Final Exams
Final Exams
The day after testing the necklace, I spent a grueling day with my mana completely depleted.
Although it wasn't painful enough to make me faint like before, I couldn't stop my mana from being sucked dry to the last drop.
In the end, the necklace became a kind of ultimate move of last resort.
Though it was a bit disappointing, I started wearing both the necklace and the ring every day from then on.
The unexpected ambush had made me realize that I needed to stay cautious at all times.
Miss Balea and a few other students were curious about the necklace and ring I was wearing, but I just brushed them off, saying they were gifts I'd received.
After that hectic stretch, the exams arrived before I knew it.
They were the exams that wrapped up the first semester of my first year.
You could call them final exams, so to speak.
My grades in general education subjects like history and Introduction to inherited abilities didn't turn out as well as I'd expected.
I got full marks on the multiple-choice section but lost points on the subjective essay questions.
It felt as though some prejudice had cost me points, but thanks to the multiple-choice section, I still managed to squeeze into the upper tier.
And then came the Knight Faculty exams.
"Isn't it discrimination for only me to spar with the professor?"
It was time for the practical exam.
I grumbled as I stood in front of Katrin.
And with good reason: the other students were graded based on sparring matches among themselves.
I was the only one singled out and forced to spar with Katrin in front of all the first-year Knight Faculty students.
"It can't be helped. If someone spars with you, it's hard to accurately evaluate their grade. If you fight seriously, the match ends before I can even evaluate them, and if you hold back, it stops being a proper match altogether."
She raised her sword and pointed toward the students watching from a distance.
"Besides, today there isn't a single student who wants to spar with you."
When I glanced around at the students, both Bria and the Princess were actively avoiding my gaze.
Well, since this match was meant to be the final assessment of the skills they'd developed over time, sparring with me as they usually did must have been tough for them.
"Plus, I wanted to see your skills for myself, Alex."
Katrin grinned at me.
Honestly, that last sentence seemed to be the main reason she'd singled me out.
"Now then, shall we see how much stronger you've gotten over the past half year?"
Katrin raised her sword toward me.
I raised my own. It wasn't my specialized dagger or greatsword, but an ordinary military-issue sword.
Since this was a sparring match meant to test pure skill, I couldn't use relics.
For that reason, I couldn't use either the ring or the necklace.
But Katrin had brought all her own weapons.
From the personal sword she always used to the shield she'd retrieved from the tomb.
She'd brought them all, claiming that she wasn't taking the exam herself.
Seeing as she'd made the students stand far back, it seemed she intended to fight seriously this time.
"It wouldn't be right for me, the professor, to attack first. Come on, bring it."
At Katrin's words, I stepped toward her.
With every step that brought me closer, my dormant mana began to move.
Surging from deep within my body, my mana flowed through my stomach, chest, neck, and head before circulating throughout my entire frame.
The mana moved along pathways completely different from the Mana Cultivation Technique I'd learned from the knights back in the domain.
The Mana Cultivation Technique taught by those knights was a modified version of the Gracia Dukedom's Mana Cultivation Technique, adapted for the knights to use.
The fact that its path had diverged meant that the Mana Cultivation Technique I was using now was distinct from the Dukedom's Mana Cultivation Technique.
An unknown, new Mana Cultivation Technique.
This was also something I needed to take time to investigate.
As my mana surged and I focused my mind on its movement, the world around me began to slow, bit by bit.
Within this slowed world, I swung my sword at Katrin.
Clang!
Katrin raised her shield and blocked the blade.
Relaxing my sword hand, I stepped another inch closer, slipping inside her range.
Screech.
Accompanied by a grating screech, my blade slid down along her shield. The sword slipped out from beneath her modest-sized shield.
I caught a fleeting glimpse of surprise in Katrin's eyes.
Lowering my posture, I swung my sword once more.
"Ah!"
Katrin let out a short gasp and sprang backward.
I froze mid-swing and looked up at her.
"You underestimated me too much."
Katrin blushed at my words.
"I just lowered my guard! That's all!"
Honestly, it didn't seem like she'd merely lowered her guard, but either way, it was clear Katrin would have trouble handling me unless she infused mana into her weapon and shield.
Hmm, then again, even if she did imbue them with mana, I felt like I could still handle her...
"Fine! This time, I'm coming at you!"
Mana surged heavily into Katrin's shield and sword.
I could clearly see the sword and shield shimmering with energy.
She kicked off the ground, closed the distance in a single step, and slashed at me.
I dodged far out of range, well beyond the reach of her blade's arc.
I ducked to avoid her shield, which immediately followed up with a thrust from its sharp side edge.
To anyone watching, it might have looked as though I was being overly cautious, but I moved even more aggressively to evade the possibility of her extending her weapon's reach.
Even then, I kept dodging her attacks, slipping in thrusts with my own sword between them.
In the middle of our extended clash, a curious feeling washed over me.
The fight was unexpectedly easy.
Even without using my main weapons or concentrating my mana to slow down time, sparring with Katrin wasn't difficult at all.
I wasn't falling behind in speed, and my strength seemed superior to hers. Though the match couldn't last forever, my stamina was undoubtedly better as well.
Part of it was my physical growth as I aged, but my strength, speed, and stamina had improved this much because my level in 'Physical Optimization' had risen thanks to all the training and real combat I'd endured.
