Chapter 222
Chapter Title: The Underdog's Strength
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“...What in the world is this situation?”
Karl’s shoulders slumped, his expression gloomy.
“Do you guys really think I’m that much of a pushover?”
“We’re sorry, senior.”
At Karl’s complaint, the examinee at the very front curled the corner of his lip into a smirk.
“But you said it yourself, didn’t you? That you’re the weakest of the second-years.”
Karl was surrounded by eleven examinees.
The theme of this entrance exam was survival, and the goal was to survive against the second-year students.
But the reverse could just as easily happen.
There was no rule stating that the examinees couldn't attack the second-years.
Defeating a second-year to survive was also a valid method of survival.
And so, it was only natural for the examinees to target Karl, who had gone around proclaiming himself to be the lowest-ranked among the second-years.
“Gah! To think promoting good luck charms for the exam would backfire like this!”
Karl screamed, clutching his head.
Watching him, the examinees each gripped their weapons.
The knights moved to the front, while the mages and summoners took up positions in the rear.
Seeing this formation, Karl crossed his arms.
“Can’t we just handle this peacefully?”
At Karl’s words, the examinee who appeared to be the party leader firmly shook his head.
“I refuse. We will defeat you and enter Lumerne.”
Even as he said this, he was cheering inwardly.
‘Just as I thought, this guy is nothing special!’
Karl had already advertised that he had the lowest grades among the second-years and had barely managed to survive.
Thanks to that, the perception of Karl being weak was strongly embedded in the minds of all the first-years.
Defeating a second-year would undoubtedly increase their chances of admission.
For them, letting Karl go was out of the question.
Just as Karl let out a sigh, “Phew!”
“You reap what you sow.”
A voice from above made everyone flinch and look up at the sky.
And there, they froze, seeing a blond, blue-eyed female student sitting on a staff.
“Chloe!”
Karl’s face brightened as he waved.
At his words, the other examinees’ faces turned deathly pale.
Chloe Müller!
Among the second-year mages, she was an absolute powerhouse who vied with Abad for the top spot, and an opponent the current examinees should never have encountered.
Her sudden appearance made every examinee’s face drain of color.
“You’re all finished now! Prepare yourselves!”
At Karl’s cry, Chloe crossed her legs and said.
“Karl. You handle it yourself.”
“Huh?”
“When you think about it, this is all your own doing, isn’t it?”
Chloe said with a grin.
“Hey! We’re friends, can’t you help me out?”
“Nope, I can’t.”
Chloe spoke firmly and, as if to show she wouldn’t interfere further, opened the grimoire she always carried.
Watching his friend leisurely lose herself in a book, Karl’s shoulders slumped.
“And besides.”
Chloe glanced at the examinees and smiled faintly.
“If you let the juniors look down on you, what will become of your dignity as a senior?”
“Sigh. Fine. Fine. I guess I have no choice.”
Karl rolled his shoulders and stepped forward.
Seeing this, the examinees’ expressions grew tense.
‘In any case, it means Chloe Müller isn’t getting involved!’
‘This is a great opportunity!’
Cheering inwardly, the examinees tightened their encirclement.
Seeing this, Karl opened a subspace.
*Vwoom-! Clatter-!*
All sorts of weapons poured out.
The knight-aspirants who had been closing the distance flinched.
“Enchant.”
As Karl activated the spell, the swords began to move as if they had a life of their own.
Watching this, the knights at the front wore tense expressions.
Even if he was the lowest-ranked, he was still a Lumerne student.
They had to be on guard.
Meanwhile, the mages in the rear began to cast their spells.
Seeing this, Karl quickly chanted a dispel magic.
“Huh!”
“The spell casting was canceled!”
Even if they were simple spells meant for harassment, it was surprising that the magic of three mages was dispelled simultaneously.
As the magic dissipated, the party leader shouted urgently.
“Hey! Front line! Pressure him quickly so he can’t cast magic!”
