The Max Level Hero Has Returned!-Chapter 1177

The Max Level Hero Has Returned!-Chapter 1177

Chapter 1177
Josiah Frances was a bold girl Davey previously met at the Shakuntala Magic Academy. She had been unbelievably cold and blunt when they first met.
At least, she hadn’t been the kind of person who would suddenly barge in, sink her fangs into his arm, and suck his blood with glee.
“Guess you’ve gotten over your biological disgust towards blood?”
“What’s wrong with blood? It’s delicious.”
‘So the environment really does change a person.’
These days, when she barged into his office with that look in her eyes, Davey would simply hold out his arm without a care. After all, he was the one who had chosen to make her dependent on his blood.
His blood provided her with two opposing effects, in a way. As a lord-class vampire, drinking his blood allowed her to gradually suppress and control her destructive urges.
Sure, she could hold back if she really tried, but for Josiah who had lived her whole life as a human and had never come to grips with her own power, controlling those urges had to be nearly impossible. His blood helped her suppress that power and remain apparently human.
However, it was a double-edged sword. The stronger Davey became, the more powerful she became as well.
If, by some chance, she ever turned against him, the damage would be far from small. Even so, Davey continued to feed her nonetheless. Maybe it was because he wanted to trust her as his formal student. Even he wasn’t sure of the precise reason.
She still showed up from time to time when things in her life spiraled out of control, simply sucking his blood before leaving again.
“
Sss. Haaa.
That was good,” she muttered with a faint smile and licked the red droplets from her lips with the back of her hand. “You know, you really can’t complain after what you did this time.”
“What now?”
“This.” Josiah pulled a folded document from the small bag hanging at her waist. “You really sent this as an exam to Shakuntala?”
“
Oh,
right... I did.”
It was a test he had come up with after brainstorming with Perserque.
“Seriously, Professor. Do you really think kids can solve this? They're not even high schoolers, we’re talking about middle school level here!”
Davey looked at the paper and nodded sincerely. “Yup. You really think I’d write and submit a problem that hard without knowing how to balance the difficulty?”
His confident response left Josiah taken aback.
“So you’re saying this is solvable? Professor, I know you’re a great mage—even the strict faculty at Shakuntala admits that. Even so... this is impossible for middle schoolers. You do know the average circle level for them is under three, right?”
The high schoolers weren’t much better, honestly. Most of them didn’t gain more circles during their last four years of school; they just had stronger theoretical knowledge.
A mage who reached the 5th Circle in their mid to late twenties was already considered a once-in-a-generation genius on Tionis.
Josiah, a 4th Circle mage herself, despite having the reputation of being an eccentric, was still known as one of the greatest prodigies in Shakuntala’s history. Davey's younger sister, Winley, was also making a name for herself as a 4th Circle mage in the Mage Tower.
In fact, a 6th Circle mage was someone who could survive a battle against even a Swordmaster. That level was practically a dream for most mages, often considered their final destination.
In regards to 7th Circle mages, there was only one on the continent, namely the Great Sage Helison Valestia. That exceptional level of power was how he’d earned his title.
“Do you even remember problems number four and five? You’d need a 6th Circle mage to even try solving them!” Josiah smacked the paper with her fingers as she scolded him.
“Do you know what kind of trouble this caused? They asked for a middle school test, and you sent them some riddle they’ll never be able to solve. Of course they’re furious!”
Davey sighed as he looked over the test again. “Man, I seriously don’t get it. Per, do you get it?”
“Asking me that already tells me you know the answer.”
“Which is exactly why I’m asking.”
“This isn't the students’ fault. This is clearly the professor’s.”
Perserque gave him a look of disbelief. Davey waved Josiah over with a flick of his fingers.
When she walked closer, he flicked her forehead and asked, “Explain the Mana Purification Equation.”
“The Mana Purification Equation? Based on the Mette formula, assuming x is symmetrical to y, then...”
Josiah, living up to the reputation of being her class genius, quickly unraveled the complex equation.
“Right. Mette’s Mana Purification Equation. You all know that formula.” Davey spun his fountain pen and pointed at problem four. “This one’s solved using that equation. The trick is figuring out what variable to plug in.”
She was left speechless.
“Or, if that’s too hard, you can plug in all thirty variables one by one.”
She just stared at him, completely unconvinced.
“You really think that makes sense? This isn’t a Mana Purification Equation problem... It's clearly meant for the Mana Fusion Function...” she trailed off.
Then, seeming to have suddenly realized something, she froze and her expression shifted.
“Wait... Professor, you’re not making any sense. What do you mean by using the purification equation here?”
Davey went blank and sighed while Perserque shook her head.
“Josiah, it seems like you’ve forgotten the fundamental principle behind the Mana Purification Equation.”
The formula created by the human named Mette was nothing compared to what the God of Mages Odin had devised. Her formula was simpler, more advanced, and far more refined.
There was a reason they called Atrellia the Continent of Magic.
“Josiah, just think back to what I taught you at Shakuntala.”
She pondered deeply about the foundation of the equation itself and the method it used to decode mana.
Then, with a dazed look, she scribbled out a new formula on the paper, drawing mana in the air with her left hand while her right jotted out the math.
“
Ummmm.
Professor. Is the answer... this?”
“That's right! The Mana Purification Equation is an incredible formula, but it’s also what traps humans in fixed thinking. Anyone who truly understands its original purpose would never make that kind of mistake. That even an entire school would make that mistake simply reflects where modern magic is at currently.”
Davey felt a heavy sorrow settle in his chest.
“
Haah.
