Chapter 464

464.

After lunchtime was over.

The second-year students headed to the circular lecture hall for their special Hero Studies class. There, Leo was resting his chin on his hand.

‘What could be the reason for heroes’ tombs being robbed?’

He recalled the notice he had seen on the bulletin board during lunch.

‘The fact that it was posted on the town square request board means that Lumeran likely deemed it not a significant issue.’

The school itself had almost abandoned the request. Originally, it was a board mostly used by third-years and up who had insufficient merit points to urgently gather their required credits. Most of the cases were rather low-risk and low-importance.

‘It’s been neglected for quite a long time.’

If a request remained unresolved by Lumeran students dispatched to deal with it or became a long-term unresolved case, the school would investigate it. If they found anything special, the request’s grade would be quickly elevated. But there were times when it was neglected because no clues or breakthroughs could be found.

While occasionally solved by eccentric students who fancied mysteries, most students avoided time-consuming requests.

‘The tombs that were robbed belonged to heroes who were largely forgotten long ago.’

Heroes who had achieved great feats in their lifetimes are celebrated by later generations. Heroes are remembered among the people due to those who were blessed by them. But those who received the heroes’ blessings do not live forever.

As time passes, even heroes are forgotten.

Especially now, in an age where Hero Records have been destroyed.

‘The old heroes have been forgotten. Even I have been forgotten.’

Thus, the graves of such heroes were desecrated. It was an action seemingly without purpose.

‘A hero’s legacy isn’t in a tomb.’

Hero relics serve as keys to open Hero Records, so they are never carelessly left aside. Therefore, robbing a hero’s grave would yield no benefit.

‘One might consider it an act of madness, but.’

Leo knew of a certain group that resurrects the dead to use them as underlings.

‘Necromancers.’

The impure followers of the Demon King.

‘But to revive someone as powerful during their lifetime would be risky even for them. Let alone for them to resurrect and control a hero-level individual, which would likely be impossible for the current Demon King’s power.’

Perhaps in Erebus’s uncorrupted era, it might have been possible. But with the Demon King’s current strength, it was impossible to resurrect the defunct and make them servants of heroes.

‘If the tomb was desecrated by the Hel Kaiser, has he augmented his own capabilities? Or perhaps he’s learned to use the power of Pieces of Erebus?’

Leo’s expression grew even more serious.

In the meantime, the class began.

“Since when has the concept of a hero been a known concept?”

Mel wrote the question, “What is a hero?” on the board and turned around.

“Anyone want to answer?”

Some students raised their hands, and Mel pointed to one.

“Rosetti, please answer.”

Following Mel’s gesture, one of the second-year students stood up and answered.

“The concept of hero that we know began 5,000 years ago, after the Era of Catastrophe ended.”

“Hooho, that is correct in the broadest sense.”

Mel took a cookie from the cookie box next to the lecture table and handed it to the student.

“Oh.”

The student exclaimed as they ate the cookie, checking its contents.

“By the way, why does Professor Mel give random rewards for class participation?”

Iliana whispered curiously as Chloe responded.

“According to research, sometimes random rewards can increase efficiency.”

“I’ve read that too. Even with the best rewards, people get bored easily. But adding the ‘random’ element increases interest, according to that study.”

“That’s right.”

Chen Sia’s remark made Chloe nod.

“Where do you even find and read such books?”

Iliana looked amazed as Mel continued her questions.

“Can anyone answer more specifically? You, Eliza.”

“The concept of hero as we know it today came about 3,000 years ago, after the Age of the Cataclysm. Heroes who could inherit the powers of the ‘ancestral’ heroes through Hero Records.”

“Perfect!”

“Wow!”

“Model student!”

Amidst various exclamations, when Eliza shot a glare at jesting classmates, they quickly averted their gazes.

Mel smiled, seeing this.

“Indeed, 3,000 years ago, before the Age of the Cataclysm, it was an era where the existence of the Hero’s World had not been confirmed. Therefore, it was an era with much fewer heroes than the current era. After the cataclysm, the number of heroes began to explode, with names being added to the Hero Records. That’s also why we call the era after that the true Age of Heroes.”

“Wow.”

“Indeed, we know pretty little about the early Heroic Age before the Age of the Cataclysm.”

“The records of the heroes from that era don’t remain much, after all.”

As the students exclaimed, Mel clapped her hands and said,

“Now, let’s read from the textbook, hmm… Kal?”

“Yes, sir?!”

Kal jumped, alarmed, as he abruptly stood up from his seat.

His nervous voice echoed through the circular lecture hall.

“From ‘The Lives and Deaths of Heroes’, page 372, the section on ‘Past Heroes and Current Heroes,’ can you please read?”

“Yes, sir! So…,”

Clang! Thud!

“Kyek?!”

“Take it slowly.”

Kal, who tripped while awkwardly lifting the textbook, dropped his writing utensil.

