Entrance Exam (4) — Episode 7
"Contestant 174, huh..."
"That guy, he posted results pretty close to Her Ladyship in the earlier exams, right? That's not normal."
"Close? Honestly, I'd say he edged her out a little."
"Whoa, hey, shh."
"Is he some hidden master, then...?"
"Haah... God, he's so handsome..."
The moment I stepped in, the stands began to stir all over again.
They'd watched the exam with their own two eyes, so they knew perfectly well my skill was anything but ordinary.
"We will now begin."
As I was listening to the low murmur wash over the arena, the proctor's voice cut through to my ears.
I pulled my scattered focus back together, drew my mana up, and fixed my gaze straight ahead.
Grrooooan—
The iron gate opened, and three orcs strode out alongside Seria's cell.
"Kweeeeek!"
"Chwik— chweeei—"
"Grrulk?"
The three little pig brothers let out puzzled grunts at the sight of me facing them all alone.
"Same as Her Ladyship, huh?"
"Their exam scores were identical, weren't they? The final opponent reflects your earlier results, so of course it'd be the same."
"I wonder how he'll fight. I'm curious."
Maybe because they'd just watched Seria's battle, the murmurs carried an expectant edge — a hope that I'd show them something impressive too.
Well then, I suppose I owe them a proper answer for their expectations.
"Kweeeeek—!!"
While I was mulling over how exactly to cook these things, one orc judged that I was its opponent alone and charged. The two pigs who'd been standing around dumbly saw their buddy dash forward and lumbered along after it.
Right.
I'd just remembered the recipe, and now I raised my mana and settled into my stance as if I'd been waiting for exactly this.
And then—
Illusion
Ignoring the leader, I cast Illusion on one of the two orcs charging in from behind. Immediately after, I ran straight at the unaffected orc coming right at me.
Whiiiish—
Swish!
I twisted sideways to dodge the massive body hurtling toward me, and let my sword ride the momentum, raking it across the thing's flank.
I wasn't Seria, so I couldn't shear clean through its hide in a single stroke. But a blade carrying genuine, strength-backed force layered with mana carved a deep gash into the orc's abdomen.
"Kweeeeeeek—!!"
The orc my sword had cut let out a scream of agony. I glanced back — it was charging at me again, eyes bloodshot.
"Bingo."
I gave each of the two orcs rushing me a single cut, then moved fast to scramble their positions. And right about when the blood-spewing orc from behind drew near—
Illusion
I twisted the vision of the one I'd pre-marked with Illusion.
"Grrulk? Grrurrulk— KRRRRRRRULK!!"
"Kwweek?!!"
WHAM—!
It wobbled in place for a heartbeat — then hurled a tremendous body slam straight at its own comrade. Both the orc beside it and the one mid-charge were swept up in the collision and went tumbling away in a heap.
See, why did I ever think Lucian was strictly a solo-play character?
At first I'd assumed he was built purely for disrupting an enemy's senses in one-on-one duels. But over my week of grinding levels, fighting packs of monsters all at once, I'd come to understand something: Lucian could dominate co-op play — a real-world multiplayer raid — just as spectacularly.
Right now, low on mana, I could only afford to Illusion a single target. But once my mana pool grew enough to wrap an entire enemy force in the spell? Sure, the situation would have to cooperate, but I'd be able to make enemies annihilate themselves while my allies didn't spill a single drop of blood.
"Kweeeeeeeek—!!"
"Kweek! Kweeeeek!!"
Because in the chaos of battle, people will believe anything their eyes tell them.
Look at that dim-witted pig right there, mistaking its ally for an enemy and attacking — wasn't it demonstrating that exact potential?
Thud— BOOM!
CRASH-CRASH!!
"What... what is that?"
"An innate ability? No — what the hell kind of power is that?"
As I sat back and enjoyed the orcs brawling among themselves, the murmur from the stands swelled louder, my fight shattering every expectation they'd had.
Natural enough — they'd taken me for a swordsman cut from Seria's cloth, and now I was flaunting some bizarre trick instead.
Not that it's any of my concern.
