Chapter 308
Chapter Title: The King
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308
At the mention of a mock battle, a stir went through the second-year students.
“A large-scale mock battle between the dorms?”
“So you’re saying the entire dorm will be participating in this mock battle?”
It was a battle on a massive scale, involving every single second-year student.
“Quiet.”
At that single, curt word, all the second-years fell silent and focused on Halind.
“This practical exam is to evaluate your capabilities in large-scale interpersonal combat.”
Halind’s cool gaze swept over the students.
“During your first year, you studied and trained for one-on-one duels or battles against numerous monsters, magical beasts, and demons.”
The students nodded in agreement.
“From your second year, you need to learn about combat against large groups of humans or other sentient races.”
Most students looked puzzled at Halind’s words.
Chelsea shot her hand into the air.
“What is it, Chelsea Llewellyn.”
“Is there any reason to differentiate? It’s all just fighting, isn’t it?”
At that, Halind scanned the students with a blank expression.
The atmosphere suggested that most students agreed with Chelsea.
“Is there a student who can answer Chelsea’s question?”
In response, a few students raised their hands.
“Emio Luchan, you may answer.”
Halind gave the floor to Emio, who had been the first to raise his hand.
“Large-scale interpersonal combat involves entirely different strategies and tactics. Unlike monsters and magical beasts, which tend to move in simplistic patterns, or demons, who are threatening by their very existence, large-scale human forces are often highly trained and move in unit formations. If you carelessly treat them like monsters, you could fall for their strategies and be lured into a trap.”
Halind nodded at Emio’s explanation.
“Excellent. I’ll give you five points for participation.”
“Thank you.”
Bowing his head, Emio let out a small, smug ‘hmph’ and glanced at Chelsea.
Seeing him, Chelsea stuck her tongue out as if to say he was obnoxious.
Emio, who came from a long line of military men, had received military training since he was a child.
As such, he knew just how fundamentally different fighting humans was from facing monsters, magical beasts, and demons.
“Anyone else wish to state another difference?”
At Halind’s question, the students glanced at one another.
Amidst the hesitation, Chen Xia raised her hand.
“Chen Xia, you may answer.”
“Whatever the reason, the difference is that in a real battle, you have to take many human lives.”
Unlike her usual self, Chen Xia’s face was utterly expressionless.
The students around her flinched at the sight.
Even if they were hero cadets, they were still just boys and girls in their mid-teens.
They were far too young to truly grasp the weight of taking a human life.
Everyone swallowed nervously.
“Five points for participation.”
Chen Xia didn't reply, simply lowering her hand.
“A hero’s greatest enemy is Tartaros. That is an absolute, unchanging truth.”
Halind looked at the students.
“But far in the future, due to personal circumstances, a day may come when you point your weapons at each other on the battlefield.”
They were all gathered here to study together under the name of Lumerne, the hero academy.
But most of the hero cadets had their own affiliations and the complex interests that came with them.
This was a place where talented individuals from every country in the world gathered.
As such, there were many students present whose home countries were hostile to one another.
The mood among the students grew heavy.
“However, know this one thing. This large-scale combat exam is not meant to simulate such a war.”
Halind took a deep breath.
“It is to prepare you for the battles you will one day face against the Hero Hunters. Never forget that.”
“Yes, sir!”
Halind nodded at his students’ resounding reply and spoke.
“Now, I will explain the rules for this exam.”
Halind snapped his fingers.
A screen materialized in the air via magic.
“The battlefield for this exam is Lumeria Lake.”
The students’ eyes lit up as they gazed at the scenery of Lumeria Lake.
“And each dormitory will be given a base.”
*Snap!* He snapped his fingers again, and three islands appeared.
“Whoa! This is the real deal!”
“They called it a mock battle, but we’re even getting bases.”
They exclaimed in awe.
The other students also reacted with excited delight.
“This is gonna be fun!”
Karl exclaimed.
Halind’s cool gaze turned to Karl.
