One-on-one battles, one-against-many battles, and the fact that they were now high up on Edelweiss Peak—at an altitude of over seven thousand meters—were all different matters. At such a height, the air was extremely thin, and breathing was affected. Stella was different from Kurogane Ikki. She was the second princess of Familion. Though she had suffered greatly from having too much magical power since childhood, she had never endured other hardships. Naturally, she had no experience fighting in thin air, nor did she have experience facing multiple opponents at once.
As for Kurogane Ikki, born into the Kurogane family, his circumstances had actually been similar to Stella's. Even if his magical power was only F-rank and he could not become strong, he was still Kurogane Gen's son. His family might have mocked him, but he had never lacked material comforts. Ikki's father merely disliked his efforts, fearing that they would disrupt Japan's magical ranking system. It was not that he hated his own son.
However, Ikki had been luckier than Stella in one respect: he had a superhuman grandfather. Although that grandfather had lost his power and been cast out by the family at the time, his experience remained. With his guidance, Ikki naturally took far fewer detours than others.
Stella, by comparison, had lacked that advantage. Even though she was a princess of Familion, Familion was only a small country and had never produced a superhuman. They understood little about many things, which was why Stella had suffered so much as a child due to her innate magical power. Had she been born in a major nation, or even simply a nation with superhumans, she would certainly have suffered less during her childhood.
That was why Stella had lost when she first fought Ikki. Later, as she grew alongside