〈 Chapter 67 〉 Entrance Exam (1)
*
The morning sunlight filtered in through the curtains.
I rose from my bed.
‘Is today finally the day?’
Outside the door, the noisy sounds of chatter could be heard from early morning.
Those were the ones who had come to take the entrance exam for Hero Academy.
‘A lot of people showed up.’
Truth be told, I had an inkling last week when I registered as a Hero Candidate for the entrance exam.
Even then, a considerable number of people had gathered.
However, that was just the tip of the iceberg.
As long as they weren’t restricted by age limits, there were many who came to take the exam every year.
‘It’s obvious since graduating guarantees becoming a hero.’
There was no reason for a Hero Candidate not to take the exam.
Of course, most of those who came just because of that would end up failing.
It was different from the interview for registering as a Hero Candidate.
The total number of students admitted to Hero Academy in a year was 64.
If we exclude the 16 from the Magic Department made up of students from the Magic Tower, there were only 48 spots in the Martial Arts Department.
This was due to the elite nature of Hero Academy.
To dig deeper, the Swordsmanship Class had 8 students per class for a total of 32.
The Archery Class had 8 students, and the Spear Class had 8 as well.
Most of the high-grade relics took the form of swords.
Among the more than a hundred 4-star or higher relics registered with the Church, there were fewer than twenty that weren’t swords.
‘So typically, people learn swordsmanship first…’
I pulled out my bow and quiver from my inventory. Then, I started to prepare them.
After some thought, I decided to take the entrance exam using archery instead of swordsmanship.
If I carelessly used swordsmanship, I felt someone would start to question my identity.
‘Especially Libero’s swordsmanship is too eye-catching.’
Even if I ended up needing swordsmanship, it would be better to use the Reedval Family’s style.
As Libero said, the Reedval Family’s swordsmanship was indeed quite high-level.
And right now, even though I couldn’t completely replicate Gwen’s swordsmanship like I did when I was using Absolute Obedience, I became capable of applying it in my own way.
‘Of course, the best situation would be to not use it at all.’
I drew the bowstring.
It felt sufficiently taut.
But suddenly, why the bow?
My current archery skills were indeed weak compared to my swordsmanship achievements.
If I had any talent for archery, I wouldn’t have used a sword in the first place.
Though there was a limitation in obtaining high-grade relics for archery.
However, having no talent didn’t mean I wasn’t suited for it.
At least, I had Wind’s Power. It was a skill that had helped me when swinging a sword, but given the basic limitations due to weight, it was actually a skill with considerable effectiveness for projectiles.
Moreover, it was also beneficial for seizing high ground or creating distance.
And above all… the third inheritance stigma.
The inheritance trait of this one meshed too well with archery.
Of course, it was initially inherited for a different purpose, but it serendipitously aligned perfectly with my current situation.
Though even with all that, I was still at a level far behind swordsmanship.
Still, that didn’t hinder my goal.
My goal was to quietly graduate from Hero Academy and quickly obtain the status of a hero.
“Shall I go before it gets late?”
I tied the prepared bow and quiver to my shoulder with a leather strap.
And then I left the room.
*
“Wow, there are really a lot of people.”
Elsie gazed at the throngs of Hero Candidates.
Hundreds of applicants had gathered for the mere 48 spots available in the exam.
She hadn’t seen this many people gather in one place other than royal events.
“They’re just here to give it a shot.”
Gwen said while looking over the gathered crowd.
“Most of them probably have never fought a Chaos Beast. They’re just here to take the exam because they qualify as laid-back Hero Candidates.”
Just then, candidates began to enter the building one by one, starting from the front.
Watching this, Elsie lowered her voice to ask Gwen.
“By the way, is the exam about fighting Chaos Beasts? Does that mean there are Chaos Beasts inside that building?”
“Not a chance. The barrier here in Hailen is powerful enough that ordinary Chaos Beasts can’t do a thing. The exam doesn’t take place in a real space.”
“Huh?”
“Do you remember the lake where you took the trial at Basil?”
It had been quite a while since she took the trial, but it was something she couldn’t forget.
“It’s that fog-covered weird lake, right?”
“Yeah, there’s a similar lake inside that building. The difference is that the god of that place has a contract with the Magic Tower, allowing them to adjust the internal environment from outside.”
“A contract between gods and humans…”
The concept felt strange to her since it was her first encounter with the existence of a god during her previous trial.
However, it wasn’t strange to Gwen, who had already learned about history at Hero Academy.
“There’s nothing strange about it. The fact that you can use Light Magic is a remnant of the contract our ancestors made with the God of Light. Before the Chaos, there were many contracts like that between gods and humans.”
“I see.”
As they were chatting, candidates started to emerge from the building one by one.
For some reason, they looked pale.
“That’s a natural reaction for someone seeing a Chaos Beast for the first time.”
For humans born and living within the barrier, the Chaos Realm was an unexplored territory.
