The Forest Where Monsters Lurk
The spear moved. No — it didn't move. It flickered. In the span of a blink, the spear shot straight for my throat.
There was a way to take down a mage: don't even give them time to chant.
No matter how foul her personality was, her talent for combat had reached the realm of transcendence.
Spear and dagger crashed together with a ringing clang.
The Spear Star's eyes flew wide.
Sure, a mage was weak if they didn't have time to cast. That mages couldn't fight in close quarters wasn't some tired stereotype — it was an established fact. Mages knew it themselves, which was why they preferred to sling spells from a distance. And that, in turn, only made them worse at close combat. They were afraid of it. They'd never even experienced it.
Clang. Clang.
But there was an immortal mage standing right here. I had no reason to be afraid, even on a battlefield swimming in steel. Even if my head came off, even if my arms were severed, even if my heart was destroyed — I would keep using magic until I'd cut the enemy down. I had already gone toe-to-toe, without rest, against a Sword Star and a Spear Star who had both reached transcendence. My close-quarters fighting had long since reached the level of a master.
Even as I moved the dagger, magic poured toward her.
A shrieking cascade of metal on metal. Dagger, magic, and spear collided without pause. I had a body and vision reinforced by mana. I exceeded the limits of ordinary strength, catching the spears she launched, knocking them aside, letting them glance away.
The dagger alone would never have been enough to beat the Spear Star. However green this version of her might have been, her skill with a cold weapon still far outstripped mine. But while I caught her strikes on the dagger, the magic that slipped through to pierce her openings wore her down.
"Hup!"
She swept the spear in a wide arc and gave ground, retreating several steps. If anything, the Spear Star was the one being pushed back in close combat. She no longer intended to take me lightly. She was going to give it everything she had.
Her eyes locked onto the enemy with perfect clarity. The muscles in her legs braced her body without a single wasted motion. Her upper body flowed like water, bound to no fixed form.
She drew her arm back deep — and drove it forward.
A single point. Pierced through.
The strike the Spear Star unleashed punched clean through the space I'd occupied, then through the dining table behind me, then through the wall itself. I'd reacted, but it still grazed me. A thin cut opened on my neck, and blood welled up.
...She knows I can't die, right?
If I hadn't been the Hero or the Sword Star, I never would have even reacted to that blow. She'd fired it at me knowing exactly that.
"Hah... hah..."
The silver lining was that the Spear Star, as she was now, didn't seem to have the stamina to fire that strike more than once. In my previous life she'd chain-fired the damn things. Compared to that, this was almost merciful.
Time to settle this.
"You've lost, Asel."
"...I concede."
The Spear Star was a stubborn pain in the ass, but once a match was decided, she was good about admitting it. Which meant she had to make good on what she'd promised.
"You haven't forgotten the bet, have you?"
"..."
The Spear Star looked away. So that part, at least, she hated?
Her bets were as good as articles of faith. The Spear Star I'd known had never once gone back on a wager. Whether that was the right way to live or not.
Quietly, she spoke.
"Well. See you next time."
And then, dragging a body that had nothing left, she staggered toward the door.
...Does that even count as a goodbye?
Come to think of it, the Spear Star had never been any good at farewells either.
"Ah. Hold on."
That was one thing. But she still had to pay for flipping my food bowl, didn't she?
I lifted the dagger by the hilt and started toward her. The Spear Star shook her head.
"I-I don't want to."
A crisp crack rang out. She crumpled.
Whatever she had to say about it, I split her skull with feeling. And since she hadn't even apologized for what she'd done, I put a little extra into it. The Spear Star had nothing left. There was no way for her to resist. Unlike the Sword Star, who'd bounced right back up, she stayed face-down on the floor and didn't get up.
I dusted off my hands and turned around.
The Sword Star was frowning at the Spear Star sprawled across the floor. Franc's mouth hung open in awe. And the Hero watched me in silence.
