LHAHS Chapter 429
Lunia crossed her arms and scanned her surroundings.
Abad from Lumene, Ruwen from Azonia, Dignes and Ameran from Damien.
She was the second-year representative of Seiren, and also a candidate for student council president. Though she was fierce and hot-tempered, there was no denying that she was a top student of Seiren. Because of that, she was well aware of the key figures from other hero academies, whom she fundamentally saw as rivals.
They're all famous magic students from their schools.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that these were the best magic users among the second years of the hero academies.
Luca and Chloe Mueller from Lumene are missing, but… they must have been assigned elsewhere.
She hadn't noticed while they were falling, but now that she had regained her senses, she realized they had all been scattered.
"It seems the training camp starts the moment we arrive," Abad said with his characteristic gentle smile.
"Indeed. The fact that the five of us are together likely means we're a team," Ruwen replied, stroking her thick fox tail before glancing at Dignes.
"They must have grouped us like this to give us a suitable trial," Dignes added.
"Yes, that seems certain. I checked just now, and we can't return to the cliff top. There's a barrier in place," Ameran confirmed.
"Looks like we're all on the same page." Lunia grinned. As expected of mages, their ability to analyze the situation was quick and accurate.
"So, our destination is beyond this thicket? I wonder what kind of trial—huh?"
As she looked toward the thicket, Lunia suddenly sensed a wave of mana from above and tilted her head up.
Thud—!
A sword, spear, and shield fell from the cliff and embedded themselves in the ground.
"Weapons?" Ruwen approached and picked up the sword. "Why did these come to us?"
Puzzled, the others did the same, selecting weapons that suited them. As Lunia grabbed the spear, her expression soured.
Boom—! Boom—!
The ground trembled.
Flash—!
From the darkness beyond the thicket, red eyes gleamed ominously.
"It looks like the trial has begun," Ruwen said nonchalantly, raising her index finger.
Fwoosh—
A small fireball ignited at her fingertip before shooting into the thicket.
Boom! Fwooooosh!
A powerful explosion erupted, setting the surrounding area ablaze.
Boom! Boom!
But the unknown beast didn't even flinch. Ruwen's eyes twitched at the sight.
Boom! Boom—!
A massive brown figure entered their vision, raising both of its arms with a fierce roar.
"Kyahoo!"
"What the hell is that?"
"Heh."
"…A bear?"
Lunia looked dumbfounded, while Abad burst into laughter.
Dignes looked unimpressed. "It's quite an adorable teddy bear."
Ameran murmured in admiration. "I expected something more impressive. This is disappointing."
Ruwen scoffed, forming a magic circle in her palm. Then, she unleashed her spell toward the teddy bear, which still had its arms raised.
Kra-koom—!
A terrifying gust of wind tore through everything in its path.
As the dust settled, Ruwen stiffened. At the same time, the others wore expressions of shock.
Crack—!
A chilling sound came from the teddy bear's fingertips, and sharp claws extended outward.
"Huh?"
Just as Ruwen let out a dumbfounded sound…
"Raaaawr!"
With a savage expression, the teddy bear swung its arm down.
Boom—!
Ruwen barely managed to leap aside in time. The bear's paw struck the spot where she had been, leaving behind deep claw marks and sending dirt flying in all directions. The stark contrast between its cute appearance and its sheer brutality left everyone momentarily frozen.
"Why isn't magic working on this stupid bear?!" Ruwen cried desperately.
"It must be a type of guardian powered by magic engineering. Its anti-mana properties are high enough that most magic won't affect it," Abad said, stepping forward.
Lunia stood beside him. "In that case, we just need to incinerate it with overwhelming firepower."
Fwoosh—!
Flames erupted around Lunia.
"Let's see the skills of Seiren's top student," Abad said with amusement.
"You won't be disappointed." Lunia smirked and unleashed her magic.
Flash! Fwooooosh—!
A pillar of fire engulfed the teddy bear's feet.
"It's… fine?" Lunia muttered in mild disbelief.
Abad finished casting his spell.
Kwoooosh—!
A massive whirlwind swallowed both Lunia's flames and the teddy bear.
Whoosh—!
But the bear seemed completely unaffected as it tore through the fire and wind with its claws and charged forward.
"Run for now!"
"What the hell is that thing?!"
The five mages turned and fled in panic, while Dignes used earth magic, raising a colossal wall of stone.
