Chapter 429
Lunia crossed her arms and scanned the surroundings.
‘Lumene’s Abad, Azonia’s Leuwen, Damienne’s Digness and Ameran.’
Lunia was Seiren’s year representative.
And on top of that, a student council president candidate.
She had a fierce, hot-blooded temperament, but that didn’t change the fact that she was Seiren’s top honor student.
That was why she knew the profiles of the elites from the other hero academies—people who were, by default, her competition.
‘They’re all famous mage students at their schools.’
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say they were the best mages among all second-years at the hero academies.
‘Luca and Lumene’s Chloe Mueller are missing… but they were probably assigned somewhere else.’
She hadn’t realized while falling, but once she came to her senses, everyone had scattered and disappeared.
“Looks like it starts the moment we enter the training camp.”
Abad spoke with his usual gentle smile, and Leuwen replied,
“Seems so. The fact that the five of us are gathered here probably means we’re one team, right?”
As Leuwen fidgeted with her luscious fox tail, Digness spoke up.
“The fact that it’s only mages gathered together must be to give us a trial suited for that.”
“Yes, definitely. I checked just now—there’s no way back up the cliff. There’s a barrier.”
Ameran of Damienne added on.
“Looks like we’re all thinking the same thing.”
Lunia smiled.
Like mages, everyone’s analysis was fast and accurate.
“Alright, so our destination is beyond those bushes? I wonder what kind of trial is waiting—huh?”
As Lunia stared at the bushes, she suddenly lifted her head at the wave of mana she felt from above.
Thud—!
A sword, spear, and shield dropped from the cliff above and stabbed into the ground.
“Weapons?”
“Why are these coming to us?”
With puzzled expressions, each of them stepped forward and grabbed a piece of equipment that suited them.
Just as Lunia held the spear with an unimpressed look—
Boom! Boom!
The ground shook.
Flash—!
From the darkness beyond the bushes, red eyes glinted.
“Looks like the test has started.”
Leuwen raised an index finger with a flat expression.
Fwoosh—
A small fireball ignited at her fingertip.
The fiercely blazing sphere of flame flew into the bushes.
Kaboom! Fwoooosh!
With a powerful explosion, flames surged and scorched the surrounding area.
Boom—! Thud!
But the unknown beast didn’t budge.
Seeing that, Leuwen’s eyes twitched.
Thud! Thud—!
A huge brown shape entered their view, lifting both hands and roaring viciously.
“Kyaho!”
“What is that?”
“Heh.”
“…A bear?”
Lunia made an incredulous face, and Abad burst out laughing.
Digness wore an awkward expression.
“It’s a very cute teddy bear.”
Ameran exclaimed in admiration.
“I thought something amazing would show up, but this is disappointing.”
Leuwen snorted and formed a magic circle in her palm.
Then, raising both hands, she released her spell at the teddy bear, which still had its hands raised.
Rrrrraaaash—!
A terrifying gale swept in, blasting away everything in front of them.
When the thick cloud of dust settled, Leuwen flinched.
The others also wore shocked expressions in the same moment.
Snap—!
A chilling sound rang out from the teddy bear’s fingertips, and sharp claws popped out.
“Uh?”
The instant Leuwen let out that blank sound—
“Kyaaaah!”
The teddy bear, face twisted ferociously, swung its arm straight down.
KABOOM—!
Leuwen threw herself aside in a panic and dodged the strike.
The teddy bear’s paw slammed into where she had been.
With eerie claw marks, the ground burst as dirt sprayed in all directions.
Everyone froze for a moment at the savage reality that didn’t match its cute appearance.
“This bear! Why isn’t magic working?!”
“It seems like a type of Guardian powered by magitech. With high anti-magic resistance, ordinary spells won’t even make it flinch.”
As Leuwen shouted urgently, Abad stepped forward.
Lunia moved to Abad’s side and said,
“Then that means we just burn it down with overwhelming firepower from the start, right?”
Fwoosh—
Flames rose around Lunia’s body.
“Shall we see Seiren’s year representative’s skill?”
“You can look forward to it.”
Lunia smiled and released her magic.
Flash! KABOOOOM—!
A pillar of flame erupted from beneath the teddy bear’s feet.
“It’s fine?!”
Lunia muttered with a slightly flustered expression.
Abad completed his spell as well.
Rooooar—!
A massive whirlwind enclosed Lunia’s flames and the teddy bear.
Fwoosh—!
But as if it wasn’t affected at all, the teddy bear tore through the fire and wind with its claws and charged.
