Lord of Charm

A month passed since Lena's first training session with Daphne. She would attend classes for 4 hours from Monday to Thursday, and train most of the remaining time.

"Lena, you're so amazing! I can't believe you just challenged ranked 2 for his spot while still being a true mage."

She was eating lunch with her three new "friends". It's not like they were trying to manipulate her or take advantage of her; she just didn't consider them as her real friends because those three were fanboying and fangirling her most of the time.

Jay also backstabbed her and started having more intimate lunches with Manuel, so she didn't see her much time outside classes. She apparently never heard of the "chicks before dicks" rule.

"I knew I could defeat him after training in the academy's facilities for a month. I would need a whole year to improve as much as I've improved in the past month if I weren't in the academy. Besides, I feel like I'm on the verge of breaking through the next stage, and I'm looking for inspiration."

She was bored of being on her own all the time. Even she enjoyed human interaction sometimes and didn't like training all day long, so she found herself interacting with two of her fanboys and one of the fangirls.

For some reason, those who weren't her fans were too scared to approach her ever since her fight with Manuel, especially when they heard she issued the challenge while he was trying to befriend her.

The three watched enviously as Lena wolfed down the fifth-grade dishes when Lena's and Klaus' watches beeped and relayed a message. Klaus was one of two men who accompanied her lunch.

"Top 10 students are required to assemble in the first building in room 0004 within 6 hours."

"Haha guys, I will be leaving with Lena. I'm going to use this chance to get ahead."

Klaus said to his two friends, who frowned when they heard the message. The other two were ranked 11 and 13, so they weren't invited.

"Keep dreaming. If you want my heart, you must be at least almost as strong as me."

Lena snorted at his delusions, and he grimaced.

"I'm ranked 5, I'm plenty strong!"

"No, you're just average, and I'm only willing to hang out with you guys because there's nobody better to hang out with."

No matter how much she wanted to meet new friends, she wouldn't spend it with weaklings. The talented always want someone of their level to talk to.

"Kiyaah! Mean Lena is out!"

--------

5 hours later, Lena went to the meeting room along with Klaus. After arriving, they had to wait only a few minutes until everyone arrived. The last one to enter was a bald middle-aged man whom Lena recognized as one of the magi she met.

"Hello everyone. As most of you know, the three empires have agreed on a few war sites, as well as have agreed on a few tournaments for other territories. Those agreements have been ongoing for the last few thousand years."

By "most of you", he meant the nobles in the group, which was everyone except for Lena. There weren't many commoners in the academy except for some children of rich merchants or other successful commoners who could afford to pay the tuition fees.

"Some of those tournaments are meant for magi, some for mages, and some have an age limitation. This time, we are talking about special ruins. Those are ruins of an ancient organization which fell at the beginning of the Hatred Era."

"If they fell at the beginning, doesn't it mean they were weak?"

One student asked the glaring question that was raised in everyone's minds.

"Even if they were considered weak back then, they would be enough to conquer the continent now. They had a few ninth-stage magi after all. They set a powerful magic circle which the empires can't take down, and it allows only those 35 or under to enter."

"If it's been around for so long, is there any point in going there anymore?"

Lena said out loud her thoughts. If those ruins are from an era that ended 10 thousand years ago, what was left there to take?

"There is, you will see when you get there. Let me warn you in advance, at least half of you will die if you choose to enter. Those ruins were given to our academy because it's most beneficial for light element users, and of all the Gold forces, we have the most."

It was true. There wasn't a single light element user in the top list of Gale's academy, yet other than Lena there were two more in the top 10 of Moon Nova Academy. Almost all talented light element users were recruited to this academy.

Lena understood that the light element users, herself included, were expected to take this chance to get stronger, but they still had the right to decline. This academy didn't force its students to risk their lives.

"If you want to go, stay. If you are too afraid, leave the room."

Despite his provocation, 5 students backed off immediately, and one of them was a light element user. The magus gave him a disappointed look but didn't say anything.

Two men were hesitating about whether to leave or not; they were looking at Lena who stayed. Those were Klaus and Manuel.

'I'm not leaving my idol behind! It's my chance to prove myself and get her recognition.'

Klaus took a deep breath and chose to stay with Lena.

'It's been fun with Jay, but I should aim higher. I might finally put my hands on Lena this time. Haha, imagine if she was injured and needed someone to take care of her.'

With a similar thinking process but much less purity, Manuel chose to do the same as Klaus.

"The five of you will go out then. We will move in seven days from now, and you can expect to be there for at least a month. Lena, the headmaster said that if you accept this mission, you should go to meet her in her office as soon as possible. You may leave."

As soon as they left, their Shiri watches announced the assembly spot for next week. Lena parted from Klaus and went to Daphne's office.

"Come in."

Lena heard Daphne's voice when she raised her hand to knock on the door, so she just opened the office instead of knocking.

"Since you accepted the mission, I want to make sure you get as strong as possible before going. You can train in my personal training room during this week, and I will try to find some time every day to train you."

Daphne pointed at her training room, and Lena entered. A week of training passed, and after being so much time in a room with high mana density, Lena felt closer to the next stage than ever. She just needed one last push to get there!

The five students assembled where their watch told them and found the magus already waiting for them.

"Hello again, I'm Elijah. I will take you to the ruins. Since you're the geniuses of the academy and you go to a dangerous territory, I will protect you on your way there and back myself. However, I can't protect you inside the ruins, and I can't avenge you if you die. Remember that personal strength matters the most. You will be separated inside the ruins, and if the kids of the other kingdoms find you before you group up, you might fight to the death."

The group followed Elijah to the beast grounds until they reached a large territory that was off-limits for students who weren't working or studying there.

"For whom it's the first time in the beast grounds, you may look around and enjoy the view. The beasts groomed by the academy are all trained, so we let them roam the grounds freely. They know the borders of their area, and as long as they don't go out, we don't put a leash on them. As for the birds, they can fly unrestrained, but they're trained to return once they hear a whistle."

Elijah explained to the students about the area and Lena looked around with everyone else. It was a territory as large as the academy's campus, and beasts were walking around, running, or just laying and resting. In the sky were a few blue feathered birds that seemed large enough to carry their whole group.

*Whistle*

Elijah created a strong whistle sound with air magic and one of the birds dived toward them and landed next to Elijah. A strong gale blew on everyone, making their hair and clothes flutter behind them.

"Those birds are sixth-stage beasts groomed by our academy to serve as mounts for long distances. Most of the time, only the magi or expert mages who are sent to emergence missions outside can use them, so make sure to enjoy the ride."

One student who worked in the area ran to Elijah, bowed, and quickly did his job. He took a saddle out of his magic bag and placed it on the bird's back, making it more comfortable for everyone to ride on.

Elijah nodded to the students and jumped on the bird's back with the students behind him. Although it would be a little cramped, there was still room for a few more students should the necessity arise.

"This is Kol, he will act as your guard in case I'm busy with something else. He is a graduate of our academy and an expert mage."

Elijah made introductions with the seventh person, and the group took off toward the ruins.