Book 1 Chapter 929

929. Leo couldn't help but look puzzled as he watched Azonia call Agon, the Guardian of the Azure Sky and Arion's master, her own master.

"Agon is your master?"

"Yes."

-How can you be Agon's disciple? Agon lived 5000 years ago.

Just then, Elsi suddenly appeared above Leo's head.

Azonia and Damian were surprised.

"Elsi?"

"How can a Shadow Spirit be in the present world…?"

-Do you know me?

Elsi tilted her head.

-Ah! You must have met me through the World of Heroes.

Elsi, who had descended onto Leo's shoulder, slightly lifted the hem of her white dress and introduced herself.

-Nice to meet you, Heroes of the Dawn. I am Elsi, the Shadow Spirit.

"Are you Elsi from the Prologue of Arion's World?"

-Yes. That's right. Chronologically, I am Elsi from that time.

"Ah…"

-Why, why are you crying?

Elsi approached Azonia, who was crying at the sight of her, unsure what to do.

Azonia tightly hugged Elsi and quietly sobbed.

"What happened?"

Leo asked, looking at Damian.

Damian sighed softly.

"The first World of Heroes Azonia entered was the World of Braves, the Prologue."

At his words, Leo recalled Arion's World, which he and Ar had cleared during his freshman summer vacation.

The objective was simply to find Arion as an 18-year-old boy in Reysar.

"It was when Rodya came to Ajo Desert with the Hero's Record."

It was an era when disasters stirred.

A time when fragments of Erebus revived and Tartarus once again bared its fangs at the world.

"Of course, no one knew at the time that the fragments of Erebus had revived."

However, they could tell that something unusual was happening.

Therefore, Rodya, as the first to discover the World of Heroes, was searching for heroes to fight against Tartarus.

"Azonia met Rodya when she was 17. At that very moment, Azonia had a key."

"A key?"

As Leo looked puzzled, Azonia, who was still hugging Elsi tightly, replied.

"It was a fragment of Shatten. It was an item related to the Spirit of Darkness, passed down in our family, which was also a spirit user's family. I only learned it was a fragment of Shatten's sword after entering the World of Heroes, though."

"I see."

Shatten, the sword that swallows darkness.

It was the strongest sword wielded by Agon, the Guardian of the Azure Sky.

Of course, its true identity was the sword where Elsi, the Shadow Spirit, resided.

As Elsi resided there, it must have been an item that exerted a very powerful force as a medium for the Spirit of Darkness.

"Since Ajo City is also where Reysar was… it's not strange that a fragment of Shatten was there."

"This is where Reysar was?"

"Didn't you know? Deep within this land, the ruins of Reysar remain as they were."

At Leo's words, Damian looked surprised.

"Anyway, I generally understand the situation."

"Yes. Azonia was the first in the world to clear the World of Heroes, the World of Braves."

Rodya was the first to discover the World of Heroes, but Azonia was the first to clear it.

A 'key' was needed to enter the World of Heroes.

That's why Azonia, who could enter a world of relatively easy difficulty, was the first to succeed in clearing it.

The problem was…

-You couldn't save the children of the orphanage…

Elsi muttered in a bitter voice.

Saving the orphanage children was an over-achievement, separate from the main objective.

"I asked Rodya for the prologue page and challenged the clear again and again, but…"

Azonia, who was an immature seventeen-year-old at the time, couldn't save the orphanage children.

Even though she would be called a Hero of the Dawn and save the world in the future, at that time, she was still just a girl.

"What was the clear reward?"

"It was a single dagger that Arion used in his childhood."

This contrasted with Ar, who received Arion's Breath as an over-achievement reward.

'Well, I suppose over-achievements and regular clears would have different rewards.'

Leo could understand why a complete page of Arion's could remain with Azonia.

'She must have left the prologue page she received then at the school she founded before entering the World of Dawn.'

Azonia, who had let go of Elsi from her embrace, sniffled.

Then she blew her nose - *splat!* - onto the hem of Damian's clothes next to her.

Damian's face turned fierce.

"The fragment of Shatten also disappeared midway, so in the end, I could never save Master Agon and the orphanage children."

During the clear, she became Agon's disciple countless times and learned martial arts.

Azonia's eyes became downcast.

"So you were bound by the prologue and didn't clear Arion's World after that?"

"…Yes, pathetically."

After that, Azonia met Arion not in Arion's World, but in the worlds of other great heroes.

"…If only that person hadn't been a coward… I could have saved everyone…"

Azonia bit her lip.

She knew.

That such thoughts were futile.

That it wasn't Arion's fault.

But her respected master and the orphanage children who felt like family.

And she became mired in her own powerless self.

'In the end, she couldn't move forward.'

Remembering that the motto of the Hero Academy, Azonia's academy, was 'Move Forward,' Leo sighed.

"You've somehow learned and are using that Arion's Breath, Extrasensory Perception, and Howling."

Arion's Breath is known as the 'Brave's Breath' in this era.

Howling is used by beastfolk with leadership qualities.

Even in the Age of Calamity, only a very small number of people used Howling.

But compared to now, it was an excessively small number.

Breath, let alone.

It was Azonia who redefined the usage of Howling and Breath and passed them on to the beastfolk.

Just as Seirun made it possible for any elf to use star magic, Azonia made Arion's techniques available for other beastfolk to learn.

Of course, the effects were lacking compared to the original, but something great is still great.

