Watching Swan’s transformation, Sara was momentarily speechless.
Under her meticulous observation, the changes occurring in everyone were indeed not exactly the same.
However, looking at the soldiers on the battlefield, it seemed they were all very satisfied with their initial changes. Even she felt the same.
‘Could it be…’
A bold idea took root in her mind.
‘The Mana overflowing from the healing magic didn’t act randomly. To some extent, it responded to and amplified the body part each person subconsciously desired to optimize or cared about most.’
But this speculation wavered the moment her gaze landed on Swan.
Looking at the “boy” cowering in the corner, looking as if he wanted to bury himself in the earth, Sara’s heart was filled with immense confusion.
‘But… Junior Swan is a boy, isn’t he? How… how is this possible? What normal boy would want his… chest to get bigger?’
Under Sara’s inquisitive and confused gaze, Swan felt all the blood in her body rush to her cheeks, burning as if they were about to catch fire.
She kept her head buried low, her arms tightly wrapped around her chest.
She didn’t know what was happening either. Although her energy had indeed been restored down there… her top half kept growing larger and larger…
She felt like dying right then and there.
Iguneel couldn’t help but grumble, “Hmph, you’ve gained such a huge advantage, even I’m envious. What is there to be ashamed of?”
At that moment, when the atmosphere was so awkward it had almost frozen, Li En walked over quickly.
A smile of concern and confidence was plastered on his face. His gaze first swept over the group, and his tone carried a hint of deliberate stability and pride as he spoke.
“Miss Sara, Miss Emma, and Student Swan, do you need my help?”
He pointedly ignored Yize.
Beside them, Yize couldn’t help but facepalm mentally, his inner voice complaining wildly.
‘As expected of a Harem RPG Game protagonist, he put all his talent points into his “little brother.”‘
‘Doesn’t he know how to hide his intentions even a little?’
‘Instead, he comes running over to show off his gallantry so brazenly?’
However… Yize’s gaze inadvertently flickered over, and he muttered to himself with some speechlessness, ‘Wait… even with the Potion’s effects, his size looks… pretty average? Where does he get the confidence to hold his head so high?’
Sara’s beautiful eyebrows immediately knitted together, a wave of revulsion rising in her heart.
It was impossible for Li En not to have seen the “changes” everyone on the battlefield had undergone.
Right now, the Blood Race swarm was retreating, the battlefield needed clearing, and the wounded needed treatment.
Instead of fulfilling his duty as a combatant, he had run straight to these few women in “special circumstances” to ask if they needed help?
What could he possibly help with?
To Sara, the intentions behind such “targeted” concern were almost self-evident.
What disgusted her even more was that her Spirit Power, temporarily enhanced by the Potion, had granted her an extraordinarily keen sense of perception.
Beneath Li En’s mask of seemingly sincere worry, she clearly captured the almost imperceptible upward curve of his lips—a smirk of triumph and calculation.
She also saw the flash deep in his eyes, a light that looked as if he were admiring his prey.
‘Heh.’
Sara sneered inwardly. With the sharp intuition and a hint of disdain belonging to a member of the Royal Family, she thought, ‘Do men really think they hide their little thoughts so well?’
In contrast, Yize—who had turned away from the very beginning to avoid looking at things he shouldn’t, who had even thoughtfully reminded them to bring Swan along, and who was now quietly standing to the side—seemed so much more decent, reliable, and respectful.
“Yize is still the better one.”
Almost subconsciously, Sara whispered this with a hint of sighing relief after making the comparison. At the same time, she turned her body to shield Emma.
She gently pushed Emma, who was still struggling to maintain her magic output to consume the excess Mana, behind Yize to avoid the prying eyes of those with ill intentions.
Suddenly being singled out and praised, Yize’s back visibly stiffened. “…”
His mind was a blank, and he even felt a bit panicked.
‘What’s going on? What’s the meaning behind this sudden praise?’
Next, Sara bent down and, without allowing any room for argument, grabbed Swan’s arm and pulled the “Junior” who was trying to shrink into a ball up from the ground.
Suddenly being hauled up and exposed to the eyes of even more people, Swan was overwhelmed. “…”
Her heart was filled with panic and shameful indignation.
‘Why… why do you have to pull me up too?’
“Brother Yize,” Sara said, her tone decisive and carrying unquestioning trust.
Her gaze swept toward Yize. “Please do me a favor. Guard the door for us in a moment, and don’t let any idle people come in to disturb us.”
