Chapter 217

217

When the story of the unified entrance exam for Lumeran spread across the continent, many regions were thrown into confusion.

Traditionally, Lumeran held separate exams in five regions: West, North, East, South, and Central.

However, the unified exam was an entirely different type of test compared to the past.

For the examinees, the abolishment of regional exams and the sudden implementation of a unified test inevitably caused confusion.

Participation in the Lumeran entrance exam had no restrictions.

Once the exam location was set, examinees were required to travel there to participate.

However, any costs needed for participation in the entrance ceremony, such as warp gate fees or lodging expenses, had to be borne by the examinees themselves.

With the change in exam location due to the unified exam, it was inevitable that there would be higher expenses than expected.

While prestigious families with relative financial ease didn’t have much trouble, many students taking the Lumeran entrance exam were commoners.

Naturally, voices of dissatisfaction from examinees were unavoidable.

However, when a new announcement was made, the complaints faded away.

The Lumeran side decided to cover the warp gate fees and lodging costs for all entrance examination candidates.

All examinees had to do was carry the examination permit issued in each region.

Though it was an astronomically costly move, Lumeran didn’t seem to mind.

With the burden of costs lifted, naturally, the number of examinees grew.

Of course, there was no massive surge in the number of examinees.

The difficulty level of the Lumeran entrance exam was notoriously high.

Every year, countless underperforming examinees lost their lives.

Moreover, the exam situation was broadcast live around the world.

No one wanting to risk their life recklessly or suffer global embarrassment would dare attempt it without adequate preparation.

As the whole continent focused on the Lumeran entrance exam, the attention of the world was drawn toward Rodren Empire’s capital, Lorand, which was set as the examination venue.

Amid the great commotion surrounding the Lumeran entrance exam, six figures appeared in the Zerdinger Family’s training grounds.

None other than Leo and the knights.

“Tr, training grounds!”

“We’re back!”

Carin, Julian, and Valerie shouted with joy as they clung to the entrance of the training grounds.

Carin and Julian even went as far as kissing the gates, showcasing their excitement.

Upon seeing this, Austin tightened his gaze and spoke.

“What kind of indecency is this in front of Young Master Leo?”

“Young Master Leo doesn’t really care about such things, does he?”

“That’s right, Brother Austin.”

Carin and Julian, lively and full of energy at 14, contrasted with Valerie, who, despite being the same age, was more mature and physically imposing like Austin, acting as mood-makers within the knight group.

Seeing the antics of the two children, Austin’s expression hardened even more.

While Martina served as the de facto leader, Austin, the oldest, was responsible for maintaining discipline among the knights.

The two startled under his gaze, standing straight at attention.

Upon seeing this, Valerie shook her head.

“What should we do, Young Master?”

“Head back to your rooms and rest. I’ll visit Uncle Giese.”

“Yes.”

With that, Martina dismissed the knights with a glance.

Carin spoke on their way back to the room with Martina.

“I’ve missed my bed so much!”

“Hehe. Me too.”

“Though Master Leo’s training surely helped a lot… it was still too hard! Especially the sleep and food!”

Carin shook her head in frustration.

Being in the mountains wasn’t a problem.

It was when it came to sleep.

Leo never left the knights alone, even at night.

As they were about to fall into deep slumber, a rock would suddenly fly toward them as if by a ghost.

Although it wasn’t imbued with aura, the speed was extremely fast.

Thus, getting hit became an everyday occurrence due to lack of vigilance.

Getting hit wasn’t the real issue.

The main problem was that they had to undergo endurance training with Leo for 30 minutes after getting hit.

It was almost torture.

As a result, for three weeks, they were constantly vomiting due to the intense regimen.

Food was also self-sufficient.

However, there was a problem in this regard too.

Leo would raid the supplies that the knights collected.

If they let their guard down, they not only wouldn’t get sleep but also would go hungry.

It was only natural that everyone in the group was on edge.

“I barely slept, ugh! No matter what, my skin is a mess!”

Carin, like any teenager, was concerned about her appearance and frowned.

With brown hair and green eyes, she was quite pretty.

Looking at her, Martina gave a wry smile.

It was the same for Martina—her condition was far from ideal.

‘Even so, Young Master Leo must have suffered the most.’

For the past month, Leo relentlessly pushed the five students without rest.

In other words, Leo was the one who got the least rest.

‘Yet, he seems perfectly fine… truly incredible.’

Recalling Leo, Martina’s tongue flickered in amazement.

After unpacking their things in the room, the two headed straight to the shower.

“Kyaa~ Hot water!”

Carin joyfully jumped around enjoying the hot water, causing Martina to burst into laughter.

As they dried their bodies and changed into clean clothes, preparing to leave the shower room, a voice stopped them.

“My goodness. Look at this guys.”

“Are the Hero Candidates here?”

Other Zerdinger trainees giggled as they looked at Martina and Carin, with obvious mockery in their eyes.

This made Carin’s face fall.

