* * *
Everyone now asked for ranks first instead of blindly rushing in.
This was because time was running out and they needed to accumulate points.
The overall ranking had suddenly become invisible after a certain point.
As a result, they couldn’t tell how well the other groups were doing.
“Hey. You’re 7th, right?”
A blond-haired boy approached Jack with a frown and spoke.
He was an opponent they had first met and exchanged names with.
Was he coming to challenge again?
Since a maximum of three attempts was allowed, it was possible.
As Jack prepared for another battle, the blond-haired boy shook his head and said.
“No. Not that. Let’s go after the 1st place.”
“What?”
Jack’s face, which was about to cast magic, was instantly stunned.
“There’s no harm in challenging, right? That person is a monster. You can never win alone. I asked the referee, and they said it’s okay if the 1st place accepts a challenge from multiple people. I’ve gathered five others besides you, so we have a chance to win. Come along if you want to turn your life around with points.”
“No… he can just refuse, can’t he?”
The boy then snickered and shook his head as if to say, ‘What are you talking about?’
“You haven’t fought him, have you?”
The blond-haired boy’s name was Rael. He was currently ranked 6th in the group.
“He’s a direct descendant of the Astha Ducal Family, a famous magic house. Not a collateral relative. Seriously. I don’t understand why such a big shot would come to a tough place like Pasadian… Anyway, I’m telling you that bastard is in the center, telling everyone to just rush him!”
“What did you say?”
A multi-on-one battle, where any variable could occur, no matter how confident one was in their skills…
“Do you think that score was made easily? It was achieved after everyone ganged up on him.”
Jack swallowed hard at the shocking truth of the story.
What on earth was happening over there?
“Anyway, we won’t take much of a hit even if we lose to the 1st place. The risk is only on his side. He probably can’t refuse because of his pride, either. Anyway, I don’t have time, so I’m going now. Follow me if you want to.”
Rael quickly disappeared.
Jack checked his rank.
Still 7th.
But it was true that the rank was unstable if it were to be overturned at the last minute.
…Fine, let’s try it just once. Aren’t they the same human beings, after all?
Jack followed Rael.
And not long after, a loud roar was heard from a nearby distance.
Kugugugu.
The comrades Rael had mentioned for the joint attack had already gathered from various places.
As he headed towards the sound, one of the nobles who had been quite noticeable from the start was standing alone.
That was Hilde Astha.
He was certainly handsome and refined, so even doing such crazy things made him look like a hero from a myth.
Jack shuddered at the unfairness of the gods.
Hilde turned his eyes this way and said with enjoyment.
“You’ve come. My points.”
“You crazy bastard! Who are you calling points!”
Rael, who seemed to have suffered a lot at his hands, immediately flared up and shouted fiercely.
The relaxed Hilde ignored him and looked over the six children.
After observing them sufficiently, he made a satisfied expression and muttered.
“Hmm. You’ve gathered them well.”
“…What? You fucking piece of shit. What do you take people for?”
Rael glanced at Jack and the other children, signalling them.
They all nodded with determined expressions and began preparing their attacks.
Jack glanced at the unconscious, destroyed applicants lying around Hilde.
The other children seemed to only see Hilde, but Jack noticed the fallen applicants first.
A chilling sense of unease made Jack think.
‘Just in case, if I lose, I’ll yield quickly before I get fatally injured…’
The six children cast their magic simultaneously.
Their casting speed was fast, which was certainly a result of their high ranks.
Hilde approached the children and nodded his head.
At that moment, Jack’s inexplicable sense of discord became clearly evident.
The dense mana surrounding Hilde.
For some reason, his fighting spirit quickly melted away.
Was he perhaps afraid?
“Damn it…”
Jack wondered if his senses had always been this sharp.
“Kill him!”
The highly agitated mages all rushed at him, pouring out their magic and screaming as if they were squeezing out every last drop of their depleted mana.
Mana arrows of various elements, area-of-effect ice magic, and even fire pillars.
Kwaguagagaga-kwang.
Numerous spells struck his protective barrier.
An attack that would leave no bone dust of an ordinary applicant.
However, the smoke cleared… and a perfectly fine Hilde naturally walked out from within.
“Are you guys really mages?”
“Uh…”
Rael hesitated, having not expected Hilde to be fine after taking that attack.
