Reassignment Exam (4)
Zernya von Adelbein, who had been repeatedly muttering the name Rustila, let out a small laugh. Whoever she was, her attitude of trying to stick close to Idel was presumptuous. She probably lacked the skills too. It didn't matter anyway. Zernya continued moving. This alone wasn't enough. She needed to exert more power and create a gap that Idel's group couldn't catch up to. Zernya took a step forward.
Thud, thud, thud! A loud sound echoed from the side clearing. It was the footsteps of a golem. Zernya lowered her body and hurried toward it. There was a golem. But there was also an unexpected visitor.
“Hmph.”
A golem charged fiercely toward the boy. But he wore a relaxed smile and adjusted his sunglasses. A luxurious-looking sword hung at the boy's waist. It looked like a sword from the eastern region. The scabbard extended smoothly. Zernya's steps, about to intrude into the battlefield, stopped.
“……That guy.”
She had seen him somewhere before. Yes, where had she met him?
“…….”
She remembered. The bug who had disguised himself as a teacher on the first day of the entrance ceremony and made her the laughingstock of the class. Grit! She ground her teeth. As expected, he was the type to act without thinking ahead. He didn't know his place. It was obvious he would get beaten up while showing off against the golem. Zernya waited quietly. She wanted to see the boy get defeated by the golem. After all, there were many golems released, so giving up one or two was fine.
“Come on, charge at me, you rock.”
The boy, Welton, said.
“I'll show you an awesome sword technique.”
Welton bent his waist and twisted his body. He bent his knees to lower his posture and gently caressed the sword's hilt. It was a straight posture. No openings. That preparatory movement, she had seen it somewhere before. Iaido.
“……Are you joking right now?”
Having lost her composure, she spat out the words she had been swallowing. Welton's posture was highly refined, but the technique itself was trash. It was impossible to show high destructive power. It would only be useful for surprise attacks, nothing else. But the next moment.
“Huh?”
The sword blade, stretched like taffy, pierced through the golem. No, the blade hadn't stretched. It was the phenomenon of ionized Ether appearing delayed. By adding the frictional heat used when drawing the sword to the power of Ether, he succeeded in explosive ionization. Zernya, who had pieced together the situation, smirked. Indeed, that way, it might consume less Ether in terms of energy transfer.
Real-time Scoreboard
1. Zernya von Adelbein: 900 points
2. Idel von Rheinland / Seti von Rheinland / Rustila Kersil: 660 points
3. Welton: 480 points
Welton had also instantly earned 300 points from his previous 180, leaping straight into third place. Zernya lightly bit her lip. How presumptuous. Right now, she needed to be wary of that guy more than Idel. In terms of score ratio, he was practically second place. But regardless, his swordsmanship was far below Zernya's. Iaido was an inadequate response against A-rank or higher monsters. If that was all he could do, she could easily win.
“…….”
She should stop. According to the exam rules, fighting others only produced minuses. With a sigh, Zernya kept watching the scoreboard. The situation was turning out more interesting than expected.
4. Kristin Herset / Mezlen: 374 points
Fourth place immediately chased after them.
4. Matus: 450 points
5. Kristin Herset / Mezlen: 374 points
Another student overtook them. Students rising by 300 points each were gradually appearing. Everyone had defeated one golem. If there were students who won against golems, there were also those who lost.
Retired: 1
Number of students retired by golems. Since everyone received Ether barriers, they probably weren't seriously injured, but the moment their shields broke, it was game over.
Retired: 17 students
The number of retirees increased rapidly. The speed was unusual.
1. Zernya von Adelbein: 1200 points
While she hunted one more, the number of retired students approached one hundred. The mediocre ones were done with the evaluation, huh? In other words, from now on, it was a test to select the upper ranks in combat ability. And as if to confirm Zernya's guess, the scoreboard began to fluctuate violently.
Behind Rustila. A scorpion-type golem sprang out aiming for a blind spot. A B-rank demonic beast of the Darwin lineage, Scorpion. The golem modeled after it swung its pincers down at her.
“Dodge!”
Seti shouted. Before she even spoke, Rustila was already twisting her body. But unfortunately, Idel was in Rustila's path.
“Aah!”
Rustila let out a short moan. She avoided the golem's attack, but the two of them ended up rolling on the ground together.
“A-are you okay?”
“Uh……”
“What are you two doing? Get up quickly!”
Seti hurriedly pulled Rustila, who had fallen into Idel's arms, off of him. She drew her sword and took a stance.
“Stop showing off and both of you prepare for combat……! Huh?”
Seti's gaze swept through the air.
“Where did it go?”
“It ran away.”
Idel said, brushing the dirt off his body.
“It ran away?”
