Chapter 31
Chapter 31
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 31
Chapter Title: Transfer Ceremony (6)
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Academy City's transfer exam primarily measures individual abilities.
It's to distinguish based on combat specializations.
For example, they evaluate physical prowess and Aura intensity for frontline Warriors, while assessing incantation speed and Mana quantity for rear-line Mages.
Since people with different combat traits can't be judged the same way, they adopt this specialized evaluation method tailored to each trait.
Before the applicants stand five examiners invited from a G1 academy, and the applicants demonstrate their abilities by completing the tasks presented by the examiners.
'From my perspective, it feels a lot like an interview.'
Honestly, if you're just watching it happen, there's no difference from an interview.
Especially for Mages, since it's old professors handling the judging, the atmosphere feels even more like an interview.
"Warriors......"
Sure enough, the Gates of Lamentation.
I let out a sigh as I gazed at the dozens of steel doors set up in the Warrior exam hall.
The plain black doors might look unremarkable at a glance, but in reality, they were vicious doors boasting considerable weight.
'No ordinary strength can budge those.'
No matter how strong you are, you can't open doors of astronomical weight.
The only way would be...
"It demands body reinforcement."
Circulating Aura throughout the body to enhance physical capabilities.
'Aura emission isn't possible until at least age 20 at the earliest, but reinforcement and similar applications are certainly feasible for them.'
Fortunately, today's applicants were from the high school and university divisions, so the elementary and middle school divisions—who can't handle internal energy—were not included.
So this kind of test should be perfectly manageable for them.
The elementary and middle school transfers tomorrow would surely have different exam contents.
"And sure enough, they start checking internal energy from high school onward."
At high school age, just handling Aura would earn you genius labels outside, but this is Academy City, after all.
'They say it's where all the continent's talents flock, and it's no empty words.'
It was then.
Just in time, an applicant stepped forward confidently and stood before the Gates of Lamentation.
He swallowed hard once, as if nervous, then placed his hand on the door—
"Doomed."
And it didn't budge an inch.
The applicant froze for a moment before putting in so much effort that his face turned beet red.
'Pointless. That won't work.'
I turned my gaze away from the still-unopened door.
'His Aura operation is a mess.'
The Aura starting from his dantian wasn't circulating properly even to his hands and feet, let alone his whole body.
With the source of power in that state, it was only natural the door wouldn't open.
'He's out.'
To transfer into Academy City, you need to open at least one door.
Since he couldn't open even a single one, that guy was eliminated.
And sure enough.
Leaving behind the forcibly dragged-away applicant, I observed the next ones standing before the doors.
The exam didn't drag on long.
There were quite a few Warriors waiting in line, but the examiners declared a pass if the door cracked open even slightly, and unhesitatingly failed them if it didn't move at all.
In an instant, joy and sorrow divided the applicants, and the failures vanished from the exam hall with wails of despair.
"Almost my turn."
I felt tension rising as I watched Noah, who hadn't taken the exam yet.
Being below average in every way, his chances of passing this exam were honestly very low.
If he opened even one door, that would be impressive; if not, even that would count as a valiant effort.
After all, the Gates of Lamentation lived up to their name as a wall built from applicants' tears.
It was at that moment.
"...!"
Grrrrrind—!
The Gates of Lamentation, which had only allowed the slightest gaps until now, were swinging wide open.
The smallest door opened first, followed by the second overlapping one.
I watched without much reaction up to that point, but when the third and fourth doors opened too, I couldn't hide my admiration and turned to look.
"Ho."
I'd seen doors open plenty of times while presiding over the venue for years, but this was intriguing.
Among past enrollees, there had been students who opened not just four, but six or even seven doors, so opening doors wasn't particularly special in itself.
However—
"Pure physical strength?"
Opening four doors without internal energy was exceptional enough.
I'd said no ordinary human could open them with raw strength alone, but that was only half-true.
It would hold in the original world, but unfortunately, this was a fantasy world with non-humans.
"Opening it brute-force like that. The ones who tried and failed would lose their minds."
