Book 1 Chapter 435
435.
“Just a little more!”
Ar shouted from the edge of the cliff.
Thump-!
Ar, who barely managed to get his hands on the edge of the cliff, whined and crawled upwards.
His aura was sealed, and an immense weight was added to his body.
That's why he had to squeeze out all his strength to climb the dizzying cliff.
“Pant- pant-”
Ar, who had climbed onto the cliff and was lying spread-eagle, looked up at the sky, gasping for breath.
“You worked hard.”
Ar turned his head at the voice from beside him.
Leo was sitting on a rock, watching Ar.
“You cleared it faster than I expected?”
“Hehe. Don't underestimate me, Black Rabb… Ugh?!”
Ar covered his mouth, perhaps feeling nauseous from extreme physical exertion.
Leo spoke, watching Ar narrowly avoid a catastrophe.
“It seems Lunia and Driana also just cleared it.”
“Hmph, that means I’m first, right?”
Ar puffed out his chest.
“Well, yours was an individual challenge, but Lunia and Driana's was a kind of teamwork.”
“What?!”
At Leo's words, a competitive fire ignited in Ar's eyes.
Ar's goal was to follow in the Hero's footsteps and become a great hero.
In that sense, Lunia and Driana were rivals with the same goal.
Of course, the paths they followed and their destinations were different.
But he had strong competitive feelings towards Lunia and Driana, who aspired to be the successors of Luna and Dweno, Arion’s companions.
It was then that Ar, who had shot up from his spot, was about to look down at the cliff.
Thump-!
Two hands simultaneously gripped the edge of the cliff.
Celia and Duran climbed onto the cliff, growling at each other.
Eiran followed behind them, climbing up together.
All three were gasping for breath.
“Everyone worked hard.”
As Leo smiled and said this, watching them, Duran snorted and stood up, clutching his trembling legs.
“You're quite kind for someone waiting up here, aren't you?”
'Truly, when you watch him, he's the embodiment of competitive spirit and tenacity.'
Leo said, looking up at the intensely shining sun.
“What do you want to do? The instructors are waiting for us. Do you want to rest first?”
“Then, after a short rest…!”
Just as Eiran was about to answer with a bright smile.
“Why ask the obvious! We have to go now!”
Ar, with his arms crossed, snorted.
Celia also stood up, brushing back her sweat-soaked hair, and said,
“Let's go, Leo.”
“What more is there to ask, Leo Flove.”
Duran also wore an expression that showed he had no time to wait.
At the reactions of his teammates, Eiran's ears drooped.
“We'll leave now.”
Nodding at his words, Leo took out a magic scroll from his pocket and tore it.
With that, a warp portal was created.
As Leo entered first, the others followed.
“Oh! It’s big brother Leo!”
Beyond the portal, Chelsea, who had arrived first, was waving with a bright expression.
Chen Shia, who had her hands tucked into the wide sleeves of her traditional Eastern continent attire, also saw Leo and greeted him happily.
However, upon seeing the two who followed, she showed contrasting reactions.
Chelsea stuck out her tongue at Celia and Duran, while Chen Shia couldn't hide her joyful smile.
Soon after, Ar and Eiran also arrived.
Chelsea spotted Eiran and stuck close to her, chattering away happily.
Ar crossed his arms.
“From our school, Dion and the foolish tiger. From Seirun, Eiran. From Lumern, Celia Zerdinger, Duran Moira, Chen Shia, Chelsea Rwalyn, and the Black Rabbit.”
Ar, after checking the numbers, tilted his head.
“Who in the world is the next instructor?”
“Hmph. I think it might be Instructor Zamua from Lumern.”
Borman, the tiger beastman, said confidently.
“That trained physique! A man among men!”
“Didn't you say you disliked human bodies because they seemed weak?”
“My mind changed after seeing Li Zamua! There's definitely something to learn from him! Isn't that right, students of Lumern!”
“Senior Zamua, huh. If he's the instructor, it wouldn't be very welcome.”
“I don't like it because it feels like we'll only do intense physical training. We just climbed a cliff a moment ago.”
Chen Shia and Celia shook their heads.
“It doesn't matter who comes.”
Duran, with his arms crossed, snorted.
“No, why am I even here in the first place, a place crawling with knight academy students?”
Chelsea showed a slight hint of dissatisfaction.
Chelsea was the only pure mage.
It was then.
Rustle-
The sound of footsteps on grass was heard.
At that moment, Ar's ears perked up, and he sniffed his nose.