Martina softly sighed and nudged Carin’s shoulder as if telling her to ignore them.

As Carin, biting her lips, was about to ignore them,

“Would you even lie to remain in Young Master Leo’s knight group?”

“Back off. Don’t waste Young Master Leo’s time.”

The teasing voices made Martina hesitate.

Then she turned her head.

“Who says we’re the same as you?”

“What?”

“We chose to join Young Master Leo’s knights for our own reasons. We’re not like you, opportunistically choosing Young Master Leo for fame after his greatness became known.”

“Ma, Martina-sis!”

Carin panicked and tried to pull Martina.

Martina shrugged off her attempt.

“What did you just say?”

“Are you finished talking?”

“No, I haven’t finished yet. Didn’t Young Master Leo mention the Lumeran entrance exam? He told us first that we had the potential to enter Lumeran! He believed in us!”

Martina’s brown eyes burned with intensity.

“We chose Young Master Leo, and Young Master Leo chose us. No matter how much you talk. There will never come a day when you become Young Master Leo’s knights. Because as long as he trusts us, we will never give up!”

“Huh? Did you undergo some special training or something? There doesn’t seem to be anything noticeable.”

“No matter how much you flail, you’re still mid-tier among the trainees, aren’t you?”

Watching the trainees mock them, Martina sneered.

“Until when do you think you’ll be stronger than us?”

“Heh? Want to spar, Martina?”

Whoosh!

The wooden swords, always carried by Lumeran trainees, were swung quickly.

Seeing the wooden sword pause right before her nose, Martina clenched her fists.

“Alright, let’s fight.”

“Are you confident? How about a bet? If you lose, you’ll have to step down from Young Master Leo’s knights.”

“Fine. So what will you do if you lose?”

“We’ll step down as Zerdinger trainees.”

Watching the girl wearing a smug expression, Martina said,

“Alright.”

“Hehe. See you at the training ground in thirty minutes.”

With that, the girls laughed and left the shower room.

Martina looked at them in dismay.

“Carin! What are we going to do?!”

Carin let out a deep sigh.

“Martina-sis tends to get upset sometimes.”

Scratching her head, Carin shrugged.

“What can we do now? We have no choice but to face it.”

*

All Zerdinger trainees gathered at the training ground.

Seeing this, Julian frowned.

“Austin… what are we going to do?”

“I’m sorry, guys.”

To Martina’s apology, Austin shook his head.

“No. This was bound to happen sometime.”

Even Austin, Julian, and Valerie, upon returning to the training hall, suffered ridicule from the top-tier trainees.

“Under these circumstances, let’s show the results of our training.”

At Austin’s words, Julian made a gloomy face.

“Though it’s true that we’ve grown stronger through our training, it’s only been a month. Just one month.”

It was hard to believe that they had dramatically improved their skill in just one month.

Especially considering how they were one-sidedly defeated by Leo during their spars until the day they returned.

“Nothing impressive about you guys.”

“How should we knock them down?”

The top trainees chuckled as they looked at the five of them.

“I’ll go first.”

Tightly holding his wooden sword, Austin stepped onto the training ground with a tense expression.

Seeing this, a muscular trainee similar to Austin stepped forward.

In the midst of all trainees watching the two’s sparring,

“Master Leo.”

“Is Master Leo here?”

The trainees began to murmur as they noticed Leo standing with crossed arms at the back of the training ground.

“Even Master Leo doesn’t understand.”

“That’s right. With top-tier trainees wanting to be knights, why did he train you guys for a month?”

The Zerdinger trainees displayed expressions of incomprehension upon hearing this.

Smiling faintly, Leo thought about it.

“Master Leo, don’t stand at the back. Come to the front.”

A robust young man approached Leo and spoke.

“Who’s this?”

“My name is Endian Terius.”

Looking at Endian, who introduced himself confidently, Leo recalled meeting Pierce, a knight at a party a month earlier.

‘Is he his son?’

With that thought, Leo moved forward with a sullen expression.

As the trainees made way, everyone looked at Leo with admiration.

All trainees present had trained with Celia and had even seen Ris on a few occasions.

Therefore, they knew about the overwhelmingly superior skill of Celia and Ris.

While there were those in Lumeran who might look down on Leo, it wasn’t the case here.

Being chosen as his knight would almost guarantee a stable position within the family.

To say the least, he was both admired and desired as someone to serve.

‘Is the knight group recruiting additional members?’

‘Celia’s group has a limit of 30 members.’

‘Next time, definitely…’

Everyone looked at Leo with fervent desire.

Standing at the fore of the training ground, Leo crossed his arms and gazed at Austin.

“Master Leo…”

Austin bowed his head apologetically.

Austin knew how much effort Leo had put into training them for the past month.

Yet, they had ended up making a bet that could cost them their knight positions.

Austin couldn’t help but feel guilty towards Leo.

Seeing Austin like this, Leo smirked.

“Austin.”

“Yes, Master Leo.”

“Take it easy on him while you fight.”