Chapter 301: Preparing for Conflict

Chapter 301

Preparing for Conflict

While Ellie’s dining room was filled with relaxed conversation, tension was rising elsewhere in the institute. The fact that high-ranking figures had gathered immediately after Ellie’s conflict with the new student left many wondering.

“It seems like the one who dared to challenge Duchess Ellie won’t be able to do much in this institute anymore.”

“Not just in the institute; I’d say in the entire kingdom.”

“If the eldest young lord of the Setter family hears that someone has tried to become an enemy of Duchess Ellie, I don’t even want to think about what would happen.”

“I’d say...aren’t you exaggerating a bit? I don’t see Duchess Ellie arguing with the new student. She was just explaining things, right?”

“Haha, you really don’t get it, do you? How can you call that an explanation? Duchess Ellie clearly ostracized that student, even if I heard that they were close friends before. Everyone understands that she views the new student just like she did Nara.”

“But Nara’s situation was different. Nara did something wrong to Duchess Ellie first, but the new student...”

“Sigh, you’re hopeless. Do you think Duchess Ellie has ever publicly criticized anyone like this? If it isn’t because they have prior issues, then maybe...there are some later matter we might not know. Look at today as an example. Normally, the prince, Duchess Vida, Second Young Lord Aman, and others won’t gather together like this. They’re the prominent figures of the institute. However, their movements prove they’re genuinely concerned for Duchess Ellie.”

“Oh, I get it now. So, we’re the only ones who don’t know the full story?”

“Exactly. Duchess Ellie doesn’t usually speak much. Like with Nara, if the problem isn’t directly handed to her, she rarely says anything. Sometimes, I wish she’d speak more.”

“Duchess Ellie is different from us. She conducts herself with great decorum. I think she’s even better than Duchess Vida, as she doesn’t take sides excessively. If someone doesn’t bother her, she won’t act against them. If Duchess Vida were truly biased, we’d face problems with everything we do in the future.”

“That’s right. I heard from someone who witnessed that confrontation, the new student tried to provoke Duchess Ellie into getting angry at the two students who mentioned her past. But Duchess Ellie has never been ashamed of her past. She even praised the two students for talking about her. But...everyone’s now wondering why the new student is trying to sow discord among us when we’ve been in the same institute for so long.”

“Exactly. That’s why Duchess Ellie subtly warned us to be cautious. After all, the new student is from another institute. The Rhea Kingdom only allied with us because they lost the war. It doesn’t mean they’ve forgotten their grudge and don’t want to regain their independence.”

“Ah...so Duchess Ellie might know more than we do.”

“I think so. We’ll need to be more careful around the new student. Even Professor Lucien didn’t defend his own disciple. He publicly reprimanded her for coming out to cause trouble.”

“If even the professor didn’t defend her, and considering the prince, Duchess Vida, and the Setter family’s stance, it’s clear we’re the ones out of the loop.”

“Sigh, we’ll have to keep our distance from the new student. We need to remember that she acts on behalf of the Rhea Kingdom. If we aren’t careful, we might unintentionally support her and end up being seen as collaborators in a rebellion.”

The more the students talked, the more the situation was blown out of proportion. However, it clearly demonstrated that the prominent figures’ actions and their presence together conveyed a very clear stance: at least, Ellie’s position in the eyes of these influential nobles was significant. No matter how rare the new student’s abilities were, she would never be more important than Duchess Ellie.

Now, everyone positioned Duchess Ellie in an untouchable spot, precisely what the new student had aimed for. However, the sentiment toward Ellie wasn’t what Grace had hoped for. Originally, she wanted everyone to fear and be wary of Ellie, creating a distance that would allow Grace to become the only one who truly understood her. This tactic, which Grace referred to as using social pressure to isolate someone, had worked for her before with someone like Ellie, who loved to learn all day. Grace was confident she could achieve this again.

