Book 1 Chapter 83

【83】82.

Aura.

It is a word for the power that comes out when mana accumulated in the body is incinerated.

The most basic way to use it is physical enhancement.

And when one becomes accustomed to handling aura, it is possible to imbue it into weapons to increase their strength and make them sharper.

When one reaches that stage, they can imbue attributes according to their individual nature.

A prime example of this was Celia's flames.

All the students were concentrating on Ain's class, while Leo thought to himself.

'The [Hero's Breath], huh? It's got a very plausible name. Arion simply called it breathing.'

Well, considering Arion's status in later generations, it was not strange for such a name to be attached to it.

Arion the Hero.

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

'…or so it's known.'

Leo let out a wry laugh.

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

'He wasn't just timid, he was an incredible coward.'

Compared to other beastmen, his physique was also small, so seeing him terrified would make one wonder if he was truly a hero.

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

Arion's appearance, overcoming fear and bravely fighting the enemy, was the driving force that made the impossible possible countless times.

'The biggest coward always took the greatest risks, saying he would protect us.'

Thinking of Arion, Leo smiled.

'[Hero's Breath], huh… a fitting name.'

While Leo was recalling memories from his past life.

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

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

"The [Hero's Breath] I'm teaching you is different from the original. After all, the [Hero's Breath] itself is a technique unique to beastmen. If humans use it as is, it's hard to get proper results."

Professor Ain brought a portable whiteboard to the training ground and was giving a lecture.

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

Seeing that, Leo narrowed his eyes.

'It's fundamentally different from Arion's breathing.'

It wasn't strange for it to be different.

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

But not a single beastman properly mastered it.

Rather, the one who mastered Arion's breathing was Leo, a human, not a beastman.

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

Ain raised his hand.

Crackling-!

A chilling aura gathered in Ain's hand.

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

"Just because you learn it doesn't mean you can immediately achieve a powerful aura amplification effect. As you know, training is most important for aura skills. The [Hero's Breath] is no different."

Seeing that, Leo's eyes lit up.

'It's not just emitting power beyond limits, but it can maximize aura efficiency, can't it?'

The breathing Leo learned from Arion was the power to draw out more than his limits.

The effect of increasing aura output efficiency was the same, but the current [Hero's Breath] had the difference that it could amplify aura even without drawing out its maximum potential.

'It seems they've endlessly researched and developed it through aura studies.'

An question appeared on Leo's admiring face.

'Given this much development, why do beastmen still only transform on full moons?'

Beast transformation is a racial characteristic of beastmen.

On the day of the full moon, the beast blood flowing in a beastman's body awakens.

When transformed, beastmen gain much greater power than usual.

Arion was the only beastman who could transform whenever he wanted, even if there was no full moon.

'If Arion's breathing was inherited as [Hero's Breath], there would be no reason for that, would there? And one more thing…'

Leo looked at Ain.

'Why doesn't Professor Ain have any side effects?'

While Leo was pondering.

"Now, begin practice. If you can manifest aura with the [Hero's Breath], you've succeeded."

At Ain's words, the students immediately began to concentrate on their breathing exercises.

"Hoo! Cough?!"

"T-this, it's quite difficult just with breathing, isn't it?"

Confused voices were heard among the students who were practicing as Ain had taught.

It couldn't be helped.

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

The principle by which the [Hero's Breath] can instantly increase aura output is extremely simple.

The principle of using aura is similar to a flame burning.

'The most essential thing for a flame to burn is oxygen. Conversely, to burn the aura cowering in the body, mana from the atmosphere is needed.'

The basic principle of the [Hero's Breath] is to take in more mana from the atmosphere to increase the explosive power of aura.

In simple terms, it was to increase the compression ratio of mana taken in during breathing.

As such, manifestation was impossible with ordinary breathing.

Leo attempted to breathe as Ain had taught.

Since he was already using Arion's breathing, he could easily follow the [Hero's Breath], even if its form had changed.

'Now, if I control the mana.'

Leo's aura twitched.

'Now, if I just manifest it…'

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

Leo made a flustered expression.

'What is it?'

He tried the [Hero's Breath] several times.

But he couldn't use aura with the [Hero's Breath] Ain had taught him.

'What is it? Was my method wrong?'

It was a rare moment when Leo was stuck in class.

Whoosh-!

Swoosh-!

Crackling-!

Aura manifested simultaneously from three directions.

"Hmm- so this is what it feels like."

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

"It's not that difficult."

Exclamations erupted from here and there.

"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 flared up.

Ain, who was watching this, curled up the corners of his mouth.

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

Talents rarely seen across the entire student body were present simultaneously in one year.

'This first year is a blessed generation.'

Thinking that, Ain glanced at Leo.

'On the other hand, Leo seems to be struggling unexpectedly.'

It was unexpected for Ain that Leo, who always had a high understanding of the lessons, couldn't even manifest it.

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

Ain couldn't help but feel regretful that Leo, whom he considered to have talent comparable to or even greater than Celia, Chen Xia, and Duran, was pursuing multiple departments.

After an hour passed, the majority of students successfully manifested aura with the [Hero's Breath].

Ding-dong-daeng-dong-

When the class bell rang, Ain crossed his arms.