“This sound of grass! This smell!”
Ar's eyes sparkled.
“It must be him! Ar…!”
“You mean Lord Akan, whom Ar respects?”
Eiran quickly corrected him.
“Lord Akan!”
Ar rushed into the bushes in a panic.
“Kyaaaaaaack?!”
A moment later, a terrified scream echoed.
Ar, clinging to Arion’s leg, was panting heavily, his eyes slightly glazed over.
“Hoo-wook! Hoo-wook! I respect you! Hoo-wook! You’re amazing!”
“G-Get away from meeeeee!”
Arion was startled, seeing Ar with a crazed look in his eyes.
The students who came running at the scream were dumbfounded by the sight.
Leo grabbed Ar's tail to pull him off.
But Ar only tightened his grip on Arion's leg with even more force in his arms and legs.
“W-What should we do?”
Eiran asked with a flustered face as she tried to pull Ar off, and Leo sighed.
“Subdue him.”
“S-Subdue him? H-How? If I use force, Ar will get hurt…!”
“Cleanly, without hurting her.”
“Cleanly, without hurting her?”
Eiran, after a moment of thought, grabbed Ar's head and chin with both hands.
Snap-!
“Cough?!”
And twisted it.
Ar, with his neck twisted, foamed at the mouth and fainted.
Leo handed the tail over to Dion, who dragged the limp Ar aside.
Chelsea, peeking out from behind Leo, said to Eiran, who had a bewildered expression,
“Sister Eiran is scary.”
“That's quite brutal.”
“Hmph, even with an innocent face, she's truly the second most powerful in Seirun. Her hands are merciless.”
Duran curled the corners of his lips.
“N-No, I just. I mean, like I saw in a novel…”
“Wow! That’s amazing. Did you perhaps learn assassination techniques?”
Chen Shia even clapped her hands in admiration.
“N-No, I never learned such scary things!”
While Eiran protested with a tearful face, seeing the Lumern students deliberately teasing her.
Leo helped Arion up and came forward to the students.
Ar also regained consciousness.
He trembled slightly at the sight of Arion but managed to suppress the urge to rush at him.
As the instructor stood before them, the students looked nervous.
Just now.
Although he had shown a somewhat pathetic side, the instructor before them was said to have been specially invited by the Dragon Lord himself.
'Akan, huh. A name I haven't heard before.'
'Why did Ar do something so strange?'
'He somehow doesn't seem to have much charisma.'
'Why has Lord Arion appeared in the present world? Could it be a miracle like Lord Luna and Lord Seirun…!'
'Lord Arion! Lord Arion! Lord Arion! Lord Arion!'
Each of them was focused on Arion with questioning eyes.
Akan, who had been looking nervous, cleared his throat.
“Ahem. Nice to meet you. My name is Akan. It's for a short time, but I'll be your instructor.”
“Instructor Akan.”
Then Borman raised his hand.
Arion tensed slightly as the tiger beastman, larger than himself and with a fierce impression, called him.
“Why do you call?”
“Are you a graduate of Azonia?”
“No.”
As Arion shook his head, Borman nodded.
'Would Lady Azonia have ever imagined a situation where someone would ask Arion if he was an alumnus?'
Ar let out an involuntary chuckle, remembering Azonia, the great warrior praised as the founder of the school and the successor to the Hero.
Next, Chelsea raised her hand.
Arion felt a little relieved as Chelsea, the smallest and youngest student, raised her hand.
“Yes.”
“Instructor, I'm a pure mage, so why did I come here with students who use Aura?”
“I heard you're a mage, but a close-range mage who is active on the front lines.”
“Yes.”
“I've heard a lot from Leo. You're very nimble, aren't you?”
“Hehehe.”
Chelsea scratched the back of her head, giving a pleasant smile.
“The ability I'm going to teach you from now on will definitely be helpful to you too.”
“Even if it's an Aura skill?”
“It is, but it can also be applied with mana.”
Arion observed the breathing used by future generations and modified super-senses so they could be used with mana, not just aura.
'Of course, not as much as the super-senses Arion himself uses.'
Just setting foot into the realm beyond extremely trained senses changes the entire aspect of combat.
'That talent is certainly innate.'
With the development of Aura studies, countless applied concepts that did not exist in the Age of Calamity emerged.
The Hero's Breath is the culmination of a technique born from the combination of Aura studies and Arion's breathing.
Even if it's a technique derived from himself, understanding it all at once is impossible even for Leo.
