Book 1 Chapter 655

655.

“Nice to meet everyone. I am Ain Erlandu, and I will be teaching the joint combat studies class.”

At Ain’s introduction, the first-year Knight Department students showed an excited reaction.

Ain Erlandu.

He was a knight known to be the closest to a hero among the current professors at Lumern.

He was only putting his effort into being a professor for the sake of fostering future talent.

In terms of skill, he was a true master, evaluated to surpass even most knight heroes.

“I heard he was in charge of the third-year seniors!”

“To be able to take Professor Ain’s class!”

The first-year Knight Department students showed a very excited reaction.

“It’s good, but…”

“Isn’t it only good for the Knight Department kids?”

Conversely, the first-year students from the Magic Department and Summoning Department showed disappointed expressions.

Seeing their reaction, Ain chuckled.

“Don’t worry. I’m not the only one in charge of the joint combat studies class.”

It was at that moment that the first-year students widened their eyes at his words.

Two people walked in from the entrance of the athletic field.

The third-year students looked surprised when they saw them.

“Professor Albi and Professor Artian?”

Albi Zerion, the Mage of the Demonic Eye.

He had not only ascended to the rank of hero but was also considered the strongest among the Magic Department professors, having hunted countless demonkin.

“Oh my god! I heard Professor Albi doesn’t teach much?”

“Is it a special class?!”

The enthusiasm of the Magic Department students soared.

On the other hand, the Summoning Department students looked puzzled.

“Did Professor Artian also have expertise in combat studies?”

The first-year students had already personally experienced Artian’s dread during the entrance exam.

However, compared to Ain and Albi, it was true that there were doubts about her combat skills.

The second and third-year students also felt the same doubt.

The second and third-year students knew Artian’s fearsome notoriety better than anyone, but there were no famous battles in which Artian had played an active role.

Even Professor Ranzo of the Magic Department, who was only interested in magic research locked away in his lab, had famous exploits.

“Karl. Do you know anything about Professor Artian?”

When Eliza asked with a puzzled face, Karl shook his head.

“No. Not that I know of.”

“Hmm?”

Eliza squinted her eyes.

If Karl, who was well-versed not only in events within Lumern but also in news from all over the world, didn’t know, it was safe to say that Artian had not been active in any battles.

As a Lumern professor, Artian was clearly a formidable skilled individual, but it was unknown how proficient she, a professor specializing in heroics, would be in combat.

As all the professors for the joint combat studies class had revealed themselves, Celia raised her hand.

“What is it? Celia Zerdinger.”

“I’m curious about what we’ll be doing in the first class.”

To that question, Ain said,

“The first thing we’ll do is ‘form parties’.”

At those words, all the students widened their eyes.

“Parties?”

“Yes. As you saw in the announcement this morning, the joint combat studies class is strictly a regular class this semester.”

Ain’s words were true.

It was a newly established regular class that all first, second, and third-year students would take together.

“To add to that. The parties decided today will be considered your classes.”

“Does that mean we’ll take classes as parties?”

“Yes. Of course, since your years are different, you can’t take required subjects and elective subjects together. But if it’s a class taken by the same year, you’ll move as parties.”

It literally meant a large joint class in the name of a party.

Chloe raised her hand.

“How many parties will be formed?”

“Six.”

At Ain’s answer, Chloe fell into thought.

‘All first-years are 500. Second-years are 224. Third-years are 163. Roughly a large party of nearly 150 people per party.’

“Furthermore, all mock battles in the upcoming joint combat studies class will be conducted at the party level. Quest practicals will also be conducted by party.”

“Will the first and second-year students follow the third-years on their quests?”

At Duran’s question, Ain shook his head.

“No. That’s only for quest practicals.”

From the moment they become third-year students, Lumern students have an obligation to resolve quests that come to Lumern.

And quest practicals and quests are strictly different.

For quest practicals, Lumern itself selects and provides quests that first and second-year students can resolve.

Conversely, the difficulty of quests varies greatly.

There are quests easier than practicals, but there are also quests of immense difficulty.

The quest practicals experienced in the first and second years were literally a kind of practice for when they become third-year students.

Chelsea, who had been listening to the story and pondering, raised her hand.

“What is the reason for assuming such large-scale combat that requires this much cooperation?”

“Leo Flove will explain the reason for that. He’s coming just in time.”

To Chelsea’s question, Albi, who had been quietly observing the situation until now, spoke.

All students’ gazes turned to Leo.

Chen Xia was walking alongside Leo.

“Student Leo! Come here!”

Artian smiled brightly and welcomed Leo.

At that, Chen Xia went and sat where the Knight Department students were, and Leo stood beside the professors.

“From now on, Student Leo will explain the reason why we are proceeding with the joint combat studies class, starting with the dormitory system.”

At Artian’s serious face, the students looked at Leo with slightly tense eyes.

“During the winter break, I discovered a major anomaly in Hero Record.”

“A major anomaly? Chelsea, Abad. You moved with Leo, didn’t you? Do you know anything?”

When Karl asked with a puzzled face, Chelsea and Abad shook their heads.

“Miss Celia, do you know anything?”

“This is the first I’m hearing of it too.”

From the Knight Department side, Chen Xia looked at Celia with a puzzled face, and Celia shook her head with an embarrassed expression.

“What kind of anomaly is it?”

Luke raised his hand and cautiously asked. Leo replied,

“I discovered something called the ‘World of Legions’.”

“World of Legions?”

