Legendary Hero is an Academy Honors Student - Chapter 218
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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218
‘Go easy on him?’
Austin made an expression of bewilderment.
Not only Austin, but the other trainees felt the same way.
The trainee Austin was facing, Geris, was a skilled fighter.
An opponent Austin had never once beaten in sparring matches between trainees.
And yet he was told to go easy on such an opponent.
‘What kind of confidence does Young Master Leo have?’
Austin, who had been chuckling inwardly, felt his tension ease.
‘Right, I’ve survived Young Master Leo’s harsh training for the past month.’
After experiencing Leo’s training, he felt he could overcome any trial.
Austin took a deep breath and gripped his wooden sword firmly.
A bastard sword-shaped wooden sword that matched his build.
Seeing Austin like this, Geris chuckled and pointed his sword.
‘Arrogant fool.’
While Austin wielded destructive swordsmanship using a bastard sword, Geris, despite his build, used precise and fast swordsmanship with a thin sword.
Austin had always lost overwhelmingly, unable to keep up with Geris’s speed.
As the two stood in the center of the training ground looking at each other, Geris began stepping lightly and taking his stance.
“I’ll teach you your place, Austin.”
With those words, Geris charged toward Austin at tremendous speed.
Swoosh-
Austin swung his sword at Geris rushing in at high speed.
Whoosh-!
“Hmph! Still the same crude attack!”
Swoosh-!
Geris stepped and dodged Austin’s sword, penetrating to the left.
Speed so fast it was dizzying to watch.
But Austin’s sword accurately pursued Geris.
Geris, who had been trying to evade and counterattack, hastily swung his sword in defense.
Thwack-!
A heavy sound rang out that was hard to believe came from wooden swords crossing.
Geris grimaced at the pain he felt in his wrist.
Austin’s strength was truly monstrous.
“It seems you’ve made some progress. In that case…”
Geris activated his aura.
Flash-!
Watching Geris increase his speed even more, Austin made a perplexed expression.
He wasn’t flustered by Geris’s speed, but surprised at himself for being able to react to Geris’s speed that had been difficult to handle just a month ago.
Swish-!
When Austin dodged his thrust, Geris showed a surprised expression.
“What?
And he hastily began unleashing a fierce assault.
Swoosh! Swish-swish-swish!
Brilliant thrusts and slashes ran wild.
The other trainees who thought Geris was overwhelming Austin whistled and cheered.
But the faces of the top-ranked trainees changed completely.
‘Geris’s attacks aren’t getting through?’
Geris’s swordsmanship was a style that subdued opponents with speed.
If that speed wasn’t working, it meant he couldn’t defeat his opponent.
Of course, Austin also had no opening to counterattack, so the match reached a stalemate.
However, the fact that Austin, who had been mid-ranked, was matching Geris, who had been top-ranked, was shocking in itself.
‘He had sufficient physical ability and aura handling from the start. What he lacked was technique.’
Leo, who was watching the match, chuckled softly.
All members of Leo’s Knight Order were from lower nobility or commoner backgrounds.
As a result, they inevitably had shortcomings compared to other trainees who had systematically trained in swordsmanship from childhood to become knights.
Despite this, they were talented enough to rank in the middle among trainees.
Leo identified the most necessary parts in such knights’ swordsmanship and had them focus their training on those areas.
The results of that were showing now.
‘Kids grow up fast.’
While thinking words that would have made others chuckle if they heard them.
“Grr! You bastard!”
Geris’s eyes flashed.
‘What kind of humiliation is this!’
He had been aiming for a position in Leo’s Knight Order.
But to struggle against Austin, whom he had clearly thought was a level below him?
For Geris, who had thought this was an opportunity to show his skills to Leo, it was an infuriating situation.
‘An opening!’
As his composure crumbled, an opening for Austin to exploit appeared.
Whooom-!
“Huh?”
Geris was startled and stepped back.
The flow of the match changed in an instant.
Austin, having grown accustomed to the speed, began pressuring Geris in return.
Sparks flew from Geris’s eyes.
“You bastard!”
Whooooom-!
Powerful aura gathered on Geris’s sword.
Seeing this, Austin concentrated even more.
Hum-!
Austin’s bastard sword also began to glow.
Watching Austin like this, Geris quickly executed a thrust.
In terms of aura power, Geris definitely held the advantage over Austin.
“Hah!”
Austin also let out a battle cry as he swung his sword.
At that moment, a magic formula appeared above Austin’s sword.
“What?!”
Geris cried out in shock.
