Editor : Amethyst00



Leo opened the classroom door on the left and stepped inside.

All eyes of the Emerald students sitting in the lecture hall fixed on Leo in an instant.

Step, step—

Climbing onto the podium, Leo swept his gaze across the room.

His eyes met with one girl’s.

Flinch—!

The girl, Sheila, twitched as if pricked with guilt. Yesterday in Lumeria City, she had tried to trick Leo with a complicated magic formula.

‘So she was an entrance candidate?’

Leo gave a faint smile as he stood at the lectern.

“Nice to meet you. My name is Leo Plov.”

At those words, the Emerald students began to murmur.

“Leo Plov?”

“You mean the All-Class one?”

“The Leo Plov who slew the Gigantes?”

“They say he even conquered the World of the Poet of the Stars recently.”

Though only a first-year, he might become their direct senior with a career more overwhelming than most upperclassmen. The students looked at him with eyes full of curiosity.

Of course, among them were also those who eyed him with suspicion.

“As an instructor assisting with lessons, I’ll be taking over for Professor Len today. I look forward to it.”

As soon as he said that, someone raised a hand.

It was a boy around Leo’s age.

The boy looked at him with slightly slanted eyes and spoke.

“My name is Kun Bei.”

As befitted a scion of the famous Eastern mage family Kun, he had the black hair and dark eyes characteristic of the Eastern continent.

After introducing himself, Bei smirked provocatively and asked:

“Do you really have the skill to teach us?”

“Well, since Professor Len sent me to teach you, I’d say it’s more than enough, wouldn’t you?”

Leo answered with an easy smile.

As a professor of magic, Len was truly exceptional.

The reason all first-year students of the Magic Department respected him from the heart and threw themselves into his classes wasn’t simply because he was a professor, but because his ability to teach was extraordinary.

Thus, first-years in the Magic Department trusted Len’s word when it came to lessons and magic.

But Emerald’s students were different.

Even when Len’s name was mentioned, they still gave Leo looks of distrust.

“We came here to listen to Professor Len’s lectures, not some low-level class taught by a mere first-year.”

Bei curled his lips as he threw the words like a challenge.

Such a thing would be unthinkable in Lumene.

Since Lumene’s entrance age was 14 to 17, seniors and juniors could often be the same age, or even younger than their juniors.

But even then, juniors never spoke so carelessly to seniors.

Lumene’s curriculum was anything but lenient.

No—it was a system designed to weed out the unqualified.

Merely spending time there wasn’t enough to maintain the status of a Lumene student, and even if one survived, failing the promotion exams meant no moving up.

One year.

It might seem short, but a year in Lumene was worlds apart from a year elsewhere.

Surviving another year meant one had more than earned respect.

Even within Lumene, not all were equal.

But the Emerald students, who had yet to experience it, didn’t know that.

Though they were only candidates, some already thought they would be equal to the others once admitted.

Bei was one of those.

‘We’re both just fifteen anyway.’

Some students were siding with Bei.

Others were watching, gauging Bei’s reaction.

“So? You don’t want to hear my class?”

“That’s right. So why don’t you bring Professor Len back for us?”

“Sorry, but I’d like you to be satisfied with me.”

“And why should we?”

Thinking Leo had lost his nerve, Bei pressed harder.

Leo laughed as he looked at him.

“The professors of Lumene don’t like teaching students who aren’t qualified.”

Bei’s face stiffened.

“And if they do, it’s more an act of goodwill, you could say. They’re not people you can just order around.”

“You mean I’m not even good enough to be taught by Professor Len?”

“I never said that. Feeling guilty about something?”

At Leo’s words, Bei’s face flushed red with anger.

“How dare you! Do you know who I am? I’m of the Kun family!”

“If you’re a Lumene entrance candidate, let me give you a piece of advice.”

Leo’s voice was flat.

“In Lumene, skill is everything. I don’t care what family you’re from.”

“Grr! What did you say? Are you challenging the authority of the Kun family—”

“Hey, Bei. Wait. Leo Plov’s maternal family is Zerdinger.”

Another student hurriedly cut in, seeing Bei about to lose control.

At those words, Bei flinched.

Even if the Kun family was a famous house of heroes in the East, they couldn’t compare to the Zerdinger family.

But soon he ground his teeth.

