Chapter 347

347

The training ground of the Starting Castle, where almost all the students had gathered.

Lunia was standing with her arms crossed on the spectator’s seats of the training ground, watching the first-year students, when she heard her name called from behind.

“Lunia El Rundah.”

Lunia turned her head, untangled her arms, and stood up.

“Senior Marven.”

The one who called Lunia was none other than Marven, the top student of the fifth year and first in the entire school.

Lunia, wearing a bright expression, asked curiously, “You showing up for a school official event is quite unexpected, isn’t it?”

“But since it’s my final year, I was also curious to see what kind of first-year rookies we have this year.”

Marven, laughing, pulled over a chair and sat next to Lunia.

“Well? Do you have any standout first-years?”

“If I had to point out the most noticeable student, it would definitely be her over there.”

In response to Marven’s question, Lunia pointed at Lea.

“Lea Tinggel. She’s certainly the top among this year’s freshmen.”

Marven rested his chin in thought.

“Her image as a diligent top student makes her seem a bit dull. It’s just like Hardin’s class.”

Marven, wearing a slightly bored expression, prompted a chuckle from Lunia.

“Wait till you actually deal with her. She might surprise you.”

“Hm?”

“She’s secretly not all that sane, is she?”

Lunia wore a sullen expression as she recalled an incident from Leo’s room some time ago.

“You mean like Senior Rienia?”

“…Being compared to Senior Rienia isn’t exactly a compliment, is it?”

“Of course not.”

“Ugh, you old man!”

Marven chuckled.

Fuming, Lunia sighed and asked, “How about Senior Everton?”

“Our Young Master was summoned by the Acting Principal.”

Recalling the second-place student of the fifth year, Everton, Marven smiled faintly.

“Of course, with his noble background, the Pureblood Society is after him.”

“Won’t it be a concern if he keeps mingling with people associated with the Pureblood Society given his disposition?”

When Lunia cautiously inquired, Marven smirked.

“While he has strong pride as a student of Seirun, his stance is slightly different from the Pureblood Society. He has a strong sense of pride as a Seirun student, but he doesn’t blindly consider all elves as the best.”

“Isn’t that similar?”

Lunia tilted her head in confusion.

“Oh, by the way, Senior Marven, is the Hero Record that was recently discovered truly Seirun’s Hero Record?”

“Hmm… The records are definitely Seirun’s, but there’s no telling. There are so many forgeries of Hero Records.”

During this mission, Marven had retrieved the Hero Record.

“If only the Vice Principal was here, we could quickly determine its authenticity… But unfortunately, he’s absent right now.”

Nerzia, the Vice Principal of Seirun, who actively encouraged students to explore the Hero’s World, was currently attending the Elf Council to select the next Principal.

Because of this, she had been away from school since the beginning of this semester.

“If the Vice Principal were here, things would be a bit better, wouldn’t they?”

“Hmm. The Vice Principal didn’t interfere at all in matters of school administration or personnel. However, it’s unlikely that the Acting Principal or the Pureblood Society would be walking around as freely as they are now.”

While observing the first-year students and clicking his tongue, Marven suddenly noticed someone.

“Wait… That first-year…”

Just as Marven narrowed his eyes and wore a surprised expression,

” Lunia! Lunia!”

Someone urgently called out Lunia’s name.

A pair of fraternal twins, Garin and his sister, Aris, rushed breathlessly towards Lunia.

“There was Leo Flove among the first-years!”

“Could he have come secretly to discover our secrets at Seirun?”

“He came here as an exchange student.”

“Huh?”

“Apparently, the Pureblood Society teachers assigned him to the lower-class section without much thought.”

Upon hearing Lunia’s response, Aris looked embarrassed.

She had rushed to Lunia claiming that Leo was secretly infiltrating Seirun as a spy.

“What kind of spy?”

Garin looked down on his sister with a disdainful expression, causing Aris to flare up.

“You did think it sounded plausible, didn’t you!”

“That never happened! I realized it when you started writing absurd fantasies about forbidden romance between Seirun and Lumeran students…”

“d*e!”

Aris, filled with genuine anger, struck Garin’s temple with her elbow.

Watching Aris drag the unconscious Garin away, Marven chuckled.

“What lively kids.”

Then, his gaze turned towards Leo.

“I’ve never heard of an exchange student program, especially one bringing someone like Leo Flove to the first-year lower section… This is madness.”

Marven narrowed his eyes and observed the area where Seirun’s teachers were gathered.

Seeing this, Lunia commented towards her senior,

“Perhaps this exam will be quite interesting.”

