Legendary Hero is an Academy Honors Student - CH 14

“Who do you think you are?”

“What?”

“As a student at Lumeln Academy, you are a hero candidate. When faced with a crisis, it is crucial to first consider ways to overcome it independently.”

The students quivered under Ain’s reprimand, but Ain’s gaze fixated on Leo who acted without delay.

“At least one of them has some backbone.”

As the towering Kraken descended rapidly toward them.

Swing-!

Leo unsheathed his sword and severed one of the Kraken’s legs.

The sound of metal clashing echoed through the air.

With a swift kick, Leo sent the wriggling tentacles, severed from the Kraken, back into the lake and shouted,

“Do not be intimidated by its size! We can defeat this beast!”

He directed his gaze towards Celia and Chloe, who retorted confidently,

“Who said we were scared?” Chloe, with her fiery temperament, scoffed and Celia, with a determined expression, also unsheathed her sword.

“Where are you looking, Leo?”

Whooosh-!

The Flame Aura, the symbol of the Gerdinger family, erupted from Celia’s sword.

“I cannot believe you thought I would be frightened by a creature like this,” she exclaimed.

Suddenly, a water cannon shot out from the tip of the Kraken’s tentacles and hit Celia, drenching her despite her aura armor.

“It’s a habit of the Kraken, to react to heat and shoot water cannons,” Leo explained, trying to hold back his laughter.

“Perhaps you still lack experience?” he added with a teasing tone.

Celia, her face red with embarrassment and anger, retorted,

“We are the same age, so don’t talk about lack of experience!”

As the Kraken launched another attack, Celia’s eyes widened in rage.

“You damn squid, I will turn you into squid sushi!”

Hwaak-!

Celia’s sword drew a splendid trajectory.

Papababat!

The shredded Kraken’s tentacles flew off.

Celia looked back with a face as if saying [How was that?],

Leo smiled and swung his sword in response.

Buwang-!

As the wind howled, the Kraken’s tentacles were shredded even finer than before by an unseen force.

Celia’s eyes burned with anger as Leo said,

“How does it feel to lose?”

Meanwhile, Chloe, standing beside them, raised her magic staff and began chanting in a language of runes.

“Do you think only your swordsmanship is impressive?” she sneered.

Zjejojjeong-!

“Icicle.”

In the sky, a cluster of ice crystals formed into a giant icicle and as Chloe released her spell, the icicle flew down.

Pueok-! Zjejojjeong! Kkgeurang!

As the magic exploded, the frozen Kraken’s tentacles shattered.

“Ho-ho-ho! What’s the point of stepping forward and sweating like the knights? It’s wise to remain behind the scenes like this… … Ehh??!”

Chloe, who had a proud expression on her face, became the target of the Kraken’s unexpected attack.

Leo, who was quick to react, grabbed Chloe and pulled her back.

“A wizard doesn’t fight from the front,” he said as he swung his sword and cut off another tentacle.

“Kraken is sensitive towards mana, so use your magic carefully,” Leo advised Chloe.

“Ah… Okay.”

The new students, who had panicked as a result of the sudden attack, regained their composure and began to counterattack.

Though the Kraken was a high-ranking monster, the Lumeln’s students would not be easily defeated without resistance.

Ain, who watched everything from behind, raised an eyebrow.

‘Good. The freshmen this year are pretty interesting,’ he thought.

Professor Ain, who had just scolded the freshmen, now had a satisfied expression on his face.

This lake was famous for being home to all kinds of aquatic monsters, so the attack of aquatic monsters was almost like an annual event that happened periodically.

All the students who entered Lumeln were very talented and they had even proved their skills by entering Lumeln, one of the four Hero Academies.

‘New students, who have become indifferent to anything, tend to play it safe. With such a state of mind, they can’t properly follow Lumeln’s teachings,’ Ain thought.

The fact that they had barely met the minimum standards required to learn in Lumeln was the reason why they needed to be aware, and that was also the reason why Lumeln neglected the attack of underwater monsters.

Of course, Ain didn’t let them fight the monsters defenselessly.

As proof, when the ship was attacked by the Kraken, the biggest problem would be the destruction of the hull, which was not achieved.

Of course, the freshmen were too busy blocking the Kraken in front of them to notice that.

‘As expected, the performance of the chief candidates stands out the most.’

Leo’s presence caught the attention of Professor Ain, who was trying to gauge the abilities of the new students.

‘He’s impressive.’

Ain thought as he watched Leo’s clean and unadorned swordsmanship

In addition, as if he had fully anticipated the Kraken’s movements, he kept dodging Kraken’s attacks with light movements.

‘I have to remember his name.’

Looking at how he handled the sword, it was clear that Leo was a strong candidate for the knight department.

Thinking he found an outstanding student, Ain smiled contentedly.

⏩ ⏩ ⏩ ⏩ ⏩ ⏩

Despite the defeat of the Kraken, the attack from underwater monsters continued.

The once joyful party on board had turned into a nightmare.

After an hour of fighting, the freshmen were all in a state of exhaustion.

Their uniforms were wet, their bodies covered in sweat, and their faces tired from the constant battle.

“I can’t fight anymore! I’ve run out of mana!” Chloe cried out as she collapsed on the floor.

“Ugh… Is there anyone who has mana potions?” Karl asked, looking around, but no one responded.

