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“Keep it up!”
“Attack!”
A multitude of freshmen rushed towards Leo with no trace of hesitation in their movements—distinctly different from the admission test.
Back then, during the admission test, there had been the burden of knowing that failure against Leo would mean elimination. But now, it was different.
All the freshmen were actively attempting to attack Leo. And in their minds, they all shared the same thought:
‘If we keep up this pressure, even the great Leo Flove will tire out quickly! If that happens, there’ll be an opening!’
The entire freshman class was waiting for that moment when Leo would tire.
“Pick! Pick! Let’s see who will become Leo’s mentee! Here’s the current betting status!”
Kal hastily showed a board to check the bets.
“Ho? I’ll place mine on Aina or Beydona.”
“Y- Yes, Senior!”
The commotion began as the freshmen vying to be Leo’s mentee gathered the news and hurried towards the Department of Magic building.
It was an incredibly entertaining spectacle, drawing not just the sophomores but also juniors and seniors—excluding the fifth-years who were absent due to missions—to come and watch.
“What do you think will happen?”
Elsewhere, Abad asked while observing the situation from afar.
“How do you think it will end?”
Duran, who had come to watch upon hearing the news, chuckled sarcastically.
“There’s no way these freshmen can land an effective hit on Leo Flove. Especially not in a chaotic state like this.”
“Yeah,” Abad nodded.
“Leo Flove doesn’t tire. And if guerrilla tactics are possible, the freshmen are bound to destroy themselves.”
That was exactly what was happening.
Leo easily dodged or blocked the attacks of the freshmen, weaving through them. Each time, incidents of freshmen accidentally attacking each other occurred. In some cases, it was intentional—an effort to eliminate competitors.
“The freshmen can’t even be called true Hero Candidates yet.”
The first year at Lumeran was the time in one’s education when skills improved most markedly. It was also when unexpected talents were discovered, and students who scored poorly on the admission test could leap to the top ranks.
It was nearly impossible for the inexperienced freshmen to land an effective hit on Leo.
“Frankly, a one-on-one battle might offer a better chance for them.”
It was true. Right now, the side launching the attacks was more frenzied. They couldn’t observe Leo’s movements closely enough to react in time.
Whoosh-!
Leo ascended into the air.
“I’ve been waiting for this!”
Shasha, riding her flying Familiar, approached swiftly.
Upon seeing her, Leo smirked and cast the Fly magic spell.
Swish-!
“Huh?!”
Shasha was taken aback by the incredible maneuverability and speed.
“Is, is it really possible to move like that using the Fly magic?”
The freshmen looked on with mouths agape.
“Guess they’re not used to Lumeran’s standard of magic yet.”
“Well, they’re freshmen after all.”
The upperclassmen watched the freshmen in amusement, finding their reactions endearing.
The freshmen’s attacks accidentally hit some onlookers, but none of the upperclassmen were struck by them.
In the end, by the time the lunch break ended, no freshman had successfully attacked Leo.
The preparatory bell for class rang.
“Huff! Huff!”
“I-I can’t move anymore… ugh!”
“Cough! Cough!”
The freshmen lay sprawled on the ground, exhausted from mana depletion and physical fatigue. Watching their plight, the upperclassmen chuckled as they dispersed.
“Ah~ That was fun.”
“Interesting events keep happening this early in the semester.”
The juniors and seniors giggled as they returned to their classrooms.
The sophomores watched the freshmen with pity before doing the same.
Leo, looking at the freshmen who were sprawled on the ground, asked,
“Isn’t your next class a combined Hero Studies session with Professor Artian?”
“Yes.”
“B-But, Senior…”
“You’d better hurry; it’d be bad if you’re late.”
Leo gestured towards the clocktower in the Department of Magic building.
“Hurry; it’d be bad for you if you’re late for a group class.”
“B-But we can’t move at all…”
“Professor Artian is kind, so she’ll probably excuse a little tardiness, right?”
