Chapter 437
Chapter Title: Intense Training and a Slip-Up
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437.
A week had passed since the training retreat began.
As expected of a rural territory on the frontier, the mountains of the Flove estate were filled with rugged terrain.
Among them, far below, was a cliff overlooking a raging ravine.
The students gulped, their mouths dry, as they stared at the faintly visible stream below.
Then they turned around and asked.
“So? What are we doing today?”
Iliana asked, her face slightly pale.
In response, the Azonia graduate, a rabbit beastkin named Vanir, spoke calmly.
“What do you think?”
With a deadpan expression, she jutted her chin toward the cliff.
“Jump.”
At her word, the faces of Iliana and all the other students training under her turned white as sheets.
“You said today was simple courage training!”
Lewen, a fox beastkin and second-year from Azonia, cried out urgently.
“This is that courage training,” Vanir stated flatly.
“Courage is essential in a fight. As you know, this isn't just a virtue for beastkin; it's a requirement for all hero candidates.”
Iliana raised her hand at that.
“I’m curious what that has to do with jumping off a cliff with no equipment.”
“Where do you think true courage comes from?”
“From the heart, of course.”
Vanir shook her head at Iliana’s answer.
“No.”
Seeing Vanir’s firm denial, this time a Seirun student, Tirena, raised her hand.
“I believe it comes from thorough preparation.”
“Wrong.”
One by one, the students offered their thoughts, but Vanir simply shook her head decisively.
Lewen scowled and said, “Then where does the true courage you’re thinking of come from, Senior Vanir?”
“True courage comes from fear.”
“What?”
“When you overcome fear and wring out every last drop of courage. Only then does it become real. This training, jumping off a cliff with nothing, is the same.”
Vanir approached Lewen.
“Living creatures instinctively fear jumping from high places. This training is about overcoming that primal fear.”
“If it’s such a brutish method, shouldn’t you be making the other beastkin students do it? Why am I the only beastkin here?”
Lewen responded sharply.
Vanir replied calmly, “Because the other Azonia students are simple-minded. If I told them about true courage, they’d jump off the cliff without a second thought.”
“Well, idiots would certainly do that.”
“But you all are different.”
Vanir looked at the faces of the students she was in charge of, including Lewen, and said.
“You’re not the kind of fools who would be swayed by such talk and just jump.”
“Hmph, as expected of a former student council president, you have a good eye. I certainly do have a knack for assessing situations coolly.”
Watching Iliana puff up with pride, Vanir continued.
“You’re all the type to overthink things. That's why you'll question this kind of illogical training and keep feeling scared. To put it bluntly, you're petty and timid.”
The students’ faces crumpled at her scathing, heart-piercing words.
“In that sense, this kind of inefficient, illogical, and insane training is perfect for you.”
“If you know it’s inefficient, illogical, and insane, then don’t make us do it!” Lewen retorted, flaring up.
*Whoosh-!*
With a blank expression, Vanir lifted Lewen and threw her straight off the cliff.
“Aaaaaah!”
The fox beastkin’s desperate scream echoed through the air.
Vanir watched Lewen fall with a placid expression before speaking.
“Next, jump. Begin.”
But despite her command, no one moved.
Vanir grabbed Iliana.
“Wait a minute! We could actually die! Let’s do some more rational training…!”
“It’s fine, you won’t die.”
“How can you guarantee that!”
“If you die from something like this, blame your own weakness.”
“Th-that’s so irresponsible…! Kyaaaaaaah?!”
As Vanir’s cold words ended, Iliana’s wretched scream resounded throughout the mountains.
“Did you hear Iliana scream just now?”
Nella asked with a bitter smile, but Chloe sat up and shook her head.
“No, I didn’t hear anything.”
“I must have misheard.”
“It’s no wonder you’re hearing things.”
Chloe gritted her teeth.
“Getting beaten up this badly.”
“Hahahaha! Chloe Müller. You’ve got good grit for a mage.”
Jamua approached, loosening his shoulders.
But his gentle smile held a chilling edge.