It was no surprise that Grace had stayed quiet for the past few days. During that time, she observed all of Ellie’s actions and concluded that Ellie seemed like a mere weak target. It was truly unfortunate for Grace that the diligent student didn’t follow the expected plan. Grace had thought Ellie would be easy to manipulate, as she only sought to benefit from being a friend. It was easier to approach as a well-meaning friend than as an adversary. However, Ellie ended up thwarting all of Grace’s intentions, leading to the opposite outcome.

Grace wasn’t fully aware of the outside conversations, but she could clearly see from the behavior of Professor Lucien, who was another hero of the story, that she had touched on something significant to him. So instead of focusing on Ellie, she needed to stay calm and build her strong relationship with her initial golden leg.

However...Professor Lucien kept her confined to the Light Element Building all day while he spent his time at the Botanical Building. As a result, Grace still hadn’t figured out how to approach him!

Nearly 2 weeks passed, and Ellie’s life returned to its usual calm. She continued learning, training, and trying to increase her magic power as much as possible while checking the strength levels of her bonded plants. The little rabbit, in particular, had grown incredibly strong after its recent evolution. Although she hadn’t tested it yet, the options it offered for using its powers made Ellie feel quite excited.

However, when the day came for Ellie to test her knowledge with Professor Medik again, he unexpectedly brought up the topic of forming a new bond with her bonded plants. So far, Ellie only had the Purple Mushroom as her contracted partner. Professor Medik was concerned that the power gap would become too wide and that Ellie would rely solely on the Purple Mushroom in battles because it had grown first and was stronger. This reliance might eventually cause the development of her subsequent bonded plants to fail.

Therefore, Ellie’s next assignment was to quickly form a bond with another plant, as she could not summon the little Apple to combat under Ellie’s name, and currently, she only had 2 bonded plants.

Because of this, Ellie spent several days in the library, studying various combat techniques to choose the most suitable plant for her next bond.

Ellie already had a bonded plant that could attack enemies stealthily. However, its drawback was that it couldn’t deal with its natural predators, which she considered to be people like the new student Grace, the eldest young lord of the Setters family, and others with significant power. She wasn’t sure if similar threats would arise in the future.

The little Apple, on the other hand, had strong defensive capabilities and potent poisons, but it needed time to act. Its advantage laid in its wide-area attacks, allowing Ellie to handle multiple enemies in a large-scale battle with poison. However, what Ellie most worried about was this particular strength—defensive capabilities in intense fights. She didn’t want to see the little Apple getting damaged and leaking sap again...

Fortunately, the little Apple’s weaknesses were mitigated by the little Nocturnal Rabbit, which had evolved to a legendary class. With its fourth option, it could convert moonlight energy into a powerful protective shield. Its fifth option allowed it to camouflage and vanish into the moonlight. And its sixth option enabled it to use unlimited aura power under the moonlight.

These three supporting abilities provided Ellie with excellent protection through the light shield. If the enemy was too strong, she could use the invisibility to hide, or utilize the aura to freeze targets within range for 3 seconds with a 3-second cooldown, allowing for continuous use. With these cheating abilities, Ellie felt confident she could handle any opponent.

Despite this, she remained concerned about enemies who could use dimensional powers. If the opponent’s dimensional powers couldn’t be handled by her spores because it’s apparent that they couldn’t take root, and even demonic toxins were ineffective, the Little Apple’s poisons would likely be useless as well. Thus, Ellie aimed to break this limitation by finding a new bonded plant capable of immediate, swift attacks and able to appear right next to the enemy instantly.

While other companions were distracting their target, Ellie’s new bonded plant needed to be fast enough to finish the opponent quickly. This was Ellie’s main objective...

"You requested a private meeting with me. Is there something you wish to ask?" After realizing she needed a new bonded plant with sufficient power to deal with the new student, and to be more certain, Ellie had spent several days studying Grace’s dimensional powers. However, she found nothing conclusive. Thus, she decided to meet directly with Professor Lucien.