Lunia smiled faintly.

“The exam is about to begin.”

Geras, the homeroom teacher of the advanced first class, bowed his head towards Acting Principal LeHagen.

Observing Geras, LeHagen narrowed his eyes.

“Are preparations complete?”

“Of course.”

Geras grinned widely.

“Though I noticed from the roster that the class representative is grouped with the lower-class dropouts. What’s the matter?”

“Eclere doesn’t deserve to be in the top first class.”

“Hm?”

“Given the circumstances with little time left before the exam, they were fraternizing with the lower-class dropouts. Considering it as behavior lowering the prestige of the advanced class, I assigned them to the same group. Anyway, given their association with those kinds of dropouts, their fall from the top first class would have been inevitable soon.”

Geras clicked his tongue.

“Eclere performed well during the entrance examination, but since then, the growth has been negligible. The amount of magical power hasn’t changed much compared to the entrance examination. Moreover, the speed of spell incantation remains the same as before. They don’t even meet the current average standard of the advanced class.”

“Hm.”

“Through this exam, we’ll definitively determine the qualifications of Eclere and others as hero candidates and as Seirun students.”

LeHagen smiled contentedly.

“Very well, then let’s begin the exam.”

“Yes.”

Geras stepped onto the podium.

“The practical mid-term exam for the first-year semester is about to begin. Groups called will please step forward.”

The entire first-year class wore tense expressions.

“Yoinea’s group from the Top First Class, please come forward.”

Following Geras’ call, a group of ten students, led by a female from the top first class, advanced onto the training grounds.

“And now, Berus group from the lower class.”

Upon this announcement, Berus displayed a startled expression.

“Teacher Geras! Why is our group called?”

“Don’t you remember the announcement?”

Geras clicked his tongue.

“This exam involves group competition where the group eliminating monsters the fastest wins. Is that clear?”

“Excuse me?”

Not just the lower-class, but even the middle-class and advanced-class had surprised expressions on their faces.

The exam content had completely changed.

All students had practiced effective tactics, strategy, and teamwork to efficiently hunt monsters. However, with the element of competition, everything changes.

From the point where they must eliminate more monsters faster than their competitors, the strategy shifts entirely.

The lower-class students were flabbergasted, but the students from the advanced and middle classes gleamed with anticipation. Especially students from Yoinea’s group of Top First Class, their grins stretched wide.

If they must outpace and eliminate more monsters than their opponents, wouldn’t competing against the weakest group, the lower-class, give them an advantage?

Watching the students from Top First Class who fixed their gaze on them, Berus tensed his expression.

“Berus, what should we do?”

“Can we win against the upper-class students?”

Seeing the worried expressions of his group members, Berus took a deep breath.

“Let’s do our best. You know we’ve improved a lot.”

“But even so… We’re up against the upper-class.”

A female student, hanging her head in despair, received a word from Berus.

“We’ve worked hard enough to face expulsion. If we back down now, it’d be a shame.”

With a defiant expression, Berus asserted.

“Even if we don’t win, we’ll show them that we’re not easy prey!”

Among the laughter from second and upper-year students, while the lower-class students clenched their teeth,

“Hey, what nonsense is he talking?”

Leo wore an expression of disbelief.

“Don’t you understand Berus’ heart, Leil? They have to compete with the upper-grades, so he’s bracing himself for certain defeat! Waaaah!”

An angry male lower-class student exclaimed, but Leo responded calmly.

“And why would they prepare themselves for certain defeat?”

“Huh?”

The male student displayed a baffled expression.

“Perfect.”

Leo smiled faintly.

“It’s a great opportunity for the seniors to witness the upper-grades getting thoroughly trounced by the lower-grades, isn’t it?”

At both ends of the training ground, two groups locked in confrontation.

The magic circle generated in the center of the training ground.

Whoosh!

Monsters poured out simultaneously.

Monsters brought in from the wilds for this exam at Seirun.

“Hmph, goblins, easy.”

Yoinea smirked, drawing out her staff.

Among them, she possessed the strongest magical power.

While Yoinea began her incantation,

Shining! KOOOONG!

A brilliant magic assault erupted.

Yoinea’s face hardened at the sight.

“What is…!”

Surprised by the unexpected situation, Yoinea’s eyes widened. Turning her gaze,

“You guys! What is this nonsense? You’re supposed to be in charge of defense!”

The unexpected attack came from the very students from her own group who had a defensive role but began launching numerous magical attacks instead.