Boom—!
The thick wall was shattered as the teddy bear burst through effortlessly, swinging its claws wildly as it picked up speed.
Ameran then cast a water spell, creating a massive swamp beneath the bear's feet.
Splat— Splat— Splat—!
But the teddy bear ran across it as if it were solid ground, relentlessly pursuing them.
"Keeeee—!"
Its head twisted unnaturally, drool dripping from its mouth. By this point, its grotesqueness had transcended absurdity and become pure terror.
"That thing just tripped over a rock, and its foot got torn open!" Abad shouted.
"What?!"
"Physical attacks that aren't imbued with mana seem to work!"
Lunia focused on the teddy bear. Sure enough, bits of stuffing were poking out from where its soft-looking fabric had ripped against branches and rocks.
Seeing this, Dignes yelled to Ruwen, who had an exclusive smith contract with him. "That means we need to take it down with weapons! Ruwen, it's your turn!"
"Why my turn?!"
"You're a beastman!"
"Get rid of that stupid assumption that all beastmen are good at fighting!" Ruwen shrieked hysterically. "You do it! You're a dwarf! Or how about you, Lunia El Lunda?! You're a summoner!"
"Not all dwarves are absurdly strong! I'm a delicate magic artisan!"
"I was going to summon my spirit beast ages ago, but summoning isn't working!"
As they bickered, flinging accusations at one another…
"Raaaaawr!"
They turned to see the teddy bear right behind them, roaring and lunging.
"Kyaaaah!"
Screaming, they ran even faster.
"Doesn't it sound like someone's screaming somewhere?" Chelsea muttered.
"I'm not sure. I can't really tell," Chen Xia replied, tilting her head.
"Seems like some coward is out there shrieking," Borman scoffed.
"You really have no fear, do you, Borman?"
Borman flexed his massive muscles. "Of course not! This body is a wild warrior of Azonia and a descendant of the Brave Hero Aaron!"
Watching him quietly, Drianna spoke up. "You."
"What is it, dwarf girl with the strange way of speaking?"
"You have an impressive physique."
"Oh? You appreciate the beauty of my muscles?"
"Of course. Have you ever considered modeling for the sake of art?"
"What do I need to do?"
"Strip."
"Very well! Behold, dwarf girl! The finely honed body of a beastman!" Borman, who loved to show off his strength and muscles, immediately tore off his shirt without hesitation and struck a pose, proudly displaying his bulging muscles.
Chelsea frowned. "He's at it again."
"Chelsea! If you're a battlemage, you mustn't neglect physical training!"
"I'm not turning into a muscle freak like you."
"If you keep up your training, you might not only gain muscle but also finally grow past that tiny height of yours!"
Enraged, Chelsea tried to smack Borman with her staff, but Chen Xia quickly intervened to stop her.
"Good, very good!" Regardless of the commotion, Drianna clapped her hands with a bright smile, making Borman puff up even more. "Now, take off the rest."
"Uh, no, that's a bit…" Even the ever-confident Borman hesitated at Drianna's absurd request.
"Enough fooling around. Shouldn't we focus on getting out of here?" A male student from Seiren adjusted his glasses as he spoke. They had fallen into an underground stone chamber. The only light sources in the massive square-shaped room were the faintly glowing mana lamps.
"We can't even find an entrance or exit, so we're simply being productive in the meantime," Drianna said.
"I wouldn't exactly call a strip show 'productive,'" the Seiren student sighed.
Click—!
At that moment, the floor flickered red.
Bzzzt—!
The students quickly leaped out of the glowing red area.
"Hey! Borman! What are you doing? Move!"
Borman stood tall in the obviously dangerous, glowing red zone. "Hmph! I don't know what's happening, but running away without facing it doesn't suit me! I'll take it head-on and…"
CRACKLE—!
"Grghhhhh?!"
Borman convulsed as if he had been electrocuted.
Sizzle—!
As the floor returned to normal, the scent of burnt flesh spread through the air.
Borman staggered but managed to stay on his feet. "Hmph, just a little sting."
Once again, the floor beneath Borman began to glow.
"Hey! Move now!"
"No! I refuse to be defeated by some cheap trap and will overco—urk!"
WHAM—!
Chen Xia swiftly approached and kicked Borman in the ribs.
THUD—!
