38~ Divine Maiden Trial
Phew!
………
Aileen looked at Tillysha in the front row with utter disgust.
Oh please, Miss Goody-Two-Shoes, don’t tell me you were about to pretend that you could handle wiping the desk yourself—what a tease, act all innocent?!! Do you really think I don’t know how elated you’re feeling right now?!!
This was your goal all along, wasn’t it?! You manipulative brat, seducing the teacher and then using them as a crutch! Taking advantage and still acting all innocent!
Aileen wanted to grind her teeth at the sight, but there was literally nothing she could do about it.
Ugh, d*mn it all, if only it was acceptable to confront her privately and settle this once and for all! She’d make sure this girl learns her place!
……….Wait, settle this privately?
After a brief ponder, a devious grin crept onto Aileen’s face.
She had the perfect plan.
Oh Tillysha, enjoy gloating while you still can because the laughs won’t last long!
“Um, Aileen, look, we…” Right after class ended, following Charis’ order to clear out, as each student after student left the classroom without a care in the world, Tillysha too prepared her leave. Her small follower piped up hesitantly and stuttered, unsure of how to phrase her query.
“Hold on.” Aileen suddenly seemed unusually calm.
“Uh…?” Confused by the sudden change in demeanor, the follower dared not inquire further.
Aileen sat in her place with the accompaniment of a few followers, waiting patiently. Once the last student besides them departed, Aileen finally rose with ease.
“Let’s go.”
“Where??”
“Isn’t it obvious? We’re going to help clean up Tillysha’s chair and desk, obviously.” Aileen grinned. “Were you not paying attention in class?”
“But…” This had her followers stumped.
They knew Aileen’s temperament well enough; the noble young mistress who always spoke of her family and heritage with pride would never stoop to cleaning desks for some random wild female.
“Aileen, are you truly ok with this?”
“Of course I am. If the teacher instructed it, then that’s that, why should I be upset?” Aileen shrugged, nonchalantly. She then turned to command one of her followers.
“Kono, if my memory doesn’t fail me, wasn’t it you who vandalized Tillysha’s desk the other day?”
“Me? Yes, that was me,” a male divine maiden admitted guiltily, sensing doom ahead.
“Then it’s your duty to clean it. Remember the teacher’s instruction – Not a speck must remain, or else… well, let’s say my help might not be enough at that point.”
“I understand…” Though, wasn’t it you who told me to do it in the first place?? Kono muttered silently, feeling a bit put-off, but dared not show it. He resigned himself to his fate, grabbed a rag, and proceeded to wipe the desk.
“Aileen, can you really just let this insolent wild maiden off so easily?” One of her female followers pursed her lips.
“Would you prefer another option?” Aileen chuckled. “Now that the teacher has intervened, if we cause any more trouble, do you think someone might get expelled from the academy?”
At the mention of expulsion, the female follower fell silent immediately.
Of humble noble birth, expulsion would surely be met with fiery wrath from her father.
“Alright, let’s get it done and go home.” Aileen appeared to act as though she was at peace with the situation.
The followers looked at each other, bewildered. They knew Aileen too well; they knew she wasn’t one to let this go unchallenged. This calm demeanor meant one thing.
Aileen had devised a far more cunning and deadly plan, hence the gloomy mood of the day vanished.
— — — — —
“The situation goes as follows,” the stern-looking female instructor stood with her arms crossed, addressing the class.
“At the start of the semester, aside from the test scores you demonstrated during enrollment, we know nothing else about your real abilities.”
“Cold, static data can only portray so much. Improvisation, combat experience, weapon proficiency, calmness under pressure—these are the traits that matter more than static data, and they cannot be tested with simple numbers alone. To evaluate real combat readiness and fighting styles, there’s only one method.”
“Live Combat.”
“Since it’s precisely ten days before Newcomer’s Crown Cup, we will conduct a freshmen divine maiden combat trial. Everyone will take their turn. Based on your combat performance, we’ll enrich your files and dynamic data.”
