Chapter 365

365

Mission practice.

At the mention of exploring a Hero Dungeon, all the first-year students were unable to conceal their excitement.

“Wow! It’s still the first semester, and we’re already doing mission practice!”

“Plus, didn’t Professor Halind just say we’ll be exploring a Hero Dungeon?”

“Can we get rewards for clearing it?”

“That would be totally the best!”

The first-year students were reacting with great excitement.

In contrast, the second-year students felt a sense of puzzlement.

‘Hundreds of people are going to explore a Hero Dungeon?’

It’s impossible.

A Hero Dungeon refers to the chaotic Hero’s World created by the Hero Record’s instability.

Whenever a Hero Dungeon is discovered, the Hero Academy immediately moves to conquer it; thus, the number of Hero Dungeons is quite low.

The idea of first and second-year students together exploring a Hero Dungeon was something that shouldn’t happen.

Certainly, there exist some Hero Dungeons that require hundreds of people to conquer simultaneously.

But those sorts of dungeons are not ones that first and second-year students from the Hero Academy can handle.

While the second-years were all filled with questions, a few of the first-years also noticed something strange. One of them raised their hand.

“Professor Halind! I have a question!”

It was Betty Marste, Chloe’s mentee, who had her hand raised high. Betty was an excellent student, ranking second in the Department of Magic after Juen.

“What is it, Betty Marste?”

“What exactly does ‘Hero Dungeon exploration’ mean? It’s unimaginable that all the second-year seniors and first-years will together conquer a Hero Dungeon!”

When Betty questioned this with clear confidence, the initially excited first-years hesitated.

Now, hearing Betty’s words, it certainly made sense.

The students looked toward Professor Halind.

“That’s not a bad question, Betty Marste. I’ll give you five points.”

Halind clearly valued Betty’s question as it demonstrated calm analysis rather than blind enthusiasm like the other students.

“Most of you guys assumed without thinking too hard that we were talking about conquering a Hero Dungeon. That’s quite disappointing.”

With Halind’s icy voice, the first-year students shuddered.

Amidst the increasingly tense atmosphere, Halind finally explained.

“This dungeon exploration is not about conquering the Hero Dungeon—it’s about locating it.”

Duran raised his hand.

“Go ahead, Duran Moira.”

“Is this a commissioned task?”

“No.”

“So, you’re hinting at some force trying to conceal the existence of a Hero Dungeon?”

“Yes.”

At Duran’s words, the first-year students began gossiping in surprise.

While Juen, who sat at the front because of Kal, frowned in puzzlement and murmured under her breath,

“Why isn’t Duran-senpai getting any points for his answer?”

“Hey! If someone like you gives an answer like that, it’s supposed to be coming from the first-years to earn points. A second-year getting that grade would just be embarrassing.”

As Kal muttered while keeping his head down, Juen opened her sleepy eyes.

“Then, wouldn’t it be better if Kal-senpai answers? Professors don’t care about giving points anyway, they just might appreciate the curiosity.”

“What’s the point in attracting Professor Halind’s attention for something that won’t even get us points?”

“Are you asking questions just for the points, then, Kal Thomas?”

“Kyaaa!?”

Kal let out a startled scream upon hearing an icy voice from above.

Halind then dealt a harsher punishment.

“Juen Thorvina.”

“Yes, Professor Halind!”

“Seems uncomfortable, doesn’t it? Sit on that idiot up there.”

“Got it!”

Without hesitation, Juen sat on Kal’s waist.

“Keeeaaa!”

“Feels light like a feather, right?”

“Are you kidding? It’s super heavy!”

As Kal cried out, Juen jumped with excitement.

Kal’s scream grew even louder.

“A Hero Dungeon is an extremely dangerous phenomenon.”

Halind now stepped closer to the students with heavy strides.

“The abnormal Hero’s World formed due to the unstable Hero Record’s explosion. Escaping a Hero Dungeon mid-expedition is also impossible. Should a conquest fail—through some mistake—all one can expect is certain d*ath. Indeed, among your predecessors, countless students have lost their lives.”

Halind’s words made the previously excited first-years falter.

Halind then addressed the first-years with a stern tone.

“You students who just spoke about conquest rewards earlier, understand your situation. With that sort of complacent mindset, if you’re destined to d*e a useless d*ath here, then just leave Lumeran Academy now.”

Most of the first-years bowed their heads deeply upon hearing Halind’s words.

At Lumeran Academy, second-year students start taking on serious missions.

Until the second year, the level of risk taken is relatively low, but starting from the third year, they’re entrusted with dangerous missions.

Among them, some involve dealing with Hero Dungeons.

At Lumeran, there are teams specially organized by the best students to conquer Hero Dungeons.

However, even these elite students sometimes meet their end within the dungeons.

Every year, not only at Lumeran but at Hero Academies worldwide, many students fail in conquering Hero Dungeons, losing their lives.

This topic was one that should never be taken lightly.

Following Halind’s stern warnings to the first-years, Mel spoke up.

“The reason Hero Dungeons are dangerous isn’t solely because their conquest is perilous. If left unchecked for too long, they begin to erode reality itself.”

Mel, who usually has a gentle demeanor and is popular with the students, appeared very solemn today.

The records in Hero Records depict the stories of heroes overcoming trials.

The various crises that heroes face are labeled ‘trials’ because they are not easily surmountable dangers.

If left unchecked, the very crisis that threatened the world then recurs in reality.

