Chapter 257
Juen, watching Luke standing before Leo, spoke up.
“Senior, can’t you take him as your mentee?”
“He’s in the Knights Department, and I’m in the Magic Department.”
“There’s no rule saying you can’t mentor someone from another department, right? Besides, Carr-senior, you don’t even have a mentee yet. Shouldn’t you at least take Luke?”
“Well, that’s true.”
Carr let out a deep sigh.
Then he chuckled.
“But he probably won’t come to me.”
“Huh?”
“I’m talking about you guys.”
“……?”
“Didn’t you all give up too easily?”
At Carr’s words, Juen frowned.
“Excuse me, senior. Were you even watching just now? We gave it literally everything we had.”
“Yeah. Especially you, Juen. You hurled spells so flashy I wouldn’t even dare attempt them.”
It wasn’t just Juen.
Aina, Haviden, and Shasha had also thrown their best attacks at Leo.
“But didn’t you all learn something?”
Carr grinned.
“That the stronger the attack, the more openings it creates?”
Clang—!
Luke’s sword was blocked by Leo’s.
“At first glance, Leo’s challenge to the first-years seems too easy. But they soon realize—it’s an unscalable wall. That’s when the riffraff all give up.”
Carr smiled at the four of them.
“And once only the exceptional ones like you are left, he makes sure you throw everything you’ve got at him.”
“True.”
Juen, arms crossed, nodded.
“Then let me ask just one thing. Over the past week, did any of you ever closely observe Leo’s movements?”
“Well, of course—”
Juen’s face froze mid-reply.
She wasn’t alone.
The other three showed the same reaction.
“And another thing.”
Carr smirked.
“Have you ever closely watched that Luke kid spar with Leo?”
‘We haven’t.’
The four of them frantically turned their eyes to Luke and Leo’s exchange.
To them, Luke was never a competitor.
They hadn’t ignored him, but they’d thought comparison was meaningless.
And it was, at first.
Taking down Luke had been too easy.
But…
‘When did he grow this much?’
Luke’s movements were drastically different from just a week ago.
Especially for Aina and Haviden, the shock hit harder.
‘His swordsmanship… it’s on a whole different level.’
He still wasn’t at their level.
But the rate of growth was astonishing.
And it was clear who he had modeled his techniques after.
‘Leo-senior… and me, and Haviden.’
Aina’s hand trembled slightly.
She had been conscious of Luke.
Of course she had.
He was acknowledged by Leo during the entrance exam.
But at the same time, she dismissed him.
Yet now, the first-year with the lowest scores was following Leo’s movements better than they could.
It wasn’t because Leo was going easy on him.
Leo had only defended and dodged for the past week.
‘I was too focused on landing a hit. I only thought about my best attacks.’
Aina clenched her fist.
‘I never once observed my opponent.’
If the enemy was overwhelming, the first step should have been analyzing their movements and forming a strategy.
That’s basic.
But in all that time, none of them had truly studied Leo’s movements.
Her face flushed with shame.
Carr saw their expressions and smiled warmly.
‘We were like that too.’
This wasn’t a problem exclusive to the current first-years.
Even the second-years had been criticized plenty by professors for the same thing.
‘Well, in this case, Leo’s doing the professors’ job.’
Meanwhile, Leo let out a small chuckle as he watched Luke keeping up with his movements.
It was a challenge that should’ve been impossible.
But Luke, through sheer ability and perseverance, was gradually catching up.
And for a moment—
Fwoosh—!
Luke’s [Aura] flared with abnormal intensity.
It was Luke’s unique mana trait.
Emotion-fueled mana amplification.
It was like a trump card that could reverse the situation if he had the willpower.
Shhh—
“Ho.”
Leo murmured in awe as Luke’s sword nicked the tip of his hair.
“I did it—urgh!”
Just as he smiled in triumph, Luke tripped over his own feet and crashed to the ground.
“Your finish was sloppy.”
Leo chuckled and looked over at the four frozen spectators.
‘That’ll be a good motivator for those kids too.’
Though they wouldn’t challenge him just because Luke had succeeded.
Luke had spent the entire week analyzing Leo’s movements to reach that level.
But the four of them hadn’t.
The path from impossible to possible wasn’t built on miracles, but effort.
Leo reached out his hand to the struggling Luke.
Luke, flustered, pulled out a sheet of paper from his pocket.
The section where the mentor’s name was to be written.
There, he scribbled: Leo Plov.
“Th-thank you, Leo-senior! I’ll do my best as your mentee!”
Leo gave a soft smile at Luke’s bright grin.
If Celia, Chelsea, or the Slayer Order had seen that smile, they would’ve told Luke to run. (T/N: ROFL)
—
Juen crossed her arms and stepped firmly in front of Carr.
“Huh? What is it?”
“Please be my mentor.”
“What are you talking about?”
Carr looked genuinely confused.
“After hearing what you said, I realized there’s a lot I can learn from you.”
“You sure you’re not overheated or something? Cool your head a bit. I mean, I wouldn’t mind having you as a mentee, but you should find someone better—hey, hey, hey!”
Before he could finish, Juen pulled out her paper and scribbled Carr’s name in the mentor field, then dashed off.
