19 Evangeline's POV.

Evangeline was toiling away at the training center, practicing her crystal magic.

Her magic was basically a superior version of earth magic and dealt both physical and magical damage.

She could create red crystals out of mana, and either attack or defend against opponents. Her magic was quite strong, to be honest. The density, weight, status effect and toughness was all dependent on her spells. If she wanted to, she could create crystals as hard as diamonds, but as light as tin.

Also, the crystals could inflict the opponent with different status ailments, or even potion effects. She could make the crystals deal more physical damage than magical damage, or vice-versa.

The only limitation her ability had, was that the crystals she created were temporary. They would dissipate into thin air after about a minute or so.

She was constantly creating boulders of dense and heavy red crystals and tossing them forward, while also running and dodging around her imaginary enemies.

Her crimson-colored eyes really matched with the red crystals she created.

*Huff* *Huff*

She finally ran out of mana.

Exhausted, she walked towards a bench that had all her belongings on it and picked up a water bottle and a towel. She drank the water and started to wipe her hair, back and her breasts. A lot of sweat had accumulated from the intense workout she just did.

'*Sigh... it's kind of annoying to have such big breasts sometimes...', she complained while looking at them tightly packed inside the sports bra she was wearing.

While she rested, she suddenly remembered the time when Samuel had used that 'Skill' on her, and how she had become completely helpless.

'damnit... I couldn't find any data on a skill like that in the library... what the hell was that?!', she grumbled inwardly.

Normally, she would have been salty and very upset at losing to someone that easily, but strangely, she was more curious than upset. She had never seen anything like it. It made her feel special for some reason, like seeing a parrot in a city. Not many people can see such a sight.

'But how in the world do I counter something like that? I do remember a magic sigil appearing beneath me before the spell activated... so if I was prepared, I probably could have dodged it...', she started to brainstorm several ideas of how she could counter Samuel's skill.

'He's so lucky, though... such a skill for an energy mage is like a cheat! It's unfair!... But complaining about it won't help...'

"Eeek! Guys, we can't go there... that bitch has already taken that spot...", suddenly she heard a whisper from a group of students who were there to presumably train in that room.

'I can hear you; you know...', she just grumbled inwardly and sighed.

She has gotten used to the harassment and behind-the-back talking. And also, recently, she has been so invested in Samuel's skill and the possible ways counter it, she didn't have spare time to worry about such things.

She had also started to take better care of herself, since she figured there's no point in not taking care of oneself.

Suddenly, she remembered something.

'I wonder what he thought of the gift I gave him... was it useful to him...?', she worriedly thought.

'W-wait! Why am I thinking of that! That was just an apology! For hitting him that one time! I don't care if he likes it or not!', she became flustered and shook her head violently from side to side.

The onlookers were startled to see her acting that way and left without saying anything.

'She's finally going crazy...', everyone thought.

Although, Evangeline was unfazed by their reactions, as she remembered her day with Samuel.

Even though he was quite rude to her, and he was the 'weird kid' of his class... she felt genuinely good about spending time with him. She felt that every second she was with him, the time became 'fruitful'. Unlike what she felt like when talking to others, where she thought that it was just a big waste of time.

'It's strange, really... I'm sure he knows all of the rumors about me... but he didn't treat me any differently... He treated me as an equal...', she thought, as out of nowhere, she got an amazing idea.

'Wait, what if I ask him to train with me...? It'll be a win-win situation for the both of us...'

'But... there's a high possibility he'll refuse... After all, who'd want to train with a disappointment like me, who can't even fix the rumors about her... But... I have this feeling... that he won't refuse, if I ask him politely...'

'Polite, huh... can I even pull that off?'

'*Sigh... There I go again, with the self-sabotage... I should at least try... Even if it doesn't work, talking to him is strangely comforting...'

'WAIT! WHAT?! Why did I think that?! That's ridiculous!', once again, she shook her head and got up from the bench.

She had regained her mana and was ready to go for a second round of training.

Although, unbeknownst to Evangeline, she had 2 onlookers that were lurking behind cover. She couldn't sense them, as they were using a high-level skill to conceal their presence.

One of the onlookers just wanted to go home, while the other was single-mindedly and diligently studying Evangeline's every move.

'I knew it... something's strange with her...', the onlooker, who is actually Sophia, if you couldn't already tell, concluded.

'As her childhood friend and trusted companion, it's my duty to protect Evangeline... I'll thoroughly investigate the origin of this change in her and see if its the right thing for her or not...', Sophia said inwardly with determination.

The other onlooker was of course Julian, who was extremely uncomfortable to be in such a spot. A girl stalking another girl is something, but a boy stalking a girl is something totally different!