Ready, Fire
The group evaluation spanned two days and consisted of two events in total.
Clearing the dungeon Relvgius, and a mock group field battle.
And today was the day of the first event: the dungeon clear.
Each class took their turn in sequence, the order drawn fairly at random. Class A had drawn fifth.
Classes that finished early could watch the remaining classes from a waiting room.
After a tedious stretch of waiting, Leon and the Class A cadets stepped into the Tower of Illusions to take on the first event.
"Everyone feeling all right?"
At Leon's casual question, the cadets nodded in unison.
"…"
Leon's brow furrowed slightly.
Their muscles were loose, their faces slack — not a shred of tension among them. The real combat experience they'd gained in the Demon Realm had left them looking entirely too comfortable.
These little bastards…
That limp, unfocused energy sat poorly with him. Leon twisted his face into something thoroughly unpleasant and spat the words out.
"Just you wait. If we don't take first place, you're all dead."
"…!"
The cadets flinched and immediately straightened their postures.
"Ah, right. This is all going out, isn't it."
Every conversation during the exam was broadcast externally. Leon put on the most harmless smile he could manage, looked up toward the camera, and gave a little wave.
Of course, to the people monitoring from the control room, he looked completely unhinged.
Rumble—
The mana of the space shuddered, and the transfer began. The Archmages had come through and overhauled the whole system not long ago, and it showed — the flow of mana was far cleaner and faster than before.
Whoosh!
Mana swept through their entire bodies. Before long, Class A arrived on a vast grassy plain.
No walls, no structures of any kind. The ceiling was a clear, sunny sky. Dry air brushed against their skin, and the temperature was neither hot nor cold — just right.
Flash!
Translucent letters appeared above their heads.
Relvgius Clear — Stage 1
Eliminate all enemy forces.
Evaluation begins in 30 seconds.
30, 29…
It was unfriendly — no detailed explanation, just a countdown right out of the gate. But Leon already knew the full contents of the exam, so he wasn't fazed in the slightest.
"Formation One!"
He had them form a breach formation for appearances' sake, then took the lead position and drew mana up from his dantian.
The dungeon Relvgius was a dungeon in name only. In practice, it was essentially a speedrun. The objective was to clear stages filled with traps and obstacles as fast as possible.
And—
Stage One is nothing special.
He could handle this stage entirely on his own. Leon began circulating his mana, heating his whole body to a peak.
Seconds ticked by. The cadets fidgeted with their sword hilts in sweat-slicked hands.
"…"
Leon quietly closed his eyes.
Roooar—!
Mana tore through his circuits like a storm. Energy whipped around him, sending his hair and clothes thrashing in the wind.
Carotin, watching the front and smacking his lips, suddenly asked, "Leon. Got any kind of plan?"
"For now."
Leon's answer was brief. If he started spouting off like he knew something, the instructors watching from outside would naturally grow suspicious. That was also why he hadn't given the cadets a detailed rundown of the exam content, even though he already knew it all.
Because of Leon's high status, he was actually more vulnerable to accusations of cheating. Elprime was unforgiving about that sort of thing, so he had to be careful.
At last the seconds ran out.
The space trembled faintly.
Flash!
Short figures erupted in a swarm before the cadets' formation. The empty plain filled densely with enemies in an instant.
The cadets recognized them immediately. One hundred goblin warriors, each armed with a well-crafted wooden spear and a round shield. Their opponents for Stage One.
"…!"
The cadets' eyes went wide as they seized their sword hilts. The goblins raised their spears as one, about to let out a battle cry—
—and Leon's blade was already drawing its arc.
Jecheon Sword Style, Second Form: Manunbicheon.
Whoooooosh—!
Ten thousand blue clouds scattered. A vast, sweeping sword strike that blanketed every direction. The gently extending blue trails savagely devoured the enemies' flesh.
KRAAAAAASH—!
A storm of blood whipped through the air. Not a single goblin remained intact. The fresh green lawn was instantly buried under blood and shredded meat, a scene of pure carnage.