The Sword Star looked like he'd already expected this level of skill from me — like none of it was worth being surprised over. He walked out of the building. Typical. The man lived for the taste of his own excellence.
I let it go and shifted my gaze to the ones who remained. Franc came up to me and asked,
"If you awaken the pinnacle, can you learn techniques like that too?"
What was this kid even talking about. The pinnacle was just magic that had reached its peak. It wasn't some all-purpose key. If it were, the Archmage would've beaten the Demon King to death already.
I didn't answer. Franc seemed to interpret that however she liked, nodding to herself as she fell in behind me.
"Let's go. We have an exam to take."
All the way to the moment we opened the door and stepped out, the Hero watched me, turning something over in her mind.
Laeli finished sleeping in the dormitory and eating breakfast, then came to join us. The thing that set her teeth on edge, of course, was Franc standing at my side.
"Why is that girl here?"
"Excuse me? 'That girl' is a bit much."
Franc looked offended, but she didn't try to pick a real fight with Laeli the way she had before. She was probably worried that if the two of them got along too badly, she might end up getting separated from me.
I offered Laeli something to work with.
"She's a useful mage."
"Nngh. But your artifact should be enough on its own."
"There's no such thing as enough, Laeli."
That one line seemed to spark something. Laeli's face turned serious for a moment, and then she nodded.
"Yeah. I guess that's right."
"See? Then I'll just quietly tag along, so you two can get along."
"Alright, Franc."
Franc had gone out of her way to be friendly, and Laeli looked like she was setting her earlier feelings aside. What even was this dramatic reconciliation. I'd been worried they'd fight, so this was... something of a relief.
Or maybe that relief was premature — the staring contest between them was vicious enough to throw sparks.
I had to wonder. Did the two of them even have a real reason to hate each other? They'd only met yesterday.
I decided not to try understanding whatever complicated feelings were at play. On the surface, at least, the peace held.
And so the party of three arrived at the place the examiner had told everyone to gather.
It was early morning, but examinees were already filtering out of the dormitories and collecting in the open space. People who'd talked things over the night before seemed to have found each other; the examinees were forming into little clusters. There hadn't been a detailed briefing on the exam, but everyone had a decent idea of what was coming. You couldn't move through a forest like that alone. It was only natural that people would group up with those they trusted.
And the prime recruitment targets were the examinees who'd received an S-rank.
The Sword Star was already surrounded by a crowd. The Spear Star, on the other hand, was... peculiar.
"Hey, would you maybe join our party..."
"Hi."
"We've got a vanguard, a rearguard, and a scout — we just need you..."
"Yeah. Hi."
"Asel Montrose, the young lords gathered here all come from houses of marquis rank or higher. If you'd just join us, your family would receive a separate reward..."
"Right. Hi."
To my ears, every one of those came out as Get lost. Yeah, get lost. Right, get lost.
She'd swapped "get lost" for "hi" because of the bet, hadn't she...
Not that it was meaningless. The Spear Star's words at least sounded like she was turning people down with something resembling manners. I felt strangely satisfied watching it. To think that the unstoppable pain in the ass she'd become later in life was developing like this.
And the last to arrive was the Hero.
She walked forward without a word, and the leftover examinees flocked in behind her — the ones who'd avoided an F and so had scraped past failure, but who'd scored an ambiguous D and had no confidence to speak of. The people who'd already formed their own parties were happy to sneer at them.
"How many points do you really think you'll score if you lean on the Hero to get through the exam?"
"They're definitely going to fail like that."
"You have to know the difference between your own ability and someone else's help."
And as they said it, those same examinees kept sliding glances my way. They still thought I was leaning on an artifact. It wasn't a strange assumption. Franc, the Sword Star, and the Spear Star had the eyes to notice my actual skill. These people didn't. Even Laeli still believed I was drawing some great power through a relic.
Once everyone had assembled, the examiner appeared on cue.
"I will now inform you of your exact objective."