“Let’s work hard starting tomorrow~ Ohohohoho!”
Carr looked dumbfounded.
“Senior.”
This time, Aina approached.
“What is it now?”
“Can you tell me the name of the Knight Department upperclassman closest to Leo-senior?”
“That’d be Celia.”
“Thank you.”
Aina bowed and walked off.
“Let’s go together, Aina. I have something to talk to Walden-senior about.”
Shasha followed after Aina.
“Carr-senior.”
“What now, Your Highness?”
“I’d like to meet Duran-senior.”
‘The prince combo, huh.’
Carr let out a dry laugh and nodded.
He brought Haviden to the Noble Dorm and approached Duran, who was relaxing in the lounge.
“What is it, Carr Thomas? Do you have a request as dorm leader?”
“There’s a junior who looks just like you waiting outside.”
“Haviden, huh. Seems like a decent one.”
Duran chuckled.
“Hmph. So you think of me as Leo Plov’s second choice.”
Eliza snorted beside him, making Duran scowl.
Carr tried to calm him down.
“Hey, relax. What’s important is that Haviden—one of the top three first-years in the Knight Department—chose you as his mentor.”
Honestly, Carr wanted to join Eliza in teasing, but he knew if Duran got mad, he’d have to deal with the fallout.
“Hmph.”
Carr stood and left the dorm.
“Ahem.”
Just then, Eliza cleared her throat.
Carr didn’t realize she wanted to say something and started heading to his room.
Whoosh! Snap—!
“Gah!”
Eliza’s whip wrapped around Carr’s neck.
“What now?!”
“Carr Thomas. Didn’t any first-years come looking for me? Like Princess Shasha, perhaps.”
“Shasha? She went to Walden.”
Eliza’s shoulders trembled.
Sparks flew from her furious eyes.
“Why would a summoner go to that man?! Why?!”
“How should I know?”
“This is humiliating! Why hasn’t a single junior asked me to be their mentor?!”
“You were hoping someone would, weren’t you?”
“Hope? Hope?! Don’t be ridiculous! This is a matter of pride as heir to the Hergin family!”
Eliza might’ve seemed like the type to find mentees bothersome—and she probably would—but deep down, she’d been hoping.
Given her reputation, she’d expected juniors to line up for her.
But no one came.
She’d held out some hope for Shasha, but of all people, she’d gone to Walden—her rival.
Eliza’s massive outburst sent Noble dorm students screaming.
Dorm 3: Noble.
Primarily composed of elite bloodlines, students with strong pride.
But even so, an enraged Eliza was terrifying.
‘Tsk, why do those guys always turn into mice in front of Eliza?’
Only Carr clicked his tongue at the sight.
Duran the tyrant and Eliza the sharp-tongued—but Carr’s affable nature always shone through.
“In my opinion,”
Eliza’s eyes flashed at Carr’s words.
A look that said, ‘say something stupid and you’re dead.’
Carr said flatly,
“Maybe it’s because you’re too amazing.”
Eliza’s eye twitched.
She sat down, crossed her legs, and propped her chin up.
“Explain.”
“The first-years probably thought: ‘Someone like me can’t possibly be mentored by Eliza-senior.’ If anyone had passed your high standards and become your mentee, you would’ve made them the best summoner in the department. But the scared juniors just couldn’t bring themselves to approach you.”
“And Princess Shasha?”
“She was humiliated by Leo’s Spirit Arts. I think her pride took a hit. She probably wants to train under a Spirit Arts expert to prepare for next time.”
“Hmph. Crafty words to cheer me up?”
“Well, they’re true too.”
Carr shrugged.
‘Hmph. Abad and Duran really do have a good eye for people.’
Eliza looked scornfully at the dorm students who’d shrunk away from her.
She clapped lightly.
Her attendants rushed over and began setting up refreshments.
“Well, not having any mentees is more convenient anyway.”
Eliza smirked confidently.
“Carr Thomas. You don’t have a mentee either, right? Do your best and hustle. You seem a bit more useful than I thought.”
It was arrogant, but her way of cheering him on.
Carr winced.
‘If I tell her I took Juen as a mentee, she’ll explode.’
After some hesitation, Carr decided,
‘Ah, screw it. If I wait, it’ll just get worse later.’
“I took a mentee.”
“Oh? Who?”
“Juen Torbina.”
Eliza’s eye twitched violently.
“Why is she your mentee…?”
“No idea. She said she had something to learn from me.”
At that, Carr bolted.
He couldn’t stop now.
If he did, he’d only get teased.
‘I did my best. You guys take it from here.’
Carr silently wished the dorm students luck and rushed to his room.
—
Principal Leena of Lumene rested her chin on her hand.
She looked down at a lavish letter.
Knock knock—creak!
“Leena. Isn’t it about time the second-years head to Damienne? Still no word?”
“Perfect timing.”
Leena waved the envelope in her hand.
“But they made a rather arrogant request.”
“Arrogant?”
“Yes.”
Leena tossed the letter onto her desk, a smirk curling her lips.
“They want to ‘evaluate’ the students of the three hero academies at Damienne.”