Ryan Hawkes was not a hero from the end of the war.
His era was twenty to thirty years before the end of the war.
Back then, the golden generation led by heroes such as the Brave, the Valkyrie, and the Saintess of the Battlefield had not even been born.
Although Magic Guide technology had appeared, it was still in a stumbling period of development, far from surpassing magic.
Ryan Hawkes was an orthodox spearman. As a youth, he had a spear forged from a dragon's spine and won many battles.
His most famous battle was the "Violet Defense" in Tomorrow Canyon.
Hawkes, then in the prime of his life, stood guard in Tomorrow Canyon to protect the Violet Princess of the Greenplains Dwarf tribe. With his dragon spine spear, he was invincible, blocking an army of three thousand demons outside the canyon, preventing them from advancing even half a step!
According to eyewitnesses, night had fallen, vast and dark. The roar of a dragon soul was like thunder, and a golden dragon soared straight up from the canyon, illuminating half the sky.
It was also after that battle that the Greenplains Dwarf tribe changed their previously poor impression of humans and agreed to sign the Hundred Races Treaty, laying an indispensable foundation for the Hundred Races Alliance!
…
"Back in my day, I was also a famous handsome man in the army."
As Professor Hawkes got carried away with his story, he couldn't help but stomp his prosthetic leg.
"That Violet Princess fell for me after that battle, but what kind of man am I, Hawkes? Of course I couldn't marry into a dwarf clan and become some damn dwarf son-in-law!"
"When I was your age, I had already been conscripted, served on the front lines, and carried corpses. Later, I dominated the battlefield, a single rider worth a thousand men. What a thrill!"
"In those days, I was young and full of vigor, brimming with confidence. I looked down on everyone, thinking only of piercing the heavens with my dragon spine spear!"
As Hawkes spoke, his tone grew impassioned.
It was as if he had returned to that era, with his battle-hardened comrades by his side and the vast demon army before him. The entire sky was obscured by yellow sand, and only by wielding his long spear could he find a sliver of clarity.
Suddenly, a student raised their hand and asked, "Professor Hawkes, does the princess of the Greenplains Dwarves have green skin too?"
Hawkes was taken aback for a moment, then burst into laughter. "Of course. The princess of the Greenplains Dwarves is, of course, a Greenplains Dwarf."
The Greenplains Dwarves lived on the Green Plains, and their diet and environment gave them green skin. The entire clan considered green beautiful, so the Greenplains Princess was naturally the greenest of the green!
If she hadn't been so very green, he, Hawkes, wouldn't have rejected the Violet Princess's invitation so decisively.
…
Some low laughter echoed in the classroom.
Professor Hawkes paid it no mind.
He had already fallen so low that he was used to cold stares and ridicule. He certainly wouldn't be upset by a little harmless laughter.
Aside from occasionally boasting a little, Professor Hawkes's lectures were rather practical.
He didn't just read from the textbook like Professor Didi, nor did he focus on heroic chronicles like Principal Cynthia. He also lacked the comprehensive knowledge of past and present that Professor Claire possessed.
His only true expertise was his detailed knowledge of the wars of the previous era. It was less like he was teaching Magical History and more like he was teaching modern military history.
He could recall any battle, major or minor, with ease and was skilled at analyzing the significance beyond victory or defeat.
But his words were always tinged with a nostalgia for the war era and a fondness for life on the battlefield.
The phrase "peace makes people decadent" was written between every line.
…
Regardless, the students were very interested in the secret war stories he would tell from time to time.
Professor Hawkes always tried to respond to students' questions with humor.
The overall atmosphere of this first Magical History class was quite good.
After class, Professor Hawkes left the classroom, limping on his cane.
It wasn't until they saw his retreating back, devoid of its former heroic air, that someone suddenly remembered Ryan Hawkes had ultimately left the battlefield as a loser.
"Which battle did Professor Hawkes lose?"
Diana leaned over and asked in a low voice.
But Dark wasn't an omniscient god; how could he possibly know the answer off the top of his head.
However, since Diana was showing a rare bit of curiosity, Dark took the opportunity to say, "If you're interested, you can look it up in the library."
Diana: "Oh."
…
The library seemed to be missing something after the holidays. Students felt a little off whenever they entered.
After a while, someone remembered that a certain scenic view was missing from behind the counter.
Senior Pandora hadn't made it back for the first day of school.
Dark asked the librarian, Ms. Bella.
But Ms. Bella just shook her head, saying only that Pandora had taken a leave of absence and would be back by this weekend at the latest.
Since there was a set schedule, Dark was no longer worried.
His life returned to its normal rhythm, though he now spent much less time in the library.
After all, he had hungry little Magic Guide Spirits waiting for him in his dorm.
In contrast, Virt and Robert dove into the library as soon as class was over.
They weren't the only ones.
The Dueling Club's scheduled recruitment was set to begin this Friday afternoon, and many students who were hopeful but hadn't yet met the requirements had begun to cram.
Virt and Robert were among them.
However, while Virt still had hope, Robert was quite a bit behind.
Fortunately, the Dueling Club's recruitment for this semester would last for three weeks.
Among all the school clubs and organizations, the Dueling Club was the only one that recruited first-year students.
For all other clubs, you had to be at least a second-year to join!
…
After returning to his dorm, Dark spent an hour teaching his Magic Guide Spirits. Then, after much deliberation, he abandoned the idea of making a [Greed I] card.
It seemed that a [Greed I] card, which only required 1 point of [Greed], would have no use beyond research. It would need to be at least [Greed II] to be integrated into his system.
So he decided to wait a little longer, until after he extracted tonight's 1.5 points of [Greed], and then create [Greed II] directly.
Additionally, he had already drafted this month's extraction quota.
A total of 15 points of [Deadly Sin] could be extracted, distributed as follows:
[Greed]: 3
[Pride]: 9
[Lust]: 3
Adding the 1 point of [Pride] left over from last month, he would have just enough to create one [Greed II], one [Pride III], and one [Lust II].
The [Greed II] card was for research purposes.
Creating [Pride III] was an absolute necessity.
The creation of [Lust II] was still pending; its main purpose was to lower his [Lust] index, so the points could be stored for now.
…
As for his current project, he would continue to focus on [Fusion] refinement, interspersed with studies related to [Zoo] refinement.
In any case, he managed to create the [Greed II] card before going to bed that night.
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