It's so hard being a hero!

Chapter 112 Future Teammates

Sophia felt incredibly relieved when she left Tianfeng City.

She flew through the air, under the same sky and on the same road, but the weight on her heart had disappeared.

She suddenly realized that some things really weren't that complicated.

She used to think that if she looked like this, people she knew would find it awkward and hard to accept.

But neither the old emperor nor Xiangyun had it.

They recognized her at a glance. Not because of her face, but because of her soul.

Sophia thought about this and suddenly found it somewhat amusing.

I've been agonizing over this and that for so many years, only to find out in the end that they didn't take it seriously at all.

Ultimately, it's because her thinking in this life is too complicated, or perhaps her previous life on Earth has worn down her personality.

He exuded the air of a middle-aged man.

"Sigh, I've really gotten myself into a mess."

She muttered something to herself, then sped up and flew towards the academy.

Meanwhile, in the Duke's mansion in the capital, Sophia's flying figure was reflected in the magic mirror in front of Frey.

She leaned back in her chair, holding a cup of black tea, looking at the smiling girl in the mirror, her expression a mix of relief and disdain.

She gave a soft hum, put down her teacup, and muttered something under her breath.

"You damn fool, don't make your life so hard, and don't overthink things. If you want to admit it, then admit it. Who's going to eat you up?"

After she finished speaking, she raised her hand and gently waved it, and the image in the mirror scattered into specks of light and disappeared into the air.

After returning to the college, Sophia had a good night's sleep in her dormitory.

There was no Lilith in her dream, nor those suffocating memories, and she slept soundly.

Three days later, the college's notice was posted on the bulletin board.

The second-year group list has been released. All students have been divided into several groups based on their chosen major and their first-year comprehensive assessment. Each group consists of six students and two mentors.

Sophia squeezed into the crowd in front of the bulletin board, her eyes scanning the list line by line, and soon found her name on one of the papers.

Sofia, Pharmacy Department, Second Combat Team. Mentors: Olivia, Merkel.

When Sofia saw Olivia's name, she paused for a moment, then smiled.

She remembered that when they were divided into classes a year ago, Olivia had said that she hoped to be her mentor, and she never expected that it would actually come true.

She glanced down at the names of the other five people in her group.

Most of the names were unfamiliar to her, except for one she recognized: Lilia.

When Sophia saw that name, the corner of her mouth twitched involuntarily.

Is that girl in her group too?

Before she could think any further, a familiar voice came from behind her.

"Sofia, Sophia, have you seen the group assignments?"

Lilia squeezed through the crowd, her cheeks flushed and her eyes sparkling as she looked at her.

"We're in a group, can you see? We're in a group."

As she spoke, she grabbed Sophia's arm, her whole demeanor as excited as if she had won the lottery.

Sofia felt a little dizzy from being shaken and quickly pressed her hand down.

"I see you, I see you, stop shaking."

Lilia then let go, but her face was still beaming with joy.

"I thought you had signed up for the Pharmacy Society and been assigned to another group. I didn't expect we would still be together. That's great."

Seeing how happy she was, Sophia felt good about herself too.

Over the past year, she had grown accustomed to Lilia's constant chatter around her, and if she were to switch to a group of complete strangers, she would feel quite uncomfortable.

"Let's go. The notice says we need to gather at the training ground this morning because our instructor wants to see us."

Lilia grabbed her hand and ran towards the training ground.

Sofia was dragged along by her all the way, and by the time they arrived at the training ground, she was already a little out of breath.

She straightened her wind-blown hair, her gaze sweeping across the field, and soon spotted several figures standing at the edge of the training ground.

One of them she knew was Olivia.

Today she was wearing a light blue teacher's uniform, her hair was tied in a low ponytail, and she looked neat and gentle.

Standing beside her was a young man who looked to be about twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old. He was wearing a light, dark gray armor, with a single-handed sword hanging at his waist. He was tall and had a handsome face.

