Chapter 1
In Delan, the capital of the frontier kingdom Dellard.
"Everyone! We live in the age of heroes!”
'Here he goes… Is it the same old story again?'
Leo, who turned 15 this year, sighed deeply, seemingly bored.
“It’s been 5000 years since [Hero Records] appeared in the world! During the past 5000 years, the world has undergone many changes. At the center of each change, there has always been the presence of people referred to as HEROES!”
Jaden, a teacher who teaches about Heroes at Delan Royal School continued.
“Is there any student who knows the definition of a Hero?”
Students raised their hands.
Professor Jaden pointed at one of the students.
“Student Gulliver. Please answer.”
“A Hero is someone who leaves his or her name on Hero Records. Only those who have accomplished feats recognized by the Gods are allowed to leave their names on Hero Records.”
"Bravo Bravo! You are indeed correct, student Gulliver.”
Gulliver sat with a triumphant expression.
“Next… Student Leo?”
Leo stood up when his name was called even though he did not raise his hand.
“Do you remember the homework I gave last time? What kind of ritual do you have to perform to be called a Hero 5,000 years ago?"
“You just have to spread your name, the people will take care of the rest.”
"You're still doing your homework that way!"
Professor Jayden frowned.
“Our Delan Royal School is the most prestigious school in our country! Didn't I repeatedly say that you should show dignity that matches this prestige? Furthermore, this year our school is selected as one of the venues for the Lumeln Academy’s entrance exam!”
Professor Jaden’s eyes rose.
“Many talented people will visit our school! At a time like this, as a Delan student, you have to set an example, and what student Leo is showing is not the right attitude!”
With an expression of disapproval, he spoke to Gulliver again.
“Can Student Gulliver answer this question?”
“People in ancient times had no means to receive God's Recognition! So they hold a holy ceremony to select the hero! A typical example of such one was the blood ritual!”
“Yes, exactly! Bravo.”
Leo had a sullen expression.
'Even though it was so easy to meet Gods back then, why did they have a hard time getting recognized?'
5000 years ago was the time when Gods freely descended into the Human world.
'Tsk… A sacred ritual? Was there something like that?'
Leo glanced at the textbook and clicked his tongue.
'Hero Records.'
The origin of the record was after the catastrophe that occurred 5000 years ago.
Erebos, a primordial devil that drove the world to the brink of destruction.
At that time five heroes stood up against Erebos.
[Founder of the Nebula Magic] Elven Luna.
[God's Blacksmith] Dwarf Dweno.
[Brave Warrior] Aron.
[King of Wisdom] Risinas.
Lastly, [Hero of the Beginning] Kyle.
[Hero Records] was a miracle gifted to the Human world by the Gods to honor the Legendary Heroes forever.
'But why am I the only person who doesn’t have one?'
Records of his close friends exist, proving that they existed and saved the world.
However, only Kyle's records couldn’t be found!
He felt the world was unfair for forgetting his existence.
As Leo was lamenting his situation.
Ding- Ding-
The bell rang announcing the end of the class.
Professor Jaden said as he closed his textbook.
"In the next week, preparations for the Lumeln entrance exam will be finished. Talented students from all over the world will visit our school at that time."
He looked at the student's face and said,
"Interact with them and strive for greater heights. That's all."
⏩ ⏩ ⏩ ⏩ ⏩ ⏩
Class ended, and Leo headed straight home.
Flove household holds the title of Marquis of the Dellard Kingdom.
“Young master, madam is waiting for you at the arena.”
“Huh? Again?"
Leo frowned.
“I won’t be going.”
"Madam said, if you miss swordsmanship class one more time, she will cut off your allowance by half......"
"Huh! Seriously."
Leo sighed at the chief chamberlain's words.
He then headed towards the training ground after changing his uniform.
Originally, the middle of the day was the time when knights put their sweat and stamina into training.
But now at the center of the arena was a beautiful woman.
It was Reina Flove, the Mistress of the Flove household.
“Mother, I’m back.”
"Welcome, Leo. By the way, Leo. Why are you always being formal with your mother, calling mother~ mother~?”
Reina’s eyelids opened revealing her ruby-like eyes similar to her son's.
“I hear children these days call their mother, mom, except for this unfortunate mother. I'm sad because my son is distancing himself from me."
Leo, who came up to the arena with a wooden sword, said.
"I'm trying to distance myself on purpose.”
"Oh? Why? Is it puberty?”
Reina's face was filled with grief.
SWOOSH-!
At the same time, her body rushed towards her son with incredible force.
BANG-!
“Because of this. A mother slashing at her own son with a wooden sword! What son wouldn't want to distance himself from this kind of mother?”
Reina smiled as she heard her son's words.
"I guess this mother's heart has not reached my son...... Maybe I should push myself a little harder today."
Reina's wooden sword quickly changed.
Leo reacted to Reina's ever-changing swordplay.
