Endless Leveling Done Right!

The candidates for the inter-academy tournament seriously honed their skills as the promised date slowly approached.

Though Prince Edward and his team were still losing against Alex’s Dream Team, their teamwork had grown leagues better than when they first started.

In the beginning, they would lose in less than two minutes. But now, they could last for three minutes!

One minute was a short time. But as trivial as it might sound, they had actually progressed by leaps and bounds. After all, they were fighting opponents whose ranks were higher than theirs.

Everyone from Prince Edward’s team was only Rank 3. Meanwhile, Alex’s Dream Team, except for Nessia, were either Rank 4 and Rank 5.

That said, Fran had been limiting her strength into Rank 4. Had she fought as Rank 5, the vanguards of Prince Edward’s team would be sent flying in less than a minute.

As a frontline fighter with countless boss raids experience under his belt, Alex gave professional advice to Prince Edward’s team.

He had played ELO for years. Reality might be a bit different, but tactics were still effective. For example, timing was important, whether it be for heals or debuffs.

After Prince Edward’s fourth battle with the Dream Team ended, Alex left the training grounds and headed to the music hall.

The moment he entered, an angelic voice immediately lulled his senses. On the stage, Astrea was singing a familiar song—the theme song of Endless Leveling Online.

It was an upbeat song, but the transition between vocals was something most classical singers couldn’t manage.

However, Astrea was born to sing.

She was meant to stand on stage, where she shone the brightest.

Even Alex had to admit—if the two of them stood on the same stage, Astrea would outshine him.

She might not be one of the Main Heroines of ELO, but she was still unbeatable when it came to her field of expertise.

Alex listened to Astrea’s singing, reminiscing the time when he first played the game that changed his life forever.

(A/N: If you still haven’t heard the full version of the Endless Leveling Theme Song, just search for it on Youtube.)

“Justice waits, her scales are clear,

The Hanged Man sees, but holds no fear.

Death’s not the end, just a door swung wide,

A Rebirth forged in stars’ divide.”

“Temperance sings in balance true,

While the Devil tempts with shadows new.

The Tower falls, the past erased,

And from the rubble, stars are traced.”

Alex had been the one to introduce the song Astrea was covering.

Of course, the young man didn’t dare to claim credit. He was not the one who composed the song. As an excuse, he told others that it was an extremely popular song back in his home land, which was absolutely true.

Professor Arienna noticed Alex’s arrival so she silently approached him.

“I still don’t know where your homeland is, but this song is just perfect,” Professor Arienna said. “It’s like it was made just for Astrea to sing.”

Alex could only nod in agreement. In the game, it was canonically Astrea who sang this song.

Suddenly, he thought of something.

How did the Astrea in the game know about this song if she only heard it from Alex?

’Is this some kind of time paradox?’ Alex thought.

However, he pushed these thoughts aside and continued to listen as Astrea sang the last verse and chorus of the song.

“The Moon deceives, the Sun reveals,

Judgment calls, the echoes kneel.

At journey’s end, the World is found,

A cycle turns, yet we’re still unbound.”

“Endless leveling, rise and fight,

Through the Arcana, claim the light.

One more battle, one more day,

Through the cards, we find our way.”

When the music finally ended, everyone gave Astrea a round of applause. Alex was among those who clapped for the young lady, who bowed at everyone from the stage.

“Hey, Professor,” Alex said. “Shouldn’t I perform something as well?”

“Huh?!” Professor Arienna flinched after hearing Alex’s words. “Do you want to kill off the candidates so we lose by default in the tournament?! Admit it! Are you an enemy spy sent to sabotage us?!”

The young man subconsciously took a step back, shocked by the intense look the Professor gave him.

He was simply moved by Astrea’s singing, so he wanted to sing as well. Was that really too much to ask?!

Unfortunately, it seemed that it was indeed too much to ask.

Instead of going on stage, Alex was kicked out of the music hall by the Professor, who once again told him that he didn’t need to come for practice!

Alex sighed as he glanced at the music hall one more time before walking away.

Just then, someone called out to him from behind, making him stop in his tracks.

“Alex, wait!”

The young man turned to look at Astrea, who was running after him.

Suddenly, the young lady tripped out of thin air and was about to fall. At that moment, Alex used shield charge, only to cancel it when he came near her.

Although he caught Astrea in his arms, the abrupt stop made him lose his balance. He tried to save his footing but failed.

In the end, the two teenagers fell on the ground together.

Astrea wasn’t hurt since Alex took the brunt of the fall. After all, the young lady was lying on top of his body.

“I-I’m sorry!” Astrea said in panic. “Are you hurt?! I shouldn’t have ran. I always trip when I do!”

“I-I’m fine,” Alex replied. “How about you? Are you hurt?”

“No.” Astrea shook her head. “You protected me during the fall.”

A faint blush appeared on Astrea’s face because Alex was still holding her in a protective embrace.

She had now propped herself up to sit on his stomach, which would have spread a scandal had it been seen by those who needed to bleach their brains.

The young lady still couldn’t get up as her legs felt like jelly. Embarrassed but helpless, she asked Alex if she could stay like this for a while longer.

Alex agreed, but in truth, he was doing his best to remain calm. If his little brother reacted right now, his social life would be over.

The only saving grace was that it only took Astrea three minutes to regain her composure.

She shakily stood up on her own, and even reached out to help Alex to stand soon after.

The young man accepted her offer, and stood up as well. He then dusted his uniform to remove the dirt that clung to his clothes.

Feeling guilty of what she had done, Astrea also helped him, especially on the parts that Alex couldn’t reach like his back.

They were not aware that peeking through the door, Lapiz saw everything.

Though there was one other person who saw it.

Cassian stared at Alex and his sister with a complicated look on his face. He knew it was just an accident. Plus, he still hadn’t forgotten the debt he owed the young man for saving their lives back in the Dungeon of Beasts.

As such, he decided to turn a blind eye on this incident, thinking that Alex was just someone who tried to help his sister without ulterior motives.

Well, he was half right.

Alex had indeed helped Astrea without ulterior motives.

However, if only Cassian had known that Alex planned on pursuing his sister in the future, he would have started beating the bastard with a spiked bat and thrown salt at him to make him understand that his sister was off-limits!