Chapter 435

435.

“Just a little more!”

At the edge of the cliff, Arga shouted.

Thud-!

Barely managing to place her hands on the edge of the cliff, Arga grunted as she crawled her way up.

With her aura sealed and an immense weight added to her body, climbing the sheer cliff required every ounce of strength she could muster.

“Haak- Haak-”

After climbing to the top, Arga lay on her back, staring at the sky as she caught her breath.

“Good job.”

At the sound of a voice from beside her, Arga turned her head.

Leo was sitting on a rock, looking at her.

“Didn’t take as long as I thought it would?”

“Hmph. Don’t underestimate me, Black Rabbit… Uggh?”

Perhaps due to the excessive strain, the sensation to vomit seemed to hit Arga, causing her to cover her mouth.

Watching Arga narrowly avoid a mishap, Leo spoke.

“It seems Lunia and Driana have just cleared it too.”

“Hmph, so I’m first, huh?”

Arga smirked proudly.

“Well, you were fighting alone whereas Lunia and Driana were a kind of team.”

“Huh?!”

At Leo’s words, a flicker of competitiveness rose in Arga’s eyes.

Arga’s goal was to follow in the footsteps of the Hero and become a great hero herself. In this sense, Lunia and Driana were competitors who shared the same goal, although their paths and final destinations might differ.

But Arga harbored a strong sense of rivalry toward Lunia, who had been a comrade of Arion, and Driana, who aspired to be the successor of Luna and Dwenno.

Just as Arga stood up to look down the cliff,

Thud-!

Two hands simultaneously grabbed the top of the cliff.

Celia and Duran climbed up while glaring at each other.

Eiran followed them.

All three were panting heavily.

“Great job, everyone.”

As Leo looked at them with a smile, Duran scoffed and steadied his trembling legs to stand upright.

“Pretty friendly for someone who made us wait up here, huh.”

‘You really are the embodiment of competitiveness and tenacity.’

Gazing at the bright sunlight above, Leo stated.

“What do you plan to do next? Shall we rest before the instructors arrive?”

“Let’s rest a little…”

Eiran responded with a bright smile just as

“Why ask something so obvious? We need to go now!”

Arms crossed, Arga breathed out sharply through her nose.

Celia stood up, wiping her sweat-drenched hair and said,

“Let’s go, Leo.”

“What more do you need to ask? Leo Flove.”

Duran also showed no intention of waiting any longer.

Seeing the reactions of her teammates, Eiran drooped her ears.

“Let’s go now.”

At the nod of Leo’s head, he took out a magic scroll from his pocket and tore it.

A warp portal was created.

After Leo entered, the others followed.

“Ah! It’s Brother Leo!”

On the other side of the portal was Chelsea, standing with a bright smile and waving.

Clutching her hands inside the wide sleeves of an Eastern Continental traditional outfit, Chen Sia noticed Leo and greeted him warmly.

However, seeing the two people who followed behind her, her reaction was different.

Chelsea stuck out her tongue upon seeing Celia and Duran, while Chen Sia didn’t hide her delighted smile.

Shortly after, Arga and Eiran also arrived.

Chelsea spotted Eiran and attached herself to her, chattering happily.

Arms crossed, Arga stated,

“In our school, there’s Dion and the foolish tiger. In Seirun, it’s Eiran. In Lumeran, it’s Celia Zerdinger, Duran Moira, Chen Sia, Chelsea LeWalyn, and Black Rabbit.”

After checking the headcount, Arga tilted her head.

“Who could the next instructor be?”

“Huh. It’ll probably be Instructor Jamua of Lumeran.”

The tiger beastman Borman said this confidently.

“That sculpted body! He’s a man amongst men!”

“Aren’t you the one who doesn’t like human bodies because you find them weak?”

“Seeing Li Jamua changed my mind! There’s definitely something I can learn from him! Isn’t that right? Students of Lumeran!”

“Senior Jamua. If she becomes the instructor, it won’t be pleasant.”

“We’ll probably have to endure an insane amount of physical training. I don’t want that, after just climbing the cliff.”

Chen Sia and Celia both shook their heads.

“It doesn’t matter who comes.”

With his arms crossed, Duran sneered.

“No, why am I even here in this noisy place meant for the Department of Knights?”

Chelsea revealed a slight hint of dissatisfaction.

She was the only pure wizard after all.

Just then.

Rustle-

The sound of someone stepping on grass reached their ears.

Arms perked up, Arga sniffed.

“This stepping sound! This smell!”

