Survival or Victory
“Good morning. I will now explain the rules of the Group Exam.”
True to form, Jane cut straight to the point without a shred of small talk. The students sharpened their focus, faces taut with tension.
Power hummed into the mana projector installed at the podium, and a mana screen vast enough for every student to see unfurled across the sky.
“The site where you will take your Group Exam is the Rehlon Archipelago.”
Bewilderment crept across the students' faces as they stared at the screen.
They had all studied the Rehlon Archipelago — the designated exam site — long before now. And yet.
“A—a volcano?”
“Nobody said there was an active volcano in Rehlon.”
Thick, black volcanic smoke was drifting up from the crater of the archipelago's central island. In places, the fresh scars of magma flows were clearly visible.
The entire Rehlon Archipelago had already been converted by Kizen into an 'exam venue.' It was the combined product of the Card Necromancer Andolas Vaudeville's power — the man who conjured dungeons as easily as playing cards — along with a cadre of high-tier necromancers and a staggering mountain of capital.
“They bought out an entire archipelago just for one exam.”
“...Amazing that this school still has things left to shock me with.”
Every ounce of analysis the students had done on Rehlon's terrain and monsters was rendered meaningless. The place had become something entirely, unprecedentedly new.
“First, I will explain the equipment.”
Jane lifted two pieces of equipment from the table.
One was a bracelet worn on the wrist; the other was a suit of clothing.
“Those of you who took multiple Group Exams during your first year should be familiar with these. One is a mana screen projector worn on the left arm, and the other is a protective suit you wear directly.”
She strapped the projector onto her arm and demonstrated its use.
The moment she pressed the power button, the engine whirring around the magic stone inside the bracelet reverberated with a low hum, and before long a miniature mana screen spread open in the air.
“With this device, you can check information necessary for the exam, acquire points for each element of the test, and use those points to request supplies. Please refer to the pamphlet, which will be distributed shortly, for detailed usage instructions.”
She set the projector down and lifted the protective suit this time.
“You will find this suit familiar as well. You're all wearing one right now, aren't you? It is much like the one used in the second-year duel assessment, and it reproduces both injury and pain. When you take a hit, your life gauge drops — but using recovery and regeneration will fill it back up.”
She set the equipment down as she continued.
“As announced, the core of this exam is 'survival.' In the extreme environment of these islands, survive for the allotted time by any means necessary. Any student whose suit's life gauge reaches zero percent will be immediately recalled to a safe location and—”
Her voice dropped, heavy as a stone.
“—will be disqualified.”
Tension rippled through the crowd.
“The exam will last forty-eight hours. When the exam begins, you will each be randomly summoned to one of five starting locations across the Rehlon Archipelago. From that point on, every element of the exam will change according to your actions.”
She went on.
“The moment the exam's time runs out, the exam ends then and there, in its entirety. Every student still alive at that point passes.”
Pure, unadulterated survival — nothing else to the rules.
The students nodded and set their quills scratching.
“So it's just 'survive, no matter what.'”
“But what about supplies? I thought we'd be foraging everything on the islands ourselves?”
As the students murmured among themselves, one brave hand shot up among the nearly four hundred students of the entire year.
“Jamie Victoria!”
Still the same as ever, our class president.
Simon, watching from a distance, smiled at the thought.
“I heard the theme of this Group Exam is 'Survival or Victory'! So besides survival, is there also a condition for victory?”
“Yes, Jamie. Even if you hadn't asked, I would be explaining that in due course.”
Jane responded with practiced ease, and a ripple of small laughter ran through the assembly.
“Now, we have someone with us who will explain our exam venue in detail.”
She turned toward the back.
“A man who has always lent his talents to our academy exams — the Card Necromancer, Andolas Vaudeville.”
Clap clap clap clap!
Amid the students' enthusiastic applause, an eccentric with face paint thick as a clown's strode toward the podium, laughing a great ha ha ha.
Raising both hands high toward the students, he bowed once to the right and once to the left.
“How wonderful to see you all again, second-years of Kizen! This exam venue is the masterpiece of my lifetime!”
As if all his past toil had just come back to him, he made a show of dabbing at his eyes.
“I cannot tell you how many times I nearly plunged into lava and died building this place. But this work is more than worth it! When I imagine all you passionate students running amok across my exam grounds, my heart could burst! I toured dozens of volcanic islands across the Dark Alliance to construct the perfect environment, and the monsters were selected to reflect their true ecologies as well—!”
“Andolas.”
Jane called to him with a smiling face.
Caught under her pointed gaze, Andolas Vaudeville smacked his lips in disappointment, then turned back to the students.
“Now then — please direct your attention to the mana screen!”
The display shifted.
The map of the archipelago as a whole resolved into ever-finer detail. At its heart sat the largest island, the one crowned by the volcano, with islands large and small scattered like dots all around it.
“Each island in the archipelago differs slightly in terrain, and in the types and tendencies of the monsters that appear there! And now, please look upon the most important location of all — the central island of the Rehlon Archipelago!”
Vaudeville pointed at the central island.
“As you can see, a powerfully active volcano dominates the island! Within it seethes a staggering one million lava monsters! What's more, at regular intervals it will belch forth hundreds of tons of magma!”
Right on cue, the screen showed a demonstration of an eruption.
“The lava will pour down the slopes, sweep across the central island, and push all the way out to sea until it reaches the other islands of the archipelago. This is no ordinary magma! It travels far across the very ocean itself!”
The erupted lava blanketed the sea and spread until it swallowed even the farthest island, where the students' starting points lay. Like soup poured over a table, it overturned every surrounding island in its path.
Nearby, a few students could be heard making frightened noises.
