Book 1 Chapter 192

A giant knight, three meters tall, appeared before them.

The spirit of wind, clad in light silver-gray armor, was armed with an axe and shield befitting its size.

Its appearance was incredibly imposing.

However, both Leo and Lil knew.

That the spirit before them would move with incredible speed, contrary to its appearance.

Whoosh-

As soon as that thought occurred, the spirit charged towards Lil with tremendous speed.

Kwag-!

The swung axe was blocked by Leo's sword.

Whooong-!

A strong wind blew, scattering dust in all directions around them.

Leo, who blocked the attack, felt as if he would be blown away by the powerful wind pressure.

Thud-!

Leo's feet dug into the ground.

Using aura to forcefully withstand the wind, Leo smirked and put more power into his sword.

Fwoosh-!

Flames of aura erupted from Leo's sword.

Kuaaaaaa-!

The intensity of the flames rapidly increased with the swirling wind.

As Leo manipulated his aura, the flames engulfed the giant spirit of wind.

Gugugugung-!

The flames rapidly expanded, as if inflating.

Seeing that, Leo swung his sword.

The spirit of wind, as if tied by a rope, flew back and crashed into the ground.

"Excellent, Leo."

Lil, marveling at the sight, summoned a spirit.

Fwoosh-

What she summoned was a spirit of fire.

While Lil's specialty was known to be wind spirits, it wasn't as if she was only proficient in controlling wind spirits.

During the Age of Calamity, multi-elemental spirit masters were very rare.

However, in this era, where one inherits the power of past heroes through Hero Records, they have become more common.

Warden, who is currently considered the strongest spirit master among the first-years, freely wielded the four elemental spirits.

Gugugugugu-

The ground rose from below, changing shape, and trapped the spirit of wind.

A small hole was made in the center of the dome of earth.

Lil inserted the spirit of fire she summoned into that hole.

Kiing-

At that moment, Lil stirred her spiritual energy.

'Attribute Infusion.'

A spirit art that grants attributes the spirit does not possess.

Of course, attributes that were too far-fetched, like infusing a water spirit with fire attributes, could not be granted. However, even spirits of the same element had various derivative abilities for each individual.

Attribute Infusion was a spirit art that temporarily granted those abilities.

'The ability infused now is… explosion.'

The moment she thought that.

The earth prison was completely sealed.

And with that.

Kwang-!

With a great explosion, lumps of earth scattered in all directions.

Thud-thud-thud-

Amidst the rain of earth.

The powerful spirit of wind had vanished without a trace.

'I didn't even use that powerful a spirit, though.'

Leo was impressed.

The fire and earth spirits Lil used were, at best, intermediate level.

Even considering the synergistic effects through spirit coordination, it was astonishing to defeat a high-level spirit like the spirit of wind so easily.

"That was amazing."

"Fire needs air to burn."

Lil said with a nonchalant expression.

"Leo's flames were burning, so I just sealed the space to make it explode."

The spirit of wind, which suddenly lost the air it needed to maintain its form, was instantly reverse summoned.

'Instantaneous judgment, combat sense, and the ability to control spirits. I see why she's Elena's favored junior.'

While Leo was impressed.

Lil crossed her arms.

"Moreover, it's infuriating! Attacking us from hiding!"

Lil, with a somewhat angry expression, looked around.

"Furthermore, the opponent hasn't let go of their killing intent."

Lil spoke in a resolute voice, not retracting her spiritual energy.

She was prepared to summon a hero anytime, anywhere.

'Elci.'

[Did you call, Leo.]

'There's a great spirit dominating this area.'

[I see.]

'How strong is a great spirit's power in its domain?'

[Well, I've never created a domain of my own.]

Great spirits have one common authority.

That is domination.

The ability to bring lower spirits under their command.

Elci also possessed the authority of domination.

However, she had never taken any spirits under her command.

Being a young spirit born during the Age of Calamity, she had no time to build a faction or create a domain.

'So you don't know how strong it is. Then why is it hostile towards us?'

Gugugugung-!

At that moment, the ground began to shake.

This time, earth spirits began to be summoned.

"Ugh? A spirit master who can continuously summon such powerful spirits?"

Lil was startled.

"I think it's better to retreat for now."

At that, Lil nodded.

"I can't help it."

Leo and Lil, making a swift decision, left the Zerodia Castle Ruins.

A moment later.

After positioning themselves a considerable distance from the castle, there was no longer any sign of the spirits pursuing them.

"I received a mission to escort a VIP, but to be obstructed like this is quite perplexing."

Lil's words made Leo ponder.

'Could that VIP be a great spirit?'

If so, it wouldn't be strange.

Considering Lumern's influence, it was possible to invite a great spirit to the academy.

'But why are they attacking us?'

He couldn't figure out the reason.

Seeing the killing intent, it was genuine.

'However, for a great spirit, the attack is weak.'

It felt as if they were testing Leo and Lil's capabilities.

'I can't understand their intentions.'

Leo narrowed his eyes, looking at the distant castle walls of Zerodia, and drew his sword.

Whoosh- clang!

A sharp metallic sound echoed.

Leo narrowed his eyes, seeing a man who had suddenly appeared and swung a scimitar.

"Hoho."

While the man uttered an exclamation of surprise.

Kwag-!