Heo-eok-heo-eok-

Celia sighed and glanced at Leo, who was still guarding the shoreline without any sign of exhaustion.

‘Where does he get this endless energy from?’ she thought, standing next to him with a pale expression.

Just then, a voice shouted,

“The dock is in sight!”

“This bloody fight is finally over!”

“Wowaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!”

The students disembarked from the ship, looking completely drained.

Waiting for them at the dock was a small woman with glasses dressed in formal attire.

“Thank god! Looks like nothing big happened!” she said, but the students couldn’t help but think

‘Nothing big happened? We were attacked by a swarm of sea monsters!’

But of course, no student dared to voice their objections, as the woman was likely a professor from Lumeln Academy.

“Professor Ain. Good job leading the new students! From here on, I will take over,” the woman said.

Ain nodded and spoke while looking at the freshmen,

“I will be teaching the first-year Knight class this year.”

The students from the Knights Department looked surprised.

“Some of you will be taking my class,”

Ain said with a smile as his gaze passed through promising students, including Leo.

“Those who want to reach a higher level, come to my class!” he urged.

“Yes Sir!”

“Yes! Professor Ain!” The Knights Department students raised their voices in response.

Satisfied with their response, Professor Ain had a meaningful expression on his face as he added,

“And also, listen well to Professor Nier’s words.”

With that, he left.

“My name is Artian Nier. I will be teaching the 1st year Summoning department class,” the woman introduced herself with a friendly smile.

“Artian Nier? I’ve never heard of that name before,” Celia tilted her head.

Someone who takes the position of professor at Lumeln should be well-known in their respective field, but Celia had never heard of the name Artian Nier before.

“Artian Nier is quite famous in the central region,” Karl suddenly spoke.

“What kind of person is she?” Celia asked.

“She’s a Heroic spirit Summoner,” Karl replied.

Celia was surprised.

Summoning magic was divided into three major areas: Spirit Summoning, summoning spirits; Resurrection magic, summoning the dead; and Hero Summoning, calling upon heroic spirits.

Among them, the spiritual art of summoning fragments of those so-called heroic spirits was a very rare ability.

‘It was one of Risinas’s main skills.’

Heroic spirit summoning magic was something only those with innate special ability could practice, even someone like Kyle who had learned many skills could not learn this ability.

“Then shall we go to the entrance ceremony?” Artian smiled softly and said.

At that moment, students protested.

“Professor! Is there anywhere to change clothes?”

“That’s right! We can’t attend the entrance ceremony just like this!”

The students, who had been reserved in front of Professor Ain, erupted in the presence of Artian.

They were all aristocratic students and while they were intimidated by Ain’s title, ‘knight of Ice sea’, they immediately expressed dissatisfaction with the weak-looking Artian, whose name they had never heard.

“Oh no! We have to stick to the schedule…”

“My family will never allow me to appear in an important event with such an appearance!”

“That’s right! We proudly entered Lumeln! Such treatment! Unacceptable!”

“Right! Right! We will officially handle this issue through our family!”

Artian, who was pure-hearted, was at a loss and could not do anything regarding the students’ protests.

The students, who had become more confident, raised their voices even more.

“It seems like it’s time for a lesson,”

Leo smiled while Celia frowned,

“What?”

Artian lowered her head and then, in a sudden change of tone, shouted,

“SHUT UP YOU WRETCHED BRATS! Do they think I’m your nanny just because I acted friendly? How dare a freshman act superior and spout nonsense in front of a professor?”

Her face twisted in anger as she spoke.

The students who had raised their voices were startled by the sudden change in her demeanor.

A boy, unable to recover his senses, shouted urgently,

“Even though you’re a professor, we can’t tolerate such verbal abuse…”

Artian’s eyes narrowed as she replied,

“You sh*tty brat? Haven’t you read the atmosphere yet?” and with that, she violently grabbed the boy by the collar.

The male student was taller and bigger compared to other new students, however, Artian showed no signs of hardship as she held him.

Instead, a golden aura emanated from her body.

“What? A… Aura?”

“Dual-class?”

The students were frightened.

The male student, grabbed by the collar, turned pale.

Artian then threw the male student directly into the lake.

“Uaaah!”

Splash! Clang! Clang!

The male student who fell into the lake struggled as Artian gave a stern warning,

“If there are any more kids who dare to rebel, they will not be spared…”

Everyone’s impression of Artian changed even before she finished speaking.

She then sighed and waved her hand lightly, golden mana burst out and Artian rescued the student who had fallen into the water with magic.

The students’ eyes widened at what they saw.

She introduced herself as a professor of the summoning class, but to think she also uses Aura and magic!

“As expected.”

“Do you know about her ability?”

Celia, who had been started, heard Leo’s muttering and asked urgently.

“It’s because of the Heroic spirits that she has contracted. The change in her personality is also due to the contracted soul.”

“Heroic Spirits? It’s an ability that I’ve only heard of!”

Celia exclaimed at this ability, which was extremely rare even among Summoners.

Indeed, Professor Ain didn’t just ask them to listen carefully.

Artian, who returned to her original personality, apologized as she felt very embarrassed about her act, but the students only stared at her blankly. This was because they realized at once that though the professor in front of them had no reputation, they were no match for them.

Meanwhile, Artian smiled brightly and said,

“Anyway, everyone! Let’s go to the entrance ceremony!”

“Y..e..s”

The students responded weakly, looking around at each other.