“Do not assume the ground you stand on will be safe forever! You will have to move! You will be forced to move, constantly! Flight will be no easy matter either. The skies above these islands are already choked with volcanic debris, and every time the magma rises, the searing heat and violent air currents will disrupt your flight! The closer you get to the central island, the worse these conditions become.”
So this was a glimpse of the exam's later stages.
At some point, the screen was showing a scene of lava having scoured the entire surrounding area clean.
“Now — how would you survive in such an extreme environment? I look forward to your creativity and brilliant strategies. But allow me just one example!”
He swept his hand out —
— and pointed at a lone, remote island at the edge of the archipelago. A deserted isle, sitting empty and isolated with nothing around it.
“Crossing the open sea to reach a place like this is itself a survival strategy! Enduring forty-eight hours here would be one approach — though you'd be in trouble if the lava reached you, wouldn't you? In any situation, it pays to have an escape route prepared!”
The students scribbled furiously in their notebooks while strategy after strategy took shape in their minds.
An island's resources and favorable positions were finite, and the number of places where one could simply stand unharmed would only shrink as time passed. Competition between the students was inevitable.
Andolas's lecture continued.
“As the exam enters its later stages, the volcanic activity grows more and more violent. And at the point when twenty-four of the forty-eight hours have passed—!”
The screen zoomed in, and an enormous castle revealed itself at the island's heart.
His voice turned sinister.
“The lord of this island makes his appearance!”
“...Lord?”
The students blinked in confusion.
“Yes, exactly! You will not be alone on these islands — an 'Examiner' will exist among you! One who, just like you, can spend points! We call this figure the Volcano Castle Lord. From time to time, the Castle Lord will emerge from the castle and attack the students. For any student with lofty ambitions, I recommend attempting to take the Castle Lord down. Ah, but of course—”
The corners of his mouth curled upward.
“—he is not there to be defeated.”
One student thrust a hand into the air. Andolas, as if he'd been expecting exactly that, indicated them with a flick of his fingers.
“Who is the Castle Lord, you ask? Naturally, that identity is a secret — I suggest you confirm it for yourselves in the exam grounds! And since no gathering of students, however large, could hope to defeat the Castle Lord—”
He gestured to various features scattered across the central island.
“—I have prepared structures capable of weakening him! Occupy or destroy these structures, and the Castle Lord's power will be diminished! If you intend to hunt him, I advise seizing them before the twenty-four-hour mark, when he appears. And also—”
Tap tap.
Andolas, who had been rattling off information nonstop, turned his head.
Jane was tapping her wristwatch.
“Ah, just one more thing—!”
“I'm sorry.”
Jane cut him off cleanly and stepped forward.
“All students, rise. Professors, please rise as well.”
The students stood up from their seats one by one. The professors rose as well, rubbing their stiff backs. Jane stepped aside, folded her hands, and spoke.
“Headmistress Nephthys will now enter.”
“!”
KRRRRRRRUMBLE!
Thunder exploded overhead without warning, and the sky itself began to shudder.
A magic circle flared to life at the podium, and a girl popped out with a cheerful boing.
“Hi hi, everybody!”
On the surface, nothing more than a small girl with silver hair, waving both arms in greeting. Every watching face broke into a broad grin.
“It's Nephthys!”
“The real her, in the flesh!”
WAAAAAAAH—!
Startled as they were by the surprise entrance, the students clapped and cheered her arrival. Only Andolas Vaudeville smacked his lips, once, in disappointment.
“Here she is.”
“Thanks, Jane.”
Rising onto her tiptoes, Nephthys took hold of the amplifying crystal orb and stepped forward.
“Nowww! You've all been listening closely to the explanations, right? Then from this moment, I, Principal of Kizen, hereby announce a new rule!”
Snap!
She snapped her fingers, and a second magic circle sprang into being. From within it, a necromancer shot upward.
“Mmph! MMMPH!”
He thrashed where he knelt, bound in ropes of solid Jet-Black. Hands, feet — all of it tied fast, his mouth gagged besides.
Andolas Vaudeville leapt to his feet.
“What—! What is the meaning of this—!”
“I caught the Volcano Castle Lord who'd been waiting on the island ahead of time.”
Nephthys smiled sweetly.
And just as she said — the man was dressed in the long robes of a Castle Lord, with something like a rather ill-fitting crown perched on his head.
Andolas erupted in fury.
“What is the meaning of this outrage!”
“The Volcano Castle Lord you prepared just seemed too weak, Andolas! So I sent someone new to the castle!”
“If a current, high-tier necromancer is 'too weak,' then who in the world did you—! No, and besides!”
He whirled toward Jane. Jane was pressing a hand to her forehead, heaving deep sighs.
Which meant she hadn't known either.
“You should have said something in advance!”
Nephthys giggled and made a show of smacking her own head.
“I was busy — it slipped my mind!”
I want to throttle her.
Andolas genuinely thought so, his fists trembling.
To splash cold water all over my masterpiece.
“Oh, right — and a new rule has been added!”
Nephthys took another bold step forward.
“This exam will have no 'point system.' Whether you take down the Volcano Castle Lord or defeat a hundred rivals, everyone's score is the same. Think of it like a simple PASS on a performance evaluation.”
Andolas Vaudeville seized handfuls of his own hair. The students, too, began to murmur.
“Th-then there's no reason to try hard at all.”
“So we just have to hold out, huh.”
Nephthys grinned.
“Of course! This exam carries no grade — but in exchange, the risk of failing is enormous.”
“...?”
“Any student who fails this exam—”
She beamed, bright as a spring morning.
“—gets expelled.”