Book 1 Chapter 96
【96】95.
The first-years who quickly gathered around Leo were nine in total.
‘Three from the Knight Department, two from the Summoning Department, four from the Magic Department… quite a lot.’
“Jevin!”
“Nivea! Good! Lucky you, joining so early!”
Jevin found Nivea, a female student from the Magic Department who was in the same group as him, and showed a bright expression.
“I don’t think I’ve done anything to earn such resentment.”
At Leo’s words, Nivea snorted.
“Hmph! How funny! Do you think it’s been only a day or two that other students have suffered because of you?”
“What damage have you suffered because of me?”
“Getting preferential treatment from the professors for being an ‘all-class’ student and all! Thanks to your unnecessary show-off, the magic class content is getting harder for no reason! Don’t you know how to be considerate of other kids?”
“That’s right! In summoning class too, because you always act like a know-it-all, we’re constantly getting a ton of difficult assignments every day!”
“Knight class also requires tough training every day!”
Leo, who had been quietly listening to the pouring complaints, let out a hollow laugh.
“If that’s your complaint, you should protest to the professors.”
At those words, the students flinched.
“And do you really think the class progress changes because of just one person like me? Have you ever considered that it’s simply you who can’t keep up with the class?”
“What?!”
At Leo’s words, Nivea bristled.
“I was always the top student at the academy I attended before entering Lumen! It makes no sense that someone like me can’t keep up with the class progress!”
“You can’t keep up precisely because it makes sense. Aren’t you ashamed to blame others for your own shortcomings?”
“Ugh! Shut up! Chain Lightning!”
Crackling-!
A chain of electricity spewing from the tip of the staff flew towards Leo.
As the chain of electricity reached right in front of him, Leo swung his hand and batted the magic away.
Whoosh! Crack! Bang!
The deflected magic exploded, sending fierce sparks flying in all directions.
“H-how?”
“Even if its power is strong, its spell structure is simple. That’s why it’s easily dispelled. Didn’t you learn that in the first class?”
Leo curled the corners of his mouth.
“Don’t rely too much on activation formulas alone.”
“Ugh! Don’t show off! You country bumpkin from a backwater kingdom!”
Nivea bristled and began indiscriminately unleashing magic.
“Everyone attack! What’s a class representative anyway? He’s just a first-year like us! If we attack with this many, he won’t stand a chance!”
“A first-year like us?”
At Jevin’s shout, Leo burst into laughter.
“Certainly, if you were proper Lumen first-years, I might have struggled a bit, but I don’t think I’ll lose to you who blame others for your own shortcomings.”
“What did you say?!”
“This bastard!”
The Magic Department students simultaneously fired magic at Leo, and the Knight Department students gripped their weapons, circling Leo and closing in.
The Summoning Department students summoned spirits.
Whoosh-!
Leo created flames in his hand.
“Fire Wall.”
Rumble-!
A surging wall of flame nullified the incoming magic.
The Magic Department students, who had been pressuring Leo, flinched in horror and retreated.
“N-no way! Our magic, so futilely…!”
“Don’t be scared! Powerful magic like that is clearly a huge mana drain! He’s just putting on a desperate show!”
The Knight Department student, who had calmed the others, quickly took steps, re-gripped his spear, and charged at Leo.
Whoosh-!
A swift thrusting attack.
It was a flash-like attack, but Leo caught the spear shaft right where he stood, without much difficulty.
Thump-!
“Ugh!”
As his attack was futilely blocked, he hastily tried to retrieve his spear.
However, the spear didn’t budge.
On the contrary, when Leo applied force, he was pulled forward like a puppet with its strings cut.
‘W-what kind of strength!’
He didn’t know it, but in terms of pure physical strength, Leo was the best in the Knight Department.
Hum-!
Aura shimmered in Leo’s right hand, which wasn’t holding the spear.
Leo swung his fist towards the face of the student being pulled towards him.
“Gasp!”
Crash!
He hurriedly protected himself from Leo’s attack with an Aura Armor.
But the male student felt his head ringing with a ‘ding-’.
Thud-!
“Ugh!”
Leo followed up by kicking him in the stomach.
Whoosh! Thud!
“Cough!”
The male student, who flew back and hit a tree, collapsed miserably onto the ground.
“Found an opening!”
A large male student ambushed Leo from behind.
The male student, holding up a giant two-handed sword, smiled triumphantly.
“You’re out! Leo Plov!”
Thump-!
“……!”
Leo reached out and grabbed the tip of the giant two-handed sword’s blade.
As his attack was instantly blocked, the flustered male student tried to retrieve his sword.
But the sword, held in Leo’s hand, showed no signs of budging.
Creak-!
On the contrary, as Leo applied force, cracks began to appear on the blade.
“N-no way! It’s a sword imbued with aura!”
“Aura isn’t invincible, you know?”
Clench-! Snap!
“……!”
Fragments of the shattered two-handed sword scattered in all directions.
“You should have prepared for it being blocked and set up your next move.”
Thud-!
“Ugh!”
Leo then kicked the male student’s side.
Crash!
“Cough!”
The male student, who flew helplessly, also rolled futilely on the ground.
A bright light emanated from the bodies of the two writhing Knight Department students, then they vanished.
Teleportation magic.
It meant they were eliminated from the inter-department competition.
Rumble!
Then, the ground moved like a living creature and coiled around Leo’s body like a snake.
Along with that, water droplets formed around his face, and then a head-sized water droplet encased Leo’s face.
