Nate clutched the paper bag against his chest as if it were a precious item. In a sense, it was.

“Huuuu…” A satisfied sigh came out of his mouth when he took one of the crystals. It immediately melted after going down his throat and turned into pure energy.

It wasn’t long before it reached his core.

The effects kicked in a moment later. His eyes blanked when he felt the power rush through his body.

‘What should I do now?’

“Ah…I need to buy groceries…How much do I have left?”

The magic crystals he bought tended to be extremely expensive. The high-end kind could sell for a mansion. He bought the mid-range kind this time.

“Five gold…”

He had spent fifteen gold in a single day. Helen had given him twenty coins. That was probably her entire month’s salary.

“Shit…Shit! What’s wrong with me!?” Nate banged his fist against a wall. He was surprised to see the wall cave in. It was proof that the crystals were working.

“…I’ll have to somehow try and deceive her...”

His footsteps were heavy and slow. He trudged forward with regret in his heart.

Helen showed him such kindness yet this was how he repaid her.

“Hm?”

Nate noticed that he didn’t go to the shopping district in Calo city. Rather, his feet took him to the Zupiart shopping district.

Being second only to Kion as the kingdom’s richest districts, Zupiart’s shops would ask ten times the prices of the same product you could get in other regions for far cheaper.

‘What am I doing here? The things I need are bound to be expensive here. I need to buy from a cheap supermarket and make that work somehow.’

He was about to turn around when he heard the laugh of a man and a woman.

Both were familiar voices.

That made Nate stop in his tracks. His head slowly turned towards the direction of their voices.

“Helen…and Clyde?” He just noticed that he came to the café that Helen was meeting with Clyde.

His eyes blinked repeatedly at the two of them who were talking affectionately. It was like the two were in a world of their own. No one else was in their view.

An unbearable feeling arose within the depths of his body. It felt like his heart was being squeezed.

His chest tightened when he saw the way Helen was looking at Clyde.

Affectionate. Flirtatious. Admiration.

That was what he saw in her eyes and gestures. Her eyes couldn’t stop looking at his lips. Clyde seemed to be telling a funny story because Helen was laughing her heart out. The two looked like a real couple.

The surrounding people looked at them fondly.

“Such young love. I wish my wife looked at me like that.” One of the nearby knights grunted.

“Look at your face. I doubt she’s impressed with it anymore.” His friend teased him. “That kid is giving off a rather powerful presence, isn’t he?”

“Yeah.”

Nate heard their conversation as he looked at Helen and Clyde. The knights were busy analyzing Clyde. By the sounds of its, he was described as some monster.

“I’m looking directly at him yet I can’t feel him. It’s like he’s a ghost.”

“You’re right. I feel the same way. He doesn’t seem to be a warrior so maybe he’s a mage? His body looks as skinny as a twig.”

“I’m guessing he’s a student from the academy. Perhaps a seventh year? Only they are such monsters, after all.”

“Eh? Seventh year? He looks a little too young to be that old.”

“Hmm. Maybe he’s just gifted then. Whatever it is, that kid seems to be dangerous.”

“You’re right about that. I have a feeling he has the power to destroy this entire block.”

The two knights walked towards Nate.

“Oi! Out of the way.” One shoved Nate to the ground. They walked by after hiving him a look of contempt.

He was like a bug in their eyes.

Nate bit his lips.

His beloved was being taken right in front of his eyes by the one he considered his rival.

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BAM!

“What the!?”

Helen and Clyde jumped in surprise when someone slammed their hands on the table. Clyde and Helen’s cups fell to the ground and broke.

“Huh? Nate?” Clyde looked up and saw a boy with flaming red hair glaring at him. His eyes seemed to show the hate he had for Clyde.

“Nate?” Helen gasped when she saw Nate.

“I’m sick of this!” Nate shouted and huffed. Many of the customers were frightened and stood up from their seats. The nearby guards sensed the commotion and turned their attention towards the café.

“C-Calm down.” Helen stood up and held his shoulder.

“Get your hands off me!” Nate slapped Helen’s hands away. “You enjoying your date, huh!?”

“Date?” Clyde looked confusedly at Nate.

“That’s right. This was just a cover so you can seduce Helen into sleeping with you! I saw what you did earlier! You were obviously flirting with her!”

“Ugh. Stop shouting.” Clyde rubbed his ears and stood up. “Can we talk somewhere else? You’re scaring the citizens and making a scene.”

“Screw them!” Nate shouted even louder and glared at Clyde again. “Aren’t you ashamed of yourself!? You already have two lovers and now you’re seducing another woman?”

“Eh?” Clyde looked like an idiot with the clueless expression on his face.

Nate put his finger on Clyde’s chest. “Stay away from Helen, you man-whore. She doesn’t know what she’s getting into with you. Let’s go!” Nate grabbed the bewildered Helen’s hand and was about to leave.

“Oh?” Clyde uttered a remark from behind his back. “Is this jealousy I smell?”

“…..” Nate stopped in his tracks. His body trembled with blood-boiling rage. “Shut up…”

“Helen is already an adult. She can be with whomever she wants. Why are you trying to decide for her when you only met her a few years ago? If she wants to be with me then I have no problem adding her to my harem.”

