LHAHS Chapter 442
What can I do right now?
Aaron pondered deeply.
This era was different from the one he was born and raised in. The time when Aaron had lived was a dark and uncertain age.
Even children couldn't afford to dream. Even when I followed Lysinas, I couldn't truly picture the future I wanted.
Even Aaron, who had wished for a bright and hopeful future for the children, had only been able to vaguely imagine peace without truly grasping what it meant.
It couldn't be helped. His generation had been stripped of everything from birth, while the peaceful era he found himself in now shone far more brilliantly than anything he had imagined.
However, the threat was not yet over. No one knew when the Age of Calamity might return.
Aaron did not want this peace to be broken, so right now, he was teaching those who were preparing to step onto the stage.
"But couldn't I also help those who are already on it?" Aaron mumbled.
Melina's eyes widened. "Are you saying you want to help the graduates as well?"
"That's right."
"That's an incredibly generous and humbling offer. How do you plan to teach them?"
"I'm not very good at instructing others." Aaron raised his fist. "So there's only one way."
"One way?"
"Yeah."
"Can you handle this?"
Vanir's expression remained unreadable, but the air around her grew sharp. She was a graduate of Azonia, a former student council president, and someone who understood just how vast the world was. She knew there were many warriors stronger than herself.
And the moment she laid eyes on Aaron, she knew. He looked frail, but he stood above her.
Even so, being provoked like this pricked at her pride.
"Hey, hey, why get so worked up?" Raynia smiled brightly and patted Vanir's shoulder. "We just have to face him once and see. Right, Rhys?"
She spoke lightly, but her sharp gaze on Aaron betrayed the sting to her own pride.
"Yeah," Rhys murmured, lost in thought.
Watching them, Aaron nodded. "Alright then, shall we begin?"
Rhys narrowed his eyes and drew his sword. "Raynia, Vanir. Let's go all out from the start."
Raynia and Vanir looked momentarily surprised, but quickly nodded.
Fwoosh—!
Vanir lunged.
Tap—!
Raynia shot forward, dashing through the forest with incredible speed.
Whoooosh—!
Rhys let his sword drop to his side, calling forth Zerdinger's flames.
Their transition into battle mode was swift and decisive, wasting no time.
So this is the Age of Heroes…
Before being known as an era of peace, this time had been called the Age of Heroes. Those who graduated from the hero academies and stepped onto the battlefield had a completely different mindset.
Aaron turned to Vanir, who was closing in at a frightening speed.
Shing—!
In the blink of an eye, she drew two black short swords, her eyes flashing and her blades gleaming ominously as she swung.
Klang—! Klagagagaga—!
Sparks exploded between them.
Vanir's blades moved so fast they were nearly invisible, yet Aaron blocked every strike with just one hand.
Her eyes twitched.
Aaron reached out with his other hand, aiming to restrain her.
At that moment, Vanir lowered her stance.
Fwoosh—! Crackle—!
Rhys swung his sword, closing the distance unnoticed. Flames of aura surged forth.
Boom—!
Aaron's hand met Rhys's sword, sending a shockwave through the air.
Fire aura surged like waves, engulfing Aaron.
He's completely controlling the fire aura…?
Among all attributes, fire was the most volatile and difficult to control. The heat radiating from Rhys's aura was intense enough to burn Aaron—yet it did not so much as singe Vanir.
Aaron clenched his fist.
Fwoosh—!
A golden aura erupted, pushing back Rhys's sword.
At the same time, he intercepted Vanir, who had tried to slip into his guard.
Thud—!
Before she could fully swing her swords, Aaron stopped her.
Rhys and Vanir narrowed their eyes.
He didn't use aura.
That was pure technique.
That brief exchange was enough for them to understand. Even while facing them, Aaron still had plenty of room to spare.
Where did someone like him even come from?
"What are you doing?" Leo asked sleepily.
On a cliff overlooking the forest, Melina turned to the voice behind her and bowed her head slightly. "You've arrived."
"I felt your mana."
Leo had been asleep, but the moment Melina cast a barrier spell, he noticed and made his way over.
"Did Aaron ask you to set this up?"
"Yes. He wanted to help the graduates as well, so he asked me."
"Is that so?" Leo stepped to the edge of the cliff and looked down.
"Do you think the graduates will gain something from this?"
"That depends on how they approach it."
Leo's gaze fixed on Aaron, who stood against Rhys and Vanir.
"But just by fighting the strongest, there's a lot to learn. In terms of martial arts, Aaron is at the very peak."
Rhys panted heavily. From the very start, he had given everything against this beastman.
He had known Aaron was stronger than them, so he had never let his guard down, yet even with all their preparation, the result before him was hard to accept.
Not even once did he counterattack.
No matter how many times Rhys and Vanir attacked, Aaron never went on the offensive. He just blocked all of their strikes.
They felt like they were up against a wall of unfathomable height.
Where did someone like this even come from?
Aaron looked at Rhys and Vanir. "You're not using your full strength, are you? Show me what you're really capable of."
He raised his hand.
Whoooosh—!
Golden aura flowed from his fingertips.
Rhys and Vanir instinctively shuddered at the sight.
Aaron smiled and stepped forward. "If that's too difficult, I can come to you instead."
Flash—!
A blinding white light streaked toward Aaron.
