First Day of the Practical Exam
“Uwaaaah—!!! It’s over! Freedom! FReeeedom!!!”
The moment the written exam ended, Noah shot to her feet and stretched her arms high.
For a tiger dominating the snowy plains, her roar was all volume with no real bite to match the moment.
“Noah. Good work getting through today.”
“More! More! Praise me more!”
Rohan watched Noah beg for compliments from Ichinose, who was a full head shorter than her, and packed away his writing tools with a satisfied smile.
“Hmm...”
Rohan felt pretty confident about this written exam.
With Ichinose's full support, he'd actually studied hard this time.
And the curriculum overhaul had shrunk the theory scope considerably.
The top-rankers still needed deep understanding for the differentiators, but the rote memorization had dropped a ton compared to midterms.
That made things easier for both Rohan and Noah.
No telling about rankings, but the scores themselves were bound to improve.
As long as the numbers go up, that's a mood booster.
Orion Academy trained combat specialists, after all.
They wouldn't skimp on picky questions just to differentiate, even with less theory.
Let the perfect scores pile up on paper—sort 'em out in practicals.
“Rohan. Good work. How'd the exam go?”
“Lots of the ones you tipped me on. Should score well thanks to you. Ichinose got perfect, right?”
“We'll see. If luck's on my side.”
Her words were modest, but that confident uptick in her lips said otherwise.
“And Noah?”
“On the phone with her parents. She solved way more than expected, so she's thrilled.”
Good for her. Rohan finished prepping to head back to the dorms with that thought.
Ichinose watched him quietly before speaking up.
“Rohan.”
“Yeah?”
“You'll collect all the bells tomorrow in the practical, right?”
“Obviously.”
“Me too. Noah as well.”
“Guess that makes it a race.”
Just from how Rohan had questioned Juyeon during her practical briefing, anyone could guess his goal.
The girls wouldn't pass up a shot at Juyeon either. But mindset-wise, things were different now.
Ichinose and Noah had both been spurred on by Rohan.
“Competition... I like it. I won't lose.”
Rohan liked the smile on the girl with her eyes closed.
⋯
⋯
The first day of practicals dawned.
First-years gathered not in classrooms but across the academy grounds, warming up individually.
Second-years headed somewhere else entirely.
Rohan double-checked the harness securing his Radiant Blade's sheath and his pistol holster, then glanced at the time.
Testing ran 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Meals on your own schedule.
Not much longer till nine.
“Hoo!”
As Rohan rolled his shoulders to loosen up, Ichinose approached, cradling her cherished sword.
She'd ditched the academy uniform for the workout clothes from the training room—optimized for movement.
“How's your condition?”
“Good. You?”
Rohan nodded and scanned the area.
“No sign of Noah?”
“Over there.”
He followed Ichinose's slender finger.
Amid the bustling cadets, a tiger girl chomped through a burger like it was nothing.
Empty wrappers piled high beside her—who knew how many she'd demolished.
“Exam's starting soon, and she's eating that much...?”
“Noah can stuff herself and move full throttle right after.”
“No stomachache?”
“I asked once. She said even sprinting at max after eating never hurts. I don't stop her anymore—it's her routine.”
“Whoa...”
Even as Rex Frostheart's blood, it was wild.
What kind of body did she even have? Pure awe.
Other beastkin cadets gawked too, equally amazed.
“...Rohan. Truth is, I came to pass on a message.”
“I'm listening. Shoot.”
“Mom just called. She says to be careful—you too.”
“Me?”
Rohan wanted to ask how she was doing first, but the content left him puzzled.
Ichinose nodded gravely.
“Dungeon survivors got caught in a Monolith twice. Like you. No word on them returning yet.”
“Not 'a person'—people?”
“Yeah. Two of them. Absurd odds.”
“Hmm...”
“They've got a hypothesis from this incident and your case. Maybe anyone who's cleared a dungeon once has higher odds of getting pulled into another Monolith...”
Rohan hadn't heard this. Nothing like it in the game lore either.
Could be freak coincidence beating insane odds—or the theory might hold.
You couldn't dodge a Monolith by being careful anyway. But if he got yanked into another dungeon later, it'd make a handy excuse.
