In the world of anime and manga, the best partners

They had seen everything that had just happened. If anyone in the class could pose a threat to the new teacher, it would only be Kurogane Ikki and Stella.

Of course, the most important one is Ikki Kurogane.

This student who fought Jingliu one-on-one, even though he didn't actually cause any damage to Jingliu, has already become a legend in the class, simply because he cut off Jingliu's eye patch!

Stella, however, paid no attention to the students behind her, keeping her gaze fixed on Kagami and Ikki...

There's not much to say about Ikki, as he's already unconscious and probably won't wake up anytime soon.

But Jingliu was different; the moment the blindfolds were cut, all the students stared wide-eyed.

Although I already knew that Jingliu was a great beauty, I was still shocked when I actually saw her.

Stella was also a beauty, but she didn't focus on this matter. Instead, she noticed some small details in Jingliu's gaze before he left.

Three gazes…

Before leaving, Jingliu glanced at three people.

The first one was Kurogane Ikki, who cut off her eye patch.

The second is Stella, who uses fire.

But Stella couldn't find out who the third one was.

Even though Jingliu had already looked in that direction, from Stella's perspective, there was nothing there except a shadow.

No, now is not the time to think about these things!

The most important thing is to find your own path!

After glancing at the direction the stream had flown, Stella slowly left the playground. However, instead of returning to her dormitory, she headed towards the back of the academy.

Since becoming roommates with Ikki Kurogane, Stella has gradually developed the habit of jogging in the morning, and through this habit, she has learned about the layout of the academy.

So Stella needs to find a suitable place to confirm one of her ideas…

A white figure, however, saw all of this and, the instant Stella left, traversed space to follow her.

—

"drink--!"

In the back mountains, Stella gripped the Flame Dragon Sin Sword tightly in her hand, easily cleaving a row of trees in half.

Even the occasional bursts of flame were perfectly controlled by Stella, without affecting the surrounding trees at all.

Even after unleashing such a stunning attack, Stella still showed no satisfaction on her face. Instead, she stared silently at the crimson greatsword in her hand.

Stella is an extremely talented individual; judging from the Blade Master's evaluation alone, she is destined to become a top-tier powerhouse in the future.

Attack power: A

Defense: A

Magic Power: A

Magic Control: B

Physical fitness: B+

Luck: A

There's a reason why Stella was rated as an A-class knight.

Stella achieved four A's and two B's out of the six assessments, which is enough to demonstrate her amazing potential.

But potential alone is not enough. If one cannot transform that potential into real strength, they will ultimately remain a powerhouse who never truly grows.

"My swordsmanship is excellent..."

Stella began learning swordsmanship at a very young age. As a royal princess, she naturally had access to the best teachers, allowing her to learn even faster.

"But compared to truly top-tier swordsmanship, there is an insurmountable gap."

Compared to ordinary students, Stella's swordsmanship is definitely top-notch, but compared to true powerhouses, it's not even worth a glance!

Stella already knew the extent of her swordsmanship from the battle during the day.

In battle, Ikki values ​​the manipulation of flames more than the attack of his own swordsmanship.

Jingliu was the same; he never took Stella's swordsmanship seriously and easily neutralized it. On the contrary, he occasionally dodged Stella's flames.

"Therefore, my path has never been swordsmanship, but the ability to manipulate fire!"

While swordsmanship can certainly enhance Stella's strength and give her a foothold in close combat, it is utterly useless in battles against powerful opponents.

"If you want to become a true powerhouse, you must maximize your strengths!"

Even though the sky was already pitch black, a "sun" appeared out of nowhere in the back mountain of Po Jun Academy.

That was the radiance that belonged only to Stella Vermillion!

"My true advantage is not swordsmanship, nor technique, but power! Absolute power!"

Stella concentrated all her heat on herself, and the firelight surrounded the girl like a subject submitting to an emperor.

But Stella still felt it wasn't enough, so she continued to gather her flames, concentrating all her magic power on herself.

If Kurogane Ikki was able to develop the One-Sword Shura technique, concentrating all his energy within a minute, why couldn't Stella do the same?

"If I understand the principle, I'm sure I can do it too!"

"By concentrating magic at a single point, one can surely reach the pinnacle!"

This is?

Just as all the magic converged, Stella seemed to see a crimson dragon roaring within the fiery illusion…

Am I just imagining things?

Why did we see a red dragon?

Stella didn't understand any of this, but when she tried to manipulate all the magic she had gathered, an accident still happened.

The uncontrolled "sun" easily ignited the woods behind the Po Jun Academy.

As the saying goes: "Setting fire to a mountain will land you in jail for life."

Stella accidentally damaged the environment of the academy's back mountain while practicing...

This matter will likely remain a laughing stock for Po Jun Academy, and perhaps even all academies, for a long time to come.

