A frontier kingdom.
Delan, the capital of Delard.
"Everyone! We are living in the age of heroes!"
'That story again?'
Leo, who had turned fifteen this year, let out a deep sigh of boredom.
"Five thousand years have passed since the Hero Record appeared in the world!
In that time, the mortal realm has undergone many transformations.
And at the heart of it all have always been those known as heroes!"
Jaden, the Heroics teacher at Delan Royal School, raised his voice.
"Which student can tell me the definition of a hero?"
Students raised their hands.
Professor Jaden pointed to a student.
"Student Gulliver. Please answer."
"A hero is someone who has left their name in the Hero Record.
Only those who have accomplished deeds acknowledged by the gods are permitted to leave a record."
"Correct! Excellent, Student Gulliver."
Gulliver sat down, his face triumphant.
"Next… Student Leo?"
Leo stood up, though he hadn't raised his hand.
"You remember last night's assignment, don't you?
What kind of ceremony did one have to undergo to be called a hero 5000 years ago?"
"Basically, if you got famous enough, people just started propping you up on their own."
"You've done your assignment so carelessly again!"
Professor Jaden scowled.
"Our Delan Royal School is the most prestigious in the country!
Have I not repeatedly told you to maintain the decorum befitting such an institution?
Moreover, our school has been selected as one of the testing sites for the Lumerne entrance exam this year!"
Professor Jaden glared.
"Countless talented individuals will be visiting our school!
At a time like this, you should be setting an example as a student of Delan, yet you show such an attitude!"
With a displeased expression, he turned to Gulliver once more.
"Student Gulliver, would you like to answer this question?"
"In ancient times, there was no way to receive the gods' acknowledgment!
So, heroes were chosen through sacred rituals!
A prime example is the Ritual of Blood!"
"Yes, that's exactly right!"
Leo wore an indifferent expression.
'How could there be no way to get their acknowledgment when it was so easy to meet the gods back then?'
Five thousand years ago was an era when gods freely descended to the mortal realm.
'And a sacred ritual? Was there really such a thing?'
Leo clicked his tongue and looked at his textbook.
'The Hero Record.'
The record's origin was the great cataclysm that occurred 5000 years ago.
Erebos, the primordial evil that drove the world to the brink of destruction.
The five heroes who stood against Erebos.
[Progenitor of the Nebula] Elf Luna.
[God's Blacksmith] Dwarf Dweno.
[Brave Hero] Ar-on.
[King of Wisdom] Lisinas.
And finally, [Hero of the Beginning] Kyle.
A miracle gifted to the mortal realm by the gods to praise them for eternity.
'So why am I the only one treated like I never existed?'
The records of his friends still remained, serving as proof that they had existed and saved the world.
But Kyle's record was nowhere to be found!
How could something be so unfair?
Just as Leo was lamenting his fate—
Ding— Dong—
The bell signaling the end of class rang.
Professor Jaden closed his textbook and spoke.
"In one week, preparations for the Lumerne entrance exam will be complete.
When that time comes, talented individuals from all over the world will visit our school."
He said, surveying the faces of his students.
"Interact with them and strive for greater heights. That is all."
***
As soon as class ended, Leo headed straight home.
The Flove family.
A marquis house with a rather long and storied history in the Kingdom of Delard.
"Young Master, the Mistress is waiting for you in the training yard."
"Ugh. Again?"
Leo grimaced.
"I'm not going."
"The Mistress said that if you skip your swordsmanship lesson one more time, she will cut off your allowance..."
"Hah! Seriously."
At the head steward's words, Leo let out a deep sigh.
He changed out of his school uniform and headed to the training yard.
Normally, this would be the time when knights were drenched in sweat, deep in their training.
But the one on the training yard was a beautiful woman.
Reina Flove.
The mistress of the house.
"Mother, I'm home from school."
"Welcome back, my son. But son, why are you always so formal, calling this mother of yours 'Mother, Mother' all the time?"
Reina narrowed her red eyes, the same shade as her son's.
"I hear children from other families call their mothers 'Mom' just fine.
This mother of yours... well, I feel a distance between us, and it makes me sad."
Leo, who had stepped onto the training yard with a wooden sword, spoke.
"I'm trying to keep some distance on purpose."
"Oh my? Why? Are you going through puberty?"
Reina's face filled with sorrow.
Fwoosh—!
At the same time, her body shot toward her son with incredible speed.
Clack—!
"This is why."
What kind of mother swings a wooden sword at her son without a second thought!
What son wouldn't want to keep his distance?
Hearing her son's words, Reina grinned.
"To think you don't understand your mother's heart... I guess I'll have to be a little tougher today."
Reina's wooden sword moved with swift variation.
Leo responded to Reina's ever-changing swordsmanship.
The knights let out cries of admiration.
"As expected of the Mistress! Her skill is befitting someone from the great hero family, the Jerdingers!"