After all the time I spent teaching the professors at Heins Academy, how could they make the same mistake as the ones at Shakuntala? Don’t tell me... the students at Heins can’t solve it either?”
Her face turned pale.
Under normal circumstances, nothing could or would ever rattle her. Yet in that moment, her brilliant mind had already projected what was to come.
“So, who exactly asked you to solve this problem?” he asked with a pleasant smile.
Josiah swallowed hard. “I-I just... I tried to solve it on my own...”
“Bring everyone above you and below me here.”
* * *
If one asked the professors at Heins Academy what they feared most, their answers would all be the same.
A pay cut? Well, sure.
Getting fired from the faculty? That too.
However, the real answer was something else.
“As the headmaster... I’m disappointed in every single one of you.”
They were being faced with what they feared the most.
Professor Olman, the Swordmaster from the Pallan Empire, grinned wickedly from the distance as he chewed on a potato. “
Ehehe. Ehehehehe.
They’re all dead.”
The newly appointed professors looked around in confusion, but those who had already tasted hell once before stiffened immediately.
Flutter!!
Davey finally held out a small piece of paper for them to see.
“Do you know what this is? I never imagined the great professors of Heins Academy would make such a mistake.”
Hell had only just begun.
* * *
No one knew exactly what the professors suffered after being dragged into hell.
Josiah felt a hint of fear, knowing that her own complaint she made while sucking his blood had led the entire magic faculty into that nightmare.
She couldn’t even guess how they might retaliate once they got back.
“
Ugh.
I’m gonna lose my mind. Seriously...”
“Assistant Josiah? What’s wrong?” One of the younger students, noticing her frustrated sigh as she stood at the lectern, tilted their head curiously.
“It’s nothing. Anyway, today we’re going to go over this problem. It came up on the Shakuntala final exam, and the person who wrote it is our Headmaster.”
She turned to the blackboard and began writing out complex geometric diagrams and formulas.
“Some of you might be thinking what the point of learning all of this is when mages just need to be good at practical magic,” she muttered. “Honestly, it doesn’t matter what kind of test they give at Shakuntala; Heins Academy is Heins Academy. Comparing it to other academies is meaningless. Still, this problem was made by the Headmaster, and that’s the real issue.”
Letting out a sigh, she turned to the class. “Starting today, we’re going to break down the fixed ideas you’ve been taught and learn how to think outside the box.”
She quickly wrote out Mette’s Mana Purification Equation across the board.
“You’ll see it’s not that hard once you understand it. Let’s begin.”
“
Um
, Assistant Josiah... where’s the professor?”
She flinched and continued writing away.
Everyone else had avoided saying anything, but one brave student had finally spoken up.
“I’ll be taking over classes for a while. I may just be an assistant, but I am a 5th Circle mage. Don’t worry,” she muttered tiredly.
“
Uhhh.
That’s not what I meant.”
Everyone knew Josiah was an exceptional teaching assistant. She had often handled entire lectures in the professors’ place before. However, it was the first time every single magic professor had vanished all at once.
“Listen. Heins Academy has its own legends, just like the story about your seniors exploring a dungeon.”
She was referring to the times their seniors had seen snow-white rabbits carrying a minotaur’s severed head.
The rabbits they saw weren’t ordinary at all. They had been absolutely ripped, bursting with muscle. There hadn’t been just one, either; several of them had stared out from the dark with glowing red eyes.
There were other stories too, like ghost encounters and occasional rumors of strange phenomena. Heins Academy had a lot of rumors swirling around its campus.
Of course, that also meant it had its fair share of unique things.
In fact, a persistent rumor among students claimed that Assistant Josiah would, on occasion, ride a mana-powered carriage silently across the Academy grounds at dawn like some ghostly courier.
“There’s also a saying among the faculty, too. No matter what happens, never make the Headmaster personally intervene.” At that, several students gulped audibly. “The lord of this territory isn’t much older than you all.”
“We know. It’s Prince Davey, the Saint of the Continent.”
“He’s a Grand Duke now. Though, I guess you can call him whatever you want. It doesn’t really change anything. Anyway, the gates of hell have reopened, so don’t expect to see your professors for at least a week.”
Their resulting PTSD would likely last long beyond that week.
“Let’s begin class.
Oh,
right... students Pault and Musia, please come to the professor’s office after class,” she said with a sweet smile.
Pault and Musia froze, their faces souring.
“
Uhhhh.
Assistant Josiah, I don’t really plan to go to graduate school or anything...”
“It’s not that. I just have something I want to talk to you about. You’ll come, right?”
She was a vampire by birth, and not just any vampire, but a Lord.
Vampires shared traits with succubi, and her smile alone was enough to make most male students blush.
As she maintained her alluring, seductive smile, the students quietly gulped.
* * *
“This is all... because of those idiots at Shakuntala,” one of the professors muttered.
Another, who was slumped in the corner, snapped open his eyes and glared. “Don’t spew nonsense!”
“Ahem.
Professor Vent, you’re from Shakuntala, aren’t you? That was a poor choice of words on my part.”
However, Vent exploded at the comment. “Don’t lump me in with them! ‘Idiots?’ That’s an insult to those dumbasses! You should apologize to them instead!!!”
Even the professor who had worked at Shakuntala the longest was making such a comment. No one commented on how absurd his words were, because they all knew that the whole mess started because those fools at Shakuntala had dared to file a complaint.
“They’re the ones at fault.”
“If they had done their job properly, we wouldn’t be in this situation.”
The Magic Department professors had reached a consensus.
Even the most uptight professors were grinding their teeth in rage. That said everything.
“All that’s left now...”
“Is revenge... Bloody revenge. Against that damned Shakuntala!”
The professors began to unite.
Their eyes gleamed dangerously.
“
Kuhuhuhu...
”
Ominous laughter echoed through the room.
Davey may have been the true cause behind it all, but the fury was pointed toward Shakuntala.

Chapter 1177