A groan spread among the freshmen.
That stopped the second-years in their tracks.
“Guess they don’t know Professor Artian’s true nature yet.”
Professor Artian had been the sophomore class’s guide during last year’s orientation. She gave them a taste of her terrifying persona on the very first day, and so they froze in fear from her presence during the entire first lecture.
Apparently, the freshmen had no idea about Professor Artian’s true personality.
On the same level as Halind, some might say even more terrifying, Artian was the instructor who struck such dread.
Simultaneously, the sophomores thought,
“They’re done for.”
That evening.
Leo, who had been resting at the Glory Dormitory, went outside to meet the freshmen who had come looking for him.
Five students from the Department of Knights had come to see him.
“Hello, Young Master Leo. We’ve been so busy that we couldn’t greet you sooner.”
Among them, Martina, their representative, smiled as she greeted him.
The Slayer Order, Leo’s personal knight squad.
“Yeah. But come to think of it, you guys didn’t join in against me at lunch, did you?”
Leo looked at his knights with a smile, causing them to flinch.
“Don’t want to become my mentees?”
At Leo’s question, Jillan and Carin waved their hands frantically.
“N-Not at all.”
“We’ve received so much help from Young Master Leo since we entered the school! After enrolling, we also wanted to rely on our own efforts!”
“Yes! We want to succeed on our own at Lumeran!”
Jillan and Carin’s words were affirmed by Martina, Austin, and Valerie as they all nodded vigorously.
In truth, this was accurate.
The five had trained with Leo before the admissions exam and rapidly improved their skills. It was thanks to Leo that they qualified for Lumeran.
However, there was another side to this. Being mentored by Leo was also a little terrifying.
Being part of the Slayer Order who had experienced Leo’s training firsthand, they were utterly intimidated.
‘Beyond the ocean of fire, who knows what other horrors await!’
Leo smirked as he watched his knights nervously explaining themselves. Then, he sat on a bench and asked,
“How did things go after lunch?”
“It was chaos.”
Martina’s face paled.
“I never expected Professor Artian to be so terrifying.”
Less than fifty students had managed to avoid being late to Professor Artian’s Hero Studies class.
Even though it was the temporary class period so no crucial content was covered, group tardiness was unforgivable.
Artian, who had seemed subdued initially, allegedly changed the moment the group of late students arrived.
“Ah?! You were battling with Leo Flove?! If you love fighting so much, we can cover this entire lecture by fighting, right?!”
According to the rumors, Artian, possessed by some irritable hero spirit through necromancy, lost control.
Already exhausted by Leo, the freshmen were mercilessly trampled by Artian’s wrath.
“It was… terrifying!”
“I painfully understand why Miss Celia advises caution around Professor Artian.”
Carin clutched her arms and shivered while Valerie broke out in a cold sweat.
Leo sighed knowingly.
“Nevertheless, Mister Flove, do you plan to take on any freshmen as your mentees?”
Martina asked politely.
Given the depth of their training under Leo, the Slayer Order knew all too well of his skill. Most of the freshmen believed Leo would eventually show some weakness.
“But Lord Leo doesn’t have any such weaknesses.”
Leo’s movement was akin to divine precision, leaving no openings. And with his Extrasensory Perception, there were no blind spots.
“Besides, he doesn’t tire.”
While most freshmen believed they could become his mentees through luck or chance, Martina found it utterly hopeless.
‘He might as well be saying he won’t take any mentees.’
At Martina’s puzzled expression, Leo smiled.
“Hmm, it seems there are five potential candidates.”
“Surely it would be the Princess, the Crown Prince of Virsen, the daughter of the Southern Tower Master, and the Granddaughter of the Sword Sage, right?”
“Yes.”
Martina nodded; those four were indeed exceptional even to her eyes.
Especially Aina and Beydona, the former being a disciple of Zerdinger, were considered geniuses even by Martina, who had seen countless sword prodigies in her days.