Boom—! Crackle—!
He reached out and caught the arrow midair.
Tap—!
The moment he grabbed it, an explosion of freezing cold erupted from the arrow, engulfing his body in ice.
Aaron's eyes shifted toward the direction the arrow had come from.
Aura and magic fusion. The power is impressive.
"Haaahp!" Vanir closed the distance.
Crack—! Clang—!
Aaron shattered the ice and lunged at her.
Whoosh—!
In an instant, Vanir's body dissolved into black smoke and disappeared.
Aura attribute.
Aaron's Hyper Perception activated.
At that moment…
Fwoooosh—!
A massive pillar of fire erupted.
Aaron turned his gaze to Rhys.
Whoooosh—!
Blazing phoenix flames condensed around Rhys's sword. Holding the crimson-glowing blade with both hands, he prepared to strike.
At the same time, Aaron sensed Raynia aiming an arrow at him from a distance.
Fwoosh—! Twang—!
A sword and an arrow shot toward him from both directions.
Aaron spread his hands.
Flare! Crackle—!
Scorching sword energy and a freezing arrow hurtled toward him.
In that instant…
Whoooosh—!
"What?" Rhys's eyes widened in shock.
Aaron's aura wrapped around the flames and ice aura.
Swirl—!
As if guiding water along a stream, Aaron brought his hands together, causing the opposing forces to rotate in his grasp.
Watching from afar, Raynia was also struck speechless.
They had launched their strongest attacks, but neither of them had expected to defeat Aaron with them. Their true aim had been to force Aaron to defend, creating an opening—an opening that Vanir, the fastest among them, would exploit.
Yet, to their horror, Aaron didn't just block their attacks. He took control of them.
No, if I just slice through that aura—!
From the darkness, Vanir closed in on him. However, at that moment, she felt her heart drop.
She had concealed herself perfectly in the shadows, yet Aaron's eyes met hers.
And then…
Crackle! Fwoooosh—!
The freezing arrow shot toward Rhys, while the blazing sword energy flew toward Raynia.
"Kuh!"
Fwoosh—!
Rhys released his phoenix aura.
Crackle—!
But he couldn't block the attack completely and was sent flying.
Boom! Flames surged—!
Raynia, too, failed to fully defend against the attack.
Thud—!
"Guh?"
Vanir found herself caught, Aaron's hand wrapped around her throat.
She struggled to retaliate, but soon, her body went limp.
The battle was over.
This wasn't just a difference of one or two steps.
This person is on a completely different level.
Aaron, still holding Vanir, smiled gently before letting go.
Thump—
Vanir collapsed weakly onto the ground.
"You're impressive. You are heroes who are more than worthy of carrying this era. I feel reassured," Aaron said.
Rhys brushed off the lingering frost aura as he approached.
Raynia emerged from the forest, her entire body scorched, looking at Aaron in disbelief.
"Do you even need to be reassured? You're already in a different dimension of strength," she gritted her teeth.
Aaron looked at her and replied, "My strength has nothing to do with it. You're still young, aren't you?"
Reaching down, he helped Vanir to her feet. "You all still have a bright future ahead of you. You'll become even greater. With that in mind, I want to help you."
"Help?"
"How about learning this?" Aaron held out his hand. Golden aura swirled around his palm.
"Huh?"
All three of them stared in shock.
Aaron gazed at the rotating aura in his hand and said, "It's not really a special technique. Just a method to maximize the power of aura. Depending on how you use it, you can even deflect attacks like I did just now."
They recalled how he had redirected their attacks earlier.
"It's still too dangerous for the second-years to learn, but if you master it, you can pass it down to your juniors in the future."
"Why are you teaching us such an incredible technique?" Rhys asked, his face filled with confusion.
He already knew Aaron had taught the second-years a technique called Hyper Perception, and he understood just how extraordinary that was. Yet now, Aaron was offering them an entirely different aura technique.
Aaron smiled. "Because I want to feel at ease."
Rhys and Raynia exchanged puzzled looks.
Meanwhile, Vanir's eyes widened as she stared at the golden aura spinning in Aaron's palm.
Aura spinning in a spiral? And he's maximizing its power…?
Three thousand years ago, there had been a warrior known as the Grand Warrior Azonia, regarded as the successor to the Brave Hero Aaron. Just as the Comet Mage Seiren had redefined Stellar Magic, the Grand Warrior Azonia had succeeded in recreating the Brave Hero Aaron's aura techniques.
The one who developed the Brave Hero's Breath, used by beastmen, was none other than Azonia.
Among Azonia's many techniques, one stood out.
Spiral.
A technique that enhanced aura's power by rotating it in a spiral motion.
Azonia once said that this technique originally belonged to Sir Aaron.
Just like the Brave Hero's Breath, Spiral was something Azonia had intended to pass down to beastmen, but before that could happen, the Heroes of Dawn had left the world.
And now—the aura technique Aaron was using was eerily similar to the lost technique of Azonia.
A long-lost technique, golden aura, a beastman… and he even looks like Sir Aaron.
Vanir's eyes widened in shock. "No way… You're…?"
She stared at Aaron, her voice trembling.
Aaron simply raised a finger to his lips, a gentle smile on his face.
Vanir's body trembled.
The Brave Hero… Aaron?!