LHAHS Chapter 315
"Lumeria City!"
As soon as the ferry docked, Eliana hopped off with an excited shout.
Following close behind were the students who had been in Class 5 during their first year.
"We're here to have fun today. So let's promise not to do any dorm-related spying, okay?"
Nella's soft smile carried a hint of warning, but Eliana just grinned.
"Why would you say something so obvious?"
"Exactly, exactly," Carl nodded along.
Eliana narrowed her eyes and poked Carl in the side. "You're the one I'm most suspicious of."
Carl let out an exaggerated gasp. "I'm hurt."
"Anyway, aren't our class assignments too intense these days?" Tade mumbled, dragging his feet.
Professor Yura had been pushing the second-year summoning students hard with an exhausting new task.
"For summoners, it's using elementals to strengthen your summons. And for elemental users, it's using summons to strengthen your elementals?" Chelsea tilted her head. "How's that going? I saw summoning students staying after class."
"How is it, you ask?"
Tade's face twisted in horror as he recalled the previous day.
"Basically, if you have the talent for summoning, you can handle both summons and elementals. It means you have two hidden possibilities."
Yura smiled sweetly at her students, the kind of smile that usually meant bad news.
"Of course, once you become adults, those possibilities close off. Exploring your latent talent is a privilege of your teenage years."
With a flick of her wrist, she effortlessly summoned a high-level Wind Elemental.
The classroom fell into stunned silence.
Though Yura taught summoning all year, a different professor usually handled elemental summoning. Seeing her summon an elemental so casually left the summoning students in shock.
"You're also skilled in spirit magic? Why didn't you just teach both subjects?" one elemental-major student asked, baffled.
Yura raised a brow as if the question was ridiculous. "What are you talking about? To teach elemental summoning at Lumene, you need at least a contract with an upper-level elemental."
The summoning students swallowed hard. They knew their professors were talented, but this was on a different level.
Most of the time, Yura spent her days bickering with Ain from Knight and Len from Magic, only to get scolded by Harrid. Yet despite her antics, she was a Lumene graduate—one of the top of her generation.
A summon or elemental's rank might reflect a summoner's talent, but using high-ranked summons didn't automatically make someone strong.
Even among the second-years, several students handled advanced summons. Yet Yura could easily defeat them with low-tier ones.
In the end, a summoner's true ability mattered more than the rank of their summon.
And Yura wanted them to understand that firsthand.
"Professor, we don't have a fraction of your talent!"
"I'm trash… I'm total trash!"
"It's useless. This isn't going to work."
One by one, students hit a wall trying to handle summons outside their specialty.
Even if they theoretically had the potential, suddenly switching was far from easy.
The one who took it the hardest was Eliza, who had never once lost first place in the second-year summoning theory classes.
She was especially shaken because not just Walden—her rival—but even Jureden, someone she had always looked down on, had managed to summon both elementals and summons without trouble.
Leo? He wasn't even worth mentioning. He had been handling both effortlessly since the start.
"Huh, so it's tough for you all, is it?"
Yura, who had casually handed out the assignment like it was no big deal, nodded as if she finally understood.
"Don't worry! I've prepared special training for you!"
At her ominous tone, Jester, a flame summon specialist, hesitantly raised his hand. "W-What kind of training?"
"It's nothing special. Jester, come forward."
He did so without much suspicion.
"For a summoner who specializes in flame."
Yura summoned a fire-based summon.
Fwoosh.
"Huh?"
"You just have to burn."
Fwoooosh!
"Kyaaaaaaack?!"
"Burn! Reduce yourself to ashes so you can feel the Fire Elemental's presence! Ahahahahaha!"
As flames engulfed Jester, Yura cackled, brandishing a whip.
The students panicked and tried to flee.
Crack—!
The whip lashed out, snapping in front of them.
Pop—!
She coiled the whip tautly, licking her upper lip.
"Where do you think you're going?"
"P-Professor, class is almost over!"
"Yeah, I know. We'll just have a little extra lesson time."
