Entrance Exam (3)
Woooong—
The mana measurement test wrapped up faster than any of the others. While the rest of the exams required you to move your body and perform, the process here was remarkably simple: one applicant at a time would step forward, place a hand on a round orb, the crystal would glow, and that was it. Thanks to that, the whole exam finished in under two minutes.
The only thing worth mentioning is that my crystal glowed more deeply than Seria's, and her expression darkened a little for it.
She looked so visibly glum that I tried to lighten the mood with an offhand question.
"Nervous, my lady?"
"…Lucian."
She shot me a fearsome glare. Aw, that's actually kind of sad. Not wanting to poke an already festering wound, I shut my mouth, and before long we were on our way to the final exam.
"Grrrrrr—"
"HYAAAH!"
This was a duel—no, more accurately, a hunt—against monsters matched to each applicant's demonstrated abilities. Your score here was decided by how safely, quickly, and decisively you took down your monster, and how skillfully you put your own abilities to use.
Swoosh—!
"Hah, hah…"
You could even earn bonus points for how calm you stayed in front of a monster, and for attacking without the slightest hesitation. As the applicant ahead of us heaved ragged breaths while taking down a White Wolf, Seria's expression gradually eased.
Thinking it over, I suppose her confidence was coming back. Fair enough, really. She'd received swordsmanship training from childhood at House Levenstein, a ducal family famed for the blade. As a character released earlier than Lucian, her base stats were on the low side, but her true strength had never been raw specs—it was her skills and innate ability. In real-world terms, here and now, that meant her actual swordsmanship and her mastery of her ability. She'd lagged behind in everything else, so I imagined she was determined to show something undeniable here.
—Next. Applicant number 173, please enter.
"Hehe, Lucian. Watch closely. The world isn't so generous as to be solved by a decent body alone, you know?"
Right on cue, she rose from her seat and tossed out a cheeky provocation.
"Well, who's to say. You're certainly right that a good body alone doesn't solve everything—though it does solve most things."
But what can I say? I am, after all, the lovingly aged, thoroughly vinegared veteran of Union Academy. Over the past week of exam prep, I'd converted a whole catalogue of game instincts into real-world muscle memory. Not a chance in hell I was losing. I smiled back at her without missing a beat.
"Well, like they say—you only know if the rope's long or short once you measure it. So watch carefully, by all means."
Not that she'd have any idea what that meant.
Seria kept her smile undimmed even at my retort, gave a little wave, and walked out to the arena. She took up position before the bars that would release the monster, standard-issue iron sword in hand from the proctor.
For the sake of fairness, the final exam required the use of basic equipment provided by the Academy. Naturally—given two applicants of equal skill, the one wielding a famed blade will always outperform the one holding a battered iron sword. Unless you were a chosen hero or legendary swordmaster whose power lived in the weapon itself, but people like that showed up once a century if they showed up at all.
-Grrrrr…
Rrrrrr—
After a brief pause, an unsettling noise drifted from beyond the gate, and the iron bars blocking Seria's opponent rose upward. What emerged was a hulking, hunched bipedal pig—an orc.
"Huh? It's just an orc?"
"That's it? One orc against the Lady? Something's off."
"Right…? Huh? Wait a second."
Just as the audience seats began to murmur, someone noticed the anomaly and blurted out in a flustered voice.
"Th-that's not just one!"
"What?"
"Wait—no, I'm serious!"
As if to prove that somebody's guess was right, a noisy commotion began to stir behind the first giant pig.
"Gruhk."
"SQUEEIIK—! SQUEK!!"
And then, true to form, two more pigs appeared in a line behind the first. Facing Seria were not one, not two, but a full three orcs. Even in Union Academy, you had to place top three in the entrance ranking to get matched against three orcs at once. That's our Seria for you.
"Th-three of them?"
"See! That's what it takes to be a worthy opponent for the Lady!"
The three pigs waddled forward and closed in around Seria, and only then did the audience's confusion turn to understanding. But this time a few worried voices rose instead.
"…Still, isn't three too many? Every cadet so far faced one. We've barely even seen orcs come out at all. Two would be one thing, but…"
"Oh, come on, man! You just don't know the Lady's true strength! Sit down and watch!"
But those were the minority. Most of the crowd seemed to be eagerly anticipating the show Seria was about to put on.
Woooong—
And as if answering their cheers, Seria's iron sword ran dark with deep navy light. Her innate ability—Severance. That cheat-code-grade mana, the kind that slices through everything with perfect impartiality, now settled into the blade.
Tap—
The moment the sword was fully stained, Seria threw herself at the orcs without a flicker of hesitation. An elegance that didn't even bother with the usual battle cry. The audience went dead silent, every eye fixed on her—
Schlick—!
—and the sound of a perfectly ripe apple split in half rang through the silent arena.
"Squee-… iik?"
