The Birth of a Hero

1.

This year’s entrance exam was a disappointment.

If the exam had proceeded normally, we could have appreciated the talents of the new students.

This time, several talents who had begun to make a name for themselves from a young age had applied, so the professors who would be teaching them had particularly high expectations.

It wasn’t just the professors who had expectations.

The students felt the same way.

Having been called geniuses in their respective hometowns, they all intended to show off their talents in a grand manner.

So, when the third exam was called off, quite a few children were disappointed.

But should we call this an opportunity?

A crisis came to the academy, and the new students were able to show off their talents to their hearts’ content, talents they hadn’t been able to display in the exam.

“Huff… huff… haaa…”

Yohan, the Hero’s disciple, caught his breath.

He wiped the sweat flowing down his cheeks and shook off the bits of flesh stuck to his blade.

What is this chaos…?

He was attacked by Summoned beasts on his way to attend the new student welcome party.

They were difficult to defeat because they were covered in Demonic energy like armor, but he was somehow managing to take them down one by one.

“…Are you okay?”

Yohan, catching his breath, looked to the side.

A girl with red hair was sitting down.

She was a girl he had met while moving forward, defeating the Summoned beasts.

“Can you stand up?”

Yohan held out his hand to the girl.

“Uh.”

Instead of taking Yohan’s hand, the girl stood up, leaning on her staff.

“Ugh…!”

Her ankle had been bitten by a Summoned beast.

Blood gushed from the spot where flesh had been torn away.

The girl, Reine, bit her lip and squinted one eye.

“That son of a bitch…!”

Reine glared fiercely at the Summoned beast, which was wriggling with its tongue sticking out.

“Excuse me for a moment.”

Yohan wrapped his arm around Reine’s side and hugged her.

She was so slender that one arm was more than enough to encircle her.

“W-w-what are you doing?!”

Reine jumped up, her eyes wide like a startled cat.

“Stay still. It’s hard to hold you.”

Yohan lifted Reine up like a princess.

Her small frame, like a child, was indeed light.

He could feel a high temperature from her shoulder, which was pressed close to him.

Reine screamed.

“Y-y-you pervert…!”

“Pervert? I’m helping you because you don’t seem to be able to walk…”

“I can walk!”

Reine shouted at the top of her lungs.

Because she was resisting so fiercely and struggling, Yohan put Reine down.

“I could have defeated them on my own even if you hadn’t helped me, hmph!”

Reine limped forward.

This time, too.

And last time, too.

She was only receiving help, like a burden.

She was supposed to be a Wizard from a prestigious family of Flame magic, but she hadn’t been able to properly use her power in the main event.

‘Not only did you fail to take the top spot, but you didn’t even take second place? How shameful.’

That was what her father had said to her on the day the results of the acceptance were announced.

‘Our family must always be first. Look at your Hyung. Has he ever lost the top spot even once since entering the academy?’

Reine, limping as she walked, clenched her teeth and gripped her staff tightly.

“Don’t be stubborn.”

Yohan supported Reine.

Because of the height difference, Yohan bent his knees to match her height.

“Let go of me!”

“At that speed, you’ll be eaten by the Summoned beasts.”

“Mind your own business.”

“I don’t know why you’re being stubborn in this situation, but no matter how much you refuse, I’m going to help you.”

Yohan wasn’t the type to leave someone in danger.

Supporting Reine, who was hissing and twisting like an angry cat, he headed towards the nearest shelter.

But that didn’t last long.

“Krrr…”

The Summoned beasts they thought they had defeated rose again and blocked their rear, and new Summoned beasts blocked their path.

Had they reproduced in the meantime?

There weren’t just one or two.

More than 20 Summoned beasts were drooling and growling.

Yohan took up a position to protect Reine, holding his sword.

“I’ll buy you some time.”

“…Okay.”

Reine nodded, understanding the unspoken words.

“Haa…”

She felt goosebumps from the murderous aura that stung her skin.

Yohan took a breath and recalled his teacher’s teachings.

He gripped his sword tightly with both hands.

Yohan’s sword began to glow faintly.

Sometimes, a crisis becomes a stepping stone for growth.

This was it.

2.

Just what is that Saintess’s identity?

Yuriel couldn’t believe what she was seeing.

She was shocked to see her casually cutting down Summoned beasts covered in Demonic energy.

And she was even more shocked to see her instantly dealing with a Demon.

The Saintess headed to the Magic department professor’s lab.

The moment the door opened, the stench of blood filled the air.

Waiting in that stench was a Demon with a grotesque appearance.

Seeing that, Yuriel’s body flinched involuntarily.

She had never been afraid even when facing a bear five times her size in the snowy fields as a child.

That was an enemy she couldn’t handle alone.

Just as she made that judgment, the Saintess cut down the Demon.

After that, she immediately jumped out the window and moved to another location.

“Where did she go?”

The Saintess was moving so fast that Yuriel lost track of her.

Was it right to keep chasing her?

In a situation where she needed to defeat even one more Summoned beast, following only the Saintess’s trail didn’t seem right in the current situation.

But, she wanted to see more.

The Saintess’s swordsmanship had instilled a sense of awe in Yuriel for the first time in a long time.

It was a feeling she had felt when she first saw her father’s swordsmanship, no, an even greater feeling than that made Yuriel’s heart flutter as a swordswoman.

“I’ll catch up while following her.”

Yuriel decided to follow the Saintess and take down any enemies she saw.

She was about to take a step in the direction the Saintess seemed to have headed when.

