Chapter 522
Chapter Title: The Unyielding Dwarf
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By dinnertime, rumors of Kaodin's disgraceful behavior in the Knight Department had spread throughout all of Lumerne.
Ordinarily, something like this would have thrown Lumerne into an uproar.
A Hero using force against Hero candidates was a serious matter.
But despite the gravity of the incident, Lumerne was quiet.
This was because the person in question, Kaodin, had been carried off to the infirmary in a wretched state.
“Still, he was beaten so badly that I was worried the class president might get disciplined for this. What a relief.”
“He was the one who started the ruckus. Besides, he probably knows how embarrassing it is, so he'll keep his mouth shut. But the rumors spread faster than I expected, huh?”
“Yeah. Karl found out as soon as class was over.”
Karl was already a major source of information within Lumerne.
If it reached Karl's ears, it would spread throughout Lumerne in an instant.
No, perhaps the story had already spread to Lumeria City.
“Of course, I was the one who told him.”
Leo chuckled as he watched Iliana giggle.
Just then, Karl and Eliza appeared in the dormitory cafeteria.
Iliana, who was in the middle of piercing a meatball with her fork and popping it into her mouth, narrowed her eyes at the sight.
“Those two are acting suspicious lately.”
She said suspiciously, mumbling around the meatball in her cheek, and Chloe, who was beside her, looked puzzled.
“What is?”
“Don't you think they've been hanging out a lot more lately? And Karl seems to be subtly looking out for Eliza.”
“Karl has always been good at subtly looking after others.”
Chloe tilted her head as if to ask what was so strange about it.
Chen Xia and Eiran, who were eating with them, also nodded in agreement.
At the three's reaction, Iliana clicked her tongue and wagged her finger.
“This is why you book-smart honor students just don't get it. I can feel it. The bittersweet scent wafting between those two.”
At her words, the three girls looked at Karl and Eliza again.
Karl was casually greeting other students, while Eliza focused on her meal as if uninterested.
Then, Karl played a prank on Eliza.
Eliza immediately grabbed Karl by the collar, and Karl begged for mercy.
“They just seem the same as usual.”
“You don't know a thing. A love story between a woman from a noble family and a man of low birth. It's a classic cliché with a long and storied history.”
“That's only in novels. What does that have to do with those two?”
“Hmph, since you don't believe me, Chloe, I'll let you in on a huge scoop.”
Iliana lowered her voice.
“I saw those two leaving together at dawn the other day, with my own two eyes. They've both been looking exhausted lately, right? They must be enjoying secret rendezvous at night!”
“S-Secret rendezvous?”
Eiran swallowed nervously.
“Shh—quiet.”
Iliana glanced around cautiously.
Watching her, Leo spoke up.
“That's not what's happening.”
“How would you know, class president?”
“Because I was there with them.”
“Gasp! W-Wait, the three of you?!”
*Thwack—!*
“Keuk!”
As Iliana made a fuss, she was hit in the side by Chen Xia and collapsed to the floor.
For a moment, the eyes of everyone in the cafeteria turned to Iliana.
But upon realizing it was just Iliana who had fallen, they returned to their meals with indifferent expressions.
“Class preeez! Xia hit me!”
Iliana got up, whining to Leo with a tearful face.
“You got hit because you were saying strange things.”
Chen Xia smiled sweetly, and Iliana yelped, hiding behind Leo.
At her reaction, Leo tore a piece of bread and ate it as he said,
“Karl is just helping Eliza with her training.”
“What? How boring.”
Iliana grumbled and sat back down.
“Still, that's surprising. Her, training at dawn. She doesn't seem like the diligent type.”
As Iliana made a fascinated face, Leo said,
“It would be strange for a summoner of her level not to be diligent. Anyway, don't spread any weird rumors. Eliza won't let you get away with it.”
***
*Crackle—!*
That dawn.
Eliza bit her lip hard against the essence of lightning that enveloped her entire body.
*Crackle-crackle-crackle—!*
“Kugh!”
The pure white lightning felt like it would make her lose consciousness.
But Eliza managed to endure it somehow.
*Fwoosh—!*
As the essence of lightning dispersed, Eliza let out a ragged breath.
She used her spiritual power to trap as much of the escaping lightning essence inside her body as possible.
*‘Barely thirty seconds.’*
Eliza clenched her fists tightly.
Watching her, Leo narrowed his eyes.
*‘Her vessel is growing incredibly fast.’*
He had suggested the brutish training method of accepting the essence of lightning, but he hadn't expected her to achieve such growth in her vessel in such a short time.
Looking at Eliza, Leo said,
“That's incredible.”
“I don't need any empty compliments.”
“I'm serious.”
There were no visible results yet.
But Eliza was definitely growing stronger.
Of course, it was only possible with Leo's help, but turning that help into her own power was another matter entirely.
“In that case, shall we move on to the next stage?”
At Leo's words, Eliza's expression tensed.
Her current training was already accompanied by excruciating pain.
But Eliza suspected that this wasn't all there was to Leo's training.
*‘If one could become strong just by enduring pain, then there would be no one who couldn't become strong.’*
The essence of lightning brought not only physical pain but mental agony as well.
It was a power that even Pegasi found difficult to withstand.
The fact that she could accept and endure it with a human body was proof of how strong Eliza's mind was.
*‘Once she grows, most mental attacks won't work on her. I've thought this before, but Eliza has the vessel to contract with countless mythical beasts.’*
Leo looked at Eliza and stirred his spiritual power.
