Chapter 464
Chapter Title: Heroes of Past and Present
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464.
After lunch break.
The second-years headed to the large circular lecture hall for a special class on Heroics.
There, Leo rested his chin on his hand.
‘Why are the tombs of heroes being robbed?’
The request he'd seen on the bulletin board during lunch.
‘The fact that it was posted on the plaza's request board means Lumerne doesn't consider it a big deal.’
A request that was all but neglected at the school level.
It was a board mostly used by third-years and above who were short on request credits and needed to quickly make them up.
Most of the incidents were low in both risk and importance.
‘It seemed like a request that had been neglected for quite some time.’
In cases of requests that remained unresolved even after Lumerne students were dispatched, or long-term uncompleted requests, the school conducted its own investigation.
And if anything special was discovered, the request's rank would be immediately raised.
But sometimes, they were just left neglected.
Requests that weren't difficult but had no clear leads were often ignored by students.
Sometimes they were solved by eccentric students who enjoyed a good mystery, but most students avoided time-consuming requests.
‘Most of the robbed heroes' tombs belonged to heroes who had been forgotten long ago.’
Heroes who achieved great deeds in their lifetime are praised by later generations.
The hero is remembered by those who received their grace.
But those who received the hero's grace don't live forever.
As time passes, even heroes are forgotten.
Especially now, in an era where the Hero Records were destroyed.
‘Heroes of the distant past are forgotten. Even I was forgotten.’
The tombs of such heroes were being robbed.
A meaningless act.
‘A hero's legacy isn't in a place like a tomb.’
A hero's memento is the key to opening a Hero Record, so it's never left unattended carelessly.
Therefore, there's no gain in robbing a hero's tomb.
‘It could be seen as the act of a madman.’
But Leo knew of a group that revived the dead to use as subordinates.
‘Necromancers.’
The profane ones who follow the Necro King.
‘But reviving someone who possessed great power in life would be a huge risk even for them, right? Besides, reviving and controlling a hero-class figure should be impossible with the Necro King's current authority, shouldn't it?’
It might have been different back when Erebos was whole.
With the Necro King's current power, it's impossible to revive a deceased person who had attained the status of a hero and make them a subordinate.
‘What if it really was that Hel Kaiser fellow who robbed the tombs? Did he increase his own abilities? Or did he figure out how to use the power of Erebos's fragment?’
Leo's expression grew even more serious.
In the meantime, the class began.
“Since when has the concept of a 'hero' as we know it existed?”
Mel, who had written 'What is a Hero?' on the blackboard, turned around.
“Any students who'd like to answer?”
In response, students raised their hands.
Mel, smiling gently at the students eagerly raising their hands, pointed to one.
“Student Rosetti, please answer.”
At Mel's words, a second-year student stood up and answered.
“The concept of a hero as we know it emerged 5,000 years ago, after the end of the Age of Calamity.”
“Hehe, correct in a broad sense.”
Mel took a cookie from the cookie box next to the lecture desk and gave it to the student.
“Ooh.”
The student exclaimed in delight, taking a bite of the cookie to see what it was.
“I was just wondering. Why does Professor Mel give random rewards for class participation?”
Iliana muttered with a curious expression, and Chloe answered.
“According to research, random rewards can sometimes increase efficiency.”
“I've read that too. The study said that no matter how good the reward, people get tired of it quickly, but adding the stimulus of 'randomness' increases their interest, right?”
“That's right.”
Chloe nodded at Chen Xia's words.
“Where on earth do you guys find books like that to read?”
As Iliana looked on in wonder, Mel's questioning continued.
“Any students who can give a more specific answer? Yes, student Eliza.”
“The concept of a hero as we currently know it is a concept that came about 3,000 years ago, after the Age of Revelation. These are the heroes who became able to inherit the powers of 'predecessor' heroes through the Hero Records.”
“Perfect!”
“Oh!”
“The excellent delinquent student~!”
Exclamations of admiration flowed from all around.
When Eliza glared at the students who were joking, they averted their gaze.
Watching this, Mel smiled faintly and said.
“Just as student Eliza said, before the Age of Revelation 3,000 years ago, it was an era when the existence of the World of Heroes had not been revealed. Therefore, it was an age with far fewer heroes than today. After the Revelation, the number of heroes who registered their names in the Hero Records began to increase explosively. That is also why the period from then on is called the true Age of Heroes.”
“Ooh.”
“It's true, we don't seem to know much about the era of early heroes before the Age of Revelation.”
“There aren't many records of heroes left from that era, after all.”
While the students were expressing their admiration.
Mel clapped her hands and said.
“Alright, shall we read from the textbook then? Hmm~ who should I pick... Student Karl?”
“Ye-yes?!”
Karl shot up from his seat in surprise.
Karl's flustered voice echoed loudly throughout the circular lecture hall.
“Could you please read the section on 'Heroes of the Past and Heroes of the Present' on page 372 of ?”
“Ye-yes! So...”
*Thud-! Clatter-!*
“Gah?!”
“Take your time.”
Flustered, Karl dropped his writing utensils as he picked up the textbook.