“Karl Thomas.”
“Ye-Yes?”
“Chelsea Llewellyn.”
“Yes?”
“Step forward.”
Karl, who thought he was about to be scolded for calling the exam ‘fun,’ felt a sense of relief when Chelsea was called up with him.
Halind handed Karl a bracelet.
“This is a magical artifact that will protect your body. Put it on.”
At Halind’s words, Karl put on the bracelet without a second thought.
The bracelet began to glow green.
“Ooh?”
While Karl was marveling at it.
“Chelsea Llewellyn.”
“Yes.”
“Attack Karl Thomas with magic.”
“Wind Storm.”
*Whoooosh!*
“Gyaaaaaah?!”
Without hesitation, Chelsea used her specialty, high-speed casting, to send Karl flying.
Karl, who had been sent flying miserably and crashed into the floor, twitched and trembled.
Everyone sent pitying glances his way.
A moment later.
“Hey! Wait! You can’t just send me flying like that out of nowhere!”
“It was Professor Halind’s order.”
“There are weaker spells, like Magic Arrow!”
“It’s an experiment, so I thought a strong spell was needed. Looks like it didn’t hurt?”
“It did hurt! It hurt a lot! I’m just not injured!”
Chelsea gave Karl a fresh and cute smile in response to his protest.
Halind pointed to Karl’s wrist.
“Everyone, look at Karl Thomas’s wrist. See how it’s glowing red?”
Not only that, but the light on the bracelet, which had been entirely green, was now extinguished except for the very top part.
“The red light signifies a near-death state. This bracelet serves as both a protective artifact and a display for your life points. When the light on the bracelet disappears, you are considered ‘dead.’ Of course, you won’t be injured, but it doesn’t completely block the pain.”
All the students nodded.
“Is it over once we run out of life points?”
When Chloe raised her hand and asked, Halind shook his head.
“No. Once your life points are depleted, you will revive at your base after five minutes and can rejoin the battle.”
“Oooh…!”
“However, the opposing team will be awarded five subjugation points.”
“Ooooh.”
“Additionally, you can build forward bases and install warp gates to them from your main base to rejoin the battle more quickly. If a forward base is destroyed, the team that destroyed it gets twenty points.”
“Is it possible to capture an enemy base?”
Halind nodded at Celia’s question.
“Yes. Capturing and taking over a base awards three hundred points. And the team whose base is captured can no longer revive. If they’re all wiped out, it’s over. Of course, it’s also possible to retake a captured base.”
Everyone tensed up at his words.
“So, in the end, the team with the most points wins.”
“Correct, Abad Llewellyn.”
A commotion arose among the students at Halind’s answer.
“Awesome! This is awesome!”
“This exam is going to be fun!”
“We can come up with all sorts of strategies!”
Watching the students, Halind spoke again.
“There is another victory condition besides accumulating points.”
The students quickly focused on Halind’s words.
“If a dormitory’s King is captured, that dormitory is immediately eliminated.”
Everyone’s eyes widened.
“Naturally, the King cannot revive.”
***
Glory Dormitory Common Room.
“Everyone, gather around!”
“Is anyone missing?”
All the dormitory students gathered in the common room.
While all the Glory students assembled, Chloe was off to one side, reading a thick book.
“What are you reading?”
Rettadam, a male student from the Glory summoning department, asked with a curious look, and Chloe replied with a smile.
“A book on tactical theory.”
Amidst this, Leo spoke up.
“Alright, let’s start the strategy meeting.”
At Leo’s words, Chloe closed her book.
“But before that, I think we should pick a strategist.”
At that, Iliana raised her hand.
“Me! Me! Class rep! I’ll do it!”
Seeing Iliana, protests erupted from all around.
“Hey! If you make the plan, it’ll just be ‘charge straight ahead’!”
“The girl who’s a charge-happy idiot even in one-on-one fights wants to be the strategist?”
