Book 1 Chapter 83

[83]82.

Aura.

It is the word used for the power that comes out when the mana accumulated in the body is burned.

The most basic way to use it is physical enhancement.

And as one becomes accustomed to handling aura, it is possible to imbue weapons with it, increasing their strength and sharpness.

Once that stage is reached, it becomes possible to imbue elements according to one's individual nature.

The prime example of this was Celia's flame.

As all students paid close attention to Ain's lecture, Leo thought to himself.

"‘Breath of the Hero,’ huh. It’s certainly been given a plausible name. Arion simply called it breathing, you know."

Considering Arion's later status, it wasn't strange for such a name to be attached.

Arion the Hero.

The bravest and greatest warrior in history who made the impossible possible.

"…or so he is known."

Leo let out a dry laugh.

In later generations, only Arion's immense courage was highlighted, but in reality, Arion was a very timid beastman.

"So timid he was practically a coward."

Compared to other beastmen, his physique was also small, so when he looked terrified, one would truly wonder if he was indeed a hero.

"But in the end, he was the bravest in battle."

Arion's figure, overcoming his fear and bravely facing the enemy, was the driving force behind making the impossible possible time and again.

"The biggest coward of all always took the greatest risks, saying he would protect us."

Leo smiled as he recalled Arion.

"‘Breath of the Hero’… it’s a fitting name."

While Leo was reminiscing about his past life.

Ain was explaining the principles of the new technique to the students.

The students were all intensely focused at the mention of the aura amplification effect.

"The ‘Breath of the Hero’ that I am teaching you is different from the original. After all, ‘Breath of the Hero’ itself is a technique for beastmen. Humans will have difficulty achieving proper effects if they use it as is."

Professor Ain was lecturing with a portable blackboard on the training ground.

Ain, drawing a diagram of the human body, was explaining in detail how to breathe and how to manipulate aura in sync with breathing.

Seeing this, Leo narrowed his eyes.

'Fundamentally different from Arion's breathing.'

It wasn't strange for it to be different.

In his past life, Arion had tried to pass on his breathing technique to other beastmen.

However, not a single beastman mastered it properly.

Instead, it was Leo, a human and not a beastman, who learned Arion's breathing.

"The technique itself isn't difficult. But…"

Ain raised his hand.

*Crackling-!*

Cold aura materialized in Ain's hand.

Despite the small amount of aura, a powerful force emanated from it.

"You cannot expect powerful aura amplification effects immediately just by learning it. As you all know, practice is the most important thing for aura skills. This applies to ‘Breath of the Hero’ as well."

Seeing this, Leo's eyes sparkled.

'It's not just about emitting power beyond one's limits, but maximizing aura efficiency!'

The breathing Leo learned from Arion was about unleashing power beyond his limits.

While the effect of increasing aura output efficiency was the same, the current ‘Breath of the Hero’ had the difference of being able to amplify aura even without drawing out the maximum potential of the aura.

'It seems it has been endlessly researched and developed through aura studies.'

As Leo admired it, a question arose on his face.

'With this much development, why do beastmen still only transform on the full moon?'

Transformation is a racial characteristic of beastmen.

On the night of the full moon, the beast's blood flowing within the beastman awakens.

When transforming, beastmen gain significantly more power than usual.

Arion was the only beastman who could transform whenever he wished, even without the full moon.

'If Arion's breathing is being passed down as ‘Breath of the Hero,’ there should be no reason for that! And one more thing…'

Leo looked at Ain.

'Why does Professor Ain have no side effects?'

While Leo was contemplating.

"Begin practice now. If you can manifest aura with ‘Breath of the Hero,’ you have succeeded."

As soon as Ain spoke, the students began focusing on breathing exercises without exception.

"Huuup! Cough?"

"Th-this is quite difficult even with just breathing!"

Among the students practicing as Ain had taught them, confused voices could be heard.

It was only natural.

'The most important aspect of this technique is breathing.'

The principle behind ‘Breath of the Hero’ being able to momentarily increase aura output is extremely simple.

The principle of using aura is similar to how a flame burns.

'The most essential element for a flame to burn is oxygen. Conversely, to burn the aura coiled within the body, mana from the atmosphere is needed.'

