Chapter 15
“What do you think you are?”
“Pardon?”
“You are students of Lumene. In other words, you are hero candidates! When faced with danger, shouldn’t your first thought be to overcome it yourselves?”
At Ain’s scolding, the students flinched.
At that moment, Ain noticed Leo moving without any hesitation.
“At least there’s one proper student.”
A kraken tentacle shot toward them at high speed.
Slash—!
Leo drew his sword and sliced off the tentacle.
Splat—!
He kicked the writhing tentacle off the deck and back into the lake, then shouted,
“Don’t be scared of its size! With your abilities, you can handle this just fine!”
His gaze landed squarely on Celia and Chloe.
“Hmph! Who says I’m scared?”
Chloe scoffed, and Celia drew her sword as if she couldn’t stand to lose.
“What do you take me for, Leo?”
Whoosh—!
Flames of Aura, the symbol of Zerdinger, burst from her sword.
“You think I’d be scared of some squid—!”
Splash!
“Kyaaa!”
A water cannon fired from the tip of the kraken’s tentacle, drenching Celia.
She used Aura Armor to defend, but she still ended up looking like a drenched rat.
“It’s a kraken habit. They shoot water cannons in response to heat.”
Leo couldn’t help but chuckle as he flicked her forehead.
“Still lacking some experience, huh?”
“Ugh! We’re the same age! Don’t lecture me about experience!”
Celia shouted, rubbing her forehead, cheeks flushed.
Meanwhile, the kraken attacked again.
Celia’s eyes narrowed sharply.
“You damn squid! I’ll turn you into calamari!”
Whoosh—!
Celia’s sword danced in a brilliant arc.
Swish, swish, swish!
She shredded the kraken’s tentacles into pieces.
As Celia turned to Leo with a look of ‘How’s that!’, Leo smiled and swung his own sword.
Whooooosh—!
With a massive blast of wind, Leo sliced the kraken’s tentacles even finer than Celia had.
“Tch! I won’t lose to you!”
Celia’s eyes sparked with rivalry.
“Your sword skills are impressive.”
Meanwhile, Chloe lifted her magic staff and recited a rune.
Crackle—!
“Icicle.”
Ice crystals gathered in the air and formed a massive icicle.
When Chloe released her spell, the icicle flew.
Thunk! Crackle—! Clang!
Her spell froze and shattered the kraken’s tentacle.
“Hohoho! Why sweat like a knight when you can fight smart from the back? It’s so much more—huh?!”
Chloe, looking smug, suddenly became the kraken’s target.
As the kraken attacked with surprising speed, Leo grabbed Chloe by the collar and pulled her back.
“A mage shouldn’t rush to the front lines.”
Slash—!
Leo cut off another tentacle.
“Krakens react to mana, so use your spells carefully.”
“G-got it.”
The freshmen, who’d been panicked by the attack, finally regained their senses and fought back.
The kraken was a high-level monster, but Lumene students weren’t so easily beaten.
Watching from behind, Ain smiled.
‘This year’s freshmen are excellent.’
Though he had just scolded the new students, Professor Ain was thoroughly satisfied.
This lake was famous for being home to all sorts of aquatic monsters.
Monster attacks on the lake were practically an annual tradition.
All Lumene students were exceptionally talented.
Just getting into Lumene proved their skill.
Skill, background, education.
The new students had every reason to be proud.
‘But with that attitude, there’s no way they could keep up with Lumene’s classes.’
The freshmen didn’t realize—
They’d only barely met the minimum standard to learn at Lumene.
That’s why a reality check was needed, and why the academy allowed monster attacks.
Of course, they weren’t made to fight completely unprotected.
For example, even as the kraken attacked, the most dangerous thing—damage to the ship itself—never happened.
But the freshmen didn’t notice, being too busy fighting off the kraken in front of them.
‘As expected, the top students really stand out.’
Ain observed, gauging the students’ skills, and his eyes settled on Leo.
‘Impressive.’
There was a flash of interest in Ain’s eyes.
Leo’s swordsmanship was clean and precise.
He cut through the kraken’s tentacles lightly, as if predicting their every move.
‘I’ll have to remember him.’
It was clear he was a Knight Studies major.
Satisfied at having found an outstanding student, Ain smiled.
* * *
The freshmen finally managed to defeat the kraken, but the aquatic monster attacks didn’t stop.
The party from earlier was like a dream—now it was a monster parade.
After about an hour, every freshman was a mess.
Their uniforms were soaked, their bodies covered in sweat, their faces exhausted.
They were too busy fighting off waves of monsters to even think.
“I can’t fight anymore! My mana’s all gone!”
Chloe shouted, sprawled on the deck.
“Ugh… Anyone got a mana potion left?”
Carr looked around, but no one answered.
“Huff—huff—”
Celia, panting, glanced at Leo.
‘This stamina monster!’
Leo, without a trace of fatigue, was still on guard at the water’s edge.
How could someone their age have that much endurance?
“Hoo—!”
