<142 - Lower Class Mana Evaluation Test>
The Mana Evaluation Test is divided into five categories.
Knight Department – Crossing the Bridge.
Magic Department – Scarecrow Destruction.
Administration Department – Petition Resolution.
Production Department – Object Structure Analysis.
Adventure Department – Finding the Certificate of Acceptance.
Lower class students can challenge two categories among these, and passing even one category allows them to pass the Mana Evaluation Test.
Of course, the thought of more first-year students failing is considered a kindness by Professor Snake, who made sure that no one would find it easy to pass a single test.
“Prospective Knight Students, come this way.”
The teaching assistants guided each prospective student from different departments to individual exam venues.
The mob chose the Knight Department’s exam venue.
“Wow… it’s huge.”
“Are we supposed to cross that bridge blocked by a rock?”
“Can’t we just swim across?”
The lower class students tried to think of clever ways.
A bridge blocked by a boulder bigger than a house.
There was no way to roll or destroy a rock of that size with sheer strength or weapons.
It was also so high that if one climbed it and failed to land correctly, they might end up splattering their arms and legs or faceplanting into the ground—instant death waiting to happen.
Unless one wielded superhuman combat power through mana, it would be nearly impossible to pass without an extremely trained body.
“Mob fighting~!”
“Is that him? The lower class student cared for by Oknodie.”
“I heard he’s quite a diligent student after checking around.”
“Hmm? He looks as frail as a mouse. This guy’s body is way too thin.”
“Maybe he’s been practicing the Mana Flow Technique?”
“He doesn’t have the background to master a professional technique. He likely instinctively learned mana breathing and independently performed muscle compression.”
On the other side of the bridge stood the viewing stone.
Among them were Oknodie and her comrades who came to cheer for Mob.
“What? Is Mob dating someone?”
“He’s the top student of the year.”
“How cute. I heard the demon descended upon the earth, but was that just nonsense?”
As Mob’s classmates teased him by poking him in the ribs, he turned red.
“Stop saying that! Oknodie and I have nothing to do with each other. I’m just in debt to her.”
Even the students who were trying to relax by teasing Mob shut their mouths as the first challenger stood before the bridge.
“Yahhaaaaap!”
With a loud battle cry, the challenger swung a huge hammer.
With a clang, the hammer bounced back.
“Ouch. That’s gotta hurt.”
When light objects are struck by a weapon, the shock transfers entirely to the object, and there’s no rebound.
In contrast, striking a solid object like a wall or the ground returns all the shock to the attacker, making their fingertips tingle and their weapon zing.
The shock the student received from hitting the massive boulder was no different.
“Yahhaaaap!”
Clang! Clang!
With each unsuccessful strike, blood welled up on his hands, and his face twisted in pain.
It was a foolish challenge, akin to a madcap Don Quixote charging at a windmill!
“What a shame.”
With Oknodie’s comment, the boulder trembled.
Just a slight movement.
All the spectators and waiting examinees clenched their hands in excitement.
“Just a little more!
“You can do it!”
“You’re almost there! Don’t give up!”
In stark contrast to the desperate cheers, the student wielding the hammer had exhausted all his strength from the previous blow.
He was so drained that he ultimately forfeited.
“Next!”
The instructor responsible for grading announced the next student without mercy.
The new challenger, learning from the last one’s failure, chose to attempt crossing from below, the riverbank, by shedding his clothes.
“Oh, that poor lad.”
“Isn’t that the river where Professor Plato taught?”
“Right. Look, there’s the locker room.”
The upper class students expressed their condolences in advance.
In a matter of days, the bridge had appeared, and the boulder rose, but it was still too slow to realize that the current of the river was being twisted at will.
Sure enough, one of the teaching assistants was holding the [Magic Washbasin] that Professor Plato used.
To make matters worse, he wielded a whisk in one hand so he wouldn’t tire from stirring with his bare hands.
“He’s really plotting to cook those poor kids.”
Following Isabel’s comment, the test proceeded exactly as she predicted.
The student boldly jumped into the river, while the teaching assistant vigorously stirred the washbasin with the whisk, causing a sudden whirlpool to suck the student in, who gulped down water and screamed for mercy.
The waiting teaching assistant fished the drenched examinee out of the giant water bubble.
Gag! Gag.
Every time he was stabbed in the belly, he spat out water, looking like a fish flopping out of water, making Oknodie lick her lips.
Isabel thought to herself,
“Will others think she’s hungry for people when they see this?”
She subtly lifted her cloak to conceal Oknodie, though it seemed too late, as some examinees from a distance avoided eye contact.
Trying to appear natural, the students kept their expressions blank, but their shaking limbs were caught by Isabel’s keen eye as they desperately clung to their elbows or pressed their legs tightly together to stop their trembling.
“This will likely see more people fail than pass, right? Isn’t it natural if Mob doesn’t make it?”