I'd shown them roughly everything worth showing, so maybe it was time to wrap this up. I shot a sidelong glance at Seria, who was staring at me from across the arena with wide, round eyes, then squared my stance.
And— kwak!
I kicked off the ground and charged straight into the thick of the orcs still brawling with each other.
Perhaps because it was a two-on-one fight, the Illusion-struck orc was slowly being pushed back.
Well, I can't just leave it hanging, can I.
Swish—!
With that sound, my sword carved through the defenseless orc's nape.
Even if I couldn't Sever like she could, a severed vital point killed all the same.
"Kweeeeeeek...!!"
Its nape mangled to ribbons, the orc let out a shriek, twisted — then flopped flat onto the ground, spraying a fountain of blood.
"Kweek! Kweeeeek...!"
The remaining orc turned to me, letting out a cry that sounded almost like 'You came to save me...!', its eyes shining with gratitude.
"Pfft. Kweek."
So I gave a little snort, answered in orc, and charged.
Swish—!
With a wicked grin, my sword swept out and cut down the vital points of one utterly defenseless orc and one thoroughly careless one with surgical precision.
"Kweeeeek...?"
Why would you...?
The orc collapsed with an expression that seemed to say exactly that.
"Wh — WHOAAAAAAAA!!"
And with that, the stands erupted.
It was a natural reaction — I hadn't matched Seria's speed, but I'd toyed with and dispatched the orcs in such a strange way that nobody could look away.
Listening to the roar of the crowd, I thought to myself:
Hm.
I don't fully understand the details, but the general consensus seems to be "absolutely busted." Good to know.
-WHOAAAAAAA!!
"Hm..."
In a certain chamber, the clamor outside filtering in as a faint haze, a man watching the gray-haired boy who'd felled three orcs in such an unusual fashion let out a low hum.
"What on earth is that ability of his?"
asked Rayna Digitalis, the red-haired female instructor watching the scene beside him.
If a woman as versed in magic as she was couldn't identify it even while watching it happen, that settled it — this wasn't magic. It had to be an innate ability.
"Beats me. But one thing's certain — we've got an interesting one walking in."
Bronson Clyne, the muscle-bound male instructor, replied with a smile. The heavy lines of his face gave him a delightfully hearty look.
"I'll go confirm it myself."
"Eh, is that really all right?"
Rayna asked, startled.
"Well, why wouldn't it be? Nothing in the regulations forbids it."
"Still, an instructor stepping in personally during entrance exams is practically unheard of... and didn't Lady Seria get a golem as her stand-in? There's such a thing as an unspoken rule. People might talk."
"Oh, come now — since when has our academy ever cared about that sort of thing? And anyway, what's your alternative?"
Rayna opened her mouth to respond, then shut it again.
"If you've got a way to uncover that boy's ability that doesn't involve meeting him face to face, I'm all ears."
"...Fine. Just go already."
"Puhahaha! Should've said so from the start. Back in a flash."
"Yes. Do be careful."
"What exactly is there to worry about with me?"
"Not your body — your restraint. He's only a candidate, not a cadet yet. You know you can't just rough up applicants however you please, right?"
"...The boy's admission is all but guaranteed anyway. What's the harm?"
"Ahem."
Tsss—
"Ahem. Kghm. Very well, then. Do conduct the exam... carefully."
"Yes. Off you go."
His tail thoroughly singed by Rayna's piercing glare, Bronson shuffled out of the evaluation room.
"Haah..."
Rayna sighed as she watched him disappear.
"How on earth did I end up working with a man like that..."
It was a complaint packed so full of earnest, heartfelt grievance that you didn't even need to listen closely to feel it.
After dispatching the three orcs, I was standing by when the proctor approached carrying a water jug. I took a drink to wet my throat, and he spoke.
"If you will wait, a supplementary exam is scheduled. Should you wish to decline the additional test, however..."
"I'm taking it. Absolutely."
"Understood."
Should I wish to decline? What kind of if is that? How could anyone pass up an opportunity like this?
I handed back the jug and the proctor withdrew.
And then time passed.
"...?"
But this was taking a while.
Seria got her golem right away, so why was my wait dragging on like this?
Are they having trouble making a judgment call?
