REAPER SCANS
Legendary Hero is an Academy Honors Student
[Translator – Aine ]
[Proofreader – Ash ]
Chapter 62
The Seiren student swiftly dodged Leo's fiery Aura.
"Hmm."
Leo glanced at his hand, smirking.
"I was anticipating more excitement. I’m even more disappointed than I expected."
"Don't mock me! I'm in Seiren's most advanced class!"
"What did you say?"
"Eeeek!"
Students of Seiren's top class held immense prestige among elves.
A position revered by all.
While another student more knowledgeable about the prestige associated with the Seiren structure might have been impressed, Leo remained unimpressed.
Alongside Leo, at least three other freshmen knights studies students from Lumene would've been obviously more talented than the Seiren student standing before him.
‘Well, those three are clearly exceptional. But boasting about your status as a Seiren student doesn't impress me.’
Especially after he had been so diminutive of Lumene earlier.
The Seiren student then recited a rune.
‘Sorcery of the Stars? Is he a sorcerer?’
Leo's interest was piqued.
If he were a sorcerer, then it was a different story.
Seeing an elf perform the Sorcery of the Stars in the present day intrigued him.
‘Impressive.’
Leo definitely would have countered his rune, but instead, he gave him the chance to complete his spell.
Completing the conjuring of four separate illusory versions of himself, the Seiren student declared, "Now I’ll teach you a lesson for real."
“...”
There was slight disappointment in Leo's eyes.
‘This is today's Sorcery of the Stars?’
Mirage was a top-tier spell, one of the most powerful in the system.
The spell conjured a distorted version of reality.
It was a favorite of Luna's.
But what Leo witnessed differed greatly.
‘It's hyper-realistic, so much so that its illusion is incomparable to the quality of what I’ve seen in the past… yet it's crude. They've simplified it for easier use.’
Leo had been excited to see how the sorcery system had progressed after a few lifetimes of development.
Yet, instead, he felt that sorcery had regressed.
How disappointed Luna would be.
‘She'd be furious. What a rip off.’
Leo shook his head in dismay.
"As a human, you've likely never seen such sorcery."
The Seiren student, who had thought that Leo’s pause had been inspired by awe, began to speak in a voice of superiority.
"Isn’t that just illusion sorcery?"
"Ha. Oh silly human. Ilusion sorcery is only a crude imitation of the elves’ Sorcery of the Stars. Wouldn’t you like to see more?”
Leo chuckled, reciting the incantation he had committed to memory.
The Seiren student's face twisted at Leo's incantation.
"Are you mocking me? How could a human wield the Sorcery of the Stars... Ridiculous!"
The Seiren student's anger intensified.
He completed the incantation.
The same mirage the elf had recited.
But Leo's product, eight separate copies of himself, brought tears to his eyes.
“What, like it’s hard?”
"Th-this is impossible!"
"Many human sorcerers are able to use Sorcery of the Stars. You should reconsider your narrow views," Leo retorted.
"[Hahahaha! Look at his dumb face!]
Kiran laughed on Leo's shoulder.
‘He's really nothing like his father.’
Sillyd never reveled in others' misfortune.
“Ugh! This must simply be a shallow copy! You’ve only imitated the intricacies of my casting of Sorcery of the Stars.”
The Seiren student charged at Leo.
‘He must not know how to admit anything.’
Leo shook his head, adjusting his sword.
Aura erupted from the Seiren student's blade.
Leo's eyes widened.
‘Were all four of his illusions actually real?’
The fusion of mirages and swordsmanship was a high-level technique.
Leo clenched his fist.
‘That’s strange. The framework of his basic illusions was atrocious, but he’s able to wield such a potent technique?’
Even this was a skill beyond his grasp.
To be more exact, the Seiren student's spell, while still technically Sorcery of the Stars, fundamentally differed from Leo's.
‘Because Luna’s sorcery was pure.’
The sorcery before him had been melded with physical techniques.
In other words, this usage of her Sorcery of the Stars was not part of Luna's vision.
This fusion reflected in Leo's eyes a new realm beyond Luna’s original Sorcery of the Stars.
‘It’s more of a rebranding rather than regression.’
Sorcerers often toyed with their spells.
They often viewed their creations as works-in-progress.
But not Luna.
‘And she was more of a sorcerer than anyone else.’
Rather, Luna reveled in exploring and experimenting with the different applications of her creations, as any true sorcerer would.
‘She'd be proud to see this.’
Even if it had diverged greatly from Luna's original Sorcery of the Stars, she would have embraced the new application of her work.
Whoooooooooosh--!
Four vibrant swords uniformly wielded by the four illusions danced through the air.
Breezing through Leo’s ‘mirages,’ the fragments of his own flimsy copies scattered fruitlessly.
Mirage crafted real “illusions”.
Though the spell, a favorite of Luna's, seemed authentic, there was a reason why it was classified as ‘illusion’ magic.
‘What he conjured is as authentic as a shadow, despite looking like himself.’
Leo deciphered the illusion's mechanics.
