Practical Exam
The name definitely rang a bell. TV? The internet? A game? I rummaged through my memories, but the search didn't last long. The golem that had closed in on me was already demonstrating a 540-degree rolling thunder followed by a tombstone piledriver.
“What in the world.”
“Huk.”
“What kind of messed-up golem is that?”
The woman named Shannon Redmond desperately snatched her fallen magic wand from the floor in the midst of her agony. She muttered a self-suggestion and swung it at the golem looming above her. What came out, however, was nothing more than a pathetic stream of water, like someone taking a piss. The spell she chose was ridiculous, and its power was even more so.
“Eek! Uck! Kueeek!”
After that WWE 2054 match, she left the testing room looking more pulverized than processed meat.
Then, from the door she had just exited, a metal skeleton poked its head out. It triggered some unpleasant memories. The moment I clenched my fist, the tension drained away at the sight of the words engraved on its head: Work-use Skeleton - PP151. It was one of the magic skeletons the academy used as labor.
Sure enough, the skeleton clacked its jaw and pulled out a whiteboard from behind, waving it around.
Next candidate, please enter quickly. 😀
“““…….”””
The actual next examinee didn’t move. They were hesitating after witnessing such a horrifying beatdown. The skeleton made the same gesture toward the person after that, but the result was identical. Everyone was extremely reluctant to go in.
If I go in now, it’s a loss, huh?
In this world, golems were frequently used for testing. These golems were created with magic, and even among the same type, their performance varied wildly. Obviously. Anyone could see it.
The golem in front of us right now was an exceptionally well-made one. The academy would be thrilled to have drawn such a high-quality unit, but for the people being tested, it was nothing but bad news. They would have to endure a far more painful process than those who got a weak golem.
They had to fight a harder battle than the other examinees. The harder the fight, the greater the chance of failing quickly. That meant it would be difficult to score points. For them, entering now was a loss. It was uncertain, but they were probably thinking along those lines. Of course, the fact that the golem moved like a pro wrestler who had possessed a machine probably added to the fear.
Time kept getting wasted. In the end, the skeleton rewrote the whiteboard and gestured for anyone in the back to come forward.
Is there anyone who wants to go first? 🤔
But if I thought about it a little differently, this could actually be a positive situation. Logically, it was unlikely the examiners hadn’t considered the difference in golem performance. They would probably adjust the scoring—raising the bar for weak golems and lowering it for strong ones. Given how many years the academy had been operating, it would be strange if they lacked that much flexibility.
Therefore, this was an opportunity. If I played my cards right, I could score higher than everyone else. Besides, there was no guarantee that a better golem wouldn’t come out even if this one was taken down. Whether it was now or later, it was all the same.
I ignored the people in the front row and strode confidently forward. Pitying gazes poured over me, as if they were looking at a poor lamb heading to slaughter.
“Examinee Kang Sian. May I go first?”
Scratch, scratch.
Then this way. 👉
I walked forward, ignoring the intangible prickling stares. The skeleton led me to a room where weapons hung on the walls.
Scratch, scratch.
Please choose a weapon you like! ☺
Spears and shields, knuckles, maces, bows, crossbows, daggers, longswords, greatswords, and more. My choice was, naturally, a longsword of similar length to the one I always used.
“A bit short. The edge isn’t very sharp either.”
It was literally a test weapon. It might be somewhat threatening to ordinary people, but it wouldn’t pose any real danger to hunters or monsters. I ran my fingers along the blade and calculated. Roughly how much mana would be needed to make this edge lethal. How many strikes it would take to bring down that golem.
“Three. Or four.”
That was both the maximum and my goal. I decided inwardly and left the room. The skeleton then placed something in my hand. It felt like a button battery—something blue. A mana battery.
I inserted it into my Hunter Watch. A hologram immediately appeared, displaying my current status.
It was operating normally. After one final check, the skeleton disappeared.
The Palaestra Academy practical exam, Monster Hunting section, will now begin.
The total exam time is one minute. Evaluation will be based on how much damage you deal, as well as the techniques you demonstrate in attack, defense, and evasion.
The test golem will appear shortly. The exam begins when the bell rings. Please refer to the analog timer at the top for remaining time.
