"Then come on, Daddy, don't hold back too much."
Noah squeezed out the last of her magic and poured it all into the Chidori.
["Hey, kiddo, if you want me to help give your old man a good beating, I'd be more than happy,"] A familiar voice suddenly rang in her head.
Since the Adam battle, the Ancestor had gone into hibernation from overexertion.
This time she had suddenly woken up...
"Why did you wake up all of a sudden?"
["For such a filial scene, of course I had to get up and watch the fun, then I'll go back to sleep,"] The Ancestor was as offhand as ever.
Noah smiled, then shook her head.
"No need. You helped me last time during the bell scramble and we defeated Daddy together, but this time I want to try it completely on my own."
"Although I know clearly I'm no match for Daddy, I still want to see how far I can go."
The Ancestor smiled with pride and closed his eyes.
"Just as I admired, my little brat."
Leaving the consciousness space, Noah had replenished the Chidori's power.
This really was her final strike, she didn't know what the outcome would be.
The two of them stared at each other, neither launching an attack.
A few seconds later, as if in tacit agreement, they charged almost simultaneously.
This was the first time Leon had taken the initiative to attack his daughter, it meant he'd started taking this "duel" seriously.
Being serious was his way of respecting Noah.
All the teachers in the hall were focused, eyes glued to the scene.
The most promising student of this year facing the least-holding-back 9527... what would the result be?
On the practice field, after a brief sprint, the two bolts of lightning finally met.
They strode, one high, one low, their magics collided, and the shockwaves rippled outward.
The eruptive bird-cry was unprecedented, like the dirge of a forest before ruin.
Sparks flew and thunder boomed.
The grading teachers were utterly stunned.
"Lydia, your student… isn't this a bit over the top?"
"When she advances to the youth dragon division, she must come to my class."
"Why would she go to you? Lydia, talk to Noah, make her pick me."
"Hey, you old man, your fire magic doesn't suit Noah."
"So what? I can ask an assistant."
Contending for her was the best compliment.
But that was after the fact.
The duel on the field hadn't ended.
Because of her height, Noah held her arm up at a forty-five-degree angle, her left hand gripping her right wrist hard; lightning burst from her palm as she locked with her father.
But in the gaps of their magical clash, Noah felt her Daddy easing his force a bit.
She understood that if they kept draining like this, the first to lower their guard would be her father.
Even though this was a trial, Daddy would never let her get hurt.
Noah also knew her Daddy didn't like to "lose". That dumb old man had rarely lost since childhood. Even though losing to his daughter wouldn't matter much, she still wanted to indulge his competitive pride a little.
Besides, she was already at her limit; there was no reason to keep draining.
"Thank you."
Amid bird-cries and wind, Noah's voice came through.
Leon heard it clearly.
He didn't understand why his daughter suddenly said thank you.
But... the duel had reached this point, and that was enough.
Leon prepared and gradually weakened the Chidori in his hand.
Finally he withdrew it.
He had planned to jump back after withdrawing, so she wouldn't have time to react and lash out with residual Chidori.
Leon wasn't afraid of being hurt. He just didn't want Noah to feel guilty.
What surprised Leon was that at the moment he withdrew, Noah also retreated, opening distance between them.
"Withdrawing at the same time… they're rather in sync."
"Then, Lydia, given things as they are, you can call it, right?"
"Mm, thank you all for your trouble."
"All right."
A teacher stood and announced to the hall,
"Saint Heath Academy Black-Armor Simulated Combat Assessment, final match, Noah K. Melkvei vs. No. 9527, complete."
———
The promotion assessment concluded successfully.
Exhausted, Noah left the practice field supported by her homeroom teacher Lydia.
Leon watched his daughter's small retreating figure in silence, and a satisfied smile slowly appeared beneath his helmet.
"Your road is still long."
Just as Leon was feeling sentimental, the assistant teachers gathered around him.
"Big Pot, that duel was spectacular!"
"Indeed, to put on such a beautiful match while controlling intensity, really impressive."
His temporary colleagues praised his performance non-stop.
Leon only lowered his voice to reply, "That kid is excellent herself, you can't set the same assessment difficulty for other students on her."
We, the doting-Daddy type, even with a helmet and armor on, must still praise our precious daughter between the lines.
The teachers enthusiastically discussed Leon and Noah's duel.
Leon himself didn't linger. The longer he stayed, the easier something might go wrong.
He quietly left the practice field and slipped behind the venue to a storage room.
Standing at the storage room door, Leon looked left and right, confirmed no one was around, then opened the door panel.
Once the door was pulled aside, an armored figure tumbled out.
To be precise, a person wearing armor.
Leon crouched, tore off the '9527' tag from his own arm, stuck it onto the brother's armor, then tapped his helmet, bang bang —
"Sorry, brother, for my daughter, I had to knock you out for a moment."
"But don't worry, 9527 did wonderfully. Your end-of-month bonus is safe."
"No need to thank me. Peace between humans and dragonkin starts with us."
He tapped twice more in thanks.
After thanking the real 9527-brother, Leon looped his arm under him and dragged him to the stairwell corner.
Then he brought out a pre-prepared flowerpot from the balcony, and with a crack smashed it.
Finally Leon placed the shards and loose soil beside 9527's head.
Thus, the "crime scene" of "an overly excited assistant teacher was accidentally knocked unconscious by a falling flowerpot" was staged.
Putting aside whether a flowerpot could knock out a helmeted dragonkin, General Leon thought the scene was pretty perfect.
He clapped, stood, and before he could admire his first "crime" more, he heard footsteps above.
Probably the other teachers were coming down.
Hearing that, Leon bolted away without leaving a trace.
"Hey, I'll tell you, that student Noah is definitely got a bright future!"
"I agree, and, huh? Who's that? Why's someone lying over there?"
A few assistant teachers hurried over.
From a quick look, they could guess what had happened.
"9527? Damn, Big Pot, you fought so fiercely, how did a flowerpot 'solo kill' you now?"
"Hey, bro, wake up, you okay?"
They shook 9527's shoulder and he quickly came to.
"Ah… huh? W-what happened..."
"What do you mean 'what happened'? You were knocked out by a flowerpot."
"This flowerpot's quality is pretty good, we should ask logistics where they got it."
9527 removed his helmet and rubbed his neck.
The pain at the nape was very clear.
"Tsk… knocked out by a flowerpot… but why does my neck hurt so much..."
"Ha, you just got hit off-center. Hitting the head doesn't always knock you out, you know."
"Is that so… then, holy crap! I forgot, there was an assessment today!"
"Big Pot, you got hit silly; the assessment finished already."
9527 was stunned, "F-finished? When?"
"Just now. You didn't forget because of the flowerpot, did you?"
"Uh… no way? I clearly remember I didn't attend the assessment—"
"The Vice Principal said you performed excellently and your end-of-month bonus is doubled."
"Yes, that was indeed you just now."
———
Leon hid in the corner under the stairs, listening to the assistants' conversation.
After confirming there were no big slip-ups, he quietly left.
Even if it was found later, it wouldn't be a big problem. The Vice Principal would back him up.
If Old Wilson didn't have his back, he wouldn't bring his wife to school to show off anymore, let's see who'd be more anxious.
Hehe!
After leaving the practice field, Leon went to a quiet little grove, took off his black-gold warplate and put it into a wooden box.
Finally he carried the box and walked out of the academy gate as calm as ever.
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