Midterm Exam (2): Words Become Seeds
"Oh, it's you, Ashen...."
"We met sooner than I expected. They said the locations were random, but I guess we got lucky."
"Yeah, I guess so."
It had been less than five minutes since the exam started, yet I'd already found Rui. That was seriously good luck.
"Shall we get moving then? First... there's a mountain over there. Let's climb up and scout the area from above."
"I'll just follow behind you."
When it came to choosing dinner or when I couldn't make up my mind, sure. But in places like this, Rui usually went along with whatever I decided. So I had him keep watch for anyone approaching while I lightly leaped up, grabbed a branch, and climbed the tree.
From the top of one of the taller trees, I looked around. Battles had already broken out in many spots—smoke rose everywhere, and trees were toppling over left and right.
"Let's see...."
I quickly pulled paper from my subspace pouch and marked the areas where the chaos was happening. I couldn't draw a proper map, but I could at least figure out the general flow and positions.
I spotted fights breaking out in roughly a dozen places from up here. That was just from the tree; if I climbed the actual mountain and looked down, I'd probably see even more.
"Oof. So we've got this many active fight zones... but there will be students moving quietly too. We need to stay alert at all times."
"..."
"Rui?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah..."
Had he spaced out? I'd come down from the tree and explained everything in detail, but Rui looked completely distracted, his mind somewhere else.
"Hey, you okay?"
"Ah, um... sorry."
"...Is it hitting you that hard?"
We were in the middle of an exam, so seeing Rui suddenly go blank could have been frustrating. But knowing he came from the back alleys, all I felt was worry.
What was the back alley like in this fantasy world? A place where every crime—murder, robbery, assault, rape—happened daily. Children were sold as slaves or dragged off as test subjects for dark mages.
I'd picked Rui up from that hellhole, and my mother, taking pity on him, had hired him as a servant. These days I didn't think about it much, but... from the moment I first saw him, Rui had suffered from massive memory gaps.
Since he'd been found in the back alleys, he'd probably been beaten until he lost his memories. In the worst case, he might have been a dark mage's experiment. That was why I grabbed the dazed Rui by the wrist and simply dragged him along. Eventually he'd snap out of it, only to zone out again from time to time.
"Sorry...."
"It's fine. I've known you for years. That said, if I keep looking after you like this, maybe I should be the one with the servant title?"
"...Haha, we can't have that."
"Then pull yourself together. It's an exam, after all."
Even after I said that, Rui still insisted we delay the team contract. He felt guilty about teaming up with me in his current state and earning points that way. Given his personality, he wasn't the type to ride my coattails anyway.
Twenty minutes into the exam. Even though I wandered around with a distracted Rui, we didn't run into any ambushes or students passing by. Since we were on our way to secure a position anyway, it wasn't a bad thing. Wild animals and magic beasts kept appearing at convenient intervals.
"Grrraaawr!"
-Slice.
"Tsk."
I severed the bear-type magic beast's windpipe in one clean cut, then quickly dispatched the wild animals drawn by the scent of blood.
We advanced quickly like this until the slope suddenly grew much steeper.
"It's not too steep for you to handle, right?"
"It's not that bad. I've come back to my senses."
"That's a relief."
Rui's light blue eyes had regained their usual sharpness. He really did seem fine now.
"Then let's go secure our spot."
"Yeah."
We climbed the mountain together. Rui might rank mid-to-low in the Knight department because of his poor swordsmanship, but his stamina and agility were solid, so the climb didn't trouble him much. As for me—the third-place student—there was no need to even mention it.
As we made our way up the slope—
"Oh."
"Oh."
"C-crazy...!"
"Crazy?"
"It's that madman! Uwaaaaah!"
"Oh, for fuck's sake."
Apparently someone else had the same idea. We'd run into a student diligently climbing the mountain. But calling me a madman right to my face?
"I'll show you what a real madman looks like."
"Uwaaaaah! Please spare me! I haven't racked up many points yet!"
"Not my problem."
I drew my sword immediately. The guy trembled all over but instead of grabbing the blade on his back, he gave up and started running away.
"This bastard! A swordsman turning his back!"
"Uwaaaaaah! Why is he so fast?!"