“You’re not mages. You idiots.”
Meanwhile, Hilde chuckled, raised his right hand, and cast a giant, meteor-like rock.
Sparks flew from the rock chunks as they fragmented.
Fusion casting…
It was practically a disaster.
Rael stared blankly at it and thought.
‘A guy not even of age can use that? That’s Fourth Circle…’
“Yi-yi…”
Fzzzzzzzt.
KWAANG.
His voice was drowned out, and the five applicants were knocked unconscious, half-dead.
In the hazy smoke, Jack’s legs trembled, and he stumbled backward.
“Hey. You.”
Jack reflexively stuttered in response to Hilde’s bored tone.
“Y-Yes?”
And Hilde’s gaze briefly shifted towards the west.
“If you go that way, you can meet the 2nd rank. They’re lucky to be high in the ranks compared to their actual skill. Their magic power is almost at rock bottom right now. Don’t you think you could win now?”
“R-Really?”
Hilde’s gaze was still fixed on the west.
When he nodded, Jack bowed his back and greeted him respectfully.
“Th-Thank you! Really…”
Jack repeatedly bowed and groveled, then turned toward the west.
Hilde, who watched him intently, checked the rankings with an indifferent expression.
“1st place, huh…”
And he turned and casually walked away.
Phylon, the magnificent building called the heart of Trica, Pasadian’s base and a great metropolis.
The central clock tower, which soared as high as any royal castle, was engraved with the Pasadian Imperial flag emblem.
It was the symbol representing the powerful mages who stood at the forefront.
In a deep space on the top floor of Phylon, a man was staring intently at the screen contained within a video orb.
Around him, Pasadian members wearing their robes were lined up, bowing their heads in a grim silence.
“Hmm…”
“Is there anyone among the applicants this time that you find appealing?”
Salut, the Elder of Pasadian.
The man with long, pure white hair took off his robe, revealing his face, and watched the video orb without a word for some time.
He possessed a remarkably young and beautiful appearance for an Elder.
His tall stature and the muscular physique of his firm frame further enhanced his mysterious and alien atmosphere.
He was a master who had reached the rank of absolute powerhouse in the Empire.
Those who had attained that level should not be understood with mere logic.
It was a lesson learned after meeting countless strong people and reaching this position.
Thus, everyone held their breath, awaiting his next words.
“That child…”
“Yes. Are you referring to the child with long black hair, wrapped in a robe?”
Rubdum, Salut’s close associate and a Senior Disciple of Pasadian, asked cautiously, clasping his hands behind his back.
With just one word from Salut, his twenty years of devout loyalty to the School could be pointlessly swept away.
As long as he was in the same room as the Elder, he couldn’t let his guard down.
“He shows potential. Though he hasn’t been particularly active…”
“He is 2nd place in the Group Ranking of the first assessment and 4th overall. He is a strong candidate to be selected as a provisional disciple. He doesn’t seem to have revealed his full strength yet, though. Do you find him appealing?”
‘Showing potential.’
That was a phrase he had never heard even when he took the exam.
To catch Salut’s eye meant that his future life would be smooth sailing…
“He is Anakin Descartes, the second son of the Descartes Count Family in the Central East, a high-ranking noble. Although he’s from a Count Family, his prestige and fame are comparable to a Marquis’.”
After listing the information Salut might be curious about, Rubdum, a Pasadian member counted among the most capable, watched Salut’s expression.
The fact that Rubdum had memorized the identities of all the participants for this man was an uncomfortable truth known only to the School members present.
“Cute noble brats have rolled in.”
“It seems both of them had letters of recommendation written by their main families. They must be quite confident in their skills.”
“I kept putting off the selection of disciples because I wasn’t interested… Is this what the old folks felt?”
All the School members fell silent as Salut’s lips curved into an elegant arc.
Calling the Elders ‘old folks’ was unimaginable in this School.
“We will observe for now. Oh, and cancel the Neutral Nation Summit tomorrow. They always discuss useless things anyway.”
“…Yes.”
‘How am I supposed to cancel that? This crazy person…’
Rubdum replied with difficulty.
His head throbbed with pain just thinking about the Emperor showering him with curses again because he was the only one of the Five Great Schools not to attend the meeting.
* * *