Clyde was taunting Nate on purpose. He was sick and tired of the one-sided hate he was receiving from someone he once considered his friend. Now all Nate had become was a loser who threw tantrums.

He was the kind of person Clyde didn’t handle nicely. It was one thing telling Clyde he hated him but it was another involving Helen in this.

“Clyde, stop it!” Helen saw Nate’s shoulders tremble when he heard Clyde. She tried to mediate between the two of them.

“She’s a beautiful woman. I will be glad to make her mine.”

“SHUT UP!!!” A thick cluster of flames shot out of Nate’s hand. It headed for Clyde who was standing at the café.

‘Crap. Was that too much?’

A loud boom followed soon after. The building was burned through and several structures that were around it, collapsed. Luckily, the people managed to escape.

“What did you do!?” Helen grabbed Nate’s collar demanding an explanation.

“….Helen.” Nate took both of Helen’s hands. He leaned forward and puckered out his lips.

Her savory lips was his now. Clyde was dead. He could finally have her.

“No!” Helen pushed him away.

“W-What? Helen?”

“I can’t look at you…What have you become?” Helen felt like she was looking at a completely different person.

Where was that cheerful boy he once was? The boy who always kept to himself and never caused trouble for others?

This wasn’t him.

This wasn’t Nate Alexander. He was now just a shell of what he once was.

“I want you to leave. Why couldn’t you just remain who you were before? Relying on drugs to make you stronger didn’t allow me to judge you. However, you took the kindness I gave you and shoved it in my face with the complete opposite.” Helen moved her hand to her right hip. “Leave. Before I cut you down.”

“You bitch! I sent you so many presents and letters! Why are you so dense to not see my love!?”

Nate slapped Helen with such power that she staggered backwards. It was like her training as a knight was useless all these years.

"Ugh." Her cheek stung immensely that she had to rub the pain away.

“See what you made me do!? I’ve acted like a gentleman all this time and for what!? To have my feelings unanswered!?” Nate pulled out a few strands of hair out of madness.

There were purple veins spreading beneath his eyes. It was the result of his core entering a combustion phase.

Simply put, if he didn’t do something quick, he would die in less than a day.

“I would never hit a woman. Although, I am an advocate of true gender equality and yearn for it as well; that was still unacceptable.” A voice came from the sea of flames.

Helen, who was clutching her cheek on the ground, looked back when she heard the voice.

Clyde walked out of the flames carrying the backpack from earlier.

His eyes were blue and his arm was glowing completely white. He had used Lightborn to escape the spell. However, he wasn't fast enough to avoid the flames.

There was a smug smile on his face.

It was telling Nate: Was that all you got?

“N-No way…! That was a spell equal to intermediate rank!” Nate stepped back in horror.

“No wonder it was so easy to avoid.” Clyde threw his backpack to the side and cracked his neck.

“Are you okay, miss Helen?” Clyde asked with a concerned gaze.

“…Yeah…” Helen nodded and stood up.

Clyde’s gaze hardened when he looked back at Nate.

“Let’s take this somewhere else---”

“!!!!!”

Two powerful beams of flames shot out of Nate’s hands. It headed in Clyde’s direction. It was so hot that the people nearby ran away.

A powerful rumble shook the ground when the beams hit the buildings. Different than the first one, this spell kept firing even further. About two more buildings that were behind the destroyed café were burned down.

“That kid is dead.”

One of the passerby’s muttered.

“Stand back, everyone!” The knights shouted for the people to move aside. They drew their swords and closed in on Nate.

The latter was surrounded by an orange blaze that burned his clothes. He was willingly allowing his core to enter a combustion phase. It was to defeat the enemy that was once his friend.

“….” Helen looked blankly at where Clyde was standing before.

“Come out! I know you’re not dead!” Nate surrounded his body in flames.

“Huh?” The people looked at the buildings that were burnt down.

“He’s alive!” One of them shouted and pointed towards the blue light that emerged between the flames.

His eyes looked cold and his mouth was closed shut. Clyde was looking at Nate as if he were looking at an enemy.

Before was his last mercy to his friend. However, that changed.

“That’s it! This time I’ll kill you for sure!” Nate laughed loudly as his hands held two balls of fire. It spiraled destructively.

Nate was about to fire his spells, however, a single word stopped him in his tracks.

“Stop.”

It was a cold, monotonous voice. The voice carried both authority and power.

Even the surrounding people were frozen in fear.

Step, step—

Clyde walked slowly and tore off the shirt that he wore before. It was all in tatters now. Only his pants remained. Even his shoes were burned away.

He had underestimated Nate.

But not anymore.

“Y-You can’t tell me what to do!” Although Nate said that, his knees were trembling.

When Clyde lifted his arm, Nate staggered backwards.

His spells disappeared since he lost his focus. Nate bit down on his lip until it bled. It seemed effective because his senses returned.

There is no way that his bloodlust fears me, he thought.

Nate fired another spell. This time, it was one of his most powerful attacks. It was a spell his father taught him when he was little.

“Die!!!” The flames surrounding Nate’s body formed a dragon’s head. It blew a cluster of energy that was incomparable compared to the previous spells. It was a high rank spell this time.

Clyde was busy putting on a single ring on his finger. It looked like it was a high quality artifact.

“Let me show you the difference between the two of us. My friend.”