Having said that, her left hand tightly held the confused and physically uncomfortable Emma, while her right hand hauled the mortified Swan, who was walking so stiffly it looked as if her limbs didn’t belong to her.
Completely ignoring Li En, whose face had turned from stiff to ugly, she walked quickly toward the residences in the Inner City without looking back.
Li En’s extended hand froze in midair, and the smile on his face shattered completely.
He watched the three figures receding into the distance, especially noticing how Sara hadn’t given him a single direct look from beginning to end.
A strong sense of frustration and anger at being slighted surged in his chest. “…”
Yize watched the scene, feeling both amused and frustrated, his mind full of helpless complaints.
‘Why does it feel like the main heroine doesn’t really like the protagonist, Li En?’
‘The pressure from Riya’s side was already high enough. Isn’t this just drawing more aggro from the protagonist for me?’
On the city wall, only Yize and Li En remained, the latter’s face so dark it looked like it was about to drip ink. The air seemed to have solidified.
Yize really didn’t want any interaction with the protagonist. He gave an awkward smile.
‘Um, I think my two Senior Sisters and my Junior don’t need your help…’
‘I’m going over to help them watch the door now.’
After saying that, he didn’t wait for any response from Li En. He quickened his pace toward Sara’s residence to play his role as the “gate guardian.”
Li En stood alone, staring at Yize’s back as he quickly disappeared around a street corner.
His face darkened completely. Intense emotions of frustration, jealousy, and resentment surged in his heart.
According to the initial hints and plans from that mysterious voice in his mind, at this point in time, he should have already established a good, even intimate, relationship with three crucial women.
Riya, the Liyue Academy Senior with peerless talent and outstanding beauty.
Sara, the high-status and powerful Chief Student of Starlight Academy.
And an Elf Princess he hadn’t met yet but whose fate was destined to intertwine with his…
However, at some unknown point, those originally clear and precise prophecies and directions had begun to show unsettling deviations, even becoming blurred and confusing.
The “Senior” Riya he had admired for a long time and viewed as a major goal had her heart firmly tied to that Yize from start to finish, practically ignoring Li En’s advances.
Sara, who should have developed an initial favorable impression of him after his performance in the Magic Assessment, had seen her relationship with him stall since the Raymond Territory incident.
In fact, she was constantly distancing herself.
And just now, he had clearly seen blatant alienation and even a hint of faint disgust in Sara’s sharp, narrowing eyes!
Compared to him, she was actually closer to and more trusting of that Yize!
As for that Elf Princess, he hadn’t even seen a shadow of her.
What was most unacceptable to him was that even that sissy Swan had completely ignored his existence just now. All of Swan’s attention seemed to revolve only around Yize!
In today’s battle, he had intended to hold back his strength.
At the most critical and dangerous moment, he planned to use his Dragonification powers like a hero to turn the tide, winning Sara’s admiration and Swan’s dependence in one fell swoop.
But what was the result?
All the glory and all the attention had been snatched away by that Yize!
With his irrationally exaggerated amount of Mana and endless low-level Magic, Yize had single-handedly stalled a powerful Blood Pillar and attracted the eyes of the entire field, leaving Li En with no chance to act.
‘Damn it… curse it! It’s all because of this Yize…’
Li En’s teeth ground together with a creaking sound. The muscles on his face twitched with hatred, his expression turning momentarily hideous.
“It must be him! His appearance disrupted everything! He stole the things that should have belonged to me!”
“Hey! Why are you just standing here like a post? Your expression is so scary. What are you trying to do?”
A voice with clear dissatisfaction and a provocative tone suddenly rang out, interrupting Li En’s thoughts of resentment.
He turned his head sharply and saw a red-haired young man with an enormous head, leaning against a wall and staring at him with wide eyes.
Li En recognized him—a Starlight Academy Student with some fire affinity but who didn’t seem very bright.
“I’m talking to you! What’s with that look? It looks like you have a big problem with my Senior Yize?”
Luke tilted his chin up. Although that large head made him look somewhat comical, the protectiveness and hostility in his eyes were unmistakable.
Li En quickly suppressed the rage that was nearly out of control, forcing himself to squeeze out an innocent and somewhat confused expression.
“This… Student Luke, have you misunderstood something?”
“The expression I had just now was merely resentment toward those brutal Blood Race members and grief over the tragic state of the battlefield. Why would I have a problem with Student Yize?”
“His performance just now was witnessed by everyone.”
