Chapter 437

A week had passed since the training camp had begun.

As expected of a remote rural territory, the mountains of the Plov Family's land were filled with rugged terrain. Among them, far below a particular cliff, a turbulent valley river flowed.

The students swallowed nervously as they stared at the faintly visible water.

"So? What are we doing today?" Eliana asked with a slightly exhausted expression.

Vanir, a graduate of Azonia and a rabbit beastman, answered indifferently, "What do you mean, what?"

She gestured toward the cliff with a blank expression.

"Jump."

At those words, Eliana and the rest of the students under her instruction turned pale.

"You said today was a simple courage training exercise?!" Ruwen, a fox beastman and a second-year student from Azonia, shouted urgently.

"This is the courage training," Vanir replied flatly. "Courage is essential in battle. You all know this, but it's not just a virtue of beastmen, it's something every hero candidate must have."

Eliana raised her hand. "And what does that have to do with jumping off a cliff without any gear?"

"Where do you think true courage comes from?"

"It comes from the heart," Eliana answered confidently.

Vanir shook her head. "No."

She firmly rejected the answer, prompting another student, Tilena from Seiren, to raise her hand. "I believe it comes from thorough preparation."

"Wrong."

One by one, the students shared their thoughts, but Vanir simply shook her head at each of them.

Ruwen frowned. "Then where does true courage come from, according to you, Senior Vanir?"

"True courage comes from fear."

"What?"

"When you overcome fear and squeeze out courage, that is when it becomes real. Jumping off a cliff without any gear is the same." Vanir stepped closer to Ruwen. "All living beings instinctively fear jumping from high places. This training is meant to help you conquer that primal fear."

"If it's such a brute-force method, why not just make the other beastman students do it? Why am I the only beastman here?" Ruwen snapped.

"Because the other Azonia students are dumb enough to jump off the cliff without a second thought the moment I say it's about true courage," Vanir replied indifferently.

"That's true. The idiots would definitely do that."

"But you're different." Vanir scanned the students under her instruction, including Ruwen. "You're not foolish enough to just jump because you heard some fancy words."

"Heh, you have a keen eye, as expected of a former student council president. I do pride myself on my rational judgment," Eliana smirked, looking pleased with herself.

Vanir continued, "You're all the type to overthink things unnecessarily. That's why you'll keep questioning this unreasonable training and remain stuck in fear. To put it bluntly, you're all a bunch of timid, small-minded people."

The students' faces twisted in anguish at the brutal assessment.

"For people like you, this kind of inefficient, irrational, and completely insane training is perfect."

"If you know it's inefficient, irrational, and completely insane, then don't make us do it!" Ruwen snapped.

Woosh—!

Without a word, Vanir grabbed Ruwen and flung her off the cliff.

"Aaaaaaaaah!"

A desperate scream echoed through the valley.

Vanir, watching Ruwen fall with an expressionless face, spoke again. "Next. Jump."

But despite her order, no one moved.

Vanir grabbed Eliana.

"Wait! I could actually die! Can't we do something more reasonable?!"

"You'll be fine. You won't die."

"And how can you guarantee that?!"

"If you die from this, blame your own weakness."

"That's so irresponsible…! Kyaaaaaaaaah?!"

As Vanir's cold words ended, Eliana's anguished scream echoed through the mountains.

sep

"Hey, did you hear Eliana screaming just now?" Nella asked with a wry smile.

Chloe, who had been sitting, shook her head as she stood up. "No, I didn't hear anything."

"Guess I must've imagined it."

"It wouldn't be surprising if we were hearing things," Chloe muttered through gritted teeth. "Considering how much of a mess we're in."

"Hahahaha! Chloe Mueller, you've got quite the spirit for someone from the Magic Department."

Jamua cracked his shoulders as he approached. Despite his friendly smile, there was an underlying menace.

The task assigned to Jamua's group was simple—endure his attacks without counterattacking. A pure defense training.

The problem was the sheer brutality of Jamua's attacks. He had proven himself as the strongest in pure physical strength among last year's graduates. Even without using aura or weapons, his bare-handed attacks held as much force as large-scale spells.

If it were magic or summoning techniques, at least I'd have defensive countermeasures… but Senior Jamua's attacks are purely physical, which makes them harder to block.

As a traditional mage, Chloe had prepared ways to handle unexpected situations. But those countermeasures were meant for group battles or counterattacks, not purely defensive situations like this. No matter how anyone looked at it, Chloe was a mage specialized in offense.

Just then, Drianna stepped forward.

"Oh?" Jamua grinned. "Are you planning to hold me back all by yourself?"

"Yes. Before I am a blacksmith, I am my allies' shield."

"As expected of Damien's class representative."

Drianna stood before Jamua with an unusually serious expression.