“So what if it’s Zerdinger? That’s his mother’s side! He’s not even direct blood!”

Exploding in anger, Bei shot up from his seat.

“All-Class? Big deal! The Gigantes? That was just the whole first-year working together! The Hero's World? It was only thanks to Lumene’s and Seiren's third-year grade representative! He just got lucky! And now he thinks he’s good enough to teach us?!”

Bei spread his arms wide, riling up the Emerald students.

Leo looked at him and said:

“Should I prove it for you then?”

“What?”

“Whether I have the skill to teach you or not.”

Leo spoke indifferently.

“Name the magic ability you want. Whatever it is, I’ll take you on.”

Bei flinched.

Usually he could belittle opponents by flaunting his family name, but that clearly wouldn’t work on Leo.

“What’s wrong? Not confident?”

Leo crossed his arms as he asked. Bei hesitated, then muttered:

“I won’t fight over petty emotions during class.”

Then, tilting up his chin, he added:

“If it’s Lumene’s way that students teach students, then I’ll have no choice but to follow.”

Leo clicked his tongue at the sight.

‘Other than bragging about his family, he can’t do anything. Lacking skill and courage both.’

In Leo’s eyes, he was hopeless.

At any rate, thanks to Bei, who had provoked so much only to back down when it came to showing his ability, no other student expressed dissatisfaction with Leo continuing the class.

The students who had harbored complaints toward Leo now looked at him with eyes that said, ‘Fine, let’s see how good he is then.’

Leo, standing at the blackboard, spoke.

“Since all of you are preparing for the Lumene entrance exam, you must have done some preliminary studying. You can all at least write activation formulas, right?”

The Emerald students all nodded.

“At the start of term in Lumene, we study to understand the spells activated by formulas.”

Most Emerald students made confused faces.

They couldn’t understand why they needed to study magic they could already use.

This was the same question most Lumene magic students had at the beginning.

“Why do we need to do that?”

A girl in the front row tilted her head as she raised her hand.

It wasn’t a challenge, just pure curiosity.

A girl about Chelsea’s age blinked her large eyes as she looked directly at Leo.

Seeing this, Leo spread out his palm.

Vwooom—!

A magic formula appeared above his hand.

“There’s no one who doesn’t recognize this, right?”

“Isn’t that the Fireball formula?”

“Right. But can you make a Waterball using this Fireball formula?”

“If you need Waterball, just use the Waterball formula. What’s so hard about that?”

Bei sneered.

Ignoring him, Leo rearranged the array of the formula.

In an instant, a Waterball was cast.

“See? But why go through such a hassle—”

“Bei. Just be quiet.”

“Shhh!”

Most of the students, except Bei, realized what Leo was getting at.

Activation formulas were indeed convenient, allowing quick use of spells.

But to use another spell, one had to memorize another formula.

In other words, the amount of memorization only increased.

But by understanding the structure and principles of formulas and applying them, one could cast even opposite-attribute magic with a single formula.

That was a tremendous advantage.

It meant having one more card to play in a critical instant.

“That’s impressive, but isn’t it really hard?”

Another boy raised his hand.

By now, the Emerald students had begun to regard Leo as a instructor.

Though he looked their age, his magical knowledge and ability clearly surpassed theirs.

And Leo had presented them with a new concept.

Mages by nature delighted in learning something new.

Emerald Academy was full of such students.

At the boy’s question, Leo answered calmly.

“For Lumene magic students, this is the baseline.”

The Emerald students’ faces stiffened.

‘This is the baseline?’

‘It looks hard even at a glance…’

They swallowed hard.

Once again, they could feel the gap between Lumene and Emerald.

And they understood why they had to aim for Lumene.

To become the greatest mages, they had to enter Lumene.

“You won’t be able to master this during the joint class period. But I can teach you the basics.”

Leo grinned.

“That’s what studying’s for, isn’t it?”

With that, Leo picked up a piece of chalk.

“From now, I’ll explain the concept of altering magic formulas.”

At his words, the Emerald students hurriedly pulled out writing tools.

They began to focus on Leo’s words.

Bei’s face twisted as he watched.

‘These goody-two-shoes! Is this really worth so much? Paying attention to the lecture of some brat who’s not even a real professor?’

He glared at the academy students with dissatisfaction.

Then he openly tried to disrupt class with odd questions and jeers.

