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8. A fight with a hero? (2)

Inside the spacious auditorium.

Currently, many academy students were gathered here. Moreover, everyone had faces full of excitement.

It had to be that way.

Indeed, a hero and a mercenary king are about to face off. It was a sight rarely seen in one’s life.

The two were still just glaring at each other. Neither of them drew their swords. But strangely, I felt a great sense of tension.

People looked at the two with excitement and tension.

At that time, the warrior spoke first.

“Ha, I didn’t know you were really going to come forward?”

“Why? Are you asking me to attack you?”

“Tsk, will you really say that after seeing this?”

And soon a surprising phenomenon occurred.

Hwaaa!!

Suddenly, a black haze began to rise behind the warrior’s back.

Moreover, its scale was getting bigger.

At the same time, a tremendous presence began to spread in all directions.

“That…!!”

“No way!!”

Everyone opened their eyes wide at that sight.

The haze grew in size quickly. It quickly grew to 5 meters.

Moreover, it took on one shape.

It was a black dragon with a huge presence.

A black dragon that looked as if it were actually alive was writhing. At the same time, a terrifying presence spread in all directions.

Everyone looked surprised at that sight.

“Huh…! I can’t wait to see the warrior’s 3rd awakening…!”

“Dae, it’s amazing. After all, you are a hero!”

“No matter how mercenary king is, isn’t he quite inferior to the warrior?”

The warrior smiled at the people’s voices. He looked confident.

“Now, did you see it? This is the third awakening. I’ll give you special attention because of your old love, so make sure you stay back.”

The warrior deliberately showed a generous side. I was conscious of my surroundings and did a good cosplay(?).

By the way, many academy students had not even had their first awakening yet.

Ah, it was different from special. Most of the people who passed here have completed the first awakening. Some people had also completed their second awakening.

But the third awakening was a different story.

It was a level that only a very small number of people in the kingdom had achieved.

“Who can’t do it?”

“What?”

It was then.

Hwaaa!!

Soon, a white haze began to rise from behind the mercenary king.

“……!!”

And its size began to grow in no time.

***

Obviously, when I was in the warrior party, I had not yet reached the 3rd awakening.

And that hero was still mistaking me for the mercenary from back then.

But it was different now that he became the mercenary king.

‘He still thinks I’m just an ordinary mercenary?’

Soon, a huge haze began to rise behind me.

And surprisingly, its size exceeded 5 meters.

5 meters, 7 meters, 10 meters.

The entire large auditorium was filled with my haze.

“Mi, crazy!!”

“Is that the third awakening of the Mercenary King?!”

Of course, the bigger the size, the better the abilities.

However, the bigger the size, the better it looked.

Just looking at the warrior’s expression hardening in front of me was like that.

“You…!! When will the 3rd awakening…!”

“Has it been a while? Let’s live by listening to news from outside, right?”

And soon the huge haze began to take on one shape.

To be precise, it wasn’t just one shape.

This was because the haze was wriggling and creating countless people.

A man with a shield, a woman with a sword, an old man with a spear, a barbarian with an axe, etc. A lot of people were forming behind me.

At first glance, it didn’t look unusual.

The third awakening is completely different from the second awakening.

The second awakening is the state of becoming one with mana.

The third awakening is a state where one can put intention into that mana.

Because of this, from the 3rd awakening, you can use your own special abilities.

The name of my ability is Maninjeon (萬人殿).

It is a name I created myself, and is taken from the pantheon of Greece and Rome.

‘Now there are roughly over 100 people.’

My abilities were very different from other people’s special abilities.

Should we accurately call it a growth-type ability?

The more people I had behind me, the stronger my overall power became.

And the condition for becoming strong was to be worshiped by people.

He was to be worshiped almost like a god.

Then, my power becomes stronger as that person’s image is engraved on my back.

Now, almost all of those 100 were steel mercenaries.

That’s why I couldn’t give up on the Steel Mercenaries.

This was because as soon as you give up, your strength weakens.

Anyway, all 100 people were behind me.

All 100 people were gathered together in the air, glaring at the hero.

I felt a tremendous presence and intimidation.

It felt like a real steel mercenary group had been summoned here.

People swallowed heavily at the sight.

Until now, they had predicted the hero’s victory.

But when I actually saw my third awakening, I felt like my thoughts had changed a lot.

Everyone was looking at the two of us with tense faces.

Of course, I had no intention of fighting the hero like this.