And the Chaos Beasts, living in that unknown territory, were terrifying beings.
The fear felt when facing those bizarre creatures for the first time was beyond imagination.
“You and I both felt the same way.”
Gwen and Elsie were no exceptions.
However, once they realized they could overcome it, it no longer felt unknown.
Still, Gwen advised Elsie.
“Elsie, but don’t let your guard down. Even if you feel like you know what you’re dealing with, there are times when that’s not all there is.”
It wasn’t that hard to understand.
But it didn’t perfectly resonate with her.
In the end, there was no choice but to experience the exam herself.
*
Inside the Exam Space.
A slashed Chaos Beast dissolved into particles.
Elsie let out a sharp breath.
“Phew…”
The first to appear was a weak-looking Chaos Beast.
It was a form she had already been familiar with.
Therefore, without much thought, she struck it down with her sword.
However, as the Chaos Beasts kept appearing, they grew progressively stronger.
Indeed, they were still things that could be cut down with a sword.
Even if they didn’t cut easily, swinging rapidly and striking several times made their demise inevitable.
It was a given, but there were still limits.
The eighth Chaos Beast was that limit.
It was clad in heavy armor, and her sword couldn’t penetrate at all.
There were no visible gaps to stab through either.
On the contrary, its attacks were heavy and powerful.
‘If only Gwen’s sword was here, I could cut through it.’
With [Ignis], she would have melted that beast’s gauntlets and struck it down.
However, she didn’t possess such relics.
The relic she held, [Breeze Bringer], merely generated a breeze.
‘But…’
Gwen said.
While handling relics well was a skill, the evaluating professors would notice personal potential even without that.
In fact, even Elsie herself didn’t know what her potential truly was.
But she knew what she needed to do.
‘All I need to do is show my maximum capability.’
Her eyes changed.
This entrance exam was one she had to pass to gain strength.
Gwen believed she could pass it, but she couldn’t feel at ease.
‘I will defeat this guy.’
In any case, this was not reality.
Whether the sword broke or she got hurt.
None of it mattered.
So, she decided to take advantage of that.
She struck, and struck again.
Whether it was even a proper concept of striking was debatable.
Her sword still failed to leave a scratch on the beast’s armor.
Hitting the solid surface was causing her bones and muscles to scream.
Still, she doggedly continued to attack with her sword.
Her frenzied strikes seemed reckless, like trying to cut a rock with her sword.
Yet in the end, the rock crumbled.
Though it appeared she was wildly swinging her sword, she was concentrating her strikes on one specific point.
The moment a small gap appeared, Elsie thrust her sword forward.
‘Please!’
With that, the movements of the Chaos Beast halted.
Eventually, the Chaos Beast dissolved into particles.
“All I have to do is cut everything down…”
Just as she was catching her breath, a new Chaos Beast began to materialize in front of her.
“What now…”
It was of a size unlike any previous Chaos Beast.
The growing figure of the Chaos Beast loomed over her.
In front of it, she realized the meaning of Gwen’s words.
‘I see now, Gwen.’
There seemed to be no way to win.
She wasn’t sure if she could defeat this one.
‘It’s definitely terrifying.’
Yet, she didn’t want to back down.
She gripped her sword tightly.
*
“Elsie. No family name, from Basil.”
Professor Setia, who was looking through the papers, lifted her head to watch Elsie fighting the Chaos Beast.
And she said.
“Not bad.”
She was the instructor for Swordsmanship Class 2.
In the case of the Swordsmanship Classes, each class’s instructor selected the students they wanted to teach.
This meant she had the card to select 8 students.
“Not bad means you won’t select her, right?”
Professor Huff, the instructor for Swordsmanship Class 3, asked from beside her.
He wasn’t particularly interested in Elsie.
There were many renowned students born from prestigious families besides this Basil brat.
He was merely concerned by Setia’s words, a competitor of his.
“I’m just a little conflicted. She’s excellent at swordsmanship and displays determination. She seems to have ample potential. But her emotions are too involved in her swordsmanship. If she’s like that, she might actually be a hindrance in teamwork.”
A hero wasn’t someone who fought alone.
Thus, among the multiple evaluations, teamwork was highly emphasized.
She was considering that factor.
“What about you?”
This time, Sigritt, the instructor for Class 1, asked.
He was seriously observing Elsie.
“Well, I’d like to agree with her sentiments. She has talent, but it would be hard for me to manage her.”
He turned his gaze to the woman sitting at the far right.
She was sitting with her feet on the desk, watching Elsie with interest.
“What about you, Freira?”
In response to his question, Professor Freira of Swordsmanship Class 4 answered as if it were obvious.
“This could be fun. I’ll pick her.”
*
“Is this another lake?”
I gazed down at the fog-covered lake inside the building.
I felt like I might begin to experience trauma just by looking at lakes like this.
“I don’t want to go in…”
Still, since it wasn’t functioning as a trial right now, it should be fine.
I dipped my feet into the lake.
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