* * *
Kugugu.
The examination hall began to shake simultaneously with the Elder’s appearance.
Then, a blue spherical barrier suddenly emerged, starting from the boundary between the exterior and interior.
The applicants, who were instantly confined within the barrier, seemed slightly flustered but soon calmly awaited the next words of Salut, the Elder of Pasadian.
The content of the previous provisional disciple selection exams was top secret, but this much was expected, being Pasadian.
“I will now begin the 47th Pasadian School Provisional Disciple Selection Exam.”
Salut casually looked over the applicants.
“The exam is simple. The total of 1,000 applicants will be divided into 10 groups of 100 and teleported to a vast wilderness. There, you will duel against an opponent you believe you can defeat. You may fight multiple people at once.”
All the applicants murmured at the words of Elder Salut.
They had only considered measuring magic power, testing aptitude, or hunting monsters.
They never imagined that Pasadian, even though it was rumored to be eccentric, would employ such a competition-inducing method.
“We will display the overall rankings and the group rankings on a magic screen. Only the applicants who rank within the top 10 in each group will be able to participate in the next test.”
‘This is going to be total chaos, isn’t it?’
It meant that if they didn’t want to be eliminated, they had to immediately beat down the other applicants.
“There is no limit to the number of times you can challenge or accept a duel. Victory is achieved when the opponent loses consciousness or yields. Of course, the defeated person can challenge again, provided their body is intact.”
“You gain points when you win and lose points when you lose. You can challenge an opponent who has yielded a maximum of three times.”
No presence at all could be felt from Salut, that formidable man.
All that could be known about him was that he wore the Pasadian Elder-exclusive robe, had long white hair, and was taller and bigger than average.
“One person can challenge multiple people, but multiple people cannot challenge one person. Multiple people cannot challenge multiple people, and a 1-on-1 fight must be accepted unconditionally.”
His presence within this barrier was simply overwhelming.
They vaguely felt a difference so despairing that even if a thousand people banded together to attack him, they would surely lose.
“The use of artifacts is prohibited, and all magical items are forbidden. Fight using only your pure, personal magic skills.”
At those words, the applicants who had brought artifacts looked disappointed and reluctantly removed the artifacts they were carrying.
“You will gradually realize what you need to do once you are transported. If you truly have talent, you will see me again someday. Then, I wish you luck.”
The Elder, who smiled with a chilling upturn of his lips, vanished like the wind.
Even though many were paying attention to him, no one here knew his whereabouts.
At that moment, the waiting Pasadian mages appeared and opened a warp gate.
A large-scale warp that could only be cast about once a year.
The moment his body touched the gate, Mantis lost consciousness.
Mantis suddenly snapped back to consciousness about five minutes later.
Most of the children also regained consciousness at the same time, looking around nervously in the unfamiliar environment.
The group he belonged to was Group 7.
Already, there were sharp-eyed children searching for those who looked easy to defeat.
A wide, desolate wilderness. It was clearly intended to let them run rampant as they pleased.
…He had to be in the top 10 out of 100 children.
Beep.
Then, the magic screen was displayed prominently again.
No one had yet appeared on the group ranking, but one person had already updated the overall ranking.
Lute McGuffin: 1 point
Only then did the children properly come to their senses and rise to their feet.
Battles had already begun in the other groups.
While scanning for people to duel, Mantis spotted two people who were conspicuously noticeable at a glance.
None of the participants approached them or showed any fighting spirit towards them.
Instead, they quickly avoided making eye contact.
A handsomely refined but fierce-looking boy, and the unidentified boy next to him wrapped in a robe.
The aura clearly suggested nobility, and the dignity and composure of the highest-ranking nobles.
Unlike the other children who were tense and anxious, those two were looking at the scoreboard with interest, as if they found the situation amusing.
Mantis’s sharp intuition told him to avoid those two.
There was only one case where a noble would become a disciple at Pasadian.
When they possessed overwhelming power that could uphold their noble authority.
“Hey. You. Want to fight a match?”
At that moment, a burly boy appeared in front of Mantis.
