FANTASY LIBRARY

What happened?"

"What a loud explosion! Is someone dueling?"

"Who is dueling with such a big noise?"

"I don't know, but it's very likely the twelve people from the First Page. Otherwise, it's impossible to make such a big noise."

"Go and have a look!"

"If there are really twelve people from the First Page dueling, you'd be missing out if you don't watch!"

As such conversations occurred, many students at Durmstrang were drawn by the grand explosion and rushed toward the girls' dormitory one after another.

Erend was also looking in that direction, watching the repeated explosions, and smiled as he thought of something.

"Are you here already?"

After whispering, Erend also headed to the girls' dormitory.

On the way, students heading in the same direction saw him and recognized him.

"Isn't that [Wave Star Demon Sword]?"

"The one who's been really popular recently?"

"Isn't that him…"

Everyone whispered.

—[Wave Star Demon Sword].

That was the title Erend suddenly received one day after rising to rank 13 in Durmstrang.

At Durmstrang, famous students all had their own titles, so it wasn't surprising.

Like Natasha, whose title was [Swift Wind Blade Thunder], and Claudia, known as [Chijian Alliance Leader], these titles were sometimes more well-known than their real names. Now, Erend had received the same treatment.

The reason for his title was simple.

"The magic swordsman who shines with starlight in the heat wave" — that was the most impressive scene Erend had shown in the official ranking battle.

So, he was given that title.

Ignoring the stares around him, Erend walked straight ahead and reached the vicinity of the girls' dormitory.

By now, a large crowd had gathered to watch a battle.

As expected, someone was dueling.

One duelist was a girl with rose-colored waist-length hair and an aura of dignity.

Her information flashed through Erend's mind.

"Jenni Ortega, a first-year senior student at Beauxbaton, one of the twelve from the First Page, currently ranked fifth. Her title: [Flame Witch]."

At that moment, Jenni stood in the field with a somewhat embarrassed stance, releasing a large amount of star power from her body. Countless stardust particles floated around her.

Under the guidance of this energy, the ten thousand Responding Mine elements in the area grew agitated, turning into bursts of fire. The flames coalesced into a flaming spear, which the girl hurled forward.

Watching this scene, Erend grew a little interested.

"Speaking of which, this is the first time I've seen a witch's ability firsthand."

In the baby boomer generation, a rare group of individuals was born with a natural connection to the ten thousand Responding Mine elements, allowing them to create incredible phenomena.

Males were called magicians, and females were called witches. They possessed abilities akin to pure star-lit armed forces.

Jenni Ortega was one of them—a witch who controlled fire.

The explosion just now had been caused by her attacking someone.

As for her target, it was a boy about Erend's age.

He had a slender figure, black-and-purple hair, and a casual expression that didn't leave much of an impression at first glance.

Of course, as the target of Jenni's ruthless bombardment, the boy's relaxed face was now filled with bitterness. Yet, he dared not be careless, dodging each flaming spear that came his way.

Behind or beside him, the fire spears exploded, creating grand bursts of flame, like flowers of fire blooming in the night.

The boy dodged desperately, clearly knowing that getting hit wasn't an option. His movements could only be described as embarrassed but effective.

"Who is that guy?"

"I don't know him."

"I checked—he's not listed in the book of famous sacrifices."

"So, he isn't ranked?"

"What?! I thought anyone dueling Her Highness the Princess would be from the First Page, or at least a ranked fighter..."

"An outsider daring to duel the Flame Witch? He's got guts."

"Yeah, but even though he looks embarrassed, he's dodging all of her attacks."

"Could he be another [Wave Star Demon Sword]?"

"No way…"

The audience chatted enthusiastically, even mentioning Erend, who simply shrugged.

He wanted to say—

"He's different from me. I was a real noob before. But this guy? He's just pretending to be weak before revealing his strength."

Even though it was his first time meeting him, Erend recognized him immediately.

He wasn't a Durmstrang student—at least, not until today.

He was a special transfer student, someone destined to attract attention.

His name was—

"Butler."

Erend muttered the name under his breath and then chuckled.

"The protagonist of the original work has finally appeared."

If he remembered correctly, this battle had started because of Butler's foolish mistake—he had accidentally entered the girls' dormitory and wandered into Jenni Ortega's room.

Naturally, she had mistaken him for a pervert and attacked him on the spot.

As the fight grew more intense, Jenni became frustrated at being unable to defeat Butler, and she increased her firepower, unleashing a storm of explosions.

At that moment, Erend wondered if he should intervene.

"Huh?"

Suddenly, he noticed a familiar figure hiding in the crowd.

"Ferguson?"

Erend was a little surprised.

"Why is she here too?"

The girl seemed to be trying to avoid attention, timidly hiding and minimizing her presence.

It made sense. Erend, being rank 13, attracted enough attention as it was. If Ferguson, the number one fighter, was spotted, it would definitely cause an uproar.

Erend hadn't expected her to be here. But then he thought—this was the girls' dormitory. Maybe it wasn't so strange?

"Should I go say hello?"

He hesitated.

He had declared war on her before. Would it be too shameless to act like nothing had happened?

Just as he was debating, he noticed Ferguson's gaze sharpen.

The girl turned suddenly, staring in one direction.

"Is that…?"

Erend followed her gaze.

Then—a flash of light appeared in his vision.

The true form of that light was—an arrow.

A light arrow, condensed by the ten thousand Responding Mine element, broke the sound barrier like a bullet, flying silently but swiftly toward Jenni.

At that moment, Jenni was gathering a massive amount of flame, preparing a powerful finishing move.

"Danger!"

In the field, Butler, who had just dodged another flaming spear, shouted in alarm.

At the same time, Ferguson moved.

"Shua!"

The petite girl suddenly flashed into the field, moving even faster than the light arrow. She effortlessly appeared in front of Jenni.

"Clang!"

With a flick of her silver-white sword, she deflected the arrow.

"What?"

Jenni looked stunned, unable to process what had just happened.

Ferguson sheathed her sword, about to speak to Jenni, but then—her expression changed.

"Swish!"

The sound of wind rang out—

A second arrow was coming.

But this time, someone was even faster.

"Clang!"

A figure appeared in front of Ferguson, holding a pure white magic sword, slicing through the arrow