Book 1 Chapter 406

It was when the first-year students were excitedly chatting in the large lecture hall.

*Screeeech-*

The front door of the lecture hall opened.

At the same time, the murmuring first-year students fell silent in unison.

*Thump- thump-*

The one who entered as the lecture hall door opened was Mel.

Upon Mel's appearance, the first-year students began to talk again.

"What on earth could the assignment be?"

"Could it be something related to survival, like last year's seniors?"

"Maybe it's a departmental competition."

"Oh? Then you and I will be enemies?"

"You can look forward to it. I'll mercilessly take you down."

"That's what I should be saying?"

They were engrossed in a heated debate, speculating about the assignment.

The reason the entire first-year class stopped chattering when the lecture hall door opened was simple.

They had mistakenly thought that the professors of terror for the first-year students, Halind and Artian, were entering, and were intimidated in advance.

Halind, of course, was the wall of lament that all grades feared, and Artian would punish anyone who talked or slacked off during class with other spirits.

Compared to those two professors, Mel was a gentle and benevolent professor.

In other words, in a good way, she was a comfortable professor among the first-year students, and in a bad way, she was an easy target.

Normally, she might have been offended by such an attitude, but Mel simply smiled.

It was strange for her, a Dragon Lord, to get angry at such young students for such a reason.

"Everyone, please pay attention."

At Mel's words, the students looked at her.

Especially the magic department students all focused on Mel.

Putting everything aside, from the perspective of the first-year magic students, Mel was the best professor of magic.

It was natural for them to listen to her words.

However, the students from the knight and summoner departments were not completely focused.

But even those first-year students' chatter didn't last long.

"What? What are you people chattering about? Do you think Professor Mel's words are nonsense?"

Artian, who had suddenly appeared, said in a fierce voice.

What's more, from the moment he appeared, another spirit was possessing him.

In other words, he appeared in berserk mode.

"Kyaaaaaaaah!"

All the students who were talking screamed.

As Artian's menacing and chilling gaze fell upon them, the first-year students averted their eyes.

"Hehe, I'm fine. Professor Artian."

Mel smiled gently and appeased Artian, who grumbled.

"Consider yourselves lucky."

As all the first-year students quieted down, Halind appeared behind them.

"Those who ignored Professor Mel's words and talked will have 10 points deducted."

The first-year students who were penalized couldn't say a word.

"Pathetic."

Shasha clicked her tongue softly.

Amidst this, Halind ascended the podium.

"The reason I've gathered you all here today is to announce the final exam assignment."

At these words, the dejected first-year students' eyes sparkled.

The long-awaited announcement of the final exam assignment.

Looking at the first-year students, Halind said,

"It seems you're all getting your hopes up unnecessarily."

Halind smirked.

With a cynical smile, Halind said,

"Some of you seem to be enjoying the situation, with the world summit overlapping with the final exams."

Halind's eyes turned cold.

"Listen carefully. Normally, nearly half of you would have been expelled before even taking the final exam."

At Halind's sudden words, the faces of the first-year students stiffened.

"This year, fortunately, the school's operating policy has changed, meaning many of you have survived until now. Surely, you don't think you've survived because of 'skill'?"

Many students even whimpered at Halind's cruel words.

"On top of that, there are a few who have some meager skills."

But Halind's words weren't finished.

"It's true that numerous powerful figures and heroes from the world summit will be visiting Lumern. It's also true that you first-year students will present your year's achievements through the final exam in front of those visitors. But remember this."

Halind narrowed his eyes.

"The audience will not be evaluating your skills purely on their own, but will be using your mentors, that is, your second-year seniors, as a point of comparison."

The faces of the first-year students hardened.

"The world knows that the current second-year students achieved accomplishments close to feats during last year's first semester final exam. In a situation completely isolated from the outside, they overcame a great crisis despite being immature first-year students, facing an invasion of monsters and monster troops. Furthermore, they succeeded in subduing a Gigantes. This was the decisive event that led to the current second-year students being called the Golden Generation."

Halind looked around the first-year students and said,

"The world knows that you are mentees of the second-year students. In such a situation, will you be able to reveal your worth by being compared to the second-year students? While the mentor system has clearly provided you with a great opportunity, it has also created the side effect of comparing you and the second-year students on the same scale. Will outsiders say, 'The first-year students are amazing'? Or will they say, 'The second-year students are amazing, but the first-year students are only this much'?"

Halind's eyes turned cold.

"You're dreaming so brightly in a situation where you might be ridiculed for the rest of your lives. More than half of you will be expelled after the final exam. Have you forgotten that fact too?"

When Halind finished speaking, the first-year students' faces turned pale.

They had overlooked it.

The fact that their year was a little special this year.

They had simply been intoxicated by their improved skills.

But to have the second-year seniors, known as the Golden Generation, as comparison targets, they naturally felt intimidated.

Seeing the first-year students bowing their heads in silence, Artian, who had returned to his normal personality, looked flustered.

"D-do you really need to crush the first-year students' spirits this much?"

"I believe it's a necessary process. It's also true that the first-year students are lacking in tension."

Mel smiled.

Indeed, the atmosphere among the first-year students had completely changed.

'Compared to the second-year seniors?'

'If I make a mistake, I could be expelled.'

'Ugh, my stomach suddenly hurts.'

'What on earth could the assignment be?'

The first-year students, who had only been looking at the good things, now clearly recognized the bad things as well.

