81: Headmistress

Headmistress

After spending some time looking through the Artifact Shop, Leo decided to purchase 5 cheap artifacts to level up the shop before investing anymore.1

[Bronze Helmet: Minor physical damage mitigation]

[Leather Cape: Minor magic damage mitigation]

[Green Crystal Earring: Minor boost to energy regeneration]

[Green Crystal Earring: Minor boost to energy regeneration]

[Red Coral Necklace: Minor boost to strength]

Leo had used 35 Magic Points in total for these 5 artifacts.

Ding!

Leo immediately went to see what changes had been made to the Artifact Shop, and to his surprise, he could now see E-Rank artifacts being sold in the shop. However, the prices were much higher, around three to four times more expensive than F-Rank artifacts.

He wanted to look through each artifact to see if there was anything he wanted, mostly the weapon category, but before he could do so, he noticed the door to his training room opening.

'Huh? I'm pretty sure that I locked the door…' he wondered inwardly as he turned to look at the door.

His eyes widened with surprise when he saw the tall figure walking into the room, recognizing her identity immediately.

He quickly stood up to greet the red-haired beauty, "Good morning, Headmistress."

"Tsk, tsk, tsk." Eve sucked her teeth three consecutive times in a quick succession, and she continued, "It hasn't even been a day since Camille left you alone and you're already slacking? Even without your memories, I guess you can't change your bad habits as a slacker, Leo."

"Huh? Actually, I was just taking a break…" he said.

"But what are you doing here, Headmistress?"

"I'm just checking on you. Since Camille won't return for a few days, I decided to take her place and oversee your recovery until she returns."

"Uhh… I appreciate your consideration, but don't you have more important things to do? As the Headmistress of the academy, I'm sure you have a lot of work to do." Leo said to her.

He didn't know why, but he had an uneasy feeling about her.

"That would normally be the case, but with the Wilderness Training Course already prepared, I have some free time until the next big event."

Leo raised an eyebrow and said, "Then you should take this time to rest. I can train by myself."

Eve narrowed her eyes at Leo.

"I have other reasons to be here. I want to see for myself just how much you have recovered. Catch."

Eve suddenly tossed a potion into the air at him.

"It's a medium-grade energy potion. Drink it and spar with me for a bit."

"You want to spar with me?" Leo swallowed nervously.

'Since she's the headmistress of this academy, she's probably even stronger than Miss Camille, right?' he wondered inwardly.

As much as he wanted to refuse, he couldn't possibly refuse the most authoritative person in this academy.

Furthermore, he was a little curious about her strength.

Leo chugged the energy potion and pointed his sword at her.

"Whenever you're ready."

Eve smiled and said, "I should be saying those words."

She suddenly raised her right hand to the left side of her face before swinging it back down, and a sword made out of flames materialized in her grasp.

"Fire Magic Affinity?" Leo muttered. He could feel the heat of the sword even though he was a dozen meters away from it.

"Come at me with everything you've got, Leo." Eve beckoned him with a provocative smile on her face.

Leo gritted his teeth and immediately rushed at her.

Once he was close enough, he started unleashing every combo he knew from the Formless Sword Dance.

However, Eve would either block or deflect all of them, and she would do so with seemingly no effort.

'Hmm… His technique isn't bad, but it's not as decisive and sharp as before. Is this due to his injury? His strength is also lacking…' Eve was a little disappointed by the results.

She was hoping that Miss Camille had downplayed Leo's progress, but it is now clear to her that Leo truly wasn't ready to fight the top students just yet.

Several minutes later, Eve suddenly went on the offensive.

This caught Leo off guard because she had been on the defensive since the beginning, so he thought that she was only going to defend.

He tried to fight back as much as he could, but Eve eventually dominated him, and she did so in just three strikes.

Leo froze his movements when Eve's flaming sword was right beside his neck, and it felt like he was standing right in front of a blazing hot oven.

Eve retrieved her sword a moment later and said, "You have a lot of work to do, Leo."

"I know…" he sighed.

"Just knowing isn't good enough, Leo. At this rate, you won't hold a candle against the students in the other school."

"Huh? What do these students have anything to do with me?" Leo asked with a raised eyebrow.

"You're going to fight them in the upcoming tournament, so you have everything to do with them."

"Wait… Tournament? This is the first time that I am hearing about this."

"There's going to be a big tournament after the Wilderness Training Course, and all of the prestigious academies in this city will be participating in it with their strongest students. I have already entered your name as a participant."

"What?! You entered me into this tournament without even asking for my permission?!" Leo exclaimed.

"Of course. Camille told me that you'd be ready for it, and I trusted her. Also, news of your return has already spread to the other academies, and they're all expecting for you to show up. If you don't, they'll ridicule you and the academy, and I won't have that."

"However, at this rate, you'll be ridiculed even if you participated in the tournament. Therefore, I will be training you for the next few days. And disclaimer— I have a higher standard than Camille, so whatever you do with her, expect something worse." Eve said with a sadistic smile on her face.

'At this rate, I will die from training too much...' Leo sighed inwardly.

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