A giant war hammer struck the man's torso.

Whoosh-!

The man quickly jumped and dodged the attack.

Whooong-!

Leo stared in astonishment at the war hammer that had brushed past his nose.

He had grasped the distance and trajectory and knew it wouldn't hit, but it was incredible control.

Even though she wasn't from the Knight Department, Lil's ability to control such a heavy hammer with pure strength was astonishing.

"Lil-senpai, you're not a spirit knight, are you?"

"No. I can't wield aura."

"Then why is swinging that hammer so extraordinary?"

"My family are soldiers. I haven't neglected combat training since I was young."

Seeing that, Leo understood why Elena and Hark called her a monster girl.

With the combination of this battle hammer and spirit arts, Lil could be effective on the front lines.

'She's an all-rounder.'

Front line, back line, support.

She was a spirit master who could fill all party roles.

Thump-!

Lil struck the ground with the head of her hammer and glared at the attacking man.

"Who are you? Are you the spirit master who attacked us?"

"Kyah~ Fierce. So fierce. Kids these days are on a high level."

The man shook his head, retracting his scimitar.

Then he took off his hat and smiled.

"Who am I? Does seeing this face answer your question?"

Leo, staring blankly at the man smiling confidently, asked.

"Who are you?"

At that, the man staggered and shouted.

"Hey! Why don't you know my face! I'm famous and appear in the newspapers often!"

"I only read world news."

"You! The 2nd-year class representative! You know my face, right?!"

At that question, Lil's eyes widened, and then she wore an apologetic expression.

"I'm sorry. I only read the world news section as well."

"You guys! You're hero candidates! As hero candidates, shouldn't you know the faces of recent active seniors? Or what? Is it because you're class representatives, so there's no need to know? Is it youth? The youth that believes you can surpass seniors who've moved ahead? Still, it's arrogance! You should at least know who to surpass!"

The man, beating his chest as if frustrated, shouted.

"My name is Jin Caron!"

"Huh! Knight of Undine?!"

Lil's expression was one of surprise.

Undine.

The current name of the great spirit of water, the spirit of the deep sea.

It is considered the most powerful spirit among the currently existing great spirits, and the vast ocean is its domain.

It was born 1000 years ago.

However, it is also a spirit that has not formed a contract with anyone during that time.

Yet, there was a hero who bestowed a blessing upon it, and that was Jin Caron.

Since Jin was a spirit knight chosen by the noble great spirit, people called him the Knight of Undine.

And he was a graduate of Lumern, who had his name inscribed in the Hero Records.

"It is an honor to meet you, senpai! I am Lil Luce, a second-year student at Lumern. It is an honor to meet a great hero whose name is inscribed in the Hero Records."

In a sense, as a senpai from the same department, Lil hastily bowed respectfully.

"Hmm! Yes. Yes!"

Jin nodded, folding his arms with satisfaction.

"Now, about the first-year student who became student council president, an unprecedented all-rounder. How about it? You must have heard of my fame as an alumnus, right?"

"Can I be honest?"

"Of course. Be honest and show me respect like this child."

"I've never heard of you before."

Seeing Leo scratching his cheek, Jin's face stiffened.

"I'm not very familiar with the heroes of this era."

"Ah, even if you don't know about me, Ain must have said something about me, right? Among my batch, I'm the only one whose name is in the Hero Records!"

Jin and Ain were batchmates.

"Never."

Leo had never seen Ain talk about his batchmates.

Seeing Leo's words, Jin's face contorted, and then he nodded.

"Well, he was the one evaluated as the most likely to become a hero among our batch. Perhaps he's jealous because I became a hero first."

Seeing Jin laugh with a "Hmph-", Leo thought of Ain.

'…Rather, given Ain-sensei's personality, it's more likely he doesn't consider him at all.'

He knew the man before him was a formidable expert.

However, he also seemed to have a very casual personality.

'Did he judge that we have nothing to learn from him?'

Leo cast a slightly sympathetic glance at Jin.

Jin, who had been puffed up with pride, folded his arms.

"Anyway, why did you two go there?"

"We received a mission."

"A mission for first and second-years. That's impressive. What kind of mission?"

"That cannot be disclosed."

Lil said, not lowering her guard.

Even though he revealed his identity, his trustworthiness was not guaranteed.

From Lil's perspective, Jin was still a suspicious individual.

'My, what cautious juniors.'

Jin muttered inwardly and said.

"Judging by the mission, it's related to the Zerodia Castle Ruins, right? Then I recommend you give up."

"Why is that?"

"A great spirit is currently residing in those ruins."

At that, Lil's expression turned surprised.

Jin glanced at Leo.

'Oho? Look at that? He noticed?'

Jin said with a meaningful expression.

'Well, it's not for nothing that he became the first-year student council president. He's also a contractor of the Phoenix.'

Jin looked at Leo with sharp eyes and said.

"The spirit residing there is the Spirit of the Abyss."

At that, Lil flinched.

The Spirit of the Abyss.

The great spirit of darkness of this era.

And it is also a spirit, along with Undine, that has not taken a single contractor.

"As you both know, Undine has rather 'picky' tastes, which is why she has no contractors, but the Spirit of the Abyss is a bit different."

Jin clicked his tongue.

"That fellow dislikes people."