Legendary Hero is an Academy Honors Student - CH 22

“Ex.., expulsion… … Isn’t that a bit harsh?”

Seeing Karl breaking out in cold sweat, Chloe asked.

“Feeling insecure?”

“Of course! Since it’s a magic test of Lumeln academy, it’s clear that the difficulty will be no joke!”

“Do you really think they will give problems that are beyond the level of a freshman?”

“That’s why I’m envious of you top rankers.”

To Karl, who passed the entrance exam with a few point difference, the term ‘exam’ itself made him feel uneasy.

It appeared he wasn’t the only student who felt like that.

“Expulsion?” a student gasped.

“That’s too harsh,” another student chimed in.

“As professors, we have the right to expel students if necessary,” Professor Ren explained. “But we can only do so with a valid reason.”

“But you can’t just expel us without a proper cause!” a student protested.

Professor Ren tapped his fingers on the test paper.

“If you can’t even pass a test of this level, you’re not fit to learn magic at Lumeln.”

A male student from another department raised his hand.

“What about students from other departments who want to take magic classes?”

“You can take magic classes, but not in my class,” Professor Ren replied.

“What about dual-class students?” the student asked.

Professor Ren paused and chuckled.

“I may discover hidden magic talents in those students during regular classes.”

The students looked confused by the sudden comment.

“Even minors have to take the same test, as there are those who believe in discovering magic talent this way,”

Professor Ren continued. Some students were visibly trembling.

“But… Isn’t it disrespectful for someone who has never learned magic to try to be on the same level as those who have devoted their lives to it?”

Professor Ren asked, his smile not reaching his cold eyes.

Chloe’s eyes lit up as she eagerly nodded in agreement.

“You just need to score over 40 points out of 100 to pass the test,”

Professor Ren said, causing the students to breathe a sigh of relief.

He snapped his fingers and a large hourglass appeared in the air.

“The exam is for one hour. If you finish all the questions, you can submit the test and step out of the classroom for a break.”

The students took out their writing utensils, ready to start the exam.

The hourglass began to turn and sand started to flow.

The students started to work on the test paper, which consisted of questions, an answer sheet, and additional sheets for technical solutions.

Leo’s face tensed as he looked over the test questions, while the sound of writing filled the room.

‘Describe the effect that is displayed when the corresponding magic spells are combined.’

Leo rubbed his temples, feeling overwhelmed.

‘What on earth are these spells?’

Of all the departments, the one that had undergone the most significant changes since Kyle’s time was the magic department.

Magic was a constantly evolving field of study. The basic runes remained the same, but the way spells were used changed over time.

The current era was particularly advanced due to the presence of Hero records, which left Leo, who had never seen a magic book after his rebirth, at a disadvantage.

Looking to the side, Karl, who had been making a tearful face, was also solving the problem. While Chloe already started to write down the answers to the questions.

‘These kids are smart. They can figure out these complex spell combinations in their heads.’

Leo took a deep breath, trying to calm himself.

‘I need to get a general understanding of the spells in this era. Even if they change with each era, as long as I know the structure, I can work it out.’

Leo regained his composure.

‘I can’t get kicked out of the first class, it would be so embarrassing!’

With renewed determination, Leo set to work on the spell problems at a rapid pace, determined to prove his worth as a legendary hero who had saved the world.

‘Thank god! Luckily, only the problems I know came out!’

Meanwhile, Karl, who was solving the problem, let out a sigh of relief.

The exam was not as difficult as he had feared.

They asked only about the spells he memorized for the entrance exam.

The magic spells were quite complex, but as Professor Ren pointed out, if they couldn’t solve this much, they didn’t deserve to learn magic in Lumeln.

‘As expected, if it’s at this level, the summation of the spell can be done through mental calculation itself.’

Karl’s jaw dropped as he saw Chloe quickly scribbling down answers without any solving process.

When Karl turned his head toward Leo, he could see him moving the pen at a tremendous speed.

However, unlike the speed, nothing was written on the answer sheet.

‘What? Leo, you! You said you wanted to be a dual class, then why are you lacking in technical knowledge?’

At this rate, it was obvious that Leo would not be able to take magic as his major.

Karl made a sad face at the fact that he couldn’t take the magic class along with Leo.

“Only Half an hour left.”

‘Yikes, this isn’t the time to think about it? Let’s solve the problem first.’

Meanwhile, Leo, who filled up one sheet of paper completely with the solving process, stopped moving his pen.

‘What kind of fucker made these spells so complicated?’

If he were given enough time, he could have fully interpreted.

The problem was that there was too little time.

When he checked the next problem, it was encrypted with a spell he had never seen before.

Leo, who was checking the problems with a furrowed brow, stopped at the last problem.

The exam consisted of 50 questions, with the first 49 being spell summations and the last question requiring solving and disrupting the spell to find the answer.

The spell itself wasn’t too complicated compared to the previous problem.

Leo, who got the answer by mental calculation, wrote the answer on the answer sheet and got up from his seat.

The students’ gaze was fixed on him.

‘He must have given up. He hasn’t even solved the first question yet, and anything beyond that would be a waste of time,’

Karl clicked his lips as he watched Leo hand over the answer sheet to the associate professor.

‘Let’s give up on magic class.’

Out of 50 questions, he only knew one, how could he take the class?

‘I have to learn it through self-study.’

Blaming himself for his complacency, Leo left the classroom.

The hourglass continued to flow, but the other students remained seated.

Even if they were non-majors, they still had a basic understanding of magic since they had chosen it as a minor.

“Time’s up. Everyone, hand in your answers to the associate professors.”

“Phew~ that was tiring.”

Karl got up and asked Chloe.

“Hey, what was the answer to the last question? I just couldn’t solve it.”

