Chapter 44 – If You Mess with Little Ellie, You’re Absolutely Fucked

My blurry vision cleared as I exhaled deeply.

What just happened?

It felt like my consciousness had been cleanly severed—cut off in an instant.

Did I really black out from just one hit? Me?

“This is… what the fu—”

“No time to be surprised.”

Leona’s fist shot out again, accompanied by her mischievous giggle.

A straightforward attack. If I tried blocking like before, she’d shatter my guard and smash my face.

With just a few levels’ difference, I might manage to defend, but Leona was in another league entirely. Even with all my past life’s experience, the gap in power was simply too overwhelming.

In pure hand-to-hand combat—

…Well, without a weapon, I’d get destroyed, but I wouldn’t let my guard crumble so pathetically again.

With a weapon in hand, I might stand a chance.

But she wasn’t just fighting barehanded—she was channeling mana into her strikes.

I couldn’t block, parry, or deflect. Unarmed as I was, dodging was my only option.

Damn it.

I twisted my waist and leaned aside.

Whoosh! The wind whistled past my cheek.

But Leona didn’t stop.

Her shoulder shifted, her leading foot dug deeper, and her hips pivoted, transforming the punch into an attack aimed at my shoulder.

I couldn’t dodge from this position. Shifting my weight to my back foot, I slid my left foot sideways and immediately ducked while twisting my body.

A violent gust rushed past the back of my head.

I quickly scanned her movements—advancing foot, twisting torso, tightening core, rolling shoulders. Any longer and I’d be too late. I moved instantly.

Ducking my head, twisting shoulders, folding waist, bending knees.

The first punch missed. The second grazed my hair. The third tapped my shoulder. The fourth skimmed my ribs.

And the fifth—

It wasn’t a punch but a kick.

This beast has given up distinguishing between hands and feet.

I raised my arms to guard, slightly lifting my forward leg to shift my weight. My back leg loosened, ready to retreat the moment impact came.

Then—crack!

Her shin whipped into my forearm like a lash.

Despite preparing to absorb the impact by stepping back, the pain was excruciating.

“D-Damn it… ugh!”

The curse escaped involuntarily.

“You said… only fists!”

I gripped my possibly fractured left forearm, howling in protest.

“Haha! You dodged so well, I got excited! My bad, my bad!”

Leona scratched her cheek sheepishly as she approached. Though I flinched instinctively, I relaxed when I realized she was just walking over.

“Here, drink this.”

“…What kind of instructor brings potions to the first lesson?”

A violet potion gleamed in Leona’s hand.

I accepted without hesitation, but this was no ordinary potion.

This viscosity…

“This is high-grade?”

“It’s all I had!”

“You’re not billing me for this, right?”

“No way! Just drink it!”

Pop! The characteristic aroma of a premium potion wafted from the opened vial.

I downed it immediately.

The jelly-like substance coated my tongue before sliding down my throat. It merged with my mana and blood, spreading throughout my body like growing roots.

A cool, tingling sensation washed away the persistent pain in my arm.

And then the remaining potion…

“…Huh?”

Gathered in my lower abdomen—my dantian.

“What is this?”

A spiritual elixir?

It felt similar yet different. It was definitely an elixir, but something about it felt off.

What could it be?

I rubbed my tingling, warm abdomen while looking at Leona questioningly.

“Is this… an elixir?”

“Well, something like that! How do you feel? Better?”

I demonstrated by lifting my healed arm.

Satisfied, Leona raised her fists again—both of them this time.

“If you’re all better, get ready!”

“Wait, I need time to abso—”

She didn’t give me any.

Bang! Her fist shot through the air, aimed straight at my face.

“You’ve got to be kidding!”

I instinctively raised my guard.

And then—

“Hahaha! You really are hopeless!”

Crunch.

Stars exploded in my vision again. This time, there were two.

***

Past midnight.

In the training hall’s center, where impossibly powerful punches split the air, Leona chuckled softly.

Her laughter came naturally, born from witnessing Eliaernes’ achievements.

Despite the relentless barrage that should have overwhelmed someone of Eliaernes’ level, she kept dodging without pause.

Though she’d instinctively raised her guard for the first few strikes, by the tenth punch, she’d abandoned blocking entirely.

By the twentieth, the attacks couldn’t graze her. By the thirtieth, they couldn’t touch her hair. By the fortieth, her evasions flowed like water.

And now, she even dodged the surprise kicks.

She was an indescribable genius. Yet something felt off.

These weren’t the movements of a prodigy. This was the style of someone who’d survived countless battlefields—brutal, efficient, ruthless.

All grace stripped away, all flourishes eliminated, everything compressed into pure efficiency.