"…"
The cadets stood frozen, not so much as lifting a finger.
Three seconds.
That was how long it took Class A to clear Stage One.
Leon grinned with satisfaction.
"Next!"
A short while later.
Flash!
Class A was transferred to Relvgius Stage Two. Gray text appeared at once with instructions.
Relvgius Clear — Stage 2
Reach the red flag ahead in the shortest time possible.
All 25 members must arrive at the flag for the clear to be recognized.
Evaluation begins in 30 seconds.
30, 29…
Leon and the cadets quickly surveyed their surroundings. Uneven terrain, sparse vegetation. Their ears caught the sound of water; their noses filled with a briny, riverine scent.
"This is…"
"A river…?"
Just ahead, sealed off by a transparent barrier, stretched a wide river roughly twenty meters across. On the far bank, the red flag mentioned in the instructions stood planted large and clear.
There was just one problem.
"What the hell is this…"
"…No way we're swimming across."
ROAAAAAR—!
The current was absurdly fast. No matter how strong a swimmer you were, so much as dipping a foot in that river would sweep you away for certain.
Perhaps for that reason, various floating objects drifted irregularly across the surface — logs, plank scraps, buckets, a small boat.
The cadets all nodded as if they understood.
"Looks like we're supposed to hop across on those."
"It's a little fast, but… as long as we don't mess up…"
Of course, climbing onto tiny floating debris in a raging current was something no ordinary person would even attempt. But these were all expert martial artists who handled their own bodies with exceptional skill — the odds were more than good enough. Not a single person here was incapable of it.
And yet.
"Hey. Are you seriously not going to use your heads? Why the hell would you hop across on those?"
Leon stared at the cadets like they'd lost their minds.
"Carotin! Get over here! Prep Number Seven!"
"…Ah! Right!"
As if struck by lightning, the cadets grasped his meaning and scrambled into motion.
"Ugh. These dense little bastards."
After all that practice, and it still didn't come to them right away? Leon glared at the cadets with open dissatisfaction.
"You ready?"
"Of course."
Carotin thumped his chest and answered. Currently, Leon and Carotin stood at the front, facing each other with the river running alongside them. Behind them, the remaining twenty-three Class A cadets were lined up in a single file. Everyone was rolling their shoulders, rotating their necks, stretching and loosening up.
Leon called out to Kiana, who stood at the head of the line.
"All right, climb on!"
"Okay!"
In stunt cheerleading, there is a technique called the Basket Toss — a cheerleader steps onto interlocked hands and is thrown high into the air, then caught. What they were doing now looked very much like the setup for that move.
Carotin's hands held Kiana's left foot. Leon's hands held her right. Kiana gripped both men's shoulders like handles.
"Ready!"
On Leon's command, the three of them bent their knees deep, like a bowstring drawn taut. The entire sequence was mechanical and sharp — the product of countless hours of practice.
The moment the barrier sealing them off vanished—
"Fire!"
"Hrrrngh!"
Exploding every scrap of mana in their bodies, Leon and Carotin hurled Kiana with everything they had.
"Yaaah!"
Kiana uncoiled from her crouch and soared high into the sky.
Whoooooosh—!
Like a hawk, her form glided through a beautiful arc. She even threw in a performance — three full somersaults in midair — before landing on the opposite bank in a rock-solid stance.
"Hup!"
"Guys, hurry up!"
Kiana sprinted under the flag and bounced on her feet, waving both hands.
"Next!"
Without so much as glancing at her flight, Leon was already calling the next cadet.
"Ready, fire!"
Whoooooosh—!
With Leon and Carotin — Class A's two strongest physical specimens — working in tandem, the cadets went flying like stones from a catapult.
"Ready, fire! Ready, fire! Readyfire! Readyfire!"
Elegant arcs were drawn without pause, bridging bank to bank. The process of launching cadets was so clean and so rapid that each one took less than five seconds.
At the same time.
"Th-that's not how you're supposed to do it?!"
…The central control room, watching it all unfold, descended into chaos.