I Became the 101st Hero – Chapter 95

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Wjin
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‘What is the true nature of the third trial?’

The Hero Academy trials, whose true nature was never revealed even in Hundred Braves, had suddenly been assigned to me.

For several days after that incident, I racked my brain trying to figure it out.

‘There are two clues.’

First, that I had already achieved some results. That meant there would be a clue among my recent achievements. My recent achievements…

‘Could it be my proficiency in archery?’

But that didn’t match the second clue.

The second clue was that the trial was linked to the Hero Academy curriculum. If that was the case, it wouldn’t be a trial limited to the narrow concept of ‘archery.’

‘Then…’

Based on my experiences so far, it might be a rather vague concept. The gods I had met so far had abstract concepts like regret and reality.

That meant the achievement might not be something specific like archery, but something I had overlooked as a matter of course.

‘Maybe I’ll find out as I continue with school life.’

For now, there was something more pressing I had to focus on.

The preparations for the final mock battle against Team 1-A. It was not something to be taken lightly.

I didn’t neglect those preparations even as I pondered the true nature of the trial for several days.

I continued to hone my archery and also checked on the progress of other team members.

Fortunately, everyone seemed to be diligently preparing for the next mock battle.

‘Because they’ve recently gained confidence.’

When we first met, they had no confidence whatsoever, but not anymore.

Through tactics where each member performed their role in the right place, we made the impossible possible.

Of course, it didn’t guarantee that we could beat the currently undefeated Team 1-A, but it was a big improvement that we could at least see a possibility.

I was making my rounds, checking on the team members one last time.

First, there was the ‘tank’ combination consisting of Yuseora, Elsie, and Lian. It was also the combination I was most worried about when I first formed the team.

‘Of course, it seems to be better now.’

For some reason, the two, who had often clashed recently, were now getting along much better.

It started when Elsie, who tended to be the first to attack, changed her attitude.

The recent Elsie… for some reason, had become more relaxed. She even smiled and brushed it off when Yuseora provoked her.

Yuseora had been puzzled by Elsie’s changed attitude, but she now seemed satisfied.

‘This should be alright.’

As I watched the two with satisfaction, Lian, the support mage, suddenly approached me.

For some reason, his complexion had noticeably worsened over the past few weeks.

‘Is something wrong?’

There hadn’t been any particular problems with him, so I wasn’t particularly worried.

But seeing his complexion made me a little concerned.

“Is something the matter?”

“Can’t you do something about those two?”

He turned his head and quietly looked in Elsie and Yuseora’s direction. The two were still engrossed in their sparring.

Even though it was training with wooden swords, it was good to see them both giving it their all.

“They seem much calmer compared to before. What’s wrong?”

Perhaps he knew something I didn’t.

“Do they seem calm to you?”

“Huh?”

I checked on Elsie and Yuseora again. They were sparring intensely, but I couldn’t sense any emotional conflict.

“They seem calm.”

“Yes, they may seem calm. But to me, that calmness looks like the calm before the storm…!”

The calm before the storm? I couldn’t see it.

Perhaps, as a mage, he sensed it through mana or something. Then I could understand to some extent.

My mana stat was abysmal.

“So please get me out of here…”

“Then, please let me know immediately if you see anything strange between them.”

“You’re doing this on purpose!”

His pale face had turned quite red. This should be enough.

I left him, whose condition seemed to have improved, and moved on.

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The offensive mage, Bell, seemed to be focused on reducing the casting time of her Fireball spell.

However, as someone with no knowledge of magic, I had no way of knowing how things were progressing. In the end, I just checked her face and moved on.

“Hello.”

“Oh, isn’t this our team leader?”

Well, the teacher should be the leader.

I looked at Freya, who was sitting on a chair.

Although she had many qualities that made her unsuitable as a teacher, it wasn’t that she had no redeeming qualities.

‘She has the skills to have raised the 2nd ranked hero, after all.’

Although she didn’t possess high-level swordsmanship like Libero, she excelled at ‘teaching’ swordsmanship tailored to each individual.

Though the process was rather harsh.

“S-Save… me…”

“Stop…”

“Someone stop this crazy professor.”

The Three Stooges were sprawled on the floor in front of her. It seemed that the training was going well.

“It looks like things are going well.”

“They have clear limitations, but now I can at least use them somehow.”

I had brought them, who wanted to train but didn’t know how, to Professor Freya.