“But what about those spells?”
“That’s just a simple enchantment spell! You don’t need to be afraid!”
Buoyed by those words, one of the knights charged toward Karl.
“Oops! Too bad, you chose the wrong answer.”
Karl grinned and stirred his mana.
Alchemy activated, and the sword that the charging examinee had struck glowed crimson before exploding with a loud bang!
“Kugh?!”
“I-It exploded?”
“What? Is that a magic sword?”
Bewildered shouts erupted from among the examinees.
“Hey! You said it was just a simple enchantment spell!”
One of the front-liners yelled accusingly at the party leader.
Thanks to his Aura Armor, he wasn’t knocked unconscious, but he had taken considerable damage.
The flustered party leader snapped back.
“It’s not like you took enough damage to be eliminated! Just fight back! That’s the role of the front line, isn’t it?”
“You want to use us as shields? And then you’ll take all the credit?”
The examinee who had rushed Karl staggered and shouted accusingly.
Watching this, Karl stroked his chin.
‘Hoh? This might be even easier to handle than I thought.’
The Karl of a year ago would have likely been defeated in an instant.
Karl was a student who had barely gotten in and barely advanced to the second year.
Always the lowest-ranked second-year.
But even so, he wasn’t so weak as to be beaten by a hastily formed party like this.
One year at Lumerne.
That one year was more than enough to transform the boy who dreamed of being a supporter.
‘A supporter is someone who assists a hero.’
*Click-*
Karl took out a one-handed crossbow from his subspace.
‘Assisting also means protecting the hero’s back.’
And for the past year, Karl had watched the backs of countless classmates.
‘I don’t have the ability to stand beside them or the strength to keep up. But to be a supporter, I have to at least be able to stand behind them.’
He was painfully aware of the gap.
He knew that gap would only widen.
‘But still, I have to try to follow them as best I can. Using everything at my disposal.’
When a hero is exhausted and collapses.
To earn the right to support their back and tell them they can do it, to cheer them on, one must at least be able to follow in their footsteps.
That’s why Karl researched and worked as hard as he could on what he was capable of.
Karl aimed the crossbow at the party leader behind him and pulled the trigger.
“A mage using such a crude attack…”
*Boom-!*
The enchanted arrow exploded.
It was a special explosive arrow Karl had created with alchemy.
‘Of course, the cost of a single shot is no joke.’
Karl grinned and loaded the next arrow.
“Kuh!”
The party leader, surprised by the unexpected power, wore a flustered expression and focused more energy into his shield magic.
*Ping-! Thwip-!*
But the arrow fired this time bounced harmlessly off the shield magic.
This one was just a normal arrow.
It was a trick to make him waste his mana.
“Now, here’s a question. Is the next one an explosive arrow? Or a normal one?”
Karl loaded an arrow with a sly smile.
He then fired it at one of the flustered members of the rear line.
*Kaboom-!*
“The correct answer is explosive arrow!”
“Hey! Front line! Block properly!”
“Are we your shields?!”
Cracks began to form in the hastily assembled party.
‘Their biggest weakness is their lack of cohesion.’
One of the most prominent traits of Lumerne examinees was their pride.
They were all talented enough to challenge the Lumerne entrance exam.
As such, they had strong pride in their skills.
At a young age, thinking they were the best, it was unlikely their teamwork would be any good.
‘This kind of problem persists until the early part of the first semester at Lumerne.’
Having experienced it himself, Karl exploited that weakness.
‘When a party collapses like this, it’s impossible to control.’
Karl took out a potion bottle from his pocket.
Using enchantment magic had quickly drained his mana.
Even after downing the potion, he continued to toy with the opposing party using alchemy.
Chloe, who had lifted her eyes from her grimoire, watched the scene with a faint smile.
‘That’s right, Karl. Your strengths were more than enough to get you promoted to the second year.’
Most of the second-years thought Karl had advanced through sheer luck, but that wasn’t the case.