"…Master Agon taught me."

"Agon couldn't use Arion's techniques either. He only understood the principles. To learn and use it from Agon, a third party, you must be a genius?"

"…Genius, my foot."

At Leo's compliment, Azonia smiled self-deprecatingly.

"Lord Kyle, you know well that 'genius' is a nickname that only suits a cowardly person like him, don't you?"

"He's just an anomaly."

"…That's true. An anomaly… The kind of person who laughs and says, 'Why can't you do this?'"

Azonia's body began to tremble.

"No! The way he calmly does something ridiculous and then laughs, saying, 'It's really easy, isn't it?!' Doesn't that just make your blood boil?! I'd rather he just teased me and made me feel terrible! Or! He could at least yell at me for not being able to do it! But what's with him looking at me with a really confused face, saying, 'Why can't you do this?' and then genuinely cheering me on from the side, saying that my effort might be a little lacking, but I can do it if I just try a little harder?! I'm doing my best!"

Recalling Arion, whom she had met in the worlds of other great heroes, Azonia burst out her words.

After her outburst, she barely managed to compose herself, breathing heavily, "Huu! Huu!"

Elsi and Melina had hidden behind Leo at some point, and Damian covered his face, shaking his head.

Leo stroked his chin, watching Azonia.

'After only seeing Ar, who would light up, saying, "As expected of Lord Arion!" whenever that Arion guy said something absurd, seeing this one is quite refreshing.'

Of course, Azonia's reaction wasn't incomprehensible.

No, rather, he empathized.

'Because I also suffered terribly.'

'Why can't Kyle do this? Kyle should be able to do it, right? Why don't you try a little harder, Kyle?'

When he said things like that without any malice, Leo felt like hitting him.

When asked about the feeling of using Breath, Extrasensory Perception, and Howling,

When he heard the answer, 'Like breathing, concentrating, or shouting?' he almost actually hit him.

'He probably wouldn't have been hit even if I tried.'

He was a coward and would have fled immediately.

"You must have had a hard time too."

Anyway, Leo, who now understood why Azonia called Agon her master, nodded.

'Indeed, Azonia's movements were similar to Arion's, yet different.'

Since she had repeatedly cleared the prologue of Arion's World and received private lessons, her movements made sense.

He also understood her trauma about not clearing Arion's World.

"Unlike Azonia, have you cleared Dwenno's World multiple times?"

"Yes."

Damian nodded.

Leo looked at Damian with a puzzled expression.

"But according to records, you restored a divine artifact? How is that possible when your blacksmithing skills are terrible?"

"Restoration, you say?"

Damian frowned slightly.

Leo looked at Damian with a puzzled expression.

"Although I have no skill in striking with a hammer, there is an area where I do have talent."

"What is it?"

"It's embarrassing to say, but aesthetic sense… that is, something related to art."

"Art?"

Leo tilted his head.

"Lord Kyle. This guy is amazing. He even heard from Lord Dwenno that his artistic talent surpasses Dwenno's!"

"Shut up!"

"Why? It's the truth. Lord Dwenno was overjoyed, wasn't he? Saying he'd found a successor to follow in his footsteps as an artist."

"What's important about being an artist! The world is in crisis! Lord Dwenno is a divine blacksmith! What's important is the skill to forge weapons! You idiot!"

"What? Did you just call me an idiot? Should I turn that pretty face into a rag?!"

"Oh! That's great! I hate this damn face! Hit me! Hit me! Hit me, you damn mad dog!"

"Eek!"

Damian provoked Azonia with fierce words.

But Azonia hesitated, seemingly unable to bring herself to strike Damian's beautiful face.

Watching them, Leo clicked his tongue.

"Aren't you two ashamed in front of your juniors?"

At his words, Melina smiled faintly.

"Lord Leo must have been very embarrassed too, right?"

"Why?"

"You often did that with the other great heroes in front of us… Ow ow ow ow!"

Melina, whose ear was caught, shrieked.

In the meantime, Azonia and Damian's fight reached a lull.

Azonia sighed and said.

"Anyway, the armaments Lord Dwenno created are also his works of art, aren't they?"

"Yes. Although that old man never admitted it."

The only thing Dwenno acknowledged as a 'masterpiece' until his last moment was Leo's sword, Posteritas.

"Damian doesn't have the ability to restore Lord Dwenno's armaments, but he had the ability to manifest works of art for a short time. Rodya saw that and said it was possible because he touched the realm of miracles."

"So, as an artist, he has touched the divine realm, meaning he can restore objects he considers works of art almost perfectly?"

"Yes. Though it's only for a fleeting moment."

Even so, it's an amazing ability.

Moreover, at the level of the Heroes of the Dawn, that fleeting moment would have been enough to fully draw out the armament's power.

Dwenno, who touched the divine realm as a blacksmith, certainly possessed great artistic ability as well.

However, his ability as an artist did not reach that realm.

In that respect, Damian was the ideal successor Dwenno had been searching for.

'Although he himself dislikes it because he's not a blacksmith.'

Leo let out a wry laugh.

Ar, who unconditionally likes and admires Arion, and Azonia, who dislikes Arion, calling him a coward.

Dryana, who inherited Dwenno's blacksmithing talent but was hopeless as an artist, and conversely, Damian, whose artistic talent surpassed Dwenno's but was hopeless as a blacksmith.

'These successors are polar opposites.'