Snickers could be heard from here and there.
Abad, sitting at the very front of the Nobles' Dorm section, looked puzzled.
“What's wrong with Karl?”
“Hmph, looks like he was dozing off.”
Duran scoffed.
Eliza, who was filing her nails in the back row, spoke as if he were pathetic.
“This isn't like you, always so slick. Getting all nervous.”
Hearing this, Karl screamed internally.
‘Could you guys stay calm with a Dragon Lord right in front of you?’
During the last Erebos subjugation.
Chelsea and Karl had accidentally learned that Mel was a Dragon Lord.
Of course, neither Chelsea nor Karl had any intention of spreading that fact around.
However, they had been called aside by Mel before class today.
‘I know you two won't spread rumors about my identity, but please be careful nonetheless.’
Seeing Mel smile playfully and wink, Karl feigned his usual composure and asked.
‘What if a rumor gets out by mistake?’
At his question, Mel, who had been pondering with a finger to her lips, smiled brightly and said.
‘Then I'll have to scold you.’
The "scolding" Mel was talking about was a light punishment on the level of making them stand in the professor's office with their hands up.
But to Karl, who didn't know this, the words "I'll scold you" from the most powerful being in the world, a Dragon Lord, could only be terrifying.
Mel realized from Karl's reaction that he had misunderstood something, but she found it amusing and decided to leave it be.
“That idiot.”
Chelsea covered her face and shook her head.
Meanwhile, Karl opened his textbook, took a deep breath, and began to read.
“The heroes who came after the heroes of the Revelation are, in a sense, the successors to the heroes of the Revelation. If that's the case, whose successors were those who became heroes during the 2,000 years between the end of the Age of Calamity and the beginning of the Age of Revelation?”
Karl's voice, reading the textbook clearly and distinctly, echoed.
“...The heroes of the early hero era registered their names in the Hero Records through their own strength. The heroes of the current era use countless hero skills. However, I do not believe I can assert that the later heroes surpassed the early heroes because of this.”
After finishing the section, Karl looked at Mel, who nodded.
Karl sat down, relieved.
“Which heroes from which era were stronger? It's an interesting topic for debate. But when this topic comes up on the agenda at academic conferences, it's common for discussions and heated debates to escalate into duels.”
“No way, do fistfights break out at academic conferences?”
The students reacted with disbelief.
“Fistfights would be child's play. There are often cases of sword fights.”
As the students fell silent at the scholars' unimaginable belligerence, Mel continued the lesson.
“The author of this book, , claims that the early era heroes were as strong as the later era heroes, but this is actually a minority opinion in academia. What do you think, student Karl?”
“I think the author is one hundred percent correct.”
As Karl answered promptly, Eliza, who was behind him, tidied her nails and said.
“I'm not disrespecting the early heroes, but I can't agree with that claim. It seems only natural that modern heroes, who inherit the powers of countless heroes, would be stronger than the heroes of the past, don't you think?”
“I think so too.”
“Speaking of early era heroes, who are the famous ones?”
The students began to discuss among themselves.
“Then shall we compare the two most famous heroes from the early and later eras?”
Watching the students talk, Mel wrote two names on the blackboard.
The students fell silent at the names of the two heroes who boasted the highest recognition in the world.
One was known as one of the three great figures of the elves, and the other was one of the heroes of the Revelation.
Even comparing these two was a controversial matter.
“These two are considered the strongest magic swordsmen not only of their time but in the entire history of the Age of Heroes. Furthermore, Lord Berchia was the Great Hero's disciple, and Lord Lumerne was the one who inherited the Great Hero's power. Aside from their race, they surprisingly have a lot in common.”
Mel smiled faintly.
“Now, who do you think is stronger between these two?”
“Still, wouldn't Lord Lumerne, who fought against Erebos, be stronger?”
“There aren't many records left of Lord Berchia, right?”
The atmosphere was such that all the students were siding with Lumerne.
Watching this, Chen Xia asked Leo.
“What do you think, Young Master Leo?”
“Well.”
Leo, momentarily breaking away from his thoughts about the Necro King, crossed his arms and pondered.
Leo had met Seirun and Rodia.
‘Both of them were heroes with overwhelming power.’
The heroes of the Revelation were not defeated by the fragment of Erebos.
‘The fragment the heroes of the Revelation sealed was in a much more powerful state than the one that was revived this time. The heroes of the Revelation completely defeated that fragment.’
The reason the heroes of the Revelation failed to subjugate the Erebos fragment was solely due to Erebos's immortality.
The endlessly resurrecting, burning Erebos.
They only failed in the subjugation because there was no one like the Hero of the Beginning, who possessed the trait of pure mana that could break Erebos's immortality.
As Leo gauged the strength of Seirun and Rodia, he recalled his disciple from before he left on his final expedition.
‘Seirun and Rodia's strength was a cut above the Berchia I last remembered. Since Lumerne is also a hero of the Revelation, his power probably isn't much different from those two. However.’
Having organized his thoughts, Leo opened his mouth.
“It would be hard to determine a winner.”