"But the Young Master is incredible too!"
Normally, the swordsmanship lessons of a noble child are handled by the family's knights.
In the Flove family, however, the mistress Reina handled it personally.
No one had any complaints about it.
A great nation bordering the Kingdom of Delard.
In the Rodren Empire, there is a great hero family, the Jerdingers.
Reina was none other than a member of that Jerdinger family.
Clack—! Clack-clack-clack—! Thwack—!
Watching her son parry her attacks, Reina's eyes shone.
'Leo truly is a genius.'
Though she was retired, Reina had once been a formidable knight.
Even though she wasn't using Aura and wore bracelets enchanted with weight magic on her arms and legs.
Still, it was a spar that should not have been on equal footing.
The difference in their skill was that great.
Yet, Leo was keeping up with Reina's swordsmanship.
'He learns my techniques so quickly with every spar.'
Watching her son grow day by day, she couldn't help but feel proud as a parent.
The exchange continued like this for ten minutes.
Reina became engrossed in the spar.
Seeing Leo read and counter her sword path without her even realizing it, she instinctively twisted her wrist.
'Ah!'
Reina was flustered.
She had used a feint without thinking!
It was a technique far too difficult for her son to counter.
Reina hurriedly tried to pull back her sword.
'Too late...'
Clack—!
"!"
Reina's eyes flew open.
Having knocked aside the sword aimed at her neck, Leo quickly closed the distance and entered her guard.
The tip of his wooden sword was pointed at Reina's throat.
Reina wore a bewildered expression.
Leo retracted his sword and sighed.
"Aren't you being a little too harsh on your son?"
"For someone who says that, your counter was excellent."
She spoke with a smile, but Reina felt goosebumps rise all over her body.
'This child... he's surpassed the realm of what I can handle.'
The feint just now was a technique so deadly that even a seasoned knight would have struggled to survive if it had been a real sword.
It wasn't something that could be countered with mere talent.
And yet, Leo had handled it perfectly.
Of course, she had started to pull back her sword midway.
But still, what was amazing was amazing.
'Ugh, should I have just let him hit me?'
Leo sighed, looking at his mother whose eyes were now sparkling.
Leo was no ordinary fifteen-year-old.
He was the reincarnation of the Great Hero who had saved the world in a past life.
Countering a feint was not that difficult for him.
Seeing Leo scratch his head, Reina asked.
"Leo. Have you changed your mind about going to Lumerne?"
"I haven't."
Lumerne Academy.
One of only four hero training academies in the world.
And it was the place where the 'Hero Record' was kept.
'I need to find out what happened after I died.'
After subjugating Erebos, Kyle had died, his strength exhausted.
But Erebos was an immortal being.
The subjugation was a success, but he had failed to completely destroy him.
Furthermore, Erebos's army, Tartaros, was still intact.
Five thousand years had passed since then.
An eternity had passed, and the stories from that time remained only as legends.
What happened after Kyle's death was not properly recorded.
He thought that if he could access the Hero Record, he might be able to learn about the events that followed.
That was why Leo intended to enroll in Lumerne Academy, the world's most prestigious institution.
"I see."
Reina smiled.
"Alright, I understand. Your mom will pull some strings. So just leave it to me."
"For what?"
"Tomorrow, members of the Jerdinger family will be visiting Delan. They've decided to stay at our estate."
"From my mother's side of the family?"
The great hero family, the Jerdingers, was Leo's maternal family.
But they had never been in contact.
This was because Reina had cut ties with her family when she married.
'She said they didn't part on bad terms, and it seems that was true.'
Normally, one would be excited to hear that their maternal family was a great hero family.
But Leo didn't care which hero family it was.
'There's no one in this world greater than me.'
"That's right. Your uncle, Jis Jerdinger, is said to be leading them. I plan to ask him for a favor."
Reina said seriously.
"I'll ask him to let you inherit the Jerdinger Aura Method.
If you do, you'll grow strong enough to enter Lumerne by next year."
Reina had taught Leo swordsmanship, but not an Aura method.
This was because the Aura method Reina had learned could not be taught to anyone without her family's permission.
To be able to learn the Aura method of a great hero family!
It was something anyone who aspired to be a knight dreamed of!
But Leo was indifferent.
'So I can finally learn an Aura method.'
Hoping her son would learn a high-level Aura method, Reina had delayed teaching him one.
Of course, Leo could have learned an Aura method long ago.
But he had decided to follow his mother's lessons for the time being.
It was frustrating, but he also enjoyed training together like this.
Still, now that Reina had made up her mind, his frustration would end today.
Leo didn't particularly care if it was the Jerdinger method or not.
As long as he could learn an Aura method, everything would be solved.
'Looks like Mother is thinking about next year.'
Leo grinned.
'But I plan on getting in this year.'