The knights burst into exclamations.
“As expected of the Mistress! That’s the famous swordsmanship of Hero Gerdinger!”
"However, the young master is also incredible!"
Usually, swordsmanship lessons for aristocrats are taught by knights of the family.
However, in the Flove household, the Mistress, Reina Flove, was in charge of that.
But no one was dissatisfied with it.
There was a large country that borders the Dellard Kingdom, called the Rodren Empire.
In the Rodren Empire, there was once a famous Hero called Gerdinger, and Reina was one of the descendants of that Gerdinger.
Ttak-! Ttadadak-! Ttaak-!
Seeing her son block all her attacks, Reina's eyes shone.
'As expected, My Leo is a genius.'
Reina, having retired, was still one of the Great knights.
Despite not using her aura and wearing a weight magic bracelet on her arms and legs, no one could compete on an equal footing with her.
This was due to the significant difference in their experience.
Leo, on the other hand, was countering Reina's sword.
'Every time I spar with him, his skills improve.'
As a parent, she couldn't help but be proud as she watched her son grow up day by day.
The spar continued for ten minutes.
Reina fell in love with sparring.
She instinctively bent her wrist when she saw Leo coping with her by reading her sword path.
'Oops!'
Reina was taken aback by her own action.
She unknowingly used an irregular sword move!
It was a technique too difficult for Leo to cope with.
Reina hastily tried to retrieve the sword.
'It's late... … .'
Tak-!
“!”
Reina's eyes widened.
Leo quickly dug into Reina's arms after tackling the sword and aimed at her neck.
The wooden sword's tip was aimed at Reina's throat.
Reina had a bewildered expression.
Leo sighed as he retrieved the sword.
"Don't you think you're being too hard on your son, MOM?"
“You say that after handling it well.”
Though Reina said with a smile, she still felt goosebumps all over her body.
'This child... … he's beyond what I can handle.'
Using an irregular sword move while disguising it as a normal sword move was a life-threatening technique that even skilled knights would struggle to cope with.
Talent alone was not enough to overcome it.
Still, Leo coped well.
Of course, the sword was restrained along the way.
But still, what he did was great.
'Maybe, I shouldn’t have defended that sword?'
Leo sighed as he looked at his mother, whose eyes sparkled with expectation.
Leo was not a normal fifteen year old child.
He was a great hero who saved the world in his previous life.
Responding to an irregular sword move was not a difficult task.
Looking at Leo scratching his head, Reina inquired.
“Hey, Leo. Are you still thinking of going to Lumeln?”
"Yeah."
Lumeln Academy.
There are only four hero academies in the world.
And they were the places where [Hero Records] were kept.
'I need to find out what happened after I died.'
After defeating Erebos, Kyle died of exhaustion.
But Erebos was immortal.
Though subjugation was a success, the mission to completely eradicate the Demons failed.
In addition, the commander of Erebos’ army, Tartarus, was left alive.
Since then, 5000 years have passed.
Their stories remained only in legend. And what happened after Kyle's death was not properly recorded.
He thought maybe he could find out what happened after his death by looking through Hero Records.
That was the reason why Leo wanted to enter the world's most prestigious Lumeln Academy.
"So that’s how it is."
Reina laughed.
"Okay, I understand. Mom will do her best. So leave everything to me."
"What?"
"The Gerdinger family will be visiting Dellan tomorrow. So, they decided to stay at our mansion."
“People from mother’s family?”
The famous Gerdinger family was Leo’s maternal family but they had never been in contact with them.
This was because Reina severed her ties with her family when she got married.
'So it must be true when she said they severed ties on good terms.'
Normally, when a mother's family was mentioned as a Hero's family, anyone would have been overjoyed.
However, Leo was not interested in any Hero family.
"yes. Your uncle, Jess Gerdinger, is said to be in charge. So, I'm considering making a request to the family through Jess."
Reina said earnestly.
"If you can inherit Gerdinger's aura method. Then you'll be strong enough to enter Lumeln next year."
Reina taught Leo swordsmanship but did not teach him Aura.
It was because Reina couldn't teach her Aura method to anyone without the family's permission.
But with the Hero family's permission, Leo can learn their aura method!
To anyone who aims to become a knight, it was a dream come true!
But Leo felt sour.
'Now I can learn an Aura method.'
Reina had put off teaching the Aura method because she wanted her son to learn the High-level Aura method.
Of course, Leo would have been able to learn an aura method right away if he had thought about it.
But, for the time being, he decided to follow his mother's teaching.
Though it was frustrating, it was still fun to train together like this.
Still, as long as Reina made up her mind, the stuffiness was over as of today.
It makes no difference to Leo whether he uses Gerdinger's Aura method or not.
To him, learning any Aura method will solve his current predicament.
'Mother seems to be thinking about next year.'
Leo grinned.
'But I'm thinking of entering the academy this year?'