Chapter 125
Chapter Title: A Clever Escape
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125.
“Isn’t this a bit sudden?”
“What can you do? It’s not the first time our school has thrown something unexpected at us.”
“True.”
Dade muttered, and Karl shrugged.
Hearing that, Dade had to agree.
The first-years, who would have been flustered by such a sudden event back in the first semester, were now all composed.
They had all grown so accustomed to unexpected situations that they took this in stride.
In fact, the prevailing reaction was that they had expected something like this.
“Well then.”
The students' gazes turned to Liven.
“Begin.”
As soon as Liven finished speaking, the entire first-year class shot off toward Lumerne.
Watching them, Liven stroked his chin.
‘Their reactions are good. The ability to move this quickly must be due to the difference in experience.’
This year's first-years all experienced a crisis during the departmental competition.
‘Celia, Xia, Duran, Abad, Chloe, Chelsea, Woreden, Eliza. And Leo. Those nine were the ones who subjugated the Gigantes. The world may only be paying attention to them, but…’
The other students also fought monsters.
That experience was what made this year's class exceptional.
‘It happens sometimes, a generation like this.’
A special generation.
Normally, a hero who might appear once in a generation, if at all, emerges in numbers from a class with these characteristics.
‘The current fifth-years were like this too.’
The fifth-years were also a generation that garnered attention for its many outstanding talents.
But Liven felt no motivation to teach the first-years.
‘In the past few hundred years, has there been a single hero from Lumerne who achieved anything remarkable? No. And it's not just Lumerne; the other hero academies are the same.’
Many heroes have been born over a long period.
Becoming a hero means overcoming a great ordeal.
That's why most heroes were content just to attain the title of hero.
‘But that alone isn't enough.’
The reason the gods gifted the Hero Record to the mortal world.
It was to completely subjugate Erebos and Tartaros.
‘But now, it seems the ultimate goal has become 'being a hero' itself.’
Liven had lived for many long years as a professor at Lumerne.
Very few within Lumerne knew he was a dragon.
100 years ago, he received an order from the Dragon Lord to guide the students of Lumerne and became a teacher there.
The lifespan of a dragon is roughly 300 years.
Liven had spent a significant portion of his life as a professor at Lumerne.
After the Age of Calamity.
Following the will of Lisinas, the King of Wisdom, dragons developed a tradition of choosing and assisting heroes.
Perhaps because of this, heroes acknowledged by dragons achieved even greater feats.
Liven, too, was full of motivation at first.
He never doubted that in the near future, a hero would be born who would carry on the legacy of the great heroes and defeat Erebos and Tartaros.
But the state of the world had not changed significantly for hundreds of years.
The fight against Tartaros continued endlessly, but it was a stalemate.
‘The children of this era rarely look beyond becoming a hero to a greater ideal.’
That's why he felt no motivation.
‘And I've gotten older, too.’
Watching the students disappear in an instant, Liven looked up at the sky.
A world that hadn't changed for so long was enough to weary a dragon.
‘Is it time for me to retire?’
***
The vast Lumeria Lake, so wide it could be mistaken for a sea, contains several islands.
On the massive island at its center lies the sprawling Lumerne Academy.
‘Come to think of it, this place wasn't a lake before the Age of Calamity, was it?’
The center of the world.
Although Lumerne Academy is now located here, this was originally the land of dragons.
‘Wasn't this said to be the first land attacked after Erebos appeared?’
It was a story from his childhood even in his past life, so Leo's memory was hazy.
Even when he traveled the world to subjugate Erebos, he had never been to the area where Lumeria City now stood.
As Leo reminisced about the past, he suddenly lifted his head.
“Prepare yourself! Leo Flove!”
Intense sparks crackled as an aura of golden lightning flashed.
The sudden attack sent students scattering in all directions, horrified.
They each defended themselves against the swirling lightning using their own methods.
“You dodged.”
Duran, standing on the water's surface with Aura Step, gave Leo a cold smile.
Seeing this, Leo crossed his arms.
“We're not exactly competing against each other right now, so why are you attacking me?”
“No one said we had to compete, but no one said we couldn't either.”
A fierce fighting spirit swirled in Duran's eyes.
“In that case, there's no reason not to fight. I've been training all break to defeat you. Come at me, Leo Flove.”
Duran enveloped his body in an aura of crackling lightning.
Watching him, Leo scratched his head.
“Ugh, I don't feel like exerting myself on the first day back.”
“Hmph. Arrogant fool. That composure of yours will soon vanish...”
“There you are! Leo Flove!”
A sharp voice cut in between the two.
Riding Delphinus, a top-tier phantom beast, Eliza charged forward with a glare.
“Prepare yourself!”
Delphinus created a spray of water.
“Gasp! Eliza Hergin too?!”
“Get back! Get back!”
“If we get caught between them, we'll be goners! Fall back!”
With the appearance of Eliza, another top-tier student who attacked without any regard for her surroundings, the students hurriedly distanced themselves from Leo.
Still, they didn't exactly run away.
Duran and Eliza.
Both were top students of their year, and both were known for their fiery tempers.
On top of that, they wanted to defeat Leo more than anyone.
So they also shared the trait of always looking for an opportunity.
