Chapter 15

【15】14

“What do you think you are?”

“Huh?”

“You are students of Lumeran. That means you are hero candidates! Don’t you think the first thing to do when faced with danger is to prepare to fight your way through it by yourselves?”

At Ain’s loud reprimand, the students shivered in fear.

At that moment, Ain noticed Leo moving without hesitation.

“There’s at least one person who gets it.”

A towering tentacle of the Kraken came rushing towards them at high speed.

Swwish-!

Pulling out his sword, Leo swiftly cut through the tentacle.

Thud-!

Kicking off the wriggling tentacle of the Kraken that had fallen to the ground, Leo pushed it back into the lake and shouted loudly.

“Don’t be afraid of its size! With your abilities, you can handle it!”

Leo’s gaze was directly pointed at Celia and Chloe.

“Hmph! Who says I’m scared?”

In a fit of rage, Chloe let out a derisive snort, and Celia, not to be outdone, pulled out her sword.

“What do you see in me, Leo?”

Swoosh-!

From her sword, the aura of flames, the signature element of Zerdinger, flared up.

“I’m not the type to be scared of some squid…”

Shriiiikkk!

“Kyaakkk!”

A water cannon shot out from the end of the Kraken’s tentacle, covering Celia.

Even though she defended herself using her Aura Armor, Celia was instantly soaked like a drowned rat.

“The nature of Krakens is to respond to heat by firing water cannons.”

With great effort, Leo restrained his laughter and tapped Celia’s forehead lightly.

“You still lack experience, it seems?”

“Tch! I’m the same age as you! Don’t talk to me about experience!”

Her face reddening, Celia rubbed her forehead and shouted loudly.

As the Kraken attacked again, Celia’s eyes narrowed dangerously.

“You cursed squid! I’ll turn you into calamari!”

Flare-!

Celia’s sword traced an elegant arc.

Wha-Wha-Bam!

Tentacles of the Kraken, sliced into small pieces, scattered in the air.

With a look of “How’s that!” she turned back to see Leo smiling at her as he swung his sword.

Boooom-!

An incredible wind sound accompanied the slicing of the Kraken’s tentacle into even finer pieces, even more shredded than what Celia had done.

“Yikes! Are you trying to compete with me?”

Her eyes sparked with fire at the sight.

“Great swordsmanship, huh?”

Meanwhile Chloe had raised her magic wand, chanting in the Rune language.

Chirrrr-!

“Icicle!”

In the air, ice particles clustered together, forming a huge icicle.

As Chloe released the spell, the icicle flew off.

Boom-! Chirr-! Cring!

The frozen tentacle of the Kraken shattered upon the impact of the magic.

“Ho ho ho! What’s the need for knights to come forward and sweat? From the back, I can do it all smartly… H-Hey??!”

Chloe, who had been sporting a proud expression, became the Kraken’s target.

Caught off guard by the Kraken’s swift attack, Leo grabbed Chloe by the back of her neck and pulled her away.

“It’s not for mages to act recklessly out front.”

Sssswishh-!

Leo swung his sword, cutting off the Kraken’s tentacle.

“Krakens react to mana, so use your magic carefully.”

“A-Ah, got it.”

As the frightened freshmen finally came to their senses, they launched a counterattack.

Though Krakens were upper-tier monsters, the students of Lumeran were no pushovers, and they wouldn’t go down without a fight.

Ain watched the ensuing battle from the back.

‘This year’s freshmen are quite excellent.’

Professor Ain, who had earlier reprimanded the freshmen, was now in a quite satisfied state.

This lake is famous for being home to all sorts of aquatic monsters.

Therefore, attacks from aquatic monsters are close to an annual event.

All students who enter Lumeran are exceptionally talented and have, by entering the prestigious institution, proven their own capabilities.

Skill, background, education—none of the freshmen lacked in these qualities, so it was natural for them to be arrogant.

‘They can’t keep up with Lumeran’s curriculum in this state of mind.’

The freshmen didn’t know.

They merely met the minimum standard to be accepted into Lumeran.

Hence, it was necessary to instill a sense of caution, and this was why Lumeran allowed aquatic monsters to attack freely.

Certainly, they weren’t left completely defenseless.

For instance, when the Kraken attacked, the ship’s hull remained unscathed, which was the biggest concern.

Of course, the freshmen did not realize this and were desperately trying to fend off the Kraken right before them.

‘As expected, the top students are making a remarkable show.’

While assessing the freshmen’s skills, Ain noticed Leo.

‘Impressive.’

Ain’s eyes lit up intriguingly.

Leo’s swordwork was clean and concise.

Moreover, as though predicting the Kraken’s movements perfectly, he cut off its tentacles with ease through nimble body movements.

‘I should remember him.’

Given the way he handled his sword, he was clearly aiming for the Department of Knights.

Thinking that he had found an outstanding student, Ain smiled in satisfaction.

*

Despite barely fending off the Kraken, the freshmen faced continuous attacks from aquatic monsters.

What had been a ship party just moments ago now turned into a monster parade.

About an hour had passed, and all the freshmen were completely disheveled.

Their school uniforms were soaked, their bodies drenched in sweat, and their faces were filled with fatigue.

They had to fight off the relentless attacks from the monsters.

“I can’t fight anymore! My magic power is depleted!”

Chloe, who had collapsed on the deck, shouted.

“Ugh… Does anyone have leftover mana potion?”

Kal looked around but there was no response.

“Huff- Huff-”

Celia, breathing heavily, glanced at Leo.

‘You monster of stamina!’

Leo remained at the shore, guarding vigilantly without a trace of fatigue.

How could a fellow peer have such an inexhaustible amount of stamina?