“So true. The weight of the rock has increased significantly compared to other times!”
“…”
Honestly, Oknodie felt that people deserved to be scared for their own actions.
A natural reaction from someone who said “compared to other times.”
How could she know a piece of information nobody else had the slightest clue about?
With a glance at Jezel, who indicated she was unaware, she gave a faint smile.
The foundation that Oknodie belonged to, which knew information even the current dark merchant didn’t, now evoked more fear than resentment.
“Ah, it’s finally Mob’s turn!”
As many challengers continued to fail and delay their turns, Mob stepped forward without hesitation when it was his turn.
“Go for it, Mob!”
“Oknodie, thanks for cheering, but could you please hold back on the loudness? It’s embarrassing…”
“Am I the one who’s embarrassed?!”
Oknodie was shocked at Mob’s rejection.
Isabel soothed Oknodie by patting her hand.
“Boys in their adolescence are all like that. They feel shy and awkward around girls, so they tend to act curtly.”
“I—I know that!”
“I wish I didn’t…”
Mob’s weapon was a spear with weight.
He had specially prepared this long spear for the test.
“Haah!”
Mob let out a battle cry as he thrust the spear forward.
A resonating boom shook both the boulder and the weary spectators at the same time.
The onlookers blinked, staring intently.
They could all feel it.
This one was different.
Mob had naturally adapted to the power of his high stats through weight training.
A person with a stat of 20 doesn’t always exert 100% of that strength. In daily life, they’d manage with 10%, exert around 30% during training, and squeeze out 50% in real combat, consciously tapping into 70% during crucial moments.
However, pulling out 100% of one’s strength is usually only achieved in a life-and-death crisis.
“Heheh, this feels rewarding.”
While wondering about the possibility of dismantling his weight equipment and relaxing when he wasn’t looking, he realized he was overly worried.
Mob’s strike wasn’t exactly at max capacity, but it was close—around 90%.
Getting used to live with heavy weights made it feel like he was infusing his strength into it.
“Haah!”
The barrage of thrusts continued, producing a loud sound with each impact between the spear and the boulder.
Mob was drawing out just the right amount of power at the right timing, enduring the recoil thanks to enhanced health from his increased fitness.
“Yah!”
Each focused strike made the boulder shake.
As it trembled, the remaining energy from his movements accumulated in successive impacts.
Realizing this was an opportunity, Mob shouted out.
“Release the weights!”
Mob immediately removed the weights from his elbows, shoulders, and wrists.
For a moment, the boulder’s tremors diminished greatly, while Mob’s right arm felt significantly lighter than before.
“Takaaah!”
With a powerful shout, he thrust the spear, finally lifting the massive boulder, which then rolled over to the other side of the bridge with a thud, thud.
[The lower class student who received guidance has passed the test he originally would have failed.]
[Experience Points +10]
[Good Kid Experience Points +2]
He did it.
[You have completed the [Charity Event] linked event.]
[Mob’s Favorability increases.]
[You have gained 10,000 points as a bonus for excellent grades.]
[Your reputation among lower class students has increased.]
[Students are less afraid of you.]
The thrill of changing the fate of the helpless washed over him powerfully.
[Arcadia believes you can still remain a good kid.]
[Warrior Ishtar re-evaluates your corruption level as being lower than anticipated.]
At that moment, as Mob jumped for joy, his accomplishment felt even greater than when he was accepted into the academy.
[The professors from the Empire faction view you unfavorably.]
[Professor Snake is extremely angry.]
While the instructor and teaching assistants reveled in Mob’s remarkable growth, a feeling of adverseness seeped through the crystal ball rising in the middle of the outdoor exam site.
Many professors had cast their watchful gaze over the abilities of the lower class students.
Their emotions leaked through the medium they had integrated with from afar.
“The newbie-saving event has a downside in affecting the Empire’s favorability!”
Being this was an unprecedented event, he hadn’t anticipated this side effect.
If one played in the Empire faction, they’d have to skip this event.
Feeling a bit embarrassed as if thinking about playing the game again in a reality where it had become true, he realized this was a premature worry.
“Mob really passed.”
“I owe it to the good mentor I met.”
The student who went next glanced dispassionately down at Mob’s weight equipment lies flat on the ground.
With a thud, dust rose into the air.
The lower class students standing behind him gasped at the surprising weight.
They remembered how Mob had effortlessly taken on multiple weights while taking the test, and reflected on the equipment that had helped strengthen him, as well as the spell I had influenced his growth with.
The curly-haired boy sitting in the audience locked eyes with Mob, his gaze filled with cold fury.
[The Favorability of Jakku plummets.]
[Jakku’s favorability dips into the negatives.]
[Jakku has become a hostile NPC.]
Alarms sounded repeatedly warning that something unsettling might arise from that student.
The intuition of a veteran player told him more than he expected.
The incidents of week four would begin.
The starting point might very well be that student.
