Class Placement Exam (3)
Five minutes before stepping in to stop the fight between the two. Taegi was secretly observing their battle. He furrowed his brow sharply. Tsk. Weaker than I expected.
Lucyd, currently locked in an even match with Nel. If things had followed the exact same flow as the player’s run, she should have already overwhelmed Nel and claimed victory. Yet here she was, not only failing to win but fighting on equal footing. Of course he could sense her holding back her full strength, but given the favorable matchup, this was still far below expectations.
Well, I suppose it can’t be helped.
This was the consequence of him joining the Demon Lord’s army. In a way, it was nothing short of karma.
I shouldn’t have bothered helping the Four Heavenly Kings.
As he watched with that thought in mind—
—Whoosh!
Had they finally decided to get serious? Both of them unleashed their mana at full power. Nel merged with the spirits exactly as she had in the original story. Lucyd radiated the distinctive mana of the Hero. At this rate, it was obvious both of their Gauge Suits would be destroyed. He had to intervene.
Right before they collided—
—Boom!
Taegi slipped between them.
“Haa.” Taegi let out a shallow sigh and pinched his brow. Then he spoke.
“Students. Why are you fighting as if your lives are on the line in a simple exam?”
“Ah…”
“……”
At his words, both girls’ eyes widened. At the same time—
“U-uh?! It’s you!”
Lucyd pointed at him, startled. Then she added, flustered, “Y-you’re the one who sprayed that weird stuff on my face!”
No. Anyone listening would think I did it on purpose. Feeling unnecessarily awkward, he cleared his throat and changed the subject.
“Ahem. Rather than that, please answer my question. Why are you risking your lives over an exam?”
“Wow. Look how smoothly he changed the subject.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. Taegi answered with another small sigh.
“Haa… Yes, that was me. We’ll talk about the cake incident later.”
“No, you’re the one who sprayed it!”
“Anyway, more importantly—were both of you seriously trying to kill each other?”
At Taegi’s question, Nel pressed her lips tightly shut. Lucyd looked like she had something to say, but since she knew she was at fault, she kept quiet for now.
The next moment.
“By the way, is your hand okay?”
Nel stared at his hand with genuine worry. Lucyd, as if only now remembering, asked as well.
“Y-yes! Now that you mention it, you blocked both of our attacks, Assistant! Is your hand really alright?!”
“There’s no need to worry. My hand is perfectly fine.”
In response to their questions, Taegi showed his open palm. Nel’s eyes widened.
How? How can it be completely unscathed?
That had been a full-power attack. Even if he was the underground guild master, blocking something like that bare-handed and remaining unharmed was impossible. He wasn’t even wearing a Gauge Suit.
“You. Just who are you?”
“Hmm?”
“No matter if you’re an academy assistant, how can you be fine after taking both my attack and the Hero’s?”
The sudden natural tone of her voice caught both Taegi and Lucyd off guard. Taegi was surprised because he hadn’t expected Nel to panic like this. Lucyd was surprised because she hadn’t expected the man before her to have such a ‘feminine’ voice.
“Well, it’s simple. I just used Dispel on both of your attacks.”
“Huh…?”
“Dispel? In that split second?”
At Lucyd’s question, Taegi nodded. Nel stared at him with complete disbelief.
What kind of nonsense is that?
To cast Dispel, the caster needed the exact same quantity and quality of mana. On top of that, unlike the Hero, Nel had used necromancy. That made it far more complicated—her spell circuits and necromantic energy had to be matched perfectly. Yet Taegi claimed he had done it in an instant. Even if he had Dispelled the spells, the attacks themselves would have continued. And he had blocked them with his bare hands. How was she supposed to process any of that?
Even when I tell the truth, they don’t believe me.
Under the two girls’ sharp gazes, Taegi smiled bitterly and moved on.
“If you won’t believe me, that’s fine. More importantly, both of you are disqualified.”
“What?! Why!”
“Why are we disqualified?”
“Because you broke the rules and tried to kill a fellow student. It’s only natural to fail you. If you can’t even follow this one rule, how can I trust you to follow any of the others?”
“Ugh…”
It was such an irrefutable point that both girls were left speechless. In truth, however, Taegi had never intended to disqualify them. He wasn’t crazy enough to fail the Hero and her future comrade.
