The Last-Seat Hero Has Returned

18. Mental Training (3)

The gazes of the surrounding cadets focused on me.

Perhaps it was because of the incidents that had occurred in the past few weeks.

The eyes that were focused on me had changed from the mocking and contemptuous looks I had always experienced in my previous life to ones filled with anticipation.

‘I’m still not used to this.’

It felt like wearing a new pair of shoes that hadn’t been broken in yet.

Having lived a life where I had never received any expectations, it was inevitable.

‘I guess I’ll have to get used to it gradually.’

To be honest, it didn’t feel all that bad.

“Don’t you want to give it a try?”

“No, I’ll do it.”

I slowly stood up and approached Professor Morpheus.

At that moment.

“Um… Dale.”

Iris gently grabbed my collar as I was about to step forward.

Iris looked around and then leaned towards me, whispering in a small voice.

“If you feel like you can’t endure it, just shake your right arm.”

“My right arm?”

“Yes. Just shake it lightly. Got it?”

“Hmm… Got it.”

I didn’t know what Iris was planning.

But she probably wouldn’t have to step in.

‘An illusion, huh.’

How many seconds did I endure in my previous life?

It was so long ago that I couldn’t remember.

‘Well, it doesn’t matter.’

No matter what illusion is shown, the result won’t change.

“Just sit comfortably in the chair and close your eyes.”

It felt like some kind of hypnosis therapy.

I sat in the chair, thinking such trivial thoughts.

I closed my eyes and relaxed my entire body.

“Are you ready?”

“Yes.”

“Then, let’s begin.”

Professor Morpheus’s hand covered my eyes.

And then.

‘This is…’

A red earth.

Sticky humidity clung to me, and the smell of blood pricked my nose.

A place where corpses, chopped up and scattered, piled up to form small hills.

The classroom I had been sitting in just moments ago had vanished, replaced by a ghastly land covered in blood and bodies.

‘Is this Professor Morpheus’s illusion magic?’

Indeed.

Even though I knew it was an illusion, the scene was so vivid that it felt completely real.

Severed limbs, spilled intestines, maggots eating away at flesh, and exposed brains.

Even a seasoned hero, not just a trainee, would frown and turn away at this sight.

‘This can’t be the end.’

If it had ended with just showing a gruesome illusion, Albert, who had experienced the illusion before me, wouldn’t have screamed ‘Go away’ or ‘Save me.’

-Squelch.

Then, a squishy sound reached my ears.

‘There was more to it, after all.’

I turned my head in the direction of the sound.

What I saw there was…

“What is that.”

Wriggling, slimy green tentacles.

The beast, moving its tentacles freely from all over its body, was glaring at me with its eighteen eyes.

-Squelch, creak.

From the wriggling tentacles, slimy pus oozed out like mucus, emitting a terrible stench.

‘I understand why Albert freaked out.’

Even I, who had faced countless beasts in my past life, felt a moment of nausea at the sight of this grotesque beast.

“Screeeeeeeeech!!”

The beast, as terrifying as it looked, let out a horrifying scream and charged at me.

The tentacles sprouting from its body fluttered like hair, and yellow pus dripped down, soaking the ground.

Despite the illusion, I had an overwhelming urge to scream and run away.

“Hoo.”

I took a deep breath and calmed my mind.

‘It’s just an illusion anyway.’

Suddenly.

The visions of my comrades wandering alone in the white snowfield came to mind.

Illusions I had created myself out of extreme loneliness.

‘No matter how terrifying that tentacle monster looks.’

Could it be as terrifying as the visions of my dead comrades?

‘This is nothing.’

Compared to the life I’ve walked.

Compared to the deaths I’ve passed.

A tentacle monster that looks disgusting is nothing.

-Sizzle!

As I stared at the tentacle beast charging at me without retreating, I suddenly felt a burning pain in my left chest.

“Ugh.”

When I frowned and looked down, I saw the ‘Primordial Flame’ wrapping around the stigmata and burning.

‘What is this all of a sudden?’

It wasn’t the blessing of resurrection, so why was the Primordial Flame reacting out of nowhere?

Before I could solve the question that popped into my head.

“Ki-hee-hee-hee!”

The monstrous beast, which had been charging with a terrible scream, began to blur.

As if being swallowed by a gigantic flame.

The beast, covered in disgusting tentacles, and the corpses piled up to form a small hill, all turned into gray ashes and scattered.

‘Did the primordial fire have such a function?’

Swallowing a bitter laugh, I watched the vision burn and disappear. Before I knew it, the scene filled with blood and corpses had reverted back to the classroom.

“Huh… This is amazing.”

Then came the voice of Professor Morpheus.

“I never thought you would break my illusion magic on your own.”

Professor Morpheus looked me up and down with wide eyes, unable to believe it.

“Haha. I thought I had been teaching for a long time, but… this is a first.”

I had seen candidates endure the illusion for a minute before.

There weren’t many, but some had so much magic power or natural resistance that the illusion didn’t affect them at all.

But.

Dale was the first candidate to break… no, burn through the illusion, even though he was clearly caught in it.

“How did you do it?”

How did I do it, indeed.