As soon as this was said, the young divine maidens were brimming with self-assurance, eager with anticipation.
Finally, the moment they had been waiting for has arrived!
Who wouldn’t want to shine under the watchful eyes of the teachers and the freshman crowd, seizing the position as the leader of the crop, a rising star admired by everyone?
The divine male maidens were particularly excited.
They knew their chance to impress had come.
How might one gain priority in selection for mates within the campus? The answer’s simple: rank within the top three on the power list; have your name spread widely across campus, throughout the freshman year. Would there be any lack of admirers then?
While this trial for freshmen doesn’t count as an official power test, this is the first step toward rising ranks in the Coleman Duel Leaderboard. There will be several divine offspring and maidens watching; if you perform splendidly, both partner options and squad issues would be resolved, and you would gain the attention of the teachers, receiving the title of “promising young talent”!
And if you make a stunning entrance at the Newcomer’s Crown Cup, it truly would be a one-hit fame. All of Coleman, perhaps half the continent, would know your name, considering the prestige that the Newcomer’s Crown Cup carries.
At that point, you would be admired everywhere you go. There might even be countries offering princesses to recruit you……
On another note, competitiveness and a desire to challenge are inherently ingrained traits in divine maidens, just as the inquisitiveness of divine offspring.
Especially in the case of these first-year divine maidens, brimming with youthful arrogance, refusing to bow to anyone. Why limit it to peers? Even if a sophomore or junior divine maiden came, they would think they’re fully capable of taking on the challenge — why would they let go of such a chance to show themselves off?
“Ha Ha Ha…” Leaning back, Aileen rested her head on her palm, her knee-high-sock clad legs crossed, glaring coldly at Tillysha in the front row, keenly observing her every movement.
Divine maidens could sense each other’s realms. Clearly, Aileen could hardly feel Tillysha’s presence, unable to confirm whether or even if her realm exists.
Such situations presented two possibilities: Tillysha’s realm is extraordinarily unique, or she hasn’t yet awakened it.
A divine maiden without a realm doesn’t deserve the title.
No matter the reason, she could already picture Tillysha’s downfall during the live combat—how entertaining that will be……….
Ugly duckling, let me teach you the distinction between legitimate heritage and illegitimacy.
39~ ‘Powerful Alliance’
Upon hearing of the combat trials, that conniving brat must be frantic now, right? Live combat isn’t like book-smart antics. This depends on talent and bloodline; all the good girl act before the teachers will be for nothing.
She may have been faking being the ideal student in class, but come the live combat, her real abilities—or lack thereof—will show.
When the whole first-year class, teachers, and even seniors come to watch, she’ll have the entire school witness her humiliation, an embarrassment that could leave a permanent stain. She’ll become the subject of mockery and ridicule, a perfect lesson for everyone.
Compared to the childish pranks like smearing desks, this would show everyone what a ‘wild’ divine maiden is truly made of.
Aileen sneered, casting a look at Tillysha up front, diligently listening as always.
Aileen didn’t know what Tillysha’s realm or divine authority was yet, but she assumed it didn’t measure up to much.
In reality, she underestimated her significantly. Not only had Tillysha not yet awakened, she couldn’t even manage to deploy her realm properly.
After the female instructor finished speaking, classes ended, and the students shuffled out one by one, all confident and brimming with aspirations, animatedly conversing with friends about their grand visions and how magnificently they’d defeat their opponents.
These youthful spirits, yet untouched by the harsh realities and rigors of life, demonstrated their impulsive natures and arrogance through their words alone.
Tillysha trailed behind the crowd. She was an isolate in the class, without friends or common ground, even finding it hard to make polite conversation.
This suited her fine; she preferred peace and quiet. Yet because of this, she was ignored and subjected to cold treatment from everyone in the class.
Nobody likes anomalies or bastards, especially paired with her unsightly ‘scar’. Other than her striking platinum hair and skin that rivaled snow, there really was nothing unique about the girl to draw attention.
Watching the retreating backs, she caught snippets of their discussions. Tillysha believed Charis’s thoughts were right.
