Endless Leveling Done Right!

Chapter 378: Victory In Defeat [Part 1]

Jessica was one of Alex’s classmates, but she didn’t really stand out from the rest.

She was certainly pretty, but with beauties like Lavinia, Nessia, Evangeline, and Fran in the same class, she was like one of those faint stars surrounding the moon.

Her grades were also average, and like most girls in their class, she had a secret crush on Chuck.

After all, he was the most handsome boy in the class, and he was also the son of a Duke. For most ladies, he was ideal husband material.

Even now, that hadn’t changed. However, Jessica must also acknowledge that although Alex wasn’t a noble, he was still very popular with the ladies.

It was just that, instead of being charmed by him, most of them just feared him.

Alex was very friendly and easy to get along with.

But the ladies were intimidated by his boldness and shamelessness. His title of Blackmail King certainly didn’t help.

Even so, during the party, she couldn’t help but admire Alex because he truly looked like a prince as he danced with Vaan.

”Is there something on my face?”

That question brought Jessica back to reality, where she was about to spar with Alex in a match during Magic Combat Class.

”I-I was just thinking that Chuck is better looking than you,” Jessica stuttered.

Alex laughed good-naturedly, but his eye twitched. ”I think you should visit the infirmary. There might be something wrong with your eyes.”

Jessica sighed as she pulled her chestnut brown hair back and tied it into a sleek bun to keep it out of her way during the battle.

Evangeline gave her teammate a side-long glance before taking a fighting stance. She was holding a wand in her right hand and a small dagger in her left.

Seeing that as a signal that their spar would start soon, Alex summoned Everguard and his hammer, Sacrament.

Among the Heroines, Evangeline had a unique power that made her very difficult to fight in battle.

Her skill, Future Sight, allowed her to see ten seconds ahead. Since she could counter most attacks, she was nearly untouchable.

However, she could only activate this ability by awakening her bloodline powers. For now, she had no plans to do so. If people were to realize she was a Dhampir, she might get branded as evil by nature.

Alex knew that Evangeline would rather lose this spar than let anyone discover her secret.

”Evangeline, I know that we don’t really talk to each other, but for now, let’s work as a team,” Jessica said as she held her staff firmly. ”Alex is a close combat fighter, so we will fight him with ranged magic if possible. If he comes near one of us, the other one will use that opportunity to attack him.”

”Okay,” Evangeline replied as she distanced herself from Jessica so one of them could act as bait to give the other the chance to bombard Alex with magical attacks.

Professor Gareth glanced at the three students before raising his hand.

”Battle Start!”

As soon as the signal landed, Alex immediately used his Shield Charge to close the gap between him and Jessica.

He wanted to take Jessica out first, knowing Evangeline was much more difficult to defeat.

The young man made the most logical choice, but his opponent had already expected this to happen.

Without any hesitation, Jessica tapped the ground beside her feet with her staff, which created a geyser that propelled her upward.

High above the air, Jessica pointed the tip of her staff in Alex’s direction.

”Bullet Rain!”

Countless Water Bullets were fired in Alex’s direction, which he blocked with his shield.

For a time, the sound of the magical bullets colliding on the young man’s shield was all that could be heard in the arena.

They weren’t strong enough to pierce Alex’s defenses, but that was enough for Evangeline to take advantage of the situation.

”Frost Breaker!” Evangeline shouted as she aimed her wand at Alex.

Immediately, a wave of Ice Spikes jutted out of the ground and made their way to Alex, forcing him to crouch down and use his shield to block the attack.

He succeeded, but he had forgotten something important.

He wasn’t fighting a single person!

”Water Beam!”

Jessica’s Water Attack combined with Evangeline’s Ice Attack, creating a fusion reaction that froze Alex’s shield in place. Try as he might, he couldn’t dislodge it.

Unable to retrieve Everguard in that short period of time, Alex was forced to leave it behind to dodge the barrage of Ice Spikes and Water Balls that rained down on him without mercy.

”Great! You got his shield!”

”Jessica, finish him!”

”You can do it, Evangeline!”

The guys of Class 1-C cheered for the two ladies, who now had the upper hand against Alex.

But Evangline and Jessica understood that this battle was far from over.

They didn’t hesitate to unleash spell after spell in order to keep Alex at bay, but the young man also had ranged attacks of his own.

”Shield!” Alex yelled, and four magical shields revolved around his body, protecting him from the spells hurled at him.

The young man summoned four more shields and used the skill Multitask to command them to attack the two ladies at the same time.

The shields flew like boomerangs, spinning in a curved trajectory that forced Evangeline and Jessica to defend themselves.

Lavinia, Nessia, Charles, and Fran paid careful attention to Alex’s strategy, which he was using for the first time in battle.

Back then, Alex had been unable to utilize this strategy because he had lacked the Mana needed to sustain them.

But after becoming a Rank 3 Oathkeeper, he’d gained enough mana to unleash this attack.

Alex summoned magical shields one after the other, throwing them at Evangeline and Jessica, who were finding it hard to avoid the spinning shields that seemed to have minds of their own.

Whenever the girls used magic to repel or block the shields, these shields would shift their trajectory, evade their attacks, and circle back toward them for a counterattack.

”Isn’t that cheating?” one of the boys asked his friend as the number of shields that were circling the two girls reached thirty.

”Uh... I don’t think so?” his friend replied. ”It’s a skill, so it’s not cheating.”

While the two ladies were occupied with evasion, Alex used his hammer to free Everguard from the ice and reclaimed it once more.

Seeing this, Evangeline narrowed her eyes before glancing at the wet ground under her feet.

A plan then appeared inside her mind, which made her smile.

She could already predict what Alex would do next, and she would use that opportunity to set a trap that would work on him.