-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The next morning.
The massive gates of Elton Academy opened.
New students, carrying or dragging one or two large bags, entered the academy.
Mons unloaded the large bag he had been carrying on his back.
"From the gate onwards, the young master must carry his own luggage."
"I know."
"Then I shall see you on the weekend."
"Yes. Find a nice house. Two rooms. You know?"
"If only you hadn't delayed your departure, we could have secured a much better accommodation..."
"Okay, okay. I said I'm sorry."
Mons bowed deeply.
"Once again, congratulations on your admission to Elton Academy, Master Davian Onene."
"Thanks."
Davian dragged his wheeled suitcase through the gates.
Even the sons of high-ranking nobles, who had never carried a bag in their lives, had to bear the weight of their own luggage within the academy.
'A fresh start. Elton Academy.'
Beyond the tall and massive gates, a wide avenue appeared.
Davian, looking around as if searching for someone, spotted a familiar face.
"Luna!"
"Oh? Oh. Hello! I mean, hi. Davian."
The interior of the academy was incredibly grand and opulent.
Luna repeatedly looked around and exclaimed in admiration.
Davian, on the other hand, silently followed a familiar path towards the Great Hall.
At each fork in the road, academy staff directed them.
After walking along the main road for some time, the Great Hall appeared on the right.
"Ah! So this is the Great Hall."
"Yeah. This is it."
"Davian, you're so calm even on the entrance ceremony day. It's completely different from me. And you know the way so well."
Entering the hall, chairs were arranged to accommodate the number of new students.
Staff guided the students to sit in the chairs from the front.
On the stage at the front, over a dozen professors were already seated, watching the entering students.
Among them was Professor Sirims, the head of the Department of Magic.
Professor Sirims, carefully observing the students, spotted someone and nudged the shoulder of the magic professor next to him.
"That's the one. The one I told you about."
"Ah, is that the student? I really can't sense the size of the contained mana properly."
"Right? It seems like the mana is well refined, yet scattered. The size seems large, yet small. I can't figure him out at all."
"He's certainly someone worth keeping an eye on, Professor."
As the two professors talked, Davian and Luna sat down somewhere in the middle of the available chairs.
Two large number tags were placed on each chair.
Following the staff's instructions, the students attached one number tag to their chest and the other to their back.
Davian and Luna sequentially attached the number tags 141 and 142.
Shortly after, when all the students were seated, the large doors of the Great Hall closed automatically.
There were about three hundred new students this year.
The hall, which had been noisy with the murmuring of the students, was filled with the sound of heels.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
A firm and rhythmic sound.
The students' gazes turned towards the stage where the sound was coming from.
The murmuring noise naturally subsided.
A beautiful woman with her blue hair neatly tied back stepped forward to the center of the stage.
Sharp yet beautiful eyes with dark brown pupils.
Her skin was as white and translucent as someone who had never seen the sun.
In some ways, she looked as young as an academy student, and in others, she had the appearance of a mature woman.
She had a slender frame at first glance, but solid muscles perfectly supported her body.
There was a sense of discipline in every movement as she walked out slowly.
The sword at her waist and her ramrod-straight posture.
Even someone who didn't know swordsmanship could immediately recognize that she was a highly trained swordsman.
"Greetings. My name is Stella Cloud, a professor in the Department of Swordsmanship. I will be in charge of your first-year swordsmanship class."
Gaping sound.
Luna's mouth, who was sitting next to Davian, dropped open.
The sound of people swallowing dry saliva could be heard here and there in the hall.
Luna muttered to herself involuntarily.
"The swordsmanship professor is such a beauty..."
Professor Stella continued to speak.
"We have a lot to do today, so listen carefully. After measuring mana affinity, we will immediately proceed to the entrance exam. If anyone was expecting a fancy entrance ceremony, I apologize. Even taking the entrance exam will make today too short."
As Professor Stella finished speaking, side doors of the hall opened, and staff wheeled in mana affinity measuring devices.
Objects like door frames without doors were brought into the hall one after another.
Every time Davian saw these devices, they reminded him of airport security checkpoints.
A total of ten measuring devices were set up at regular intervals in front of the hall.
The staff stood next to the machines, holding paper and fountain pens to record the results.
"One by one, come forward and pass through the mana affinity measuring device, starting from the front. Move quickly, as we don't have much time."
At the command of the charismatic Professor Stella, about three hundred students simultaneously stood up and lined up in front of the measuring devices.
As the first student passed through the measuring device, a number floated into the air where they had been.
The staff loudly read the number so that the professors could hear it and wrote it down on the paper.
"Student number 1, 37!"
The measuring device was a magical device that converted mana affinity into a number.
The range of numbers was usually between 0 and 100.
Throughout the history of the continent, the number exceeding 100 had only been recorded a handful of times.
After a while, a female student with a face that Davian knew well stepped forward.
Blonde hair and a doll-like face.
It was Latia Meridiem.
"Student number 95, ...116!"
In an instant, the hall became as quiet as if cold water had been poured over it.
Everyone in the hall looked at Latia.
The professors did too.
Only after a while did the sound of murmuring begin to erupt from here and there.
"Did I hear that wrong just now? What? One hundred and something? 116?"
"Has there ever really been someone with a mana affinity of over 100? Isn't that just a legend?"
