Summer Comprehensive Training (2)

With the sharp metallic ring slicing through the air, the cadets—or rather, the monsters disguised as cadets—armed themselves. The lively expressions from moments ago had long vanished, replaced by plastic-bead eyes and tightly clenched lips.

Swords, spears, shields. A well-balanced combo of offense and defense.

By comparison, our side had knuckles, a pile driver, and a bow. The only weapon remotely suited for a real battlefield was the bow, and even that wasn't something you could use carefree in the academy corridors. As for the pile driver, calling it a weapon was almost embarrassing.

But no problem. Now that I'd confirmed these things in front of me weren't human but monsters, there was no need to hold back.

Sana immediately launched an upper front kick straight at the shield. It might block the impact, but pure pressure transmits right through. Overpowered by Sana's strength, the shield user's balance crumbled, forcing one knee to the ground. If their body had been intact, they might've weathered the shock somehow, but the muscles damaged by Yujin's stake couldn't muster the power to deflect Sana's monstrous pressure.

The shield tilted at an angle with the shift in posture. Sana used it as a springboard to leap.

"……."

Of course, that invited spear and sword checks. Two masses of metal hurtling toward her in midair, with nowhere to dodge.

But they were slow. She grabbed ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the spear shaft aiming to reach her before the sword, pulling off an acrobatic twist to evade the blade. What was meant as an attack became the core of Sana's evasion maneuver instead.

And that evasion core seamlessly flipped into the attack core.

"Hmph!"

Spinning her body rapidly around the spear shaft as an axis, she unleashed a kick loaded with perfect centrifugal force and body weight straight into the spear user's head. A ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠kick infused with solid gather qi at a high level could've easily split a human skull.

But what burst from the shattered spear user's head wasn't blood and brains, but chunky, graphic-like fragments. More like a VR game staging than real combat. Makes sense— even in hyper-realistic training, perfectly recreating blood fountains wouldn't be great for the cadets' mental health.

Once the biggest threat, the spear user, was down, the rest was a breeze. She closed in for close quarters in a flash, pierced the sword user's chest, then casually finished off the now-useless shield loner.

Joseph and Yujin didn't even have time to jump in. Practically a 3:1, but Sana emerged without a single graze. Glasses still on, even. That performance way beyond freshman level was bound to score high… but Sana stared grimly at the monsters' dissipating fluids, apparently unsatisfied.

"…Yeah. If you observe carefully with sense qi, their qi composition is blatantly different from a normal human's. Even at freshman level, it was detectable."

But in the end, the first to spot them wasn't Sana, but Yujin. Winning 3:1 unscathed. Instantly seeing through harmlessly disguised foes. Which would score higher? In Sana's mind, the latter carried more weight.

That fact needled her nerves.

"…How'd you spot it? That they were monsters."

"Uh, well…."

Yujin hemmed and hawed, hard to explain, then answered.

"Eh, nothing special. Back when that gate blew open, there were guys who looked human but attacked academy cadets, right? Since then, whenever shit hits the fan, I've made it habit to sense qi on everyone."

"…Tch."

True, that's textbook basics. But in reality, it's often glossed over. Gather qi and emit qi aren't the only drains on stamina and mental energy. Focusing to perceive what shouldn't be visible takes serious mental effort too. So people usually skip fine sense qi on seemingly trivial stuff.

But this guy did it. That's the difference, huh. Sticking to fundamentals like that is sure to score high.

…Of course, Sana could never guess it stemmed from Joo Hyowon's prior ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠tip-off about the exam content.

"I'll acknowledge your merit. But from now on, report to me first as team leader before acting. No solo moves, no matter what. If you'd been wrong here, it'd be a huge issue. You get that, right?"

"Yeah, got it. I'll be careful."

"…….I get the gist of this exam now. The monsters themselves aren't that impressive. We'll approach any incoming foes with caution. Target's the gate core. Let's go."

"This year's freshmen are overall pretty skilled, sir. Qi handling's solid, but more than that, their vigilance is sharp. Figured the nasty exam setup would sucker-punch a lot of first-years."

"Must be that gate incident as groundwork."

"Ah, those gutter rats who fearlessly hit freshmen… Yeah, after that, no one'd trust easily, sir."

"Hey, spotted a guy with a weird… spear? Stake? He instantly pegged the foe as a monster and skewered it. Vigilant and decisive."

"Really? I think the opposite. Isn't that reckless? If it was a real cadet, it'd just be friendly fire."

"Caution might cede ground to enemies, decisiveness risks blue-on-blue. Personally, I judge by results."

"Irresponsible! Caution's always best! You gonna trust your back to some idiot who might attack allies!?"

The heroes bantered excitedly, watching the broadcast cadets' feats. I was just a fifth wheel among them. No clue why I even had to sit here. Should've been down there rampaging with my team.

Ugh. But thanks to this, I got an objective view of the current freshmen level.

"Ayumi, Esmeralda, and Sana-Yujin team too. All doing pretty great?"

In the original, tons of teams wiped early, spot-lighting the protag team. This time, mostly good results, no disasters.

Of course, standout performers were limited—exams are like that. But inversely, one blending into the background caught my eye.

"What? Kiru's bombing hard."

Playing dead or something? Or holding back 'cause heroes are watching?

On screen, Kiru performed worse than average cadets. Lightning bolt for her trusting teammates.

But this is just Phase 1. Next comes the real confusion.

Monsters mimicking human form to attack. Sounds terrifying on paper. But this training's for first-years, half a year post-enrollment. Even mimicking humans, close sense qi scrutiny reveals them easily—no Hollywood infiltration suspense.

What burdened trainees more was the monsters' weapon skills. Classroom beasts are usually animalistic or amorphous. These wielded clumsy-but-humanlike martial arts, trickier to face.

Of course, not for higher-level trainees.

"Hm, clear."

Sana flicked blood from her knuckles, nodding. Near-zero damage, mowing down monsters as they appeared. Her team was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠surely top-tier by kills.

Joseph on range, Yujin mid, Sana rushing to crush. New synergy, but workable. Against monsters' mediocre skills, Sana's pro-fighter level from pre-academy dominated. Leverage that, no unbeatable foe.

Hm, this should've impressed the overseers. Proves I'm the top prospect.

Strongest human gets highest eval and treatment. Rational. Yujin's surprise shine threw her off, but just a flash. Mediocre skills and qi—he wasn't worth minding.

"Kinda ordinary for 'comprehensive training,' right?"

Deflated tone. But not wrong. This level lacks distinction power, little growth value.

Something irregular's coming. That's logical.

And Sana's hunch was spot-on.

-KABOOOOOM!!!!-

A deafening roar like a bomb blast. Concrete chunks flying. Explosions rocked the academy, collapsing structures into rubble everywhere.

Amid the hellish din, the loudspeaker's voice rang startlingly clear in cadets' ears.