“Fufu~”a pleasant laughter resounded in the quiet grass plain.

“Oi! Can’t you be a bit gentler!?” While speaking, Ran quickly dodged to the left, without time to rest, he quickly kicked off the ground, simultaneously blocking the upcoming objects surrounded by jet black flames with a magic barrier.

“Oh come now, were you not the one who suggested acting as my practice dummy?” her voice was as calm as ever as she accurately threw the three kunais held between her fingers at the constantly moving target, each strike aiming to kill.

“When did that happen!?” Ran retorted, but it didn’t seem like Charlotte was paying attention to his words. He could only dodge as fast as he could, lest those nasty things stabbed him. When he wasn’t paying attention, one of the kunais managed to get past his notice. When he finally noticed, it was already too late and he could only move so that it didn’t hit his lungs, stabbed him in the shoulder blades. “Kgh- you’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”

“What could you possibly mean by that?” Charlotte innocently blinked her eyes, looking at him as if she was being wrongly accused. As soon as she finished speaking, she casted another mid-ranged offensive spell. While Ran was distracted once more, three kunais appeared once more in each hand which she imbued with her mana.

Having experienced her sneak attacks twice already, he leaped towards her at lightning speed, successfully grabbed her by her wrists before she could throw them. “Heh, you can fool me twice, but not thrice.”

Caught in his grip, unexpectedly, the smile on her face grew wider, “Too bad.” But before he could figure out what she meant, she lifted her leg to kick him that he quickly blocked with his hand.

“Didn’t I say-“

--Bam!

A heavy kick landed on his sides, sending him several steps back. When he looked up, he glared at the figure that kicked him from behind. “You…” standing side by side were two identical looking girls. No matter how you looked at them, they perfectly resembled one another that you could mistake them for the same person. Surprised, he said, “Shadow clone. You actually know this spell and it looks like you’ve also mastered it.”

Still in battle-mode, Charlotte prepared for the next attack. “Aren’t you a bit pitiful for a vampire noble?”

“I’ve been sealed for three centuries, what did you expect?” He was telling the truth. Although his vast amount of mana made him a dangerous opponent, his speed and reflexes had somewhat dulled. Against someone like Charlotte who relied on both speed and magic attacks, he couldn’t deny that he was being pushed to a corner. What he didn't say though was that if he really...Ran glanced at the side, looking at that tiny figure, his eyes unconsciously twitched with irritation.

“Then again, you managed to take down the devil king’s guard dog, are you sure you’re still human!?” even a high ranked demon was unable to defeat that thing. Although she did sustain a lot of injuries in the process, for a human girl her age to reduce the demon serpent the devil king personally summoned into sushi rolls was just beyond monstrous!

Not to mention that it was rare for humans to be able to properly control their magic if they possess the dark attribute. There were even rare cases of humans who possessed dark magic that died due to losing control. But this girl, not only did it seem like she was able to use it as easy as breathing, but even knew highly advanced magic spells that she casted with such ease. He hadn’t even noticed her chanting any incantations! Did he underestimate her?

“Looks like if I keep holding back, I might really die.”

(So you were holding back after all, huh.)

She couldn’t deny that his speed was far superior than hers, and if he really was serious, she would have been dead long ago. His magic attacks were also something to be weary of, as each of his attacks had made her use all her strength to block, barely escaping if she wanted to dodge. Because of that, she switched to her current attacking style, fierce and aggressive, not giving him the chance to cast a single spell without getting hit in the process.

On the sides, PuffPuff lazily stretched his paws. If you were to look carefully, you would notice a peculiar smile in his eyes as he watched Ran’s ‘miserable’ state.

More than a month had already passed since her enrolment in Lonaria academy. A lot had happened, a lot of frustrating things for Charlotte, making today’s training a one sided tackle.

(Not only do those annoying lackeys keep pestering me, this pedo stalking me, fangirls leaving annoying hate letters in my lockers, the student council trying to recruit me EVERY SINGLE DAY, but even my teacher is ganging up on me? Are they messing with me!?)

Normally, something of such level was still tolerable for her. What really ticked her off was….

[five weeks ago]

A strange rumor once again floated around campus. This was an everyday occurrence, thus no one really paid it much attention as there were countless rumors. For instance, the academy’s seven wonders.

“Seven wonders? What’s that?” Leila curiously asked Terence who brought up this topic.

It was currently lunch break, thus the four of them met up at the predecided meeting point where they would have lunch. The four of them…plus an extra addition….Ran.

While stuffing his face with his lunch, Terence carefully explained, “Yeah, they’re mysteries our academy’s supernatural club are unable to solve.”

“Such a club exists?” Charlotte asked indifferently, leisurely sipping her tea while her other hand kept moving about.

Leila, Terence and Leo looked at the two with a strange expression, but decided to ignore it and continue.

“Want to hear what they’re all about?” Leo asked to dissolve the awkward silence that was starting to grow from the pair sitting opposite of them.

“Oh! I think I heard the first one from one of my classmates.” Leila pointed her index finger at the tall clock tower south from where they sat and retold what she heard, “Long ago when the academy was recently founded and still small, they said the clock tower was one of the very first buildings that was built. It was said that one of the students had stumbled upon an ancient long lost magic, a magic that was able to bend space and time to their will.”