"Medea! Let’s go over there!!" running over a vast field of golden wheat with a smile on her face, a young kid around the same age as the one following her speaks, pointing to a solitary tree that stands amidst the fields.

"Lucoa, wait a second!!" also giggling as she chases her friend in front, a young Medea replied in a rush as she pants quite a bit, a testament to the abilities of the other child as despite the two of them already playing around for quite a while, she doesn’t even seem to feel tired of it at all.

Eventually, both of the two reaches the shade of the tree; bystanders who aren’t aware of their identity might even mistake the two of them for children of a normal family, given how rambunctious the two of them are for young ladies of a noble house, an assumption that couldn’t be any farther from the truth.

The reason being the fact that one of them is the direct descendant, the eldest daughter of the Heavenblade Great Clan, while the other one, whose family is less prominent than the clan of magic swordsmen whose reputation sweeps over the continent, is still a child of a great noble family that stands on equal terms with the Heavenblade.

The Great Hunters, Orionis Family, a family of unique magic users that utilizes the same principle of enchantment as the Heavenblade Great Clan, only they excel at wielding the bow more than anything else.

"You’re too slow, Medea"

"Humph, that’s only because you ran away earlier than me!!"

"Hehehe, that’s your fault for not responding fast enough."

The two of them giggled as they swung their legs while sitting on the tree branch, talking about all sorts of things in life that young girls like them are interested in, before eventually diverging towards magic and combat techniques, showing the lineage coursing through their blood.

"Hehehe... After some years, we’ll be entering the Galilea Magic Academy, and then we’ll reign over the students of the same grade as the two of us!!"

"Why stop at the same grade!! We’ll rule over them all!!"

"You’re right, then it’s a promise?"

"Promise, Lucoa!!"

"I’ll be looking forward to that day, Medea!!"

These two young ladies of two influential clans played around and enjoyed each other’s company like they were each other’s sisters, as if there was nothing in the world that would ever separate the two of them.

More often than not, however, time and fate have the most twisted kind of shows in store for everyone in the world, and that applies even to this pair of friends, whose backgrounds stand far taller for anyone to expect something bad will happen to them.

"Me... dea..."

It was some years in the future, just a couple of years, and both these geniuses would’ve entered the most prestigious academy in the world without fail, and yet...

Blood flows from the Orionis Family descendant’s mouth, her eyes staring at the sky, blank and listless, as if it already went past the point where she can still see, that blurred gaze as she barely puts her hands on her friend’s face, making said friend’s face drained of all its color.

"Lucoa!! Stay strong!! We’ll find help somehow!!"

Tears running down her face as she pressed her hand on the wide wound in her friend’s guts, this younger Medea screams at the top of her lungs, a panic-stricken expression apparent on her face as it seems that she fears losing her friend more than losing her life to the beasts gradually surrounding them.

The Orionis Family’s descendant, Lucoa, reaches out her free hand, holding Medea’s shaking hands with her own, forcing the future Sword Princess to stare at her as all the light is drained from her eyes.

Her friend, whose will and talent go even beyond hers, merely shook her head, her lips opening but the injury and the loss of blood not allowing her to voice her words.

But Medea saw the shape of her lips, words that seemed to care more for her than the speaker herself.

’Keep... promise... for us...’

’Run.’

Time seems to slow down as Medea’s friend closes her eyes, a faint smile appearing on this friend’s face as she last saw Medea’s silhouette standing up and going into the distance, an assured emotion welling up from her being as she thought that, at the very least, her friend would come out safe from this encounter.

’Lucoa...’

While she ran away from the extremely coordinated group of beasts from back then, as well as while she approached a user of Beast Control Magic, that same name appears repeatedly in Medea’s head, a tinge of guilt never eroded by the passing of time causing her heart to skip a single beat as her first friend’s face appears in her mind.

Her grip over the blade tightened as a determined light flashed underneath her gaze, underneath the calmed, ocean-like rage, lies a raging undercurrent of resolve to grant her friend justice through her own blade.

Just like Novus, there is not a single wasted motion with each of her attacks but while the young man’s attack excels in its overwhelming and ruthless brutality, Medea’s blade shines the most in her refined, near artistic swings that seems to paint an entire picture through each movement, as if her blade is not just a mere armament of violence, but also a tool of art at the same time.

Crescent lights seem to flood her opponent’s vision as she approaches, each swing of the blade protecting its wielder from the appendages of water coming for her life, each spell being rendered useless as she bridges the gap between herself and her opponent.

’This little bitch!!’ Seeing the emotionless, almost confident look on Medea’s eyes, her opponent, the academy’s field staff, Venica, couldn’t help but begin losing her composure as such thoughts appeared in her mind, each spell she cast causing her to grind her teeth as she watched the student shatter it without any effort on her part.

"Fufu~~ hehe~~~ hi..hihihi~~~" before long, it appears like the lady’s entire mind already began to collapse; the couple of meters distance between herself and Medea is something that anyone would think of as the reason as to why she is acting like this right now.

The truth, however, cannot be any farther from such speculations.

"I was planning on bringing you back to the labs alive just like the other students since it’s such a waste to kill you, but if you’re forcing me, then I have no choice~!!" Venica declared as she proceeded to create distance between herself and her opponent once more.

Medea tries to give chase, but is met with multiple water appendages trying to bind her in place, all while ice crystals approach her, as if throwing blades ready to pierce through her skin and flesh.

She swung her blade once more, that faint, white luminescence in her armament glowing just a little bit brighter than before as she blocked the attack. After doing so, her mind had not even given the orders yet, but her legs had already taken the next step forward, hell-bent on chasing the mage in front of her.

Venica succeeded; she made more than enough space that would allow her to cast higher-level spells to attack her opponent with, this certainty causing a wide, excited smile to creep over her face as if she were taunting Medea to come close.

"Here, little girl~~"

She provoked all too confidently as magic circles appeared around her stave once again.

This time, drawing in a far greater amount of mana in the air.