Despite this, when a Hero Dungeon is discovered, many countries conceal its existence.

The reason is simple.

If a Hero Dungeon is conquered successfully, the Hero Record belongs to the Hero Academy.

For a human hero, it goes to Lumeran.

For an elven hero, to Seirun.

For beastmen and dwarves, it is taken to Azonia or Demian.

If the record pertains to dragons, it gets taken back to Dragonia.

It happened 3000 years ago when the pact of the Cataclysm-bound heroes sealed this arrangement.

Hero Academies and Dragonia manage Hero Records, yet never monopolize them.

Hero Records are only used for the cultivation of heroes for the benefit of the world.

Were this not done, the world might have already fallen into chaos.

If used for selfish means, Hero Records have the power to allow its wielder dominion over the world.

For that reason, a Hero Dungeon is a potent force that can drastically shift the balance of power among nations.

Succeeding in conquering one might allow even an underdog country to quickly rise to the status of a superpower.

Or it may grant immense power to its discoverer.

Because of such temptations, there are factions attempting to suppress and monopolize Hero Dungeons.

The consequences of such greed have resulted in many nations collapsing, and worse, recreating the disasters of the past on a larger scale.

But these mistakes are repeated endlessly.

“Preventing that is also the responsibility of the Hero Academies.”

When Mel finished, Celia raised her hand.

“Are we certain there’s a Hero Dungeon being concealed?”

“I can’t say with absolute certainty. What’s definite is that suspicious anomalies have been occurring one after another in that country. Your upcoming practice mission is to go to this suspicious country, locate the Hero Dungeon, and report back to Lumeran.”

The students looked at each other with wide eyes.

“Which country is it?”

When Celia asked, Halind responded with an expressionless face.

“A nation in the central part of the southern continent—Aleham.”

*

Aleham.

Located in the midst of vast deserts in the southern region of the continent, Aleham had been a country with a 2000-year long history.

It was once a powerful nation that ruled much of the southern territory but had since fallen into poverty and now ranks among the poorest nations in the southern continent.

Its expansive land is mostly desert and is sparsely populated.

“Even though this country has a history of 2000 years, it turned incredibly poor after the decline 500 years ago,” said Chloe.

“You know so much about it?”

As Kal exclaimed in admiration, Chloe smiled.

“I read about it in a book once.”

While Chloe reads magic books regularly, her knowledge extends far beyond those texts. Chloe is a girl with an insatiable thirst for knowledge.

“Aleham has three unique characteristics,” Chloe continued.

“The first is that Aleham’s territory includes the Forest of Monsters.”

“Monster Forest? What a blast of nostalgia,” Chelsea said with a grin.

Indeed, for Chelsea, Celia, Abad, and other second-year students from the western continent, the Forest of Monsters was their entrance exam project.

“Senpai Leo was especially outstanding during the entrance ceremony, or so I’ve heard,” Juen said excitedly.

“What happened, exactly?”

“Just incredible, wasn’t it!”

Chelsea folded her arms and chuckled.

“Without using any mana, Leo took down the beast that Celia and Abad barely managed to knock out together!”

“He didn’t use mana?”

Luke’s eyes widened in disbelief.

Aina, sitting next to him as Celia’s mentee, also showed interest.

The other mentee of Celia, Martina, admired and nodded.

“I’ve heard a lot about Master Leo’s achievements from Miss Celia, so I am quite curious about the details.”

“Let me tell you later. Focus on the meeting now,” Leo said.

The students redirected their attention back to Chloe.

They were gathered in a personal study room attached to the Central Library, soundproofed for group study or important meetings.

There were a total of ten people: second-years Leo, Chloe, Celia, Chelsea, and Kal, and their mentees Luke, Betty, Aina, Martina, and Juen.

After the classes ended, at Leo’s suggestion, they gathered for dinner and discussed the upcoming mission training.

“The second peculiarity is that there haven’t been any heroes born from Aleham for the last 500 years.”

Heroes are extremely rare.

Graduating from Hero Academy does not guarantee becoming a hero.

There are cases where an entire class has no one whose name is recorded in the Hero Record.

Heroes may seem numerous because many names over the years have been added to the Hero Record.

But in reality, they are extraordinarily rare.

“But Aleham’s peculiarity is not just the lack of heroes being born,” Chloe added.

“Not even a single Hero Candidate has emerged in the last 500 years.”

This revelation made everyone silently gape.

“The third peculiarity is…”

Chloe blinked.

“Here was the birthplace of the Dragon of the Cataclysm, Lorda.”

The Dragon of the Cataclysm, Lorda.

Three thousand years ago, as the Dragon Lord of that time and five thousand years before that, like the King of Wisdom Lissinas, he gathered the Heroes of the Cataclysm to counter the Rebirth of Catastrophe.

“That’s everything unique that I know about Aleham,” Chloe concluded.

“Is there anything peculiar related to Lorda, the Dragon of the Cataclysm?”

“Nothing specific. Though, there’s a legend that Lorda left behind a secret storehouse.”

“Hmm.”

Leo narrowed his eyes.

‘Could he have left something unusual related to me and Lissinas?’

Leo, who already had a run-in with Seirun, found Lorda’s story equally suspicious.

Just then, Kal chuckled.

“There’s one more thing I know about Aleham.”

Everyone’s eyes turned to Kal.

“What is it?”

As Chloe asked curiously, Kal grinned.

“A nation of pleasure.”