Chapter 416

Chapter Thirty-Nine I!

I saw that he was deliberately waving this way!

“Pfft pfft pfft pfft pfft…”

I waved my hand frantically in front of me, tightly closed my eyes, and kept blowing air outwards. I couldn’t help but stand up, but the dust circled around me, no matter how much I tried to wave it away. My frustration made me stomp my feet, and my mindset completely collapsed.

So dirty! So dirty! So dirty!

Ah ah ah ah—

My freshly cleaned school uniform!

And my hair!

Now they were all ruined!

Reckert—!!!

After a moment, I felt the wind gradually weaken, and the dust slowly dissipated. I slowly opened my eyes, covered my nose and mouth, took two gentle breaths, then glared ahead with wide eyes.

The breeze carried away the last wisp of gray mist lingering on the clearing ahead.

As my vision cleared, I realized the ghostfire youth had already fallen several steps away, while Reckert, his cloak fluttering, still stood there unmoved.

“You must have come into contact with someone who understands the Wind Order before, or perhaps you were taught by someone? ”

The man with the forgiving hair pressed down the back of his coat with one hand. As he spoke, he took large strides forward.

“Did you think that those who possess the Wind Order aren’t good at close combat, so you rashly decided to get closer to me from the start… It’s true, your movements were well done, and your punches were powerful. You’re quite skilled at close combat, right? That’s why you chose me as your opponent, thinking that compared to others like Halls’ Earth Order, Lucia’s Lightning Order, the threat to your flames would be less?”

He walked in front of the ghostfire youth, bent down, and extended his right hand toward the fallen person with a smile.

“Sorry, did I hurt you?”

Upon hearing this, the ghostfire youth’s face suddenly turned red.

“I’m fine…”

The youth seemed to force the words through clenched teeth. He ignored Reckert’s outstretched hand and didn’t answer his question. Instead, he quickly got up from the ground, brushed off the dirt, and subconsciously glanced over at me. Seeing that I was staring, he panicked and, feeling embarrassed, turned his head away and took a few steps back. Muttering to Reckert, he said, “Continue.”

Reckert nodded.

“Then let’s go.”

The man remained standing, waiting for the youth’s attack. But this time, the youth became more cautious. He didn’t rush forward again but moved slowly, always keeping an eye on the other’s movements and trying to circle around him.

I watched expressionlessly, took off my soft hat, held it in my hand, and patted it a few times, releasing much of the flying dust, which dispersed like mist before my eyes.

It was a bit irritating.

“…Achoo—”

I couldn’t help but sneeze, then rubbed my nose. Looking around at the girls beside me, I noticed they were patting the dust off their clothes, chattering as they did so. Lowering my head… yes, I could see the dust on my skirt too.

Hmph.

After a moment of collapsing mentality, I calmed down, stood expressionless for a while, then started patting my stomach and chest with the soft hat.

Pfft, pfft, pfft…

After a few pats, everything around me was hazy.

“Cough, cough…”

I stopped my actions, covered my mouth and coughed a few times, then paused for a moment before bending down to pat my skirt.

“Wow, this can’t be cleaned. I’ll have to take a bath when I get home…”

“Mr. Reckert is really amazing… He just waved his hand, and the wind came rushing over…”

“I feel like dirt is getting into my mouth… Pfft! So dirty…”

“But Mr. Reckert is really handsome…”

“You look at him, not a speck of dust on him…”

“Peter is useless…”

The girls around seemed not at all upset.

But I was very upset.

Very upset.

Sigh—

In the corner of my vision, firelight seemed to flicker from the clearing, as if the ghostfire youth had attacked again, but I no longer cared. I had lost all interest in watching the commotion and continued to beat myself up.

Pfft, pfft, pfft.

Ahead, Reckert’s calm voice echoed.

“Move faster… Good… Don’t rush into close combat… Indeed, many who possess the Wind Order are not adept at close combat. They believe that wind power is weaker in close combat compared to other orders, and only by maintaining a certain distance can the full potential of wind power be unleashed… but this is the thought of most mediocre people.”

That voice was intermingled with the sound of flames and air rubbing against each other, along with the ghostfire youth’s shouts.

“I’m telling you now, the application of order powers is versatile and not merely a matter of innate talent. Even if my affinity is far weaker than yours, I can still easily defeat you…”

…Forget it, stop patting.

Anyway, it won’t get clean.

“Be quiet! It’s just some dust. Why are you all being so delicate? Stop patting and sit down properly to watch. Don’t disturb the others behind you.”

Teacher Melville spoke sternly, and the girls were startled, then stopped and sat down obediently.

I sat down too.

Then I rubbed my messy hair… it felt rough.

There must be a lot of dust inside…

…Really frustrating.

I put the soft hat back on my head, my eyes fixed on the man dodging attacks leisurely like walking in a courtyard.