A pillar of fire rose high from a nearby location.

“Those sons of bitches! How many of them are there?!”

“Prepare the next magic!”

“I will!”

Urgent voices.

Yuriel, who had been trying to continue following the Saintess, turned her feet.

She wanted to see more of the Saintess’s swordsmanship, but Yuriel decided to help them.

-Fwoooom!

A pillar of fire rose up once more.

Yuriel headed towards it.

There, she saw a familiar face.

The man who had been her sparring partner in the second exam.

He was the Hero’s disciple.

He was fighting while protecting a girl.

His arms were being bitten.

His legs were being bitten.

Even so, he stood on two feet and continued to swing his sword.

“Sword Aura…?”

White flames were wrapped around Yohan’s sword.

The intensity was weak, but that was definitely Sword Aura.

For a guy who couldn’t use Sword Aura until recently to be using Sword Aura now.

That in itself was amazing.

Still, his disappointing skills remained the same.

Yuriel drew her sword.

Frost fell and the blade froze.

She transformed her sword and bisected the air.

An ice storm blew.

Sharp strikes like icicles mercilessly butchered the Summoned beasts.

The Summoned beasts, their bodies torn to shreds, froze as they were.

“…Still, your skills are terrible.”

She didn’t want to say these words, but when she was using her sword, these cold words came out regardless of her will.

3.

“Cough!”

Hoth spat out blood.

His body was in tatters.

As expected, it was impossible to face a Demon alone.

“Hmm… How did this happen?”

Ether professor, who had become a Demon, tilted his head 90 degrees.

“Weren’t you supposed to have defeated the Demon?”

Crack.

This time, he tilted his head to the opposite side.

“Even though what I made back then was a failure, you shouldn’t have been able to defeat it with such skills. Strange. Strange.”

Hoth staggered to his feet.

“F-from now on…!”

It was a bluff.

Even a Berserker had his limits.

Hoth, who had not yet fully mastered Rampage, was on the verge of fainting.

He felt like he was going to die.

His muscles wouldn’t listen to him.

He didn’t know how he was moving his body.

The only sense he had was in his fingers.

Hoth clenched his fingers and gripped his handaxe tightly.

If he had his greatsword…

No, even if he had his greatsword, it would have been the same.

Still, he regretted leaving his greatsword in the dormitory.

“If you didn’t defeat the Demon, then who did? Who could have defeated it?”

Ether professor ignored Hoth’s words as if he had lost interest, and stroked his chin, deep in thought.

“The young Wizard from the Agnia County?”

Hoth focused all of his remaining Magical power into his handaxe.

“Or…”

The blood vessels in his forearm burst.

His flesh tore and blood flowed out.

“…The Saintess?”

The handaxe transformed into a giant double-edged axe.

It grew bigger and bigger.

It became as huge as the Demon’s size.

“Haha, that can’t be.”

Ether professor chuckled indifferently, regardless of what was happening in front of him.

“That’s right, I didn’t defeat the Demon back then!”

Thump, thump, thump.

His heart was beating so fast it felt like it would explode.

His blood flow accelerated and his body began to heat up.

“But…!”

His sweat evaporated.

White steam rose from Hoth’s body.

“This time, I’m the one who’s going to defeat you!!”

He threw the giant axe.

-Whoosh! Whoosh!

The wind caused by the axe cracked the floor.

Splinters of wood flew in all directions.

If he was hit by that axe, his body wouldn’t just be split, it would be shattered into pieces.

“Or is there a third party?”

Ether professor waved his arm and knocked the axe aside.

-Crash!!

The axe broke the tower’s clock and fell outside.

“Uh… Ugh…?”

Hoth was speechless at the anticlimactic end of his ultimate attack.

“If you didn’t defeat the Demon, then is there any reason for me to keep you alive?”

Ether professor shook his head.

“No, there isn’t.”

“Ah, not yet…!”

Hoth felt dizzy and bent one knee.

Everything he saw was shaking.

He felt like he was on a boat.

His stomach was churning and he felt like he was going to throw up.

“It seems like the academy is launching a counterattack as well, so I can’t afford to be leisurely forever. I was thinking of studying you slowly, but it’s a shame.”

Ether professor took out a dagger.

“I wanted to use the last one on the Saintess… Well, it seems like it would be somewhat fun to use it on you. I’ll make you a stronger being than you are now. You’ll be reborn too.”

Ether professor stood in front of Hoth.

Get up!

Get up!

Hoth urged himself, hitting his knee.

But his body wouldn’t listen and he couldn’t stand up any longer.

Barely holding on to his sanity was the only thing he could do.

“Where should I…”

Just as Ether professor was about to stab the dagger into Hoth’s head.

-Crackkkkk!!

A sound like something being torn apart grew closer from afar.

Ether professor stopped his actions and focused on the sound.

It was coming up.

It was coming up.

And then it soared up, tearing through the floor.

-Whack!!

One of Ether professor’s arms, the one holding the dagger, was cut off.

“Hmm??”

Ether professor looked up.

There was someone on the ceiling who had cut off his arm.

“…Handaxe?”

It was Hoth’s handaxe, the one Ether professor had knocked out of the clock tower a little while ago.

“Found it.”

Someone was climbing up the clock tower.

The clouds moved.

The moonlight shone on the stairs.

After a while, the figure of a girl slowly began to appear from below the stairs.

Golden hair.

Skin as white as jade.

Eyes as clear as crimson blood.

“Were you in a place like this?”

It was the Saintess, Elia.