"After a break, we will proceed with the next lesson. The next lesson will involve testing various aura amplification effects using the [Hero's Breath]. Records will be measured, so everyone should get sufficient rest."

The students gathered in various groups to rest.

While Leo was drinking water at the sink, Celia approached him.

"You're human too, I see you struggling in class."

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

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

Leo shook his head at Chen Xia's question.

"No. I'll practice a bit more by myself."

Leo smiled and shook his head.

Duran, who was watching from afar, spoke with his characteristic arrogant face.

"Leo Flobe. To not even be able to do this simple thing. How disappointing."

"Hey, Duran? This is absolutely not simple, you know?"

"Can't you say things while considering our feelings a bit? It hurts. *sniffle*"

One female student from the Knight Department clutched her chest with a sad expression.

"Stop that fake acting."

"Tch."

Most were students from the central region of the Knight Department who followed Duran.

"Anyway, Leo Flobe is taking three departments, right? There's bound to be a limit. By about the second semester, he won't even be able to compete with you in Knight Department grades, will he?"

When one male student said this in a nonchalant tone, Duran narrowed his eyes.

"I don't care about that."

"Huh?"

"Whether his 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."

Other students flinched at the fierce aura Duran exuded.

Meanwhile, Leo remained lost in thought during the break.

Once again, he controlled his aura as Ain had taught.

But again, the aura scattered just before manifestation.

'Hmm… right, that's what it was. This doesn't suit me.'

Professor Ain had said that he had adapted the [Hero's Breath], which originally only beastmen could use, for humans.

But Leo had already mastered Arion's breathing.

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

It was, literally, a fundamental problem.

'It's a technique that's incompatible with me from the start.'

Having found the cause, Leo's eyes gleamed.

'If so, I'll try to incorporate only the necessary parts from what Professor Ain taught into my breathing.'

In any case, the breathing Ain taught was optimized for humans.

The Hero's Breath, re-created by Ain, was attractive to Leo as well.

'Gaining the power to maximize aura operation efficiency is appealing to me. Moreover, I might even be able to overcome the side effects.'

Leo's side effects.

They were the recoil from aura amplification.

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

'A fundamental difference… race.'

Leo looked down at his hand.

Unlike Arion, who would beast transform and his vessel would be strengthened when he exerted power beyond his limits, Leo was human.

He had to bear the recoil of drawing out power beyond his limits directly with his body.

This was also the reason why he had suffered burns when using Gerdinger's aura until now.

"We will begin measurements now. Students, please come forward when your name is called."

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

There were three types of measurements:

Attack, Speed, Defense, Evasion.

Crackling-!

"Fast!"

"He did lose to Leo in the aura step competition at the beginning of the semester, but… it seems there's no one faster than Duran in our year now?"

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

The fastest in the Knight Department was Duran.

Next were Celia and Leo, with comparable speeds.

But unlike usual, Celia took second place due to the Hero's Breath.

Next were defense and evasion.

In this area, it was practically a solo performance by Chen Xia, who had water attributes.

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

"Duran won!"

"Ah. As expected, the gap is widening after all."

"Well. Rather, it was strange until now, isn't this normal?"

The Knight Department students whispered.

"Leo. What's he doing?"

Celia was also slightly flustered, seeing Leo unable to keep up with the class progress at all.

While the students of Class 5 looked at Leo with worried eyes.

"Finally, attack power measurement."

Maximum attack power was measured one by one.

Boom-! Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

A tremendous storm of flames raged during Celia's turn.

"It definitely seems stronger than before, doesn't it?"

"I think it's the Hero's Breath effect."

The students gasped in awe.

It wasn't a dramatically obvious change, but Celia's flames were certainly stronger than before.

Celia, having sheathed her sword, looked at Leo, who was the last.

Celia was clearly first in attack power.

And second was Leo.

'This is what happens when he neglects Knight Department classes.'

While Celia grumbled about her cousin's slump.

It was finally Leo's turn.

Seeing him, Ain glanced down at the measurement board.

'Leo Flobe. This might be a turning point in your school life.'

Leo still ranked at the top in all measurements.

However, in today's measurements, he fell behind his competitors.

More precisely, he was the only one who remained stagnant.

'No matter how brilliant his talent, there's a limit to pursuing three departments simultaneously.'

Ain gazed at Leo's back.

'Now, make a choice.'

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, at least.'

He could manifest aura more naturally than before.

Leo took a deep breath.

'Shall I try using it?'

Whoosh-!

Leo, who had imbued his sword with the maximum aura, took a deep breath.

The mana in the atmosphere compressed and was sucked into Leo's body.

'Swing the sword!'

Swoosh-!

Breathing, Leo swung his sword.

The mana that entered his body was strongly compressed.

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

Leo was flustered.

A more powerful aura amplification effect than usual was generated.

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

Whoosh-! Boom-!

A wall of flames soared high.

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

Thud-!

Ain unknowingly dropped his pen.

'What the hell… is that guy.'

He felt goosebumps all over his body.

'How should I describe this?'

Only one question came to his mind.

What was the appropriate word to evaluate the student in front of him?

Now, simply calling him a genius was far beyond that realm.

'Yes. This is like… a monster.'