Chapter 377
Chapter Title: A True Warrior
-----------------------------------------------------------------
“Whoa, that’s brutal. Black Rabbit.”
Ar clicked her tongue, her white tail swaying gently as she watched the scene unfolding through the projection magic.
“You’re the Black Rabbit, not Lumerne’s student council president.”
“Who are you calling a rabbit? I’m a cat, you stupid tiger.”
Ar shot a glare at Borman, who had come up beside her and linked his arm with hers.
Borman, the 5th-ranked second-year at Azonia and a tiger beastman, looked down at Ar and said.
“Want me to get you a mirror?”
Ar scoffed at his words.
“Still, this is surprising.”
“What’s so surprising?”
“I never expected Lumerne’s student council president to be so tough.”
Borman gestured admiringly at Leo on the screen.
On the screen, Leo had a dwarf warrior armed with a giant war hammer by the face.
It wasn't just a matter of superior strength and technique.
“I thought he was far from a warrior.”
“Are you an idiot? He’s an all-class. If he’s not a warrior, what is he?”
“Huhu, not all warriors are the same.”
Borman clenched and unclenched his fists as he looked at Ar’s incredulous expression.
“There are plenty of unmanly warriors who avoid direct confrontation, cowardly relying on magic and spirits. I thought Leo Flove might be one of them, but I was foolish.”
“What’s this musclehead talking about? Since when are magic and spirits cowardly?”
“A true fight is a glorious, head-on clash of strength and skill!”
Ar gave him a pathetic look, but Borman paid her no mind.
Borman Tisser.
He hailed from one of the five beastman nations.
He was the son of the beastman hero Botech Tisser and the champion of the Colosseum of Steel in the Nation of Iron.
In the nations of the beastmen, a race of conflict, there were no kings.
Instead, the champions of each nation’s colosseum wielded power comparable to that of a monarch.
Of course, not all of the strongest beastmen were colosseum fighters.
Ar’s family, the Tunes, was not one that participated in the colosseum.
However, it was a fact that many prestigious beastman families were active in the colosseum.
The colosseum was the place to display one’s strength and make a name for oneself.
As the son of a champion, Borman had been raised as a fighter from a young age.
As such, he possessed a fighting spirit that was exceptional even among the combative students of Azonia.
He was a man who grew excited at the sight of a new, strong opponent.
Borman’s muscles rippled as he balled his fists.
“Watching him fight, I can tell. The man is a true warrior. A man just like me and you!”
“Right, right. The Black Rabbit is a true warrior and a man just like us…”
Ar nodded along dismissively, then paused.
“Why am I a man?!”
“Gah?”
Her eyes flashing fiercely, she kicked Borman in the side.
Borman crumpled to the floor, twitching, before recovering and getting back to his feet a moment later.
“To think I’d get the chance to have a manly duel with Leo Flove. A battle using Aura is magnificent, but a struggle of pure physical strength is also an exciting fight.”
Genuinely pleased, Borman declared proudly.
“I’m glad I fell into gambling debt. Ar, stay out of this. I’ll be the one to fight him.”
“Do whatever you want.”
Ar scoffed.
As an Azonia student, Ar also wanted to face Leo, but she held back this time.
She wanted to pay off her debt quickly, but a large part of her also wanted to introduce Leo to Borman.
*‘…The Black Rabbit needs to know there are idiots who say things like this, so he’ll stop calling me a stupid cat.’*
***
Thud-!
The beastman warrior, his face grabbed by Leo, collapsed with his features caved in.
Leo pushed the unconscious beastman, whose eyes had rolled back, aside as if uninterested.
Silence filled the underground arena, a place that should have been roaring with cheers, jeers, and gasps.
The only one exuding any presence was Leo, his red eyes glinting—he was the sole focus.
The warriors Leo faced in the arena were all of a low caliber.
From prisoners who should have been sentenced to death to skilled fighters who had committed crimes in the outside world and ended up here.
