Book 1 Chapter 464

After lunch.

Second-year students headed to the circular lecture hall for their special Hero Studies class.

There, Leo rested his chin in his hand.

'Why would a hero's grave be robbed?'

The request he'd seen on the bulletin board during lunch.

'The fact that it's posted on the public request board means Lumern doesn't consider it a major issue.'

A request that was almost neglected by the school.

This board was primarily used by students who were short on credit hours from the third year onwards to hastily make up for them.

Most of the cases were low in risk and importance.

'This request has been neglected for quite some time.'

When requests cannot be resolved even by Lumern students dispatched to them, or when they remain incomplete for a long time, the school conducts its own investigation.

If anything unusual is discovered, the request's rating is immediately raised.

However, sometimes they are left neglected.

Requests that aren't difficult but for which a solution cannot be found are ignored by students.

Occasionally, they are solved by eccentric students who like mysteries, but most students avoid requests that consume their time.

'The robbed hero graves were also mostly from heroes long forgotten.'

Heroes who achieved great deeds in life are praised by later generations.

Heroes are remembered among people by those who benefited from them.

But those who benefited from a hero do not live forever.

With the passage of time, heroes too are forgotten.

Especially in this era, where Hero Records are destroyed.

'Heroes of old are forgotten. Even I have been forgotten.'

And it was the graves of such heroes that were robbed.

A meaningless act.

'A hero's legacy is not in their grave.'

A hero's possessions are the keys to opening Hero Records, so they are never carelessly left unattended.

Therefore, robbing a hero's grave yields no benefit.

'It could be seen as the act of a madman.'

But Leo knew of those who could resurrect the dead and use them as subordinates.

'Necromancers.'

The unrighteous who follow the Undead King.

'But resurrecting someone who possessed immense power in life would be too dangerous for them? Moreover, controlling a hero-level individual after resurrecting them would be impossible with the current power of the Undead King?'

Not in the days when Erebus was whole.

With the current power of the Undead King, it is impossible to resurrect and command the dead who have attained the status of a hero.

'What if the one who robbed the grave was actually Hell Kaiser? Did he develop his abilities on his own? Or did he find a way to use the fragments of Erebus?'

Leo's expression grew more serious.

Meanwhile, class began.

"Since when has the concept of a hero as we know it existed?"

Mel wrote "What is a Hero?" on the blackboard and turned around.

"Is there a student who can answer?"

Students raised their hands in response.

Mel smiled gently at the actively raising hands and pointed to one student.

"Rosetti student, please answer."

At Mel's words, a second-year student stood up and replied.

"The concept of a hero as we know it originated 5,000 years ago, after the end of the Age of Calamity."

"Heh, a correct answer in a broad sense."

Mel took a cookie from the cookie box next to the lecture desk and gave it to the student.

"Oh."

The student exclaimed and ate the cookie to confirm its contents.

"I'm suddenly curious. Why does Professor Mel give random rewards for class participation?"

Iliana muttered in confusion, and Chloe replied.

"Research shows that sometimes random rewards increase efficiency."

"I've read it too. No matter how good the reward, people quickly get bored, and adding the stimulus of 'randomness' makes it more interesting, right?"

"That's right."

Chloe nodded at Chen Xia's words.

"Where do you guys find and read books like that?"

As Iliana looked on with curiosity, Mel continued his questions.

"Is there anyone who can answer more specifically? Yes, Eliza student."

"The concept of a hero as we currently know it originated 3,000 years ago, after the Age of Genesis. They are heroes who can inherit the power of 'previous' heroes through Hero Records."

"Perfect!"

"Oh!"

"Excellent bad student~!"

Exclamations erupted from various places.

Eliza glared at the students who were joking, and they averted their gaze.

Mel smiled at the sight and said,

"As Eliza student said, before the Age of Genesis 3,000 years ago, it was an era where the existence of heroes in the world was not known. Therefore, there were far fewer heroes than in the present era. From the Age of Genesis onwards, the number of heroes whose names appeared in Hero Records began to explode. The era from then on is called the true age of heroes for that reason."

"Oh."

"Indeed, it seems we don't know much about the pre-Genesis era, the age of proto-heroes."

"There aren't many records of heroes from that era either."

While the students were impressed.

Mel clapped his hands and said,

"Now, shall we read the textbook? Hmm~ Who shall it be… Carl student?"

"Yes, yes?!"

Carl jumped up in surprise.

Carl's flustered voice echoed through the circular lecture hall.

"Could you please read from page 372 of <Lives and Deaths of Heroes>, the section on 'Heroes of the Past and Present'?"

"Yes, yes! That is to say…"

Thump-! Clatter-!

"Gasp?!"

"Take your time."

Carl, flustered while holding the textbook, dropped his writing utensils.

Giggles could be heard from all around.