Whispering sounds came from around the classroom.

Abad, sitting at the front of the Noble Dormitory, looked puzzled.

“Why is Kal acting like this?”

“Tch, probably had a nap or something.”

Duran snorted.

Eliza, sitting at the back, disdainfully muttered as she trimmed her nails,

“Not really like you, who’s always smug. Maybe you’re just nervous or something.”

Kal silently thought after hearing this.

‘Can you guys really not be nervous with the Dragon Lord right in front of you?’

During the past Erebus extermination event, Chelsea and Kal had accidentally learned that Mel was a Dragon Lord.

Of course, neither Chelsea nor Kal had any intention of spreading this fact.

Just before class today, both students were summoned by Mel.

“I know the two of you won’t spread rumors about my identity, but please still be careful.”

Mel smiled jokingly, winking.

Kal attempted to act as calm as ever,

“What if rumors spread accidentally?”

To which Mel pondered, placing a finger on her lips, and smiled brightly,

“Then I’ll have to scold you.”

Mel’s “scolding” was usually some light punishments, like making them raise their hands in her office.

But Kal, unaware of this, couldn’t help but feel the terror of being “scolded” by someone with the world’s strongest power—the Dragon Lord.

Mel realized Kal’s misunderstanding but decided it was amusing to leave it as is.

“Dummy.”

Chelsea covered her face, shaking her head.

Meanwhile, Kal took a deep breath, unfurled the textbook, and continued to read:

“Heroes after the Hero of Cataclysm can be seen as successors of the heroes of the cataclysm. So who were the successors of those who became heroes during the 2,000 years between the end of the Era of Catastrophe and the start of the Age of the Cataclysm?”

Kal’s voice echoed as he read.

“These early Heroic Age heroes ascended to the Hero Record purely through their own power. Today’s heroes use countless Hero skills. Nevertheless, I wouldn’t assert that the later era’s heroes necessarily surpass the early heroes.”

After finishing the passage, Kal looked at Mel, who nodded her head in approval. Kal then sighed in relief and sat back down.

“Talking about which era or which hero was stronger can be an interesting topic of discussion. But when this matter becomes an agenda at academic conferences, it often surpasses discussions and heated debates, escalating to duels in many cases.”

“Eh, do people punch each other during academic conferences?”

Students reacted with disbelief.

“Physical altercations would be the cute level. Sword fights happen quite often too.”

As students fell silent at the scholars’ unexpected aggression, Mel continued the class.

“This ‘Lives and Deaths of Heroes’ author argues that early heroes were equally powerful as later ones, but this is actually a non-mainstream claim in academic circles. What do you think, Kal?”

“I think the author is absolutely correct.”

Kal answered quickly, and Eliza, further back, continued to trim her nails as she said,

“While I don’t intend to belittle the early heroes, I find it hard to agree with this claim. It’s only natural that today’s heroes, who inherit the strength of countless predecessors, are stronger than the heroes of the past, I feel.”

“I agree.”

“Do we know any famous early heroes?”

Students began to debate.

“Then, let’s compare the two most famous heroes from the early and later eras.”

As students conversed, Mel wrote two names on the board.

<Fairy Knight, Berkiya.>

<Dusk Knight, Lumeran.>

The mention of the two most globally-renowned heroes left the students silent.

One of the three great elf figures and one hero from the Age of the Cataclysm.

Comparing these two was itself controversial.

“These two are both recognized as the strongest swordsmen in the history of the Heroic Age. Furthermore, Berkiya was a student of the Great Hero, and Lumeran inherited the Great Hero’s power. Surprisingly, they share more in common if we exclude their racial differences.”

Mel smiled faintly.

“So, which of these two is stronger?”

“Still, wouldn’t it be Lumeran, who fought against Erebus?”

“There aren’t many records remaining about Berkiya, right?”

All the students leaned towards choosing Berkiya.

Watching this, Chen Sia asked Leo,

“Lord Leo, what do you think?”

“Hmm.”

Leo paused for a moment, momentarily freed from pondering the Demon King, crossing his arms in thought.

Leo had met Seirun and Rodia.

‘Both possessed overwhelming power.’

Heroes from the Age of the Cataclysm didn’t fall to pieces of Erebus.

‘The shard they sealed was far stronger than the one that recently resurrected. They completely overcame that shard.’

The reason heroes of the cataclysm failed to completely defeat Erebus was due to his own immortality.

Erebus, endlessly resurrecting and burning.

Because at that time, there wasn’t a figure like the Hero of Beginning, who had the property of pure mana to break Erebus’s immortality.

As Leo reflected on Seirun and Rodia’s strength, the memory of his last disciple came to mind.

‘The strength of Seirun and Rodia was above the last Berkiya I remember. As both were heroes from the Age of the Cataclysm, Lumeran’s power would likely not differ much from theirs. But…’

After organizing his thoughts, Leo spoke.

“It’s hard to determine superiority.”