The main framework of the practice was to refine their basic swordsmanship and coordinate their movements. Freya ordered the three lying on the ground,

“Show me. Let’s see if it’s enough.”

At her words, the Three Stooges jumped up. I wondered how much she had drilled them to have such reaction speed.

Well, they had to be at that level to achieve results in such a short period.

The three, after performing their combined technique as instructed by Freya, asked proudly,

“How was it? We’ve improved a lot, right?”

They had certainly improved, putting in a lot of effort. Though it wouldn’t even be half of the effort I or Elsie had put in.

“Yes, you can do it if you try.”

Since they had grown, I decided to praise them.

“Do you think this is enough?”

That was the important thing. Ultimately, it had to work in the battle against Team 1-A.

And the one to judge that was me, who had somehow become the leader.

“It’s definitely better, but…”

I looked around at them, their eyes sparkling with anticipation. They looked like they were begging me to save them from hell.

But…

“I’m sorry, but I think it’s still a bit lacking.”

“Enough” wouldn’t cut it against 1-A. That’s why not only these three but also other team members were still working hard.

So we couldn’t stop here yet.

“Thank you for your hard work, Professor Freya.”

Then, the gazes of the Three Stooges instantly turned resentful. It couldn’t be helped.

I turned around, satisfied with their gazes.

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“Hmm…”

Sigrit, the instructor of Swordsmanship Class 1, examined the tactical board.

He wasn’t focusing on the team he was instructing, but on Team 4-B.

They were a team that had recently made a comeback and emerged as an unexpectedly strong team, and also the team that his 1-A team would be competing against soon.

“Certainly unique.”

Team 4-B’s combination was something he had never seen before.

Usually, in mock battles, the mage, who lacked mobility but could instantly turn the tide of battle, was treated as the king and protected.

But this team wasn’t like that.

‘Uniquely, Candidate Yuseora from the swordsmanship class is taking on the role of the mage.’

No, rather, she was a superior version of the existing mage.

She had excellent physical stats and good mobility, and there was no casting time, the mage’s inherent weakness.

Moreover, because she was being used like a mage, the team could employ a specialized mage.

‘A Fireball specialist, was it?’

The Magic Tower seemed to consider her a heretic. A mage who could only use Fireball would have difficulty performing their role as a mage.

But she fit perfectly into this team.

‘It seems like these two are essential in Team 4-B’s combination, but…’

He looked at the king on the tactical board. It wasn’t Yuseora or Belle.

It was the last member of Team 4-B’s combination, the irreplaceable one.

‘Seo Yoo-rang.’

There was no candidate who could replace this candidate either.

Of course, just looking at shooting ability, although he was continuously improving, he was far inferior to Candidate Wilhelm.

However, there were two distinguishing features that other archery candidates didn’t have.

‘Defense against long-range attacks, and close-range shooting ability.’

When he was in 2-A, those two abilities hadn’t received any attention. He didn’t have a special role, and when enemies approached, he just had to increase the distance.

But after coming to 4-B, his role changed completely. Even though he was an archer, he didn’t run away.

He used his advantageous range to keep enemies in check from afar, and even took down some who approached through arrows and fireballs using close-range shooting.

He just had to defend against long-range sniping with his ability.

Once Yuseora somehow destroyed the mages, there was no way to counter the combination of such an archer and mage.

‘That would be the case for other teams.’

But his team was different.

Of course, there was no candidate who could withstand Yuseora’s attack.

There was also no candidate who could endure a Fireball with their bare body. But Seo Yoo-rang was a decent match.

‘Irreplaceable means that the whole thing crumbles if even one is missing.’

His team’s target was already decided. He placed his finger on the opponent’s king.

‘It’s over if I just take down the king.’

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Several days passed, and finally, the day of the mock battle arrived. The candidates of Teams 1-A and 4-B gathered at the Trial for the mock battle.

There seemed to be a particularly large number of candidates who came to watch.

‘These are the two teams with the highest win rates recently.’

Team 1-A, in particular, was an undefeated team that had never lost. Perhaps Team 4-B could defeat them. Some candidates might have come with that expectation.

‘Can we win?’

Even I couldn’t be sure. But one thing I could be sure of was that we had prepared our best.

Whatever the result, we would have no regrets.

‘Of course, it would be better if we won.’

If we could win this, it would greatly help Yuseora and Elsie’s rankings within the academy.

“Then let’s go.”

I stepped into the Trial with my team members.

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