Chapter 26
With the first test, the “Theory” part of this inter-grade competition—widely known as the most challenging—behind us, my heart felt noticeably lighter.
“Just keep going this way, right?”
“That’s right, but wait!”
“Let’s go!”
Right after being warped to the next location, we found ourselves on a long, straight path, practically screaming “Go this way!” for everyone to see. Since this was an obstacle course, the idea was to get past whatever obstacles appeared along the way, not to exhaust us with navigation right off the bat.
“Hey, we don’t know what could pop up…!”
“That’s correct. It would be wise to proceed cautiously in formation.”
While I was eager to run ahead, my team seemed to have other ideas. And, honestly, this was the reasonable approach. After all, it was labeled as an “obstacle course,” so charging ahead without any precaution would only make it harder to react to obstacles.
“Alright, alright. Time to act like a real mage.”
“…Okay, let’s move in formation then!”
“Good. Let’s think of it as a warm-up for the dungeon exploration coming up. Cynthia, watch the rear while Ryu and I take the front.”
“Wait, hold on.”
“Yes?”
“Why am I in the front?”
“Well, because you’re… ah.”
Elaine definitely showed leadership potential. As soon as a situation arose, she calmly issued instructions with authority, although she did slightly misjudge the capabilities of one of her team members.
“I said, I’m playing the mage role here.”
“Ah… alright. In that case, I’ll take the front alone.”
For a fleeting moment, an expression of flustered surprise crossed Elaine’s face. It was only a brief instant, but there was no way I would miss it. Following Elaine’s instructions, we settled into formation: Elaine at the very front, Cynthia watching the back, with Emily and I in the center.
“So, if this is an obstacle course, aren’t we supposed to be running?”
“Well… yes, but…”
I had been looking forward to speeding along a path filled with magical traps and fast-paced action. But here we were, pacing down an open road, maintaining formation, and advancing cautiously as we scanned our surroundings. Who knew how the second- or third-years were faring, but this was definitely… slower than I’d expected.
“True, this isn’t typical ‘running.’ Honestly, I’m not sure what to expect.”
“Ah, look ahead!”
At Emily’s urgent cry, Elaine, who had been looking back at me, along with Cynthia, who was watching the rear, turned their gazes forward.
Rumble—
Moments before, there had been nothing in front of us. Now, however, massive boulders were rolling toward us—multiple ones, not just a single rock.
“Whoa!”
Srrrng—
“This… this is the obstacle course?”
“Everyone, get behind me!”
Elaine drew her sword as enormous rocks barreled down towards us on flat ground, and Emily immediately hid behind her.
“If we mess this up, we’re dead for sure.”
The rocks rolling toward us weren’t illusions—they were real. They’d clearly been set up with some magical mechanism to start rolling our way.
“What’s the plan?”
“I’m going to cut them down.”
“Those?”
“Yes.”
Rather than retreating, Elaine’s voice held a tone of absolute resolve, as she simply told everyone to hide behind her. Cynthia hesitated, debating whether to retreat or to trust Elaine’s word, but soon slung her bow across her back and moved behind Elaine. That was how much she trusted her.
“This is seriously dangerous.”
I don’t lack trust in Sinclair, of course, but could a young girl who just entered the Academy really cut through a boulder rolling toward her at full speed, rather than one that’s just standing still?
Rumble—
The massive rock continued rolling forward, nearly upon us.
“Well, I’ve got no choice.”
Swish—
I took a step close to the three, ready to whisk them away if needed, while my right hand reached out to open space and grasp my sword’s hilt. It had been a while since I’d held it, yet it felt as if I had practiced with it just yesterday, fitting perfectly in my hand. I was prepared to cut down everything if things went south.
“Haaat!”
Boom—
A cloud of dust exploded with a thunderous sound in front of us. Elaine had swung her sword with a shout, aiming right at the boulder rushing toward her. Contrary to my expectation that Elaine would get swept away helplessly, she stood her ground firmly. Her stance hadn’t faltered in the slightest.
Rumble—
“She… she really cut it…!”
“It actually worked?”
Just as Emily mumbled in amazement, Elaine truly split the incoming boulder in two. Although the dust cloud obscured my view, I could see white mana pulsing along Elaine’s sword. She had coated her sword in mana and neatly sliced the rock in half. Not only did her mana flawlessly envelop the blade, but even in the face of imminent danger, her stance hadn’t budged at all.
