Book 1 Chapter 265

The turmoil of Dwenor's mana subsided.

Leo muttered, looking down at his hands.

'I'll have to check later.'

Dwenor's mana reacting meant something was definitely there.

'It wouldn't be strange if weapons made by Dwenor were sleeping in Demian.'

Leo glanced at the highest point of Demian Academy once before moving on.

Passing by the statues of great heroes, he entered Demian Academy.

Demian Academy was an old, massive castle, 5,000 years old.

It was a structure that held 5,000 years of dwarven history since the end of the era of calamity.

Architectural styles varied by era, region, and race.

And Demian Academy was characterized by its mixture of all architectural styles in the world, with continuous repairs as fashion changed.

Therefore, the building designs within the castle walls were varied.

"It's like coming to a building museum," Chloe said, her eyes sparkling.

"Isn't it too chaotic? It feels disharmonious," Chelsea tilted her head.

Indeed, it was.

While it was an advantage to see architectural styles from various eras and regions at once, the convergence of diverse styles felt strange.

"That very confusion can be called the aesthetic of this Demian," someone said then.

The students' gazes turned towards the voice.

A dwarf, stroking his bushy brown beard, was smiling.

"It's been a while, Depeto."

"Nice to see you, Professor Sedgen."

Depeto burst into laughter at Sedgen's greeting and welcomed him warmly.

"Everyone, say hello. This is Depeto Smith, the overall head of Demian's second year."

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Depeto!"

"Nice to meet you!"

"I'm glad to meet you too, young heroes-in-training from Lumern. It's an honor to see famous hero candidates like yourselves. Now, come inside. Our school's second-year students are waiting."

The Lumern students looked puzzled at Depeto's words.

'Second-year students are waiting?'

'Could it be that we're choosing Smiths right away?'

The Lumern students straightened their clothes with tense expressions.

Being evaluated in front of all the schools felt unpleasant.

But they couldn't show it.

"You seem nervous?" Chelsea giggled, looking at Cal.

"Of course. The exclusive contract with a Smith is very important for our school life," Cal said.

Chelsea covered her mouth and said playfully, "You're barely hanging on for the second semester, though?"

"Kyah~ You always hit where it hurts," Cal groaned, clutching his chest.

"Hmph. You're wasting your time. Cal Thomas."

A scoff came from behind.

Cal stuck out his tongue defiantly, and Chelsea's face contorted.

The one who interrupted their conversation was none other than Emio.

"Do you think the Demian students would even look at a subpar student like you?"

"That's why you should at least look good on the outside, right?" Cal said with a sly smile, and Emio scoffed.

"I don't understand Abad either. Why did he take a lowly creature like you into the dorm as the first choice?"

"Exactly. If I had gone to Leonor's or Chelsea's, I would have had less to deal with an insolent person like you," Cal sighed regretfully.

Normally, Emio would have flown into a rage at those words, but now he just gave a deep scoff.

"Abad probably brought you into the dorm because you're Chelsea Lewalin's best friend."

"Hmph! My brother doesn't pick people for that reason! You're just upset that you barely made it into Noble because you had nowhere else to go, aren't you?"

"You've said enough!"

"No! I haven't! Why!" Chelsea growled fiercely.

"Stop it," Leo intervened between the two.

"You're from different schools. Restrain yourselves from fighting. And Emio," Leo looked at Emio with cold eyes.

"Refrain from demeaning or dismissing your classmates."

"Hmph, are you taking your friend's side?"

"So what if I am? Do you want to duel?" Leo said with a cold smile, and Emio flinched.

Then, with a scowl, he left.

"Ugh! You damn son of a b*tch! I'll really catch you and tear you apart!" Chelsea stomped her feet angrily on the floor, and Cal chuckled.

"Whoa! Whoa! Didn't you say you only use pretty and polite words in front of Leo?"

"Oops!" Chelsea covered her mouth in surprise and her eyes widened.

Leo chuckled as he watched Chelsea, who was looking around nervously with her large eyes, patted her head, and walked towards Sedgen.

As the grade representative, he needed to be at the forefront of the students.

Chelsea chuckled happily, her mood seemingly improved by Leo's touch.

Cal shook his head, watching her, and straightened his tie.

'It's frustrating, but he's not wrong. Demian students probably won't even look at me, who's at the bottom of the rankings.'

Demian students would also want to choose students they could see for as long as possible.

Since Juen was taken as a mentee, he didn't have to worry about leaving school for the first semester.

'Juen would definitely advance to the second year, and even to the second grade, without a problem. But not me.'

If his final exam scores were poor, Cal's Lumern school life would end in the first semester of his second year.

'It's a miracle I survived to the second year.'

His initial goal was to survive until the first semester of his first year.

'There's no choice. I'm not Leo, Chloe, or Chelsea.'

The other students might have laughed if they heard him.

In fact, many students in the second year mocked Cal.

He was lucky to be friends with the top students of the second year.

Thanks to them, he barely survived to the second year.

He was a legendary lucky guy who even managed to snag Juen, the top prospect in the first-year magic department, as a mentee this time.

Even among the first-year students, there were those who mocked Cal.

He was praised as talented when he was young, but now he knew.