It sounded like a pre-recorded artificial voice. However, rather than feeling like a harsh machine, it was closer to a magically generated voice that rippled like waves. I was standing there, truly feeling what magitech was, when the door in front of me opened. The metal golem that had turned the woman into a rag earlier walked out.
I moved sideways little by little, keeping my eyes fixed on the golem. The golem stared right back at me. I was certain there would be no staring contest once the bell rang. I gripped the sword I had been holding lightly a little tighter.
The moment the tension reached its peak—
The metallic clash and the vibrating sensation hit me. Ding, ding, ding— the clock began to move. The golem stepped onto the floor, and I gently raised my senses. The flow of air twisted. The world slowed down sharply.
Time Acceleration detected.
I didn’t even notice the hologram text change. The only thing I saw was the golem slowly lumbering toward me. I had no intention of dodging it. I kicked off the ground and charged forward as well. Both of us rushing at each other. We closed the distance in an instant.
I manipulated my mana. Blue particles burst forth as the tip of my sword extended. The faint sharpness created at the blade’s end reflected the light. To anyone watching, it looked like I was trying to slice it apart, and I moved my sword exactly as expected so as not to disappoint them.
But the golem wasn’t ignorant of that either and raised its guard. It would be completely blocked. Yet my sword continued moving.
“He’s gonna get hit at this rate—”
“Uh, uhh—”
“Another one’s going down. All that confidence for nothing—”
I could feel the gazes from beyond the glass despite the terrible soundproofing. Still, I didn’t feel like blaming them. After all, the most fun game in the world is backseat gaming, right? It was perfectly natural to react that way when watching someone charge in with a meaningless attack.
Which was why I—
“Got you!”
I stopped the moving sword. Immediately, I swung my idle left arm. As my right arm holding the sword pulled back, the motion grew larger. In contrast, my left fist shot forward toward the guard at high speed. And it was infused with mana.
“Penetrate!”
A fake. Or a feint. With a loud bang, the golem was sent flying. Its metal body crumpled. The guard shattered. It slowly soared into the air. The explosive release of mana was an attack even a heavy golem couldn’t withstand. It was a big hit delivered with basic martial arts, but I had no intention of stopping there. A neutralized golem floating in the air was too good a piece of meat to pass up. Right now, I absolutely had to land a critical hit.
Tap—!
I pushed my senses to the limit. In a world even more distorted, I kicked off the floor and leaped forward. I gathered every last bit of mana left in my hand and poured it into the sword. A curved surface of blue light followed the trajectory. And the end of that trajectory was the golem’s chest.
The metal that served as its shield split apart like jelly and finally severed completely. In the end, the golem rolled across the floor. Its lower and upper body were separated.
“That’s the second one.”
For the last, a third attack as a confirmation kill would be enough. I immediately approached the limp upper body. I brought the sword close to its neck. All that was left was to cut.
“……”
The golem showed no movement whatsoever. There wasn’t even the faintest hint of regret in its eyes. It had been a dead thing from the start. Now it was truly dead.
When I rolled my eyes, I saw that only ten seconds had passed out of the minute. I clicked my tongue and recovered the mana still clinging to the sword. After all, today’s practical exam wasn’t over yet. Even if I drank a potion, I needed to conserve mana when I could.
I turned my head and looked at the black glass. Somewhere beyond the one-way glass, the supervisors had to be watching. As I continued sending them a look that asked what now?, a cleverly hidden door opened. The metal skeleton that emerged held out a whiteboard to me.
Score measurement complete! You may proceed to the next practical exam! 💯
It had even written the score in tiny letters beside it. I set the sword down on the floor and exited through the door I had entered from. A completely different silence greeted me. There was no mockery in the atmosphere—only bewilderment. It felt like they were quietly staring at someone they shouldn’t be looking at. The only words I could hear were gasps of “Huk,” “Whoa,” and “Ah.”
Hmm. It seems all my hard work up until now has paid off. I felt satisfied, as if I were being healed and my ego was swelling.
Repeating to myself that I definitely wouldn’t fail the academy, I took a few more steps when I saw her—the woman who had fallen from pain into despair.
“Ah……”
The woman who had taken the practical before me. Shannon Redmond wore a dazed, vacant expression.