“Who is the fifth one?”
Carin asked eagerly.
“He’s coming right now.”
As Leo smiled and spoke, the knights turned their gaze to the direction he was looking.
And they were shocked.
“Luke Eldar?”
The bottom-ranked freshman was timidly approaching Leo.
Leo stood at the Training Ground near the second-year dormitory building cluster.
Before him, Luke gripped his wooden sword with a tense expression.
‘I remember him from lunch.’
However, Luke did not immediately rush to attack Leo. Instead, he kept his distance, observing his movements.
“Thank you for sparing the time.”
“I said anyone can jump in any time. Don’t mind it.”
As Leo chuckled, Luke’s strained expression relaxed a little.
‘This isn’t like during the admission test. I’m now a fellow Lumeran student as much as Leo.’
Facing his idol was both exciting and daunting. The news about Leo Flove which Luke had encountered via old newspapers while in his rural hometown had instantly made him the subject of admiration.
He was precisely like the Hero of the fairy tales he’d read in his childhood—the Hero of Beginning, Kyle, was one of Luke’s most preferred choices.
While many considered Kyle a fictional figure, for Luke, who hailed from the countryside, distinguishing whether the Hero was real or fictitious wasn’t so important.
Instead, what struck him was that Kyle belonged to an all-class group and performed deeds that stirred the heart. To Luke, Leo was someone straight out of a fairytale—a source of pure admiration.
And now, he was sharing the same place with him.
‘Do I deserve it, even someone like me?’
Luke smiled awkwardly but wanted to speak with Leo all the same.
“Huff.”
Luke took a deep breath, assumed a fighting stance, and dashed toward Leo, swinging his sword with great speed.
The attack was raw but followed closely.
‘Clearly the weakest among the freshmen right now.’
Leo easily dodged the attack.
‘His swordsmanship is clumsy, his aura control poor.’
As Leo observed Luke’s attack aimed at his throat, laced with raw energy, he flicked his finger.
BOOM!
“Grk?!”
Luke’s body wavered just from blocking the attack.
Typically, once a person realizes a skill gap that’s insurmountable, they lose their fighting spirit and fall into despair.
Luke was the same.
It wasn’t just Luke.
Near the end of lunch, all the freshmen had the same look in their eyes—the feeling of being outclassed despairingly.
But…
Luke gritted his teeth and swung his sword again.
At the sight, Leo smiled.
‘Sure enough, his weakness in skill is understandable, given he’s self-taught.’
Luke had essentially trained himself to enter Lumeran all by his lonesome means.
Moreover…
Whirr!
Luke’s mana stirred.
‘I noticed this during the admission test, but it’s clearer now—his mana signature.’
The aura grew larger.
‘Amplification based on emotions, perhaps.’
Rising despite despair, moving forward unyieldingly. Stirring emotions, attacking again. Not because anyone taught him but because Luke was doing this instinctively.
‘That is what the world calls a Hero.’
*
“Huff- Huff- Ugh!”
Luke covered his mouth to barely stop vomiting.
He had nothing left—couldn’t even lift a finger.
He tried his best, yet still couldn’t even graze him.
‘Amazing.’
Luke looked at Leo sitting calmly before him and was truly impressed.
“Mr. Leo.”
“What?”
“Could I… become a hero too?”
“Can’t say for sure.”
Leo smirked again.
“But if you stop challenging what seems impossible, you’ll never achieve greatness.”
“Ah, something Mr. Lissinas often said!”
“That’s right. I don’t need to take on any mentees, but if you want, give it a try.”
Leo chuckled.
“Breaking limits is one thing heroes do, but turning impossibility into possibility is another.”
![[TS] The Protagonist is Conquered](https://i3.wp.com/novelhitam.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/1743806812-5548-TS-The-Protagonist-is-Conquered.png?resize=85,105 "[TS] The Protagonist is Conquered")