Bubble- bubble-
“Excellent!”
“We’ll just suffocate him and eliminate him!”
The two Summoning Department students who had summoned spirits cheered triumphantly.
Thud-thud! Pop-!
But the earth that held Leo turned into clods of dirt and scattered, and the water droplet burst futilely.
“How can this be! Our spirits, our spirit magic…!”
Looking at the despondent spirit users, Leo brushed off the water from his head and said,
“If you made a temporary contract with the spirits in this area, shouldn’t you have expected to lose the initiative to a more skilled spirit user?”
Leo brushed off the clumps of dirt stuck to his body and asked,
“So, what’s next?”
They involuntarily took a step back.
‘Is the difference really this big?’
“Nothing?”
Gooooo-!
Leo generated an aura.
“Then, are you ready?”
“W-wait! Leo! Just a moment!”
Jevin cried out hastily, his face pale.
“W-we were wrong! If we’re eliminated like this, we’ll be expelled! Please, just one chance!”
“Y-yes! Forgive us!”
“I-I never intended to fight you, Leo! It was because these guys instigated it!”
“Don’t be ridiculous! You were the most actively involved!”
Having lost their will to fight, they quickly collapsed.
“Le-Leo! You don’t necessarily need to eliminate us, do you? Huh? So…”
Nivea said in a trembling voice.
Looking at Nivea, Leo said,
“Indeed, leaving people like you alone isn’t really a threat, nor do I gain anything by eliminating you.”
At those words, the faces of the squabbling students brightened.
“Th-then!”
“But here’s the thing.”
Leo’s face turned cold.
“If the situation were reversed, would you really have shown me mercy?”
The students’ faces were stained with despair.
Clang-!
“This could be your last battle as Lumen students. So, fight back like Lumen students.”
“Don’t be ridiculous! I’m staying in Lumen!”
Jevin, cursing, quickly fled the battlefield using a Wing spell.
“Cowardly bastard!”
“Damn it! Run away!”
Watching his classmates scatter in all directions, Leo sighed.
Simply surviving the final practical exam doesn’t automatically grant a high score.
“If you’re a hero, there are times you must fight even if you know you’ll lose.”
It was as if they had kicked away their last chance.
“It’s best to discard the illusion that you can escape.”
Leo smiled coldly.
***
When the inter-department competition began, most of the Lumen students dropped in Neigran fell into a panic.
“Monster? Hey! Don’t herd it this way!”
“My dear departmental friend! Let’s take care of the monster together! We agreed to combine our strength, didn’t we?!”
“Hey! That was for a normal inter-department competition! Now, it’s about the exam… Ah! Seriously, just get away!”
A student charging towards a classmate from the same department while being chased by monsters inhabiting Neigran.
“Wait! A curse has been activated here right now… Ughhhhh!”
“Sensory confusion curse… Ugh! N-nausea!”
A student afflicted by a curse spread throughout Neigran.
“Bring it on!”
“Exactly what I wanted! Let’s fight!”
Students fiercely fighting each other.
“Please! We’re in the same class! Please, let’s form a party together!”
“Ah! Th-that is, you and I are from different departments…! Let go of this!”
And so on, students clinging to classmates.
With the sudden addition of the final practical exam element, the inter-department competition was chaos itself.
The pressure of the final exam was so great that the existing strategies were completely overturned.
Artian, the homeroom professor of Class 8, who was watching the scene through a transmission spell in Lumen, said with a serious face.
“I wonder if this isn’t too harsh on the students.”
“That’s a complacent thought, Professor Artian.”
At Halind’s words, Artian flinched and drew back his neck.
“This inter-department competition, though it might have seemed like a solo event at first glance, strictly speaking, was a situation where students could sufficiently form teams and cooperate with each other.”
“For a hero, political diplomacy is also an important virtue. As such, cooperating in advance can also be considered a part of preparedness.”
Professor Sedjen, taking over from Halind’s words, looked at the students reflected in the transmission magic and said,
“But the world never goes according to plan. The Headmaster must have aimed for that. It’s no exaggeration to say that this inter-department competition is a test of their ability to handle unexpected situations.”
“Still, it’s too harsh. Shouldn’t we guide the students in a more stable way?”
As a new professor, Artian, who was not from Lumen, could not adapt to Lumen’s educational policy of constantly forcing trials upon students.
“In a normal school, that would be the case. But Professor Artian, this is Lumen.”
“Yes?”
“The students we raise are hero candidates. And a hero is one who overcomes trials.”
Sedjen made a serious expression.
“If they cannot even overcome such trials, let alone becoming a hero, they might lose their lives during Lumen’s academic process.”
Having said that, he let out a deep sigh.
“Even to prevent that, we must constantly test the students’ potential.”
It was a moment when all the teachers fell silent at Sedjen’s words, as he had witnessed more student deaths than anyone.
“Professors.”
“Secretary Elena, what’s the matter?”
Elena, the Headmaster’s secretary, came to where the first-year professors were gathered.
“Something urgent has come up for the assistant professors. May I take them?”
“What is this urgent task for the assistant professors?”
At Halind’s question, Secretary Elena smiled sweetly.
“Due to the current lockdown order, we need to mobilize personnel.”
“Understood. Assistant professors, it’s school business, so please lend your efforts.”
Once Sedjen gave his permission, the assistant professors followed Secretary Elena out of the parade ground.
“What’s wrong, Halind?”
When Sedjen asked Halind, who was staring at Elena, Halind shook his head.
“No, it’s nothing.”
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