Not far behind the two, there were four students, three boys and one girl, all around fourteen or fifteen years old, who looked like they had been waiting for a while.

Sofia and Lilia walked quickly over and stopped a few steps away from the group.

Olivia gave them a gentle smile as she saw them approaching.

"Everyone's here? That's good. Let me introduce myself. I'm Olivia, your second-year magic instructor, mainly responsible for your group's magic lessons and team tactics guidance."

After she finished speaking, she stepped aside to let the young man next to her out and introduced him: "This is Merkel, your Qi training instructor, in charge of close combat and physical training."

Merkel nodded to the crowd.

"Hello, my name is Merkel. From now on, I will be in charge of your physical fitness and close combat training. The pace of the second year is much faster than that of the first year, so I hope you are prepared."

His speaking style, like his appearance, is straightforward and concise, without any unnecessary formalities.

Sophia glanced at his chest, where a gold-level badge was pinned.

For someone his age to reach the Gold level is already quite impressive.

Once the two had finished their introductions, Olivia waved to the four students.

"You should all introduce yourselves. From now on, we'll be a team."

The four students stepped forward and spoke in turn.

The first one was a tall, thin, black-haired boy who was very handsome.

"My name is Mu En. I major in wind magic and minor in lightning magic."

The second one was a very tall boy with short brown hair.

"My name is Baron, a heavy armored soldier."

The third was a blond boy with delicate features and a bright white smile.

"My name is Noah, a lightning-attribute swordsman."

The last one was a girl with a ponytail, who looked a year or two older than Sofia.

"My name is Misia. I specialize in water magic and also practice healing magic."

After the introductions, everyone's gaze fell on Sophia.

They had obviously all heard of Sophia and knew she was a renowned all-elemental affinity genius in this year's class, but this was the first time they had actually met.

Sophia felt a little uncomfortable being stared at, but she still smiled.

"My name is Sophia. I major in potion-making, and I also know a little bit of magic and martial arts."

She didn't go into too much detail, but to those who know her, the phrase "learning a little bit of everything" sounds almost the same as "I can do everything."

Lilia then introduced herself.

"My name is Lilia, and I major in wood magic. I used to be in the same class as Sophia."

Olivia clapped her hands after everyone had finished their introductions.

"Alright, now that we know each other, let's get down to business. You've probably all heard about the teaching model for the second year. We'll be training and doing tasks in teams, instead of having individual classes like in the first year. Since the six of you have different majors, you can complement each other perfectly."

She paused, her gaze sweeping across everyone's faces.

"Today is the first day of your recognition, so we won't arrange any training for now. You can get to know each other better. We'll tell you about the cultivation and training arrangements tomorrow."

After she finished speaking, she and Merkel went to the side to talk, leaving the time and space to Sofia and the others.

The group stood there, and for a moment, an awkward silence fell over them.

Lilia sat looking around, seemingly contemplating whether to break the silence.

But in the end, Noah spoke first.

"Ahem, um, Sophia, you have a high level of magical talent, right? I remember you were already at the Bronze level when you entered school, and you could even cast Level 5 magic?"

Sophia smiled and nodded.

"Ah."

Noah's eyes lit up immediately.

"So are you stronger now? Have you reached the Silver level yet? There's combat training in the second year, and our team is counting on you."

Barron immediately chimed in.

"Yes, you'd better look after us a lot."

Sofia was both amused and exasperated by their comments.

“Hey, don’t put so much pressure on her right away. Sophia is very capable, but we can’t just rely on her alone. Teamwork is all about cooperation,” Misia quickly said.

The group chattered back and forth, putting Sophia under immense pressure.

Chapter 113 Initial Testing and Sparring

After a brief silence, Noah's words reignited the atmosphere on the training field.

"Hey, Sophia, how about we have a spar?"

Noah walked up to Sophia, his face full of eager anticipation.