The task for the students under Jamua was extremely simple.
It was defense training where they had to endure his attacks without fighting back.
The problem was Jamua’s merciless assault.
As if to prove he was the ‘strongest’ of last year’s graduates in terms of pure physical strength.
Even without using Aura or a weapon, Jamua’s hand-to-hand combat alone unleashed power comparable to large-scale magic spells.
‘If it were magic or summoning, I’d have a way to defend… but Senior Jamua’s attacks are pure physical force, which makes it harder.’
As a traditional mage, Chloe had countermeasures for being caught off guard.
But those were for situations with allies or for preparing a counterattack.
When it came to pure defense, her options were lacking.
No matter how you looked at it, Chloe was an offense-specialized mage.
Just then, Driana stepped forward.
“Hoh?”
Jamua’s lips curled into a smirk.
“Are you planning to block me alone?”
“Yes. Before I am a blacksmith, I am a shield for my allies.”
“Indeed, just as I’d expect from Demian’s year representative.”
Driana stood before Jamua, her voice uncharacteristically serious.
Her face was utterly grave.
Seeing this, Chloe pushed herself to her feet.
“I’ll help.”
*Riiiiip-!*
She then tore the hem of her skirt, which had become tattered from blocking Jamua’s attacks and was hindering her movement, up to her knees.
Seeing Chloe now dressed for mobility, Jamua grinned in approval.
“Tough, aren’t you?”
Driana stared intently at Chloe’s legs.
“Yes, an ice sculpture would be nice too.”
“What?”
“Those legs are a work of art. Chloe, was it? Ever thought of modeling for a masterpiece?”
“I decline if it’s a nude model.”
“Don’t worry about that. It’ll be semi-nude. I don’t need the full body. Just the lower half will do.”
“Absolutely not.”
Chloe refused in an icy tone.
“Can you feel the summon’s emotions yet?”
Lunia’s eyes twitched as she looked at Ulta, a graduate from Lumerne, who stood with his arms spread wide.
It wasn't just Lunia.
Beside her, Eliza wore a similar expression.
“No.”
“Ahem.”
Ulta looked up at the sky and lamented.
Ulta, the contractor of a Pegasus, was in charge of only two students.
Just Lunia and Eliza.
“How can you not know! As I’ve said time and again, your affinity with mythical beasts is higher than mine! So why can’t you do this simple thing?”
“How are we supposed to read the mind of a summon that isn’t even ours?”
“I agree with Lunia El Lundua, Senior Ulta.”
At Eliza’s words, Ulta let out a deep sigh.
“Piora, this is what you want, right?”
Ulta offered a cookie topped with cream to Piora, who was perched on the back of his hand.
*Peep-!*
Piora flapped her wings in delight at the sight of the cookie Ulta offered.
The training Ulta was having Lunia and Eliza do was to read a summon’s mind.
Reading one’s own summon’s mind was an obvious skill for a summoner.
That was why Ulta had brought Leo’s contractor, Piora.
“Wait a minute! I gave her that same cookie earlier!”
Lunia protested, feeling wronged.
Lunia, who was originally slated to be Piora’s contractor, had lost the position to Leo.
But even after that, she had never spared her affection for Piora.
As such, she was confident she knew Piora well.
“It didn’t have cream on it. No cream.”
*Peep- peep-*
“Grr-!”
As Piora chirped in agreement with Ulta’s reprimand, Lunia’s face twisted in frustration.
“Do you understand now? What I mean when I say you lack love! In that spirit, kneel and close your eyes. From now on, we shall deeply contemplate the meaning of love.”
After his grand proclamation, Ulta turned and left with a *swoosh-!*
Lunia and Eliza knelt and closed their eyes.
For a week, all they had done was kneel and meditate like this.
“Eliza Hergin.”
“What is it, Lunia El Lundua?”
“What on earth is this ‘love’ he’s talking about?”
“Don’t ask me.”
To the two girls, the thoughts of Ulta, who was renowned as an eccentric even more than a genius summoner, existed on a whole other plane of existence.
