Chapter 435
“Just a little more!”
Ar shouted from the edge of the cliff.
Thud-!
Barely managing to get her hands on the cliff’s edge, Ar grunted as she hauled herself up.
Her Aura was sealed, and an immense weight had been added to her body.
Because of that, she had to squeeze out every last bit of her strength to climb the dizzying cliff.
“Haa… haa…”
Having reached the top, Ar collapsed flat on her back, staring up at the sky and gasping for breath.
“Good work.”
Ar turned her head toward the voice coming from her side.
Leo was sitting on a rock, watching her.
“You cleared it faster than I thought.”
“Huhu. Don’t underestimate me, you black rabb— Ugh?”
Ar clapped a hand over her mouth as a wave of nausea washed over her from the extreme exertion.
Watching Ar narrowly avoid a disaster, Leo said, “Looks like Lunia and Driana just cleared it, too.”
“Hmph, so that means I’m number one, right?”
Ar said, puffing up with pride.
“Well, you were competing individually, whereas Lunia and Driana were sort of a team.”
“Wha—?!”
A competitive fire lit up in Ar’s eyes at Leo’s words.
Ar’s goal was to follow in the Hero’s footsteps and become a great hero herself.
In that sense, Lunia and Driana were rivals with the same goal.
Of course, the paths they followed and their final destinations were different.
But she felt a strong sense of rivalry toward Lunia and Driana, who wanted to become the successors to Arron’s companions, Luna and Dweno.
Just as Ar shot up to her feet and was about to look down the cliff…
Thud-!
Two pairs of hands gripped the edge of the cliff at the same time.
Celia and Duran climbed up, growling at each other.
Eiran followed right behind them.
All three were panting for breath.
“Good work, everyone.”
As Leo smiled and said this to them, Duran scoffed, grabbing his trembling legs to stand up.
“You’re quite kind for someone who was just waiting up here.”
‘Watching them, they’re really the embodiment of competitive spirit and grit.’
Looking up at the intensely beating sun, Leo said, “What do you want to do? The instructors are waiting for us. Want to rest before we go?”
“Then let’s rest for a bit—!”
Just as Eiran was about to reply with a bright smile…
“Why ask the obvious! We have to go right now!”
Ar crossed her arms and snorted. “Hmph!”
Celia also got to her feet, sweeping back her sweat-drenched hair.
“Let’s go, Leo.”
“What are you even asking for, Leo Plov?”
Duran, too, wore an expression that said there was no need to wait.
At her team members’ reactions, Eiran’s ears drooped.
“We’re leaving now.”
Leo nodded at her words, pulled a magic scroll from his pocket, and tore it.
A warp portal materialized.
Leo stepped inside first, and the others followed.
“Ah! It’s Leo-oppa!”
Beyond the portal, Chelsea, who had arrived earlier, was waving with a bright expression.
Chen Xia, her hands tucked into the wide sleeves of her traditional eastern continental attire, also spotted Leo and greeted him warmly.
However, they showed opposite reactions to the two people who followed.
Chelsea stuck her tongue out at Celia and Duran, while Chen Xia couldn’t hide her welcoming smile.
Soon after, Ar and Eiran arrived as well.
Spotting Eiran, Chelsea stuck close to her side, chattering away happily.
Ar crossed her arms.
“From our school, there’s Dion and the stupid tiger. From Seiren, Eiran. From Lumene, Celia Zerdinger, Duran Moira, Chen Xia, Chelsea Lewellin, and the black rabbit.”
After checking the headcount, Ar tilted her head.
“Who in the world is the next instructor?”
“Hmph. I’d wager it’s Li Jamua sunbae-nim from Lumene.”
Borman, the tiger Beastman, said confidently.
“That chiseled physique! He was a man among men!”
“Didn’t you say you disliked human bodies because they look weak?”
“Seeing Li Jamua changed my mind! There is surely something to learn from him! Isn’t that right, students of Lumene?”
“Jamua sunbae-nim, huh? I wouldn’t be too happy if he were the instructor.”
“I don’t like the sound of that. It feels like it’ll be nothing but intense physical training. We just finished climbing a cliff, you know.”
Chen Xia and Celia shook their heads.
“It doesn’t matter who comes.”
Duran, arms crossed, scoffed.
“No, in the first place, why am I even here in a place crawling with students from the Knight Department?”
Chelsea showed a hint of dissatisfaction.
She was the only pure mage.
It was then.
Rustle-
The sound of footsteps on grass was heard.
At that moment, Ar’s ears perked up, and she sniffed the air.
“This sound of footsteps on grass! This smell!”
Ar’s eyes began to sparkle.
“It has to be him! Ar—!”
