Chapter 315
“It’s Lumeria City!”
Stepping off the ferry that traveled between Lumene and Lumeria City, Eliana shouted brightly.
Following behind her were the students who had once made up Class 5 in their first year.
“We’re here to relax today, so no scouting between dorms, got it?” Nella said with a calm smile.
“Obviously!” Eliana grinned.
“Right, right.” Carr nodded as well.
“You’re the one I doubt the most.”
Eliana squinted and poked Carr’s side.
“Anyway, aren’t this semester’s assignments too much?” Tide groaned, his voice full of exhaustion.
Professor Yura, the second-year instructor for the Department of Summoning, had given her students a nightmarish challenge.
“For Beast Tamers, it’s strengthening their familiars through spirits. For Spirit Summoners, it’s the opposite—strengthening spirits through familiars, right?” Chelsea tilted her head.
“Yeah. I saw the summoning students staying after class every day lately.”
“…How was it?”
Tide’s face darkened at the memory.
—
“If you have the talent for summoning, you can handle both familiars and spirits. That means you all have two different potentials within you.”
Yura smiled sweetly at her students.
“Of course, once you become adults, that potential closes. The ability to bloom that power is a privilege of your teenage years.”
As she spoke, Yura easily summoned a high-grade wind spirit.
Her skill in commanding multiple top-tier familiars was well-known, but seeing her summon a high-level spirit so effortlessly left her students awestruck.
“Professor Yura, if you’re this proficient in spirit summoning, shouldn’t you be teaching Spirit Arts as well?”
A shocked Spirit Arts major asked, and Yura gave her a baffled look.
“What are you talking about? To teach Spirit Arts at Lumene, you at least need to have a contract with a top-tier spirit.”
Hearing that, the summoning students were once again reminded of how extraordinary Lumene’s professors truly were.
Though she often bickered with Professor Ain of the Knight Department and Professor Len of the Magic Department—only to get scolded by Harrid afterward—Yura was still a Lumene graduate herself.
One who had once ranked among the very best of her generation.
The rank of a familiar or spirit reflected the summoner’s talent, but that wasn’t everything.
Even among the second-years, some students handled high-grade familiars, yet Yura could subdue them effortlessly using only low-tier beasts.
Skill mattered more than the rank of one’s summon.
To nurture that skill, one needed a wide range of experience. That was what Yura wanted to teach them.
“Professor! We’ll never be as talented as you!”
“I’m trash! Utter trash!”
“We’re doomed anyway…”
Many students felt frustrated trying to handle summons outside their specialty.
Even those with latent talent struggled to control something completely different.
The most devastated among them was Eliza Hergin, who had always topped the Summoning Theory class.
Her shock was greater because even her rivals—Walden and the third-ranked summoner Jureden—had succeeded at easily summoning both familiars and spirits.
And then there was Leo, who had already mastered both from the start.
“Hmhm. I know it’s not easy, asking spirit summoners to handle familiars and vice versa.”
Yura nodded empathetically—despite being the one who had given them the task.
“But don’t worry! I’ve prepared special training just for you!”
“What kind of training?!”
A male student named Jester, who specialized in fire-type familiars, shouted eagerly.
“Nothing too serious. Jester, step forward.”
He did so without hesitation.
“For fire summoners…”
Yura summoned a flaming beast.
Fwoosh.
“Huh?”
“You just need to burn.”
Fwoooosh!
“Gyaaaaaaaah?!”
“Burn! Turn to ashes! Feel the essence of fire as you become one with the flame! Ahahahahaha!”
Laughing maniacally, Yura cracked her whip at the screaming student, the very image of a deranged witch.
Terrified, the rest of the summoning students tried to flee—
‘Snap!’
A whip lashed out in front of them.
‘Thwack!’
Yura tightened her grip on the handle, licking her upper lip.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
“P-Professor, class is almost over…”
“I know. That’s why this is extra class time.”
With the setting sun behind her, Yura’s seductive smile looked downright horrifying.
“Now, line up according to your familiar’s elemental type.”
—
“So… what happened next?”
At Carr’s question, Tide shivered, clutching his arms.