*Vwoom—! Crackle—!*
A wave of spiritual power swirled around Leo.
Seeing this, Eliza's eyes widened.
“This is...?”
“Come forth.”
*Krr-crackle—!*
Pure white lightning raged.
With it, a summoning circle formed, and standing within it was a woman with flowing, pure white hair, arms crossed—Arti.
“A Pegasus.”
Eliza let out a gasp of admiration at the sight.
Arti, who stared at her with a blank expression, was the very image of the ideal Pegasus Eliza had always imagined.
Arti stepped out of the summoning circle and glanced at Leo.
Then, she immediately clung to Leo's leg.
“Master! When will you bestow the pure white lightning upon me! Letting a brat like that have all the fun! This is too much!”
*Crack—!*
In that moment, Eliza heard the sound of something precious cracking inside her mind.
Thinking she must have seen wrong, she rubbed her eyes several times.
But the noble mythical beast, the Pegasus, was still clinging to Leo's leg with a tearful expression.
“Get off.”
Leo, with an annoyed look, swung his leg to shake Arti off.
But even as she was dragged across the ground and got disheveled, Arti just seemed to enjoy it, spouting nonsense like, “Ahh! Treating me so roughly! As expected of you, Master!”
Karl also gaped at Arti's unexpected behavior.
“N-No way... It's a lie. It can't be. There's no way a noble mythical beast like a Pegasus could be so vulgar.”
Eliza clutched her head and muttered blankly, squatting on the ground.
“Hey, hey, are you okay?”
“Karl Thomas. This is a dream, right? It has to be, right?”
“...Seems like reality to me.”
“No, it's definitely a dream. Please slap my cheek. So I can wake up.”
“You're just going to get angry.”
“It's a dream, so it doesn't matter.”
After hesitating at her words, Karl lightly slapped Eliza's cheek, just hard enough to feel it.
“...”
Eliza rubbed her cheek a few times, then her expression turned fierce.
“Not even my parents have ever hit this cheek! How dare you!”
“I told you it wasn't a dream! You said you wouldn't get mad!”
Just as Karl yelped and started to flee from Eliza,
“Eliza.”
*Vwoom—!*
Leo approached Eliza and held out his palm.
On it, a small, pure white contract circle was spread out.
Eliza's eyes widened at the sight.
“This is... don't tell me you modified the contract circle with the Pegasus?”
“Yes. It creates a temporary contract state for a short period. Try handling this one in that state.”
Eliza stared intently at Leo.
*‘He must have an incredible understanding of summoning to be able to modify a contract circle like that, but...’*
“It's impressive, but you don't understand. No matter what, would a proud Pegasus, even if commanded by its contractor, agree to a temporary contract with someone unqualified? It would never accept...”
“A-Are you trying to entrust me to another summoner right now!”
Arti shouted before Eliza could even finish her sentence.
“See?”
As Eliza sighed, Arti shouted,
“To leave my master's hands and be handled by another summoner... and by an unqualified brat, no less... It feels like I'm being defiled! This is the best! Hey, brat. Try handling me!”
“...”
Eliza felt something precious inside her heart completely shatter, and she covered her face and sobbed.
“Just so you know, she's the weird one. The other Pegasi are normal.”
Just as Leo sighed softly and tried to console Eliza,
*Flash—! Krrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrumble—!*
Suddenly, a powerful aura shot up from the ground into the sky.
Leo, Eliza, and Karl's gazes turned to the source of the aura.
“Wait. Isn't that where the Hero Dungeon appeared?”
Karl shouted with a bewildered expression.
The Hero Dungeon that had suddenly appeared in Lumerne.
Why it had appeared, which Hero's world it was.
In Lumerne, officials were doing everything in their power to investigate the mysterious Hero Dungeon.
But for a powerful aura to suddenly be released from there meant...
“An accident must have happened.”
Eliza said in a firm voice.
*Crackle-crackle-crackle—!*
Pure white lightning swirled from Arti's body.
Leo grabbed Eliza's and Karl's wrists and mounted Arti, who had manifested in her true form.
Leo spoke to Karl, who was seated behind him.
“Karl, hold on tight.”
“Ah, got it! Eliza!”
As Karl grabbed Leo's waist, Eliza, who was riding at the very back, scoffed.
“I'm a Mythical Beast Tamer. Don't worry about me, worry about yourself!”
With that, Leo pulled the reins.
*Flash—!*
Arti became a streak of light, crossing the night sky.
In the blink of an eye, Leo flew to the location of the Hero Dungeon and looked down at the ground.
The surrounding area had been devastated.
Lumerne's professors and the Heroes visiting Lumerne were in a standoff with a dwarf.
Judging by the situation, the dwarf was clearly the culprit in this incident.
“Hey, wait a minute.”
Karl said in a shocked voice.
Eliza's eyes widened as well.
“That person is...”
Leo also narrowed his eyes at the familiar face.
A dwarf he was seeing for the first time today.
But it was a dwarf he had seen countless times in books.
3,000 years ago.
During the Second Coming of Calamity, there was a man who fought in countless battles.
A man who struggled to stop the advance of Erebos and Tartaros, even if he had to do it alone.
But there was a limit to what he could do alone.
He suffered defeat after defeat.
But though he had every reason to feel despair and break, that dwarf always headed for the battlefield.
The man who always stood firm and protected the front lines for everyone.
And so, the world called him this:
“Damian the Unyielding.”