The following afternoon.
Leo could no longer contain the excitement in his heart. He searched all over the estate for that silver-white figure.
It didn’t take long before he found Ailiya at a corner of the backyard corridor.
At that moment, Ailiya was holding a rag, unhurriedly wiping the wooden railing of the walkway.
For someone like her who possessed a system, this was merely a routine operation to casually grind for life experience points.
“Um…” Leo stood with his hands on his hips and tilted his chin up. “Did you forget something?”
Ailiya didn’t even turn her head. She acted as if she hadn’t heard him and continued her movements.
In truth, her keen sense of hearing had long since detected the boy approaching. If she interrupted her cleaning now, she wouldn’t receive the experience for the work she had just done, meaning it would be for nothing.
‘I’ll just ignore him for now and wait until I’m finished.’
After Ailiya wiped the last section of the railing, she tucked away her rag. Completely ignoring Leo, who was striking a pose nearby, she walked right past him.
“Hey! The Young Master is calling you!” Feeling completely ignored, Leo took a large stride forward and blocked her path.
Ailiya stopped in her tracks and slightly lifted her eyelids to look at him.
‘This is getting a bit troublesome. I should probably just give him a lesson as soon as possible.’
“Fine.” Ailiya set down her cleaning tools, her tone still as flat as if she were discussing the day’s weather. “As you wish, Young Master.”
The two of them arrived at the training ground, one after the other.
This was normally the place where the estate’s guards trained.
However, because the estate’s funds were tight, the training ground was not only dilapidated, but the bluestone slabs on the ground were also pitted and uneven, lacking even decent repairs.
Seeing the two of them walk into the center of the training ground together, the other people in the estate noticed the commotion. They stopped their work one by one to come and watch.
On the second-floor balcony, the Marchioness and Ian stood one behind the other, watching the scene below.
“Ian, do you think there will be an accident?” The Marchioness frowned slightly, a hint of worry in her eyes. “For example, someone getting injured by mistake during the duel…”
Ian pushed the glasses on the bridge of his nose, a reassuring smile hanging on the corners of his mouth. “Rest assured, Madame. At this distance, I can intervene at any moment. I can absolutely guarantee the Young Master’s safety.”
Pausing for a moment, Ian added, “By the way, Madame, no matter what happens in a moment, please do not interfere.”
Ian smiled. “This will be a very important lesson for Young Master Leo’s learning and growth.”
The Marchioness gave Ian a surprised look but eventually nodded, returning her gaze to the field below.
In the arena, Ailiya stood more than ten meters away. Her hands hung naturally at her sides as she looked at Leo with an expressionless face. “Young Master, you may begin.”
This time, Leo was fully prepared and appeared very serious.
Not only had he changed into a formal apprentice mage robe and held a staff in his hand, but he also had several emergency magic scrolls tucked into his belt.
He even carried a wooden practice sword on his back; it could be said he was armed to the teeth.
Seeing Ailiya’s hands were empty, Leo frowned and asked, “Where is your weapon?”
Ailiya blinked, then started rummaging through the pockets of her maid uniform.
“Found it.”
Ailiya pulled out a small, stiff-bristled brush and weighed it in her hand.
“Hey, what is the meaning of this? Are you looking down on me!” Leo felt greatly insulted.
“Hmm…” Ailiya tilted her head slightly and explained earnestly. “I considered it for a long time and found that only this was appropriate. I don’t have a weapon that is shorter or has less lethal force than this.”
“Hmph, stop pretending! You’ll be crying in a moment!” Leo bared his teeth and took a deep breath, beginning to rapidly circulate the mana within his body.
This time, he used 100% of his focus.
He didn’t attempt to cast the fire magic he wasn’t yet proficient in just to look flashy, as he had in the alley before.
He slammed his staff onto the ground and shouted, “TENACIOUS ELEMENTS SLEEPING BENEATH THE EARTH, HEED MY COMMAND — EARTH SPIKE!”
In Ailiya’s eyes, the judgment of this casting process consisted of only two words: ‘Too slow.’
Accompanied by a distinct fluctuation of mana, the bluestone slabs beneath Ailiya’s feet suddenly made a cracking sound.
“Rise!” A smug smile flashed in Leo’s eyes.
Three or four sharp earthen spikes instantly lunged from the ground, aiming straight for where Ailiya stood.
However, the instant before the spikes broke through the soil, Ailiya merely tapped her toes lightly and leaped backward with agility.
She dodged the attack perfectly; not even the hem of her maid uniform was grazed.
“What?!” The smile on Leo’s face instantly froze.
‘Too slow.’ Standing where she landed, Ailiya evaluated in a calm tone. “Furthermore, the mana fluctuation was too obvious. It’s almost like shouting to your opponent, ‘I am about to attack from here.'”
“Dammit! Don’t underestimate me!” Growing anxious, Leo immediately raised his staff and rapidly chanted a long incantation.
“O WHIRLWIND! TRANSFORM INTO BLADES THAT TEAR EVERYTHING ASUNDER — WIND BLADE!”
*Whoosh— whoosh— whoosh—*
Three translucent green blades of wind howled as they flew toward Ailiya.
Ailiya did not retreat. Instead, she walked slowly toward him, idly playing with the small brush in her hand.
The moment the wind blades were about to touch her body, she relied purely on physical instinct and sharp perception to make extremely small shifts of her torso and head.
The three wind blades flew past her hair, her ears, and her skirt, eventually slashing into a discarded wooden target behind her, leaving shallow marks.
“This is impossible!” Leo’s eyes widened as if he had seen a ghost.
It didn’t seem like she was relying on luck at all; it looked more like she had predicted the entire trajectory of the wind blades in advance.
Seeing Ailiya getting closer and closer, Leo suppressed the panic in his heart, and a cold smirk curved his lips.
She would be at the trap’s location very soon.
“Activate, SHADOW SMOKE.”
A dark purple light flickered.
A magic circle suddenly lit up on a stone slab in the center of the training ground. The engraved runes glowed in sequence as mana rapidly converged.
Ailiya glanced down, having noticed the mana anomaly under her feet long ago.
With a casual leap forward, she accurately stomped her foot onto the mana circuit of the magic circle.
With a soft *crack*, the stone slab shattered.
The magic circle, which hadn’t even had time to take shape, was destroyed, its light fading instantly.
“The engraving technique is a bit crude, the incantation is far too redundant, and the trigger delay is too long.”
Ailiya casually gave her poor review.
In that brief instant while Leo was stunned by the immediate destruction of his trap—
*Bang!*
Ailiya kicked off the pitted bluestone slab. Her entire body moved like a flash of silver lightning, instantly crossing the remaining distance to enter Leo’s close-quarters range.
“You—” Leo turned pale with fright. He hadn’t expected her to be so fast and instinctively reached for the magic scroll at his waist. “[Stone Wall Scroll]—”
But it was too late.