But Arion not only understood the concepts of modern Aura studies at once but also applied them to his other technique, super-senses, deriving yet another new technique.
“What is that technique?”
Borman asked with an intrigued expression.
“It's a technique called super-senses.”
“Super-senses?”
Everyone looked puzzled at Arion's words.
“It's a technique that sharpens the senses beyond their limits.”
“How is that different from simply making the senses keen with Aura?”
The students looked puzzled.
The concept of pushing senses to their limits already existed.
It was a basic technique everyone learned from the moment they started mastering Aura.
Arion tilted his head at their reaction.
“Hmm, well, it's about sharpening the senses even more than that. It's hard to explain in words. Hmm… Okay. That'll work.”
Arion looked at Leo.
“Leo. Can you block my sight, smell, and hearing with magic?”
At his words, Leo nodded.
While everyone looked puzzled by the sudden situation.
Leo blocked all of Arion's senses necessary for combat, except for touch, with magic.
In that situation, Arion walked to the center of the clearing and said,
“Will all of you try attacking me together?”
“Excuse me?”
At his words, everyone except the three who knew Arion's true identity looked bewildered.
No matter how skilled a knight or warrior, being attacked with senses blocked like that is dangerous.
“Don't worry, just attack.”
At Arion's words, Borman spoke.
“In that case, I will not hold back.”
“I said attack!”
“Ah, you can't hear either.”
Borman, scratching his head, then lowered his stance.
Thud-!
And charged at Arion without hesitation.
Whoosh-!
“…!”
Arion lightly jumped, evading Borman's attack.
“Hmm. Then how about this?”
Borman quickly started throwing punches.
Arion evaded all of Borman's punches.
Swoosh-!
With a chilling whoosh of air, Borman swung his arm.
Thump-!
Arion lightly landed on it.
Then Dion joined in.
Swoosh-!
Dion's sharp kick narrowly grazed Arion.
Grab-!
“Ugh?”
Arion grabbed Dion's foot and pulled.
Thud-!
Dion, losing his balance, collapsed.
Arion looked at where the other students were and smiled.
“Are you just going to stand there?”
“Is he really a person whose sight, hearing, and smell are all blocked?”
Chelsea made a slightly disgusted expression.
Then Ar, who had been still, bent his stance.
Thwack-!
With that, he flew at Arion with immense speed, like a bullet.
Whoosh-!
Thud-!
Rumble rumble rumble-! Crack crack crack crack crack crack-!
Ar's kick was blocked by Arion's palm.
The ground around where Arion stood cracked.
But the ground Arion stood on was firm.
Ar's eyes glowed.
'As expected of Lord Arion!'
He perfectly absorbed the impact.
Arion grabbed Ar's ankle and tossed him up.
Eiran also drew her sword and, without hesitation, launched a sharp sword attack at Arion.
“Chelsea, attack.”
At Celia's words, Chelsea also used magic to close the distance with Arion.
With his senses blocked, he blocked the attacks of the hero candidates without difficulty.
'Beyond just losing sight, smell, and sound. The movement of this person itself is chilling!'
Celia stared intently, observing Arion's movements.
Each movement sent shivers down her spine.
He achieved maximum effect with minimum movement.
The path to be pursued by those who walk the martial path.
In her life, only one person had shown skill capable of giving Celia such chills: her cousin, Leo.
'This person… is beyond Leo!'
He was different from Leo.
If Leo exuded an unfathomable depth.
The instructor named Akan before her exuded an unfathomable height.
While Celia barely managed to calm her surprised heart.
Whoosh-!
Arion caught Celia's sword between his index and middle fingers and simply deflected it.
Thud-!
“Gasp! Gasp!”
“This person! He's a complete monster!”
Chelsea gasped for breath and shrieked as if screaming.
Ar, Eiran, Celia, Duran, Chen Shia, Dion, Borman, Chelsea.
Eight of them attacked in cooperation, but he didn't move an inch.
Even with Aura and magic, Arion predicted all their attacks and blocked or deflected them.
“How can he read our movements even with his senses blocked?”
“Is this what super-senses are?”
It was then that Dion and Borman caught their breath.
Thump- thump-
“This is a bit troublesome.”
Arion muttered, scratching his cheek.
“You can't do things in moderation, can you?”
At Arion’s words, Leo chuckled and whispered softly.
“I was curious how close I’ve gotten to you now.”
Swish-!
Leo drew his sword.
“Please take care of me.”