Crack-!
“Argh?!”
Austin’s sword, its power increased by aura and enhancement magic, shattered Geris’s sword.
Whoosh-!
Austin’s sword stopped right in front of Geris’s neck.
Geris’s face, which had been wide-eyed, contorted.
“That’s cheating! You! Where is it allowed to use magic artifacts!”
At Geris’s outcry, Austin lowered his wooden sword and said.
“I cast the magic myself.”
“Lies! You became a magic swordsman in just one month?”
“Yes.”
“That’s ridiculous!”
Geris protested roughly.
They had been training together as trainees for several years.
He had never heard that Austin had any aptitude for magic.
While the other trainees wore expressions of disbelief, Leo chuckled and said.
“What just happened was indeed magic cast by Austin.”
“What?”
“He has talent as a mage, so I’ve been teaching him magic for the past month.”
“Th-that’s ridiculous…! No! Even if it makes sense, it’s cheating! This was a swordsmanship duel! And we are knight trainees of Jerdinger! Magic cannot be tolerated!”
“What does being a Jerdinger trainee have to do with using magic?”
“As one who aspires to be a proud knight of Jerdinger, to dabble in magic!”
“Then are you saying I’m also intolerable?”
“…!”
When Leo asked indifferently, Geris’s face turned pale.
Excited by the thought of Austin’s defeat, he had blurted out anything and made a slip of the tongue.
Leo also used magic.
“I! Th-that is! I misspoke…!”
“Forget it. Just continue with the next duel.”
Leo spoke without even giving Geris a glance.
After that, duels took place in the order of Julan, Carin, and Valerie.
And in those duels, all of Leo’s knights claimed victory.
Julan and Carin unfailingly demonstrated their abilities as spirit knights.
Valerie achieved victory by actively utilizing the aura characteristics manifested by Leo.
“Great! An overwhelming victory!”
“Maybe it’s because we’ve been tormented by Young Master Leo for a month. I can see their movements clearly!”
Julan and Carin high-fived and made a fuss as if they couldn’t believe their own growth.
“Valerie! You feel the same way, right?”
When Carin asked in an excited voice, Valerie nodded.
“Yeah. It hurt much less than getting hit by Young Master Leo.”
“…”
“…”
Julan and Carin looked at Valerie with pitying faces.
Meanwhile, Martina stepped up onto the training ground.
Endian stood on the opposite side.
Martina gripped her wooden sword tightly.
‘Everyone else won, so I can’t be the only one to lose.’
Endian was currently among the top five skilled trainees of his age group.
Endian also adjusted his grip on his wooden sword while looking at Martina.
‘Judging from the others, Martina must have gained new abilities too.’
He didn’t know what magic Leo had cast, but Leo’s knights had gained top-tier skills among trainees through dual classes or awakened aura characteristics.
‘I mustn’t let my guard down.’
Endian, gripping his sword with both hands, lowered his stance and took a deep breath.
Martina took the same stance.
Whoosh-!
And without anyone’s signal, they simultaneously charged at each other.
To probe Martina’s abilities, Endian employed defensive swordsmanship.
Whoong-! Crack-!
Endian narrowed his eyes at the heavy sword infused with aura.
Both of them, having activated their aura from the start, moved their bodies quickly.
But as time passed, puzzlement crept into Endian’s eyes.
From Endian’s perspective, Martina hadn’t changed much.
He could tell her skills had improved.
But she wasn’t using magic like Austin, nor had she contracted with spirits like Carin and Julan.
Much less had she awakened special aura characteristics like Valerie.
She just swung her sword steadily as usual.
“It seems you haven’t manifested any abilities like the others.”
Endian curled up the corner of his mouth.
“Then this is easy.”
Having finished his probing, Endian instantly switched to offense.
Flicker!
Blue flames erupted from Endian’s sword.
Endian’s family, the Terriers Household, had been vassals of Jerdinger for generations.
As such, they had been granted Orus Martial Arts from Jerdinger long ago.
Martina gripped her sword tightly.
The Orus Martial Arts that trainees were learning was ultimately related to flames.
But one had to master the Orus Martial Arts to produce flames.
That was also the process of finishing trainee life and being recognized as an apprentice knight.
Red flames were the very symbol of Jerdinger knights.
Upon becoming an apprentice knight, one would be granted new Orus Martial Arts.
In that sense, Endian, who had learned Orus Martial Arts from his family, could be said to have a different starting line from other trainees.
Blue flames were still flames, after all.
