Chapter 96

【96】95.

Nine first-year students quickly gathered around Leo.

‘Three from the Department of Knights, two from the Department of Summoning, and four from the Department of Magic… quite a number, isn’t it?’

“Jebin!”

“Nivea! Great timing! What luck! Joining this early, huh!”

Jebin brightened upon seeing Nivea, a female student from the Department of Magic who was part of his clique.

“Well, I haven’t offended anyone in particular, have I?”

Leo’s comment made Nivea scoff.

“Hmph! Don’t make me laugh! Do you have any idea how much other students are suffering because of you?”

“Because of me? What harm have I caused?”

“All your favoritism with the professors! Because of your showing off, the Magic Class lessons have only become harder! You don’t know how to consider others!”

“That’s right! Thanks to you always acting superior, we’ve been receiving nothing but difficult assignments in the Summoning Class every day!”

“Our Knight Class is forcing us to endure exhausting trainings daily too!”

As the barrage of complaints fell on Leo, he let out a hollow laugh.

“If you’re unhappy, you should appeal to the professors.”

At his words, the students flinched.

“And do you really think that the progress of the lessons changes because of just one person? Have you never considered that the real issue might be your inability to keep up with the lessons?”

“What?”

Leo’s words infuriated Nivea.

“I was always at the top of my academy before enrolling in Lumeran! It’s absurd to suggest that I cannot keep up with the lessons!”

“It makes sense that you can’t keep up. Instead of blaming others for your own shortcomings, don’t you find it embarrassing?”

“Grr! Shut up! Chain Lightning!”

Zzzzap-!

A chain of electric currents shot out from the tip of her wand, heading straight for Leo.

As the electrical chain approached, Leo casually swung his hand and cast a counter-magic.

Whish! Crack! Bap Bap Bap!

The magic Leo deflected exploded, sending fierce sparks flying everywhere.

“How… how did you…?”

“Your spell is powerful, but its structure is overly simplistic. That’s why it’s easily dispelled. Didn’t we learn this in the first class?”

Leo smirked, raising the corner of his lips.

“Stop being too dependent on your activation formulas.”

“Grr! Stop showing off, you country bumpkin from the backwater kingdom!”

Annoyed, Nivea began recklessly firing off random spells.

“Attack him, everyone! He may be a class representative, but he’s still one of us first-year students! With these numbers, there’s no way he can handle it!”

“One of us first-years?”

At Jebin’s shout, Leo gave a laugh.

“Indeed, if you were real first-year students from Lumeran, I might have struggled a bit. But I see no reason to lose to the likes of you who blame others for your own flaws.”

“What did you say!”

“You…!”

With united effort, the Magic students fired their spells at Leo, while the Knights approached with weapons to press on him from various angles. The Summoning students summoned spirits.

whoosh-!

Leo created a flame in his hand.

“Fire Will.”

Bam Bam Bam-!

A towering wall of flames erupted, neutralizing the incoming spells.

The Magic students who had been pressing Leo fell back in panic.

“No way! Our magic… just like that…?”

“Don’t lose your nerve! Obviously, powerful magic like that drains a lot of mana! He’s just desperate to keep up!”

The knight student trying to rally the others gripped his spear tightly and made a beeline for Leo with quick steps.

Swish-!

A lightning-fast thrust attack.

Despite the attack’s impressive speed, Leo caught the spear shaft with ease.

thwack-!

“Ugh!”

Realizing his attack had been blocked, the student attempted to withdraw the spear.

But it wouldn’t budge.

In fact, the moment Leo exerted force, the knight was dragged forward like a broken marionette.

‘What kind of strength is this!’

What none of them knew was that purely in terms of physical strength, Leo was unmatched in the Department of Knights.

whoosh-!

A surge of aura rippled around Leo’s unoccupied right hand.

Leo swung his fist toward the student’s face being pulled toward him.

“Egah!”

Bam!

The student barely managed to protect himself from Leo’s attack with an Aura Armor.

Still, the student could feel his head ringing.

boom!

“Oof!”

Leo followed up with a kick to the student’s stomach.

whoosh! Crash!

“Urgh!”

The male student flew and collided with a tree, collapsing helplessly to the ground.

“Openings everywhere!”

A bulky male student rushed Leo from behind.

The student, wielding an enormous two-handed sword, grinned confidently.

“You’re out! Leo Flove!”

thwack!

Without hesitation, Leo extended his hand and caught the massive blade of the two-handed sword.

Startled to see his attack blocked, the student tried to retrieve his weapon.

But the sword, gripped by Leo, wouldn’t budge at all.

Crush crack-!

When Leo applied his strength, cracks started appearing along the blade.

“No way! This is an Aura-infused sword!”

“Aura is not invincible, you know.”

Graaak! Crack!

“…!”

The shattered fragments of the two-handed sword scattered everywhere.

“If only you’d planned for backup strategies.”

bam!

“Aah!”

Without pause, Leo kicked the student’s side.

BAM!

“Ugh!”

The student was sent flying haplessly, ending up sprawled helplessly on the ground.

A bright light flashed from the two knight students who moved uncertainly before vanishing, signaling their disqualification in the interdepartmental competition.

gurgle gurgle!

Suddenly, the ground moved like a living thing and wrapped tightly around Leo’s body like a snake. In sync, droplets formed around his face, quickly encasing his head in a large sphere of water.