“Run first!”
“What the hell is that teddy bear?!”
The five mages fled in horror.
When Digness used earth magic, the ground surged upward and formed a massive wall.
Bang—!
The teddy bear broke through the thick wall as if it were nothing, swinging its paws wildly as it accelerated.
This time, Ameran used water magic to form a huge swamp across the ground.
Splash— splash— splash—!
But the teddy bear ran over it as if it were flat land, chasing the five of them.
“Kiiiyooooh!”
Twisting its head violently, even drool starting to spill from its mouth—
At this point, it was fear itself, far beyond mere grotesque.
“That teddy bear! It got caught on that rock just now, and its paw tore!”
“What?!”
“It looks like pure physical force works, not mana!”
At Abad’s shout, Lunia studied the teddy bear more closely.
Sure enough, as if it had torn on branches and rocks, tufts of stuffing were poking out past the soft-looking fabric.
Seeing that, Digness shouted at Leuwen, who had an exclusive contract with her.
“So it means we’re supposed to take it down with these weapons! Leuwen! It’s your turn!”
“Why is it my turn?!”
“You’re beastkin!”
“Drop the prejudice that all beastkin are good at martial arts!”
Leuwen shrieked hysterically.
“Then you do it, you strong dwarf! Or Lunia El Lunda, you can handle spirit beasts—so you should step up!”
“Just because I’m a dwarf doesn’t mean I’m absurdly strong! I’m a delicate mage artisan!”
“I was going to, but I can’t summon any spirit beasts!”
Just as they were all yelling at each other—
“Keeeeeeek!”
“Kyaaah!”
Seeing the teddy bear already right behind them, roaring, the students screamed and sprinted even faster.
===
“Doesn’t it feel like you can hear screaming from somewhere?”
“I’m not sure. Maybe not.”
At Chelsea’s words, Chen Xia tilted her head.
“Sounds like some coward is screaming somewhere.”
“Borman doesn’t seem to know fear.”
“Of course! I am a warrior of wild Azonia, and a descendant of Arron the Brave!”
Borman shouted, flexing his bulging muscles.
Driana, who had been watching quietly, spoke.
“You.”
“What is it, dwarf girl with the weird way of talking!”
“You have a fine physique.”
“Oh? You understand the beauty of my muscles?”
“Of course. Would you consider becoming a model for art?”
“What do I need to do?”
“Take it off.”
“Very well! Behold, dwarf girl! The trained, beautiful body of a beastkin!”
Borman, who loved showing off strength and muscles, tossed his top off without hesitation.
Borman struck poses, proudly displaying his massive muscles.
Chelsea, who had once been in a party with him, frowned.
“He’s doing it again.”
“Chelsea! If you’re a combat mage, don’t neglect physical training!”
“I have no intention of becoming a lump of muscles like you.”
“If you train consistently, not only will you gain muscles, you might even get taller than that stubby height!”
Chelsea, bristling, was about to smack Borman with her staff, but Chen Xia stopped her.
“Good, excellent!”
Whether they fought or not, Driana clapped brightly, and Borman puffed up.
“Take more off.”
“N-no, that’s a bit…”
But at Driana’s beyond-imagination words, even the confident Borman hunched his shoulders.
“Shouldn’t we stop fooling around and get out of here as quickly as possible?”
A male student from Seiren adjusted his glasses as he spoke.
The place they had fallen into was none other than an underground stone chamber.
Inside the massive square room, the only light source was mana lamps.
“Can’t find an exit, can you? So we were simply doing something constructive.”
At Driana’s words, the Seiren student let out a deep sigh.
“I don’t think a strip show counts as constructive.”
Rumble—
At that moment, the floor blinked red.
Vwoom—!
The students hurriedly moved away from the area lit in red.
“Hey! Borman! What are you doing! Move!”
Borman stood proudly in the red-lit area that looked dangerous at a glance.
“Hmph! I don’t know what it is, but dodging without knowing isn’t my style! I’ll just take it head-on—”
BZZZT—!
“Gghhh—?”
Borman’s body shook as if he’d been electrocuted.
Ssssss—!
When the floor returned to normal, the smell of scorched flesh spread.
Borman staggered, barely regaining his balance.
“Hmph. Just a sting.”
The floor beneath Borman began to glow again.
“Hey! Now dodge!”
“No! I’ll show you I won’t bend to a mere trap—guhk—!”
Thud—!
Chen Xia rushed in and kicked Borman in the side.
Bang—!
Borman flew and slammed into the wall.