It was as if someone had forcibly dragged unconscious instincts into conscious control and remolded them.

All while unknowingly absorbing the elixir’s effects.

Leona couldn’t control her widening grin, her cheeks aching from constant laughter.

Though she wanted to maintain this momentum, Eliaernes’ delicate body clearly couldn’t handle more.

Her eyes remained sharp, crude curses still spilling from her small lips, but she’d reached her limit. Pushing further would damage her body.

Though Eliaernes seemed to consider training through injury normal, Leona had no intention of allowing that.

To break the flow, she circulated her mana more violently. Her fist clenched, seeming to bend space itself.

Seeing this, Eliaernes’ eyes flashed keenly. No fear. No intention to dodge.

She meant to meet Leona’s strike head-on.

Her tightly pressed lips betrayed her determination to land at least one hit in return.

Leona’s smile grew even brighter.

This would be a bone-breaking blow at minimum. She’d prepared plenty of potions for just such an outcome.

I wonder what you’ll do?

With rising anticipation, Leona launched her punch.

At that moment—

“So this is it…”

A soft laugh escaped Eliaernes’ lips.

Light footwork followed as her body rotated widely. Her slender frame tilted to one side.

Her upper body nearly touched the ground, but didn’t fall. Her legs remained firmly planted, stubbornly maintaining balance.

Then cherry blossom-colored mana erupted.

The force loosened her pink hair, scattering it like petals. One grounded leg moved, launching upward.

Posture, power distribution, footwork, strike point.

Witnessing this sequence, Leona’s eyes widened. Her smile vanished, her breath catching.

The roundhouse kick—her master’s signature move. The one Leona herself frequently used.

Hui-chuk.

Now recreated through Eliaernes’ body.

Weak. Crude. Imperfect. The balance was off. The power lacking. Far inferior to her own or her master’s version.

But undeniably the same. A true roundhouse kick.

Just as the pale leg and straightforward punch were about to meet—

Leona withdrew her fist.

The dizzying kick halted in mid-air. Behind the wind-swept skirt, pink underwear dampened with sweat briefly showed.

And then—

“Why’d you suddenly pull—ahem—why did you withdraw?”

Eliaernes demanded, her voice laden with disappointment, irritation, anger, and competitive spirit.

“I felt like I almost had it with just one more try…”

She continued muttering, but Leona remained silent, quietly observing her staggering form.

“Um… sorry about the cursing. When fighting, I got a bit… carried away.”

Eliaernes bowed her head, thinking Leona was angry about her swearing.

She clicked her tongue in frustration. She’d been so close to mastering the kick she’d seen Arisa use countless times.

Her still-soft, short body meant weak muscles and limited reach.

Kicks were her best weapon for now.

Once her level increased, she wouldn’t need to rely on kicks, but for at least a year, she had no choice.

But even that wasn’t perfect. She’d only copied Arisa’s movements, not understanding the underlying principles.

Yet while evading Leona’s attacks and moving her legs, something had clicked.

She’d sensed how to distribute power properly. Though even that wasn’t certain.

If she could have clashed with Leona’s punch, she might have refined it into something of her own, but Leona had withdrawn at the critical moment.

Of course, the impact would have shattered her leg, but Eliaernes didn’t care.

She could just drink a potion or visit the academy’s resident priest for healing.

She’d considered it a bargain. But Leona had pulled her punch.

The insight remained just out of reach.

“…Tch.”

Setting aside her disappointment momentarily, she began reviewing her earlier movements when—

“Eliaernes.”

Leona’s voice had grown more serious.

“That roundhouse kick. Who taught it to you?”

Eliaernes’ eyebrows trembled.

“What? Round… what? Roundhouse…?”

She’d noticed Leona’s movements resembled Arisa’s. She’d even wondered if Leona might be Arisa’s disciple or something similar.

But what was this “roundhouse” thing?

She’d just copied a kick Arisa frequently used. Just an ordinary spinning kick.

She’d only mimicked the appearance, improvising the execution based on instinct and feeling.

So she knew nothing about “roundhouse” or whatever. It didn’t even sound like something that flower-head Arisa would name.

If Arisa had named it, it would’ve been something like “Super Strong Spinning Kick.”

Having reached this conclusion, Eliaernes shook her head.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

At this response, Leona’s narrowed eyes studied Eliaernes carefully. A gaze that seemed to search for hidden meaning.

After staring silently for a while, she appeared to reach some understanding and laughed her usual “Haha!”

“Well, I guess that makes sense—since you’re a Eustetia.”

And then—

“But you were still a bit cocky.”

Thud!

Her fist shot out, connecting with Eliaernes’ jaw.