It was true that Karl was on the borderline if you only looked at his written exam scores.
But in a practical sense, Karl was skilled enough to be a second-year and then some.
Of course, his grades might not be mid-tier, but he was by no means weak enough to be pushed around by a bunch of examinees.
‘And there are no truly exceptional examinees among them, either.’
As Chloe was thinking this, she glanced to the side.
*CRACK! SHATTER-!*
Ice crystals coalesced in the air, forming a shield.
Simultaneously, the bullet of mana that had been aimed at Chloe scattered in all directions.
Chloe’s eyes narrowed.
‘A sniper spell.’
And a considerably powerful one at that.
Chloe scanned the surrounding area.
‘They’ve completely concealed their presence.’
*Thump-*
Closing her book, Chloe dismounted from her staff.
Floating in the air, Chloe flew in the direction the sniper spell had come from.
*KABOOM-!*
*CRACK-! CRACKLE!* This time, a sniper spell flew in from behind her.
Its power, stronger than before, caused cracks to appear in her barrier magic.
Seeing this, Chloe tilted her head.
‘I couldn’t detect the flow of mana this time either.’
It seemed she was dealing with a mage specialized in this area.
Chloe knew about this type of mage.
‘Looks like a Magician Killer.’
For a traditional mage like Chloe, they were a natural enemy.
Indeed, if she continued to be sniped like this without being able to locate the enemy, it would be troublesome even for her.
‘If I were to *continue* being sniped, that is.’
*Grip-!*
Chloe grasped her staff.
*Whoooosh-!*
Chloe’s cold mana swirled violently.
“If I can’t pinpoint your location.”
Chloe smiled faintly.
“I’ll just freeze everything.”
Chloe’s unique magic.
World of Ice was activated.
A frigid chill instantly swept across the vast surrounding area.
*C-c-c-crackle-!*
Having instantly frozen the vast region, Chloe glanced toward a certain spot.
‘There you are.’
Detecting the ripple of mana, Chloe quickly headed in that direction.
Watching from a distance, Karl clicked his tongue.
“Chloe’s a total monster now, too.”
Having said that, Karl looked at the examinees who had challenged him.
“Well then, shall we wrap this up?”
*Shlick-!*
With a long potion bottle held between his fingers, Karl grinned.
“I’ll teach you all just how terrifying a Lumerne student can be.”
“Eek!”
The examinees who had recklessly attacked him let out a scream.
Karl easily claimed victory against the examinees.
***
“Those Lumerne kids are pretty impressive.”
Ar was watching the exam with sparkling eyes.
Then, seeing Leo appear on the screen, he clenched his fist.
“There you are! Black Rabbit!”
Having resolved his feelings towards Leo, Ar had gone back to calling him ‘Black Rabbit.’
“Lord Ar, I have a question.”
“Hm? What is it?”
“Why do you call Lord Leo ‘Black Rabbit’? Of course, Lord Leo has his cute, rabbit-like side, but wouldn’t ‘White Rabbit’ suit his appearance better?”
“The first time I saw him, he was in his rabbit beastkin form, and his hair was black then. So the name just stuck.”
“L-Lord Leo with rabbit ears…?”
Eiran placed her hands on her cheeks, her face flushing as she squirmed.
“I-I want to see…! Don’t you have any pictures?”
“I don’t.”
At his firm words, Eiran was crestfallen.
It was then.
“Hmm. That examinee is brave.”
Lunia propped her chin on her hand, an amused expression on her face.
At that, Ar and Eiran also looked at the screen.
Usually, whenever examinees saw Leo, they would flee like crazy.
But this examinee was different.
The girl standing before Leo held her sword with a resolute face.
“What incredible courage. Who is she?”
Eiran asked in admiration.
Ar’s eyes widened.
“Aina Veydna.”
The examinee was a girl Ar knew.
“She’s the Sword Saint’s great-granddaughter.”