“You mean the Arkan-nim that Ar-nim respects?”
Eiran hastily corrected her.
“Arkan-nim!”
Ar charged frantically into the bushes.
“Gyaaaaaaaah?!”
A moment later, a terrified scream echoed out.
Clinging to Arron’s leg, Ar was panting heavily with a slightly crazed look in her eyes.
“Haa! Haa! I respect you! Haa! You’re so cool!”
“G-get away from meeeee!”
Arron freaked out at the sight of the unhinged Ar.
The students who had run over at the scream were dumbfounded by the scene.
Leo grabbed Ar’s tail to pull her off.
But Ar only tightened her grip on Arron’s leg with her arms and legs.
“Wh-what should we do?”
Eiran, who was also pulling on Ar to get her off, asked with a flustered face.
Leo sighed. “Subdue her.”
“S-subdue her? H-how? If I use too much force, Ar-yang might get hurt…!”
“Do it cleanly, without hurting her.”
“Cleanly, without hurting her?”
After a moment of thought, Eiran grabbed Ar’s head and jaw with both hands.
CRACK-!
“Keoheok?”
And she twisted.
Her neck snapped to the side, Ar foamed at the mouth and passed out.
Leo handed her tail to Dion, who dragged the limp Ar aside.
Peeking out from behind Leo, Chelsea said to the bewildered Eiran, “Eiran-unni is scary.”
“That was incredibly brutal.”
“Hmph, so even with that innocent face, she’s Seiren’s second-in-command, is she? Merciless in her execution.”
The corner of Duran’s mouth curled up.
“N-no, I just. I mean, I did what I saw in a novel…”
“Wow! That’s amazing. Did you perhaps learn assassination techniques?”
Chen Xia even clapped her hands in admiration.
“I-I’ve never learned anything that scary!”
While Eiran pleaded with a tearful face at the Lumene students who were deliberately teasing her…
Leo helped Arron up and approached the students.
Ar had also regained consciousness.
Although her body twitched as she looked at Arron, she managed to suppress the urge to lunge at him.
The students’ expressions grew tense as the instructor stood before them.
Just a moment ago, even though he had shown a somewhat pathetic side, the instructor before them was one the Dragon Lord-nim herself had said was specially invited.
‘Arkan, huh? I’ve never heard that name.’
‘Why did Ar do something so bizarre?’
‘Somehow, he doesn’t seem to have much charisma.’
‘Why has Arron-nim revealed himself in this era? Could it be a miracle, like with Luna-nim and Seiren-nim…!’
‘Arron-nim! Arron-nim! Arron-nim! Arron-nim!’
As they each focused on Arron with puzzled eyes…
Arkan, who had been looking nervous, cleared his throat.
“Ahem. Nice to meet you. My name is Arkan. It’ll be brief, but I’ll be your instructor.”
“Instructor Arkan.”
Just then, Borman raised his hand.
Seeing the tiger Beastman, who was larger and more intimidating than him, call his name, Arron grew slightly tense.
“Yes, what is it?”
“Are you a graduate of Azonia?”
“No.”
As Arron shook his head, Borman nodded.
‘Could Great Warrior Azonia have ever imagined a situation where someone would ask Arron if he was a graduate?’
Ar thought of the school’s founder, the Great Warrior Azonia, who was praised as the Hero’s successor, and let out an involuntary chuckle.
Next, Chelsea raised her hand.
Arron felt a little relieved seeing the smallest and youngest of the students raise her hand.
“Yes.”
“Instructor, I’m a pure mage, so why am I here with students who handle Aura?”
“I heard that although you’re a mage, you’re a close-combat type who fights on the front lines.”
“Yes.”
“I’ve heard a lot about you from Leo. He said you’re very nimble.”
“Hehehe.”
Chelsea scratched the back of her head, a pleased smile on her face.
“The ability I’m about to teach you will definitely be helpful to you as well.”
“Even though it’s an Aura skill?”
“It is, but it can be adapted for Mana.”
After observing the breathing techniques used by people of a later era, Arron had modified Hyper Senses to the point where it could be used with Mana, not just Aura.
‘Of course, it’s not to the same extent as the Hyper Senses that Arron himself uses.’
Just stepping into the realm beyond extremely trained senses changes the entire landscape of a battle.
‘That talent is certainly a gift from heaven.’
With the development of Aura studies, countless applied concepts that didn’t exist in the Era of Calamity had emerged.
The Hero’s Breath was the culmination of technology born from the fusion of those Aura studies and Arron’s breathing technique.
Even for Leo, it was an impossible concept to grasp at once, no matter how much the technique was derived from himself.
And yet, Arron not only understood the concepts of modern Aura studies in an instant but also applied them to his other technique, Hyper Senses, to derive yet another new skill.
