Chapter 68

On one side, Long Yi and Ailin were studying, while on the other, a group of students who were still in live combat training were already seething with anger. The relationship between these students and their magic tutor had always been good, but there were very few whom he truly praised. As fellow mages, they had long heard of Ailin, who was a genius in various rumors. Being of noble birth, they had no reason not to know.

However, knowing one thing and accepting it are two different matters.

As fellow mages, who was afraid of whom?

Long Yi was still struggling to memorize those difficult formulas and theorems when a group of people approached.

"Ailin, do you remember me?"

The speaker was a girl about Ailin's age. She was tall, with long hair cascading down her shoulders, and wore elaborate jewelry. The aura emanating from the jewelry indicated that they were magical accessories, not just for decoration.

"Who are you...?"

Ailin looked puzzled, clearly not remembering this person.

The girl's face turned red, and she said with evident dissatisfaction:

"I'm Swei, Swei from the Glen family."

"Swei?" Ailin thought for a moment, then suddenly smiled, "Oh, it's Swei-nee, we haven't seen each other for five years. Nee, you've become so beautiful, I didn't recognize you at all!"

Ailin stood up from beside Long Yi, smiling politely as she looked at Swei.

Swei's dissatisfaction lessened when she heard the compliment, but her jealousy did not subside.

Among her peers, almost every child aspiring to become a dragon mage had heard of the genius Ailin. At the same time, almost everyone had also heard of Ailin's fall from genius to a failure. When Ailin was still a genius, every child's elders would use her story to motivate them, making Ailin their role model and the goal they aimed to reach. But when Ailin became a failure, she also became a negative example, with elders warning that if they didn't work hard, they would end up like the failed Ailin, losing everything.

One could say that for these peers, Ailin's name had been a part of their growth every day.

And now, this failure was almost right before their eyes, transforming from a failure into an invincible mage warrior. Ailin had lost her ability to cast spells but gained even greater destructive power. She changed her image, wearing a silver tight-fitting outfit every day and strutting around the academy, and she even had very beautiful, stylish, and figure-flattering women's long boots!

As a girl who also loved beauty, Swei was jealous! She was very confident in her figure and would not mind dressing like Ailin if she had the chance. However, she searched the entire academy city but could not find such clothes!

This made her extremely uncomfortable. Not only could she not buy the shiny tight-fitting outfit, but she couldn't even get the stylish knight boots! She heard that the shoe store had once released similar products, but by the time she found out, they were already sold out! The frustration of having money but nowhere to spend it was just like this.

Jealous, but with no way out. Swei considered herself quite strong, already having five layers of mana, but Ailin had seven layers! Moreover, Ailin was a mage warrior! Although mage warriors couldn't cast long-range spells like mages, they could compress spells into their fists and feet, releasing them at the moment of each attack. Despite losing the advantage of distance, the spells would not lose any power, and their strength would increase more than tenfold!

Swei had never seen Ailin fight, but it was said that Ailin single-handedly defeated thirty people from the second-year army department. Her combat skills must be excellent.

Thus, whether from a fashion perspective or a strength perspective, Swei felt that she was being overshadowed by Ailin! Even in terms of background, Ailin was the granddaughter of the iron-blooded general Kaelon, while her grandfather, though also a general, had far less power.

There was no comparison!

So, she was left with only jealousy.

Actually, this is the most peculiar aspect of human nature.

Jealousy.

Envious people have a baffling habit of comparing what they are not good at with what others are good at. Even though they are shorter, they insist on comparing heights; even though they are weaker, they insist on comparing strength. For example, Swei, whose figure was taller and more voluptuous than Ailin, could be described as a devil's figure. But she couldn't see her own perfection and instead focused on her shortcomings.

In short, jealous people are just being pretentious.

Long Yi observed Swei's expression and, even though he wasn't good at reading people, he could feel the deep envy in her eyes.

But then, Swei did something puzzling.

She turned to Long Yi and suddenly asked, "Did you defeat the magic tutor?"

Long Yi chuckled and said, "Yes, I won." But he thought to himself, don't provoke me, don't provoke me, I don't hit girls, I don't hit girls.

