Under everyone’s disbelieving gaze, Leon walked forward.
Although all of his injuries and exhaustion had vanished, his college uniform, which he had bought only yesterday was in tatters. Green and red blood stained his entire body.
At first glance, he looked more like a monster than a human. Yet he wasn’t unrecognizable.
Everyone imdiately recognized the young man who had saved their lives.
The A-Class hunter carrying the battle hamr froze. ’This kid actually ca back alive?’
His eyes narrowed. ’But how? No one can leave a trap gate before the boss is defeated.’
A thought suddenly crossed his mind. ’Unless the monsters are about to pour out!’
"Everyone, be ready!" he shouted.
The surrounding hunters imdiately tensed.
But just then...
The gate rippled once. Then again. The swirling surface rapidly shrank before dissolving into countless particles of light.
And finally...
It vanished completely.
Silence.
The A-Class hunter stood rooted to the spot.
Jessica’s mind went blank. ’He actually cleared it...’
anwhile, Leon looked around at the crowd gathered before him. He was slightly caught off guard. ’Well... I can’t really bla them. The way I charged into the gate alone was a bit much.’ He scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
Jessica quickly walked toward him. "How did you co back alive?"
Leon blinked. "Huh? Am I not allowed to co back?"
Jessica nearly choked. "That’s not what I ant."
She pointed toward where the gate had disappeared. "That was a D-Class trap gate. There should have been hundreds of D-Class monsters inside. Unless you’re an A-Class hunter, defeating all of them alone should be impossible."
"Oh." Leon rubbed his nose. "I guess I just got lucky."
Inside, however, he was already making things up. ’Well, they can’t exactly go inside and verify my story anymore.’
"There weren’t that many monsters. Not even fifty, I think." He said.
"What?" Jessica’s eyes widened. "Less than fifty? That’s impossible. Trap gates are notorious for being deadly. How could there be fewer than fifty monsters?"
She paused.
"And what about the boss?"
Leon thought for a mont. "Well, the boss was definitely stronger than the others."
He shrugged. "But not by much. Maybe a peak D-Class monster?"
Jessica stared at him. Completely stunned.
’Is he serious?’
Nothing he was saying matched what she knew about trap gates. Yet the gate had disappeared.
Which ant it had undeniably been cleared.
Before she could question him further...
Henry suddenly stepped forward.
Smack!
He slapped the back of Leon’s head. "Leon, you stupid son of a b***h!"
Leon rubbed the back of his head. "What was that for?"
"What was that for?" Henry almost exploded. "You scared half to death!" His eyes had turned red. "If you wanted to die, at least warn first!"
Leon laughed awkwardly. "Haha... sorry for making everyone worry."
He spread his hands. "But look. I’m perfectly fine."
The people Leon had saved earlier also began stepping forward one after another.
Many thanked him repeatedly. So even had tears in their eyes.
If Leon hadn’t intervened, they would already be dead.
Several students from the college also gathered around him. Expressions of admiration filled their faces.
Even Cecilia stepped forward. She looked at Leon for several seconds before speaking.
"Congratulations." Her expression was complicated. As if she still couldn’t reconcile the Leon standing before her with the Leon she had known before.
anwhile, Jessica quietly observed everything from the side. The hunters did the sa. Everyone had their own thoughts.
’That kid is definitely hiding sothing.’
One hunter narrowed his eyes.
’Maybe he’s much stronger than he looks.’
Another silently speculated.
’Maybe he was simply unbelievably lucky.’
Different thoughts filled different minds. But one fact remained unchanged. The young man standing before them had entered a trap gate alone... And returned alive.
Once everyone was done thanking and praising Leon, Jessica walked over to him.
"You’ll need to co to the Hunter Association when you’re free and give an official statent."
Leon nodded.
"Sure. But, can I leave now? I think I need a bath as soon as possible."
Jessica glanced at his blood-soaked clothes and only nodded. "Go."
Leon said goodbye to Henry before heading straight ho.
The next day, Leon visited the Hunter Association and gave his statent. Nothing unusual happened. He was only asked a few relevant questions regarding the gate outbreak before being allowed to leave.
Afterward, he headed to college.
The way people looked at him had changed completely. The mockery was gone. The ridicule was gone.
Even the teachers who used to make things difficult for him no longer dared to harass him. Yesterday’s incident was the hot topic for every group’s discussion. Everyone knew what Leon had done and nobody dared anymore to look down on him. Because even among the students who had awakened abilities, they knew they weren’t capable of sothing like that.
With only two weeks remaining before the final exams, Leon focused entirely on studying whenever he was at college.
That night...
Leon sat cross-legged on the floor. The manual of the Sword Art Breathing Technique lay in front of him. He slowly ran his fingers across the pages.
"Without entering dungeons, I can’t devour monster cores to increase my cultivation. And without fighting monsters, I can’t practice magic to improve my spell comprehension. But this is different."
The manual rustled softly.
"The Sword Art Breathing Technique doesn’t require to enter a dungeon."
A faint smile appeared on his face. "Since I have so free ti, I should try comprehending the next move."
Leon flipped to the next page. His eyes imdiately locked onto the detailed diagrams.
’Second Form: Point Barrage’
Unlike the first form, a short description was written for this form.
’Point Barrage... This form focuses on delivering nine consecutive slashes to a single point. If uninterrupted, the damage of each slash doubles compared to the previous one.’
Reading the description, Leon could barely contain his excitent.
"Let’s see how long does it take to comprehend this."
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