Things progressed about how Leonel expected. When he returned to his living abode within the Mage Academy, he found that there were several spells deployed that he hadn't constructed himself.
Many of them locked down space and prevented teleportation spells from activating. A few solidified the ground, impeding an Earth Mage's ability to use it to their benefit. And the majority were detection types, monitoring Leonel's every movement.
Leonel's gaze flashed with rage. With a violent surge of his Spirit Pressure, the detection Mage Arts shattered like a rain of glass, crumbling beneath his might.
It was hardly a second later when Leonel heard a knock on his door. He opened it to find a familiar face on the other side.
"These detection arrays were put in place for a purpose. Your freedom is not your own for the next year, under the rules set by His Majesty, King Arthur.. If you destroy them again, it will be assumed that you are rebelling and you will be treated as such."
Lamorak spoke without emotion.
Then, without waiting for Leonel to respond, he moved to the side and allowed a mage without affinity to enter Leonel abode as though it was his own.
With an apologetic look, the mage began to recast all of the detection Mage Arts Leonel had just shattered. It was only after 20 or so minutes that the mage finally finished and took his leave.
After observing the whole process, Lamorak left the door ajar and took his leave.
BANG!
Leonel slammed the door shut with such force that it flew from its hinges.
The commotion wasn't small. With Leonel's strength, let alone the door, even the passageway it flew through was left with cracks that stretched along the wall.
In fact, the sound was so abrupt and violent that Lamorak felt his heart skip a beat for just a moment. He seemed to have completely forgotten that he was dealing with a child. Was he supposed to expect that Leonel wouldn't make any sort of commotion?
Leonel didn't even bother to deal with his now doorless abode. What was the point? If he was being monitored so thoroughly, who cared if he had a door or not. Might as well let them deal with the damage he caused.
Lamorak's expression darkened.
"I advise you to control yourself."
"And I advise you to go fuck yourself."
Leonel's temper flared. His eyes turned red and he bore down on Lamorak with a savage expression nearing madness.
It seemed that if Lamorak pushed him just one more step, he would flare up.
But this time, they weren't on the broad streets of Camelot. If they fought here, Leonel might not care about the damage he caused, but Lamorak didn't have such a luxury. And, Leonel was already too powerful to control with ease even for him.
As the clash between the two men continued, the crowd seemed to only be growing. The Mage Academy was a place of scholars to begin with.
Normally, the Academy would be exceptionally quiet. Even when two or more mages were conversing, they would keep their voices to respectable levels. Something like two people having an argument and causing so much noise was exceedingly rare.
Lamorak saw the change to the situation and frowned. In the end, he backed down.
After remembering that there was nothing Leonel could do but throw a tantrum, he regained his calm.
However, this was still troublesome. It would be fine if he alone was losing face. But, if others knew that Leonel was being targeted after all the merits he had accomplished for Camelot, it would become a problem.
What neither King Arthur or Lamorak took into consideration was Leonel's own response to everything.
Lamorak knew that if he didn't take a step back now and make some concession, Leonel might really disregard all consequences.
If he thought about it, wasn't this the normal way anyone would react? Their actions were no different from cutting off Leonel's future. Who wouldn't be completely infuriated now?
Leonel snorted coldly.
With a grasping motion, he activated the One Star Official Art [Magic Touch] and flung the door closed behind him. Unfortunately, his forcefulness caused even more cracks to appear along the walls of the Mage Academy.
The spectators were stunned. They couldn't help but send hesitant glances toward Lamorak. How could they not recognize a lofty Knight of the Round Table? And, even if they didn't, Lamorak's oppressive aura was enough for them to know that he wasn't simple.
When these people dispersed, news of what happened here began to disseminate. There was an outpouring of sympathy for Leonel. Many wondered just why it was the Royal Family would treat such a talent this way.
Many of the mages and knights of Camelot came from normal families. This was especially so for mages. Magic talent usually appeared randomly except in cases where there was a lineage of exceptionally powerful magic users within a family.
So, seeing that Leonel was being suppressed in such a way, it left them feeling cold.
Of course, while there were those who felt sympathy, there would always be those of opposing views.
For Leonel to gain a quota, he of course had to take a spot from others. There weren't just a few youths Leonel had beaten, and not just a few of them came from prominent families. It was just unfortunate that they weren't good enough to gain the quotas given to their families, so they could only fight it out with Leonel.
Like this, Camelot split into two minds.
It was then that rumors of Leonel's questionable background came into being. As a Kingdom, how could Camelot not be capable of controlling narratives?
Suddenly, Leonel's righteous indignation toward his treatment became the story of a man who couldn't control his emotions and couldn't repay kindness.
Leonel was just a commoner. It was his good fortune that he was allowed to enter the Mage Academy.
By some twist, news of Lamorak 'sparing' Leonel's life and receiving the graciousness of Magus Aliard spread as well.
Like this, what should have been a story of Leonel being done wrong by became a story Leonel's ungratefulness — a tale of an arrogant young man who let his success get to his head.
However, the current Leonel didn't have a mind to pay to such things. The moment he slammed his door shut once more, his raging, savage expression became eerily calm. It was as though he was never enraged to begin with.
'It's time to leave this place.'