Abad, sitting at the front of the Noble dormitory, looked confused.

"Why is Carl acting like that?"

"Hmph, looks like he was dozing off."

Duran scoffed.

Eliza, sitting in the back row and filing her nails, said with a look of pity.

"It's not like you, always so smooth. You seem nervous."

Hearing this, Carl shouted inwardly.

'Can you not be nervous when the Dragon Lord is right in front of you?'

During the previous Erebus subjugation.

Chelsea and Carl had accidentally learned that Mel was the Dragon Lord.

Of course, neither Chelsea nor Carl intended to spread the word.

However, they were separately summoned by Mel before class today.

'I know that the two students will not spread rumors about my identity, but please be careful.'

Leo, pretending to be calm as usual, asked while looking at Mel, who was grinning playfully and winking.

'What if rumors spread by mistake?'

Mel, who put his index finger to his lips in thought at the question, smiled brightly and said.

'Then I'll punish you.'

What Mel meant by punishment was a light punishment, like making them stand with their hands raised in the professor's office.

However, for Carl, who didn't know this, the words "punish you" from the Dragon Lord, who possessed the greatest power in the world, could only be terrifying.

Mel realized that Carl had misunderstood something, but he let it continue because it was amusing.

"That fool."

Chelsea covered her face and shook her head.

Meanwhile, Carl opened the textbook and took a deep breath before reading.

"Heroes after the Age of Genesis can be considered successors to the heroes of the Age of Genesis in a sense. Then, who were the successors of the heroes who became heroes during the 2,000 years between the end of the Age of Calamity and the beginning of the Age of Genesis?"

Carl's voice, reading the textbook clearly, echoed.

"…The heroes of the proto-heroic age ascended to Hero Records through their own power. The heroes of the current era use countless hero skills. However, I do not believe that this means later heroes are superior to proto-heroes."

After finishing that section, Carl looked at Mel, who nodded.

Carl sat down with a sigh of relief.

"Who was stronger, a hero from which era, is an interesting topic for debate. However, when this topic is raised at academic conferences, it often goes beyond debate and heated arguments to duels."

"No way, do fights break out at academic conferences?"

The students reacted with disbelief.

"Fisticuffs are mild. There are often sword fights."

As the students fell silent at the unimaginable belligerence of the scholars, Mel continued the class.

"The author of <Lives and Deaths of Heroes> states that heroes of the proto-era were as strong as heroes of the later era, but this is actually a minority opinion in academia. What do you think, Carl student?"

"I believe the author is a hundred percent correct."

Carl answered quickly, and Eliza, from behind, said while tidying her nails.

"I'm not disrespecting proto-heroes, but I cannot accept that argument. It seems natural that modern heroes, who inherit the power of countless heroes, are stronger than past heroes."

"I think so too."

"Who are some famous proto-era heroes?"

The students engaged in discussion.

"Then shall we compare the two most famous heroes from the proto and later eras?"

Watching the students discuss, Mel wrote the names of two people on the blackboard.

The students fell silent at the names of two heroes who boasted the highest recognition in the world.

One was called one of the three great figures of the elves, and the other was one of the heroes of the Age of Genesis.

Even comparing these two was a controversial matter.

"These two are considered the strongest swordmasters not only in their time but throughout the history of the heroic age. Also, Berchia was a disciple of a Great Hero, and Lumern inherited the power of a Great Hero. Apart from their races, they have surprisingly many commonalities."

Mel smiled.

"Now, who do you think is stronger between these two?"

"Still, wouldn't Lumern, who fought against Erebus, be stronger?"

"There aren't many records left of Berchia, are there?"

The general consensus among the students was leaning towards Berchia.

Watching this, Chen Xia asked Leo.

"What do you think, Leo-doryong?"

"Hmm."

Leo, momentarily pulled away from his thoughts about the Undead King, crossed his arms and pondered.

Leo had met Seirun and Rhodia.

'Both of them were heroes with overwhelming power.'

The heroes of the Age of Genesis did not lose to the fragments of Erebus.

'The fragments sealed by the heroes of the Age of Genesis were far more powerful than the fragments that resurrected this time. The heroes of the Age of Genesis completely defeated those fragments.'

The reason the heroes of the Age of Genesis failed to subjugate the Erebus fragments was solely due to Erebus's immortality.

Erebus, endlessly resurrecting and burning.

They failed to subjugate because there was no hero like the Hero of Beginning, who possessed the trait of pure mana that could break Erebus's immortality.

Leo, gauging the strength of Seirun and Rhodia, recalled his disciple before their last expedition.

'The strength of Seirun and Rhodia was one level above Berchia as I last remembered. As they are both heroes of the Age of Genesis, Lumern's strength would not be significantly different from theirs. However.'

Organizing his thoughts, Leo opened his mouth.

"It would be difficult to determine superiority."