Yet my physical capabilities alone couldn't account for how effortless this match felt.
Even without slowing time, my sense of manipulating mana had changed.
The way I moved my body was different than before, and I could read and sense the flow of Katrin's mana much more easily.
If you can read how your opponent's mana moves and your body can react adequately to those movements, then combat is no longer difficult.
This match was no different.
To others, it might have looked like a flashy exchange carefully choreographed between us, but Katrin, as my opponent, couldn't help but feel a strange sense of dissonance.
"You're not holding back on me, are you?"
As our sword and shield locked together, Katrin asked me.
"Hey, no way. Can't you see how hard I'm trying?"
I was fighting hard, too. Beads of sweat were literally dripping off me.
But Katrin still had a dissatisfied expression.
"Then why do I keep getting the feeling that you're going easy on me?"
She couldn't help feeling that way—because I actually was going easy on her.
Even the sweat pouring off me was simply because I was moving through physical effort alone while using less mana.
If this had been a real battle to the death, things would have been different, but in a mere sparring match, I'd become capable of holding back easily while fighting.
After exchanging a few more blows, Katrin lowered her sword.
"Let's stop here. This feels too ambiguous; it's no fun at all."
Wait, fun?
"Weren't we in the middle of taking an exam?"
When I complained, she just waved her hand dismissively.
"Ah, was that so? Well, it doesn't really matter since your Knight Faculty grades are all A's anyway."
I'd never imagined she had already decided my grades before we even sparred.
I'd felt a little guilty for giving the impression that I was holding back, but that guilt vanished instantly, without a trace.
No one said a word when they heard Professor Katrin's decision.
I'd been avoided in the first place because I was too strong, and to the spectators, the fight just now looked like I was battling evenly against Professor Katrin.
It meant I was far stronger than an ordinary knight, and some students were even betting on who was stronger, me or Havier, the top student in the third year.
When the Knight Faculty grades were released, I finished the first semester ranked just outside the top 10 among all first-year students.
The day after the grade announcement.
All the Academy students gathered in the auditorium where the entrance ceremony had taken place.
I went to the auditorium along with the other students and took a seat toward the back.
Then, before I even noticed her arrival, Balea sat down right beside me.
"Top student of the Knight Faculty, Alex!"
She teased me the moment she saw me.
"Haaah... The top student of the Knight Faculty is Young Lord Iker."
She said it already knowing the truth.
Although I'd scored the highest marks in sparring and practical work, I ended up behind Iker because of the general education courses.
Even so, my score was the second highest in the Knight Faculty, but students from the Inherited Ability Faculty, who received bonus points, swarmed the top ranks and pushed me out of the overall top 10.
Our wonderful brother, Manuel, took 2nd place overall among the first-year students, while the Princess, who excelled in general education courses, placed right below me.
"It seems Miss Balea scored better than me as well."
Balea, who belonged to the Inherited Ability Faculty, had also placed within the top 10.
Considering that she was roughly hiding her true abilities and still landed in the top 10, she seemed quite smart as well.
"It's all thanks to having good friends and upperclassmen. There were practice exam questions and answer keys passed down from several classes above. They were a huge help."
Good grief. Don't tell me they had exam archives here too?
"I thought about showing them to you, Young Lord, but I didn't say anything because I figured you'd do better than me anyway."
The way she was only mentioning it now was pretty cheeky.
"Your written test was perfect, just as I expected, but why were your essay scores like that? I'll show them to you next exam."
I shook my head at her offer.
If this had been a while ago, I would have begged her for even one more point, but now there was no need.
Although the connection was ambiguous, I'd secured a line to the Princess, and I had plenty of money, so I didn't need to aim for a scholarship.
The living allowance sent from the Duke's estate was also piling up separately.
Since it was too good to simply turn down, I intended to keep receiving it until any issues arose.
With my current grades, I was viewed as a fairly decent student for an 'illegitimate son,' so unless money was involved, there was no reason to boost my grades any further.
With scores like these, I'd be reasonably free from outside scrutiny while earning recognition from the Academy students—precisely the kind of result I wanted.
"Rather than that, where do you plan to go, Miss Balea? Somewhere close to your domain?"
To change the subject, I asked where she intended to go for the upcoming 'Field Assignment,' which was why we'd gathered today.
"As if! If I go anywhere near my domain and the new acting lord finds out, it'll be a total disaster. Thinking I'm a threat to the domain's succession, he might send a whole army of soldiers to kill me."
As always, I got a brutally unfiltered answer from her.
If anyone else had heard her words, her social life would have been shattered on the spot, but neither she nor I paid them much mind.
That was because Balea only spoke in her true personality around me, and I never passed her words along to anyone else.
"As for me, I'm joining whichever squad you decide on, Young Lord. I wanted to be on the same team during the 'Practical Combat Class' too, so I was really bummed when they said it was restricted to the Knight Faculty."
I nodded at her words.
Her words sounded somewhat alarming, but I'd heard similar things so many times that I now accepted them without thinking much of it.
"Where are you planning to go, Young Lord? I heard Young Lord Manuel is heading to the Duke's Domain."
Right as she finished speaking, the professor guiding the proceedings at the front called out to the students.
"Will all squad leaders please step forward?"
At the professor's instruction, several students walked up to the podium.
Most were third-years, but one younger student was among them.
"As expected, the Princess is a squad leader too."