Chloe frowned as if she was dissatisfied and looked at Karl, then she shook her head as if she was exhausted and replied.

“I didn’t have enough time, so I couldn’t solve it.”

“Really? Well, that question was terribly difficult.”

“What about Leo?”

“From what I saw, it looks like he couldn’t solve a single question.”

‘So, that’s why he left.’

Nodding her head, Chloe got up from her seat and walked towards someone.

Karl followed Chloe’s back out of curiosity.

“Brother! Is this answer also correct?”

“That’s right!”

“Oh, yea!”

The place Chloe headed was where Abad and Chelsi were.

“Hello, Chelsi.”

“What? Aren’t you Karl? Who is this woman?”

“This is Chloe Muller.”

“Northern chief?”

Chelsi opened her eyes wide.

“Nice to meet you, Abad Llewellyn. Did you solve the last problem?”

“I couldn’t solve it because I didn’t have enough time. How about you?”

“So do I.”

Chloe then pulled out the test paper.

“I’m curious to see how much my solution differs from yours. Shall we compare?”

“I was actually curious too. Good timing.”

Chloe’s exam paper was packed with the solution for the last problem.

Abad’s exam paper was not inferior to Chloe’s.

Karl clenched his teeth.

‘As expected, the experts are different. If they were given more time, they could have solved them all.’

“Where is Brother Leo?”

“Since he left earlier, he seems to have left the department. I don’t think he solved any of the questions.”

“Well, those aren’t problems a knight could solve.”

Knowing Leo was an excellent knight, Chelsi nodded.

Then Professor Ren climbed back to the podium and the students quickly returned to their seats.

“It was a tough test for everyone,” he said with a neat smile.

“Before the associate professors finish grading, I will give you a preview of the magic class I’ll be teaching,” Professor Ren began.

The students listened intently, captivated by the content of the lecture.

They realized that the professor in front of them was one of the best.

“I can’t believe I get to learn from someone like him!” they exclaimed.

As Professor Ren concluded his lecture, an associate professor approached him with the test results.

“Professor, the results are in,” the male associate professor said.

“Let’s all take a look at the results,” Professor Ren replied.

The associate professor brought a bulletin board with the test rankings to the lecture hall.

“This test had 49 one-point questions and one 51-point question,” Professor Ren explained as the students buzzed with excitement.

“It is also a crucial aspect of my class and I use it to select students for the magic major classes. In recent years, magic spells have advanced rapidly, allowing spells to be used without fully understanding them, just by memorizing the activation incantation,” Professor Ren continued.

He demonstrated this by casting a magic spell and then shutting it down with a boom, causing fragments of magic power to fly out in all directions.

“This has led to the degradation of wizards,” Professor Ren exclaimed, startling the students.

“The trend among recent mages is to memorize the incantation of more spells! It certainly is an easy way to use magic… but! That’s not what a true wizard is! The essence of magic is not memorization, but exploration and understanding! But what are young mages nowadays doing? They are busy with memorization, they neglect to understand the spells! The advancement of such spells has brought the decline of mages!”

He raised his hands and a vast array of magic spells appeared in the sky.

“This is the essence of the magic spell I created. It’s not a spell that anyone can learn by memorizing the incantation, it’s a spell that I created from beginning to end. Are there any wizards these days who study their own magic?”

That was precisely the essence of a mage’s unique and creative world of magic.

The spell cast by Professor Ren looked beautiful and enchanting to the eyes of future mages.

“The battle between magic spells is also a battle of who understands and breaks the opponent’s spell faster, even before the power struggle. You cannot reach higher levels just by memorizing incantation. So…!”

Swoosh-!

Professor Ren’s magic spell disappeared.

“I will teach you to understand magic spells so that you can become true wizards,” he said, full of enthusiasm.

The students were moved by his passion and started clapping their hands.

The word “True wizard” was enough to touch the hearts of these young students.

Professor Ren nodded at the enthusiastic response of the students and pointed at the bulletin board.

“Check your scores and rankings. And the unfortunate students who were all below 40 points, please leave the classroom, that’s all.”

Students gathered in front of the bulletin board.

A male associate professor approached Professor Ren who was looking at the students with deep eyes.

“Professor.”

“Yes, Associate Professor. What is it?”

“There’s a student who got the 51-point question right.”

“Did he get 100 points?”

Professor Ren was genuinely surprised.

‘I can’t believe such a talented student came in! Abad? Chloe? Ah! Am I finally getting a lifelong disciple?!’

“Not 100 points.”

“Not 100 points?”

Professor Ren’s face changed bizarrely.

If a student was good enough to solve the last problem, it was obvious that the first 49 problems wouldn’t be too difficult.

But he didn’t get 100 points?

“Ah. So the student who solved the last problem probably missed a question or few.”

“It’s not that either. Except for the last question, everything is blank. Look here.”

The associate professor handed over the answer sheet to Professor Ren.

Professor Ren, who was checking the pure white answer sheet, asked with a serious face.

“… … Who is this student?”

While checking the bulletin board, Chloe naturally looked at the top ranking.

And she was surprised at what she saw.

2nd place. Chloe Muller and Abad Llewellyn. (49 points)

3rd place. Chelsi Llewellyn (48 points)

No matter how she looked at it, she and Abad were tied for second place.

And the name at the top was.

1st place. Leo Flove. (51 points)

Chloe looked at the front row where Leo was sitting, with a stiff face.

There was an answer sheet that Leo had been solving.

She ran over there anxiously and checked the problem.

‘Eh, what the hell is this?’

Chloe couldn’t help but make a horrified expression when she saw the solution to the first problem that Leo had given up trying to solve.

‘Leo Flove…. What the hell were you doing!’