“The light summoners cried all class because they had to stare into light until they went blind. The dark summoners got lost and kept crashing into walls in a shadow maze. The water ones were thrown into a lake and nearly drowned, and the wind ones were tossed into a hurricane.”
“You’re earth-type, right? What about you?” Eliana asked.
Tide grabbed his head.
Leo burst out laughing. “The earth-type ones were buried alive.”
“Wow…”
“That’s… brutal.”
“No wonder the summoning students looked wrecked.”
Chelsea clicked her tongue, Eliana broke into a cold sweat, and Nella sighed quietly.
“So that’s why Eliza looked totally spaced out yesterday.”
“Yeah. Since she handles familiars of all elements, she got the full course.”
Tide clicked his tongue pitifully.
Eliza, usually so composed, had returned disheveled and dirt-streaked, stumbling straight into her dorm without even washing.
“What about the Knight Department? What’s your midterm?”
“We have to learn a secondary weapon and use it in the sparring exam.”
“Secondary weapon?”
“Yeah.”
Nella smiled softly.
“What’s yours, Nella?” Chelsea asked eagerly.
Before Nella could answer, Eliana giggled. “Morning star.”
Nella shot her a glare.
“Morning star?”
“That’s the spiked flail-type weapon, right? With a weighted ball on a chain?”
Chelsea and Tide looked puzzled.
Eliana explained, “Nella was looking for a weapon suited for close combat—something similar in handling to a sword but with more destructive power. The class rep recommended a morning star. As for me, I use a graceful spear!”
Eliana puffed up proudly.
“Nobody asked.”
“Yeah.”
“Class rep! They’re being mean to me!”
Eliana pouted at Leo, who just chuckled.
“Still doesn’t suit her image, though.” Carr smirked.
Eliana snorted. “That’s what we thought too, but when she first tried it—urk!”
Nella, smiling lazily, elbowed Eliana in the ribs.
As Eliana groaned and collapsed, the others looked confused until Leo chuckled.
“She smashed a training golem’s head with it. Then smiled like it was refreshing. Honestly, it suited her.”
The other Knight Department students had been horrified.
“Stop teasing me.” Nella pouted, hitting Leo’s shoulder.
Carr and Tide whispered, “She’s scary.”
“Yeah.”
“It’s always the quiet ones who hide the biggest destruction instincts—urk!”
Eliana, laughing as she spoke, got elbowed again and dropped to the floor.
After that round of chaos, the group finally began exploring Lumeria City.
“By the way, what happened to that fairy?”
“No idea. Disappeared after that day.”
“It’s obviously a rumor. A fairy at Lumene? Not even on the Island of Summoned Beast, but on campus? Even the summoners can’t believe that.”
“But did you hear? Someone broke into the food storage.”
“Who’s crazy enough to do that?”
“I heard even the Magic Department’s research materials were messed up. Assistant Professor Anna was shouting that she’d destroy whoever did it.”
“The Knight Department’s teaching aids were vandalized too. Assistant Professor Claria said she’d tear the culprit apart alive.”
Rumors swirled throughout the academy.
Hearing them, Eliana clapped her hands. “What if it was just a fairy’s prank?”
“A fairy? Do you think they’re children who play pranks like that?”
“How dare you insult the Three Great Familiars! Apologize to the summoners right now!”
The summoners yelled indignantly at her.
Leo thought silently to himself.
‘It really was the fairy.’
His Three Great Familiars consisted of the gluttonous Phoenix, the mischievous Fairy, and the perverted Pegasus.
He couldn’t help but pity the summoning students for their idealistic dreams.
Just as the group was enjoying their peaceful outing, they arrived at one of Lumeria City’s famous restaurants for lunch.
“Hm? What are you all doing here together?”
“Well, that’s rare. Out as a group, are you?”
Inside were Professors Sedgen and Harrid, eating together.
Seeing the once-rival Class 5 reunited, Sedgen puffed up his chest toward Harrid.
“Our Class 1 gets together often too!”
“I couldn’t care less.”
“Our class has great teamwork! We just don’t come to the city, that’s all!”
Red-faced, Sedgen shouted defensively, burning with competitiveness.
Harrid’s tone turned icy. “Your year’s head professor is embarrassing himself. Why aren’t any of you doing something about it?”