Arga’s eyes sparkled.

“It has to be her! Ar…”

“Could you mean Lord Ark, whom Ar respects?”

Eiran quickly corrected her.

“Lord Ark!”

With excitement, Arga dashed into the bushes.

“Kwaaaaaaaah?!”

A terrified scream spread moments later.

Arga, hanging on to Arion’s leg, was breathing heavily with wide eyes filled with both admiration and awe.

“Huff! Huff! I admire you! Huff! You’re so cool!”

“Get away! Go away!”

Seeing the possessed look in Arga’s eyes, Arion panicked.

Students who ran to check the scream now stared at the scene perplexed.

Leo pulled Arga away holding her tail.

However, Arga only gripped Arion’s legs with more strength.

“What should we do?”

Looking at Eiran who had tugged on Arga but failed to detach her, Leo sighed.

“Subdue her.”

“Subdue? Um, how… Won’t Ar hurt if I use force…?”

“Subdue her neatly without hurting her.”

“Without hurting her?”

While pondering, Eiran grabbed both the head and chin of Arga.

Crack-!

“Chhhhhk?”

And she twisted.

With a snapped neck, Arga collapsed unconscious, foaming at the mouth.

Leo handed the unconscious Arga over to Dion, who dragged her limp body away to the side.

Chelsea, peeking cautiously from behind Leo, said to the bewildered Eiran,

“Eiran-nee is terrifying.”

“She’s incredibly ruthless.”

“Hmph, I see. Despite her innocent look, she truly lives up to being number two in Seirun. No mercy in her moves.”

Duran curled his lips upwards.

“N-not like that… It was like something I saw written in a novel…”

“Wow! That’s incredible. Did you perhaps learn any assassination techniques?”

Clapping her hands, Chen Sia was full of admiration.

“I-I’ve never learned anything scary like that!”

Seeing the Lumeran students teasing her on purpose, Eiran protested with teary eyes.

At this moment, Leo helped Arion stand up and approached the students.

Arga also regained consciousness.

Though trembling as she looked at Arion, Arga managed to suppress her impulse to pounce again.

As the instructor stood before them, the students put on tense expressions.

Just a moment ago, they had exhibited some pitiful behavior, but the instructor in front of them was the special instructor that had been directly invited by the Dragon Lord.

‘Ark? I’ve never heard of that name.’

‘Why did Ar act strangely?’

‘Somehow, he doesn’t seem very charismatic.’

‘Why has Lady Arion appeared in this current era? Could it be… a miracle like Lady Luna and Lord Seirun?”

“Lord Arion! Lord Arion! Lord Arion! Lord Arion!”

As everyone observed Arion with curious looks in their eyes,

the tense-looking Ark cleared his throat.

“Ahem. Nice to meet you all. My name is Ark. Though brief, I’ll be your instructor.”

“Teacher Ark.”

At that moment, Borman raised his hand.

Seeing the tiger beastman much larger and more intimidating than himself signaling to speak, Arion felt slightly uneasy.

“Why do you call?”

“Are you a graduate of Azonia?”

“No.”

As Arion shook his head, Borman nodded.

‘Did Lord Azonia ever imagine a scenario where someone would ask if Arion was a graduate?’

Ar unknowingly chuckled, recalling the founder of the school and the successor to the Hero praised as the Great Warrior Azonia.

Next, Chelsea raised her hand.

Arion felt a bit relieved when he saw Chelsea, the smallest and youngest student raising her hand.

“Yes?”

“Instructor, I’m a pure wizard, so why am I here with the students who handle aura?”

“I’ve heard you’re a close-combat wizard who excels in the frontlines.”

“Yes.”

“I’ve heard a lot about you from Leo. They say you’re very agile.”

“Hehehe.”

Chelsea, scratching the back of her head, smiled happily.

“The skills I’m about to teach will certainly be helpful to you too.”

“Even though they’re aura skills?”

“Though true, they can also be adapted using mana.”

Arion had observed the breath techniques of the later generations and adapted them so that extrasensory perception could be used with mana as well as aura.

‘Of course, it’s not in the same league as the extrasensory perception used by Arion himself.’

Even stepping beyond the limits of highly honed senses can drastically change the dynamics of battle.

‘Indeed, the talent here is truly innate.’

With the development of aura studies, countless concepts that didn’t exist during the Era of Catastrophe have emerged.

The Hero’s Breath is the culmination of techniques born from the fusion of aura studies and Arion’s breath techniques.

Even if the techniques originated from him, it would be impossible for even Leo to understand them all at once.

