Chapter 94
“Who are you?”
“I’m Elena.”
“Are you really Senior Elena? Is it true?”
Chloe’s eyes grew wide.
“Yes.”
“I always read your published papers on magic, Senior!”
“Huh?”
“Especially the part about the effect of atmospheric mana vibrations on magic—I found it fascinating!”
“You actually understood that difficult topic?”
“Yes!”
“Oh my, we have such a cute junior this year?”
Elena floated over by magic and cupped Chloe’s cheeks with both hands, bringing her face close.
As Chloe became flustered, Elena’s eyes curved with amusement.
Just then, Chloe felt a chill run down her spine under that gaze.
“What brings you here, Elena?”
“Uncle!”
Elena flew over to Albi.
“I heard you were teaching class today! I thought I’d drop by and listen!”
“I’m not doing anything special, just giving the first-years some advice. And you can’t attend a first-year class. Go join your third-year class.”
“Those boring classes? They’re not worth attending.”
Elena scoffed.
“Then don’t interrupt and leave.”
Elena frowned at those words.
She muttered “Boring,” in a small voice and was about to leave.
“Senior.”
“Why are you calling me, Leo?”
“I have a request. Is it alright if I come to your mansion after class?”
“A request?”
Elena tilted her head and crossed her arms, looking indifferent.
“Why should I do you any favors? You just turned down my request earlier.”
“That was a request?”
“Of course it was.”
Sitting cross-legged in the air, Elena smiled brightly and floated away.
“I’ll be going before the other professors show up and start nagging.”
Waving playfully, Elena vanished somewhere.
Watching her go, Chloe looked completely stunned.
As a model student, the idea of skipping class and wandering off was a culture shock.
“Can she really do that?”
“Of course not. There are plenty of professors watching her closely.”
“Then why doesn’t anyone say anything? She’s your niece.”
“It’s her own choice, so there’s no reason for me to intervene. And even if I did, she wouldn’t listen anyway. Don’t worry about her—just focus on your training.”
With that, Albi returned to his spot.
Leo looked toward where Elena had disappeared.
He needed Elena’s permission to enter the restricted library.
‘Judging by her attitude, she does whatever she wants.’
Even if he showed Albi’s letter of recommendation, she probably wouldn’t care.
‘For now, I’ll just focus on the [Department Competition].’
For now, he needed to focus on the upcoming event.
* * *
Two weeks had passed since the academy lockdown began.
During a break, Eliana grumbled as she studied in the classroom.
“How can there be no refreshments during self-study? This is ridiculous!”
Most students at [Lumene] were nobles or upper-class, so they were used to having snacks with their study sessions.
But since the lockdown, there wasn’t a single crumb of snack to be found.
“Why do you need snacks and tea to study?”
“Class president! You need energy to study!”
“Anyway, where’s Carr?”
As Nella looked around in confusion—
Creak—
The classroom door opened, and Carr pushed in a refreshment cart.
Chelsea and Eliana jumped from their seats.
“Carr! What’s that!”
Seeing the girls’ sparkling eyes, Carr bowed gracefully like a perfect butler.
“I couldn’t get any cake or cookies.”
Clack—
“Ooh!”
When he opened the cart lid, a teapot and cups were neatly set out.
“Young ladies, I’ve brewed this with all my heart.”
“Ooh! Black tea!”
“Even just tea is enough!”
With tea leaves now as rare as gold, even this was a treat.
Pourrr—
Clear liquid was poured into the cups.
“It’s just water.”
“…”
“…”
“Pfft! Hahahahahaha! Did you see your faces? Fooled you— cough?!”
As Chelsea’s face turned menacing, she delivered a dropkick to Carr’s stomach.
Then she and Eliana mercilessly kicked Carr while he lay on the floor.
“W-Wait! My bones—Agh! Sorry! Sorry!”
Carr’s pained screams echoed through the room.
“I have big news.”
“What is it?”
“The venue for the [Department Competition] has been decided!”
“What? Where is it?”
The class 5 students crowded around.
Clearing his throat, Carr announced in a serious voice,
“Neigrang.”
“Neigrang?”
“Isn’t that a restricted zone?”
Neigrang.
A city in the southeast of the continent, famous for being destroyed overnight by a [Hero Dungeon] rampage.
The disaster of Neigrang, where the [Hero Dungeon] was covered up, is now a cautionary tale known throughout the continent.
Though the dungeon was later conquered, the city became a cursed land unfit for humans due to the lingering effects of the [Hero Dungeon].
“Is it really safe to go to a place like that?”
The students gulped.
“I heard it’s a restricted area, but not overly dangerous.”
At Chelsea’s comment, Nella nodded.
“Right. It’s dangerous, but only mid or low-level monsters appear and the place is covered in curses, right?”
For ordinary people, that would be terrifying, but for hero cadets, it was a manageable risk.
With the battlefield decided, the entire class grabbed geography books and started researching.
Unlike the [Hero’s World], there were unpredictable dangers—so the students studied Neigrang with unprecedented seriousness.
Leo also opened his textbook and searched for a map of Neigrang.
‘Neigrang… Neigrang… There it is.’
Leo paused as he found it in the book.
‘This place?’
The names he remembered and those in Kyle’s era were different.
