The words struck harder than any blow.
Lefiya's breath caught in her throat.
Her fingers dug weakly into the dirt beneath her, nails scraping against stone as her body trembled... not from pain, but from something far worse.
Shame.
Her lips parted, yet no sound came out.
The ringing in her ears drowned out everything else, save for the steady cadence of his voice and the sight of his unmoving back.
He didn't look down on her, nor did he offer a hand.
"I..."
Her voice cracked the moment it escaped. She swallowed hard, forcing air back into her lungs.
"I tried..."
"I trained," she whispered.
"I pushed myself... I thought if I worked harder, if I just caught up a little..."
Her teeth clenched.
"But when it mattered... I froze."
The figure in front of her turned his head slightly, just enough for one eye to glance back at her.
Those purple irises reflected her kneeling form without judgment... only cold clarity.
"You can stay there," he continued calmly, already shifting his stance.
"Wait for someone else to save you."
A pause.
"Or you can get up," he said, voice lowering, sharper now.
"And prove to yourself that you're not a burden."
Lefiya's breath hitched.
A memory surfaced... golden hair disappearing into the front lines, a back she could never quite reach.
A hand that had once pulled her from despair.
Her fingers curled.
"...I'm not," she whispered.
With a shaky gasp, Lefiya planted her staff against the ground and forced her body upward, legs screaming in protest as she stood.
The purple-eyed boy finally turned fully toward her.
For the first time, a faint hint of approval flickered across his face.
"Want my word of advice?"
Judas' sudden question cut through the chaos of battle.
Lefiya, who had been tightly gripping her staff, flinched slightly before nodding.
"Yes, please."
Judas turned his back to her once again, his attention returning to the battlefield ahead.
Tione and Tiona were locked in combat with the plant monsters.
They weren't having an easy time finishing them off, their movements forceful and aggressive as the monsters stubbornly resisted.
Even so, Judas showed no sign of concern.
Although they were struggling to deal with these monsters, their lives were far from being in danger.
"From what I can see, you're letting your nerves take over."
Judas continued, his voice steady.
He lifted a finger and casually pointed toward one of the monsters.
A magic circle bloomed at the tip of his fingertip, glowing faintly purple.
The surrounding plant monsters reacted instantly.
Drawn by the sudden surge of magic, their twisted heads snapped toward him, thorny maws opening wide...
But before a single shriek could escape them, a concentrated beam of energy shot forth.
Fwoom.
One monster didn't even have time to register pain.
Its upper body was erased entirely, reduced to drifting ash before it could hit the ground.
"Judas!"
Tiona called out, her eyes sparkling as she flashed him a bright grin.
"You've only just learned concurrent chanting," Judas said calmly, as if he hadn't just erased a monster in an instant.
"It's perfectly normal to stumble. No one masters it right away."
Lefiya listened intently, every word sinking deep into her heart.
At some point, without her even realizing it, the idea of being his rival quietly faded away.
In its place grew something warmer... something heavier.
Admiration.
"My advice?"
Judas said, lifting his hand once more.
This time, the air itself responded.
The temperature around them dropped sharply, frost creeping along the ground.
"Don't fixate on the result," he continued.
"Immerse yourself in the process."
A second spell activated.
In an instant, every remaining plant monster... save for one... was entombed in solid ice.
"Nice one!"
Tione laughed, cracking her knuckles as veins bulged along her arms.
"Happ!"
One punch from each sister was all it took.
The frozen monsters shattered into fragments, ice and body parts exploding outward like glass.
Silence followed.
Only one monster remained.
Everyone turned their attention toward it as the creature slowly twisted its body, locking onto them before letting out a shrill screech.
Judas turned toward Lefiya.
"How about it? Think you can manage?"
A bead of sweat rolled down her cheek.
That was when she realized it.
He had left one alive... on purpose.
Not by chance.
Not by oversight.
By design.
The precision... the control... it sent a shiver down her spine.
Lefiya swallowed hard.
Anxiety churned in her stomach, memories of her recent brush with death resurfacing against her will.
But when Lefiya shifted her gaze and met Judas' purple eyes...
For some reason, that alone was enough to calm her racing heart.
She exhaled slowly, tightening her grip on her staff.
"Yes... I can."
Her voice wavered slightly, but it didn't break.
She raised her staff and fixed her eyes on the plant monster ahead, its vines writhing restlessly against the ground.
"Then prove it."
Judas crossed his arms, stepping back as if the outcome no longer concerned him.
Lefiya took a deep breath and began gathering mind into her staff.
screech—!
The monster sensed it.
The surge of magic agitated the creature instantly.
It let out a shrill roar and charged without hesitation, roots tearing free from the ground as it barreled toward her like a living avalanche of thorns.
"Oi," Tione muttered, walking up beside Judas with her sister.
"Is it really fine leaving that thing to Lefiya alone?"
Letting adventurers face danger on their own to grow stronger was common practice among familias.
However...
She knew firsthand how dangerous those monsters were.
Level 4... far beyond what a Level 3 mage should be facing.
Judas glanced at them, then shrugged casually.
"Who knows?"
Tione nearly lost her balance.
"But, what I do know... is that right now..."
Judas added, watching Lefiya stand her ground.
A faint smile tugged at his lips.
"...Lefiya is having an adventure."
Both Tione and Tiona fell silent, their attention drawn forward as the elven mage stepped ahead.
For reasons they couldn't quite explain, her small, resolute figure overlapped with another memory... a lone girl standing her ground against impossible odds.
Just like Belle Cranel had once faced three minotaurs head-on, fear trembling in her body yet resolve burning brighter than terror...
In that moment, Lefiya looked the same.
Not because of her strength... but because she had chosen to move forward anyway.
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