***
“It’s Leo Flove!”
“Food!”
“Get in line! In line!”
Dinnertime.
Every student attending the retreat lined up with bright faces.
A large kitchen had been set up in the middle of the campsite.
After a week, the hero candidates had adapted splendidly to the situation.
They now handled the nightly raids without much trouble.
Though pushed to their limits, they had even found a bit of leisure in their training retreat life.
“I endured for this moment!”
“Leo! What’s on the menu today?”
Leo, who had become the head of meals by unanimous decision of all the schools, replied.
“Barbecue.”
“Barbecue!”
“Ooooh!”
Cheers erupted from all around.
Leo looked at them with a pitying expression.
“Are they really that happy?”
“This is our only pleasure.”
Chelsea, who was helping Leo as his assistant, let out a deep sigh.
Soon, the food was ready and distribution was complete.
It was a time when students gathered in small groups with their friends to enjoy themselves.
“Leo! Over here!”
Chelsea, sitting next to Karl, waved at Leo.
“No, I’ll eat somewhere else.”
With that reply, Leo took his plate and headed to a spot slightly away from the main camp.
There, leaning against a large tree, sat Ar-on, staring blankly at the sunset.
“Dinner’s ready.”
“Thanks.”
Ar-on smiled as he took the plate from Leo.
Without taking his eyes off the sunset-drenched sky, he spoke.
“It’s beautiful. I understand why Lisinas risked everything to reclaim this view.”
Ar-on took a bite of meat and mumbled as he chewed.
“Kyle, did you want to reclaim this view too?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t really think about it.”
Leo chuckled and sat down next to Ar-on.
“Kyle.”
“Yeah.”
“If you hadn’t saved me, I would have died back then, killed by Erebos, right?”
“…”
Leo fell silent at Ar-on’s question.
Seeing Leo’s silence, Ar-on spoke calmly.
“It’s okay. I already know everything.”
“Know what?”
“Just before the battle started, I knew I was going to die there.”
“You knew?”
“Yeah. You know how hyper-senses sometimes tell you things you don’t want to know, right?”
Ar-on said calmly to the surprised Leo.
“I was prepared to die. And knowing that the world was saved like this, I’m fine. You don’t need to feel guilty about my death.”
Ar-on smiled at Leo.
From the moment his future friend brought him to the future.
Ar-on knew that Leo felt sorry for him.
Ar-on didn’t want Leo to carry such feelings.
“You would have done the same if you were me. So, I don’t know how long I can stay in this era. But don’t worry about that. Even if I go back, I’m prepared to accept my death.”
‘The guy who says he’s prepared… had eyes that screamed he didn’t want to die.’
Just as Ar-on could read Leo’s emotions, Leo could also read Ar-on’s.
“In that case, get some sleep.”
Ar-on hadn’t slept a wink since coming to this era.
He was afraid.
Afraid that when he opened his eyes, Erebos would be standing before him.
“I can’t not worry when you’re keeping your nerves on edge like that.”
“…Yeah.”
Ar-on smiled at Leo’s words.
He closed his eyes slightly and tried to sleep.
Just then, Ar approached Leo.
“Black Rabbit! Instructor Akan is—!”
“He’s sleeping.”
Eiran, who had come with her, widened her eyes.
“Instructor Akan’s sleeping fa—mmph! Mmph-! Mmph-?!”
The moment Ar started to get excited seeing Ar-on asleep.
Driana clamped one hand over Ar’s mouth and subdued her by wrapping her other arm around her neck.
“If I punch her in the solar plexus and knock her out, she’ll stop rampaging, right?”
As Lunia clenched her fist and muttered under her breath, Ar struggled wildly.
At that moment, Chelsea, who had followed Karl, crouched in front of Ar-on and let out a small gasp of admiration.
“But he really does look a lot like the Brave Hero Ar-on. I’d believe it if you said they were the same person.”
“You can say that again.”
Karl crouched beside her and muttered nonchalantly.
***
*Fwoosh-!*
The moment he regained consciousness, what he saw was black flames.