Given how much time had passed, that was only natural.
But he still remembered the events that happened here.
‘This is where Lysinas and I defeated our first legion commander.’
* * *
Time passed, and frustrations continued to build under the school lockdown.
Especially for the first-years, who were having hectic days.
Crackle! Crackle!
Duran watched the [Aura] gathering on his fist and clenched tighter.
BZZZZT—!
As Duran’s power flared, sparks exploded in every direction.
“A-Amazing, Duran! You’ve nearly mastered [The Hero’s Breath]!”
A student from Duran’s group shouted in excitement, but Duran answered irritably.
“Mastered? I still can’t use it naturally. Besides—!”
CRACK—
Duran snapped the wooden sword he was holding in annoyance.
“If you compare it to the sword strikes Leo Plov unleashed back then, this is nothing!”
“Sure, but Leo Plov always ends up hurting himself from the recoil when he attacks like that, right?”
A girl folded her arms and said,
“That kind of self-destructive style has limits. It’s more of a trump card you save for emergencies.”
At her analysis, Duran scoffed.
“This time, I’ll defeat Leo Plov and prove who’s really number one. And—”
Duran glanced to the side.
“I’ll take down Celia Zerdinger, too.”
FWOOOSH—!
“Wow, Celia, you control the flames of [Aura] so well.”
As her classmate praised her, Celia brushed her hair back.
“This is just basic stuff.”
Wearing a confident expression, Celia put out the flames.
She’d spent the past month focused on mastering delicate [Aura] control.
When the flames were gone, she and Duran locked eyes.
Celia scowled and drew a finger across her neck at Duran.
Irritated, Duran responded by giving a thumbs-down.
Meanwhile, in the magic training ground…
Whooosh—!
Chelsea stared wide-eyed at Abad.
‘Amazing, as expected from my brother.’
Watching his expert control of wind magic left her speechless.
THUD—THUD—!
As Abad released his magic, rocks that had been floating in the air fell to the ground.
“To control that much output with such precision! You really are the best, brother!”
Abad wiped sweat from his brow as Chelsea ran over, beaming.
“Chelsea.”
“Yes!”
“How does Leo compare?”
“…!”
At Abad’s question, Chelsea went silent.
In pure magic, Abad was superior.
But overall…
‘Who should I support?’
She admired Abad as a mage.
She admired Leo as a hero candidate.
Abad smiled as he saw Chelsea’s dilemma.
“So Leo’s ahead, huh?”
“B-Brother! That’s not—um—!”
“That’s not a bad thing.”
“Huh?”
“It’s good to have someone to challenge.”
Abad smiled deeply, surprising Chelsea.
Meanwhile, Leo sat in the library, surrounded by stacks of books about Neigrang.
‘There are five big lakes in Neigrang.’
It was a large city, so it had five large lakes.
“Which one is Lake Erdiana?”
Leo scratched his head.
Other students were busy preparing for the [Department Competition], but Leo was focused on something else.
He was recalling events from long ago.
‘With so much time passed, it might not even exist anymore.’
Leo folded his arms.
Back then, a great spirit had slept in Lake Erdiana.
A spirit that no one remembers now.
But back in the Age of Catastrophe, it was hailed as a mighty spirit.
Lysinas’ lost Oathbound.
‘The Great Spirit of Light, Luminus.’
Closing the book, Leo stood up.
‘Guess I’ll have to check out all five lakes myself.’
—
At the grand training grounds in the center of [Lumene Academy], crowds gathered.
Not only [Lumene Academy] students but also countless visitors filled the area.
“Oh! Let me see my daughter! How has school been?”
“It’s been great!”
“Son! You’re the pride of our family!”
“I know!”
“Don’t do anything to shame our family’s honor.”
“Yes, Father.”
Normally, no one except authorized individuals could enter [Lumene Academy].
But for the massive [Department Competition], families of those involved were allowed to visit for today only.
It also helped shift negative public opinion after a month-long lockdown.
Thanks to that, [Lumene] was in an unexpected festival mood.
Of course, more guests meant more problems.
“Excuse me! I want to see where my son studies, why can’t I?”
“Due to security and research regulations, visitors are only allowed in approved areas. Please stay within those zones.”
“Hmph! Do you know who I am!”
Because [Lumene] is usually closed to outsiders, many people tried to sneak into restricted areas.
Most were stopped by the staff, but some were stubborn.
At the top of the [Tower of Heroes].
Principal Kalian looked down at [Erek], where he could see the whole academy.
“Letting so many outsiders in at once makes me worry an intruder could slip in,” Professor Yura said anxiously.
Kalian sighed deeply.
“Luckily, our strong deterrent is back, so nothing like last time should happen.”
Yura glanced at the woman with red hair sitting comfortably on the guest sofa, enjoying her tea.
It was Phoenix Phirina.
‘If only I could talk to her!’
As the strongest summoner, Yura was itching to converse with Phirina, the legendary, fully matured spirit beast.
Unlike Leo’s Fiora or Ulta’s Eiria, she was the real deal—a legend, the ultimate goal for all summoners.
‘There’s no way to keep this secret forever. I’ll have to make it official through our partnership with Seiren.’
Kalian’s eyes grew serious.
‘We can’t let Tartarus run wild any longer.’