While dodging, he kept muttering, “The use of order powers isn’t about brute strength, but technique… Of course, if your talent far exceeds mine, you might break through skill with brute force, unleashing a blazing flame that leaves me nowhere to run…

It was foolish because you couldn’t always encounter enemies weaker than yourself…

“Ahh—”

The Ghost Fire teenager roared in anger, the flames on his palms burning even more intensely. He threw a cluster of fireballs at Reckt, which were waved away into the sky by Reckt. The teenager then crouched down, pressing his body against Reckt again, and swung a sharp fire punch towards Reckt’s face.

“Too slow.”

Reckt easily dodged, pressing his right hand against the ghost teenager’s chest, pushing him back several steps. Then he beckoned to the teenager with his finger.

“Come, try it faster.”

“Huff—huff—”

The ghost teenager was starting to run out of stamina.

His face was flushed red, his chest heaving violently. Wiping the sweat from his forehead, he took a breath, and suddenly, his fists ignited with flames even hotter than before. His expression was strained as if he was holding back, charging at Reckt furiously.

“Oooh—”

The atmosphere in the training ground was reignited, and the students cheered loudly for the ghost teenager.

Huffing and puffing—

The teenager kept throwing punches at Reckt, each one accompanied by a fiery whoosh. His movements were smooth, clearly the result of hard practice, but due to his impatience and lack of combat experience, his punches were like thunder without rain, resembling the desperate fighting style of street toughs, unable to even touch Reckt’s clothes.

Reckt was toying with him.

That man with the forgiving hair, his figure swayed left and right amidst the fierce wind and flames, his steps quick and agile. His coat fluttered loudly, yet not a single flame touched him. With his hands behind his back, he dodged effortlessly, completely refraining from counterattacking. It was clear to anyone that he was mocking the other person.

“Youngster, have you completely abandoned your defense? Do you know that with your fighting style, if I were a real enemy aiming to kill you, you would have died three times before even landing your first punch?”

“Aaaah—”

“If one day you meet an enemy with talents comparable to yours but has honed their skills, physical training, and usage methods, then with your current level and tactics, you would only be able to close your eyes and wait for death… My order power has already been suppressed to a much weaker level compared to you, yet you still can’t do anything about me. If I want to deal with you, it would only take one second—”

As he spoke, Reckt suddenly stopped.

He turned around and narrowly avoided the teenager’s punch. Then, he swiftly struck, his right palm pressing onto the teenager’s face lightning-fast. Bending over, he used his arm strength, causing his coat to flutter—

Bang!

A small dust cloud sprang up.

Reckt pressed the top half of the ghost teenager’s body to the ground, and his legs kicked high and then fell down.

“See, I didn’t even use my order power.”

The forgiving-haired man clapped his hands, looking relaxed. He swept his coat behind him and reached out to the fallen ghost teenager again.

“Don’t forget today’s battle. Think carefully about what I said. You’re quite good. Among your peers in this academy, those who could beat you… should be countable on two hands.”

His tone was calm, and he didn’t even seem out of breath.

The ghost teenager hesitated for a moment, then reached out to shake Reckt’s hand, getting back up.

Whoosh—

The large training ground erupted in celebration.

“Peter, amazing!”

“Mr. Reckt, so cool—”

“He’s so strong! Such a powerful and gentle man, and he’s handsome too… I really want to date such a gentleman…”

“Mr. Reckt, look at me! I’m here! I love you—”

The girls seemed to have gone mad, and I never imagined Reckt had such popularity in the academy. Even the freckled girl next to me, whose freckles were almost covered by dust, shouted her confession loudly. When Reckt heard her, he winked playfully in her direction.

“He looked at me! He looked at me! Aaah—!”

The girl was so excited she nearly fainted.

I finally understood, Reckt wasn’t here to teach us…

He was here to flirt.

Wait and see…

Sitting cross-legged among the enthusiastic crowd, I reached out to scratch my face, expressionless.

The battle between the ghost teenager and Reckt ended here. The departing teenager looked somewhat dejected; he didn’t look at me this time.

With the comparison from the first fight, when the next student came up, they were already disheartened before the fight even began. They were quickly defeated, and then the next one replaced them… In every subsequent match, the students lost very quickly, each match being a crushing defeat. But I no longer cared about the details of the process.

I just watched Reckt.

I saw him standing there, looking smug, occasionally winking at some female students in the crowd.

…I’ll remember this and tell Victoria later.

But before that, I need to give him a beating.

“…Do you realize how far behind you are? You can’t even make them take you seriously, regardless of your age! The four I brought today are also graduates of the Royal Academy! They used to be like you, part of this academy, calling me teacher! But when they were your age, they weren’t like you!”

After the battle, Professor Melville stood in front of the open space, facing all the students, his neck veins bulging as he angrily rebuked them.

“Is this the level you have while attending the Royal Academy? How did you all get in here? Is there anyone else? Who dares to come up? Can you—”

“I!”

I was waiting for you to say that!

“I, I, I!”

I glared fiercely at Reckt, raising my hand high.