Seeing that, Chloe got to her feet. "I'll help."

Tear—!

Tearing off the lower half of her skirt, which had been tattered and was hindering her movements from blocking Jamua's attacks, Chloe made her outfit more practical.

Jamua smirked approvingly. "Not bad."

Drianna stared at Chloe's legs. "Hmm. Ice sculptures could work well too."

"What?"

"Your leg shape is artistic. Chloe, was it? Have you ever considered modeling for an art piece?"

"I refuse to be a nude model."

"Don't worry, it'll only be semi-nude. I don't need your whole body, just the lower half."

"Absolutely not." Chloe's voice turned ice-cold.

sep

Standing with his arms wide open, Ulta, a graduate from Lumene last year, asked, "Do you understand the emotions of a spirit beast now?"

Lunia's eyes twitched, and Eliza's expression was equally conflicted.

""No.""

"Tsk." Ulta looked up at the sky in disappointment. A pegasus contractor, he had been assigned only two students—Lunia and Eliza.

"How can you still not understand? I've told you countless times—your affinity with spirit beasts is higher than mine! So why can't you grasp something this simple?"

"How am I supposed to read the emotions of a spirit beast that isn't even mine?" Lunia shot back.

"I agree with Lunia El Lunda, Senior Ulta," Eliza nodded.

Ulta let out a deep sigh. "Fiora, this is what you wanted, right?"

He handed a cream-covered pastry to Fiora, who was perched on his hand.

"Chirp!" Fiora flapped her wings in joy.

Ulta had brought Leo's contractee, Fiora, to aid in training. Lunia and Eliza were being taught how to read the emotions of a spirit beast. As summoners, it was a fundamental skill.

"Wait! I gave Fiora a pastry earlier too!" Lunia protested.

"There wasn't any cream on it."

"Chirp! chirp!"

"Khh—!"

With Ulta scolding her and Fiora backing him up, Lunia looked frustrated.

"Do you understand now? This is why I said you lack love! Now, kneel, close your eyes, and reflect deeply on what love truly is," Ulta grandly declared, and then left.

Lunia and Eliza knelt down and closed their eyes. They had spent the entire week doing nothing but meditating like this.

"Lunia El Lunda."

"What is it, Eliza Hergin?"

"What the hell does he mean by love?"

"Don't ask me."

For the two girls, Ulta's thoughts were beyond comprehension—not just as a summoning prodigy, but as an eccentric madman.

sep

"It's Leo Plov!"

"It's food!"

"Line up! Line up!"

When dinner time came, every student at the training camp lined up with bright expressions. At some point, a large kitchen had been set up in the middle of the campsite.

Now that a week had passed, the hero candidates had fully adapted to the situation. Even with the nightly attacks, they could now respond without much trouble. They had been pushed to the limits of endurance, yet they were beginning to find some breathing room in their daily training camp life.

"I endured everything just for this moment!"

"Leo! What's on the menu today?"

Leo, unanimously chosen as the head of meals for all the schools, replied, "Barbecue."

"Barbecue!"

"Ooooh!"

Cheers erupted from every corner.

Seeing that, Leo's expression turned pitying. "Are they really that happy about this?"

"This is their only joy," Chelsea sighed as she helped Leo prepare the food.

Once the food was ready and distributed, students gathered in groups with their friends to enjoy their meal.

"Leo! Come sit here!" Chelsea, sitting next to Carl, waved him over.

"No, I'll eat somewhere else."

Leo took his plate and walked away from the camp. There, beneath a large tree, Aaron sat leaning against the trunk, staring blankly at the sunset.

"Here, eat," Leo said, handing him a plate.

"Thanks." Aaron smiled as he took the meal but didn't take his eyes off the sunset. "It's beautiful. I understand why Lysinas was willing to risk everything to bring this back."

Taking a bite of meat, he chewed thoughtfully before speaking again. "Kyle, did you want to bring this world back too?"

"Who knows? I never really thought about it," Leo chuckled, sitting down next to him.

"Kyle."

"What?"

"If you hadn't saved me, I would have died to Erebos that day, right?"

"…"

Leo fell silent at Aaron's question.

Seeing his reaction, Aaron smiled. "It's okay. I already know."

"Know what?"

"Right before the battle started, I realized I was going to die there."

"You knew?"

"Yeah. You know as well as I do that Hyper Perception sometimes tells me things I'd rather not know." Aaron spoke nonchalantly, watching Leo's surprised expression. "I had already accepted my death. And now that I know the world has been saved, I'm okay. You don't need to feel guilty about it."

From the moment his future friend brought him to this era, Aaron had known that Leo felt guilty. He didn't want him to carry such emotions.

