The First Practical Evaluation
Under Professor Hainkel Hereis's guidance, Ludenberg Lavante and all the other students headed toward the old school building. After some time, dilapidated yet dignified structures welcomed them. This weathered edifice had produced countless heroes since the founding of Solemnute Adem and trained generations to battle erosion beasts; vast as a modest city, it was a frequent venue for evaluations.
Ludenberg intuited the moment he surveyed its expanse. This evaluation would be no walk in the park—grueling, in fact.
Good. All the better.
He welcomed it. The harsher the trial, the higher the praise for those who prevailed. Besides, what exhausted the others was now routine for him. Stay vigilant, give it his all, and top marks were assured.
Upon arrival, Professor Hainkel promptly assembled the students and announced the teams.
"Team 1 first. Philia, Evelyn... and finally, Ludenberg."
The professors had balanced the groups by skill: pairing the strongest with the weakest, and so on. As Ludenberg had anticipated, he and Ashytara weren't together.
"Not on the same team. Shame."
"Yeah."
"Give it your all."
"...You too, Tara."
Ashytara leaned in with a whisper, clearly regretting the split as much as he did. Once all teams were called, Professor Hainkel summoned Team 1.
"Everyone, confirm your teams. Team 1, step forward. The rest, stand by."
He led them to the old school building's main gate.
"This is your evaluation ground: the main entrance. Reach the central illusion core and destroy it, by any means. A vital hit from an illusion erosion beast means immediate elimination—no defense phase for you. Bear that in mind. Enter."
As Professor Hainkel spoke, a soft glow spread across the Sacred Law Formation. Dark, mystical fog soon shrouded the entire old school building. Tension etched the students' faces as they stepped inside.
Thus began Solemnute Adem's first practical evaluation.
The instant Ludenberg crossed into the Sacred Law Formation, he felt his position shift oddly. Only then did he realize his earlier worries about teamwork were moot. At least for the base occupation phase, cooperation wasn't even possible from the start.
Twenty students, scattered far apart. Now the building's scale made sense.
Alone and isolated, Ludenberg smiled.
Perfect.
No complications. Just carve through whatever lay ahead.
Gripping the provided real sword, he advanced. Illusion erosion beasts lurked everywhere—enough to force most students into cautious, one-by-one kills.
Ludenberg felt no such need. He charged straight into their midst.
The illusion erosion beasts reacted to his footfalls, screeching grotesquely as they warped their forms and lunged. Wolf-like ones slashed with razor claws; horse-like ones whipped thorned tentacles from their backs.
The onslaught came from all sides, fierce and unrelenting, but Ludenberg flowed through it like water, thrusting his blade into the maw of a frontal wolf-beast.
Krunch!
Shattering its heart through the sword, he yanked the blade free, seized an incoming thorny tentacle with his gauntleted fist, and reeled it in. The beast resisted, flailing, but he severed all but the gripped appendage and yanked hard.
Overpowered, it tumbled into range, yielding its heart.
But it didn't end there. More swarmed, berserk at his presence.
Ludenberg raised his sword, assumed stance, and fixed them with his gaze. He opened his senses.
Chaos roared in—yet amid it, the vital sounds emerged.
Thump. Thump.
Heartbeats pulsed. His vision sharpened, expanding, drawing all into his rhythm. Their heartbeats rang clear; their positions mapped.
Enough.
He stepped forward, sword flashing.
Shriiik!
The blade rent the air with a gale's howl—not divine power, but the raw might honed through relentless self-forging.
Hearts cleaved, beasts crumbled to black ash. The horde fell silent.
Nothing left here.
Clearing the area, Ludenberg pressed on toward the illusion core.
From the Evaluation Center outside the main gate, the professors monitored via Setra Recording, peering into the old school building through screens of shimmering starlight. Students' actions unfolded clearly; the faculty marveled at their prowess.
"Impressive. These second-years outshine their first-year selves by leaps."
"The Solemnute raid seems to have lit a fire under them. Attitudes in class shifted. Look—Philia Rosette, bottom Abyss tier, yet she's dispatching erosion beasts smoothly."
Professor Elun Habata, who taught Abyss students, watched Philia advance toward the core with pride.
"She lost that dorm duel last time, but she's clearly buckled down since. Surviving the raid's heart sharpened her too. Night and day from before."
"Overall growth across the board. Facing real crisis firsthand spurred dramatic gains."
The professors nodded at Hainkel's assessment, scrutinizing each battle.
Then—a gasp.
"Heavens."
The choked exclamation drew eyes. Professor Lian Robert, Ador grade instructor—calm, unflappable—had jolted them.
"What is it, Professor Lian?"
"They say he felled a high-grade erosion beast. Not exaggeration. Watch this."
He rewound the scene on his screen.
Setra Record Replay
A dark ash-gray-haired youth on the screen: Ludenberg. Sword raised, stance flawless—eerie perfection, promising devastation.
Hordes of illusion erosion beasts closed in. Unblinking, he advanced, sword arcing.
Shriiik!
Air tore; hearts rent; ash scattered.
Silence gripped the faculty, jaws slack in shock.
Not at the strike—they knew his caliber. Slayer of high-grade erosion beasts and Salvation Cult knights. But this spectacle stunned regardless.
Finding erosion hearts was fiendishly hard. Celioum awakeners sensed via sound and wind easily enough; others gnawed hides or crushed with overwhelming divine power to expose and destroy.
Ludenberg? He pinpointed them precisely, as if seeing through flesh.
"Hearing heartbeats without Celioum power?"
Professor Lian's fluster drew Elun's retort.
"One, maybe. But a swarm at once, sans divine power? Sounds would blur into noise."
"Precisely. Even Celioum users could, but Ludenberg without? Impossible, even to me."
Hainkel's agreement swayed the rest.
"Then what...?"
Lian's closest guess, dismissed.
"Who knows. Some Lavante method, probably. Eastern front's erosion hell."
"Fair point."
Hainkel summed up quietly.
"He felled high-grade at seventeen—only Duke Leonard matches that. Calvin mentioned frontline scraps. If true, thrown into the east's beast swarms powerless and young."
"Lord."
"Unimaginable honing. Explains the high-grade kill. This eval might bore him."
They shifted focus from Ludenberg to the starlit screens before them.