Chapter 31
Chapter 31
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 31
Chapter Title: The Midterm Begins
-----------------------------------------------------------------
On the way to the assembly point, he ran into a welcome face.
“Oh, Logan! You’re already here?”
Logan, who’d been walking ahead with muscles rippling under a frame several times bulkier than the other cadets, turned around and waved enthusiastically.
“Ohh, Young Master’s here.”
Gertrude Fenton widened her eyes in disbelief and urgently whispered.
“Is that really how you greet him, like he’s some close buddy?! Do you know what kind of guy he is? He’s one of the top threats to watch out for in this exam.”
“Threat? Nah, he’s my master. Even gives me magic protein every day.”
“So to you, anyone who feeds you is a good guy? What kind of pigeon-at-the-fountain logic is that?!”
Rain briefly recalled his orphanage days and raised an eyebrow, as if she’d said something obvious.
“If they’re not good people, they don’t give food to strangers, right?”
Gertrude felt dizzy watching Rain snicker with Logan as they entered the auditorium.
<Delaiten> Main Building, Dragonwheel Hall, 1st Floor, Grand Auditorium.
Finally, all 233 freshmen had gathered in this stately space, but unlike the entrance ceremony, no one was chattering noisily.
“It’s creepily quiet.”
Most of the students waiting for the exam briefing reacted similarly.
Some had gone pale as ghosts, others were tapping their feet rhythmically, and a few were clasping their hands in prayer… It’d be weirder if they weren’t.
Christa responded to Rain’s mutter.
“It’s called a midterm, but really, it’s an event to weed out the talentless cadets—the worthless rocks.”
The university division of <Delaiten> was infamous for expelling anywhere from 20 to as many as 50-60 cadets per midterm and finals.
‘Don’t get nervous, Christa.’
Christa Warden steadied her quietly trembling fingers with a deep breath.
She would be the best.
Like yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
As she clenched her fist, she sensed suspicious stares piercing her from pockets in the crowd. Nothing new.
“Here come the noble house brats.”
“We’ll crush ‘em proper this time.”
“The dropout Young Master’s mine.”
Cadets from the Eight Great Academies and the sixteen mid-tier academies right below them—the so-called 8-16 elites. Christa smirked disdainfully.
“Don’t let your guard down, Rain. The one who’ll take you down is me, Christa Warden. If you slip up to someone else because you’re careless, I won’t let it slide.”
Just then, Professor Carolline, in charge of the second-years, stepped onto the platform, and even the faint murmurs died instantly.
“Hehe, nice to see you all. The vibe’s totally different from the entrance ceremony, right? Now, let me explain the midterm.”
“……!”
“The exam runs until Friday—in other words, all week. It’ll be solo or pairs, and if the supervising professor rules for expulsion, pack your bags and go.”
Not what I expected?
Rain had pictured sitting at a desk, getting a test paper, and solving problems… He chuckled. No room for boredom, huh.
“And by tradition, first-year professors don’t participate in regular exams. Too much risk of favoritism. Allow me to introduce the chief proctor for this exam.”
Before she finished, the figure who ascended the platform left a deep impression even by Lin’s standards.
An elderly woman with white hair, hunched over, right hand behind her back, leaning on a cane with her left. Her mana waves alone were extraordinary.
Like ripples from a ship gliding over water, each step sent mana spreading outward, sending chills down spines.
Logan and Gertrude beside him lit up with awe. Rain alone tilted his head.
“What? Who is she?”
“You really don’t know? For real? It’s Professor Marhena! Current chief proctor of <Delaiten> and former head of the Magic Alliance!”
“Hmm, Magic Alliance head? That hunched granny?”
“She was next in line after your grandfather, Skalji Ludwig!”
Gertrude chimed in, exasperated.
The Magic Alliance oversaw all magic-related affairs in the Empire.
The Five Great Houses and Eight Great Academies were all affiliated, with their members holding key positions.
To lead it meant not just skill, but universal respect from all mages of the era—the ultimate honor.
“Quiet down, you lot!”
Marhena barked suddenly.
Her voice carried intense mana, folding everyone who heard it in half under the pressure.
“You think this is a picnic, huh? Is this year’s freshmen all idiots who know nothing? Huh? This ain’t a test to see how great you are.”
“……?”
“It’s to sift out which of you are useless… Heh, nothing more repulsive than a talentless mage. We don’t need ‘em at <Delaiten> or in the world. So we’ll cut ‘em right out.”
The mage world was always merit-based, huh… Smiles of approval crept onto the lips of the Eight Great Academies’ upperclassmen.
“The fools judging you this time aren’t your first-year profs who indulged your every whim.”
Rain tilted his head.
Did Professor Owen indulge our whims?
“They’re cold enough to lop off your head if you lack aptitude. Second- and third-year profs.”
At that moment, the professor lineup ascended the platform, their extraordinary mana rippling through the hall. Cadets swallowed dryly in a daze.
