Happiness Awaits – Top of the Class
I'll be happy. After that, Rain and I roamed the forest together, sweeping away the weakened parties. At most, they were groups of two or three, exhausted from the passage of time, and it seemed they were already prepared to abandon their parties—mere ragtag mobs with no teamwork to speak of.
"Thanks to that, we secured the mana stones in no time."
"But we couldn't fight the most important one."
She was revered as a saintess by the church, but as a saintess candidate who hadn't fully awakened yet, she had way too many escort knights. I wanted to snatch their mana stones if possible, but...
"Let's aim for next time."
There were just too damn many. Those were definitely academy students training to be holy knights that the church had thrown in there. Fucking church. I glanced briefly at the lingering sacred mana, then turned away.
No point dwelling on what I couldn't do. With three digits' worth of mana stones, topping the ranks should be no problem.
Piiiing!!!
Soon after, a massive fireball launched into the sky from far away.
"All personnel, exam end."
The words echoed in my head, and at the same moment, a bizarre sensation of my body floating spread through me, bile rising to my throat.
"Urp...!"
Unlike the earlier teleport, this one prioritized precision over stability, twisting my guts with nauseating discomfort.
"Good work."
Despite the instructor's dry words, most of the students in the forest collapsed to the ground in exhaustion. I hadn't poured out my mana at full throttle, but I'd pushed my body to the limit. Even though it was just thirty minutes, the nonstop running and fighting had left my pathetic flesh heavy with fatigue and sore muscles. Rain said mana could cover for it, but I guess muscle training and cardio were non-negotiable. Stamina mattered in mana-conserving fights.
"Now, we'll announce the scores."
[1]
The mana stones at my waist vanished from my pouch in an instant, gathering before my eyes and rebirth as a single spell formation, glowing brightly.
"Whoa..."
While the other students gawked at the mystical sight, the rune from the mana stones soon projected a single number before me.
[1]
"Practical exam first place, Lian Primal."
A fresh white number appeared, and the instructor called my name. I'd taken one more than Rain, so I knew who was next without listening.
"Practical exam second place, Rain Astral."
Perfect. First and second. It wasn't fully decided yet since this was just practicals, but with Rain's written exam skills, dropping would be weirder. And hearing third confirmed my hunch.
"Practical exam third place, Arian Primal."
Despite blasting all that magic at me, she'd somehow snagged third. Good news for me. Arian's knowledge was hyper-focused on magic, leaving huge gaps in history and common sense. Rain, on the other hand, had memory and comprehension rivaling or surpassing mine—especially encyclopedic on mana and history. Unless we screwed up badly, first and second were ours.
The instructor continued calling names methodically, even as I basked in the glow of triumph.
"Practical exam fifth place, Prin."
There she was. Fifth was impressive for Prin, who barely had offensive power. The church must've gathered top-tier knight candidates for their saintess hopeful again.
"Ninth place, Ceres Reinhardt."
"Tenth place, Minel."
Even after I stole their mana stones, Ceres and Minel scraped into S-grade. They could've made A-grade without my healing. No interest in the rest of the A-grades. More precisely, unless they tied to my past lives like Prin, Ceres, or Minel, I half-ignored who made S-grade.
Ah, but she should be there. The one who reached out to me during my depressed academy days. In my first life, I was selected as a hero and drifted away; in others, I fixated on Ceres or Lianne, keeping her as just a friend. I couldn't spot her here, but if we met at the academy again, I'd get close properly this time. No need to obsess over those others... I could relax more.
"Ten-minute break, then written exam."
That never changed. Practical ends, ten-minute "break," straight to written. I'd heard from academy days it was to check peak condition maintenance... Total bullshit. Barely a break, more like torture. Those looking physically fine but soulless probably lost mana stones early and avoided checks... Nobles looked relatively intact compared to commoners—they probably just took handouts without lifting a finger.
"Move to the exam hall!"
At Zenovia's command, most students sighed or grimaced as they rose. Must've left a bad impression. Rain and I sighed too, heading slowly to the written exam room.
"......"
"Rain?"
"........."
"Did you fall asleep?"
After finishing the written exam, Rain and I received our scored results and academy entrance rankings instantly. I took first, she second. Perfect scores—she'd been bouncing with joy earlier, but exhaustion hit, and she passed out like a light. Fine by me.
[New trait unlocked for Rain Astral!]
[Status window unlocked!]
The first quest reward was from the one about academy life with Rain—I'd gotten it earlier and forgotten. This was it.
"Status window."
Ding♪
A cheerful alert rang out. A translucent blue panel like the quest window appeared before my eyes, soon displaying my abilities as quantified stats through magic.
I gave a wry smile at the pathetically low stats compared to my final ones from past lives. No matter the situation or connections, these never changed once.
You are a single ray of light shining in the darkness that would devour humanity.
• Perfect resistance to curses (limited to one instance).
• Absorb demonic energy and convert to mana.
• Qualified to wield the holy sword.
Still just an unripe fruit of a trait. It evolves into something proper only after claiming the holy sword—and honestly, it's trash. The demonic energy conversion is useless without special monsters, demons, or demonkin. And later curses are instant-kill tier. I'm no immortal; banking on that one curse resistance is a fast track to death.
"Guess I have to grab the holy sword after all..."
I really didn't want to. Claiming it forces a demon king hunt, but even if the demon army advances, the empire could squash them with minimal effort. No holy sword means no killing the undying demon king, but regular monsters? The imperial army handles that fine.
"Maybe sell the info later."
Demon king awakens around second year. Leak it during first-year winter break. I'd take some hits without the sword, but early rumors would balance it.
"Anyway, let's check Rain's status."
Checking skills and traits properly would help grow her right.
"What the hell is this trait and skill setup?"
Balanced, sure. But without unlocking Sword Maiden via the quest, she wouldn't have reached her true power.
"Magic Swordsman: Swordsmanship and magic in balance—both rise one tier in combat..."
Before meeting me, Rain wasn't. Her magic was just family basics; swordplay was self-taught swings unworthy of the name. If she'd kept at swords without me, she'd hit a decent level—but with limits. Learning magic from family while finding a sword teacher? Not easy. And her original trait was just Flame Sorceress.
Swordsmanship and magic achieve balance.
• Forces growth in the lower field to match.
• Growth accelerates when tiers align.
Great trait hampered by the skill. Not anymore.
Bonus to wielding any sword.
• Path to Sword Saint opens.
Simple, yet potent sword trait in Rain's hands. Balance it right, and her growth was guaranteed. I'd help—that was nothing. Easier than with talentless Zenovia... and Rain wouldn't demand sacrifices.
"Yeah, get strong."
The weak get culled. Nature's law. Always has been. If I weakened, even as a duke's heir, challengers would come. But if I and mine were strong? Fewer, if any. Far fewer than now.
We'll get strong. For my happy future.