The Retired Hero is an Extra

'A true warrior is the one who never steps back, even in the face of a battle they can't win.'

As the words she read long ago echoed in her mind, Jyra felt reluctant to continue talking with the instructor any longer.

Waving her hands in a parting motion, she headed toward the Elemental Manifestations.

However, the closer she got, the louder and stronger was the sound of the sword wind.

—Fwoosh! FWOOSH! FWOOSH~

If it was during the normal daytime, Jyra would have simply stepped back and ignored the sound since many noises would occupy the training grounds.

But that was not the case right now.

The only sound she was hearing was the sound of sword wind that was coming from the empty area of the training ground instead of the Training Dummies.

Usually, one would use the different training dummies and set different levels to train and improve themselves.

Yet she could distinctly make out that such was not the case this time.

And this made her curious.

Adding the fact that the one lingering around was just a freshman, she couldn't help but get more and more curious.

"Just who's this freshman," she wondered aloud, her eyes shining with mischief.

She planned to scare the freshmen or prank him to get some funny reaction as soon as she caught sight of him, or that was the plan.

Until her stomach grumbled and growled as if wanting to be filled with her dear snacks, and she really couldn't keep it in for long.

The sound of chips, wontons, cheese balls, etc., crunching in her mouth mixed with the sound of the wind clashing all the while she slowly made her way to the area.

There, amidst the flurry of movements and the sound of metal cutting air, she saw him—the freshman who had caught her attention during the Entrance Test.

His name was Helios.

She recalled his origins from the church and his sad past which was enough to shroud anyone in a casual, gloomy aura around them.

Yet he maintained a bright, cheerful demeanor, making her heart ache at the thought of his hurt.

To be honest, he was a freshman, which intrigued her since it was the first time she felt as if she were looking into a misty mirror and could see her reflection.

Truly, it was not a bad feeling. She was a girl with a good nature, so she was always welcomed by other students.

In any case, before her, Helios was swinging his sword with full determination trying to master his Aura and mana and increase his sword mastery.

But she was a Mage, so she didn't really know how good he was putting up with it.

All she knew was he was better than even some second-year juniors of hers...

Looking at his swift and precise movements, she wanted to help him, but didn't know how and could only reluctantly look at it from afar.

Despite the intense challenge posed by his circumstances, he didn't seem deterred. Every dodge, every strike, reflected his earnest effort to become the best and protect others.

At least, that was how she saw it, dazzling her eyes all at once.

Nearby, Jash passed by, and ended up witnessing this crazy scene unfold, instantly stunned by the insane luck of the protagonist.

'Tsk, tsk, just been two days and he's already enchanting beauties?'

Jash cursed inwardly, scoffing at the sloppy writing of the author and how the event actually took place right in front of his eyes.

Rather than feeling he had eaten dog food(fed PDA), Jash only felt disgusted and wanted to really cleanse his eyes of this sight.

He couldn't care less about their development despite knowing Jyra could be of better help to him for learning elements than she could be to Helios.

And she was the reason Helios could wield almost all the Yang elements with such proficiency.

"Alas, she sacrificed herself..." Jash muttered, choking on his voice before he ended up sighing, "What a pity, every heroine has a similar ending, no?"

A mocking smile graced his lips as couldn't care less about the ends of those that chose to be with him, or were forced by the hands of fate.

What could he do?

He wasn't some good samaritan or some saint who would go out of his way to help others, and especially one of the heroines.

According to his past experience, even if a man sacrificed themself to save the Heroine, she would idiotically go and die to save the Hero who didn't need no saving...

"Tsk," Jash clicked his tongue outward, recalling one such novel and increased his pace to not get any complicated feelings later.

'Just saving my family is enough,' he mused, determined to not care about anyone of not much importance to him.

Surprisingly, he didn't consider the world to be a novel, and did notice the difference in the scene between Jyra and Helios.

But Jash was sure that the general direction of things would remain the same, that is, Jyra would still fall for Helios.

In his opinion, it was better to focus himself and visit the Elemental Manifestations to get his elemental awakening.

'I don't really need any tutoring to re-learn my elements,' he pursed his lips at the thought, shrugging his shoulders helplessly.

Even if the world was different alongside the mana circulation methods, Jash was sure that at least the elements would remain the same.

He had created the five nodes with hopes of the elements only, just that he couldn't ignite one without the other or his body might as well implode.

Shivering from such a danger associated with his mana circulation technique, he still didn't give up and moved ahead without as much as a glance behind.

There was a reason why Helios had actually come today, though Jash didn't know of it.

Helios actually wanted to get help and also help Jyra get stronger so that she could teach him farther ahead in his bath to strength.

After all, her elemental talent was unmatched and only she could breach past the point where he reached his limits.

Due to this, he didn't even notice Jash giving him a look of disdain and Helios was truly delved into swinging his sword, so he really missed Jyra's reluctant look as well.

...And she actually left!!

Something completely unexpected by the two of them happened as they were too immersed in their own thoughts.

In the first place, Helios had been taking on the hardest level of Elemental Manifestations when Jyra saw him and couldn't help but admire him, evoking a sense of love and willingness to help.

But now? She couldn't help him with the sword, could she?

So, she really left for the Elemental Manifestations where Jash stood at the entrance with solemn expressions before entering directly.

Jyra just so happened to see this scene and found the boy familiar, but couldn't remember where she had seen him.

In her curiosity, she went to see what he was doing, until her eyes almost bulged from her sockets and she yelled, "NO WAY!!"

She gasped, unable to believe someone could be so crazy and really dared to take on the mode that even

she

dared not try in the Elemental Manifestations.

"Is he planning to injure himself to escape the assessment test?" Jyra murmured in a tone of disbelief, her expression of the unseen boy dropping to the ground.

And it only highlighted Helios's brilliance... but who knew what made her stand guard, wanting to know who was inside to the point she even convinced herself it was only concern for her junior and nothing more.