“Heh, heh.”
Luke clearly wasn’t buying these hypocritical words. He let out a cold laugh, which, combined with his large head, felt quite oppressive.
“You’d better mean what you say.”
“Otherwise, I don’t care if you’re a genius from Liyue Academy. If you dare to be disrespectful to my Senior, I’ll beat the life out of you!”
After saying that, Luke didn’t bother wasting any more words with this person he deemed “fake.”
Remembering Sara’s instructions, he turned and strode toward the residence.
‘Even a dog raised by Yize dares to step on me!’
At this moment, Li En’s resentment toward Yize deepened once again. Unintentionally, Luke had drawn another wave of hatred for Yize.
……
Outside the residence door, Yize was leaning against the entrance.
“Senior Yize!!!”
Luke’s familiar cry, tinged with a sob, came from the distance. Yize turned, and seeing Luke’s appearance, he couldn’t help but let out a snicker.
“Senior! Why are you laughing at me too!”
Luke was extremely depressed as he pointed at his heavy head.
“Quick, look at what’s happened to me! And everyone else today… why has everyone turned into these strange forms? What on earth is going on?”
Yize grabbed Luke’s arm and hauled him to a corner far enough from the door. He pointed at Luke’s head and asked, “Are you dissatisfied with your head?”
Luke was stunned by the question. “No! Senior! I’m very satisfied with my head!”
Yize was somewhat surprised and pressed further, “Are you sure?”
Luke replied, “I’m sure!”
Yize helplessly rubbed his chin and asked from a different angle, “Then… which part of your body are you most dissatisfied with? Or, where do you most desire to improve or strengthen in your heart?”
Hearing this, Luke looked down at himself and thought seriously for a moment. Then he looked up, a hint of bashfulness and adoration appearing on his face.
“To be honest, Senior, I’m pretty satisfied with everything! If I had to say what’s lacking… it would be here.”
He pointed emphatically at his temple again, his eyes shining.
“Actually, in my heart, I’ve always wanted to become a smart person like you, Senior.”
Yize: “…”
He was momentarily speechless, looking at Luke’s adoring and absolutely sincere eyes. Well, now he knew why Luke’s head had become so large.
“Alright, don’t worry about it.”
Yize sighed helplessly and patted Luke’s shoulder with mixed feelings.
“This head of yours… after some time, it should slowly return to its original shape. Just consider it… a temporary experience of the weight of wisdom.”
Then, Yize’s expression turned stern. He leaned in toward Luke and lowered his voice.
“Now, stop distracting me and tell me the truth. How many bottles of that Potion did you feed Senior Sister Emma?”
Luke was startled by Yize’s sudden change in expression and his seemingly murderous gaze. He subconsciously shrank his neck.
“Se… Senior, don’t look at me with such scary eyes… It was just three bottles… I saw Senior Sister Emma was very weak at the time and wanted her to recover faster…”
“Three bottles? Just three bottles?!”
Yize was so angry he nearly stopped breathing.
He said crossly, “Did I not emphasize it over and over? I told you to feed Emma one bottle! Just one bottle! That was enough! Where were your ears at that moment?”
Luke blinked his large, innocent eyes, looking confused as he tried to remember. “Senior… did… did you really say that?”
“At that time… I was too busy worrying about Senior Sister Emma fainting from Mana exhaustion. It seems… it seems I really didn’t hear what you said after that…”
Yize was completely defeated by his blank expression. He reached out and firmly grabbed one of Luke’s ears—which had also grown quite a bit—and gave it a hard twist.
“Having these ears on you is a total waste! You can’t remember a single key, important word you’re supposed to hear, but you can hear gossip through two walls clearly! I think we should just donate them and transplant them to someone who actually needs them!”
“Ow, ow, ow! It hurts, it hurts! Senior, I was wrong! I was really wrong! I’ll definitely listen clearly next time! Gentler, gentler! My ear is going to fall off!”
At the same time, on the other side of the door.
Sara’s delicate frame suddenly shuddered, and a flash of shock and disbelief crossed her eyes.
After taking the Potion Luke had given her, her current Spirit Power and sensory perception had been heightened to an extremely sharp, almost terrifying level.
Outside the door, although Yize and Luke had deliberately lowered their voices and were talking further away, that clear dialogue— especially the final question and answer about the Potion’s source— reached her ears clearly without missing a single word.
‘This magic potion… it was actually Yize who gave it to Luke?’