Chapter 25
In the faculty lounge at the Hall of Beginnings, the professors in charge of this year’s first-year classes had gathered.
It was a social gathering to build rapport before the official start of the semester.
“This year’s freshmen seem outstanding overall.”
“Ah, right. Isn’t it true that there are three top students in the knight department this year?”
At Professor Ain’s words, Professor Ren smiled.
“I’m jealous. The magic department only has two top students.”
“Are you mocking the summoning department, Ren?”
Professor Yura frowned.
“Haha, of course not!”
“Which department will come out on top remains to be seen after the semester starts. Just because you enter as the top student doesn’t mean you’ll always be the best. And…”
Professor Ain swirled his wine glass and paused.
“Isn’t it true that among the top students, none is the class representative?”
The professors nodded in agreement.
Professor Ain took a sip of wine.
“Well, the class representative is a knight major anyway.”
‘This year’s class is definitely the knight department’s to win.’
Professor Ain glanced at the other two with a smug expression.
“You say no one can predict the future, but you seem awfully confident, senior.”
‘How delusional, Professor Ain. Leo Flove is coming to our magic department.’
Professor Ren laughed outwardly but smiled knowingly inside.
“Seriously, now. You’re getting a bit cocky.”
‘How ridiculous. Leo Flove is summoning department, you’ll see. Their faces when they see the application forms will be worth it.’
Professor Yura snorted outwardly, but was sneering inwardly.
At that moment, the TAs brought in the major application forms.
“Professors, here are the major application forms. We’ll sort them over the weekend.”
“Good work. At least let us help with the food and drinks.”
The professors offered food and drinks to the TAs.
Meanwhile, Professors Ain, Yura, and Ren all moved toward Class 5’s application forms.
‘Why are they following me to Class 5’s applications?’
‘Are they interested in a particular student?’
‘What’s going on with these two?’
The three professors, each glancing at the others in confusion, saw Leo’s photo at the top of the Class 5 forms.
And they couldn’t believe their eyes.
<Major Application Form>
Name: Leo Flove.
Class: 5.
Applied Majors: Knight Studies, Magic Studies, Summoning Studies.
All three professors thought at once,
‘What is going on here?’
—
“You’re crazy! Crazy! Crazy!”
Slap—slap—slap—
“Why are you hitting me?”
In the park in front of the dorms, Celia grabbed Leo and smacked his back.
“You know the whole girls’ dorm is talking about you now? All-class? Are you out of your mind?”
“Why wouldn’t it make sense? I bought all the textbooks, and I took all the major classes during the temp period.”
“You bought those as reference books, not as main textbooks, right?”
“Of course not.”
“Aaagh! You absolute madman!”
Celia tore at her hair and jumped around in frustration.
“Does all-class even make sense? If you treat your major applications like a joke, which professor will take you seriously?”
Professors at Lumeln held immense authority.
If you got on the bad side of another major’s professor, your school life could go downhill fast.
Once you got marked by a major professor, expulsion was almost a certainty.
And professors were fiercely proud of their fields.
You needed to impress them, not joke around when picking majors.
Getting blacklisted by all the major professors? No one could blame them.
She’d just gotten into Lumeln and become the class rep, and now she’d caused a massive scandal after just a week—Celia was burning up inside.
But Leo, acting as if nothing was wrong, just made it worse.
“You! Go to the faculty office and apologize to the professors right now!”
“No. I’m going to take all the majors.”
“What’s wrong with you? All-class doesn’t make sense!”
To the fuming Celia, Leo held out his left hand.
Aura seemed to flow across his palm, then Mana erupted in a blaze above it.
Celia’s eyes widened.
But it didn’t end there.
Finally, Spirit Power wrapped around Leo’s hand.
“Y-you, you, you?”
“Not even my mother and father know yet.”
Leo shrugged.
Celia gaped, unable to believe what she was seeing.
“All the professors have seen my abilities. They’ll know I’m not joking.”
“What are you, really?”
“What do you mean, what am I?”
Leo grinned.
“I’m your cousin.”
—
“Unprecedented. Not just in Lumeln’s history, but in all the hero academies, this is the first.”
All-class.
There may have been such a hero in the long annals of the world’s history.
But in an age where the Hero Record existed, such figures were treated as legends.
‘The fifth Great Hero, Kyle.’
Now, an all-class hero had appeared out of legend.
Professors Ain, Yura, and Ren had already gone to discuss things with Principal Kallian.
Their conclusion was that Leo needed to choose a clear primary major.
The three professors passionately explained how incredible Leo’s talent was.
“What should we do, Principal?”
“In this case, we should do as the student wishes.”
At secretary Elena’s question, Kallian smiled.
“Isn’t it the school’s job to provide the education a student desires?”
—
Weekends at Lumeln were generally relaxed.
Because the weekday schedules were so demanding, weekends were set aside for true rest.
During free time, students could visit Lumeria or even apply for overnight leave.
“Who comes to the training grounds on a beautiful weekend like this?”