Normally, she would have been intimidated by the flaming aura.
But Martina wasn’t afraid to face Endian’s flames.
She had seen a boy who couldn’t even use aura defeat monsters like a hero from stories.
And that boy had truly shown heroic progress.
‘Young Master Leo said it. That we could also enroll in Lumern.’
What is a knight?
Isn’t it one who follows their lord’s words?
‘I’ll remain as Young Master Leo’s knight.’
Roooar-!
‘I’ll enroll in Lumern to become a knight worthy of Young Master Leo!’
With that single aspiration, she had devoted herself most earnestly to Leo’s training for a month.
And that effort bore fruit.
Flicker-!
Red flames, signifying a trainee’s graduation, formed on Martina’s sword.
“No way…!”
Endian wore an expression of shock.
Martina was also flustered seeing her own flames, but soon calmly swung her sword.
Crack-!
Endian’s sword broke and shot up into the sky.
Thud-!
Martina’s wooden sword, wreathed in flames, stopped just under Endian’s chin.
“I won, Endian.”
“Guh!”
Endian gritted his teeth.
Then he bowed his head and said.
“…I lost.”
At those words, Martina withdrew her sword.
“Sister Martina!”
Carin ran over with a bright smile and hugged Martina.
All the trainees wore expressions of disbelief.
Five who were at most mid-tier had defeated upper-tier students in just one month!
“This settles it.”
Leo chuckled softly.
“You’ve proven yourselves through skill. If anyone complains about my Order of Knights from now on, I won’t stand for it either.”
In fact, issues related to the Order of Knights were problems that could be easily handled with Leo’s authority.
Yet the reason he watched this situation unfold was simple.
He had given them a chance to resolve it themselves.
And they had admirably proven on their own that they were qualified to be Leo’s knights.
“Now go and do what you need to do.”
At Leo’s words, the trainees dispersed.
Various currents flowed among the trainees.
While some gritted their teeth and went to train, others still couldn’t accept the situation.
However, they no longer spoke out openly about it.
They couldn’t help but acknowledge the skills of Leo’s knights, including Martina who had earned her qualification as a knight apprentice.
“This is all thanks to Young Master Leo!”
Austin bowed his head.
“That’s right! We were able to become stronger thanks to Young Master Leo!”
Carin also said with a bright smile.
The month of living had been like hell, but the reward for those difficult days was certain.
Watching his delighted knights, Leo spoke.
“I only gave you a push.”
It was the Order of Knights who had endured the grueling training that would have been understandable to give up on.
“You became strong on your own. So don’t thank me, you can be proud of yourselves.”
At Leo’s words, the knights showed moved expressions.
“Well then, since there won’t be anyone else objecting to the fact that you’re my knights, shall we come up with a name for the Order of Knights?”
The moment they decided on the Order of Knights’ name, they would truly become Leo’s knights.
As everyone wore tense expressions, Leo spoke.
“Slayer.”
At Leo’s words, the Order of Knights showed puzzled expressions.
“Slayer?”
Martina showed a flustered expression.
It meant massacrer.
It was a name that didn’t suit an Order of Knights.
Looking at such Martina, Leo said.
“I’m going to fight against Tartaros from now on.”
Leo’s gaze reached the Order of Knights.
“If you follow me, you’ll naturally end up fighting them continuously.”
“I see. We are now Young Master Leo’s sword. If the path Young Master Leo takes is such a path, then the name Slayer would be fitting.”
Martina smiled slightly.
Then she knelt down.
The others followed suit and bent their knees.
“We five, including myself Martina, swear to become your sword, your shield, and knights who will open the path you take.”
Martina, who recited the knight’s oath as their representative, raised her head.
“Please allow us to serve you as our lord for life.”
“I allow it.”
Leo smiled as he looked at the Order of Knights who would be his right hand for life.
The knight’s oath came to an end and the Slayer Knights rose to their feet.
Looking at them who had somehow become more dignified, Leo said.
“Ah, and since you’ve passed the first stage of training, shall we move on to the second stage?”
Crack-
At those words, the entire Order of Knights froze.
“S-second stage? There’s such a thing?”
When Carin asked in a trembling voice, Leo crossed his arms.
“Of course. Your goal is admission to Lumern. You’re still far from it.”
Looking at the Order of Knights who were turning pale, Leo muttered.
“Since we’ve been to the mountain, next time…”
After mountain usually came sea.
“Sea of Fire?”
At the training location that far exceeded their expectations, all members of the Order of Knights felt their minds go dizzy.
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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