‘Anyway, now it’s time to make an appearance…’

It was then.

“Don’t worry-!!!”

Suddenly a loud sound was heard from afar.

“Ugh!!”

“My, my ears!!”

People covered their ears and stumbled to the sound.

This was because it was a huge voice filled with mana.

And among those staggering people, a person appeared.

‘Serge Geis.’

It was Serge Geis, a professor at the Academy.

I smiled slightly at him.

Because it turned out just as I thought.

‘Do I fight with the hero because I’m crazy?’

Of course, I could fight him too.

However, it was a very profitable business.

‘It’s still early. After strengthening the battle a little more…’

That’s why I deliberately asked the professors to come.

This was because I knew very well that if they came forward, I would definitely stop them.

‘And if it’s a professor, there’s a high probability that they will assign a single room to my advantage.’

For example, by grade order.

Anyway, Serge Geis seemed quite angry.

Trudging. Trudging.

A silver haze was rising behind him as he walked.

Meanwhile, it gradually took shape.

It was just like us.

He also brought up the third awakening.

Soon, a huge knight in armor appeared behind him.

Is it because of his fierce spirit?

The warrior’s eyes turned to him.

‘The best sword of the royal family. Serge Geis.’

He was the strongest knight in the Kingdom of Aachen.

Of course, it was known externally that the warrior was stronger.

But if you stick with it, you might not know it.

This was because the gap could be sufficiently narrowed due to the compatibility between special abilities that occurred during the 3rd awakening.

Of course, even a hero would have no intention of fighting the professor.

Fighting him here was like losing points.

And the warrior was not a fool. Rather, it belonged to a rather insidious axis.

“Tsk.”

He clicked his tongue and released his third awakening.

Soon the giant black dragon began to disappear.

I also solved the 3rd awakening.

Soon, countless people existing in the air began to disappear.

And Serge Geis, who saw that, also canceled the third awakening.

“Fortunately, I have sense.”

“……”

“……”

The warrior and I did not answer. In times like this, it was best to remain quiet.

Fortunately(?) he didn’t blame me and the warrior.

No matter how he was, it wasn’t easy to reprimand me and the warrior in front of so many people.

Instead, he looked around and spoke to everyone.

“Did you really want to stay in a single room?”

Everyone fell silent at his words.

Fortunately, he seemed to understand the atmosphere.

At that time, the rest of the professors behind appeared.

Armel, the archmage wearing a cone hat, was approaching, leaving everyone in the air.

Soon, all four professors I had seen in the interview arrived at the auditorium.

Fortunately, except for Serge Geis, no one seemed very angry.

In fact, Professor Lehmann, who had taken the personality interview, even smiled slightly.

At that time, Armel, the oldest, opened his mouth.

“Tsk, actually, this is partly our fault. No matter how high their status, the three were not allowed to receive special treatment once they entered the academy…”

I frowned slightly.

For some reason, it felt like the single room itself would be eliminated.

And my prediction was correct.

“Now that it’s like this, it’s better for everyone to just live in a four-person room…”

If this happens, all the shows I did earlier will be in vain.

I immediately tried to open my mouth.

But Professor Lehmann was faster than me.

“Professor Armel. My thoughts are a little different.”

“Hmm? Professor Lehmann. What’s different?”

I quickly closed my mouth. And I watched the situation unfold.

“How about distributing single rooms in order of grades?”

“Hmm? In order of grades?”

“Yes. If this happens, there will be no backlash, and academy students’ enthusiasm for learning will increase.”

“Hmm…”

Armel seemed troubled by those words.

“I agree.”

“Me too.”

And Serge Geiswa, an English professor, also agreed with this opinion.

If this were to happen, three professors would agree.

Moreover, this opinion was also liked by academy students.

Everyone nodded their heads.

In the end, Armel also agreed to this opinion.

“Yeah, it’s not bad. That’s a good idea. But what are you going to do with the single room right now? Are you going to stick with what you initially decided?”

“No. We have to go in order of grades from the beginning.”

“Hmm? I haven’t taken the test yet?”

“Didn’t you have an interview instead?”

“Ah…”

A decision was soon made.

In the end, the decision was made to move into single rooms in order of grades.

However, we haven’t taken the test yet.

So, the professors decided to select one person who was the most outstanding in their respective field.

I made a face saying I liked it.

In fact, it went as I expected.

Plus, I could see that I had reserved a single room.

‘Why? ‘Because I’m the chief.’