‘Ah, it’s a dream.’
Ar-on realized this was a dream.
His gaze naturally fell to the broken hilt of his beloved sword, ‘Brave,’ held in his hand.
The sword named Courage had reached the end of its life.
It had been exhausted in the battle against Erebos.
‘No…’
Ar-on knew.
The sword didn't break because its durability ran out.
Nor was it because Dweno, its creator, lacked skill.
‘It’s because I couldn’t swing it to the very end.’
He had stepped forward to face Erebos alone for the sake of his comrades.
But during the battle, Ar-on had given up the fight.
Because he knew he was going to die.
‘Dweno will… Luna… Lisinas… Kyle… they’ll take care of the rest.’
He had resigned himself.
‘Because Kyle will never give up.’
Until the moment of his death, he had relied on his friend.
‘I don’t want to go back.’
He was afraid of dying.
‘I haven’t even found what I want to do for myself yet.’
His courage, once broken in the face of death’s terror, made the Brave Hero hesitate.
*Rumble-rumble-rumble-!*
At that moment, the world shook.
***
*Rumble-rumble-rumble-!*
“An earthquake?”
Chelsea’s eyes widened as she looked down at the ground.
A small tremor was coming from beneath her feet.
*Flash-!*
In that instant, Ar-on’s eyes snapped open.
*Fwoosh-!*
In a flash, a change came over Ar-on’s body.
‘Gah?’
Seeing it, Karl inwardly gasped.
Eiran was also startled.
In the moment Chelsea was distracted by the sudden earthquake.
Ar-on had suddenly beastified.
The moon wasn't out yet.
And even if it were, today wasn’t a full moon.
For Ar-on to beastify in this situation?
“What’s with the sudden earthquake…!”
“Ch-Chelsea! You might fall!”
“Hey, Chelsea, watch your balance!”
Eiran and Karl blocked Chelsea’s view.
“What? It’s just a small tremor, I’m not going to fall. And why are you blocking my view? Are you hiding something from me?”
Chelsea’s eyes narrowed.
“Hiding something!”
Karl shook his head nonchalantly.
“Graaaaaaaawl-!”
At that moment.
Ar pushed Driana’s hand away and let out a roar.
Chelsea covered her ears and scowled at the sudden outcry.
“Why are you roaring all of a sudden!”
“Kyaaa-yaaa! Ahem! Hmph! Howling practice.”
“…You guys are suspicious.”
As Chelsea’s suspicion deepened.
Ar-on, who had been dazed, came to his senses.
Karl and Eiran looked at him and mouthed words.
Leo quietly spoke to the bewildered Ar-on.
“Undo the beastification.”
Understanding the situation, Ar-on undid his transformation.
But he was a step too late.
“Beastification?”
Chelsea’s eyes widened as she saw Ar-on’s transformed state.
“H-how did you beastify? Only that cat can do it when it’s not a full moon, right?”
Seeing the surprised Chelsea, Ar crossed her arms.
“Hmph! It seems Instructor Akan responded to my howl and beastified!”
Ar puffed out her chest proudly.
Lunia and Driana quickly played along.
“You finally succeeded?”
“Impressive. Just as I’d expect from my exclusive model.”
“Who’s your exclusive model?”
The three of them chatted nonchalantly to gloss over the situation.
At that, Chelsea’s expression changed to one of realization.
“Oh right, Ar Tune can make other beastkin transform with her howl, can’t she?”
Seeing Chelsea’s look of understanding, Karl and Eiran added on.
“That’s amazing, Ar!”
“Ooh, as expected of Azonia’s representative.”
Karl, who was desperately trying to smooth things over, covered his face as he saw Chelsea staring at him with an amused expression.
As close friends, he understood.
This little devil, who only acted meek and cute in front of Leo, had already figured everything out.
“Are you guys taking me for a fool? You think I’d fall for such a clumsy act?!”
Chelsea’s eyes narrowed.
She then approached the flustered Ar-on and said.
“Instructor Akan! Tell me the truth! You're the Brave Hero Ar-on, aren't you?!”