Afternoon training ground.
Boom!
A cloud of water vapor mixed with fierce wind exploded in midair, blowing several wooden targets in the distance askew.
Leo gripped his short staff, panting heavily, his shirt already soaked with sweat.
These past few days, contrary to his usual self, he hadn’t slept in. Every day at dawn, he would hide alone in the training ground and stubbornly practice magic.
Although he always said, “I’m a genius,” and “I only learn magic to look cool,” the words Ailiya had left in his room that day had taken root and run wild in his mind.
It made him feel irritable—nothing he played was enjoyable, nothing he did went right, as if only practicing magic felt meaningful.
These days, that self-important Cedric had been loitering around the estate with that condescending look, as if he were looking at a dog kept at home.
Especially the way he looked at Ailiya—that undisguised frivolity made Leo inexplicably furious.
He had racked his brains these past few days, using every lousy excuse like “wand fell in the toilet,” “poisonous snake in the flower bed,” “kitchen pot exploded,” even going so far as to ruin his own image, deliberately sabotaging Cedric’s “chance encounters” several times.
But he knew very well that such petty tricks couldn’t stall forever.
Clap, clap, clap.
A slow, somewhat mocking applause suddenly came from the entrance of the training ground.
Leo’s hand trembled, and the trace of magic power he had just gathered instantly dispersed.
He turned around and saw Cedric, dressed in decent casual clothes, playing with a long wand embedded with a ruby, looking at him with a half-smile.
“Being able to fuse water and wind elements to this extent is not bad. However, your aim is terribly off.”
Cedric approached with elegant steps, his tone carrying a condescending air of guidance.
“It seems that your private tutor didn’t teach you any real skill.”
Leo frowned, instinctively feeling disgust, but he forced a carefree smile.
“Third Brother is joking. I’m just messing around to kill time. How could I compare to someone like you who receives elite education from the main family?”
As Leo spoke, he tucked the short wand into his waistband and stretched.
“I’m just tired from practice. I’ll go back and take a nap. Third Brother, take your time looking around.”
“Wait.”
Cedric took a sidestep and blocked Leo’s path with the ornate wand.
“Since you know you’re not up to par, you need orthodox guidance even more.”
His gaze gradually turned cold.
Having been thwarted multiple times by this waste these past few days, his pent-up anger had reached its limit.
He didn’t mind using the guise of “brotherly guidance” to teach this arrogant bastard a lesson and make him recognize his place.
“Giving up halfway is not the way of a noble.”
Cedric smiled slightly, but the smile didn’t reach his eyes.
“As your elder brother, since I’m here, I naturally have the duty to examine your studies. Come on, Leo, attack me with all your strength. Let me see where your limit lies.”
“Examine my studies?”
Leo was startled and waved his hands while backing away.
“No, no, no, Third Brother. You’re a Second-rank Mage. I’ve only just touched the threshold. Isn’t this a one-sided beating? I’m not fighting. I have a stomachache. I need to go to the outhouse!”
Seeing Leo’s utterly spineless cowardly appearance, Cedric’s contempt was written all over his face.
“Leo, Leo, you really are the same as before, a coward who only hides behind women.”
Cedric slowly stroked the gem on his wand, his voice low but each word piercing.
“Are you going to hide behind Aunt Elsa’s skirt and cry again, just like when you were little?”
Cedric let out a contemptuous snicker.
“If you don’t even have the courage to draw your wand, then all your life you’ll only be fit to be a waste trampled underfoot.”
These words pierced Leo like a sharp knife.
He suddenly stopped in his tracks.
He lowered his head, his bangs covering his eyes, his fists clenched tightly at his sides, knuckles white from strain.
‘Coward? Waste? Only able to hide behind women?’
Yes, as long as he remained weak, as long as Cedric was here, Ailiya might get into conflict with him, and Mother would also be implicated.
And Leo couldn’t control Ailiya either.
Leo let out a long breath, his mind already made up.
‘Just take the beating. It’s not the first time. At least I won’t let him have it easy. I’ll vent my anger hard.’
When he raised his head again, the playful and cowardly expression on his face had vanished without a trace, replaced by an unprecedented stubbornness.
“Since Third Brother is so interested in guiding…”
Leo yanked the short wand from his waist, assumed a standard combat starting stance, and stared intently at Cedric.
“Then please, Third Brother, don’t hesitate to teach me.”
Seeing that Leo actually dared to accept the fight, a gleam of triumphant coldness flashed in Cedric’s eyes.
“Good, finally showing some manliness.”
Cedric held his wand horizontally in front of him, and a scorching fire-attribute magic power belonging to a Second-rank Mage instantly erupted with him at the center. The powerful airflow forced Leo to squint.
“For fairness, I’ll let you have three moves. I won’t leave this circle under my feet.”
Cedric raised his chin arrogantly.
Meanwhile, on the second-floor terrace of the main building.
Ailiya was holding a rag, methodically wiping the dust off the railing.
The sudden burst of magic fluctuation from the training ground immediately caught her attention.
She stopped her movements and looked down at the training ground from above.
When she clearly saw the two people confronting each other, a look of understanding flashed in her ice-blue eyes.
So she used Appraisal to check, and at the edge of her vision, the level indicators of the two were clearly visible:
[Leo: LV.8]
[Cedric: LV.15]
Not far away in the corridor, Captain of the Guard Garick also sensed the commotion.
He saw this scene, his expression drastically changed, and was about to rush down to stop it, but was stopped by the butler who had appeared without him noticing.
“Butler, how did the young masters start fighting! Young Master Leo will be at a disadvantage. We need to notify the Madame immediately!”
Garick stomped his feet anxiously.
“Wait a bit longer.”
The old butler looked down with deep eyes.
“It’s a spar between young masters. As servants, it’s not our place to interfere.”
On the terrace.
Ailiya listened to the conversation in the corridor but had no intention of notifying Lady Elsa.
She draped the rag over the railing, crossed her arms, and silently watched the battle below.
On the training ground.
“Since Third Brother lets me make the first move, then I won’t be polite!”
Leo shouted and struck first!
He swung his short wand fiercely, sending three water bullets in a triangle formation, howling toward Cedric’s face.