Yet Arion not only understood the concepts of modern aura studies at a glance but also applied them to another of his techniques, extrasensory perception, creating an entirely new derived skill.

“What exactly is this skill?”

Borman asked with interest.

“It’s called extrasensory perception.”

“Extrasensory perception?”

At Arion’s statement, everyone looked perplexed.

“It’s a skill to refine the senses beyond their limits.”

“Isn’t that similar to just making the senses more sensitive with aura?”

The students looked baffled.

The concept of enhancing the senses to the extreme already existed.

Everyone learns this basic skill when they learn aura techniques.

With their puzzled reactions, Arion tilted his head.

“Hmm, well, it refines the senses much sharper than that. It’s hard to explain with words. Hmm… All right. Let’s do this.”

Arion looked at Leo.

“Leo, can you block my sight, smell, and hearing with magic?”

At this, Leo nodded.

As everyone looked on, perplexed by the sudden situation,

Leo used magic to block all of Arion’s senses except touch, which would be crucial in combat.

In this condition, Arion walked to the center of the clearing and said:

“Will all of you attack me once?”

“What?”

Except for the three who knew what Arion was about to do, everyone looked discomfited.

Even the most adept knights or warriors would find it risky to be attacked with their senses blocked.

“Don’t worry, attack.”

At Arion’s words, Borman replied,

“If you insist, I won’t decline the offer.”

“I said attack.”

“Ah, you can’t hear either.”

Scratching his head, Borman then lowered his stance.

Roar!

Without hesitation, he charged at Arion.

Swish!

The students gasped as Arion lightly jumped to evade Borman’s attack.

“Hmm. How about this?”

Borman started throwing rapid punches.

Arion evaded every one of Borman’s punches.

Whoosh!

With a fierce wind, Borman swung his arm.

Thud!

Arion lightly landed on top of it.

At that moment, Dion joined in.

Whoosh!

Dion’s sharp kick narrowly missed Arion.

Thud!

“Kuh?”

Arion grabbed the tip of Dion’s foot and pulled.

Kaboom!

Dion lost his balance and fell directly.

Arion looked at the other students with a smile.

“Are you just going to stand there?”

“Is this really someone whose vision, hearing, and smell have been blocked?”

Chelsea made a slightly disgusted expression.

At this moment, Ar, who had been standing still, bent her knees.

Thud!

Like a b*llet, she raced towards Arion at an incredible speed.

Hwaack!

Thud!

Kung-kung-kung-kung-kung! Cze-Cze-Cze!

Ar’s kick was blocked by Arion’s palm.

Cracks formed on the ground where Arion stood.

But the ground beneath Arion’s feet remained firm.

Ar’s eyes lit up.

‘Of course, Lord Arion!’

He successfully dispersed all the shock.

Arion grabbed Ar by the ankle and swung her upward.

Eiran also unsheathed her sword and attacked Arion without hesitation.

“Chelsea, attack.”

At Celia’s urging, Chelsea also engaged Arion, using magic to close the distance.

Arion evaded or blocked their attacks effortlessly, despite all of his senses being blocked.

‘Not only has vision, smell, and sound been lost, this person’s movements alone send shivers down my spine!’

Celia stared wide-eyed at Arion’s movements.

Each movement sent chills down her spine.

Minimum movement for maximum effect.

It’s the path that should be sought by anyone who walks the way of the sword.

In her life, Celia had only seen one person display skill that made her this uneasy – her cousin Leo.

‘This one is… better than Leo!’

Different from Leo.

Whereas one could sense an unfathomable depth in Leo, one could feel an immeasurable height in this instructor, Ark.

As Celia calmed her shocked mind,

Hwaack!

Arion trapped Celia’s blade between his index and middle fingers, effortlessly deflecting it.

Thud!

“Whoa! Whoa!”

“This guy! He’s a complete monster!”

Chelsea panted and screamed.

Even under attack by Ar, Eiran, Celia, Duran, Chen Sia, Dion, Borman, and Chelsea, standing in place, Arion had predicted and defended against their attacks, despite their use of auras and magic.

“How is it possible to read our movements while all senses are blocked?”

“Is this what extrasensory perception is?”

As Dion and Borman caught their breath,

Step… Step…

“Sort of troublesome.”

Arion muttered, scratching his cheek.

“You can’t do anything moderately, can you?”

At Arion’s words, Leo smiled and whispered,

“I’m curious to see how far this present me has come closer to you.”

Swish!

Leo drew his sword.

“Let’s do this respectfully.”