He looked to be less than sixteen, about 180 cm tall, and had a very savage expression.
‘Wait, shouldn’t that person be learning a sword or martial arts, not magic?’
“…Me?”
“Is there anyone else here besides you? A one-on-one challenge must be accepted unconditionally. Don’t waste time, let’s fight quickly.”
At his attitude, which clearly showed he was looking down on him, Mantis ground his teeth and smiled.
“Yes… I look very easy to defeat, don’t I? If I were you, I’d think the same.”
Mantis rolled his shoulders and stepped forward in front of him.
He hardened his stomach and moistened his parched lips.
He absolutely had to become a disciple and protect his sister.
In this world of survival of the fittest, there was no other answer.
Mantis let out a roar and unleashed the magic he had cast in an instant.
And soon, a fierce battle erupted.
“It seems no one is coming toward us.”
“Then we have no choice but to go to them.”
Anakin looked around the wide plain while checking the scoreboard.
The scores were steadily climbing, and the number of people in the rankings was increasing.
Seeing a boy in the distance looking for someone to fight, Anakin turned around and said to Hilde.
“See you later, Hilde.”
“Okay.”
Hilde nodded and headed in the opposite direction from Anakin.
After watching Hilde move away, Anakin spoke to the boy who was looking around.
“Hello. Shall we fight?”
The boy was startled by Anakin’s sudden appearance without any presence, and belatedly backed away defensively.
“A noble, and… an Omega.”
“…Hmm.”
The scent of an Alpha’s pheromones emanated from him.
Omega mages were rarer than Alpha mages, but not non-existent.
“Since neither of us has time, let’s fight immediately.”
A Second Circle wind magic flew toward him as soon as he finished speaking.
It was quite fierce, but it wasn’t enough to scratch the barrier he had deployed.
The amount of magic power was about Second Circle.
He was no match for Anakin, who was currently at the Third Circle level.
There were occasional cases of people unexpectedly using higher Circle magic, but Anakin judged that this was not one of those cases.
Because there was an overwhelming difference in skill.
Slash.
Anakin conjured a mana blade, pierced his barrier, and inflicted a wound instantly.
The boy, who sustained a long wound from his chest down to his navel, seemed slightly flustered but soon regained his composure, gritted his teeth, and summoned a boulder-sized rock to rush at Anakin.
“Light.”
Kwaguagaga.
The boulders hit the magic instantly cast by Anakin and turned to ash.
Following that, a fireball, a spell that Anakin had pre-cast, poured down on the boy’s head.
Kwoong.
The boy, who was completely dishevelled and couldn’t even deploy a shield, seemed to realize the difference in power and spoke with a resigned expression.
“I yield. I lost.”
That’s why it’s good to yield quickly when you encounter someone stronger than you.
If you’re going to lose anyway, you have to end it with as few injuries as possible so you can win next time.
This was a lesson that applied not only to him but to Anakin as well.
The time limit was 2 hours.
Now that 10 minutes had already passed, Anakin’s rank was 41st.
Now was the time to quickly rack up points.
“Hah…!”
Using magic was an act that consumed enormous mental energy.
However, there was no room for complacency or delay.
If he looked away for even a moment, his rank would drop.
The name of the person calmly panting and wiping the sweat that poured down like rain was Jack.
He was one of the desperate individuals who had abandoned his family name to take the exam for one of the Five Great Schools.
‘If I keep this up, my mana core will overload.’
Jack: 101 points
His current rank was 7th.
At least he was in the safe zone.
Based on the points, winning against a non-ranked opponent yielded +1 point.
The higher the opponent’s rank, the more points he gained.
Winning against one of the top-ranked children could earn him far more points than winning against 10 low-ranked children.
Group 7 Ranking
Hilde Astha: 235 points
Anakin Descartes: 217 points
Tryker: 178 points
Galliard: 169 points
‘Insane.’
What did those two top-tier monsters do to get their scores up to the 200s?
He had painstakingly collected points to reach the 100-point mark.
Faced with such a vast gap, Jack felt the wall of talent for the first time.
* * *