“Surely not the Legion from Tartarus?!”

“What in the world is that? Like a Tartarus version of Hero Record, or something?”

“Is that even possible?”

Voices of shock burst out from here and there.

It was a moment when a commotion broke out among the students.

“Shhh.”

Someone’s small voice quietly resonated.

Everyone fell silent and looked in the direction of the voice.

There, Chen Xia put her right index finger to her lips, winked one eye, and then smiled, saying,

“The student council president hasn’t finished speaking yet, has he? Everyone needs to concentrate, right?”

At those words, the startled students focused on Leo.

The spar with Leo from earlier came to mind.

Seeing the students focusing on him again, Leo said,

“As you might expect from the name. The World of Legions is indeed the world of Tartarus’s heroes. Just as we inherit the power of past heroes through the Hero’s World. It has been revealed that they also inherit the power of the demonkin who have already vanished through the World of Legions. Celia, Abad, Chelsea. The three of you saw it at the time, didn’t you?”

“Ah…!”

“Hero Hunters who gained monster power?”

“Indeed, that was it.”

At Leo’s words, they recalled the Hero Hunters they fought during the Hero Slayer incident.

The Hero Hunters who took on the form of monsters.

Recalling their overwhelming power, the three of them hardened their faces.

“Did big brother Leo enter the World of Legions at that time?”

“Yes. The place I entered was Shilatu’s world.”

“The Monster Queen?”

“Such a…!”

Two winters ago.

The 5,000 years of terror, the Monster Queen Shilatu, who miraculously appeared in Seyrun and was vanquished by Kyle, the Hero of Beginnings, and Luna, the progenitor of the Nebula.

When the Monster Queen Shilatu was mentioned, groans erupted from here and there.

In that situation, Wareden asked,

“Where was the setting?”

“The Age of Calamity, the era when Luna existed.”

“What was your role in that world?”

“I was an obstructionist. I wasn’t an authorized presence in that world.”

“Leo. In your first year, you fought demonkin who invaded the Hero’s World in Luna’s world, didn’t you?”

During the mission practical in the second semester of the first year.

Chloe asked with a serious face, recalling the time Leo entered Luna’s world.

“Are you saying you were in the same situation as those demonkin?”

“That’s right.”

Leo nodded and said with a solemn expression,

“Perhaps the World of Legions itself won’t occur very often. If it could be created easily, the balance of power between this world and Tartarus would have been broken by now. But that doesn’t mean we can dismiss it as nothing.”

The Hero’s World saved the world.

Likewise, there’s no law saying the World of Legions won’t drive the world to destruction.

“Whether we fail to conquer the World of Legions, or Tartarus succeeds in its conquest, the fight with Tartarus will become even more fierce. The difficulty itself will be different from the conquest of the Hero’s World until now.”

There are no enemies in the conquest of the Hero’s World.

But the World of Legions is different.

The World of Legions itself becomes another battlefield.

At Leo’s words, the students’ faces became serious.

“And there’s a high probability that the World of Legions is all connected to Great Heroes.”

“Why?”

“The Legion’s Records seem to be created based on Hero Records. If so, they would also want to inherit the power of the strongest possible demonkin.”

Leo gently closed his eyes.

“Because, no matter what anyone says, the era when their power was strongest would be the Age of Calamity, when the Great Heroes were active.”

Recalling old memories, Leo opened his eyes.

“As you know, battles in that era were mostly large-scale. That’s why the joint combat studies class was created. The reason we call them parties rather than simply classes is also because of that.”

Leo smiled faintly.

“Because a party, where you have to fight for your lives, is better for building bonds than just being in the same class. That’s all for the story.”

After finishing his speech, Leo bowed to the professors and returned among the students.

Watching him, the first-year students’ eyes shone.

‘If I become part of the same party as Senior Leo…’

‘My school life would really bloom, wouldn’t it?’

‘It’s not just school life. Senior Leo will soon become the king of a nation, won’t he?’

The first-year students thought to themselves.

‘If I catch Senior Leo’s eye, a smooth path will open up for me!’

As the first-year students spread their wings of hopeful imagination.

The second and third-year students were also spreading their wings of imagination.

Of course, unlike the first-year students, it was an imagination filled with despair.

‘If I’m in the same party as Senior Leo, it’ll be the start of hell, right?’

‘The moment that Leo guy notices me, hell will unfold, right?’

***

The first joint combat studies class was about what they would learn in the joint combat studies class, as told by the professors.

And immediately, before forming parties, they had time for first, second, and third-year students to get to know each other.

This was because there was much they didn’t know about each other to form parties right away.

Especially the first-year students.

While the second and third-year students had deep interactions in mentor-mentee relationships for the past year, the first-year students had not.

Since they had to form parties for an entire year, party formation had to be done carefully.

So, after the first class ended, during the break.

Chloe approached Leo.

“Leo, I have a question about what happened earlier.”

“What are you curious about?”

Chloe, sitting next to Leo, asked with a serious face.

“Would the World of Legions also go out of control like the Hero’s World?”

A Hero’s World created by an abnormal rampage is called a Hero Dungeon.

In that case, the Hero’s World encroaches upon the world and affects it.

“Hmm… Well. For now, I think the World of Legions itself is a form of rampage. So I don’t think a rampage like a Hero Dungeon would happen.”

“Is that so?”

“But I am curious. If a situation like a Hero Dungeon were to occur, whether it would be beneficial to us. Or beneficial to Tartarus.”