Book 1 Chapter 566
“What are these kids?”
Leo asked, pointing to the Wisdom students standing behind Lunia and Ar.
“You’re Leo Flove, right? Nice to meet you! I’m Riden! I’m a Wisdom student!”
“Wisdom?”
“It’s an educational institution in Dragonia that raises dragons, continuing the will of Master Lisinas.”
Chelsea explained to Leo, who looked puzzled.
“What she said is true. We are candidate instructors. Descendants of the great Master Lisinas.”
“Really? Do the descendants of that Lisinas have business with me?”
“We’ve come to judge your qualities as a hero.”
For a moment, Leo wore a look of incomprehension, and Chelsea’s mouth flapped open.
Lunia covered her face with her palm and tilted her head back.
“Did I hear you wrong? Could you say that again?”
“We’ve come to test you.”
‘What is this brat, who hasn’t even dried his blood yet, talking about?’
Leo let out a hollow laugh.
“Are you shocked? Who are you to test Oppa Leo!”
At that moment, Chelsea, who was beside him, retorted indignantly.
Leo is the Hero of the Beginning.
5,000 years ago, he was the great hero who defeated Erebus and saved the world.
The man who can be called the ancestor of all heroes!
And yet, he’s going to test Leo?
‘It’s ridiculous!’
“Who are you?”
“I’m Chelsea Lewalin, a sophomore in the Department of Magic at Lumern!”
“The Lewalin family of the Rodren Empire?”
At Chelsea’s shout, a female Wisdom student from behind stepped forward.
The tall girl stared intently at Chelsea.
“What are you looking at?”
The tall girl suddenly hugged Chelsea, who asked with narrowed eyebrows.
“You’re so small! You look like a doll! So cute!”
*Crack-!*
A vein bulged on Chelsea’s forehead, who hated being called small more than anything in the world.
Ar chuckled as he watched Chelsea’s legs flailing in the air.
“Looking at you like that, you really are small.”
‘You’re dead later, you damn cat!’
Chelsea gritted her teeth, vowing to deliver a dropkick to that face.
“Could you let go a little?”
“Ah, excuse me.”
The girl coughed awkwardly.
“Shiren. As a Wisdom student, don’t lose your dignity.”
“Sorry, sorry.”
Shiren, the girl called Shiren, burst into a hearty laugh and introduced herself to Chelsea.
“Nice to meet you, Chelsea Lewalin. My name is Shiren. I’m a wind dragon. I’ve been very interested in and studying your Lewalin family since I was young.”
Shiren, who elegantly greeted Chelsea by lifting the hem of her skirt, admired her.
“Looking at the wind blowing around you, I see. You’re amazing for your age?”
Chelsea looked up at Shiren with a sullen expression at the reply.
‘There’s no malice.’
But it felt strange.
How to put it?
‘It feels like you’re looking down on me a bit?’
It was quite different from the pure-blood elves who were obsessed with their superiority, whom she had seen during last year’s Lucé battle.
Shiren clearly respected Chelsea.
She didn’t underestimate her either.
‘Yes. It feels like she thinks she needs to guide me.’
That was strangely unpleasant.
No matter what anyone said, Chelsea was a representative student of Lumern.
Of course, she had wavered until her first year, unable to find the path she wanted to take.
Abad, who had been with her since childhood, was the wind.
And Leo, who entered Lumern with her, was also the wind.
There were times when she was just swept away by strong winds.
But not anymore.
She was clearly pursuing what she wanted.
Finding herself and creating her own strong wind.
It was inevitable that Shiren’s attitude, exuding an aura of ‘someone who will guide you,’ would make Chelsea feel unpleasant.
‘Am I some idiot who needs someone else to show me the way? What is this?’
It was the same for everyone else except Chelsea.
It was strange.
When she entered the Hero Academy, she dreamed of being chosen by a dragon.
Everyone chosen by a dragon achieved great deeds, so they were naturally admired by hero candidates.
Even though she was approaching that admiration, she didn’t feel good now.
Leo, looking around, chuckled.
‘Everyone has grown.’
The path they want to take.
What they want to become.
The goal they want to achieve is clear.
Moving towards it without wavering is certainly proof of growth.
‘It’s unpleasant to offer a path to those who clearly have a direction without asking their opinion. It’s like giving unsolicited advice on someone else’s life. By the way.’
Leo looked at the Wisdom students.
‘They’re immature.’
Dragons are the strongest race.
And since these are the most outstanding among them.
The dragons before him were all wise and possessed exceptional skills.
But…….
‘Arrogant.’
These were different from the dragons Leo had met in the Heroic Era.
The dragons Leo had met all had their own circumstances and ideals.
But despite their differences, they all possessed fragments left by Lisinas for future generations.
They were dragons, but they were never arrogant.
They always kept their heads down and met the eyes of other races.
But these Wisdom students were different from their predecessors.
They resembled the dragons who, as guardians of the world during the Age of Calamity, couldn’t let go of their arrogance, rather than Lisinas.
A proud race that considered themselves noble and refused harmony, treating other races as inferior even as the world was collapsing.
That was Kyle’s perception of dragons before he met Lisinas.
‘How should I punish these impudent lizards?’
As Leo rolled his eyes, pondering, he suddenly spotted someone sitting on the roof.