Other students were also aiming for the position of year representative, but these two were particularly belligerent.
‘Can't miss a good show like this!’
‘Things are getting interesting on the first day back~’
Isn't a fight one of the most entertaining spectacles in the world?
The students watched the confrontation between the three with sparkling eyes.
Leo sighed as he watched the wave crashing toward him and summoned his magic.
“Freezing.”
The massive wave that was about to engulf Leo instantly froze solid.
But as if she had expected this, Eliza prepared her next attack.
Empowered by Eliza's spiritual power, Delphinus opened its mouth and let out a screeching roar.
The powerful sonic attack shattered the ice in an instant.
Leo felt his head ring for a moment and raised his aura to resist the sonic attack.
Duran, who was caught in the blast, also grimaced.
Unlike the two who withstood the sonic attack head-on, a few of the indirectly affected students with lower resistance foamed at the mouth and fainted.
The students watching from a distance swallowed dryly.
‘If we're not careful, just watching could get us into serious trouble.’
As everyone tensed up, Duran's sharp gaze turned to Eliza.
Duran closed in on Eliza with incredible speed using Aura Step and raised his sword.
As the lightning-like sword strike came down, Eliza grimaced and summoned her spiritual power.
“Luri! Move!”
Strengthened by Eliza's spiritual power, Delphinus dove underwater.
Seeing this, Duran gave a menacing smile.
“Do you think you can escape by diving deep into the water?”
As the sound of thunder rumbled from Duran's sword, the faces of the spectating students turned pale.
“Hey! Hey! Run! It's a wide-area attack!”
“Aaaaaaaaargh!”
“I don't want to get fried by lightning on the first day of the semester!”
Duran thrust his sword, and a storm of lightning raged across the area.
The students who had barely escaped the attack's range looked at Leo, who had defended against Duran's attack, with horrified expressions.
Even though he wasn't the direct target of the attack, Leo's calm demeanor despite being caught in such an assault was nothing short of astonishing.
“As expected, an attack like this doesn't even make you flinch.”
Just as Duran smirked at Leo...
An unusual presence was felt from beneath the water.
The students' faces filled with horror as they saw the creatures that broke through the water's surface.
“Aqua Gorgos!”
A water serpent-type monster, it was a tricky aquatic monster to face in the water.
Five Aqua Gorgos charged at Duran, seemingly enraged.
It was Delphinus's Domination ability, one of its powers.
Duran scoffed at the Aqua Gorgos and swung his sword.
A golden flash glinted, and an incredibly fast sword strike sliced through the Aqua Gorgos.
Just as the clean sword strike lopped off all the Aqua Gorgos's heads...
A water vortex engulfed Duran.
Grimacing, Duran swung his sword.
He succeeded in slicing through the water vortex, but the impact sent him flying back.
A murderous intent filled Duran's face.
“Hmph!”
Eliza, who had resurfaced, also scoffed and glared at Duran.
“You must have a death wish, getting in my way.”
“You're the one who shouldn't be getting in *my* way.”
Eliza shot back venomously at Duran's cold voice.
Just as menacing smiles formed on the lips of the two students glaring at each other...
“You two are full of energy on the first day back, huh?”
Leo said with a sigh, and the gazes of the two turned to him.
“An opportunity to settle things quickly has just presented itself.”
“This time, I will take the position of year representative.”
“So, are you two going to team up on me?”
“Don't worry, Leo Flove. I wouldn't stoop to such a base tactic.”
“Not only is there no reason for me to join forces with this man, but there would be no value in defeating you that way.”
“Then decide who's going first.”
“Obviously, it's me.”
“Don't be ridiculous. I'm first.”
Sparks flew between them again.
Seeing this, Leo said.
“Then let's do this. You two fight first, and I'll face the winner. Doesn't that make sense?”
Hearing Leo's words, Duran's lips curled into a smirk.
“Simple and clear. I like it. Come at me, Eliza Hergin.”
“Just what I wanted, Duran Moira.”
The two, famous for their foul tempers, glared at each other, and an immense battle began.
One of the other students, who was dazedly watching the spectacular fight between the year's top students, suddenly asked Leo.
“Where are you going? Weren't you going to fight one of them?”
“Yeah. But I never said I'd fight them right now.”
“What?”
“Well then, I'm heading off.”
Leo waved and then zipped away.
Duran and Eliza were so focused on defeating each other that they didn't even notice Leo leaving.
The students watching from the sidelines looked at Duran and Eliza with pity.
‘Hey, you two got played by Leo.’
‘Sigh. Imagine how empty they'll feel when they realize Leo is gone.’
While thinking this, one student muttered.
“Hey. What if they find out Leo left, get mad, and take it out on us? We'd all be in big trouble, right?”
“...”
The students looked at each other.
Come to think of it, there was no guarantee that wouldn't happen.
Exchanging glances, the students quietly began to slip away.
A short while later.
Realizing they were the only ones left, Duran and Eliza also stopped fighting.
And when they realized Leo had also disappeared, immense fury erupted on their faces.
“Leo Flove! You bastard!”
“You reaaaaaaally!”
The futile rage of the two, who realized they had been tricked by Leo, spread in all directions.
But Leo was already far ahead, in a place the two could not catch up to.