“Second- and third-years…?”
“The elite instructors who only teach cadets who’ve passed first-year…?”
First came the handsome Professor Kyle, eyes gleaming like a weapon, followed by rising stars of the magic world.
“Crazy, it’s Kyle! The genius of geniuses who topped the 1378th class!”
“Professor Jerron’s here too—built his own magic tower at twenty!”
“And Elin Ludwig! She writes weekly columns for the《Magic Echo Daily》…!”
As the second- and third-year professors filed onto the platform, a profound silence blanketed the auditorium the moment their footsteps ceased.
A tense hush where heartbeats could be heard, hot tension swirling inside, cadets’ eyes wavering.
Marhena smirked, clearly pleased.
“Now you look like kids facing an exam. Tsk tsk, perfect. Now, I’ll explain which exam venue each of you goes to.”
* * *
The Page family had wielded vast authority over [Golden Rose] and north of the Crimson Mountains since before the Empire’s founding.
There, the natural treasure trove of the Crimson Mountains provided <Delaiten> with countless environments: valleys, caves, mountains…
This diverse, expansive terrain was perfect for professors to test cadets in ways matching their styles.
“Since the midterm’s off to a fun start, the format should be fun too, right?”
G Exam Venue.
Near Crimson Mountains’ Zhu Ling Peak.
Vice Proctor Professor Kyle greeted 40 cadets before a cave shrouded in eerie darkness. It didn’t look like any ordinary cave.
“Now, conquer this labyrinth. Put all your magical knowledge and experience to use.”
Cadets exchanged uneasy glances, spooked.
“Labyrinth…?”
“We won’t get hurt, right?”
Of course, it wasn’t a real labyrinth.
The Crimson Mountains, former sanctuary of the Crimson Dragon Legion, had no such thing.
This was an artificial one, fully utilizing summoning magic engineering.
“You might get hurt, but nothing life-threatening. Probably.”
Probably?
As cadets blinked, Kyle winked his handsome eyes playfully.
“I’ve got everything under control, so no worries. What you should worry about is expulsion or passing, right?”
“!!!”
“My exam uses a tiered grading system. I prefer objective over subjective. 1st place gets S, 2nd and 3rd get A.”
4th to 10th B, 11th to 20th C… He added that up to 38th was safe from expulsion with an E.
“39th and below get F—retest chance or straight expulsion. But since it’s pairs, think of it as two S’s possible.”
Objective evaluation, huh…
Seemed fair, but felt brutally ruthless. Curious, Rain raised his hand.
“How’s it evaluated?”
“By conquest time, of course. Limit’s 40 minutes. Over that, no retest—expelled on the spot.”
“!!!”
The TA beside Kyle infused mana into a mirror-like magic tool, projecting strings of text into the air.
“Pairings for this exam. Teams, please group up. Assigned by average entrance exam scores.”
Wondering who he was paired with, Rain craned his neck—then something suddenly blocked his view.
“……Clay?”
The clay doll was flung to the ground and squished flat under a shoe.
Looking up, he saw a beauty with similar clay-colored hair.
“Hehe, the heavens are heartless, huh? Paired on day one with Christa Warden, provisional rank 1 of the 1388th freshmen.”
It was Christa Warden.
Why did her name alone make him sigh now?
“Get ready, Rain Ludwig. Your cocky days end today. I’ll smash that nose of yours like this clay.”
She’s got fire…
Sighing briefly, a familiar hulking figure approached. This time, Rain smiled warmly.
Chaihak upperclassman, Logan.
“Looks like we’re teamed up.”
“Yeah? What luck. Looking forward to it, Master.”
“Umhahhaha!”
Not surprising.
Logan was top 10 in written scores, while Rain, the supplemental admit, ranked dead last overall.
“See that.”
“Noble Young Master and Logan together.”
“Didn’t they fight last time?”
As all eyes turned to them, ignoring her, Christa puffed her cheeks sulkily and ground the clay under her toe.
“You were talking to me first. Where’re you looking now? Doesn’t this clay tell you anything?”
Does clay have to mean something… Rain scratched his chin awkwardly and glanced up at Logan.
“This exam—important for topping graduation?”
“Aiming for top grad?”
“Kinda happened.”
“Then yeah, regular exams are just four times a year, so super important.”
Top graduation required topping every exam.
Miss once, and unless rivals slipped, it was over.
With golden generation cadets this term, competition would be fiercer than ever.
Hmm. Rain gazed upward thoughtfully, then scratched his head and met Christa’s eyes squarely.
“Yeah? Sorry then, can’t go easy this time.”
A chill raced up her spine; Christa flinched back instinctively. Two emotions clashed in her mind.
Joy that the guy who’d always treated their rivalry casually was serious… And wariness—or fear?—at the sudden shift.
“I have to top out graduation somehow.”
For some reason, Rain ended with a wistful smile.
“A friend is waiting.”