It was a fight devoid of honor, solely for the sake of spectacle.
And in that fight, Leo showed no emotion.
He displayed no anger toward the criminals, no disgust for those who reveled in killing for sheer pleasure.
He showed no emotion, not even toward those who fell by his hand.
He was as dispassionate as a janitor cleaning up the trash before him.
That sight instilled a primal fear in everyone present.
Leo's presence was reminiscent of a judge.
But it was far from righteous.
He was simply slaughtering those who had lived unjustly, devoid of any emotion.
Those who lived lives of sin felt a fundamental fear at the sight of him.
That was why they dared not even breathe a word.
Leo casually flexed his fingers and looked at the commentator.
Meeting Leo’s red eyes, the commentator swallowed dryly and turned his head away.
Karl clicked his tongue as he watched Leo overwhelm the entire casino with his presence alone.
“Leo’s no joke.”
It was a side of him that was unfamiliar even to Karl, his closest friend at the academy.
“Somehow… he seems very different from the Leo we imagined.”
Juen swallowed nervously.
Leo Flove.
The youngest first-year student council president in Lumerne’s 3000-year history, a feat unparalleled.
The path Leo had walked was filled with achievements so grand they were rare even when compared to the countless legends and tales of numerous heroes.
Right now, the upperclassman most admired by the first-years was none other than Leo.
But seeing Leo in actual combat was different from what they had imagined.
They had pictured a righteous figure who would embrace all and lead the people.
And most first-years had dreamed of becoming like Leo.
If they were to become heroes.
They thought they had to achieve great deeds like Leo, starting from their first year.
Juen was no different.
But she had never imagined him dispatching people so dispassionately, even if they were criminals.
“Do we… have to be like that too?”
“I am a knight, so I have no choice but to follow the Young Master.”
As Betty murmured with a confused expression, Austin replied in a somber voice.
The atmosphere grew heavy, and he thought deeply.
*‘…It’s shocking… but that’s not the wrong path.’*
A hero must sometimes be ruthless.
In that respect, Leo’s current actions were also close to a hero’s virtue.
*‘But something’s different.’*
Conflicted, Juen looked at Luke and said.
“You’re surprisingly calm.”
“Pardon?”
Luke looked at Juen with a puzzled expression.
“You genuinely respect Leo too, don’t you? Didn’t you want to be like him?”
“I did. But there’s something Leo told me a while back.”
“What did he say?”
“He told me not to be like him.”
“What?”
“Don’t become like me.”
“Pardon?”
Luke’s eyes widened as he looked at Leo, who had spoken so suddenly in the middle of training.
“No matter how hard you try, you’ll walk a different path than me.”
Leo smirked as he looked at Luke.
“You’re too kind.”
“But… you’re the closest person to a hero among all Lumerne students. Everyone wants to walk the same path as you, don’t they?”
The younger one is, the more they are drawn to the nearest, most brilliant light.
And for the first-years at Lumerne, the nearest and most brilliant light was none other than Leo.
“I’m not as noble as you all think. The path I’ve walked and will continue to walk isn’t exactly filled with dreams and romance… It’s not a clean path.”
Luke stared at Leo with a bewildered look.
“Kids your age think the most impressive-looking path is the right answer. But there is no right answer. There are just different paths for each person.”
“Leo said it’s fine to just take the path you want to go.”
At Luke’s words, Juen, Betty, and Austin’s eyes widened.
Hearing that, Karl clicked his tongue.
“Seriously, sometimes it feels like there’s an old man who’s lived a full life trapped inside him.”
Shaking his head, Karl glanced at Chloe and Chelsea.
They were probably more bewildered by Leo’s display than the first-years.
*‘Well, I’m a slacker and never really dreamed of being a hero.’*
More accurately, he knew all too well that he couldn’t become one.
Lumerne’s motto was to surpass one’s limits.
