Editor : Amethyst00



Combat Studies class.

During the lesson, Leo was lost in thought.

Lysinas had supposedly liked him.

‘That woman never once showed me any sort of feelings like that, though?’

The Wise Queen, Lysinas.

Leader of the Erebos Subjugation Party, who held the noble goal of saving the world.

The noble black dragon who united Great Heroes and gave hope to those drowned in despair.

Before others, she always presented a flawless image.

Of course, that wasn’t the case in front of her friends.

Especially after major battles, at banquets, she often loosened up.

At those times, she would drink and talk about the future once all the calamities were gone.

‘But even then, she never showed any sign that she liked me, right? So why’d she curse me for not noticing?’

Frowning, Leo recalled the past.

bl

That day was another night filled with festivities.

The victory was being celebrated at the plaza of Godthrone.

Many gathered to bless the heroes.

Not only the five Great Heroes were there, but other heroes who had lived through that era gathered as well.

A human playing music.

An elf joyfully dancing to the melody.

A dwarf pouring drinks with laughter.

A beastkin preparing food.

A dragon telling children stories of heroes.

The five races rejoiced together, thankful for the peace they had won.

For this moment, everyone forgot that they lived in an age of despair.

Kyle quietly watched the hopeful scene from a distance.

Whenever he was alone like that, there were always two people who came to talk to him first.

That day, the one who approached was Lysinas, who had drunk more than usual.

With a face flushed red from alcohol, Lysinas walked up and sat beside Kyle as if it were the most natural thing.

“Kyle.”

“What.”

“When we subjugate Erebos, what will you do?”

Lysinas, who had the goal of saving the world and restoring the light.

Luna, who wished to fill the world with flowers.

Dweno, who wanted to spread beauty throughout the world.

And Aaron, who dreamed of a world where children no longer cried—

unlike them, Kyle had no grand dream.

“I’ll just wander wherever my feet take me. I’ve got nowhere to go anyway.”

At those words, Lysinas turned her head to look at Kyle.

“Then.”

Lysinas smiled shyly.

“Why don’t you live with me in the Dragon’s Domain?”

“The Dragon’s Domain? That sounds too suffocating, no thanks.”

“Then maybe I’ll travel the world with you instead.”

“That sounds nice. But wouldn’t that be hard?”

“Why?”

“You’re supposed to help rebuild the world, aren’t you? Besides…”

“Besides?”

“If I stay with you, you’ll nag me endlessly. I’d rather have some peace and quiet alone…”

Crack–!

Lysinas immediately drove her elbow into Kyle’s temple.

“What the— hey, Lysinas, don’t tell me you’re drunk right now?”

Luna, who had come to invite Kyle to dance, witnessed the scene and looked intrigued.

“Drunk?”

“Yeah. Kyle said you get violent when you drink. I didn’t believe it, but turns out it’s true, huh?”

“See? I told you.”

Rubbing his temple with a grimace, Kyle spoke, and Luna nodded innocently.

Lysinas smiled faintly.

“Kyle.”

“Huh? Guh—!”

And then she unleashed a dropkick straight into Kyle’s solar plexus.

“Just die, you damned bastard!”

The black dragon snarled, stomping on the fallen Kyle without mercy.

Luna, watching the scene, crossed her arms and nodded repeatedly.

“Yep, Violent. Very violent.”

Lysinas grabbed Luna by the hair in response.

Before long, the two were yanking each other’s hair in a full-on brawling.

Watching them, Aaron took a sip of his drink.

“Why are they fighting again?”

“Leave them be. They’re all idiots when it comes to that kind of thing anyway.”

“That kind of thing?”

“The romantic kind.”

Click click—Dweno clicked his tongue as Kyle approached.

“Damn it, what did I even do wrong?”

“In my opinion, you deserve every bit of it.”

“What did I do wrong, exactly?”

Dweno looked at Kyle as if he were truly pathetic.

bl

“……”

Remembering that day, Leo’s face twisted strangely.

Come to think of it, that sort of thing happened quite a lot.

And every time, Dweno would look at him with a half-hearted, pitying expression.

‘No, seriously. This is still unfair. If she felt that way, she could’ve just said so!’

“Student Leo.”

“Yes, Professor Sedgen.”

“Do you find my Combat Studies class uninteresting?”

Sedgen’s eye twitched.

He was currently teaching Combat Studies with great enthusiasm on the training grounds.

And today was a combined session with all ten classes gathered together.

As the representative professor for this joint class, Sedgen was the one in charge.

With midterms approaching, all students were focused—except Leo, who was lost in thought.

“I was listening carefully, though.”

“Hooh? Then why don’t you explain what I just said about party composition and role designation for a five-person party depending on the leader’s class.”

“The party composition changes depending on the leader’s class. In my case, since I’m an All-Class, I can handle any role. Therefore…”

Leo explained it easily.

Hearing it, Professor Sedgen took out his handkerchief and bit it.

“Grrr—! So annoying! But so elegant! Which makes it even more annoying!”

“Professor, I think you just said your inner thoughts out loud.”

“Grrrrrrrr!”

Among the first-years, Leo was the only one who could talk to a professor like that.

Even before Harrid, he never flinched, so his classmates were used to this behavior by now.

After a short while, the class resumed.

“Theory portion ends here. Since this is a joint class, we’ll do Bastera today.”

Bastera, the traditional Combat Studies sport.

They’d formed teams within their own classes before, but never mixed between classes—so everyone’s eyes lit up.

“Teams with other classes? Sounds fun.”

“Now I can finally form the team I always wanted!”

Students began moving around eagerly.