"If it were me, I would have done the same. I don't know how long I'll be able to stay in this time, but don't worry about that. Even if I go back, I've already made peace with my death."

And yet, for someone who had accepted death… you sure looked terrified when you died.

Just as Aaron could read Leo's emotions, Leo could read Aaron's.

"In that case, get some sleep."

Since arriving in this world, Aaron hadn't slept even once.

He was afraid. Afraid that if he closed his eyes, Erebos would be waiting for him when he woke up.

"If you keep keeping yourself on edge like this, I won't be able to stop worrying about you even if I try."

"…Okay." Aaron smiled at Leo's words, then closed his eyes and tried to sleep.

Just then, Aru approached. "Black Rabbit! Where is Instructor Akan—!"

"He's sleeping," Leo cut her off.

Eiran, who had come along, widened her eyes. "Instructor Akan is sleeping?!"

Aru was about to get excited at the sight of Aaron sleeping, but before she could, Drianna covered Aru's mouth with one hand and wrapped her other arm around her neck, restraining her.

"If I just hit her in the solar plexus and knock her out, she won't cause a scene, right?" Lunia clenched her fist and muttered under her breath, making Aru struggle wildly.

Meanwhile, Chelsea, who had followed Carl, squatted in front of Aaron and let out a small gasp of admiration. "But really, he looks so much like the Brave Hero Aaron. I'd believe it if someone told me they were the same person."

"Right?" Carl, who had also squatted down beside her, murmured nonchalantly.

sep

Whoosh—!

The moment he came to his senses, the first thing he saw was black flames.

Ah, it's a dream.

Aaron immediately realized that this was a dream. His gaze naturally fell to the broken sword, Brave, in his hand.

The sword named Brave had reached the end of its lifespan. It had shattered in the battle against Erebos.

No…

Aaron knew the truth. The sword hadn't broken because it had worn out. Nor was it because Dweno's craftsmanship was lacking.

It broke because I couldn't keep swinging it until the end.

He had stepped forward alone to stop Erebos for the sake of his comrades. But during the fight, he had given up. Because he knew he was going to die.

Dweno will handle it… Luna will… Lysinas will… Kyle will…

He had resigned himself.

Kyle will never give up.

Even in the final moments, he had leaned on his friend.

I don't want to go back.

He feared death.

I still haven't even found what I want to do for myself.

His courage, once broken by the fear of death, made the Brave Hero hesitate.

Rumble—!

At that moment, the world shook.

sep

"An earthquake?" Chelsea widened her eyes and looked down at the ground. A faint tremor could be felt beneath her feet.

Flash—!

Aaron's eyes snapped open.

Whoosh—!

A sudden change came over his body.

Guh…?!

Carl instinctively gasped at what he saw. Eiran was equally startled. In the brief moment Chelsea was distracted by the earthquake, Aaron had suddenly transformed.

The moon had not yet risen. No, even if the moon were up, tonight wasn't a full moon. So if Aaron transformed in this situation—?

"Why is there suddenly an earthquake—?!"

"C-Chelsea! Be careful, you might fall!"

"Hey, Chelsea, watch your balance!"

Eiran and Carl quickly moved to block Chelsea's view.

"What? It's just a little tremor, why would I fall? And why are you blocking my view? Are you hiding something from me?" Chelsea squinted at them suspiciously.

"Hide what?!" Carl feigned innocence, shaking his head.

"Rooooar—!" Aru suddenly knocked Drianna's hand away and let out a loud roar.

Chelsea grimaced, covering her ears. "Why are you suddenly roaring?!"

"Kyahaha! Ahem! Ahem! Just practicing Howling."

"…You guys are acting suspicious."

Chelsea's suspicion deepened just as Aaron, who had been in a daze, came to his senses. Carl and Eiran stared at him with their mouths agape.

Leo leaned in and whispered, "Release your transformation."

Aaron, realizing the situation, quickly undid his transformation, but he was a moment too late.

"Transformation?" Chelsea's eyes widened as she stared at Aaron in shock. "H-How did you transform? The full moon isn't even out! The only one who can transform without a full moon is that cat!"

Aru crossed her arms and smirked. "Hmph! It seems Instructor Akan responded to my Howling and transformed!"

Puffing out her chest in pride, Aru looked pleased.

Lunia and Drianna quickly jumped in.

"You finally did it?"

"Impressive. Just what I'd expect from my personal model."

"I am not your personal model."

The three of them smoothly played along to shift the conversation.

Seeing that, Chelsea's expression lit up. "Oh, right! Aru Tune can use Howling to make other beastmen transform, huh?"

Now satisfied with the explanation, Chelsea nodded.

Carl and Eiran quickly chimed in.

"You're amazing, Aru!"

"Yeah, you really are Azonia's representative!"