It was Melina and Enkiinas.
When Enkiinas’ eyes met Leo’s, he bowed respectfully.
Melina gave a troubled smile and mimed clapping her hands together.
‘Are they asking me to go easy on them?’
Certainly, just because they resemble dragons from the past doesn’t mean they are the same.
‘They’re just inexperienced brats.’
Leo scratched his head.
‘But it’s bothersome.’
Luna or Dweno would have turned them into mush for being arrogant.
Leo was the same.
‘But it would have been different for Lisinas.’
He would have shown them that there is a wider world.
Just as he extended his hand to Kyle in the past.
Thinking that far, Leo reached out and stroked Chelsea’s head, who was wearing a fierce expression.
Chelsea’s face softened slightly.
“You said you wanted to judge my qualities as a hero?”
“Yes.”
Riden nodded proudly.
Leo chuckled as he looked at Riden.
“All right. Test my qualities.”
“Good decision!”
“Before that.”
“Hmm?”
“May I judge your qualities?”
“You, us?”
“There’s no law saying a hero can’t test an instructor, right?”
“That’s true.”
‘Leo Flove has already reached the position of hero. On top of that, he is chosen by the gods… the only being who can defeat Erebus.’
Riden was Wisdom’s top student.
He strongly desired to inherit the will of the great King of Wisdom someday and contribute to the world alongside heroes.
For Riden, there was no one better than Leo among contemporary heroes to be a partner.
‘And if it’s this man, it wouldn’t be strange if Melina-nim or Enkiinas-nim became instructors.’
In that case, he needed to show his value somehow.
Riden nodded.
“All right. You are already a hero whose name is on the Hero Record. You have the right to test me!”
‘Leo just wants to shatter your mentality.’
Lunia clicked her tongue as she looked at Riden.
“So? What kind of test do you plan to give me? I’ll overcome anything.”
“The test itself is simple. You just need to escape from the illusion magic I cast.”
“Illusion magic? Illusion magic doesn’t work well on dragons. Besides, if you already know about it, you won’t fall for it easily. You know that, don’t you?”
Leo smiled at Riden, who looked puzzled.
“If it’s something like that, don’t worry. Why don’t you guys try it too?”
Leo said to the other Wisdom students who were watching the situation from behind.
Hearing that, the Wisdom students looked at each other.
“It sounds fun.”
“I’m curious what kind of magic an All-Class Hero uses.”
The other Wisdom students also showed curious expressions.
Looking at them, Leo said to Chelsea.
“For your information, Chelsea will take the test with you guys.”
“Me?”
Chelsea’s eyes widened, and she pointed at herself with her finger.
“Are you going to adjust the power of the illusion magic to Chelsea Lewalin?”
“If we adjust it to Chelsea’s standard, there’s no point in testing.”
“Then it might be dangerous?”
Riden expressed a worried look.
Chelsea scowled at Riden.
“Don’t worry about me, worry about yourself.”
Shiren covered her cheek as she watched Chelsea, who spoke fiercely with a defiant expression.
“It’s really cute how prickly she is, even though she’s so small.”
“It’s not just prickly. She’s a kid with a wicked heart.”
“Oppa Leo, can I punch that cat in the stomach and then start?”
“It won’t be easy to catch.”
At Leo’s words, Chelsea clicked her tongue.
“You don’t need to worry about Chelsea.”
Overcoming illusion magic requires a strong spirit.
Riden worried because he thought Chelsea was an immature hero candidate.
‘Of course, Chelsea is immature.’
Not only Chelsea.
Lunia, Ar, and Driana are also immature.
But that’s only by Leo’s standards.
The path Chelsea has walked is by no means smooth for Riden to judge her rashly.
‘No matter what anyone says, she stood on the battlefield against Erebus.’
When the third piece of Erebus was revived.
Chelsea went to the front lines against Erebus to help Arion.
‘The presence or absence of that experience is significant.’
Chelsea is by no means an immature hero candidate.
She was a mage worthy of being called a hero.
‘I would have beaten them up and moved on, but you would have given them a chance to learn, right?’
Reminding himself of his friend, Leo smiled faintly.
“So, are you ready?”
“Of course.”
Riden and the Wisdom students wore confident expressions.
Chelsea also nodded.
“Then.”
Leo generated magic.
Riden’s expression tensed as he watched.
‘What kind of magic is it?’
The moment he thought that.
The gray magic that bloomed from Leo’s hand turned into pitch-black darkness.
“What?”
It was different from Tartarus’s foul darkness.
It felt warm and embracing, as if it held everything.
But precisely because of that, it gave a chilling feeling that had no end.
‘This… is dragon magic?’
Riden’s eyes widened as he looked at Leo.
At that moment, he realized that Leo’s eyes had changed from red to obsidian black.
Those eyes were identical to those of his own kind.
‘Dragon language magic!’
Riden, and of course the Wisdom students,’ eyes snapped open.
It was high-level dragon language magic that they couldn’t even dream of with their current abilities.
The dragon’s curse, created by the King of Wisdom in the distant past by reinterpreting the curse of Tartarus.
Riden was astonished as he realized the magic formula.
‘Nightmare?’
At that moment.
Riden was swallowed by the darkness that rose like a painting.