Naturally, the most popular were the top-ranking students.

And Leo, of course, drew the most attention.

“Leo! Team up with us!”

“No, with me!”

“You already have front-liners! You don’t need him!”

“Don’t be stupid! He’s All-Class! He can play any role!”

As students bickered, Leo sighed lightly.

Thump–thump–

Chelsea bounced the Bastera ball and tilted her head.

“Leo-oppa’s been acting kind of weird these past few days, huh?”

“What’s weird about Leo-doryeon?”

“Whoa, you scared me!”

Chelsea flinched as Chen Xia suddenly stuck her face in.

The two smallest first-year girls standing together drew attention despite their size.

“Chen Xia, what brings you here?” asked Carl.

“I came to team up with Leo-doryeon,” Chen Xia replied with a sweet smile. “But really, has he been acting strange?”

“He’s been a bit spaced out.”

“Yeah. The class rep’s usually so sharp, but lately he’s been kinda distracted.”

Tade folded his arms and joined in, and Eliana also looked curious.

Celia and Chloe, who had been approaching to form a team with Leo, overheard and joined the talk too.

“I noticed too. He even got called out during class.”

Celia looked displeased as she eyed Leo.

“Maybe he’s got something on his mind.”

Chloe looked slightly worried.

“I don’t know! Anyway, this is our chance! Chelsea! Give me the ball!”

Eliana grinned mischievously.

“What for?”

“When else am I gonna get the chance to hit the class rep in the head with a ball?”

Snickering, Eliana crept up behind Leo.

Then, as Leo was busy with all the team requests—

Thump!

Leo caught the ball one-handed without even looking.

And without turning around, he threw it perfectly into Eliana’s face.

“Pffft?!”

“That idiot.”

“You think he’d fall for something like that, even if he’s distracted?”

Carl and Tade looked at the red-faced Eliana, unimpressed.

“Chelsea! They called me an idiot!”

Eliana clung to Chelsea with teary eyes.

“You are an idiot.”

“That’s so mean!”

Eliana looked heartbroken.

“The 5th class bunch sure are entertaining.”

Chen Xia smiled brightly, touching her chin.

“But really, why’s he acting like that?”

“Well, for boys our age, it’s usually the same thing.”

Carl folded his arms and nodded sagely.

“I don’t like comparing Leo-oppa to you, but… go on, say it.”

“It’s a girl.”

At that, Chelsea, Chloe, and Chen Xia made puzzled faces.

Celia crossed her arms.

“He doesn’t seem like the type to get all spaced out over that.”

“How could women understand a young man’s heart in puberty?”

“That smug tone makes me wanna punch you.”

Celia frowned at the smug Carl.

“If it’s him, wouldn’t he go for someone older? He’s mature, after all. He’s been hanging out with Elena-sunbae lately, too.”

When Tade joined in, Carl nodded.

“Yeah, I think so too. Which means…”

Carl gave Chelsea a pitying look and shook his head.

“A kid like you doesn’t stand a cha—ughk!”

Chelsea kicked him hard in the ribs without hesitation.

As everyone argued noisily about team formations—

“For reference.”

Professor Sedgen opened his mouth.

“Today is actually your Combat Studies midterm practical exam.”

In an instant, the atmosphere among the first-years turned ice cold.

“Whaaat?”

“W-wait, Professor! A practical exam, all of a sudden?!”

The entire first year panicked.

It wasn’t strange to have a practical during exam season, but this kind of unannounced ambush left them flustered.

Smiling kindly as always, Sedgen watched their confusion and curled his lips upward.

“You are Lumene students, first-years.”

He crossed his arms.

“If you aim to become heroes, you must always be ready to face the unexpected.”

His usual air vanished, replaced by overwhelming pressure, and the first-years swallowed hard.

Then Walden, his face expressionless as always, spoke.

“So, are our opponents other first-years?”

“Fuu. Student Walden, how very elegant of you.”

Sedgen smiled, satisfied by Walden’s calm analysis.

“There’s something you should know. This midterm—aside from the written test, will be graded entirely by relative evaluation.”

He crossed his arms again.

“Unlike the absolute grading of the first semester. Do you know why that is?”

As the students hesitated, Celia raised her hand.

“Answer, Student Celia.”

“Because the mediocre ones have already been weeded out?”

“Elegant.”

Sedgen nodded.

“I do feel sorry for those who were advised to withdraw after the first semester, but… the first semester was the process of filtering out the true candidates for heroes. You’ve felt it, haven’t you? How different you’ve become from before. It means only those with great potential remain.”

Everyone looked at each other and nodded.

“If the first semester was about selecting those with potential, the second evaluates the value of that potential.”

“And how do our potential being evaluated?”

This time, Duran asked.

To that, Sedgen smiled faintly.

“Potential is revealed the moment you face your limits.”

Everyone’s faces tensed.

“Because if you’re students of Lumene, if you dream of becoming heroes, you must be able to surpass your limits.”

Whenever the school’s motto was quoted by the professor, it meant a brutal ordeal was coming.

“Your opponents in Bastera are not other first-years.”

“Then who—?”

Fweeeep—!

Sedgen blew his whistle lightly.

And with that, figures appeared on the training ground.

The moment the first-years saw them, their faces stiffened.

“Ha… ha ha. N-no way.”

“Y-yeah. They’re probably just here to watch, right?”

Some tried to deny reality with awkward laughs.

But Sedgen mercilessly crushed their hopes.

“Your opponents are the fifth-years.”

The first-years’ faces froze in shock.

At the front, Rhys smiled gently at his juniors.

“Let’s have a good match.”