Chapter 176
Combat studies class.
Leo was lost in thought during the lecture.
Lysinas had written that she had loved him.
‘She never showed me that kind of feeling.’
The Wise King, Lysinas.
The leader of the force out to eradicate Erebos with the noble goal of saving the world.
A grand black dragon who united the Great Heroes and offered hope to the despaired.
She always maintained a flawless facade in front of others.
Of course, not in front of her friends.
Especially after a great battle, she would often display a relaxed demeanor at banquets.
During those times, she would drink and talk about the future after the disasters had ended.
‘But even then, you never showed that you liked me. So why are you cursing me for not recognizing it?’
Leo frowned as he recalled those old days.
That day was another banquet day.
They celebrated their victory in the square of Godthron.
Crowds of people congratulated the heroes.
Not only the five Great Heroes were present.
Other heroes from that era joined in as well.
Humans played music.
Elves danced joyfully to the melody.
Dwarves happily poured drinks.
Beastmen prepared food.
Dragons told tales of heroism to the children.
Swarms of the five races gathered and reveled in the peace they had achieved.
In those moments, everyone forgot it was the Age of Despair.
Kyle watched the hopeful scene from afar.
Whenever he was alone, there were always two people who spoke to him first.
That day, the one who came to him was Lysinas, who had drunk more than usual.
Lysinas approached with a flushed face and sat next to Kyle as if it were second nature.
“Kyle.”
“What is it?”
“What will you do after you defeat Erebos?”
Lysinas’ goal was to save the world and restore its light.
Luna wished to make the world bloom with flowers.
Dweno sought to spread beauty across the land.
Arron aimed to create a world where children would not cry.
Unlike them, Kyle had no grand ambitions.
“I’ll just wander aimlessly. I have nowhere to go.”
At those words, Lysinas turned to face Kyle.
“Then…”
Lysinas smiled shyly.
“Would you like to live in the Dragon Realm with me?”
“The Dragon Realm? No, it seems too stuffy.”
“Then should I travel the world with you?”
“That would be nice too. But wouldn’t it be difficult for you?”
“Why?”
“Don’t you need to rebuild the world? Besides…”
“Besides?”
“I think I’d end up annoying you to death if I stayed with you. So I’ll just…”
Crack-!
Lysinas elbowed Kyle in the temple.
“What? What the hell? Lysinas, are you drunk right now?”
Luna, who had come to dance with Kyle, looked surprised at the scene.
“Drunk?”
“Yeah. Kyle said you become vicious when you drink. I didn’t believe it when he said it, but seeing you know, I guess it’s true?”
“It’s like I said, isn’t it?”
“Yeah.”
Luna nodded naturally at Kyle’s words as he rubbed his temples and grimaced.
Lysinas smiled brightly.
“Kyle.”
“Huh?”
Wham-!
Immediately, Lysinas delivered a dropkick to Kyle’s chin.
“Just die, you damned bastard!”
The sight of the black dragon growling and trampling Kyle was the epitome of ferocity.
Luna, observing, crossed her arms and nodded in agreement.
“Vicious. Vicious!”
Lysinas then grabbed Luna’s hair.
Before anyone could react, Lysinas and Luna were grappling, tugging at each other’s hair.
Arron sipped his drink, watching the commotion.
“Why are they fighting again?”
“Leave them be. They’re all insensitive fools, so what can we do?”
“And over there?”
“Oh, that makes four insensitive fools.”
Tsk tsk-
Kyle approached Dweno, who was clicking his tongue.
“Oh, really, what did I do wrong?”
“In my opinion, you deserve to be hit.”
“What did I do wrong?”
Dweno regarded Kyle with genuine pity.
* * *
Reaper Scans
[Translator – Aine]
[Proofreader – Ash]
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* * *
“…”
Leo made a peculiar expression as he recalled the incident.
In retrospect, there had been quite a few such moments.