“Impressive…”
“Haat! Haaaht!”
With each of Elaine’s power-packed shouts and sword swings, the rocks shattered in two with booming sounds. Occasionally, fragments of the rocks flew back toward us, but I could handle them easily without having to draw my own sword. After several more powerful swings from Elaine, the ground stopped shaking.
The rolling boulders had ceased.
“Hoo.”
“Wow, Elaine, you…”
“It’s over, it seems.”
“You’re pretty good!”
Swish—
Without a word, Elaine sheathed her sword with a slight smile on her face. Although she quickly erased her smile to manage her expression, there was no fooling me.
“Glad I didn’t have to draw my sword after all. Let’s keep moving.”
The pride in Elaine’s voice was unmistakable; I wasn’t imagining it.
“You… you were amazing!”
With Emily’s sincere admiration, Elaine strode confidently forward.
***
Shaaak—
With a sharp sound, clear and somewhat chilling, a barrier standing in our way was cut cleanly. The barrier split exactly along the path Elaine’s sword had traced, unable to repair itself, and dissolved entirely.
“Nice, nice!”
“Hooo…”
Swish—
Elaine sheathed her sword and wiped the sweat from her forehead.
The second exam, the obstacle course, was labeled as a “race,” but it had little to do with actual running. Right from the start, boulders came rolling at us, followed by a maze constructed from illusion magic, and beyond the maze were golems similar to those seen in the entrance exam.
Though we faced numerous obstacles along the way, we had managed to overcome them without any major issues.
To be precise, “we” hadn’t overcome them—it was Elaine handling everything herself.
Starting with slicing the rolling boulders, Elaine had been clearing every obstacle in our path by cutting through them. She even created paths through the maze by slashing the walls and, of course, took down the golems. When dealing with the golems, she even looked back at me with a hint of expectation in her gaze, hoping for praise.
And just now, she sliced right through what looked like an impenetrable barrier.
“Wow! She cut through it again!!”
“…It feels like Elaine is doing all the work. You okay with that?”
“A-hem. It’s fine. Let’s move on to the next stage.”
Elaine, feeling awkward at the praise, cleared her throat and started walking ahead again.
“Really exceeding expectations.”
Elaine’s skill was beyond what I’d anticipated. Honestly, when I first entered the Academy, I hadn’t expected much from the students’ abilities. On the first day, after seeing Kane Hover’s skills, I thought, So my expectations were accurate.
If a mage like him ranked in the top seven of the entrance exams, I assumed everyone else would be roughly on par with him.
“Indeed, the Six Great Houses are different.”
Elaine had thoroughly shattered my expectations. Up until now, I hadn’t actually seen her skills firsthand, so I didn’t realize, but Elaine’s abilities were far above the level of a typical student.
To put it mildly, she could probably be placed directly into the field with the Black Shadow Corps and handle herself just fine.
“I’d love to recruit her…”
The Sinclair family’s swordsmanship was known for its strong defensive skills, but Elaine demonstrated she was just as adept in offense. If this weren’t the Academy and Elaine wasn’t a student, I’d have offered her a position right away. Directly under my command.
“What a pity.”
“Oh…”
“Is it… the end?”
I snapped out of my thoughts at Cynthia’s exclamation and looked ahead to see the end of the path before us—a spot that looked unmistakably like a finish line.
Upon closer inspection, I saw a magic circle inscribed on the ground, meant for warp magic. With her sharp vision, Cynthia seemed to notice it as well, and without bothering to keep formation, she sprinted ahead with a bright voice.
“Oh, Cynthia!”
“We’re done!”
Flash—
As Cynthia neared the magic circle, a small flash of light appeared, accompanied by a trace of mana. It displayed a slightly modified version of the message we had seen before:
<End of the Second Exam.>
It was the signal that the second exam, the obstacle course, was complete.
“Wow! You really did great!”
“Oh, not at all…”
Elaine scratched her head at Emily’s direct praise, breathing a sigh of relief. She looked exhausted but genuinely pleased.
<You will now proceed to the location of the Third Exam.>
“Finally, the last one.”
Immediately, it was time for the third exam. Everyone said this was the hardest test of the competition, but it was the one I felt the most confident about.
Dungeon Exploration.
“Alright, let’s go for first place!”
My shout echoed into empty air.
Flash—
With no rest period, light burst forth, and warp magic activated.
—
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