The first dungeon training had already ended.

A total of 141 students from classes A-S.

39 dropouts.

Despite finishing second, Haewon-ryang felt defeated, and he was left behind with a bad aftertaste, so he went straight to the Class S training ground in the evening.

Even if Eisel had not interrupted at the last minute… winning was difficult.

Although Mayuseong was almost exhausted, he would have quickly recovered his stamina with a brief break. On the other hand, Haewon-ryang had almost run out of mana, so he was not sure whether he would win or lose if they fought any longer.

“I… I can’t beat him no matter what I do.”

"Is the gap in our talents so big?"

Mayuseong was sloppy about everything, but when he found something that ignited his curiosity, he would do anything to excel in it.

Then? Ta-da!

The results would surpass even experts who had focused solely on one field for over a decade.

Mayuseong was always this way. As a result, he had lived a life favoured by everyone.

‘Sorry; I did it for fun, but I did it better.’

It was a sincere apology. Never even intended to make fun of the other person

So Haewon-ryang became even more enraged. The limitations of not being able to win even one battle against a guy who made no efforts ignited his ego.

‘… No, I don’t have time to blame myself. I need to push myself to the limits.'

He took out his staff and stood in front of the massive scarecrow puppet, and his mana wildly danced.

From beginning to end, one after another magic skills shone, and the scarecrow puppet did not even get the chance to activate its signature defensive abilities, and got bombarded to a sorry state.

“Haewon-ryang. Why don’t you take it easy?”

“… Princess Hong Bi-Yeon.”

Haewon-ryang, who had been madly burning his mana for a long time, was able to calm down thanks to the call of Hong Bi-Yeon.

He had already used magic skills a few times, which took a heavy toll on his body, and he was in a state of disarray.

No matter how much he trained his stamina, devoured magic formulas, or even practised magic skills day and night, he could not break past the limit of mana stored by his body.

While wildly calling forth her Flame-attribute magic, Hong Bi-yeon stood next to Haewon-ryang, telling him to calm down.

Despite the fact that she could not use as many attributes as Haewon-ryang and her talent was weaker compared to him, she was able to perform magnificent Class 3 magic skills thanks to her massive amount of mana and powerful inherited royal skills

“Did the princess get beaten by someone too?”

“… Too? Did you also get defeated?”

Haewon-ryang flinched at those words. He made a slip of the tongue which was unusual for his personality. However, Hong Bi-Yeon remained silent. She was not the type of person who was bothered by such trivial matters.

“I did. That too from the last place in the entire first year. It’s killing me.”

There were many excuses.

For example, the terrain was constantly changing; all of her magic skills were already known because she was famous, or her skills focused on destruction which resulted in low accuracy, and her opponent excelled in speed.

In the end, however, the excuses were just excuses.

The fact that Hong Bi-Yeon lost because she was not good enough did not change.

Then, she got a Point Stick and finished third. Despite the fact that she did not win first place, her mother was rather satisfied.

Hong Bi-Yeon suddenly realised that she got third because Baek Yu-Seol gave her a Point Stick, and she stabbed the staff on the floor.

Bang! Bang!

The target ahead was completely burned down.

Due to her strong pride, she handed the Point Sticks to Baek Yu-Seol.

'What would have happened if Baek Yu-Seol had truly snatched all of the Point Sticks? What would I have done if I hadn’t made it into the rankings?'

She could recall that her anxious heart was relieved when he returned it.

‘Annoying!’

She did not like it. Not that she disliked Baek Yu-Seol, she just hated herself for being scared, anxious, relieved, and ecstatic at every action of a mere commoner.

‘One day, I’m going to set that annoying face on fire.’

When she imagined that stupid scarecrow’s face as Baek Yu-Seol’s, the destructive power of the offensive skill increased unexpectedly.

Furthermore, Hong Bi-Yeon remembered the ‘special lecture’ that happened a few days ago.

‘… Pretending to be a good commoner, hmph.’

But, to be honest, it did not work either.

Surprisingly, after trying to alter her thinking while solving the nonsense question, her magic achievements began to soar.

She was able to direct the flames in more varied directions, and she devised a more deliberate strategy for defeating the enemy. She was still not confident in solving the devil's three questions, but she had made progress.

Hong Bi-Yeon's staff came to a halt when her thoughts reached that point.

He was only a commoner, had the worst grades, and the worst personality, but… He was the only boy who knew how to make up for the one flaw she possessed.

Because none of the teachers in the royal family had ever proposed such a unique method as Baek Yu-Seol’s.

“Princess.”

At that moment, Hong Bi-Yeon’s escort magic knight Yuri appeared with a small box.

“Yes. What happened?”

“A parcel has arrived from the artisans. The wand ‘Argento’ modification has been completed. Shall I inform him right now?”

“Uh, yes. That would be better.”

“Then, I will go and tell him.”

Saying that, Yuri was about to leave the training ground, but Hong Bi-Yeon unknowingly grabbed her shoulder.

“… What’s wrong, Princess?”

“Uh… No, leave it. I’ll give it to him. I just happened to have something to do on the way.”

“I see.”

As Hong Bi-Yeon was handed the box, she let out a deep sigh.

‘I’m crazy…’

'I’m not sure what I was thinking when I said I’d bring it to him myself.'

'Anyway, since I agreed to do it myself, there's nothing I can do at this point.'

She made her way to the ‘Second Main Tower,’ where Baek Yu-Seol was.