Facing the backlash from her dormmates, Iliana crossed her arms and lifted her chin.
“Hmph! You seem to have forgotten that I am of the Raden Family! My family is a line of war heroes! We even have a family motto related to war!”
“And what’s the motto?”
Iliana smirked at Rettadam’s question.
“Overwhelm and annihilate with absolute power.”
“Sounds more like a motto for annihilating our own side.”
The reaction from her dormmates was icy.
“I think Chloe should be the strategist.”
“Yeah! Chloe’s great at strategy and planning!”
“She’s a chess master, too!”
Chloe nodded.
“Alright then. I’ll do it.”
“Then I’ll be the vice-strategist!”
“Denied.”
“Class reeeep! They’re ignoring me!”
Iliana whined to Leo with a tearful expression.
Having thus become the strategist, Chloe spoke.
“First, before we plan our strategy, I think we need to decide on our King.”
At her words, all the students grew tense.
“Who would be a good King? Any volunteers?”
Everyone glanced around at Chloe’s question.
Even Iliana, who loved to step forward, was seriously contemplating this time.
The King.
This was the biggest variable in the upcoming battle.
Even if they captured the enemy base or racked up subjugation points through overwhelming combat, if their King died, they would lose.
Therefore, it was best for the King to be someone strong.
But on the other hand, making the dorm’s strongest fighter the ‘King’ was also a problem.
Large-scale battles were full of variables.
No matter how strong someone was, a moment of carelessness could lead to them losing all their life points and being eliminated.
For that reason, it was best for the King not to leave the safety of the base.
“This is more of a headache than I thought.”
The Glory Dormitory students shook their heads.
“It’s a crucial role that absolutely cannot die, so a strong person should take it, but then our overall combat power decreases.”
“But if we give it to someone suited for base defense, that feels risky too.”
“They can’t even actively defend the base. They have to be ready to run if things go south.”
As everyone pondered.
“If there are no volunteers, I have someone I’d like to recommend.”
Everyone looked at Chloe.
Looking at her dormmates, Chloe said.
“I think Leo is the most suitable for the role of King.”
Everyone’s eyes widened at her words.
“Isn’t it too much of a waste to make Leo the King? He’s our strongest fighter.”
The students nodded at Rettadam’s words.
Looking at the students, Chloe said.
“The other dorms won’t know that Leo is the King anyway.”
That was true.
The identity of the King was kept ‘secret’ from the other dormitories.
Chloe’s lips curled into a smile.
“We’re going to use that.”
“What?”
“Leo is our strongest asset. As such, the other dorms will think it’s unlikely he’d be the King.”
“That’s true.”
Leo stroked his chin.
“So you’re saying I should be the King and intercept our enemies.”
“Yes. Exactly.”
Chloe nodded.
“In fact, most of them will be reluctant to fight Leo. They won’t want to give him subjugation points.”
“So, the idea is that by making Leo the King and sending him to the front lines, the enemies will be cautious, which will actually keep him safe.”
Chen Xia said in admiration.
“Of course, there’s a variable here. Woreden, Duran, and Eliza will be gunning for Leo.”
Chloe’s eyes gleamed.
“But with Leo’s abilities, he can handle the three of them. They won’t team up, after all.”
Woreden, Duran, and Eliza were targeting Leo because he was their goal.
Therefore, their pride would not allow them to join forces.
“As for people like Celia, Abad, and Chelsea, they’ll weigh the pros and cons and avoid a fight with Leo.”
In essence, it was a plan to hide the most important person in the most dangerous place.
“Still, isn’t that too dangerous?”
Iliana said worriedly, and Chloe nodded.
“It’s certainly risky. But.”
Looking at Leo, Chloe grinned.
“The moment our opponents think, ‘There’s no way they’d use their strongest card like that,’ this mock battle will become incredibly advantageous for us.”
The Glory students stared at Chloe.
Her soft chuckles reminded them of a dangerous witch from a fairy tale.
“So? What’ll it be?”