The Last-Seat Hero Has Returned

Chapter 46

46. Special Professor (3)

“Ha.”

A hollow laugh escaped from between Professor Elisha’s lips.

“What makes you so confident?”

At this point, curiosity about the identity of that cadet was greater than anger.

‘He doesn’t look special on the surface.’

Even with the ‘Evil Eye’ scanning Dale’s entire body, no particular features were found.

If there was one thing to note, it was that the amount of magic felt from his stigma was only about half that of other cadets.

‘Having less magic can’t be an advantage.’

Although there’s a saying that too much is as bad as too little, in the case of magic, the more, the better.

‘What on earth?’

Seeing him act so confidently, it seemed like he had something hidden, but there was no way to guess what it was.

“…Assistant Vincent.”

“Yes, Professor.”

“Don’t let your guard down.”

I couldn’t tell what made him act that way, but Lucas Kane, whom I had known since our cadet days, was not a man who showed such confidence without reason.

He must have something hidden.

Until it was revealed, letting our guard down was not an option.

“I will keep that in mind.”

Vincent nodded politely and lowered his stance without drawing his sword.

“……”

Vincent scrutinized Dale with a sharp gaze.

Dale chuckled as he looked at Assistant Vincent scrutinizing him.

“You’ll bore a hole through me at this rate.”

“……”

“You’re quite the silent assistant, aren’t you?”

“And you talk too much.”

Vincent replied coldly.

I shrugged and continued.

“I don’t care whether I talk a lot or a little, but with your lack of eloquence, can you really lecture in place of Professor Lucas?”

“Eloquence isn’t needed for practical tactics training.”

“Oh, I see. Got it.”

“…What do you mean by that?”

“Practical Tactical Training is the name we used before the curriculum was reorganized five years ago. Now it’s called Practical Combat Training.”

“What does that matter…”

“It matters a lot.”

It matters a lot.

“If you graduated five years ago, you would have been active as a hero for at least five years, but I don’t see many small scars on your forearms or the back of your hands.”

For a hero who has been active for five years, not having a single small scar means two things.

One, you are overwhelmingly strong enough not to get even minor injuries.

Or, your combat style itself is such that you don’t get injured.

“I heard you were told not to let your guard down, but you didn’t draw your sword in advance, and compared to a typical swordsman, you excessively pulled your hips back…”

He nodded, looking down at the scabbard on Vincent’s left waist.

“Is your specialty a short-term decisive battle using sword-drawing techniques?”

“……”

Did I hit the mark?

Vincent’s expression hardened.

“Tsk.”

As if he had no intention of continuing the conversation, Vincent took a short breath and gripped the hilt of his sword.

Light emanated from the stigma, and silver magic enveloped his entire body.

‘He’s definitely good at handling magic.’

Just by seeing how he evenly distributes magic throughout his entire body without focusing on any particular area, it was easy to tell that Vincent’s magic control skills were top-notch.

‘But well, it doesn’t matter.’

I relaxed my body and concentrated all my magic into the stigma.

“……”

Vincent’s expression twisted as he watched my movements with a sharp gaze.

Concentrating magic into the stigma before a battle was like a track athlete standing still without even taking a ready position before a race.

Vincent’s forehead veins bulged as if to say, ‘I can beat you even like this.’

“Let’s see how long you can keep up that arrogance.”

Thud!

With a sound like a drumbeat, Vincent charged.

In the blink of an eye, Vincent approached right in front of me and drew his sword.

Flash!

A silver flash shot out at a terrifying speed.

I kept my eyes fixed on the direction of Assistant Vincent’s sword, spreading the magic contained within the stigmata to my left leg, right arm, and sword.

Ka-aaang!

I took the silver flash head-on, balancing on my left leg.

Given the difference in magical power between me and Assistant Vincent, it would have been impossible to take his sword head-on, but by spreading the magic only to the necessary parts instead of my entire body, I was able to withstand the attack.

“What the…!”

Professor Elisha, who was watching the battle, widened her eyes.

To channel the magic contained within the stigmata at the most crucial moment, to the most crucial place, and in just the right amount.

‘Against Vincent’s swordsmanship, no less?’

This was a near-acrobatic level of magic control, not something easily done even if we had prearranged where and when to attack.

“Ugh!”

Assistant Vincent, whose first strike was blocked, swallowed his frustration and widened the distance.

His specialty was swordsmanship that exploited momentary gaps.

After each attack, he needed a brief moment to recover.

However.

“When widening the distance, you shouldn’t fix your gaze solely on your opponent.”

Otherwise, your footing becomes vulnerable.

“Hup!”

Berald Martial Arts.

Earth Shaker.

Rumble!

As I stomped hard, the floor of the training ground, where Assistant Vincent was trying to step back, cracked open.

