LHAHS Chapter 414
When Juen opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was an unfamiliar ceiling.
She blinked a few times before hastily sitting up.
"…Where am I?"
Looking around in confusion, she soon realized she was in the infirmary and let out a hollow laugh.
So I lost…
Clatter—
Just then, the door swung open, and Carl walked in.
"Juen, you're awake?"
"What happened?"
"Shock from mana depletion." Carl pulled up a chair and sat beside Juen's bed. "It was really close. Everyone's saying that if the match had been in a more neutral setting instead of one favoring Aina, you would have…"
"A loss is a loss." Juen clenched her teeth, cutting him off. "Everything else is just an excuse. The result doesn't change."
"…Yeah." Carl had been trying to comfort her, but he shut his mouth and gave a bitter smile. As he watched Juen lower her head in silence, he hesitated before speaking again. "Wait… are you crying?"
Juen's shoulders trembled faintly. "I'm sorry. You worked so hard to help me…"
She had crafted a foolproof strategy against Aina, but it was Carl who had predicted and analyzed Aina's movements.
"As a mentor, that's just what I was supposed to do. Don't cry. You really did amazing."
"I'm sorry… I'm sorry… but it's just so frustrating…"
"It's fine. You've only lost once. It's just the first-year final exam, after all. There'll be plenty of chances to get back at her." Carl reassured the distraught Juen.
After the first round of the first-year tournament concluded, Lumene was abuzz with excitement.
The one receiving the most attention was, without a doubt, Luke. His unexpected and shocking victory naturally drew immense interest. Within hours, the lingering doubts about why someone like him had been chosen as the student council president's mentee had largely faded.
"Luke! Why did you hide your strength until now?"
"Was it a strategy to make other students lower their guard?"
The newspaper club members swarmed Luke, bombarding him with questions.
"It was Leo's training method."
"Oh? What was the student council president's training like?"
Luke's face turned deathly pale.
Just what kind of training did he go through?
Watching Luke tremble as if recalling something horrifying, the newspaper club members exchanged puzzled looks.
The next most talked-about match was the duel between Aina and Juen.
"Aina, how do you feel about your match against Juen?"
"She was very strong," Aina answered briefly, lowering her gaze before immediately heading back to the dormitory.
Her self-proclaimed faction members, looking flustered, hurried to follow her.
Watching them, Luke murmured, "She doesn't seem happy."
"She probably didn't expect such a tough fight. She almost lost, after all," Sasha, the class president of Class 1, replied. "By the way, Luke, that was impressive. You really brought honor to Class 1."
Scratching his head at Sasha's words, Luke hesitated before responding. "I'm looking forward to our match."
Sasha smiled at him, but before Luke could reply, a scoffing voice interrupted.
"Sasha Sienne Lordren, you won't be facing Luke Eldar."
"What?" Sasha narrowed her eyes.
"Because you'll lose to me first."
"Hoho… You took the words right out of my mouth, Haviden Birson."
Sparks flew between Sasha and Haviden as they glared at each other. The other students quietly edged away from them.
"I already decided that I'll be the one to take Luke Eldar down."
"I feel the same way."
As the two growled at each other, Jane, Haviden's classmate and Chen Xia's mentee, looked on with an exasperated expression.
"Didn't you two not even care about Luke Eldar before? You didn't know about his skills until now."
"I've wanted to defeat him ever since he became Leo's mentee," Sasha snorted.
Jane grinned slyly. "Jealous?"
"I am not!" Flushing red, Sasha snapped back.
Haviden chuckled. "How unsightly, Sasha Sienne Lordren."
Irritated, Sasha turned to Luke. "Luke, you decide! Who do you want to fight more, me or this guy?"
"Obviously, as a fellow knight student, he'd want to fight me," Haviden said.
"I want to fight both of you." Luke scratched his cheek as he spoke.
To him, both Sasha and Haviden had been awe-inspiring figures since the entrance exam. They were also opponents he had always wanted to test his skills against.
I want to see how far my abilities measure up against them.
That was Luke's honest thought.
Of course, neither Sasha nor Haviden found his answer acceptable.
"Choose, Luke Eldar."
"Pick one, Luke."
As the two loomed closer with fierce expressions, Luke winced. "Someone, help me!" he pleaded.
Unfortunately, wanting nothing to do with Sasha and Haviden's dispute, the other first-years averted their eyes.
As the commotion among the first-years escalated, Nella, one of the second-years who had come to check on her mentees, muttered, "Leo's mentee sure is popular."
"Yeah, seems like it," Eliana nodded. "Not that I'd ever want that kind of popularity."
The final exams weren't just for the first-years. After the first-year tournament's first round concluded, the rest of Lumene proceeded with their exams.
However, since the first-year tournament was the main event, the other grades' exams finished relatively quickly. Even among the first-years, the written exams were completed early, and only the tournament continued.
Luke continued winning his matches, steadily advancing upward. The top students from other departments also secured their victories. Despite her unfortunate bracket, Juen fought her way through the losers' bracket and made it to the main tournament again.
As the losers' bracket progressed, the semester's biggest event, the World Summit, finally began.
All grades gathered in the grand parade ground by department.