“Good job!”

“Let’s suffocate him and eliminate him!”

The two summoning students who had summoned the spirits cheered triumphantly.

But the dirt holding onto Leo turned to clumps and dispersed, and the water droplet around his head burst ineffectively.

“What’s this? If you had established temporary contracts with the local spirits, shouldn’t you have anticipated the possibility of a more skilled Spirit Master taking control?”

Wiping the water off his head, Leo spoke calmly.

“So… what’s next?”

Unconsciously, they began stepping backward.

“Is the difference really this great?”

“Is there nothing?”

roar-!

Leo summoned his aura.

“Then you’re prepared to accept the consequences, are you?”

“W-Wait! Leo! Just hold on!”

Jebin shouted frantically, his face pale as a ghost.

“We messed up! If we’re disqualified, we’ll get expelled! Please, give us one more chance!”

“Y-Yeah! Please forgive us!”

“I… I didn’t even want to fight you, Leo! It was them egging me on!”

“Don’t make me laugh! You were the most enthusiastic participant!”

With their fighting spirit broken, the group dissolved rapidly.

“Leo! You don’t need to disqualify all of us, do you? So…”

Nivea stammered nervously.

Addressing her, Leo said,

“True, setting you aside doesn’t give me any particular advantage, nor are you a real threat.”

The students’ faces lit up with hope.

“Then!”

“But you know…”

Leo’s expression turned icy.

“Would you have shown mercy to me if you were in the same situation?”

The students’ faces darkened with despair.

swish-!

“As potentially your last fight here at Lumeran, I’d like to see you fight like true Lumeran students.”

“Don’t make me laugh! I’m staying at Lumeran!”

Jebin spat obscenities and used a Wing Magic to quickly flee the battlefield.

“d*mn coward!”

“cr*p! They’re running!”

Watching his classmates scatter in all directions, Leo sighed.

Final Practical Exams do not guarantee higher grading just because someone survives.

“Even if you know you’ll lose, a hero sometimes needs to fight anyway.”

These students had effectively tossed away their last chance.

“Dismissing the illusion that you can escape would be for the best.”

Leo wore a chilling smile.

*

Most of the students dropped into Negran during the onset of the interdepartmental competition were thrown into panic.

“Monsters? Hey! Don’t drive them this way!”

“Dear coursemates! Let’s take down those monsters together! We agreed to team up!”

“Hey! That was during a regular interdepartmental match! Now, it’s an exam… seriously, bugger off!”

Some students were dodging monsters while charging recklessly at their fellow students.

“Oh no! Now a curse is activating here… Urgh!”

“Sensory confusion curse… Ugh! Gah… seasick!”

Some were struck by curses scattered throughout Negran.

“Come on!”

“That’s what I wanted! Let’s fight!”

Students fiercely brawled each other.

“Please! We’re in the same class! Please join our party!”

“No! What, we’re from different departments! Get off me!”

Students from the same class were pleading with each other, while others fought over trivialities.

With the added element of the Final Practical Exam, the Interdepartmental Competition had turned into chaos.

The pressure of the final exam was enough to upend all established plans.

Looking on through a projection spell transmitted from Lumeran, Arthian, the homeroom teacher of Class 8, frowned deeply.

“Isn’t this too cruel for the students?”

“Too lenient thinking, Professor Arthian.”

Startled, Arthian flinched hearing Halind’s reply.

“While this year’s Interdepartmental Competition may appear to resemble individual combat, strictly speaking, it was an opportunity for students to team up and collaborate.”

“Diplomacy and politics are also crucial qualities for heroes. Preparations involving forming alliances beforehand could be considered part of readiness.”

Following up, Professor Sedgen gazed at the students in the projection.

“But the world rarely goes according to plan. Principal must’ve intended that precisely. This could even be perceived as a test of response to unexpected situations in the competition.”

“Still, it’s too harsh. Shouldn’t we guide the students with more stability?”

Arthian, who came from outside Lumeran and joined as a new teacher, struggled to adapt to Lumeran’s educational policy that continuously imposed trials on students.

“In normal schools, that might be the way. However, Professor Arthian, this is Lumeran.”

“Yes?”

“The students we train are Hero Candidates. And a hero refers to someone who overcomes tribulations.”

Professor Sedgen’s expression became solemn.

“Those who can’t even overcome such challenges may not only fail to become heroes but could also lose their lives during their Lumeran studies.”

After saying that, he sighed deeply.

“To prevent that, we must incessantly test the students’ potential.”

At Sedgen’s words, having witnessed countless student deaths over the years, all the teachers fell silent.

“Professors.”

“What is it, Secretary Elena?”

Elena, the principal’s secretary, approached the gathered first-year professors.

“We have to borrow the assistant professors urgently. Will it be okay to summon them?”

“What sudden task for the assistant professors?”

In response to Halind’s question, Secretary Elena smiled faintly.

“Because of this year’s quarantine order, we need more manpower.”

“Understood. Assistant professors, assist with the school task.”

As Sedgen’s consent was given, the assistant professors departed with Elena toward the training ground.

“Is something wrong, Halind?”

“Nothing, Sedgen.”

When Sedgen, who was intently looking at Elena, asked, Halind simply shook his head.

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