Against the backdrop of the setting sun, Yura's bewitching smile gleamed like a predator toying with its prey.
Normally, her smile would have charmed the male students, but at that moment, it only inspired terror.
"All right, line up by the attribute of your specialized summon."
"So, how did that go?" Carl asked, watching as Tade wrapped his arms around himself in fear.
"Those with Light summons had to stare into bright Light at close range and ended up crying the whole extra class. Those with Dark summons got thrown into a pitch-black maze, stumbling and banging their heads. The Water-summon kids were dunked underwater, and the Wind-summon kids got tossed into fierce gales, flailing all over the place."
"How about you, Tade? You specialize in Earth, right?"
Tade clutched his head.
Leo chuckled. "They were buried alive."
Chelsea stuck out her tongue. "Wow…"
Eliana broke into a cold sweat. "S-Scary."
Nella let out a small sigh. "So that's why Eliza came back so out of it yesterday."
"Yeah. Eliza handles summons of every attribute, so she got the full course," Tade clicked his tongue sympathetically.
The usually arrogant Eliza had returned with her hair and clothes disheveled, staggering back to her dorm before collapsing onto her bed without even washing up.
"How about the knights' midterm assignment?"
"They told us to learn a secondary weapon. We'll have to duel with it for our exam."
"Secondary weapon?"
"Yeah." Nella gave a faint smile.
"Nella, what's your new weapon?" Chelsea asked, eyes sparkling with curiosity.
Nella made an awkward face, but Eliana answered for her.
"A morningstar."
Nella shot Eliana a dirty look.
"A morningstar?"
"That's a blunt weapon, right? A heavy ball with spikes on a chain?" Chelsea and Tade looked puzzled.
Eliana nodded. "Nella realized that in close combat, the morningstar fits her better than a sword. It's similar enough in handling, but the destructive power is on a completely different level. So, at the class rep's suggestion, she chose it. For the record, I picked a graceful spear." She puffed out her chest, looking smug.
"Uh, I'm not interested."
"Same."
"Ahhh! Everyone's so cold to me!" Eliana whined, looking at Leo for sympathy.
Carl snickered. "Still, that weapon doesn't suit your image."
Eliana grinned. "Well, you see— ack!"
Smiling lazily, Nella punched Eliana in the side again, making her collapse, clutching her ribs.
Leo laughed softly. "She smashed a training golem's head with that morningstar and let out a super-satisfied laugh. It suited her quite well."
The other knights had been horrified.
"Knock it off." Nella lightly smacked Leo's shoulder, looking sullen.
Carl and Tade muttered quietly.
"Terrifying."
"Indeed."
"Reserved people harbor a massive destructive instinct—urk!"
Eliana cracked a joke while laughing, only to get punched in the side yet again. She crumpled to the ground.
Only after that chaos did they finally begin wandering around Lumeria City.
"Oh, right, what happened with the fairy?"
"Who knows? Apparently, it vanished after that night."
"Probably just a rumor. Why would a fairy be at Lumene instead of an island for phantom beasts? The summoning students actually believe that?"
"Yet I heard someone broke into the food storage."
"Who's stupid enough to do that?"
"They also messed up the magic department's lecture materials. I heard Professor Anna was furious, threatening to annihilate the culprit."
"I heard the knight department's training aids were vandalized. Professor Claria said she'd tear whoever did it to shreds."
Grim rumors circulated, and Eliana clapped her hands. "Could it have been that fairy after all?"
"Is a fairy a child? Why would it pull such silly pranks?"
"Are you mocking the Three Great Summons? Apologize to the summoning department!"
The summoning students yelled at her, while Leo thought to himself, it was indeed the prankster fairy.
His "Three Great Summons" were a once-obese phoenix, a childish fairy, and a perverted pegasus.
Pitying the summoning students who idolized the Three Great Summons, Leo sighed inwardly.
They continued enjoying their peaceful weekend.
They had just arrived at a famous restaurant in Lumeria City for lunch when…
"Huh? Why are you all together?"