"Professor, it might be impolite to ask, but I’d like to know if your disciple has any natural predators," Ellie inquired straightforwardly. Lucien was taken aback for a moment before he laughed heartily.

"No matter the time, I always wish you were my disciple," he teased. But seeing Ellie’s serious demeanor, Professor Lucien considered her question thoughtfully. His contemplative eyes showed no sign of betrayal, which reassured Ellie once more.

Lucien, ever the sharp intellect, was the one closest to Student Grace but hadn’t been swayed by her. His unchanged attitude towards Ellie relieved her. It appeared that those around her remained steadfast, unlike her high school friends...

Knowing this brought Ellie some comfort. Even though she claimed not to care about others’ opinions, it would be quite troublesome if everyone changed and turned against her.

"Dimensional powers are rarely documented. Even I struggle with how to teach her. However, I’ve observed a few powers that might counter dimensional powers."

"................"

"For you, this must be about choosing a new bonded plant, correct? In that case, I recommend a plant with enough speed to finish the fight quickly and the ability to move unseen. Historically, someone has used their power to fight against the dark element. I have studied it and I think that dark element and dimensional element are very similar.”

“But those who fought against dark element and won were those who used beasts to combat. These beasts moved well in “shadows.” So, I believe a plant that can hide and move within shadows would be effective."

"Dimensional powers can easily detect light elemental powers. Even if you had light element beasts or bonded plants, hiding would be impossible. Much like how I can detect my student easily every time, and how she can sense me before I enter the building. So, if you must choose...avoid plants with light elemental powers. Use stealth in your battles."

"Of course, you shouldn’t worry too much. Your combat skills are quite advanced. Using the Empress’s Thread can easily end an attack if you practice enough. Just having an additional helper will suffice."

Professor Lucien gave excellent advice, and Ellie thought over what he said, realizing it was indeed appropriate. It was unfortunate that Professor Lucien’s words implied her little Nocturnal Rabbit would stand out immediately when summoned. The little one used moonlight shield, moonlight bomb, and other abilities based on moonlight. However, it was a good thing she consulted Professor Lucien first; at least she wouldn’t do anything foolish during battle.

So, moving forward, she needed to find a bonded plant that could hide and move freely in the shadows. Although she wasn’t sure what kind of plant it should be, there were plenty of options to choose from in her spirit dimension. She would need to investigate first.

"Ellie..." Before she could excuse herself, Professor Lucien called out to her suddenly.

"Yes?"

The young professor looked hesitant, but in the end, he chose to speak.

"Have you had any previous issues with that student?"

"What?"

"I feel like you shouldn’t have any problems with her. However, from the very first day you met the new student, you showed a bad expression. Now it’s clear to me that you dislike her." Hearing such a straightforward question, Ellie felt that Professor Lucien trusted her too much. He was asking her thoughts about his own disciple?...

Professor Lucien’s choice to ask her directly rather than making assumptions was something Ellie appreciated deeply. Others wouldn’t have done this. They might fear that she would take it the wrong way or worry about future problems. Yet Professor Lucien was showing his sincerity.

Well...Perhaps it was because she had shown her sincerity by asking him directly first, prompting him to reciprocate with the same level of sincerity.

"I have encountered someone like her before."

"Hmm?"

"Someone who seems innocent but, upon closer inspection, every action is strategically beneficial. In my opinion...I believe Student Grace genuinely wants to be my friend. However...if I were to become friends with her, I’ll have no one left. That’s what I see from her actions."

".................."

"She would become the most important person I cannot do without. I wouldn’t be able to stand on my own anymore. People around me would be slowly drawn to her one by one. In the end...if we ever had a falling out, I would be the one to suffer."

“I don’t know why you felt the need to ask me about this, but that is my opinion. I hope I’m just overthinking it and that she isn’t as I fear. However...that girl is dangerous, though maybe not dangerous for you.”

Ellie smiled sincerely. Lucien could tell that the girl in front of him was not lying...