In the game, if you cleared the practical exam with a high score, a supplementary test would run to further probe how well a character could utilize their innate ability.
Most characters' abilities were pretty intuitive at a glance — like Seria's or Nia's. But my ability, Illusion, was the kind that was genuinely hard to assess by sight alone.
Grrooan—
Oh, here it comes.
So that's why the exam was delayed, I thought, waiting — when the portcullis finally rose and a man stepped out.
"...Huh?"
Wait. A man?
In the final exam, like Seria's, you faced an opponent best suited to exercising your unique ability. And that opponent was almost always a powerful monster, or — as with Seria — a golem.
A human showing up was nearly unheard of. No, as far as I knew, it had never happened at all.
Then why...?
No, hold on. Before that — that man's face. It looked familiar.
"Who's that guy?"
"No idea. He certainly looks frightening, though..."
"Oh, wait? That face — I swear I've seen it somewhere..."
As I studied him, the stands began to stir as well.
"A pleasure."
The man walked out into the center of everyone's attention and spoke plainly.
"I am Bronson Clyne, an instructor here at Union Academy."
Ah.
At that name, memory came flooding back.
Swordsmanship Department instructor, Bronson Clyne. A swordsman hailing from the Flyne Kingdom, one of the many powers that existed in the world of Union Academy.
A prodigy renowned since his academy days, he'd racked up one distinguished battlefield achievement after another after graduation and ridden that momentum all the way to receiving the title of First Sword of the Flyne Kingdom. Now he served as an instructor at the Academy.
But why would someone like him...?
I'd figured they'd send out some appropriate test opponent — I hadn't imagined an Academy executive-level figure would show up in person.
"Ahem. You seem rattled. I'll be conducting the supplementary exam that is about to begin."
Since I wasn't saying anything, Bronson apparently read the silence differently and carried on.
"Now then — come at me with everything your ability can do."
He beckoned with a crooked finger, sword already drawn, and yet I couldn't sense so much as a whisper of aura from him.
And even so, there wasn't a single opening anywhere to be seen.
Should I have expected as much...?
I settled into my stance, thinking.
However good my scores, they'd never ask a mere candidate like me to actually defeat a near-apex powerhouse of this world. Give it your best, and show them what your ability is made of — what you're made of. That was surely the point.
Then I'll do exactly as you please.
Illusion
I used the ability on Bronson to scramble the direction of my movement, then charged in along a subtly bent path.
From his perspective, it would look as though I were rushing him head-on — when in reality I was coming at him from a diagonal to his right.
Almost there.
The instant I closed the distance, moving to drive my sword into the gap of a man gazing in entirely the wrong direction—
"Hmm?"
"?!"
WHAM—!
He let out a sound of mild puzzlement — and then, just like that, swung his arm and hammered the hilt of his sword squarely into my abdomen.
"Kghuk...!"
The unexpected impact sent me flying backward, clear across the arena.
No — what just happened?
The Illusion had landed perfectly, and I'd blocked off both his sight and his hearing. So how?
The shock rattled me so badly that even the Illusion I'd laid on him snapped and unraveled. I hastily reapplied the spell, wiped the spit from my mouth, and shook myself off — and Bronson, nodding to himself, spoke up.
"An ability that twists the senses, hm. Splendid. But your application is still clumsy. Show me more — everything you're capable of."
Ha?
He waggled his finger at me again, exactly as he had at the start. Listening to that voice — casually indifferent, almost bored — I felt the corner of my mouth curl up into a grin.
Well, well...
My pride's a little stung here, isn't it?
Do you have any idea how many hours I poured into Union Academy? You think I can't clear one measly wall like you?
Granted, there's no beating that monster with my current stats...
But landing one surprise hit on him? That much was more than within my reach.
Maybe it was letting my emotions get the better of me — but whatever. I wasn't about to sit here and quietly eat a stat deficit in some glorified tutorial.
One clean, effective hit. That's what I'm going to land, no matter what.
And just like that, my goal for this supplementary exam was set.
Illusion
I used the ability once more and charged at Bronson, who was still wearing that amused little smile.
Let's see just how long you can keep that look on your face, shall we?