Certainly, there would be students among them who would enjoy glory.

But they were a minority.

More students would face bitter defeat.

On top of that, there was the pressure of possibly being expelled from school.

Their attitude towards the final exam itself had completely changed.

A tense atmosphere began to pervade the previously lax environment.

Halind looked at the first-year students with cold eyes and said,

"Now, I will announce the final exam practical test assignment."

At these words, the first-year students focused their attention on the blackboard with tense expressions.

*Tap- tap-* *Click- click-*

Holding chalk, he wrote the test assignment largely on the blackboard.

The students began to murmur.

*Thud-*

Halind put down the chalk and looked at the students.

"This year's final exam practical test is a 1:1 tournament battle."

***

"1:1 tournament? Wow, that's brutal!"

After the first-year students' practical exam announcement, Kal, who heard about it in his private space in the library, shook his head.

At Kal's words, Juen, who had come to relay the story, looked puzzled.

"What is?"

"It means they're purely looking at skill, as the name suggests. You can't get by by hiding, nor can you rely on luck."

"Isn't that obvious?"

"I've survived by hiding throughout my school life."

Kal clicked his tongue.

"So selling your know-how is useless."

"…Were you thinking of selling that?"

"Of course."

Seeing Kal shrug, Juen let out a deep sigh.

In the meantime, Kal said,

"Well then, shall we get started?"

"With what?"

"Data analysis."

Kal opened a spatial rift using an item.

Along with it, a massive pile of papers burst out.

*Thump-!*

Juen's eyes widened in surprise.

"Why do you think I went to the trouble of renting a private room?"

Kal grinned.

"It's because of this confidential information."

At Kal's words, Juen reached out and checked the data Kal had prepared.

What was written there was none other than data on Aina Beidna.

He slowly read through the data.

In addition, there were also orbs that had recorded videos with magic.

"Where did you get all this?"

"I'm a little friendly with the school staff?"

Kal chuckled.

Besides the professors who taught them, there were many staff members who maintained the school grounds and repaired internal facilities.

Kal, who was gregarious and friendly, had become close friends with them since his first year.

"I asked them to film other first-year students training."

Kal's most outstanding ability was his information gathering skill.

He was fully utilizing that skill in preparation for the first-year final exam.

"Mages have less ability to cope with sudden situations compared to knights or summoners."

Kal said with a serious expression.

"Chelsea is specialized in that area, so she doesn't show weaknesses, but even Abad and Chloe are less capable of dealing with sudden situations compared to the top students in other departments."

This was an unavoidable characteristic of mages.

Mages generally had low mobility.

To unleash powerful magic, they needed to stay in one place for a long time and concentrate their minds.

As such, they could cause tremendous variables on the battlefield, but ironically, due to these advantages, mages themselves were very vulnerable to sudden situations and variables.

What Kal wanted to supplement for Juen was to thoroughly analyze the data of individuals of interest to minimize unexpected situations as much as possible.

"When did you prepare so much data? If it wasn't a tournament, this data wouldn't be very necessary."

Seeing Juen's bewildered expression, Kal grinned.

"Juen, you are an amazing mage. Honestly, you could aim for the class representative even with ordinary assignments. However, I thought that a 1:1 duel would be a disadvantageous assignment for you. Mobility is important in 1:1 duels, and you definitely lack mobility compared to Aina, Habiden, or Sasha. While you can deal with that lack of mobility using invisibility magic, it's difficult to utilize that invisibility magic in a 1:1 tournament duel."

Kal crossed his arms.

"So, I prepared this data to prepare for the worst-case scenario, where you are most disadvantaged."

"Did you really need to go this far?"

"I'm not a very helpful mentor to you."

Frankly speaking, Kal's mana and his ability to handle magic formations were inferior to Juen's.

Juen was also a talented individual who could be called a genius.

Compared to such a Juen, Kal was at an ordinary level.

"Still, you chose me as your mentor because you thought there was something to learn from me."

Kal looked at Juen with a serious expression.

"Since you've gone this far, I will do my best to help you become the class representative. In other words, I'll be a kingmaker."

"Senior Kal…"

Juen said with a touched expression.

"Senior Kal, you are truly the best mentor!"

Seeing Juen, who was smiling brightly and running to hug him, Kal said,

"Yes. Please promote me as the best mentor, Senior Kal. And if I'm still attending school in the second semester, please use my belongings a lot."

Saying that, Kal said,

"Now, shall we check the individuals of concern? I'll tell you in advance. Fritz, Abad's mentee, and Jane, Chen Xia's mentee, are as much figures of concern as Aina, Habiden, and Sasha."

Their school grades were lacking compared to the top students in their year, but their combat power was extraordinary.

Moreover, there was little data on the two of them.

'These two must be shadow trainees.'

Kal also knew from Leo that there were shadow trainees among the first-year students this year.

Shadow Trainees.

To be honest, they were an unknown quantity even for Kal.

"While those two are indeed troublesome, we can put them aside for later."

"Huh? Why?"

"Because the first-round opponents have already been decided."

"Decided?"

"Yes. We did a lottery draw during the announcement."

"Who is the first-round opponent?"

Kal looked a bit flustered.

To Kal's question, Juen took a deep breath and showed him the subject of the data he was holding.

"Don't tell me… Aina Beidna?"

Seeing Kal's shocked expression, Juen nodded.