Ten minutes later—

One Emerald student hesitantly raised a hand. After glancing around nervously, he mustered the courage to speak.

“Instructor… I can’t concentrate on the lesson. Because of… well, someone.”

At that, Bei exploded.

“What? Say that again? You can’t concentrate because—”

“Hey. Get out.”

“What?”

“The others say you’re disturbing class. Get out.”

“Ha! You’ve got to be kidding. Who are you to tell me to—ugh?!”

Leo unleashed his mana.

Using telekinesis, he lifted Bei and hurled him out of the classroom.

KWAANG—!

“Guhk?”

Bei slammed into the classroom door and was thrown outside.

All the students stared wide-eyed, glancing between Leo and Bei.

“What’s going on here?”

Anna appeared at the doorway, frowning.

“There was a student disrupting class.”

At that, Anna narrowed her eyes at Bei, who was scrambling to his feet.

“You bastard! I’ll tell my family! I’ll say I was unfairly treated during class and—”

Grab—!

“Khuk?”

Anna’s slender hand seized Bei by the collar as she smiled sweetly.

“I understand. I’ll handle this matter. Leo, continue the lesson.”

“L-Let me go—”

“Hey.”

Anna’s chilling voice made Bei flinch.

“Don’t disrupt class. Shut your mouth.”

“Eek?”

Terrified by Anna’s fearsome gaze, Bei went pale.

For Anna, who was constantly tormented by Len, cowing a clueless brat with a glare was nothing.

Dragged out by the collar, Bei left the students of Emerald looking refreshed.

“Now then, shall we continue class?”

“Yes”

The Emerald students nodded with sparkling eyes.

Before long, they were fully absorbed in Leo’s lesson.

bl

Three days passed since the joint class began.

Most students from the other academies had somewhat adjusted to Lumene’s curriculum.

As expected, there were troubles at first.

But when the professors mercilessly sent students home, those who had relied on family privilege or clung to entitlement were mostly expelled.

All the students had realized it now.

This was not one of the Three Great Class Academies, but a militaristic school for heroes.

Only the real ones remained, and they focused entirely on study.

Their view of the assistant instructors also changed.

At first they looked down on them or eyed them with displeasure. But after experiencing their skill, none dared complain.

Instead, more students began approaching them with friendliness.

“Instructor Celia! May I sit here?”

“…Do as you like.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

When Celia answered coolly, one boy from Icott eagerly sat down across from her with his tray.

“Instructor Celia! Will you be free during winter break by any chance?”

His eyes gleamed as he flirted openly.

Celia clicked her tongue.

Because of her family, skill, and looks, she often got this kind of blatant approach.

Nearby Knight Department students chuckled.

“Want to bet how many seconds until he gets shot down?”

“I say ten.”

“You’re too short. Fifteen.”

Moments later, precisely ten seconds in, the boy slumped away with his shoulders drooping.

The Knight Department students burst out laughing—until Celia glared, and they fled in a panic.

As students grew closer—

Leo lounged on a bench, watching them pass with a drowsy look.

‘At least I don’t see anything that looks like Tartaros.’

Since the incident at the Grand Library, Leo had been observing the Lumene students carefully.

But none seemed like Tartaros.

‘Are they really planning to give up quietly? No. If they do, then the spies hidden in Lumene will all be exposed sooner or later—they must know that.’

Within Lumene.

A secret organization unknown to the students.

The so-called Shadows still investigated everyone’s movements in secrecy.

They had already caught a trace.

No matter how carefully one moved, escaping Lumene’s eyes was impossible.

‘Which means, given their nature… they’ll definitely try to cause trouble by force.’

As Leo narrowed his eyes at the thought—

Step, step—

Someone approached.

Swoosh—

A shadow fell across Leo.

Leo looked up at the figure, puzzled.

“What is it?”

It was an Icott student standing before him.

Leo’s puzzled gaze sharpened in an instant.

At the same time—

Swoosh—

The boy raised his arm and swung it down at Leo.

KWAANG—!

The bench Leo had been sitting on shattered to pieces.

“Well now.”

Leo let out a dry laugh.

“I expected it, but I didn’t think you’d act so directly.”

Vwoooooom—!

The boy—no, the demon—spewed black mana as Leo clenched his fist.

“Leo Plov.”

The voice was low and grim.

“You’ll have to die here.”