It was simply that—
At this rate, neither of them will reach S-rank.
The mana orbs in the other areas had already been taken by two members of the Hero’s party. And since the last one can’t be sensed at all, it seems to have been destroyed.
That left only the one currently in their hands. In times like this, a little flexibility was necessary.
“However, I’ll give you a chance. There is one way for both of you to advance to S-rank.”
Both girls perked up at his words. Taegi smirked.
“Endure the mana I release for thirty seconds without fainting. If you manage it, I’ll create mana orbs equivalent to the ones you need.”
“Uh… isn’t that basically the same as cheating…?”
“So you refuse?”
“No! People need to bend the rules sometimes!”
Yes. For a Hero, she was surprisingly flexible. Satisfied with her answer, Taegi’s lips curved into a grin.
“Then I’ll take it as both of you agreeing. Let’s begin.”
After hearing Taegi’s conditions, Nel felt a wave of disbelief. The way he had casually blocked their full-power attacks earlier was undeniably impressive. She couldn’t deny that. But to call simply enduring mana a test? It stung her pride.
—Grind!
That is, until the exact moment Taegi released his mana.
Ugh! What is this?!
The air grew oppressively heavy. She couldn’t breathe. All the man in front of her was doing was releasing mana—nothing more. Yet her entire body trembled violently.
How can mana be this dense?!
Wondering if she was the only one feeling it, she glanced sideways. But Lucyd was struggling just as badly.
“Huk… Huk…”
It was a kind of mana she had never experienced before. She had once thought the Hero’s mana was incredibly dense in quality. She had been wrong. If the assistant’s mana was like a bottomless abyss, the Hero’s was nothing more than a shallow brook.
H-how many seconds have passed?
She glanced at the timer resting on the rock. Subjectively it felt like an hour, yet only ten seconds had actually gone by. She still had to endure this twice more.
Will this even end?
As Nel fell into despair watching the remaining time—
Kugh! My body won’t move!
Meanwhile, Lucyd was also gritting her teeth, desperately holding on. The assistant before her was the very man the god had spoken of—the one she was fated to meet. Yet instead of a fateful encounter, he had dumped something strange on her, then ran off after tossing her money. And now it turned out he was an assistant at the academy she had just entered.
She could understand everything up to that point. But the real problem was—
Just what is this person’s true identity!
The man of fate was currently blasting her with his mana! What kind of fate was this? It felt like the god had tricked her. This wasn’t a fated man—he was no different from an enemy!
—Grind!
At that moment, veins bulged on both their foreheads. One by one, the blood vessels began to burst.
H-how many seconds left?
It was usually best not to look. But she couldn’t endure any longer. At this rate, she really felt like she might die.
She quickly glanced at the timer.
‘Ten seconds!’
Only ten seconds remained. The next moment—
-9.
One second passed. In that single second, red liquid trickled from both their lips. They had bitten down too hard while trying to endure.
-8.
Two seconds had now passed. Their legs began shaking uncontrollably after just one more second.
-7.
Seven seconds remained. Their legs gave out completely, and both of them dropped to their knees.
-6.
They had finally passed the halfway point. A faint spark of hope appeared in their eyes, a stubborn refusal to give up.
-5.
Half had passed. They only needed to endure that feeling one more time.
-4.
Just one more time, yet the pressure seemed to grow heavier with every passing second. It wasn’t only her—the man beside her was breathing harder now too.
-3.
Only three seconds left. Yet if it felt impossibly far away, was she imagining it? They had already endured twenty-seven seconds, but these final three felt longer than all the rest combined.
-2.
Only two seconds remained. Both their visions were beginning to blur.
-1.
Finally, the last remaining second. Their sight slowly faded into darkness.
The next moment—
-Thud!
Both of them collapsed, unconscious.
Taegi looked down at them and clicked his tongue.
“If nothing else, their mental strength is better than in the original.”
Honestly, he had expected them to fail. The mana he had released wasn’t his full power, but it still wasn’t something the early-story protagonists should have been able to endure. Yet they had lasted the full thirty seconds.
It was below expectations, but… with mental fortitude like that, they might be worth raising.
As Taegi moved to heal the two girls—
Sub story has concluded.
300 points have been awarded as a reward.
The Cash Shop has been opened.