Carl grumbled, and Chelsea replied,
“I have swordsmanship lessons with Leo today.”
Chelsea was wearing comfortable athletic wear.
Battle Mage.
Literally, a magician who could fight on the front lines.
Unlike a dual-class magic swordsman, who used both Aura and Mana, a battle mage used only Mana.
They specialized in boosting their physical abilities with support magic and focused on high-speed and multi-casting combat magic.
If ordinary magicians handled firepower from the rear, battle mages were the ones who, in an emergency, would break into enemy lines and disrupt their formation.
A skilled battle mage would leap into chaotic skirmishes without hesitation, creating countless variables on the battlefield.
Chelsea had been deeply impressed when Leo blocked Talatunia during the entrance exam without even using Aura.
On top of that, Chelsea was even more excited for Leo’s guidance.
‘So Leo is a magician too.’
Since magic swordsmen and battle mages had a lot in common, she figured it would be far more helpful to be taught by a magic swordsman than a pure knight.
Celia, who had tagged along when Leo offered to train Chelsea, looked unamused.
“If you came here just thinking it would be easy, I’d recommend you leave now.”
“I’m serious, you know?”
“Oh? Well, Leo’s training will never be easy.”
Just imagining Chelsea, her childhood rival, suffering made Celia smile.
“By the way, Celia. What’s up with you and Leo? You seem really close.”
Carl asked, puzzled.
Chelsea, who didn’t yet know about their relationship, perked up her ears.
“Don’t go spreading this around. Leo and I are cousins.”
“What?”
“Eh? Leo’s from the Gerdinger family?”
“Not exactly. Let’s just say it’s complicated—please don’t ask about family stuff.”
Celia smiled as she spoke.
Knowing how complicated noble families could be, Chelsea and Carl decided not to pry any further.
Leo spoke to Carl.
“Carl, want to join us?”
“I’m curious, but unfortunately I have to head to Lumeria in a bit!”
“For fun?”
“No, I need to buy potion ingredients! The fatigue recovery potions are selling way better than I expected! Hahahaha!”
At that, Celia tilted her head.
“They say you’re from an alchemist family, but you’re just a merchant.”
“Alchemy takes a lot of money, that’s all!”
Carl grinned, making a circle with his fingers.
“How about it? I could make you a cool magic sword or a magic staff.”
“Can you make something better than my family’s heirloom?”
“My apologies, I had no idea.”
Talking about swords and staves in front of one of the hero families… He couldn’t have been more off base.
Celia quietly snickered.
“Leo, what should we start with?”
“Are you used to moving your body?”
“Of course. I’m really fit! Look, I’m this flexible too!”
Chelsea lifted her leg straight up like a ballerina.
It was a move impossible without flexibility and a strong sense of balance.
Chelsea also hopped around, showing off her nimble movements to Leo.
With solid basics, if she just became proficient as a battle mage, even most knight department students wouldn’t be able to beat her in close combat.
‘She really does have a reason for aiming to be a battle mage.’
“I know someone who’s a battle mage.”
“Really?”
Chelsea’s eyes sparkled.
‘Technically not a battle mage, but that concept didn’t even exist back then.’
Luna, who darted around the battlefield and cast multiple spells at high speed, could be called the original battle mage.
‘Actually, she’s the root of all modern magicians, not just battle mages.’
Leo crossed his arms.
“Chelsea, what do you think is the most important thing for a battle mage?”
“Huh? Hmm… Let’s see… Rapid casting, multi-casting, and martial arts skills?”
Watching Chelsea list things that set battle mages apart from ordinary magicians, Leo spoke.
“No. The most important thing for a battle mage—”
“The most important thing?”
“Is stamina.”
Celia, who’d been watching from a bench, quietly got up.
“Carl, let’s go.”
“Huh? Where?”
“You said you’re going to Lumeria.”
“I still have time. Weren’t you not going?”
“Something came up. I really have to—”
“Celia. From now on, you’re training with me every weekend too.”
“No way!”
“I already wrote to Uncle Gis. He said to make sure you do it.”
“Why would you do something so pointless?!”
Celia grabbed Leo by the collar and shook him furiously.
“Listen carefully, Chelsea.”
“Okay.”
“A battle mage needs to be able to move endlessly. For that, you need ironclad stamina that never runs out. Buff spells alone aren’t enough.”
‘He sounds just like the battle mages in my family.’
The battle mages of the Rewallin family also made stamina training a daily routine.
“Celia’s stuck training with me anyway.”
“I don’t want that fate!”
Celia howled, but Leo ignored her.
“From the moment you said you wanted to train with me, I decided I’d make you a hero, no matter what.”
“Okay! Leo, let’s both work hard to become heroes!”
Chelsea, taking Leo’s words as simple encouragement, clenched her fists in determination.
“So, you’ll be training with me from now on?”
“Yes!”
Looking back, Chelsea would one day think—
She should have run away then.
* * * * * * *
(T/N: Will be posting more! Hoping I can keep this pace up till we reach the current chapters!)