“B-rank monster Scorpion. Darwin affiliation. Specializes in ambushes and surprise attacks.”
In short, it was a monster good at hit-and-run tactics. The golem seemed to have applied that habit as well.
“Let's chase it.”
“Does this mean we can jump in points now too?”
“Little brother, just pick up Ether fragments.”
“Do you want to die? I can fight a little, you know?”
The bickering Rheinland siblings turned their gazes to Rustila.
“Rustila, let's move.”
“……”
“Rustila?”
Rustila nodded shallowly. Her head was endlessly facing the ground. In her mind, the previous event was replaying over and over. It touched. Clearly, her entire body had touched Idel's. It was an unfamiliar sensation. Holding hands, having her wrist grabbed. She had experienced all of that, and it wasn't something to make a fuss over. But full-body contact was something she had never experienced in her life, and it was also an embarrassing sight. Especially since she herself was the one who initiated it, her face grew increasingly hot. Her tolerance for men was hitting its limit.
“……Rustila?”
Was she thinking too excessively? Snap, snap. Idel flicked his fingers a few times, but Rustila didn't respond. Idel thought. Don't tell me she died standing up? Idel lowered his head and forcibly met Rustila's eyes.
“Hyaah!”
Rustila let out a shrill scream. The deep thoughts she had been immersed in collapsed with a crash. Rustila jumped up. Her blonde bangs fell messily to the side, and her ponytail bounced up and down. “What's wrong. Are you hurt somewhere?” The girl was trembling her lips, and her cheeks were flushed like peach blossoms. Ripples were forming in her aquamarine eyes. She looked like she might burst into tears at any moment.
— 'Pure and Persistent God' whistles.
— Received 300 coin donation.
Rustila barely came to her senses.
“N-no. It's nothing. So what, what did you……?”
“Let's go quickly. We have to hunt golems.”
“Uh, uh…… Yeah……”
Unlike Rustila, Idel had an expression that said it was nothing. Was she the only one being too sensitive? Even if she had lived a constrained life, she had learned not to attach great meaning to everything. Yeah, let's keep it normal. Normal.
— 'Pure and Persistent God' demands that you focus.
Rustila ran after Idel and Seti. Beyond the slope, a stream came into view. And traces of the Scorpion could be seen in the bushes nearby.
“Over there!”
Seti shouted. Shing. Rustila drew her sword and heated the blade at the same time.
“It's coming!”
The Scorpion appeared from the bushes with a rustling sound. Perhaps because it was B-rank level, its ambush was sloppy. Rustila intuitively knew that her skill was at least equal to an A-rank swordsman.
“Sister!”
“I know……!”
She poured Ether into her plasma sword. Flames flickered. A discharge sound burst forth like a flood. Rustila swung her arm with a whoosh. The perfectly charged blade of light enveloped the Scorpion. She severed its pincers and crushed its body. Thus, Rustila—
+300 points!
—cut down the Scorpion in a single strike. The scorpion let out mechanical creaking sounds. Soon its tail crumbled like powder. The spot where the sword strike passed. Melted iron and thick mist floated in the air.
“Sister, you're amazing!”
Seti hugged Rustila tightly. But it wasn't over yet.
— 'Pure and Persistent God' demands that you focus once more!
Rustila gently pushed Seti away and turned around. Another one was coming.
“……Stay back.”
The same B-rank golem. This time it looked like a giant golem.
“……Ugh.”
She was overwhelmed by its size. But it was still just B-rank, wasn't it? Having information reduced her fear by half.
“Little brother, you stay back.”
Idel said. He adjusted his calipers and stood side by side with Rustila.
“Idel?”
“I want to try it once too.”
“Won't it be dangerous?”
“Even if it's dangerous, I have to try. The homeroom teacher said it, didn't she?”
Even if you're going to become a researcher, you should still train in swordsmanship sufficiently.
“I'm just putting that into practice.”
“……”
Rustila recalled the events during the reassignment exam. The sensation when she blocked the cluster and Idel finished it off with his calipers. The two of them unexpectedly worked well together. She couldn't entrust dangerous work to Idel. As someone with a constellation, this was her job. Rustila gripped her sword tightly and supplied Ether to the blade. Crackle! The blade let out a discharge sound and howled sharply.
Rumble! Not just the giant golem in front of them. Behind it, dozens more were rushing in as a horde.
“Whoa.”
Seti shuddered.
“Why are there so many?”
“……An abnormal reaction, probably.”
— 'Pure and Persistent God' warns you. An ominous energy is growing stronger!
It wasn't the presence of the golems. She could tell that for certain. But right now, she had to focus on the enemies in front of her.
“Huu.”
Rustila took a deep breath.
— Paid 3000 coins to use skill.
She exhaled again.
A-rank Conversion: Comminution