Each time, Dweno had looked at Leo with lukewarm eyes, as if he were truly pitiful.
‘No. It’s unfair. If that was always the case, why didn’t she just tell me herself?’
“Leo.”
“Yes, Professor Sedgen.”
“Do you not like my combat studies class?”
Sedgen’s eyes fluttered.
Sedgen was passionately teaching a combat studies class at the training grounds.
All ten classes were gathered for a joint session.
The professor for this joint class was none other than Sedgen.
As the midterm exam approached, all the students were focused on the lesson, but Leo’s mind was elsewhere.
“I was listening intently.”
“Huh? Then, explain the party composition and role group settings that I just covered for a five-person party.”
“The composition varies depending on the class of the leader. In my case, since I’m an all-class, I can handle any role group. So…”
Leo explained the content effortlessly.
After hearing this, Professor Sedgen took out a handkerchief and covered his mouth for a moment.
“Ugh-! I hate you! But you’re so elegant! That’s why I hate you even more!”
“Professor, it seems like you’ve expressed perfectly what you really wanted to say.”
“Uggggggh-!!”
Among the first-year students, Leo was the only one to act so perfectly in front of the professors.
He didn’t even flinch before Harrid, so Leo’s behavior was unusual for the first-year students.
After this brief interlude, the class continued.
“Let’s end the theoretical explanation here. Since today is a joint class, we’ll play some Bastera.”
Bastera, a traditional sport of combat studies.
Though teams had been formed within classes before, they had never mixed classes, making everyone’s eyes sparkle with excitement.
“A team of people from different classes? That would be fun, wouldn’t it?”
“Time to assemble my dream team!”
The students began to move around excitedly.
The most popular choices, of course, were the top students.
Leo was especially in demand.
“Leo! Let’s form a team!”
“No! Join my team!”
“You guys already have a solid front line. So you don’t need Leo, right?”
“Don’t be ridiculous! Leo is an all-class! He can play any position.”
Leo sighed lightly as he watched the students argue.
Thump–thump–
Chelsea tilted her head as she bounced the Bastera ball on the floor.
“Leo, you’ve been acting a bit strange these past few days.”
“What’s wrong, Leo?”
“Surprise!”
Chelsea jumped as Chen Xia suddenly popped her face out.
The two smallest girls in the first year class were surprisingly noticeable together.
“Chen Xia, what brings you here?”
Chen Xia smiled at Carr’s question.
“I was thinking of trying to form a team with Leo. By the way, hasn’t Leo been acting strange these past few days?”
“He’s been a bit absent-minded.”
“I agree. The class president has always been flawless, but has he started to show some weaknesses lately?”
Tide crossed his arms and approached, with Eliana also displaying curiosity.
Celia and Chloe, who were approaching to form a team with Leo, overheard and joined the conversation.
“I’ve noticed it too. He’s been getting criticized during class.”
Celia looked at Leo with a displeased expression.
“I wonder if he’s doing alright?”
Chloe wore a slightly concerned look.
“I don’t know! Anyway, now’s our chance! Chelsea! Give me the ball!”
Eliana’s expression turned playful.
“What are you doing?”
“If not now, when else would I be able to clock the class president’s head with a ball?”
Eliana giggled and slowly approached Leo.
Then she threw the ball at the back of Leo’s head while he was absentmindedly being asked to join another team.
Thud-!
Leo caught the ball with one hand without even glancing at Eliana.
Without looking away, he volleyed the ball right back into Eliana’s face.
“Huh?!”
“That idiot.”
“No matter how absentminded I am right now, I wouldn’t fall for something like that.”
Eliana, her face red from the impact, returned with a mix of embarrassment and annoyance.
Carr and Tide looked at her with pity.
“Chelsea! They’re calling me an idiot!”
Eliana clung to Chelsea with a tearful expression.
“But, you are being an idiot, aren’t you?”
“You’re so mean!”
