LHAHS Chapter 308
The second-years murmured at the mention of a mock battle.
"A large-scale mock battle between dorms?"
"So that means the entire dorm is participating in the mock battle?"
It was, literally, a massive-scale fight involving the entire second-year class.
"Silence."
With just that single word, the entire second-year class closed their mouths and focused on Harrid.
"This practical exam is meant to evaluate your abilities in large-scale combat against other people." His cold gaze swept over the students.
"Throughout your first year, you focused on one-on-one duels or battles against multiple monsters, beasts, and demons."
The students nodded at his words.
"Starting from your second year, you need to learn how to fight against multiple humans or other intelligent species."
Most of the students looked puzzled at Harrid's words.
Chelsea raised her hand.
"What is it, Chelsea Lewellin?"
"Is there really a reason to differentiate between battles? Aren't they all the same?"
Harrid expressionlessly scanned the students. Most of them seemed to agree with Chelsea's question.
"Is there anyone who can answer Chelsea's question?"
A few students raised their hands.
"Emio Luce, answer."
Harrid gave the floor to Emio, who had raised his hand first.
"Large-scale battles against other people require entirely different strategies and tactics. Monsters and beasts tend to move in a simple and predictable manner, while demons are a threat just by existing. In contrast, large-scale battles between humans usually involve highly trained units operating in formations. If you mistakenly approach them the way you would with monsters, you might fall into their traps and be defeated by their strategies."
Harrid nodded at Emio's response. "Excellent. I'll give you five points for your answer."
"Thank you." Emio bowed his head and shot Chelsea a smug look.
Chelsea stuck her tongue out at him in annoyance.
Coming from a military family, Emio had been trained in military tactics from a young age. He understood firsthand how fundamentally different it was to fight humans compared to fighting monsters, beasts, or demons.
"Anyone else want to present another difference?"
At Harrid's question, the students glanced at each other. Then, Chen Xia raised her hand.
"Chen Xia, answer."
"No matter the reason, in actual combat, you have to take many lives. That's the biggest difference."
Unlike usual, Chen Xia's face was completely expressionless.
The students around her flinched at her words. Even as hero candidates, they were still just teenagers in their mid-teens. It was too early for them to truly grasp the weight of taking a human life.
A heavy silence filled the air.
"I'll give you five points for your answer."
Chen Xia said nothing and simply lowered her hand.
"The greatest enemy of heroes is Tartaros. That is an unchanging, absolute truth." Harrid looked at the students. "But one day, due to personal circumstances, you may find yourselves pointing weapons at each other and meeting as enemies on the battlefield."
Though they were currently studying together under the name of the hero academy Lumene, most hero candidates had their own affiliations and political ties. This academy gathered talents from every nation around the world. Among them were students whose home countries were currently hostile toward each other.
A heavy atmosphere settled over the students.
"But keep this in mind. This large-scale battle exam is not meant to simulate that kind of war." Harrid took a deep breath. "This is to prepare you for the battles you will one day face against Hero Hunters. Never forget that."
"Yes, sir!"
The students responded with a powerful shout, and Harrid nodded in satisfaction. "Now, I will explain the rules for this exam."
Harrid snapped his fingers. A magic screen appeared in the air.
"The battlefield for this exam will be Lumeria Lake."
The students' eyes sparkled as they looked at the scenery of Lumeria Lake.
"Each dormitory will be assigned a base."
Snap—!
With another snap of his fingers, three islands appeared.
"Whoa! This is serious!"
"So it's a mock battle, but we even get bases?"
The students exclaimed in excitement. Others also reacted with enthusiasm, clearly thrilled.
"This looks like it's going to be fun!"
Carl let out an exclamation of admiration.
Harrid's cold gaze turned toward him. "Carl Thomas."
"Y-Yes?"
"Chelsea Lewellin."
"Yes?"
"Step forward."
Carl thought he was about to be scolded for calling the test fun, but since Chelsea was also being called forward, he felt relieved.
Harrid handed Carl a bracelet. "This is a magical artifact that will protect your body. Put it on."
Carl obediently put on the bracelet without hesitation. The bracelet glowed green.
"Whoa?"
As Carl admired it, Harrid spoke again.
"Chelsea Lewellin."
"Yes."
"Attack Carl Thomas with magic."
"Wind Storm."
Kwoooom-!
"Ughhhhhh?!"
Without a moment's hesitation, Chelsea instantly unleashed her signature high-speed spell and sent Carl flying.
Carl crashed into the ground with a miserable thud, twitching slightly. The students all gave him sympathetic looks.
After a moment…
"Wait! Wait! How could you just blast me away like that?!"
"It was Professor Harrid's order."
"You could have used a weaker spell like Magic Arrow!"
"It was an experiment, so I figured a strong spell was necessary. You don't seem hurt anyway."
"I am hurt! It hurt like hell! I'm just not injured, that's all!"
As Carl protested, Chelsea flashed him a bright, cheerful smile.
Harrid pointed to Carl's wrist. "Everyone, look at Carl Thomas's wrist. See how it's glowing red?"
In addition, while the bracelet had previously been glowing green all over, only the upper part remained lit now, while the rest had dimmed.
"A red glow indicates a critical condition. This bracelet serves as both a protective artifact and a life indicator. When the light disappears completely, you will be considered dead. Of course, you won't actually be injured, but the pain won't be fully blocked either."
The students all nodded.