BZZZT—!
A fierce spark erupted where Borman had been standing.
When the light vanished, Chen Xia smiled.
“I was trying to save you.”
“If you save him twice, you might die.”
Driana, arms crossed, shook her head.
Flash—!
All at once, red-lit zones appeared across the floor in multiple spots.
“Looks like this is training to avoid the floor.”
“Is it a trap where the path opens if we clear all the patterns?”
At the Seiren student’s mutter, Chen Xia tilted her head.
Chelsea lowered her stance and muttered confidently.
“What, that’s easy.”
“It won’t stay easy.”
With Driana’s words, the floor patterns lit up in complex sequences.
===
“Starting out, it’s pretty vicious.”
Leo muttered while watching the screen floating in the air by magic, and Melina smiled.
“I prepared training that either maximizes each person’s strengths or helps cover their weaknesses.”
The one who planned the first day of training was Melina.
“Candidates who can wipe out enemies at the front like Arron the Brave are still physically lacking, I thought. So I limited their Aura and added gravity magic to their bodies to force them to surpass their limits.”
Melina pointed to the students climbing the cliff, then to the students being chased by stuffed dolls.
“And for mages like Lunia El Lunda, I wanted to build their ability to respond in crisis situations.”
“Yeah. Luna definitely performed even in situations where she couldn’t use magic.”
Even against opponents magic didn’t work on, or in situations where it was hard to cast spells, Luna wasn’t helpless.
‘Even if Arron became her bow… she even smashed enemies down with a club.’
Having been through everything, Luna was terrifying in a messy fight despite being a mage.
In real crisis situations, she had the ability to escape on her own without Leo or Dweno protecting her.
“But why stuffed dolls?”
Bears, rabbits, puppies, cats, and more.
When Leo asked about the unusual appearance for Guardians, Melina beamed.
“Because they’re cute.”
The stuffed dolls chasing students while drooling and screaming bizarrely were as far from cute as it got.
‘Sometimes she really does have a strange sensibility.’
Leo shook his head.
“For students who need to protect someone like Dweno, persistence is the most important thing, right? And they also need the mental strength to endure pain.”
“So what you prepared is electric torture?”
“It’s not electric torture. It’s repeated training so they can endure for a long time.”
If they messed up the floor pattern once, it reset to the beginning.
And the patterns grew more complex, and the electric shock for failure grew stronger as well.
‘It’ll definitely build response ability and focus.’
The saddest part for the students was that, compared to what was coming later, today was only the beginning.
Leo clicked his tongue.
“They’ve got it rough. It’s vacation, but they can’t even play.”
‘You’re the one who shoved the kids into the abyss of hell, Leo-nim.’
Melina didn’t do anything foolish like saying her true thoughts out loud.
She didn’t want to suffer alongside them for no reason.
‘At my age, rolling around with kids isn’t exactly right either.’
Melina patted her shoulder and let out a long sigh.
===
Crackle— crackle— crackle—
Firewood was burning.
The dwarf stamped it out with his foot as he cleaned up camp.
The elven archmage went, “Hnng—” and stretched as she stood.
The dragon was already awake, staring at the black flames burning beyond the mountain.
The beastkin warrior sat with his sword drawn, staring blankly at his own face reflected on the blade.
A human, squatting against a rock and chewing jerky, said,
“Arron.”
“……”
“Arron?”
“H-huh? You called?”
Arron snapped back to himself and looked at Kyle, who had called him.
“You okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
“If you’re scared, say it.”
“I’m fine.”
Arron smiled and shook his head.
Seeing him, Luna—who had been stretching—widened her eyes.
“That’s new! A battle’s right in front of us, but Arron isn’t shaking! Isn’t this the first time?”
Making a big fuss, Luna snatched the bread Kyle was about to eat.
Kyle frowned and tried to take it back, but Luna shoved the bread into her mouth in huge bites.
“You damn long-eared brat.”
When Kyle pressed Luna’s cheeks with both hands, Luna choked Kyle.
“The idiots are energetic from the morning.”
Dweno clicked his tongue and looked at Arron.
“Looks like you’ve steeled yourself.”
“Yeah. I can’t keep trembling forever.”
Arron answered briskly.
Watching Arron closely, Lysinas asked,
“Arron.”
“Hm?”
“Are you really okay?”
“Of course.”
Arron adjusted his grip on the sword named Courage.
“Don’t worry.”
Shing—!
The blade gleamed sharply.
“You guys… I’ll protect you, no matter what.”