Editor : Amethyst00



"Nice to meet you all. I'm Ain Elandieu, and I'll be leading your Joint Combat Studies class."

At Ain's introduction, the first-year students of the Knight Department responded with excitement.

Ain Elandieu.

He was known as the professor at Lumene closest to the title of hero.

Although he currently served as a professor to foster the next generation, his skill level was said to surpass most knight heroes—a true powerhouse.

"I heard he only taught third years!"

"We get to take Professor Ain's class!"

The first-year Knight students could barely contain their excitement.

"This is great and all…"

"But isn't this only good for the Knight Department?"

In contrast, the first-year students from the Magic and Summoning Departments looked a bit disappointed.

Seeing their reaction, Ain chuckled softly.

"Don't worry. I'm not the only one teaching the Joint Combat Studies class."

Just as the first years widened their eyes in surprise, two people appeared at the entrance of the field.

The third years looked shocked when they saw who it was.

"Professor Albi and Professor Artienne?"

Albi Zeron, the Mage with the Mystic Eye.

Not only had he attained the title of hero, he had also hunted countless demons. He was considered the strongest professor in the Magic Department.

"I heard Professor Albi hardly ever teaches?"

"Is this a special lecture or something?"

The students from the Magic Department were fired up.

Meanwhile, the students from the Summoning Department looked puzzled.

"Did Professor Artienne have any experience with combat?"

The first years had already experienced Artienne's intimidating presence during the entrance exam.

Still, compared to Ain and Albi, it was natural to question her actual combat abilities.

The second and third years felt similarly.

Though Artienne had a fearsome reputation, there were no well-known battles she had taken part in.

Even Professor Len, a Magic Department professor who rarely left his research lab, had at least some known achievements in combat.

"Carl, do you know anything about Professor Artienne?"

Eliza asked with a curious expression. Carl shook his head.

"No. Not that I know of."

"Hmm?"

Eliza squinted slightly.

If even Carl—who was well-informed not only about Lumene but events around the world—didn't know, then it was safe to assume Artienne had never been involved in any notable battles.

As a Lumene professor, Artienne was surely powerful, but just how skilled she was in actual combat remained uncertain.

As the professors in charge of the Joint Combat Studies class all revealed themselves, Celia raised her hand.

"Yes? Celia Zerdinger."

"I'm curious—what are we doing in our first class?"

To this, Ain replied.

"First, we're going to form 'parties.'"

All the students widened their eyes at that.

"Parties?"

"That's right. As you may have seen in the announcement this morning, Joint Combat Studies is now an official course for this semester."

It was exactly as Ain said.

This newly established official course was for all first, second, and third-year students.

"Let me add this—once we form these parties today, they'll function as your class groups."

"You mean we'll be taking classes with our party members?"

"Yes. Of course, due to grade differences, you won't be taking core or general education classes together. But for any class shared by students of the same year, you'll attend them as a party."

In other words, these parties were essentially large, combined homerooms.

Chloe raised her hand.

"How many parties will be formed?"

"Six."

At Ain's response, Chloe started calculating.

'500 first-years, 224 second years, and 163 third years. That's roughly 150 students per party—a massive party size.'

"Also, any mock battles and practical assignments in the Joint Combat Studies class will be carried out by party units. Even the field missions will be conducted per party."

"Will the first and second years follow the third years on their missions?"

Duran asked, but Ain shook his head.

"No. Only for training exercises."

Once students became third-years, they were obligated to fulfill missions assigned to Lumene.

But training missions and actual missions were different.

For training missions, Lumene selects requests that can be completed by first and second-years.

However, actual missions vary greatly in difficulty.

Some may be easier than training missions, but others could be overwhelmingly difficult.

The training missions that first and second-years had experienced were, in essence, practice for what awaited them in their third year.

Hearing all this, Chelsea raised her hand.

"Why are we assuming such large-scale cooperative battles for this class?"

"Leo Plov will explain that. Ah, here he comes now."

Albi, who had been quietly observing, finally spoke in response to Chelsea.

All eyes turned to Leo.

Walking beside him was Chen Xia.

"Leo! Over here!"

Artienne greeted Leo warmly with a bright smile.

Chen Xia sat with the Knight Department students, while Leo stood beside the professors.

"Leo will now explain why we're conducting Joint Combat Studies and introducing the dormitory system."

With Artienne's serious tone, the students turned their attention to Leo with some tension.

"During the winter break, something unusual happened in the Hero Record."

"Something unusual? Chelsea, Abad—you two were with Leo, right? Do you know anything?"

Carl asked with a puzzled expression. Chelsea and Abad both shook their heads.

"Celia, do you know anything?"

"I'm hearing about this for the first time."

In the Knight Department section, Chen Xia looked questioningly at Celia, who shook her head in confusion.

"What was this unusual event?"

Luke raised his hand and asked carefully. Leo answered.