"To think that we have such a genius among our classmates!"
"Isn't she the daughter of Duke Meridiem?"
"Ah, that magical genius? No wonder..."
The measurement process resumed, and this time it was Davian's turn.
"Student number 141, ...100!"
Luna, who was standing right behind him waiting for her turn, asked in surprise.
"Davian? You're also in the triple digits?"
It wasn't just Luna who was surprised.
The hall became noisy again.
"What? Another one over 100?"
"No, this time it's just exactly 100."
"Unbelievable. Are you telling me that there are two people here right now with triple-digit mana affinity, which only appears once every few hundred years?"
Latia was also surprised and looked towards the measuring device, then met Davian's eyes as he turned around.
Latia hastily averted her gaze, worried that her surprised expression would be noticed.
Immediately following him was Luna's turn.
"Student number 142, 56!"
The mana affinity of an ordinary person is usually a single digit.
In any other place, this would have attracted a lot of attention, but at Elton Academy, it was just an average level.
After finishing the measurement of all the students' mana affinity, Professor Stella stood on the stage again.
"Now that we have measured innate talent, we will now conduct the entrance exam to see how well you can utilize it. As most of you know, the entrance exam will be conducted in a practical setting."
Professor Stella opened a large wooden box placed next to her and took out a cube with square sides.
As she placed the cube on her palm, a wing sprouted from each of its four sides.
The cube soon floated into the air and began to fly around the hall.
"There is a giant magic circle engraved on the floor of the hall. Soon, you will be warped to the Alsace Forest, which is teeming with monsters. Go there, beat up as many monsters as you can, and return to this hall before sunset. That is the content of the exam. If you want to return to the hall, tear the number tag you were given."
Luna was startled and fiddled with the number tag attached to her chest.
"Oh my goodness... This wasn't just an ordinary number tag?"
Professor Stella's explanation continued.
"Even if the number tag is damaged during combat, you will be automatically summoned back to the hall, so be aware."
Luna quickly took her hand off the number tag she had been fiddling with.
At that moment, a magically created video was displayed on one side of the hall wall.
The screen that appeared in the video was a view of the hall being filmed by the cube as it flew around.
"The professors will be watching your videos here and grading your entrance exam. You can form parties or move alone."
Dozens or hundreds of cubes flew out of the large wooden box next to Professor Stella.
The videos taken by each of the cubes filled the hall wall.
"Well, I won't wish you luck. Just show your skills to the fullest. And if you feel it's dangerous, don't hesitate to tear your number tag and return here."
A bright light emanated from the floor and filled the hall, and all the new students were warped to the middle of the Alsace Forest at once.
The students who had fallen into the forest began to move urgently and form parties.
Very few of the new students had the ability to roam this forest alone and defeat monsters.
Finding party members who were skilled and compatible with each other was the key to this entrance exam.
"Luna."
"Huh?"
"Let's do it together. The entrance exam. This is the favor I asked you about two days ago. Do you remember? The favor you agreed to grant."
From Luna's point of view, this was more of a proposal than a favor, and there was no reason to refuse.
Davian's mana affinity was a whopping three digits.
"Ah! Okay! Let's do it together. I studied healing magic. What about you?"
"Four-element magic."
"That's great. Then we just need to find students who are good at close combat."
"No, we don't need them. The two of us are enough."
"Huh? Just the two of us?"
"Yes. Let's go."
Davian strode forward.
Luna hurriedly followed Davian, constantly looking around anxiously.
"S-Still, wouldn't it be difficult with just the two of us? How about gathering a few more people?"
"It's okay. They'll just be a hindrance. Our party will definitely be in first place, so don't worry and follow me."
The sun hanging on the mountain top was painting the clouds a deeper red.
"Huff, huff. Davian, can't we rest for a bit?"
"Just a little further."
"And you know... it's already getting dark. We have to get back to the hall before the sun sets completely, but we've only managed to catch a few goblins so far."
"This should be the right place."
"What are you looking for?"
It was then.
Woof! Woof!
The sound of dogs barking came from beyond the hill.
Davian pointed to the direction of the sound.
"We're here. It's that way."
After crossing another small hill, a large cave came into view on the other side.
And in front of it, five dogs that had caught Davian and Luna's scent were barking fiercely.
Luna narrowed her eyes and looked towards the cave, then shouted in surprise.
"Eek! What is that!"
Luna quickly hid behind Davian.
Woof! Woof!
The dogs, having discovered Davian's group, barked even more fiercely and began to charge.
The charging dogs were larger than wolves, and each of their large bodies had two heads.
Elton Academy Great Hall.
Professor Stella, who had been watching the students' videos, jumped to her feet.
She got up so forcefully that the chair she had been sitting on flew to the corner and hit the wall.
"Th-There! We need to return those students immediately!"
At Professor Stella's cry, the other professors also looked at the video she was pointing at.
Professor Sirims leisurely replied.
"I've been keeping an eye on them anyway. Let's leave them for a bit longer."
Professor Stella shouted.
"That dog! Isn't that Orthrus! You know what's inside the cave that Orthrus is guarding, and you're just going to let them stay there?"
"If it's really dangerous, they'll tear their number tags and come back on their own."
"That's absurd! They're just new students with a lack of experience! We need to forcibly return them immediately!"
Comments
Post a Comment