Yoinea was a traditional magician who wielded large-scale powerful magic with ease.

She was highly regarded among the teachers as a promising magician, with her raw magical power putting her easily among the top three in the advanced class.

Indeed, she ranked 4th in the entrance exam.

That was why she was assigned to the offense role for this exam.

However, the nine students tasked with defense in her team started firing magic attacks wildly.

The fire magic user laughed.

“This is a race to eliminate monsters faster than the other group, right? What would you do if they clear all the monsters while you’re preparing your incantation?”

“Isn’t it obvious? The low-class rookies can’t clear so many goblins fast enough. Stick to the plan!”

Yoinea shouted in anger, but another female student giggled mischievously.

“I don’t think that’s possible now, Yoinea.”

“What?”

“It’s not like we can lose to the low-class rookies, right? This isn’t a fight between us and them. It’s a competition among ourselves.”

Sparks ignited in Yoinea’s eyes.

“Are you challenging me with your magic right now? Know your place.”

“True, you’re acknowledged for wielding more powerful magic, but… Don’t you only know high-tier attack spells?”

Yoinea fell silent after hearing this. Since being under Teacher Yotren after her enrollment, she was trained mainly for mastering high-tier magical spells.

She was indeed trained to specialize in strong magical attacks. Though Yoinea wasn’t completely unfamiliar with lower-tier spells, she hadn’t studied or practiced them since being admitted.

“You…”

Yoinea’s shoulders trembled with anger.

She looked up at the floating scoreboard displaying the number of monster eliminations.

The numbers made her wide eyes even wider.

“Wait…”

It had been only a few minutes since the start of the exam. Yet, it was obvious that low-class monsters like goblins posed no real threat to the first-years. Within no time, over a hundred goblins had been eliminated by the advanced-class students.

However, what startled Yoinea wasn’t the high score of the advanced class — the lower-class was keeping pace nearly as fast with eliminations.

“Not just… Is it faster?”

As Yoinea became perplexed and turned her gaze to the lower-class, a roar sounded.

ROOOAR!

An ogre had appeared from the summoning circle.

The advanced-class students paused briefly upon seeing it.

“Yoinea, it’s an ogre!”

“What do you expect me to do?”

Yoinea scowled angrily.

“What?”

“Handle it with your fancy spells!”

“Hey! You…”

“Hey! Do you think we can’t handle it?”

The advanced-class students bristled with irritation.

Saying this, Yoinea looked up again.

While she expected the lower-class momentum to slow down with the appearance of a strong upper-tier monster,

“…we’re still slower!”

In a flustered manner, Yoinea began her incantation. She realized it wasn’t the time for squabbles within her own group.

Yoinea launched a spell to defeat the ogre.

“You guys! From now on, follow my instructions…”

“The ogre’s down!”

“Attack!”

“Don’t give Yoinea any points!”

“I hated her from the start anyway!”

Inspired by a competitive spirit, the advanced-class students disregarded her orders once again.

“Listen to me for a moment!”

Yoinea grabbed her head in despair while observing her unruly teammates.

*

Lunia opened her mouth wide.

Not just Lunia, but the entire second year…

No, all the students wore expressions of disbelief.

All of them stood silent, watching the exam.

Even the teaching staff had stiff expressions, observing the examination results.

“Hmmph.”

At that moment, a sigh laced with irritation escaped.

Everton Revane, the second-ranked student of the fifth year.

He was a student who prided himself in his dignity and authority as a Seirun pupil.

Moreover, he was the son of Evratin, the Chairman of the Elf Council, making Everton one of the most prestigious elves within elf society.

Luna and Seirun’s staunch believer, he was also one of the talents pursued by the Pureblood Society.

Therefore, even during this viewing session, he was positioned quite close to Acting Principal LeHagen.

With an icy tone, Everton spoke.

“Acting Principal.”

Everton crossed his legs and rested his chin.

“I was eagerly expecting this year’s first-year students, hoping to witness the new Seirun that we were told to expect.”

With a cold smile, Everton questioned,

“Is it because this year’s first-years are of poor quality? Or is it due to the new system introduced by Acting Principal?”

“Everton student… This is…”

“Barely worth watching.”

When Everton coldly spoke and was about to rise,

“Hey, now, what’s troubling our Young Master?”

A hand thrust out and firmly pressed down on Everton’s shoulder.

“Get off, Marven.”

Everton glared irritably at Marven who had forcibly pushed him back down.

Seeing this, Lunia who had accompanied Marven spoke.

“Senior Everton, please watch until the end. The real fun is about to begin.”