The basic principle of ‘Breath of the Hero’ is to accept more mana from the atmosphere to increase the explosive power of the aura.

Simply put, it was to increase the compression ratio of mana received during breathing.

As such, it was impossible to manifest with normal breathing.

Leo attempted to breathe as Ain had taught him.

Since he was already using Arion's breathing, even if the form had been modified, he could easily follow ‘Breath of the Hero.’

'Now, if I operate the mana…'

Leo's aura stirred.

'Now, if I just manifest it…'

The moment he tried to manifest the aura at his fingertips, the aura scattered.

Leo's expression turned panicked.

'What?'

He tried ‘Breath of the Hero’ several times.

However, he could not use aura with the ‘Breath of the Hero’ that Ain had taught him.

'What is it? Is my method wrong?'

It was a rare occasion for Leo to be stuck in class.

*Swoosh-!*

*Hiss-!*

*Crack-!*

Aura manifested simultaneously from three directions.

"Hmm, so this is how it feels."

"I succeeded, but the aura amplification effect is very minimal."

"It wasn't that difficult."

Exclamations erupted from various places.

"They did that in one go?"

"As expected, the monsters of the Knight Department…!"

"Hey! I told you not to call me a monster! Who called me a monster!"

Celia bristled.

Ain, watching this, curled his lips.

'Celia, Chen Sia, Duran… As expected, in terms of talent alone, they are legendary.'

Talents that were rarely seen across all grades were present in one grade simultaneously.

'This first-year class is a blessed generation.'

Thinking so, Ain glanced at Leo.

'On the other hand, Leo is surprisingly struggling.'

It was natural for Ain to be surprised, as Leo, who always had high comprehension of lessons, could not even manifest.

'It's unavoidable, of course. While other students are solely focused on training, Leo is pursuing both magic and summoning.'

Ain couldn't help but feel regret that Leo, who possessed talent comparable to or even exceeding Celia, Chen Sia, and Duran, was also pursuing other departments.

As an hour passed, most students succeeded in manifesting aura with ‘Breath of the Hero.’

*Ding dong ding dong-*

As the class bell rang, Ain crossed his arms.

"We will proceed with the next class after a break. The next class will involve testing various aura amplification effects using ‘Breath of the Hero.’ We will be measuring records, so please get plenty of rest."

The students gathered and rested.

As Leo drank water at the sink, Celia approached him.

"You're human after all. Seeing you struggle in class."

Leo was the only student who failed to manifest aura with the Breath of the Hero.

"Young Master Leo, shall I teach you the trick?"

At Chen Sia's question, Leo shook his head.

"No. I'll try practicing on my own a bit longer."

Leo shook his head with a smile.

Watching from afar, Duran said with his characteristic arrogant expression.

"Leo Flob. To be unable to achieve even this simple thing. Disappointing."

"Excuse me, Duran? This is by no means simple."

"Can't you say it while considering our feelings a little? It hurts. Sob sob sob."

A female student from the Knight Department clutched her chest and put on a sad expression.

"Stop your pathetic acting."

"Tch."

Most of them were Knight Department students from the central region, followers of Duran.

"Anyway, Leo Flob is taking classes in all three departments, right? It's bound to have its limits. By the second semester, your Knight Department grades won't even be comparable to mine."

As a male student said in a nonchalant tone, Duran narrowed his eyes.

"I don't care about that."

"Huh?"

"Whether Leo Flob's Knight Department grades are worse than mine or not, I won't be satisfied until I defeat him."

Duran ground his teeth.

"I will defeat him and become the class representative. That is my only goal."

The other students flinched at the murderous aura Duran exuded.

Meanwhile, Leo was deep in thought during the break.

He operated his aura again as Ain had taught him.

But, as before, the aura scattered just before manifestation.

'Hmm… Yes, that's it. This doesn't suit me.'

Professor Ain had said that he had modified ‘Breath of the Hero,’ which could only be used by beastmen, so that humans could use it.

However, Leo had already mastered Arion's breathing.

'In the end, mine is the original. The aura is tailored to my method.'

It was a fundamental problem, literally.