It wasn’t possible to shake the entire surrounding ground like when I drank the stigmata amplifier.

‘This is enough for now.’

I infused more magic into the hand gripping the sword.

“Ugh!”

Assistant Vincent’s body momentarily lost balance as he stepped on the cracked training ground floor.

Though he was a veteran hero and quickly regained his balance without falling backward.

“It’s already too late.”

I focused the magic on my legs and kicked off the ground.

Wind stride.

The body shoots forward as if racing through the air.

“Haah.”

Exhaling a low breath, I grip the sword.

The magic concentrated in my legs naturally flows through my meridians and gathers in the sword.

A gray aura burns along the blade.

Compared to the silver aura that had gathered on Professor Vincent’s sword, its size and brightness were significantly lacking.

‘This should be enough.’

In battle, what matters is not who possesses the stronger power.

Just as a human would die whether a hole the size of a head or a finger is pierced through them.

As long as there is enough power to wound the opponent, what matters more is how that power is wielded.

Shwaaak!

A flashing gray light.

“Ugh!”

Professor Vincent clutched his bleeding forearm and retreated.

Clang.

The sword he had been holding rolled on the ground with a clear metallic sound.

“…I lost.”

Assistant Professor Vincent bit his lip and lowered his head.

“……”

Silence descended on the training ground.

I could feel the astonished gazes focusing on me.

“What on earth is this…”

Professor Elisha trailed off in disbelief.

She turned on her Hero Watch and repeatedly checked my information listed in the cadet roster.

“…How, how did this happen, Professor Lucas?”

Elisha glared at Professor Lucas, demanding an explanation.

“Ah… um. Ahem! Didn’t I tell you? His rank is lower than his actual skill.”

“Do you think this is the time to brush it off with such words?”

“Umm….”

Professor Lucas swallowed his words at Elisha’s sharp rebuke.

In fact, he was just as bewildered by the current situation.

‘I knew Dale would win, but….’

Dale had a history of forcing him to use the ‘Blessing of the Blood Warrior’ even when his magical power was much lower than it is now.

He had expected that Dale, with his significantly increased magical power, would be able to defeat Professor Vincent easily.

‘But to win so overwhelmingly….’

Honestly, even if he were to fight Dale now, he wouldn’t be confident of victory.

‘How could he have grown so much in just a month?’

As he furrowed his brows in doubt.

“…Professor Lucas? Didn’t you hear what I said?”

“Oh, yes. I’m sorry, senior.”

“Sigh, never mind. Judging by your expression, it seems you don’t know either.”

Elisha let out a deep sigh and shook her head.

Professor Lucas approached Elisha and cautiously asked.

“By the way, about the resignation you mentioned earlier….”

“That was just a joke.”

“What?”

“Isn’t it obvious? Although a special professor has more authority than regular professors, they don’t have the power to dismiss them.”

“…….”

“I wanted to see you flustered for the first time in a while, but I didn’t expect things to turn out like this….”

Elisha lit the cigarette in her mouth with her arms crossed.

“Wait, you were really joking about that, senior?”

Professor Lucas looked at Elisha with an incredulous expression.

Who in the world makes a joke with such a serious face?

“Of course, it was also meant to instill some sense of urgency. The candidates’ level was indeed terrible.”

“That is….”

Hmm.

Professor Lucas trailed off, unable to find words to refute.

Indeed, except for irregulars like Dale or Yuren Helios, the level of the current third-year candidates was, to put it bluntly, below average.

‘Especially since last year’s third-year candidates were of an unprecedented level, the comparison is inevitable.’

Anyway.

Knowing that everything was a misunderstanding made me feel embarrassed for getting so worked up.

“But… honestly, I didn’t expect this kind of result either.”

Elisha clicked her tongue as she looked back at Vincent, who was hanging his head while clutching his bleeding arm.

Vincent wasn’t one of those so-called ‘rankers’ who were in the top 100 of the Three Kingdoms Hero Ranking.

But still, even though he had fought demons in real battles more than ten times, he was a veteran hero in his own right. To think he would be defeated so helplessly.

“Could it be that Yuren Helios is in disguise?”

“Yuren Helios is in the ‘Practical Combat Training’ Class A. We are in Class C. And look at that guy’s appearance. How could he be the peerless beauty who shook the continent?”

“Hmm. Personally, I prefer Candidate Dale.”

“What?”

“Well, anyway. If a candidate at the bottom of the list has this much power as stated in the candidate list…”

Elisha’s violet eyes gleamed with a chilling light.

“We need a more detailed confirmation.”

“If you mean a detailed confirmation…”

“You know what my blessing is, don’t you?”

“Wait, surely not…!”

Before the flustered Professor Lucas could stop her.

Professor Elisha strode towards me.

“Candidate Dale.”

“Ah, yes, Professor.”