Borman was sent flying, crashing into the wall.
CRACKLE—!
A fierce spark erupted from the spot he had just been standing on.
As the light faded, Chen Xia smiled. "I was trying to save you."
"If you save me like that twice, I might not make it…" Borman groaned.
Drianna, arms crossed, shook her head.
Flash—!
At that moment, multiple red-lit zones appeared across the floor at once.
"It looks like this is a training exercise for dodging the floor traps."
"Maybe if we clear all the patterns, a path will open?" the Seiren student mumbled.
Chen Xia tilted her head.
Lowering her stance confidently, Chelsea muttered, "Well, this looks easy enough."
"It probably won't stay easy for long." Drianna said.
As she predicted, the glowing patterns on the floor rapidly grew more complex.
"This is pretty brutal right from the start," Leo muttered while watching the magically projected screen.
Melina smiled. "I've prepared training that will allow each student to maximize their strengths or compensate for their weaknesses."
It was none other than Melina who had planned the training for the first day of the retreat.
"I felt that candidates capable of annihilating enemies at the frontlines, like Aaron, were still physically lacking, so I restricted their aura and added gravity magic to their bodies to push them beyond their limits." Melina gestured at the students climbing the cliff, then pointed at those being chased by stuffed animals. "As for the mages, like Luna, I wanted to improve their ability to respond in crisis situations."
"That makes sense. Luna was always able to hold her own, even when magic wasn't an option."
Even against foes resistant to magic or in situations where magic was hard to use, Luna never became useless.
Carl might have used a bow… but she even beat down enemies with a club.
Having experienced countless battles, Luna was formidable in melee combat despite being a mage.
"But why stuffed animals?"
Bears, rabbits, dogs, cats were an unusual choice for guardians.
Melina smiled brightly. "Because they're cute."
Leo shook his head. The stuffed animals drooled, shrieked eerily, and chased students like nightmares. They were anything but cute.
Her sense of aesthetics is truly bizarre sometimes.
"For those who need to protect others, like Dweno, persistence is crucial, isn't it? Not to mention the ability to endure pain and withstand divine power."
"So that's why you prepared electric torture?"
"It's not electric torture. It's repetitive training to help them endure longer."
If students failed even once on the floor patterns, they had to start over. And as the patterns grew more complex, the electric shocks from failure became stronger.
It's definitely effective for honing focus and adaptability.
The saddest part for the students was that today was merely the beginning. What lay ahead would be much worse.
Leo clicked his tongue. "They've got it rough. It's summer break, and they don't even get to relax."
You're the one who threw them into the pits of hell, Leo. Melina thought, but wisely kept her opinion to herself. She had no intention of saying anything that might drag her into their suffering as well.
It wouldn't be right for someone my age to be rolling around with kids anyway.
Sighing, Melina patted her own shoulders in sympathy.
Crackle—
The firewood crackled as it burned.
A dwarf stomped out the embers, tidying up the camp.
An elven mage stretched with a long yawn as she rose.
A dragon had already awakened, and was gazing beyond the mountains at the burning black flames.
A beastman warrior sat cross-legged, staring intently at his reflection in his drawn sword.
A human, perched on a nearby rock, tore into a strip of jerky and said, "Aaron."
"……"
"Aaron?"
"Huh? Oh, you called me?" Snapping out of his thoughts, Aaron turned to Kyle.
"You okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine."
"If you're scared, just say so."
"I'm fine." Aaron shook his head with a smile.
Luna suddenly widened her eyes. "This is weird! A battle's right ahead, and Aaron isn't shaking! Isn't this a first?"
Making a fuss, Luna snatched the bread Kyle was about to eat. Kyle scowled and tried to take it back, but Luna stuffed it into her mouth in one go.
"You damned knife-ear."
Kyle pressed his palms against Luna's cheeks, squishing them, and Luna retaliated by wrapping her hands around his neck.
"Idiots sure are full of energy in the morning." Clicking his tongue, Dweno turned to Aaron. "Looks like you've steeled your resolve."
"Yeah, I can't keep trembling forever." Aaron answered firmly.
Lysinas, watching him closely, asked, "Aaron."
"Yeah?"
"Are you really okay?"
"Of course." Aaron tightened his grip on the sword named Brave. "Don't worry."
Shing—!
The blade gleamed sharply as he drew it.
"I will protect you all… no matter what."