"If I were slow, would I have gotten third place?"
"Uh..."
"Anyway, safe travels!"
"Graaaaah!"
I swiftly sliced through his necklace. A flash of light burst before my eyes as the student vanished.
"Showing your back is a swordsman's shame... tsk tsk."
"Ah, y-yeah...?"
"No, wait! I didn't mean it like that!"
Come to think of it, Rui had scars on his back too. I hadn't seen them since he was little and had completely forgotten. That was a close call.
"Ahem... A-anyway. Let's keep climbing. That guy screamed so loudly that a few people will definitely head this way now."
"True... Then we should hurry and run—"
"Run? Why would we run? Let's climb up, pick a good spot, and beat them one-sidedly as they arrive."
"...Oh, right."
Why would I run? They're the ones challenging me.
"The only ones I fear are four people. The top two from the Knight department and the top two from the Magic department. I still can't win against them. I haven't grown much, so of course I can't."
Unlike Estelle or Leona, I wasn't a Sword Master, so I couldn't use Aura. And unlike Loxia or Levia, I wasn't Great Mage level, so I couldn't use Mental Sphere.
Both Aura and Mental Sphere felt like things I could reach if I just crossed one wall. Yet it had already been seven years since I'd been stuck in front of this damn wall.
Everyone around me said that for my age, my level was incredibly high and that it was already amazing. But if I was going to be a genius, I wanted to stand at the very top. An ambiguous third-place genius didn't sit right with me at all.
First place could take the aloof supreme powerhouse position. Second place could play the scheming or smug second-in-command. But third place? There was nothing there.
In most fantasy novels, they mentioned up to second place all the time—the tragic genius, the inferiority-complex-ridden rival, the top guy's loyal aide, and so on. But third place was usually just an extra with hardly any detailed description.
That's why, if I was going to be a genius, I'd become the greatest one.
'To do that, I need Ella's RoFan female-lead event.'
Since it was an event for the RoFan female protagonist, it would boost not only Ella but everyone around her. That way I could naturally ride the female-lead buff and grow by leeching off it.
"...Come to think of it, I wonder if an incident won't happen this time."
"What...? What are you talking about?"
"No, I mean, on the first day of admission the Scavengers and dark mages teamed up and invaded, right? But in an environment like this—where it's even harder for the faculty to supervise—they're not going to invade?"
"Ashen... watch your mouth! You're making me anxious...!"
"Mm, sorry."
But it was pretty plausible, wasn't it? In most of the academy stories I'd read back on Earth, they always got attacked during exams like this.
Well, if it doesn't happen, it doesn't happen.
Since we'd climbed quite a distance, I scaled another tree to check the situation again.
"Hmm... looks like most of the fights have ended."
Earlier the forest had been full of flames, frozen patches, and upheavals from the magic used in battle. Now all I saw was trees falling and flying through the air. The only thing missing was magic-based attacks....
"...Huh?"
Wait a second.
"Rui."
"Yeah?"
"Do you know the saying?"
"...What saying?"
"Words become seeds."
"...?"
Imperial Academy midterm exam—survival in the forest.
Most students had prepared hard to earn points and were taking the test with extreme tension. But...
"The level doesn't match at all."
Loxia Astra, first place in the Magic department, was not one of them. Her skill had already surpassed Great Mage level. If she became Magic Tower Master right now, no one would object. The title of youngest Tower Master would naturally transfer to her.
A supernova of the magic world. A genius mage of the age. The titles used to describe her, who had become the pinnacle of magic, grew more and more grandiose, yet her ability increased even faster than the titles could keep up.
For someone like her, an exam meant for ordinary students was meaningless. If she felt like it, a single spell could wipe out every monster, magic beast, and student here without distinction. Yet her master had ordered her to participate moderately, saying there were memories unique to one's academy days.
Her skill had long since surpassed her master's, but the relationship between master and disciple remained unchanged.
In the end, Loxia had participated despite her annoyance and was currently enduring an extremely boring stretch of time.
And because it was Loxia—
"...Magic."
She was the first to notice that her mana had stopped responding.
Loxia, the great mage. And.
Currently, an ordinary female student who had lost her mana.
Before her—