic had pierced through even the divine beast’s blessing.
The only fortunate thing was that the spells had dissipated the moment they broke through her final defense.
Even though just feeling the residual energy had been enough to knock her unconscious, it was better than taking a direct hit.
Had she actually been struck, she would have been erased without a trace.
‘Just what kind of things has she been through…?’
The Irina of the present was facing a young girl who casually sucked on a candy with a serene expression.
And the voice that followed was closer to that of a child than an adult.
***
“Most third-rank spells were blocked. It takes about a mid-to-upper fourth-rank spell to break through. So, for now, we should start by identifying the weaknesses of fourth-rank magic—”
It wasn’t disappointment from the difference in their abilities that made Irina speak.
It was pure curiosity—the realization of the monster hidden behind that delicate figure.
“Professor…”
“Hm?”
“How… how are you so strong?”
Letter blinked wide eyes before tilting her head in thought.
Then, after a brief silence, she let out a groan.
Muttering something incomprehensible, she added, “I am never doing something that insane again… Come to think of it, I almost died back then, didn’t I…? If I had known it was in the north, I wouldn’t have even looked at the desert…”
“…?”
For some reason, Letter clutched her head with both hands, looking genuinely frightened.
Irina, sensing that there was something unspeakable behind those words, simply turned her gaze away.
‘Will this place even be restored…?’
The training ground looked like the very definition of devastation.
Although it was meant for real combat practice, this was excessive.
It was only a little later that Irina tapped Letter on the shoulder to snap her out of her daze.
***
“Dinner starts in ten minutes, Professor.”
“Oh, is it that late already…?”
Rising to her feet, Irina told Letter that she would treat her to dinner today.
There were still many things she wanted to talk about, and besides, she couldn’t accept private lessons from Letter without at least offering a meal in return.
“How about ice cream for dessert?”
“…!”
Whether it was fortunate or unfortunate, Letter did not refuse.
That day—the day of Irina’s first training—was also the day she learned that if she ever wanted to ask Letter for a favor, all she had to do was bribe her with a sweet dessert.
***
— Bang! Bang!
— Murmurs.
— Footsteps approaching…
“…It’s noisy.”
“They’re in the middle of preparing for the Ascension Trial. For now, let me escort you to your accommodations.”
A man named Jade bowed respectfully to the honored guest who had finally arrived at Primus.
Almost at the same time, another dignified voice questioned, “By the way, why is that man over there?”
“Who… are you referring to?”
“If you’re talking about a man—”
“That one, drinking tea among the workers. I know him quite well.”
He was also someone who shouldn’t be here.
With an intrigued expression, Lilian Ardenia spoke those words and began walking toward the man—someone she had once trained under.