He was just an ordinary person, not much different from others.

'Being among true geniuses makes it even more keenly felt. Still, I've come this far.'

Cal took out a mirror from his pocket, fixed his hair, and smiled.

'Still, I'm curious to see how far I can go.'

Cal put the mirror back in his pocket and presented a neat appearance.

Meanwhile, the Lumern students arrived at the massive gate.

From inside, thumping sounds and boisterous noises could be heard.

Sedgen opened the door.

"We are the glorious descendants of Dwenor! Raise your glasses!"

"Raise them!"

"Let's enjoy this moment! Raise your glasses!"

"Raise them!"

Wahaha-!

A noisy party was in full swing inside.

In the vast hall, there were four long tables that could seat hundreds of people.

The tables were laden with food.

Among them, near a table with a flag embroidered with the anvil and hammer, symbols of Demian, dangling from the ceiling, dwarves who appeared to be Demian students were already enjoying the party boisterously.

They danced and sang on the tables, stomping their feet.

The excitement of a market festival filled the entire hall.

As befitting dwarves, alcohol seemed to be a must. The Demian students, holding beer mugs filled with beer, discovered the Lumern students entering the entrance with blank expressions and pointed at them, shouting,

"Look! Our Lumern friends are here!"

"Woohoo!"

"Welcome to Demian!"

The dwarves offered a hearty welcome.

"Wait, weren't they supposed to be evaluating us?"

"What is this…?"

While several Lumern students looked confused.

A few dwarves approached.

"Professors, please go ahead. We've prepared seats for you."

"Are you tired? Shall I take your coats?"

"We'll take your luggage."

Demian's uniform was exceptionally formal compared to Lumern, Seirun, and Azonia.

Black robes, a white shirt, a neat black tie, and black pants.

Finally, a black graduation cap was the accent.

"Isn't the graduation cap for graduation ceremonies?"

"That's their uniform at Demian."

"Wow, wouldn't that be suffocating?"

"Who knows. They say they rarely wear the uniform normally. Actually, look."

Many Demian students wore their uniforms haphazardly.

The graduation caps, worn on their heads, were piled up in a corner of the Demian section, rolling on the floor.

Then, a male student approached.

He was small, as befitting a dwarf.

However, he had no beard on his face.

His face was also very neat and had a cute impression.

"Oh my, isn't that dwarf quite handsome and cute?"

"Right? I thought dwarves were all bearded old men."

The female students squealed.

The male students, watching the Demian girls happily chugging beer, muttered,

"Isn't she quite cute?"

"It's like, there's a charm only dwarves have."

"Clank- clank-"

"Hey! It's not 'clank- clank-'"

The male students giggled.

"Nice to meet you! My name is Digness. I'm the top student of Demian's second year. You're Leo Flob, right?"

Digness extended his hand to Leo with a handsome smile.

"I'm Leo Flob. Nice to meet you too."

Leo smiled and shook his hand.

"I'll be counting on you for the next two weeks! Your seats are here!"

Digness laughed cheerfully and led the Lumern students to their seats.

It was a spot adorned with a flag symbolizing Lumern Academy, with the sword of the Knight Department, the staff of the Magic Department, and the amulet of the Summoning Department crossed.

"Hey! What do you mean, 'I'll be counting on you for two weeks'?"

"Are you talking about the Smith contract?"

"How does it proceed?"

The Lumern female students, seeming to have taken a liking to Digness, giggled and asked.

"You'll find out tomorrow. Today, we've prepared a welcoming banquet for you, so please enjoy yourselves."

Watching Digness leave with an appealing smile, Cal muttered.

"I thought all dwarves were burly macho men, but there's such a handsome guy too? But he seems like he'd break many girls' hearts."

Chelsea tilted her head at Cal's words.

"He seems like a nice person, what do you mean?"

"Yes, yes, little lady wouldn't understand."

"We're only a year apart, why do you keep treating me like a child?!"

Chelsea kicked Cal, but he quickly dodged.

Meanwhile, the door opened, and the Azonia students entered.

The Azonia students paused for a moment upon seeing Lumern.

Lumern did the same.

An awkward atmosphere lingered between the two schools, but it was brief.

The Demian students, with a friendly smile, guided them to their seats, just as they had done for Lumern.

Azonia, knowing that Demian had gathered the hero academies to evaluate the three hero academies, reacted similarly to Lumern.

However, they soon entered a festive mood.

"Nice to meet you, Professor Sedgen. I am Tiguan of Azonia."

"Nice to meet you, Instructor Tiguan. I am Sedgen."

Sedgen and Tiguan shook hands.

They were meeting for the first time today.

"I apologize again for the unfortunate incident this afternoon."

"Children can be like that. Our elegant students don't mind that at all." Sedgen said with a chuckle.

Tiguan laughed heartily at that.

"It's been a while, Ain."

"You're here, Berga?" Ain greeted Berga, an instructor from Azonia and his old friend.

"Ain, I have something to say to you regarding Leo Flob, Reina's son."

"Regarding Leo?" Ain looked puzzled at his friend who suddenly brought up the topic.

"What is it?"

"Send Leo Flob to our school as an exchange student."