“Uh… should we…?”
“Drag him out.”
At Harrid’s cold command, a few male students hurriedly escorted Sedgen away.
“Professor Sedgen, calm down.”
“Everyone knows Class 1 has great teamwork.”
“Let go of me! Are you mocking me?! You belong to Harrid, not me, is that it?!”
“Yes, yes. Of course.”
They were all former Class 5 students—well-trained under Harrid’s command.
After the commotion settled, a few students approached the professors with bright smiles.
“Professor!”
“Please treat us to lunch! Pretty please?”
Batting her eyelashes, Eliana looked up cutely.
Sedgen grinned. “Charming students, aren’t they? You can treat them, Harrid.”
Harrid replied flatly, “I entrusted them to you because I believed you could handle them. I didn’t realize they still needed my care.”
“Ha! Fine, I’ll pay!” Sedgen snapped, taking the bait instantly.
‘See? Professor Sedgen always falls for Professor Harrid’s provocations. Not that I mind who’s paying,’ Eliana thought slyly.
The students ended up dining together with both professors.
Sedgen preferred a relaxed atmosphere, and Harrid wasn’t strict in social settings, so the mood was pleasant.
Sedgen gave advice about midterms, and Harrid answered questions between bites.
After lunch—
“Thank you for the meal, Professor Sedgen!”
“It was delicious!”
“You’re amazing, Professor Sedgen!”
The students cheered as Sedgen paid the bill.
“Hmph, louder, my lovely disciples!” he said, spreading his arms in self-satisfaction.
As the laughter grew, a voice called out—
“Chelsea Lewellin.”
“Yes?”
Blinking in surprise, Chelsea turned toward Harrid.
“What is it, Professor Harrid?”
Harrid looked down at her shining eyes. “How’s school life these days?”
“Of course I’m an excellent student, just like in first year!” Chelsea puffed up her chest. “Did I ever disappoint you?”
“Plenty of times.”
“That’s only because your standards are too high!” she pouted.
Harrid chuckled faintly. “Yes, you were an excellent student.”
“See?” she said proudly.
“But today, Sedgen came to discuss you.”
“Huh?”
Chelsea blinked in confusion.
“He seems worried about you.”
“Professor Sedgen? Why…?”
The idea that the head professor for second-years was concerned about her caught her off guard.
“Of course, his worries are probably just his usual overthinking. From what I see, there’s nothing wrong with you now.”
“Nothing wrong… now?” she repeated.
Harrid’s expression remained calm.
“Yes. It’s fine if you don’t have a goal yet. That’s what school life is for—to find it.”
Chelsea’s eyes widened slightly.
That same topic—goals—had come up among her friends recently. Hearing it again from Harrid startled her.
“You’re a talented student. You’ll likely graduate and earn great fame as a combat mage.”
He continued, his tone steady.
“Those with large potential naturally develop the power to match it.”
Harrid glanced toward Sedgen.
“I’ve always told my students to act within their limits. I’ve seen too many chase dreams beyond their reach and die for it. Better they withdraw than die pointlessly. That’s my teaching philosophy.”
Lumene’s The Wailing Wall—the professor most upperclassmen feared.
Harrid’s policy was simple: value survival over dreams.
“But Sedgen always wants his students to dream big.”
Sedgen wanted his students to bloom to their fullest, to find their own path, to chase what they wanted and succeed.
That made him, in his own way, even harsher than Harrid—because to reach dreams, one had to survive and be ready to face limits.
“For students who dream of becoming heroes, he’s probably the better teacher.”
Harrid turned his gaze back to Chelsea.
“So it’s not strange that someone like him worries about you.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re always chasing after Leo Plov and Abad Lewellin.”
Chelsea stiffened at that.
“That’s why I wanted to ask you too, Chelsea Lewellin.”
Harrid’s eyes narrowed.
“Will you keep following behind them—or find your own path?”
Chelsea clenched her fists.
“The privilege of youth doesn’t last long. If you don’t choose soon, you’ll end up content with just following those you admire.”
Will she chase the dreams of others—or find her own?
“It’s time to choose, Chelsea Lewellin.”