"How unusual. You're all out having fun?"
They ran into Professors Sedgen and Harrid in a restaurant
Seeing the six old classmates from first-year Class 5, Sedgen bristled at Harrid. "Our Class 1 does this all the time too!"
"…I don't care."
"Our Class 1 also has great teamwork! We just didn't come out to Lumeria City!" Sedgen flared up, his competitive spirit burning.
Harrid replied calmly with a cold smile, "My colleague is disgracing himself in public, shouldn't you do something?"
"Huh… what are you talking about…"
"Take him away."
At Harrid's cold words, the male students hastily dragged Sedgen aside.
"Sedgen, calm down."
"We know Class 1 also has good teamwork."
"Let go! Are you mocking me, you dogs of Harrid?! I'm your supervisor now, not Harrid!"
"Yes, yes."
"We know."
They were from the same Class 5 that always followed Harrid's orders.
After a bit of commotion, Sedgen settled down, and the students joined the two professors for a meal.
Sedgen was usually laid-back, and Harrid didn't stand on ceremony in such settings, so the atmosphere soon became relaxed.
Sedgen offered advice on midterm preparation, while Harrid ate quietly, occasionally giving students guidance.
After lunch…
"Professor Sedgen! Thank you so much for the meal!"
"It was delicious!"
"Professor Sedgen, you're the best!"
Hearing the students' cheers, Sedgen spread his arms wide. "Hmph, cheer louder!"
As their cheers grew, Harrid watched nonchalantly. "Chelsea Lewellin."
"Yes?" Chelsea, still cheering, turned to see Harrid beckoning her over.
She walked over, confused. "What is it, Professor Harrid?"
Harrid gazed down at her sparkling eyes. "How's your school life lately?"
"I'm doing great, just like I did in first year!" Chelsea puffed out her chest. "…Have I ever disappointed you?"
"Plenty of times, actually."
Chelsea pouted. "That's just because your standards are too high."
Harrid smiled faintly. "Yes, you were an excellent student."
"See?" Chelsea grinned.
"Sedgen came to me with concerns about you."
"Huh?" Chelsea's eyes widened. "Why would Professor Sedgen worry about me…?"
She felt a bit flustered that the second-year dean had been thinking about her.
"Of course, it's just his needless fretting. As far as I see, there's nothing wrong with you now."
"Now, you say?" Chelsea blinked.
Harrid spoke in his typical deadpan voice. "Yes. Even if you don't have a goal, it's fine. Student life is the time to find one."
His words reminded Chelsea of her friends' conversation about goals. Hearing Harrid mention it unsettled her slightly.
"You're an outstanding student. After graduation, you'll likely become a famous combat mage." Harrid stated it plainly. "A naturally talented student grows into that talent without trying."
He glanced at Sedgen. "I always tell my students to stay within their limits. I've seen too many aim too high and die. Better they withdraw than perish—that's my philosophy."
He was known as the "Wailing Wall" at Lumene. The professor second-years feared most.
His teaching method: emphasizing survival over dreams.
"But Sedgen wants his students to dream big."
On the other hand, Sedgen hoped they would reach their full potential, follow their dreams, and succeed. Ironically, he was even harsher than Harrid.
After all, in order to chase a dream, one must survive. To challenge one's limits, one must be resolute.
"For students aspiring to become heroes, that guy is probably a better professor."
Harrid turned back to Chelsea.
"It's no wonder he's worried about you."
"Why?"
"Because you just blindly follow behind Leo Plov and Abad Lewellin."
Chelsea flinched at Harrid's bluntness.
"Like I said, it's fine for now. But soon, you'll have to choose, Chelsea Lewellin." Harrid's eyes narrowed. "Are you going to keep following those two? Or will you find your own path?"
Chelsea clenched her fists.
"A teenager's privilege doesn't last forever. If you don't choose, you'll just end up satisfied with following those you admire."
Would she remain a follower of others' dreams or find her own?
"It's about time to decide, Chelsea Lewellin."