Eliana looked genuinely hurt.
“The members of Class 5 are always so entertaining.”
Chen Xia smiled brightly and stroked her chin.
“But really, I wonder what’s going on with him?”
“Well, it’s obvious, since he’s a boy our age.”
Carr crossed his arms and nodded emphatically.
“Mm-hm.”
“I don’t want to think of Leo and Carr as being on the same page, but… what do you think?”
“It’s gotta be a girl.”
Chelsea, Chloe, and Chen Xia exchanged puzzled glances.
Celia crossed her arms.
“I don’t think he’d lose his mind over something like that.”
“How could a woman understand the feelings of a teenage boy?”
“It’s oddly tempting to hit him right now.”
Celia frowned as she watched Carr’s arrogance.
“Don’t you think he’d be better off with someone older? He’s quite mature. He’s been hanging out with Elena a lot recently.”
Carr nodded in agreement as Tide chimed in.
“I agree. Older women just make sense…”
Carr shook his head with genuine sympathy for Chelsea.
“You’re just a child, you have no hope… cough!”
Chelsea responded with a swift kick to Carr’s side.
It was amidst this particularly noisy area of the training grounds.
“For your information.”
Professor Sedgen spoke up.
“Today is the combat studies midterm practical exam.”
In an instant, the entire first-year class froze, their expressions turning as cold as ice.
“Huh?”
“Wait a minute! Professor! A practical exam all of a sudden!”
All the first-year students stared in bewilderment at the unexpected announcement.
It wouldn’t have been unusual to have a practical exam during the exam period.
However, the suddenness of this situation, occurring without prior notice, left the students bewildered.
Sedgen, usually caring and kind, now wore a smirk as he observed the flustered students.
“You are first-year students at Lumene.”
Sedgen crossed his arms.
“If you aspire to be heroes, shouldn’t you be prepared for unexpected situations at any time?”
The first-years swallowed nervously as they faced Sedgen, whose presence was now imposing and formidable.
Walden, with his characteristic expressionless demeanor, inquired, “So, are our opponents the entire freshman class?”
“Wow, Walden. You’re truly composed.”
Sedgen smiled with satisfaction at Walden’s calm analysis of the situation.
“Another announcement: this midterm exam will be ‘relatively evaluated’ for everything except the written portion.”
Sedgen crossed his arms again.
“It’s different from the absolute evaluations from the first semester. Do you know why?”
As the students hesitated, Celia raised her hand.
“Celia.”
“Isn’t it because the less capable students have already dropped out?”
“An elegant answer.”
Sedgen nodded approvingly.
“I sympathize with the students who were advised to drop out in the first semester… The first semester was about ‘filtering out’ potential heroes. You must have noticed the difference between now and then. Only those with exceptional potential remain among our newest class of students.”
The students exchanged glances and nodded in agreement.
“If the first semester focused on selecting students with growth potential, the second semester evaluates the value of that potential.”
“How is potential evaluated?”
Duran asked that question.
Sedgen’s lips curled into a smile.
“Your potential is best revealed when you push beyond your limits.”
The students tensed at his words.
“If you’re a Lumene student… if you dream of becoming a hero, you must be capable of ‘pushing past your limits.’”
When the school motto surfaced among professors, it usually signified a significant challenge ahead.
“Your opponents in these games of Bastera are not fellow first-year students.”
“Then who?”
Whistle-!
Sedgen blew his whistle lightly.
A new figure appeared on the training grounds alongside him.
The faces of the first-years hardened upon seeing them.
“Haha, seriously.”
“No way.”
“Ah, no way. Just observing, right?”
The students laughed awkwardly, trying to deny the reality.
Sedgen coldly confronted them with the truth.
“Your opponents are none other than the ‘fifth-years.’”
The first-years were shocked by the announcement.
Rhys, leading the fifth-years, greeted his juniors with a bright smile.
“Let’s have a good game.”