"Haha! Now, feel the difference! True Sorcery of the Stars surpasses your imitation!"
‘Wrong. Mine was crafted by Luna’s very hands.’
He used nothing but the precursor to the Sorcery of the Stars.
Hearing the mockery of a user of a distant descendant and derivative of his own sorcery, he couldn’t help but laugh.
"Why the laughter?"
The Seiren student, misinterpreting Leo's laughter, seethed.
His copies swirled around Leo menacingly.
It was as if four copies of the same foe wielded swords against him.
Though, of course, their blades were indeed real.
Flutter, flutter
Aura flames gathered in Leo's fist.
‘Well, that’s enough of that.’
Leo's red eyes gleamed dangerously.
Thwack! Crash!
Leo slammed his fist onto the ground, unleashing a fiery explosion.
Choke!
The illusions vanished, revealing nothing but their caster.
Leo spoke icily.
"A weakly applied skill amounts to little more than a parlor trick."
"Don't mock me!"
Enraged, the Seiren student conjured more copies of himself.
This time, eight.
His Aura materialized from eight directions.
'He's pouring out all his sorcery and Aura at once.'
Leo smirked, seeing his opponent's trump card.
‘It's simple to dispel.’
Leo's eyes flashed red.
‘Should I try it out?’
Whooooooooosh!
Leo, gathering his mana, swiftly strategized his employment of the new technique.
Meanwhile the eight illusions closed in on him.
Each of them, presenting his own image, mirroring his every move as they pressed into him.
Right at that instant when they all closed in.
Whoooooosh
Leo conjured a mirage.
Now, there were two of him, instead of one.
"Huh! Think a simple copy can rattle me?"
Leo clenched his Aura-filled fist in response to his opponent's scoff.
Flutter, flutter!
Leo's doppelgänger also wielded Aura in his fist.
The Seiren student’s expression hardened at the sight.
‘You...! No way…’
Leo's mirage, like his own, wielded genuine Aura.
'But there are still only two of him! Nothing's changed...'
In that instant, Leo and his doppelgänger both moved.
Seiren watched in dismay as Leo's doppelgänger moved independently, not mirroring his actions like a mere reflection.
'Impossible! Handling mirages employing Aura at this level requires at least sophomore expertise!'
Leo, effortlessly dealing with the seven identical copies of his opponent, raised his fist.
"This skill is pretty cool, I’ll admit.”
The Seiren student paled at the sight of the two charging Leos.
"W-wait...!"
Whoosh! Crash!
As the flames crashed into his copies, the Seiren student's eyes widened.
"W-Where... did he learn... that sorcery... ?"
Leo calmly regarded him as he muttered in disbelief.
"Just now."
Deciphering a technique's structure and learning how to mold it to suit himself was a complex task, but not insurmountable for Leo.
He even applied it in combat.
'This skill consumes both Aura and mana, so I can’t make it sustainable for long periods yet. But it has excellent potential.'
Grinning, Leo glanced towards the bushes.
After a while, a red-haired girl emerged.
"Who are you?"
"I'm Lunia El Lunda, a freshman at Seiren."
"Are you here to fight like him?"
At Leo's query, Lunia glanced between him and her fellow Seiren student, sighing deeply.
"We came here for training. There was an incident at the sanctuary, and I think my friend here misunderstood and thought you were to blame. Of course, he was quite rude before your faceoff. He heard the story from our teacher and was passing it around our friends, as well…”
Lunia's explanation trailed off.
She bowed her head, sensing the situation.
"In essence, I apologize for my friend's behavior."
"Well, an apology suffices."
Leo smirked.
Seeing Leo's reaction, Lunia chuckled bitterly.
"Please don't judge all Seiren students by my friend's actions."
"I can look past it. Anyway, the misunderstanding is sorted now, so can I go? I've got something to report to my professor."
"Yes."
Lunia smiled.
He shot a smile and replied, "See you later."
"Yes."
Watching Leo vanish, Lunia nudged the fainted boy on the floor.
"Hey, wake up. How long are you gonna be out?"
Cough!
"Seriously, you’re the lowest ranking student in Class 1. Why're you so worked up? It's embarrassing!"
Lunia shed her earlier gentleness and grumbled at her peer.
As per Seiren's rules, maintaining a pristine image outside of the academy was crucial for hero candidates.
As Seiren's top student, Lunia had to be extra mindful of her conduct, representing her school.
‘Come to think of it, he handled my apology pretty smoothly.’
Lunia thought back to her interaction with Leo.
‘Is he interested in me? Could be! After all, I'm quite charming.’
With a smug grin, Lunia chuckled.
‘A handsome face really is my weakness. Plus, he handled that quite well. I forgot to ask his name, but we'll meet again in Velkia."
Lunia's eyes glinted with determination.
‘Maybe next time, I can also inquire about this Leo Plov.’
***
"Lunia El Lunda? That name rings a bell."
Leo pondered as he left the forest.
"Oh!"
A realization dawned on him.
"The heir to the Lunda family. She was Fiora's original contractor, wasn’t she?"