Mirror Stream & Silky Knight: Chapter 18 Student and Disciple

"Oh! Isn't this our princess who set the mountain on fire? What brings you to see a lowly chairman like me now?"

"Ugh! I'm sorry!"

In the chairman's office, Shinomiya Kurono looked at Stella, who was blushing, with a slightly teasing expression, and Kurogen Ikki, who was awkwardly smiling beside her. Her expression was more than "happy".

"Tell me, what are you planning to do?"

"I will make amends! Since I caused all of this, I will take responsibility for it!"

As a princess of the Kingdom of Familion, Stella's family must be extremely wealthy and she would never have to worry about food or drink. Let alone an academy, the Kingdom of Familion could afford it, even an entire island.

"Very well, then take a look, here's the bill!"

Chairman Hei casually handed a report to Stella, and looking at the girl's trembling hands, he felt a rare sense of relief.

"No, this?"

Stella was stunned when she saw the bill handed to her by Chairman Kurono, and her expression became blank.

"What's wrong, Stella?"

Ikki seemed to have noticed something and quickly looked at the bill, but the amount shown on it was far different from what they had imagined.

"Chairman, why... is there so little?"

It's not because there are too many, but because there are too few!

As a princess of a nation, Stella could afford even if the Po Jun Academy demanded exorbitant compensation, because she was indeed the one who did it.

However, the compensation was far less than Stella had imagined; it was abnormally little!

"That's because someone has already paid for these expenses for you, Your Highness!"

Upon hearing this, Stella's expression immediately changed.

Advance payment?

These were hardly flattering words. As a princess, Stella had seen countless sycophants. So she immediately suspected someone wanted her to owe them a favor!

"Since they're here too, why don't you two meet? I'm sure you'll be pleasantly surprised, Stella."

Before Stella could react, Chairwoman Kurono stood up from her seat and personally went to the door to greet the two outside…

The moment they saw who it was, both Kurogane Ikki and Stella widened their eyes.

"Kyoryu-sensei? Shizuku?"

"It seems there's also Ms. Skykirk and... uh, a student from the same grade?"

There were four people standing outside the door.

Two teachers and two students.

Kagami-ryu and Silky Kirk, the first-year practical course in interpersonal communication, and Kurogane Ikki's younger sister, Kurogane Shizuku.

"It's been a long time, my dear brother!"

"Hey! What do you mean 'long time no see'? We just saw each other yesterday!"

There was another one, a boy as beautiful as a violet!

Despite the boy's elegant appearance, neither Ikki nor Stella had any impression of him.

"What do you mean, a student in the same grade? Isn't he your classmate? Don't you know him?"

Seemingly having overheard Ikki and Stella's words, Kurono seemed somewhat speechless. They were classmates, so why didn't they recognize each other?

"Huh? Classmates?"

"Sorry! We were all thinking about things yesterday and didn't write down our classmates' names... I'm so sorry!"

Faced with the two apologizing classmates, the purple-haired boy showed no anger. Instead, he pointed a finger at his cheek in a very feminine gesture.

"It's okay! I've always had a low profile, so it's normal for me not to be noticed."

"But now that we've met, I hope we can get along well. My name is Arisuin Nagi, you can just call me 'Alice'~"

A tall man, nearly 1.8 meters in height, not only mimicked the demeanor of a young girl, but even his tone of voice was identical to hers…

This stark contrast gave Ikki and Stella goosebumps, but they couldn't say it outright, so they could only nod frantically in agreement.

"Yes! It's Alice!"

The brief amusement ended there. As Chairman Kurono stepped aside, Kagami and Skyki led the two behind them into the office to discuss the next steps.

"Kurogane Ikki, Stella Vermillion. We've come to the Far East to find suitable disciples."

"Among all the first-year students, there aren't many who meet the criteria, and you happen to be one of them."

He doesn't mince words; what he says is always a bombshell.

This information immediately changed the expression of Hei Nai, who was listening nearby, but she didn't say anything and just listened quietly.

Recruiting...disciples?

"But aren't you a teacher at the academy? We are your students, there's no need for us to do this, is there?"

Stella was puzzled. Aren't the students of the academy's teachers and the disciples of the teachers the same thing? Why do this on purpose?

"Your Highness, this is different."

The one who answered Stella was Kurogane Shizuku, who was standing next to Skykirk.

"Most people in Po Jun Academy are students, but 'disciples' are clearly different."

"Teachers will guide every student in a fair manner, so that everyone can have an equal opportunity to become stronger."

"But when it comes to their own disciples, teachers will definitely take a more serious approach and spend more energy nurturing them!"

As she said this, Shizuku glanced furtively at Skylark beside her, seemingly worried that she might have said something wrong. However, Skylark ignored her and focused her gaze on the red-haired girl in front of her.