‘I am more curious about that myself.’

Swallowing a wry smile, I shrugged my shoulders.

“Who knows?”

“Hmm.”

“Anyway, I passed the test, right?”

I asked as I stood up from my chair, and Professor Morpheus nodded with a smile.

“Of course. This isn’t just a pass; you deserve extra credit.”

“I’d appreciate that.”

“Haha. I’d like to, but extra credit is at the discretion of the supervising professor…”

Trailing off, Professor Morpheus looked at Professor Lucas.

Professor Lucas, looking somewhat proud, shook his head firmly.

“No matter how well you did, I can’t give extra credit that wasn’t announced beforehand.”

“Aww.”

What a petty man.

“Why, do you have a complaint?”

“How could I dare to have a complaint about the esteemed Professor Lucas’s decision?”

“Nonsense. Anyway, those who pass the test will be allowed to leave after the morning class today, so go ahead and challenge yourselves.”

The classroom started to buzz at the mention of being allowed to leave after the morning class for those who passed the test.

Shortened class.

Is there any other word that could excite the cadets as much as these four letters?

“I’ll give it a try!”

“Me too!”

“I can do it!”

Cadets flocked in, eager to take on the challenge.

They whispered with relieved expressions as they watched Dale, who had passed the test so easily.

“Haha. Now that I think about it, wasn’t Albert just overreacting?”

“That’s what I’m saying.”

“It’s strange… How can you look at that and not be affected?”

“Anyway, you have to give it to Albert for his theatrics.”

“No… That can’t be.”

The cadets laughed as they watched Albert, who looked aggrieved.

“Now, please sit comfortably in the chair and close your eyes.”

“Yep!”

The next cadet sat in the chair with a confident expression.

And then.

“aaah!”

The cadet screamed in terror.

“Kyaaa!”

“Eek!”

“Save meee!”

“T-Tentacles… Tentacles!”

The classroom started to fill with horrific screams.

“Haha. I’m glad to see everyone is healthy. Youth is indeed a wonderful thing~.”

With a beaming smile, Professor Morpheus welcomed us as the “Mental Conditioning” class continued.

* * *

And so, the morning session came to an end.

“Only Dale and Iris have passed the exam. Camilla was so close, but alas, it seems she fell short.”

Professor Lucas clicked his tongue, surveying the exhausted candidates sprawled across the room.

“How amusing it is that, despite their confidence, only two managed to pass… Heh heh. I suppose those who failed know what awaits them, yes?”

With a wicked grin, Professor Lucas shook a container filled with a special juice.

The candidates’ faces turned pale as they gazed at the bubbling green liquid, frothing ominously.

“Ugh….”

Camilla clenched her fists, her shoulders trembling.

“If only I could have held on for just five more seconds…!”

She had displayed superhuman patience, enduring until the very last moment. But then, at the end, a tentacle had suddenly writhed and attempted to invade a forbidden hole, causing her to scream in a moment of weakness.

“Why did you break down at the last second?”

“That tentacle was going for my…!”

“Your what?”

“Th-That is to say… Ugh!”

Camilla’s face flushed crimson as she glared at me with fierce eyes.

“You perverted scoundrel! What kind of horrid words are you trying to make me say in front of everyone?”

“Why, what did I do?”

“Humph! Enough of this noise!”

With her arms crossed, Camilla turned her head away, clearly done with the conversation.

I shrugged and gathered my things, rising from my seat.

As I made my way toward the door, leaving behind the envious gazes of my fellow candidates, I heard a voice call out.

“Dale~ You haven’t forgotten our lunch date today, have you?”

“Of course not.”

I nodded with a bright smile as Iris approached.

Since Iris had also passed the exam, we could keep our promise to have lunch together every Monday.

“I’m so glad you passed, Dale.”

“This is a piece of cake.”

“If it seemed like you couldn’t pass, I was planning to secretly cast my ‘blessing’ on you midway.”

“Oh, so that’s why you told me to shake my right arm if it got too hard earlier?”

“Yes.”

Iris nodded with a bashful smile.

Her blessing had the power to increase immunity to mental magic, so it would surely have been helpful.

“But why didn’t you cast the blessing on Camilla?”

“Well, no matter how precious a friend Camilla is to me, the exam must be taken fairly.”

“Oh… right.”

It’s not wrong, but…

Then why did she plan to secretly cast the blessing on me?

‘Wait a minute.’

At that moment.

A question flashed through my mind.

‘Camilla said that just before she passed the exam, the hallucinations suddenly intensified.’

Iris had never shown me this before, but…

Her blessing could also be applied ‘in reverse.’

In other words.

Instead of increasing immunity to mental magic through the blessing, it could also decrease it.

‘No way.’

There was no reason for Iris to cast a blessing… no, a curse on Camilla to deliberately make her fail the exam.

“Since Camilla isn’t here, we’ll have to eat lunch just the two of us today.”

“Oh… right.”

“I’ve already contacted them, so the food should be ready. Let’s go quickly before it gets cold.”

Iris walked ahead.

“Humming~♬”

Why was it?

The reason Iris’s expression, as she headed towards the dining hall, looked more excited than ever before.