"Wow." Reading the school newspaper, Eliana let out a whistle and clicked her tongue.
Chloe tilted her head. "What is it?"
"I dunno… Emio might actually get expelled at this rate."
"Ah." Chloe, realizing what Eliana meant, let out a small exclamation.
Based purely on grades, Emio was skilled enough to stay at Lumene until graduation. However, the first-year tournament had thrown everything into disarray.
His mentee, Lement, had suffered a shocking defeat against Luke in the first round and fallen into the losers' bracket, but that wasn't a big deal.
The real problem was that Juen had also ended up in the losers' bracket.
In their match, the top-ranked and third-ranked magic students faced off, but Juen had decisively crushed Lement, sending him even further down.
"The first-year expulsion criteria haven't been finalized yet. We'll have to wait and see," Chloe said.
Eliana smirked. "I really hope Professor Harrid is ruthless with this. I'd love to stop seeing that annoying face."
"Agreed," Chelsea, who had been listening, nodded.
"But why are you here?"
"Hm?"
"Shouldn't you be over with the knight department?"
"Gasp! After all we've been through studying magic together, how could you say something so cruel?!"
Feigning hurt, Eliana clutched her chest, but Chelsea just squinted at her.
"Cut the crap. You only come here because it's a better viewing spot. You only claim to be part of the magic department when it's convenient."
Eliana averted her eyes.
Carl, watching, asked, "Should I drag her away?"
"Chloe! They're bullying me!"
When the mood turned against her, Eliana clung to Chloe for help. After some squabbling, she finally settled into her seat.
"Anyway, the prez's got it good. He gets to watch all the world leaders and heroes from a VIP seat."
Leo, as the student council president, stood at the warp gate, waiting to welcome the world's leaders.
"Leo, don't be nervous. I'll assist you well."
"Lily, I appreciate the words, but could you at least look at me when you're speaking?"
Lily had her eyes tightly shut, clearly tense.
The duty of welcoming the leaders of each nation and the heroes fell upon the representatives of each grade. Hark and Elena were still on an assignment and wouldn't return until the next day, making Lily the highest-ranking student present.
As such, it was her role to support Leo, who, despite being the student council president, was still only a second-year.
However, at the moment, she was too nervous, fidgeting anxiously.
"Ugh… Leo, aren't you nervous at all? Aren't you even a little worried about making a mistake and embarrassing yourself?"
"Not really."
"As expected of you, Leo."
Lily sounded genuinely impressed. She had thought he was amazing from the first time they met, but now, he wasn't just an exceptional junior—he was the student council president and a summoner standing at an unfathomably high level.
"Lily, just act as you normally would."
"Hmm, I suppose that way, it won't seem too strange."
…Whether I act normal or not, she's going to look odd either way, Leo murmured to himself.
Lily considered herself ordinary, but in reality, she had an incredibly peculiar personality. Though, from the perspective of an elemental summoner, she was actually rather typical.
Well, typical in the sense that she's a perfectly balanced monster.
Despite her incredible talent, she always found someone greater than herself to compare to and ended up shrinking away on her own.
But she never stops striving forward.
She was someone who used comparison as fuel for growth, always looking up rather than down.
Leo shifted his gaze to Aina.
She's in a similar state to Lily.
If Lily had her eyes shut from nerves, then Aina was staring at the ground, completely withdrawn.
She still hasn't recovered from her match with Juen.
"Aina," Leo said.
Aina flinched. "Yes?"
"You seem to have something on your mind."
Aina averted her gaze again. She parted her lips as if to say something but then closed them.
Before, she had always insisted that she would earn his recognition, never once avoiding his eyes, but now, it seemed as if she was deliberately avoiding him.
Watching her, Leo said, "If you have concerns, talk to Celia. She's your mentor, isn't she?"
Aina let out a self-deprecating smile. "Someone like me… Celia wouldn't even bother with me."
"Looking down on yourself too much isn't good, Aina." Lily, who had been listening, gently scolded her, but Aina simply continued staring at the ground.
Leo, still watching her, asked, "Why do you think mentors exist?"
"Huh?" Aina looked up, startled by his question.
But before their conversation could continue…
Flash—!
The warp gate activated, signaling the arrival of the world's leaders and heroes.
Flash—!
Countless rulers and heroes of various races began to arrive.
Each time, the Lumene students erupted into cheers. The atmosphere was filled with enthusiasm as they fervently welcomed the guests.
Flash—!
The warp gate flared again, and someone else appeared.
At first, the students of Lumene cheered as usual, but then, in an instant, they fell silent.
It wasn't just Lumene. The gathered kings and heroes, who had been exchanging greetings, also froze upon seeing the latest arrivals, their faces betraying surprise.
Flap— Flap—
Banners fluttered in the wind as a group of people, all from the eastern continent, strode forward.
Since the era of the Heroes of Dawn, countless World Summits had been held. However… there was one nation that had never once attended, a nation that existed long before the Heroes of Dawn and continued to endure through the ages.
A nation with the longest-standing history in the world.
A nation that had written its legacy in the shadows.
Someone murmured its name in a hushed voice, "The Xian Empire."