"Is it over once all lives are depleted?" Chloe raised her hand and asked.
Harrid shook his head. "No. If you run out of lives, you will revive at your base after five minutes and be able to rejoin the battle."
"Whoa…!"
"However, the opposing team will receive five suppression points for every revival."
"Ooooh."
"In addition, to help teams quickly rejoin the battlefield, they will be able to construct forward bases with warp gates. If a forward base is destroyed, the team that destroys it will gain twenty points."
"Can we capture the enemy base?" Celia asked, and Harrid nodded.
"Yes. If you capture and take over an enemy base, you will gain three hundred points. The team that loses their base will no longer be able to respawn. If all their members are eliminated, they are out of the battle. However, you can also reclaim a lost base."
At those words, the students tensed up.
"So in the end, the team with the most points wins?"
"That's right, Abad Lewellin."
At Harrid's response, the students erupted into excitement.
"Awesome! Awesome!"
"This is going to be so fun!"
"We'll be able to use all sorts of strategies!"
As the students buzzed with anticipation, Harrid added, "There is another victory condition beyond just accumulating points."
At those words, the students immediately refocused.
"If the King of a dormitory is captured, that dormitory is immediately eliminated."
Everyone's eyes widened.
"The King, of course, cannot respawn."
The Glory dormitory lounge.
"Everyone, gather around!"
"Nobody's missing, right?"
All the dormitory students had gathered in the lounge.
As the Glory students assembled, Chloe sat in a corner reading a thick book.
"What are you reading?" Retdam, a male student from the summoning department, asked curiously.
Chloe smiled. "A book on tactical theory."
Meanwhile, Leo spoke up. "We'll start the strategy meeting now."
At Leo's words, Chloe closed her book. "Before that, I think we should choose the strategists who will plan our tactics."
At that, Eliana raised her hand. "Me! Me! Leader, I'll do it!"
But protests erupted from all around.
"Hey! If you come up with the strategy, it'll just be a full-on charge!"
"Someone who only knows how to rush headfirst in a one-on-one fight is going to be our strategist?!"
As her dormmates objected, Eliana crossed her arms and lifted her chin. "Hmph! Have you all forgotten that I'm from the Raden family? Our lineage is full of war heroes! Our family motto is even about war!"
"What's the motto?" Retdam asked.
Eliana smirked. "Overwhelming force for instant annihilation."
"Sounds more like instant annihilation of our own team."
Her dormmates' reactions were cold.
"I think Chloe would be the best strategist."
"Yeah! Chloe is great at strategy and tactics!"
"She's even a chess master!"
Chloe nodded. "Alright, then I'll do it."
"Then I'll be the vice strategist!"
"Denied."
"Waaah! Everyone keeps ignoring me!" Eliana pouted and turned to Leo to complain.
With the strategist decided, Chloe spoke. "Before we plan our strategy, we need to choose the King first."
At those words, the students tensed.
"Who should be the King? Anyone want to volunteer?"
Chloe's question made everyone glance around. Even Eliana, who normally loved taking the lead, hesitated this time.
The King. This was the biggest variable in the battle. Even if they captured enemy bases or racked up a huge lead in suppression points, they would lose if their King died.
Because of that, the King needed to be strong. But making the dorm's strongest fighter the King was also a problem.
Large-scale battles were full of variables. No matter how powerful someone was, the moment they let their guard down, they could be eliminated. That meant the King was better off staying within the base rather than fighting on the front lines.
"This is trickier than I thought."
The Glory students shook their heads.
"The King is important, so they should be strong, but that weakens our combat force."
"On the other hand, if we assign someone defensive, it feels unreliable."
"Not to mention, even if they're guarding the base, they might need to run if things go south."
As everyone worried…
"If no one volunteers, I have a recommendation," Chloe said.
All eyes turned to Chloe. Looking around at her dormmates, she suggested, "I think Leo is the best choice for King."
Everyone's eyes widened.
"Isn't it a waste to make Leo the King? He's our strongest fighter."
At Retdam's words, the students nodded.
But Chloe smiled and said, "The other dorms won't know Leo is the King."
That was true. The identity of the King was a secret from the other dorms.
Chloe smirked. "We'll use that."
"What?"
"Leo is our strongest fighter. Because of that, the other dorms won't expect him to be the King."
"That's true."
Leo stroked his chin. "So you want me to be King and ambush our enemies."
"Exactly." Chloe nodded.
"Most of them will avoid fighting Leo just to prevent giving him suppression points."
"If we send Leo out as the King while keeping him on the front lines, the enemies will actually hold back instead."
Chen Xia looked impressed. "Of course, there are some risks. Walden, Duran, and Eliza will definitely target Leo."
Chloe's eyes gleamed. "But Leo can handle all three of them. And those three would never work together."
Walden, Duran, and Eliza all had their own reasons for targeting Leo. Because of that, their pride wouldn't allow them to cooperate.
"Celia, Abad, and Chelsea, on the other hand, will weigh their options and avoid fighting Leo."
Ultimately, it was about hiding their most important piece in the most dangerous place.
"Isn't that too risky, though?" Eliana asked worriedly.
Chloe nodded. "It's definitely dangerous. But…" She turned to Leo and smiled."The moment our opponents assume we wouldn't use our strongest card that way, this entire battle will tilt in our favor."
The Glory students stared at Chloe. Her quiet giggle reminded them of a dangerous witch straight out of a fairy tale.
"So? What do you all think?"