Swei sneered, "I don't believe it. Our magic tutor comes from the Magic Research Institute and has the strength of at least one dragon mark. Although he hasn't been on the battlefield, his understanding of magic is hundreds of times greater than yours."

Long Yi looked at Swei, feeling helpless. Girl, how bored and restless are you? Oh, no, you don't have that function. If you're bored, please find your favorite boy and ask him to whip you, okay? Don't bother me, okay? You're so weak and a girl, should I hit you or not? Besides, you seem to know Ailin. If I accidentally hit you... I have to consider Ailin's face, right? There are some places you can't hit a girl, right?

"That, I think, what you said makes sense." Long Yi nodded. Although he was annoyed by Swei's provocation, he genuinely believed what she said. The magic tutor had always held back his strength and only used magic missiles as his sole attack method. This wasn't a fair fight. A mage's greatest strength is the destructive power of spells, and a mere magic missile couldn't hurt Long Yi. In fact, Long Yi had taken advantage in that fight.

Winning is one thing, but Long Yi was clear about it and never gloated.

"So, I challenge you to a magic duel! I will prove for our respected magic tutor that you only won by chance!"

Swei announced loudly.

Hearing this, Ailin looked bewildered at Swei. She was challenging Brother Long? What kind of confidence did she have? Long Yi could even defeat the magic tutor, how could she have the confidence to defeat Long Yi?

Long Yi also looked bewildered. Was this girl so consumed by jealousy that she had lost her mind? If I were just a fool who only knew how to use aura, it would be one thing. But not long ago, I used a super-sized magic missile to destroy the magic tutor's ghostly shield, and then, when the magic tutor suppressed his strength to match mine, I easily defeated him. Now you come out and tell me you want to challenge me. Are you planning to avenge the magic tutor or to embarrass him?

If you win, wouldn't that mean you're stronger than the magic tutor?

Moreover, how could you possibly win!

The giant's power in Long Yi's body, though not entirely convertible to mana, was still at nine layers. This didn't even include the power of Bajie! If Bajie's dragon power were included, Long Yi's mana level would be eighteen layers! By the standards of ordinary people, in this Dragon Knight Academy, this should be the average level of fifth or even sixth graders.

You, a mere second-year student, not even a穿越者 (time traveler), have no chance of winning. What's the point of such a challenge?

"I'm not very interested in your challenge. I think we should just forget it."

Long Yi waved his hand. He still had a lot of formulas and theorems to memorize. This kind of fight that could be resolved in a minute, he wasn't interested in, especially since the opponent was a girl.

"Afraid?"

Swei's face was full of contempt. The two girls beside her, who seemed to be her friends, looked less calm. They gently tugged at Swei's sleeve, trying to stop her from provoking Long Yi. After all, Long Yi had recently gained a fearsome reputation, almost killing the third prince in front of the ministers. Such a fierce person, if he didn't provoke you, it was good luck. Why provoke him?

Swei naturally knew what her friends were worried about. She wasn't stupid and understood Long Yi's strength. However, she had her own plan and knew exactly where Long Yi's weakness lay.

As long as she could exploit this weakness, Long Yi was not invincible.

"Yes, yes, I'm afraid."

Long Yi still didn't want to act. He only hoped that this girl would quickly lose interest in him and let him go. Studying was so important!

Swei was almost speechless. Everyone said that Long Yi was a fierce person who would act immediately if provoked. Why did he seem so gentle today? Swei didn't believe that Long Yi was afraid of her. He wasn't afraid of the third prince or the magic tutor, why would he be afraid of her? In terms of status and strength, how could she compare to them?

But no matter what methods Swei used, Long Yi just ignored her. As a girl, she couldn't act like a hooligan and start a fight first.

Swei, as a mage, was not good at this kind of provocation. After a few rounds, she was at a loss. Just as she was racking her brain for a way to make Long Yi agree, she suddenly saw a glimmer of hope. Not far away, three people were walking towards the entrance of the training ground.

Two men and one woman, the man in the middle was fresh and handsome, with a face somewhat similar to Swei's. The two women on either side were also beautiful, and their attention seemed to be on the man in the middle.

Swei smiled and walked over a few steps.

"Second brother, why are you here?"

The man was Swei's second brother, Suren.