Gritting her teeth, Celia forced herself to stand next to Leo.
Just then—
“The docks are in sight!”
“This hellish fight is finally over!”
“Waaaaaah!”
Cheers erupted from the deck.
There was no greater news for the exhausted students.
Soon after, the ship docked, and the students got off, looking utterly done in.
At the dock, the freshmen were greeted by a petite woman in a suit and glasses.
“Thank goodness! Looks like nothing major happened!”
The students felt indignant inside.
‘Nothing happened? We were attacked by monsters!’
Of course, nobody protested out loud.
If she was here to greet them, she was almost certainly a Lumene professor.
“Professor Ain, thank you for escorting the new students! I’ll take over from here.”
“Understood.”
Ain nodded, then addressed the freshmen.
“I’ll be teaching the first-year Knight Studies class this year.”
Some Knight Studies students looked startled.
“A few of you Knight Studies students will take my class.”
Ain looked at Leo and a few others and grinned.
“If you want to reach the top, come to my class!”
“Yes, sir!”
“Understood, Professor Ain!”
The Knight Studies students replied in unison.
Satisfied, Ain’s expression became meaningful.
“And make sure you listen to your homeroom professor.”
With that, he left.
“My name is Artiannene Niere. I’ll be teaching the first-year Summoning Studies class.”
She adjusted her glasses and smiled kindly as she introduced herself.
“Artiannene Niere? Never heard that name,” Celia muttered.
To become a professor at Lumene, you had to be famous in your field.
But Celia had never heard of Artiannene Niere.
“Artiannene Niere is actually pretty well-known in the central region,” Carr said.
“What kind of person is she?”
“They say she’s a spirit caller.”
“A spirit caller?”
Celia’s eyes widened in surprise.
Summoning magic is divided into three main fields.
Spirit summoning, contracting with spirits.
Beast summoning, controlling magical beasts.
And finally, necromancy—summoning fragments of souls called spirits.
Necromancy, which calls upon the remnants of the dead, is a very rare ability.
‘It was one of Lysinas’s specialties.’
Necromancy is an innate special ability, even someone like Kyle, who could do it all, couldn’t learn it.
“Shall we head to the entrance ceremony?” Artianne smiled gently.
But the students protested.
“Professor! Isn’t there somewhere we can change?”
“That’s right! We can’t attend the ceremony looking like this!”
The students, who had been obedient with Professor Ain, now shouted over each other.
Most of them were noble students.
With Ain, the famous Knight of the Frozen Sea, they’d been intimidated.
But with the less famous, gentle-looking Artianne, they immediately complained.
“A-ah, but we have to stick to the schedule…”
“No way will my family allow me to show up to an important event like this!”
“That’s right! We got into Lumene, and this is how we’re treated? This is ridiculous!”
“Yeah! I’m going to lodge a formal complaint through my family!”
“E-everyone?!”
Artianne, whose personality was genuinely gentle, could only shrink back under the barrage of complaints.
The students, emboldened, raised their voices even more.
“Maybe we should stop them,” Celia frowned, but Leo just smiled.
“I don’t think we’ll need to.”
“Huh?”
Artianne lowered her head.
And then…
“You little brats! You think I’m a pushover? Who do you think you are, mouthing off to a professor?!”
She snapped her head up and unleashed a fierce glare.
The students who had been shouting fell silent in shock.
One boy, still not getting it, shouted,
“I don’t care if you’re a professor, you can’t say stuff like—!”
“Oh? You still don’t get it?”
Wham!
“Huh? W-wait—?”
With a savage grin, Artianne grabbed the boy by the collar and lifted him up.
He was a head taller than the other freshmen, but Artianne showed no effort at all.
Instead, golden energy flowed from her body.
“Whoa? A-Aura?”
“A dual class?”
The students panicked.
The boy went pale.
Artianne threw him into the lake.
“Aaaargh!”
Splash—! Splutter! Splutter!
The boy thrashed around in the water.
Artianne issued a deadly warning.
“If anyone else mouths off, I won’t let it slide…!”
Before she could finish, her expression changed.
“That’s troublesome.”
She suddenly became cold, sighed, and waved her hand lightly.
Now, golden magic poured out.
With magic, Artianne rescued the boy from the water.
The students stared in disbelief.
She was supposed to be a summoning professor, but she used both Aura and magic!
“I knew it,” Leo muttered.
“You know what that was?” Celia asked quickly.
“She lets the soul of a spirit possess her. The personality changes are because of the contracted spirits.”
“Necromancy? That’s just a legend!”
Even Celia was impressed by the rare ability.
No wonder Professor Ain told them to listen to her.
“Sorry, sorry. The spirits I’m contracted with are just a bit hot-tempered!”
Back to her original self, Artianne apologized profusely, but the students only watched her nervously.
They’d realized at once that, fame or not, she was out of their league.
Amid the awkward silence, Artianne beamed.
“Well, everyone! Let’s head to the entrance ceremony!”
“Y-yes…”
The students meekly replied, watching her warily.