“What is this skill?”
Borman asked with an interested look on his face.
“It’s a skill called Hyper Senses.”
“Hyper Senses?”
Everyone looked puzzled at Arron’s words.
“It’s a technique for sharpening your senses beyond their absolute limits.”
“How is that any different from just heightening your senses with Aura?”
The students looked perplexed.
The concept of pushing one’s senses to their limits already existed.
It was a basic skill that everyone learned from the moment they started training with Aura.
At their reaction, Arron tilted his head.
“Um, well, it’s about refining your senses even more sharply than that. It’s hard to explain with words. Hmm… okay. That should work.”
Arron looked at Leo.
“Leo. Can you use magic to block my sight, smell, and hearing?”
Leo nodded at his words.
While everyone looked on with puzzled expressions at the sudden situation…
Leo used magic to block all of Arron’s combat-related senses, except for his sense of touch.
In that state, Arron walked to the center of the clearing and said, “How about all of you try attacking me at once?”
“Excuse me?”
At those words, everyone except the three who knew Arron’s true identity wore expressions of bewilderment.
No matter how skilled a knight or warrior was, being attacked with one’s senses blocked like that was dangerous.
“Don’t worry, just attack.”
At Arron’s words, Borman said, “In that case, I won’t hold back.”
“I said, try and attack me.”
“Ah, right, you can’t hear either.”
Borman scratched his head, then lowered his stance.
KRAK-!
And without hesitation, he charged at Arron.
Whoosh-!
“…!”
Arron lightly jumped, dodging Borman’s attack.
“Hmm. Then how about this?”
Borman began to rapidly throw punches.
Arron dodged all of Borman’s fists.
Fwooo-!
With a vicious whoosh of air, Borman swung his arm.
Tap-!
Arron landed lightly on top of it.
Just then, Dion joined in.
Fwooo-!
Dion’s sharp kick grazed past Arron by a hair’s breadth.
Grab-!
“Kuk?”
Grabbing the tip of Dion’s foot, Arron pulled.
Thud-!
Losing his balance, Dion collapsed.
Arron looked at the other students and smiled.
“Are you just going to stand there?”
“Is he really a person with his sight, hearing, and smell blocked?”
Chelsea had a slightly horrified look on her face.
Just then, Ar, who had been standing still, bent her stance.
Kwak-!
With that, she shot toward Arron at an incredible speed, as if she were a bullet.
Fwhoosh-!
Thwack-!
Rumble-rumble-rumble-! Cra-cra-cra-cra-crack-!
Ar’s kick was blocked by Arron’s palm.
The ground around where Arron stood cracked.
But the ground Arron himself stood on was firm.
Ar’s eyes shone.
‘As expected of Arron-nim!’
He had completely dispersed the impact.
Arron grabbed Ar’s ankle and tossed her up into the air.
Eiran, too, drew her sword and, without hesitation, sent a sharp sword strike at Arron.
“Chelsea, attack.”
At Celia’s words, Chelsea also used magic to close the distance to Arron.
Even with his senses blocked, he fended off the Hero Candidates’ attacks without difficulty.
‘It’s not just that his sight, smell, and sound are gone. This person’s movements themselves are giving me goosebumps!’
Celia’s eyes widened as she observed Arron’s movements.
Every single motion was enough to give her chills.
He achieved maximum effect with minimum movement.
It was the path that anyone who walked the way of martial arts should pursue.
In her life, the only person who had shown a level of skill that gave Celia such goosebumps was her own cousin, Leo.
‘This person… is beyond Leo!’
He was different from Leo.
If Leo gave off a sense of unfathomable depth…
The instructor before her, Akan, gave off a sense of unfathomable height.
As Celia barely managed to calm her astonished heart…
Fwoosh-!
Arron caught Celia’s sword between his index and middle fingers and deflected it.
Thud-!
“Heok! Heok!”
“This person! He’s a total monster!”
Chelsea gasped for breath and screamed.
Ar, Eiran, Celia, Duran, Chen Xia, Dion, Borman, and Chelsea.
Even with all eight of them attacking together, he hadn’t moved a single step.
Despite them using Aura and magic, Arron predicted and blocked or deflected all their attacks.
“How is it possible for him to read our movements even with his senses blocked?”
“Is this what Hyper Senses is?”
Just as Dion and Borman were catching their breath…
Thump- thump-
“This is a bit troublesome.”
Arron scratched his cheek and muttered.
“You can’t seem to hold back, can you?”
At Arron’s words, Leo smiled and whispered softly, “I was just curious to see how close I’ve gotten to you now.”
Shing-!
Leo drew his sword.
“Let’s have a good match.”
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