Not just sturdy beastkin, but even durable dwarves and naturally powerful dragonkin had failed.
Yet this one opened not one, but four doors that even the continent's top powerhouses couldn't budge.
I immediately shifted my gaze to the man who opened them.
"Still got that bad taste in fashion."
And spotted a familiar face.
"Hasn't changed a bit."
He was a man shackled all over his body.
Heavy chains on his arms, legs, and even neck.
At a glance, he looked less like an applicant and more like a prisoner.
His all-black attire resembled a military uniform overall, but his utterly lifeless eyes evoked the image of a soldier who'd been through war.
Seeing him unchanged, I couldn't help but speak up.
"Enforcer."
The chief enforcer of Dongri-am, no less.
I'd heard from reports, but I didn't expect him to actually apply.
Grrrrrind—!
As the enforcer began operating his Aura next, the doors shot from four to eight in an instant.
"No way that's an applicant's level."
He applied to the university division, right?
Even a senior on the verge of graduation would be a chick compared to him.
The guy was a battlefield veteran from the start, so judging him on the same level as others would be a mistake.
I knew exactly how monstrous he was from our past acquaintance on the front lines.
Excluding me, he's probably the strongest here at the venue.
Instructors included.
I'd heard that with Ri-am Kingdom's fall, the 'Totenkopf' unit he belonged to disbanded too, but I had no idea why he'd come here.
'Well, he's not one to cause trouble, so no need to worry.'
His empathy might be low, but he's not a bad guy, so no need for heavy vigilance.
Time flew by, and soon it was Noah's turn.
'Finally!'
Objectively, his odds weren't great, but it was just odds!
What if Noah had acquired some special skill and blasted the doors open in one go...!
"Fail."
...Yeah, figures.
I stared at Noah with cold, disinterested eyes, as if I'd never hoped at all.
Noah, sweating bullets and at a loss, was soon escorted out of the exam hall by an instructor.
At the same time, a scream echoed from afar, but it was quickly drowned in the noise.
Probably another reject from a different category.
"Only scouts left now."
I pondered.
Honestly, with Noah's current skill, not just G1, but even G2—heck, G3 was a stretch.
G3 academies, relatively starved for talent, might eye him, but he showed nothing in the exam, so he probably didn't appeal to them.
Even as the lowest tier in Academy City, G3s would hesitate to pick Noah precisely because they were G3.
They'd want someone who showed at least some ability.
'If a scout still offers him a spot, their instincts must be top-notch.'
The scouts who recruited protagonists generation after generation all had exceptional instincts.
In part 1, a scout recruited him on gut feeling alone after he failed mercenary tryouts.
Noah's father, part 2's protagonist, flunked the ceremony too and got picked up by a G3 scout just to enroll.
'That line was definitely 'It tinged!' or something.'
Back then, I thought it was nonsense.
But considering the feats the previous protagonist achieved, seeing through it was impressive scouting.
'Come to think of it, Critica got promoted to G1 thanks to that protagonist.'
Probably catching the Demon King was the clincher.
Elevating a mere G3 like Critica to prestigious G1 status.
'If Noah revealed his identity now, academies would swarm him, but...'
Noah wouldn't reveal himself.
What to do...
The previous protagonist had an incident at the ceremony to show his skills, but Noah didn't, so even G3s would be passive.
This way, he'd end without a single scout offer!
"Guess I should go check."
Hiding my anxiety, I hurried out of the transfer ceremony venue.
"......?"
But my expectations were off.
"Young man! Please enroll in our Clay Combat Academy!"
"No! Enroll in our Damian Private High School!"
"What are you G3 nobodies doing here! Hey, Noah! Join Lumen Hero Academy! Unlike those low-tier places, we're a solid G2 academy!"
"Eh? Uh, I mean...?"
"Heh heh! Lumen's tarnishing the G2 name. Sorry for the trouble, folks. That last remark was just Lumen's doing. We true G2s respect you all. And Noah? We can draw out your utmost potential. Please grace Plum Blossom Martial Academy with your presence."
And in a very positive way, at that.