“Huff!”

Gritting her teeth and taking a deep breath, Celia stood beside Leo.

At that moment,

“The dock is in sight!”

“This nauseating fight is finally over!”

“Wooaaaaaaa!”

A cheer erupted from the deck.

For the students worn out from prolonged combat, there was no better news.

Soon after, the boat docked, and the students disembarked as though the boat was the bane of their existence.

Waiting at the dock for the freshmen was a small-statured woman wearing glasses in formal attire.

“Oh good! I see there’s been no major incident!”

Upon hearing her statement, the students felt a lump in their throats.

‘No major incident?! We were attacked by monsters!’

Of course, there wasn’t anyone stupid enough to protest openly, considering she was most likely a professor from Lumeran coming to meet them.

“Professor Ain. Great job guiding the freshmen! From here on out, I’ll take over.”

“Understood.”

Nodding, Ain announced to the freshmen before departing.

“I teach the 1st-Year Knights class this year.”

The students of the Department of Knights tensed.

“Some of you from the Department of Knights will attend my classes.”

Ain smiled faintly, eyeing a few students, including Leo.

“Those who wish to reach higher levels, attend my classes.”

“Yessir!”

“Understood! Professor Ain!”

The Department of Knights students loudly responded.

Appearing satisfied with their response, Professor Ain assumed an enigmatic expression.

“Listen well to what your guide teacher says.”

Leaving those words, Ain left.

“My name is Artian Nier, and I’ll be teaching the 1st-Year Summoning classes.”

Adjusting her glasses, she introduced herself amicably.

“Artian Nier? I’ve never heard that name before?”

Celia tilted her head in question.

Anyone who holds a teaching position at Lumeran would be extremely renowned in their field.

However, she had never heard the name Artian Nier.

“Artian Nier? They are quite well-known in the central region.”

That was Kal speaking up.

“What kind of person?”

“A necromancer, if I recall?”

“Necromancer?”

Celia’s face filled with surprise.

Summoning magic is generally divided into three major categories.

The Spirit Magic that establishes contracts with spirits.

The Familiar Magic that calls forth familiars.

And finally, the Spirit Summoning that calls forth the fragments of spirits, known as the rare ability of Necromancy.

“Isn’t that one of Lissinas’s specialties?”

Spirit Summoning, due to being an in-born special ability, is a skill even a top-tier class mage like Kyle could not learn.

“Shall we head to the entrance ceremony?”

Artian smiled gently.

At that, the students started protesting.

“Professor! Isn’t there someplace we can change clothes?”

“Yes! We can’t attend the ceremony looking like this!”

Previously obedient students now began shouting one by one.

All of them were from noble families.

In Ain’s presence, they were intimidated by the title ‘Knight of the Glacial Sea.’

However, toward Artian, who wasn’t well-known and seemed delicate, they voiced their grievances immediately.

“Ah, well… so you see, we have to keep to the schedule…”

“It’s unthinkable for our families to approve of showing up disheveled at important occasions!”

“Yes! We proudly entered Lumeran! This treatment is absurd!”

“Yes! Exactly! We’ll officially protest through our families!”

“Y- You folks?!”

Being genuinely gentle in nature, Artian didn’t know how to handle the students’ complaints but could only shrink back.

That emboldened the students further.

“We should probably interfere.”

Celia frowned at this, and Leo smirked.

“Maybe not?”

“What?”

Artian suddenly lowered her head deeply.

And then…

“These d*mn brats! Just because you’ve looked, does that make me an easy target?! Where do freshmen get off acting like this before a professor?!”

Lifting her head abruptly, a tirade escaped Artian’s lips.

Contrary to the meek atmosphere a moment ago, her eyes glared dangerously.

The loud students were startled.

A male student, who hadn’t realized the situation, hastily shouted.

“No matter how senior a professor, we can’t tolerate such ab*se…”

“You little—still haven’t gotten the vibe, huh?”

Clang!

“What? W-Wha?”

Artian, with a threatening smile on her face, grabbed the male student by the collar.

She was noticeably smaller but had effortlessly lifted the student, who was much taller and bulkier than the other freshmen.

Instead, a golden aura flowed out of Artian’s body.

“Gulp? A, Aura?”

“A Dual-Class?”

The students gasped.

The male student whose collar was grabbed turned pale.

Artian tossed the male student to the lakeside.

“Ah-aaaah!”

Splash-! Thud! Thud!

The student splashed violently in the lake.

Artian warned harshly.

“If anyone dares to rebel again, I won’t be lenient…”

Artian’s expression changed even before she could finish.

“This is problematic.”

Switching into a cold atmosphere, she sighed and casually waved her hand.

Then golden magic energy sprayed out of her.

Artian used magic to rescue the student who had fallen into the water.

The students stared wide-eyed.

She was clearly stated as a summoning magic professor but using Aura and Magic was strange!

“I see, that’s why.”

“Do you know anything about that ability?”

Startled Celia immediately asked at Leo’s muttered words.

“She’s housed spirits within her. The change in personality is due to the contracted spirits.”

“That’s necromancy! An ability we only hear about!”

Celia’s exclamation rang out at the rare ability, possessed by only a few among Spirit Summoners.

Apparently, Ain had a good reason when he told them to listen well.

“I’m sorry, sorry! The spirits I’ve contracted with have rather fiery personalities!”

Though she was back to her original personality and apologized profusely, the students only observed carefully.

They had quickly understood — this teacher, who only lacked fame, was an enormous figure they couldn’t match.

In the midst of it, Artian smiled widely.

“Anyway, let’s go to the entrance ceremony, everyone!”

“Y-Yes…”

The students answered weakly, only observing carefully.