“Tell her thanks. I'll watch my back.”
“Got it.”
“Oh! Sion and Clara hit a dungeon once too. Mind if I warn them?”
“Mom's calling them separately. Don't worry.”
“...?”
Rohan was momentarily speechless.
Sion and Clara were that close with Ichinose's mom? How'd she even get their numbers?
Before he could dwell, the announcement blared.
Orion Academy practical exam commencing.
“Gotta go. Thought about teaming up, but... competition.”
“Good luck.”
Rohan watched Ichinose leave, then turned to see cadets surging toward one spot.
Heading for the lowest-point bells first? Over half streamed toward Instructor Marcel.
Might as well follow the flow for now.
Three days gave plenty of time to scout.
Rohan trailed the crowd.
A male instructor sat in a chair on the open field, exuding veteran poise with sharp eyes and a neatly trimmed beard.
Instructor Marcel held one bell per first-year cadet.
A box of yellow bells sat before him.
Marcel specialized in healing and antidotes.
Prized skills anywhere, yet he'd volunteered for dimensional rift suppression, leading monster clears up front.
Rohan had heard cadets struggling to adapt support skills for combat learned from him.
What's the test?
Cadets lay scattered, retching and dizzy.
Probably related.
He pushed through the throng to the front, spotting a thick line etched on the ground.
Beyond it, Marcel's mana field shimmered translucently.
“Step in and grab a bell.”
Marcel announced again.
Something's up.
With so many clutching their heads, entering that space triggered something.
Rohan felt a twinge of regret.
His pre-set traps would need retrieving later.
Can't use 'em here anyway.
It was a concern. The test wasn't what he'd expected.
From Juyeon's rundown, he'd figured some instructors would grade non-combat methods.
Plus rules against excess destruction or harming cadets.
His dawn preps had limits, and they wouldn't fully satisfy.
...Instructors don't share intel among themselves, so that's good.
Spread across the vast academy building and grounds, they couldn't see each other.
Even sounds only hint at situations or weapons. Could pass as raw cadet skill.
No one could pinpoint perfectly.
His prep would stay fresh each time.
With that, he stepped forward.
Into the field. Onlookers focused on him.
Vrrr—!!!
Vibrations gripped and shook his whole body. Felt like turning into a phone on buzz.
Rohan grinned at the bizarre new sensation.
Interesting.
Odd place.
Wrapping his body in mana blocked the vibes.
But they kept disrupting irregularly, trying to unravel the mana sheath itself.
That's why everyone's laid out dizzy.
Test of mana control.
Simple, effective, demanding finesse.
Rohan strode straight to Marcel.
The instructor looked up from his chair.
“You're the cadet who cleared two dungeons, Rohan.”
“Yes, sir. Bell okay?”
“Of course. Clean control. Pass.”
Rohan pocketed the bell Marcel handed over and moved on.
Next: the sparsest crowd.
Poles apart.
Early in testing, lowest-difficulty Marcel and highest-difficulty Juyeon drew the mobs. One bell each, yet the pull.
Others had fewer, but the gap was clear.
“Oh! Cadet Rohan!”
Instructor Carrot waved enthusiastically as he approached.
Rohan passed a cadet sailing through the air from a kick.
His eyes fixed on the silver bell at her waist.
He bowed briefly and cut to the chase.
“Instructor. How do I take the test?”
“Show me an attack or move that impresses this Carrot Instructor. But if you attack, I'll kick you flying!”
Her rabbit ears perked straight up! She whipped kicks through empty air.
No mana, yet her leg blurred invisible.
“Straightforward. Nice.”
Loving the test, Rohan grinned.
Cadets had wisely kept distance.
KO'd kick victims got dragged off by friends.
“Right? Nothing beats one-dimensional!”
“Word.”
Rohan drew his pistol, casually slipping a hand to his mag pouch.
Staring at the instructor in her announced spot, he fiddled with a small device.
Split-second.
Over in a blink.
Tschiiing!
The ground cracked, hot light spearing out in forks.
Explosion—and the earth where Carrot stood flipped skyward.
Kwaaaaang—!!!