The map the examiner brought out showed an enormous forest. It was so vast that crossing it from one end to the other looked like it would take nearly a week. Start and finish were marked on the parchment.
...Have these examiners lost their minds?
I wasn't the only one thinking it. Every examinee wore the same look of disbelief. Someone raised a hand.
"We can still drop out now, right?"
"You may do so at any time."
The examiner nodded without the slightest hesitation. The student who'd asked didn't actually seem inclined to quit; they just stood there after the question.
"In any case, you will cross this forest. Whether you cut straight through or take any detour you like makes no difference. Reach the far side, and you pass."
"Whoa..."
"We're actually going to die out there, aren't we?"
I'd wondered if they would really make us cross that forest. They would. It was a vicious exam — past harsh and into the territory of actively trying to kill the examinees — and yet not a single person stepped back. The chance to become a viscount, to become nobility, was that enormous a prize.
"Let me be perfectly clear. We do not expect you to hunt demons. This forest has been artificially stocked with a large number of monsters and a handful of demons. Your objective is simply to survive it."
When the examiner finished speaking, nothing remained but noisy chaos. How many people had assumed the goal was to go into the woods and kill demons? Parties built around swordsmen and mages scrambled to find examinees who were any good at scouting. Even the ones who'd been sneering at the students joining the Hero hurriedly attached themselves to her.
"Hey, can I come too?"
"I'll just quietly follow along."
The Hero nodded without a word. Before long, hers was the largest party by far. By contrast, the three of us looked bizarrely understaffed.
Laeli made a suggestion.
"Shouldn't we just attach ourselves to the Hero too?"
"I don't know about that."
It wasn't as straightforward a good idea as it sounded. The Hero was reliable, but she was only one person. The moment monsters and demons hit a procession of that size from several directions at once, there would be casualties. No question. A group that large couldn't help but draw every eye in the forest. For an exam like this, moving quietly with three people might actually be better.
The window for planning and forming parties closed. The examiner rolled in a cart stacked high with enormous packs.
"These bags contain the rations and essential tools you will need to survive for five days."
Then the examiner held up a signal flare.
"If you wish to forfeit along the way, fire this flare. Those of us waiting outside will come running immediately to extract you."
The examinees lined up and each received a pack. I took one as well — and the moment it settled onto my hands, it dropped straight to the ground.
...I can't even lift this?
I was in the middle of feeling a deep self-loathing for this useless body when Laeli picked the pack up for me.
"Hup. You just handle the demons and the monsters."
"...Thanks."
"Nnnngh — this is actually really heavy!"
I wasn't the only one struggling. Franc was barely managing to hoist her own pack.
...But Franc is at least holding it.
A fresh wave of self-loathing beat me enthusiastically about the head. I needed to eat more and train more. I had to get to at least average. Being weaker than Franc, of all people, just felt wrong.
The moment passed. The examinees set out for the forest where demons waited.
It wasn't far from the Academy, so the walk didn't take long. Even standing at the entrance, you could feel the scale of the place. The trees stood so densely packed that moonlight would never reach the forest floor.
Before that wall of green, the examiner spoke with solemn formality.
"Last call. Is there anyone who wishes to forfeit?"
There wasn't. That was the value of the nobility and the viscountcy the Crown Prince had guaranteed. Feats no one would ordinarily dare attempt were handed to you simply for graduating from the Academy and going north.
The examiner nodded and stepped aside. He didn't say the words, but the signal was clear: begin.
And the moment I crossed a certain boundary, a vicious stench of Magi raked across my nose.
Of course there would be Magi. The forest was crawling with monsters and demons; it would have been stranger if there weren't. But to a black mage who had reached transcendence, the reading was unmistakable.
This wasn't the Magi of a demon or a monster. This was the Magi of black magic, carved with precision.
"...It's going to be a bloodbath from the start."
The examinees plunged into the forest with everything they had. They looked like fish diving into a gaping maw — rushing, full tilt, toward their own deaths.