This group of students would sooner or later undergo testing—those who couldn’t withstand the pressure will be destroyed, and those who manage would lose their edge over time. In every scenario, it’s survival of the fittest. This is true for all professions, albeit with a few more options among divine maidens.
Rather than concern herself with how many of these hard rocks would survive after being refined, Tillysha was more focused on what she should do next.
The New Divine Maiden Tournament was more akin to a friendly match, with no rankings involved, merely to help perfect the records and data of divine maidens.
But still, live combat required an opponent, and Tillysha was clearly involved.
The previous orc battle was against a low-level Demon Race member and required the help of multiple alchemical drugs to just barely overcome.
To be fair, it was misleading to say that Tillysha herself did much; technically, the orc committed s*icide, and she merely landed the final blow.
Assuming the orc’s intelligence hadn’t been so low, even above the average orc level, the outcome might have resulted in her becoming a tool for the orc tribe—an unimaginable situation.
She’d face endless servitude, torture, and use, from the orcs, their sons, grandsons, great-grandsons…
The lineage was endless, there was no telling how long she’d be used.
By the time the orc tribe was invaded, and she was eventually freed, she’d be irreparably broken…
Thinking through that possibility, Tillysha tightened the feather headphones over her ears.
It would be wise to keep her elf heritage hidden, not only to avoid dealing with that somewhat obsessive Elf Empress but also because the gold elves have long since vanished. Exposure would lead to unnecessary trouble, and Coleman Academy itself was established by elves.
There were subjective reasons too; Tillysha didn’t have a high opinion of elves.
She couldn’t stomach their arrogance.
What’s next?
Tillysha slowed her pace and opened the Golden Anemone device, checking the countdown timer for her divine maiden transformation.
Ten days.
Tomorrow the New Divine Maiden Tournament begins, and clearly, it wasn’t enough time.
Tillysha contemplated other alternatives and soon devised a solid plan.
“To hell with it.” Tillysha firmly declared.
There was no other way out. Surely, shouting ‘My fate is in my hands, not the heavens’ during a big competition wasn’t going to cut it.
Even counting on divine maiden transformation was like a risky bet, and she hasn’t even undergone it yet.
Looking at her puny arms and legs, she thought she might just need to prepare for something… unexpected.
Meanwhile, somewhere else.
“That wretch may find herself mocked in front of everyone, but alas, it’s quite a shame I can’t be the other star of that comedy.” Aileen muttered to herself while walking back to her dorm after splitting ways with her followers.
“Why not?”
“Wha—?” Aileen turned around to find a well-dressed, handsome man standing beside her with a cryptic smile on his face.
Pointed ears…
She knew who this man was.
“Are you… Professor Fland?” Aileen’s demeanor softened, knowing the reputation of this half-elf professor within the academy.
“Indeed,” Fland approached with a broad smile. “You’re Aileen, Ailinka Difin, correct?”
“It’s an honor that the professor remembers my name.”
“Let’s not be formal, I didn’t come here to hear flattery.”
“You… sought me out?” Aileen was puzzled. She didn’t recall having any significant interaction with this professor before.
“Indeed, weren’t you just lamenting that ‘it’s quite a shame I can’t be the other protagonist of this good farce’?”
“It’s nothing remarkable…” Aileen tried to deflect.
“There’s no need to hide it from me; there’s a girl named Tillysha in your class, correct?”
“…That’s right.”
“You have a grudge against her, wanting to punish this rude wild divine maiden—am I right?”
“You seem to know quite a bit.”
“Of course, nothing within the academy escapes my notice.” Fland grinned.
“You… really wish to personally teach her a lesson during the divine maiden tournament, no?”
“Absolutely,” at this point, it was understood without words.
“Excellent. I’ll give you this opportunity.” Fland’s smile turned dark.
“You wouldn’t dare…?”
“Yes, I’ll secretly arrange you both in the same group.”
“As repayment for my efforts… give her a sound thrashing, preferably destroy her misplaced confidence—how does that sound?”