But Karl was one of the students who felt those limits keenly.
That was why his feelings toward Leo were quite different from Chelsea’s and Chloe’s.
Karl knew better than anyone how incredible Leo was.
Though they were friends, he genuinely respected him and believed he would become a hero who would achieve feats no one else could.
He wanted to be helpful from behind Leo, but he had never thought of standing beside him.
But Chelsea and Chloe were different.
Chelsea, who had looked up to him as an object of admiration from the day they met, and Chloe, who had received his help when she was lost and wandering.
For the two of them, who had been striving to follow in Leo’s footsteps and walk the same path, they were now seeing a completely different side of him.
“The class president is giving off this dangerous man vibe. Isn’t it kind of cool?”
Meanwhile, Iliana’s eyes widened as she chattered on.
“You’re lucky. Not a single thought in your head.”
“What was that?!”
Iliana glared at Karl.
Karl clicked his tongue and looked worriedly at Chelsea and Chloe.
The two girls were silently watching the intimidating figure of Leo.
It was then.
“Uwooooooooooooh!”
A roar that seemed to shatter the atmosphere echoed through the arena.
Everyone turned in surprise toward the entrance.
A massive tiger beastman was walking out, his arms raised high.
“Huh?”
“That guy is…”
The second-years let out surprised gasps.
“Do you know him?”
When Betty asked, Chloe nodded.
“Yeah, that’s Borman Tisser, the 5th-ranked second-year at Azonia.”
At Chloe’s words, the first-years’ eyes widened.
They couldn’t help but be bewildered by the sudden appearance of a big shot from another academy.
“It’s been a while! Leo Flove!”
“Borman from Azonia, wasn’t it?”
Leo’s demeanor shifted completely as he let out a smirk.
Seeing that, Borman grinned back.
“You remember my name! What an honor!”
Wham-!
As the atmosphere changed, the casino patrons began to roar with excitement.
“I was moved by your untamed beastliness, Leo Flove! I am truly thrilled by this situation, where I can meet and cross swords with a warrior like you!”
“He hasn’t changed a bit.”
Chelsea clicked her tongue.
Chloe then asked.
“Come to think of it, you partied with Borman in Tarkam during the Smith exclusive contract incident, didn’t you?”
“Yeah.”
“How was he?”
“An idiot who only knows how to charge forward.”
“And that reckless person is the 5th-ranked second-year at Azonia?”
Betty said with a look of disbelief at Chelsea’s words.
“Yeah. But he’s strong. That’s why he’s ranked 5th.”
“Since he can’t use Aura, Leo might have a hard time. Look at that massive build.”
Beastmen were the strongest of all races in close-quarters combat.
Their bestial nature displayed terrifying power in battle.
In a situation where Aura couldn't be used, the strongest race was the beastmen.
“I doubt it.”
Chelsea smiled faintly.
“Didn’t I tell you? Leo was skilled enough to take down monsters during the entrance exam even without using Aura.”
“Chelsea’s right. Do you know when the most dreadful time in the Knight Department’s second-year classes is?”
Iliana chimed in after Chelsea, pouting her lips.
“It’s when we have to spar with the class president using only pure physical strength. The class president is a monster.”
Iliana shuddered as if the mere thought was unbearable.
***
From within the crowd, Deleanne was watching Leo.
*‘An all-class like the Hero of the Beginning? A second-year with unprecedented power? What does any of that matter.’*
He turned away with a cold expression.
*‘Isn’t he just like those vulgar shadows who hunt in the darkness… unrecognized even by the gods? To make a guy like that the student council president, at a time when a nobler hero is needed more than ever… Lumerne has truly hit rock bottom.’*
Deleanne scoffed.
*‘I knew it, Lumerne is wrong. It doesn’t fit the times.’*
Deleanne clenched his fist, the corner of his mouth curling up.
*‘I will usher in a new age of heroes.’*