At the same instant, a pig's head went soaring skyward, its scream cut off mid-note.
Squelch—
Then came the unpleasant sound of the body landing.
Seria didn't spare the direction so much as a glance. She was already lunging at the two remaining orcs, still frozen stupid at their companion's sudden death.
"SQUEIIIK!!"
One orc, belatedly grasping the situation, raised its arm against the incoming blade.
Schlick—!
A pointless gesture. Hide thick enough that ordinary weapons would only scratch it after blow after blow lost its entire reason for existence, parting without ceremony—and then even the dense bone beneath was cleaved clean in two.
"SQUEIIIIIIK!!!"
The orc, both arms gone in an instant, let out a scream braided of despair and agony—and while it did, schlick. Its head followed its arms, separating from its torso.
"Squiiiik…"
The last remaining orc loosed a howl of pure hopelessness. It had finally understood. That no matter what it did, it could not beat the small girl before it whom it had assumed was merely prey.
Schlick—
And soon enough, a pig's head heavy with resignation flew through the air.
Seria turned on an elegant step and walked back at a leisurely pace.
"W-WOOOOOAH!!"
"That's our Lady!!"
"INSANE! She's insane!"
The stands erupted into a roar soaked in excitement, and the very moment Seria was about to exit the arena—
"One moment, applicant 173."
—the proctor stopped her.
As everyone puzzled over the sudden intervention, he stated flatly:
"There's one more test we'd like to run with you, if you'd cooperate. Should you pass, there will be a substantial benefit to your entrance ranking."
An additional exam offered only to those who showed exceptional promise in the practical. The top seat of this incoming class would go to whoever performed best in it. Seria, who understood exactly what that meant, nodded without hesitation.
"Of course."
"Very good. Please wait there."
The proctor turned away. After a short wait—rrrrk—
The bars that had sealed the orcs away rose once more, and a different existence revealed itself.
BOOM—! BOOM—!
A massive frame that shook the ground with every step.
Krrriiik—
The grinding of a body that belonged to no living thing. A hard hide of solid stone.
"A golem…"
Someone in the audience murmured. And true to his word, what stood before Seria was an enormous golem. They'd surely sent something like this to probe the limits of her ability.
Heh—
She must have realized it too, because Seria smiled. Her iron sword flooded with navy.
Grrrrrr—
The golem, catching sight of her, glowed its eyes and let out a strange droning howl. Meeting that brilliant gaze head-on, Seria—
Tap—
—kicked off the ground without a hint of hesitation.
There was no formal signal to begin. Everyone already knew the exam had started the instant the golem appeared. With the same light, nimble footwork as ever, Seria closed the distance to the golem's face in the blink of an eye.
FWOOOOSH!
As she took her attack stance, the enormous golem swung one arm at a terrifying speed wholly unfitting its bulk, as if to say it wouldn't be a passive target.
WHISH!
But of course. Even a strike too fast for an ordinary person to so much as register—Seria slipped past it with ease and burrowed into the golem's guard. And then, schlick—
KUUUUUUNG—!
With a clean cutting sound, the massive boulder of a head slid off like a block of tofu and went sailing away to crash into the dirt. As the deafening roar rolled out and every spectator held their breath—
FWOOOONG!
The golem whipped its remaining arm at Seria.
TAK!
But far too simply, she evaded it with a graceful twist of her body. And then—
Shwirrik—
Schlick!
She launched herself lightly and swung her blade at the golem's chest, where its core lay buried. Again its body split apart so effortlessly that you'd doubt it was stone at all. Seria's sword bisected the golem's torso, and with its core severed, the construct shut down and reverted to nothing more than a pile of rocks.
"WOOOOOAAAAAH—!!"
A cheer burst out, incomparably louder than the last.
"The Lady is amazing—!"
"THE BEST!"
And so Seria exited the stage to everyone's adulation.
Heh—
"Well? What did you think, Lucian?"
Right on cue, she strolled over to me and flashed a deliberately smug smile. Though maybe it was just the face she was working with, because not a trace of smugness actually registered. Feeling like I was watching a favorite cousin ham it up, I chuckled and played along.
"Truly the Lady in name and in fact. Honestly, I'm starting to wonder if I can win after all."
"…What is with that lukewarm reaction?"
But our Lady was sharper-eyed than any cousin, and the sarcasm sailed right past her. To her look of full-bodied complaint, I answered with my usual shrug.
"Hm? Well. You'll see, won't you?"
Brushing off my seat as I stood, I smiled.
"You showed us something lovely, my lady. So I ought to return the favor."
"Applicant number 174! Please take the stage!"
Right on time—the cleanup must have finished—a voice called me forward.
"I've watched yours closely, so do return the courtesy and watch mine just as carefully."
With a grin, I left behind a visibly uneasy Seria and walked out to the arena.