"We discovered a place called the World of the Legion."

"The World of the Legion?"

"You don't mean the Legion from Tartaros?!"

"What is that? Some kind of Tartaros version of the Hero Record?"

"That can't be real, can it?"

Gasps and murmurs erupted throughout the students.

And then—

"Shh."

A soft voice echoed across the field.

Everyone fell silent and turned toward the voice.

Chen Xia stood there with one finger pressed to her lips, winking with a smile.

"The student council president hasn't finished speaking. Let's all focus, okay?"

Startled, the students turned their attention back to Leo.

Recalling the earlier duel with Leo, they fell silent and attentive.

Seeing that, Leo continued.

"As you guessed from the name, the World of the Legion is related to Tartaros. Just as we inherit the powers of past heroes through the Hero World, the demons are inheriting the power of their predecessors through the World of the Legion. Celia, Abad, Chelsea—you three saw them back then, right?"

"Ah…!"

"The Hero Hunters who had the power of monsters?"

"So that's what that was."

At Leo's words, they recalled the Hero Hunters they had fought during the Hero Slayer incident.

Hero Hunters in monstrous forms.

Remembering their overwhelming power, all three stiffened.

"Leo, did you actually enter the World of the Legion back then?"

"Yes. The place I entered was the world of Sillatna."

"The Monster Queen?"

"No way…!"

Two winters ago.

The terror of 5,000 years—Sillatna, the Monster Queen—who had appeared miraculously in Seiren and was defeated by the Hero of Beginnings, Kyle, and Luna, the Poet of the Star.

When her name was mentioned, groans echoed all around.

At that moment, Walden asked, "What was the background setting?"

"The Age of Calamity, the world of Luna."

"What was your role in that world?"

"I was an intruder. I wasn't a being permitted to exist there."

"Leo, didn't you once fight demons who invaded the Hero World during Luna's era when you were a first-year?"

Recalling Leo's experience during second semester of first-year, Chloe asked with a serious face.

"Are you saying you were in the same position as those demons?"

"Exactly."

Leo nodded with a solemn expression.

"I don't think the World of the Legion appears often. If it could be created easily, the balance of power between our world and Tartaros would already be broken. But we also can't dismiss it like it's nothing."

The Hero World had saved the world.

So, what was stopping the Legion World from being the cause of its destruction?

"Whether we succeed in overcoming the Legion World, or Tartaros succeeds in exploiting it—the battle with Tartaros will only intensify. This will be far more difficult than our past Hero World raids."

There were no enemies in the Hero World.

But the Legion World was different.

It would become a battlefield in and of itself.

The students' expressions grew grim.

"And it's highly likely that every Legion World is connected to a great hero."

"Why?"

"Because the Legion Record seems to be based on the Hero Record. And that means they'll want to inherit the powers of the strongest demons possible."

Leo closed his eyes for a moment.

"The time when they were at their strongest was undoubtedly the Age of Calamity, when the great heroes thrived."

Recalling the past, Leo opened his eyes again.

"You all know those battles were mostly large-scale wars. That's why the Joint Combat Studies class was created. And why we're calling them 'parties' instead of just classes."

Leo smiled faintly.

"Because a party—a group that fights for their lives together—is a stronger bond than classmates. That's all I have to say."

After finishing his explanation, Leo bowed to the professors and returned to the students.

The first years' eyes sparkled as they watched him.

'If I end up in the same party as Senior Leo…'

'School life would be amazing, right?'

'It's not just about school. Senior Leo is about to become a king too!'

The first years imagined a future full of hope.

'If I get into Senior Leo's good graces, I'll be on the fast track to success!'

While they were lost in such hopeful fantasies—

The second and third years were having very different thoughts.

Full of despair.

'If I end up in Leo's party, it's going to be living hell from day one…'

'The moment Leo notices me; my life is over.'

bl

The first session of Joint Combat Studies consisted of the professors explaining what the class would entail.

Before forming the parties right away, they gave the students time to get to know each other across grades.

After all, the students didn't know each other well enough to form groups immediately.

Especially the first years.

The second and third years had formed strong bonds through the mentor-mentee system last year, but the first years hadn't.

Since they'd be in parties together for an entire year, careful selection was necessary.

Once class ended and break time began—

Chloe approached Leo.

"Leo, I have a question about what you said earlier."

"What's on your mind?"

Chloe, sitting next to Leo with a serious face, asked:

"Do you think the Legion World can go berserk, like the Hero World sometimes does?"

The Hero World created through an abnormal berserk state is called a Hero Dungeon.

In those cases, the Hero World starts to distort and influence reality.

"Hmm… Well, I actually think the Legion World is itself a form of berserk. So I don't think we'll see the same kind of runaway as the Hero Dungeon."

"Is that so?"

"But I am curious. If something like a Hero Dungeon did happen—would it benefit us or Tartaros more?"