'It's a technique that doesn't even have compatibility with me.'

Having found the cause, Leo's eyes shone.

'Then, I should try to incorporate the necessary parts from what Professor Ain taught me into my breathing.'

After all, the breathing Ain taught was optimized for humans.

The Breath of the Hero, newly reborn by Ain, was also appealing to Leo.

'It's appealing to me to gain the power to maximize aura operation efficiency. Moreover, I might be able to overcome the side effects.'

The side effect Leo suffered from.

It was the recoil from aura amplification.

While Kyle and Arion used the same breathing technique, there was a crucial difference between the two.

'Fundamental difference… race.'

Leo looked down at his hand.

Unlike Arion, whose vessel was also strengthened by transforming when exerting power beyond his limits, Leo was human.

He had to endure the recoil of exerting power beyond his limits with his own body.

The burns he sustained when using Zerdinger's aura were also for this reason.

"We will begin measurements now. Students called forward."

While Leo was lost in his own world, the measurements began.

There were three measurement methods in total.

Attack, speed, defense, evasion.

*Crackle-!*

"Fast!"

"I lost to Leo in an aura step battle at the beginning of the semester, but… I don't think there's anyone faster than Duran in our grade now?"

Duran, who received the highest score in speed, snorted and looked towards Leo.

In the Knight Department, Duran was the fastest.

Next were Celia and Leo, with comparable speeds.

However, unlike usual, Celia took second place due to the Breath of the Hero.

Next were defense and evasion.

This area was a monopoly for Chen Sia, who had water attribute.

And the fight for second place in defense and evasion was between Leo and Duran.

"Duran won!"

"Ah. As expected, the gap is widening in the end."

"Indeed. Isn't it more like it was strange until now, and this is natural?"

The Knight Department students murmured.

"What is Leo doing?"

Even Celia was slightly taken aback seeing Leo, who couldn't keep up with the class pace at all.

The students of Class 5 also looked at Leo with worried eyes.

"Finally, attack power measurement."

The maximum attack power was measured one by one.

*Boom-! Whoosh-!*

When it was Celia's turn, an immense storm of flames swept through.

"It certainly feels stronger than before, right?"

"It seems to be the effect of the Breath of the Hero."

The students were amazed.

While not a striking change, Celia's flames were definitively stronger than before.

Celia, sheathing her sword, looked at Leo, whose turn it was.

Celia was the clear first in attack power.

And Leo was second.

'This is what happens when you neglect Knight Department classes.'

Celia scowled at her cousin's poor performance.

Eventually, it was Leo's turn.

Seeing this, Ain glanced down at the measurement panel.

'Leo Flob. Perhaps this could be a turning point in your school life.'

Leo still occupied the top ranks in all measurements.

However, in today's measurement, he fell behind compared to his competitors.

Precisely, he alone stood still.

'No matter how much genius talent you have, there's a limit to pursuing three departments simultaneously.'

Ain watched Leo's back.

'Choose now.'

It was when Ain was intently watching Leo.

'Phew! Done.'

Leo, who had been adjusting the technique throughout the class, finally finished.

'I've optimized it for myself for now.'

He could now manifest aura more naturally than before.

Leo took a deep breath.

'Let's try it.'

*Whoosh-!*

Leo, imbuing his sword with maximum aura, took a deep breath.

Mana from the atmosphere compressed and was drawn into Leo's body.

'I swing the sword!'

*Whoosh-!*

Breathing, Leo swung his sword.

The mana that entered his body was strongly compressed.

'Whoa, wait. Why is this effect so good?'

Leo was flustered.

An even more powerful aura amplification effect was generated than usual.

'Wait! If it's like this, the recoil will be even more…!'

*Hwaak-! Kuaaang-!*

A wall of flames soared high.

Everyone's jaws dropped at the firepower that far surpassed Celia's.

*Thud-!*

Ain dropped his fan without realizing it.

'What the hell is that… that guy?'

He felt goosebumps all over his body.

'How should I even describe this?'

The question in his mind was singular.

What would be the appropriate word to describe the student before him.

He had now far surpassed the realm of simply calling him a genius.

'Yes. This is like… a monster.'

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