Chapter 222
“…What the heck is going on here?”
Carr drooped his shoulders and wore a gloomy expression.
“Do I look that easy to you?”
“We’re sorry, senior.”
The examinee at the front smirked at Carr’s complaint.
“But you’re the one who said it, right? That you’re the weakest among the second-years.”
Carr was surrounded by eleven examinees.
This year’s entrance exam was a survival test—survive against the second-years.
But nothing said the second-years couldn’t be attacked too.
Taking down a second-year and surviving was also a valid way to pass.
And naturally, the examinees set their sights on Carr, who had been widely rumored to be the weakest of the second-years.
“Argh! I can’t believe advertising those ‘Guaranteed Pass Talismans’ came back to bite me like this!”
Carr clutched his head and let out a scream.
The examinees gripped their weapons tightly.
The aspiring knights moved forward, while the mages and summoners took the rear.
Seeing this, Carr folded his arms.
“How about we settle this peacefully?”
The examinee who seemed to be the party leader shook his head firmly.
“I refuse. We’ll defeat you and enter Lumene.”
Even as he said that, he cheered inwardly.
‘As expected, this guy’s nothing!’
Carr had spread the word himself that he barely passed into second-year with the lowest grades.
Thanks to that, all the first-years saw Carr as weak.
Defeating a second-year would surely boost their chances of passing.
There was no way they’d let him go.
Just as Carr sighed, “Ehh…”
“You brought this on yourself.”
A voice came from above, making everyone flinch and look up.
There, seated on a staff midair, was a blonde girl with blue eyes.
“Chloe!”
Carr brightened and waved his hand.
The other examinees’ faces turned pale.
Chloe Mueller!
One of the top mages among the second-years, rivaled only by Abad—she was someone the examinees absolutely wanted to avoid.
At her sudden appearance, every examinee’s face went ghost white.
“You’re finished now! Get ready!”
Carr shouted, but Chloe sat cross-legged and replied,
“Carr. You handle it.”
“Huh?”
“Technically, this is all your fault.”
Chloe gave him a sweet smile.
“Come on! We’re friends, can’t you help me out?”
“Nope.”
Chloe answered flatly and opened the grimoire she carried in her arms as if to signal she was done interfering.
As his friend got lost in reading, Carr’s shoulders slumped again.
“And also.”
Chloe glanced at the examinees and smiled.
“What kind of upperclassman lets juniors walk all over them?”
“Eh, yeah. I guess there’s no helping it.”
Carr cracked his shoulders and stepped forward.
The examinees tensed up at the sight.
‘In any case, Chloe Mueller won’t interfere!’
‘This is our chance!’
The examinees cheered inwardly and began tightening the encirclement.
Carr opened his subspace.
Vwooom—! Clatter—!
All kinds of weapons came pouring out.
The aspiring knights, closing the distance, flinched.
“[Enchant].”
Carr cast a spell, and the swords began to move as if alive.
The knights up front tensed up.
Even if he was the lowest-ranking student, he was still from Lumene.
They had to stay alert.
Meanwhile, the mages in the rear began casting spells.
Carr quickly chanted a dispel spell.
“Wait!”
“Our spells got canceled!”
Even simple suppression spells being simultaneously dispelled from three mages was impressive.
As the spells vanished, the party leader shouted urgently.
“Hey! Front line! Close in and keep him from casting spells!”
“But those enchanted weapons—”
“They’re just basic enchantments! Don’t be scared!”
Encouraged, one knight charged at Carr.
“Oops. Bad choice.”
Carr smirked and activated his magic.
As alchemy kicked in, the sword deflected by the charging examinee turned bright red—then exploded.
“Urgh?!”
“It exploded?!”
“What is this? A magic sword?”
Confused shouts erupted among the examinees.
“Hey! You said it was just basic enchantment!”
One of the frontliners yelled at the party leader.
He hadn’t been knocked out thanks to his [Aura Armor], but he’d taken a serious hit.
Flustered, the party leader snapped.
“It’s not like you’re out yet! Just fight! That’s your role up front!”
“So you’re using us as shields while you grab the credit?!”
The examinee who had rushed Carr staggered and shouted back.
Carr stroked his chin.
‘Oh? This might be easier than I thought.’
If it were Carr from a year ago, he’d probably have lost instantly.
He’d barely scraped into Lumene and barely made it to second-year.
Always at the bottom.
But that didn’t mean he’d lose to some hastily thrown-together party.
One year at Lumene.
That time was enough to transform a boy who dreamed of being a supporter.
‘A supporter assists a hero.’
Click—
Carr pulled out a one-handed crossbow from his subspace.
‘To assist means to protect the hero’s back.’
And Carr had watched many comrades’ backs over the past year.
‘I don’t have the skill to stand beside them or match their pace. But if I want to be a supporter, I at least have to cover their backs.’
He was painfully aware of the gap between them.
He knew it would only widen.
‘Still, I’ve got to chase them with everything I’ve got.’
When a hero collapses in exhaustion,
You can only lift them up and tell them to keep going if you’ve at least followed their footsteps.
That’s why Carr studied and trained in everything he could.
He aimed his crossbow at the party leader behind the group and pulled the trigger.
“For a mage, that’s a pretty crude attack—”
Boom—!
The enchanted arrow exploded.
It was one of Carr’s custom explosive arrows, created through alchemy.
‘They cost a fortune per shot, though.’
Carr grinned as he loaded the next arrow.
“Ugh!”
The unexpected power of the explosion flustered the leader, who reinforced his shield spell.
Ping! Tink!
But this time, the arrow simply bounced off the shield harmlessly.
A regular arrow.
It was a trick to drain his mana.
“Alright, pop quiz. Next one—explosive or regular?”
Carr grinned and loosed another arrow at a mage in the rear.
Boom—!
“Correct answer: explosive arrow!”
“Hey! Front line! Block properly!”
“What are we, your meat shields?!”
Cracks started forming in the hastily formed party.
‘Their biggest weakness is lack of unity.’
One of the defining traits of Lumene examinees is pride.
They were all talented enough to attempt the Lumene entrance exam.
With that came strong pride in their abilities.
When you grow up thinking you’re the best, teamwork doesn’t come naturally.
‘This kind of issue usually lasts through the first semester.’
Carr had experienced it firsthand—and exploited it.
‘Once a party breaks like this, it’s over.’
Carr pulled a potion from his coat.
Using enchantment spells rapidly depleted mana.
Even after drinking the potion, he continued to bombard the enemy party with alchemy-based attacks.
Chloe glanced up from her grimoire and smiled as she watched him.
‘Yeah, Carr. With your strengths, it makes sense you advanced to second-year.’
Most second-years assumed Carr advanced purely by luck—but that wasn’t true.
If you went by written exam scores alone, Carr barely made it.
But in real combat, he had more than enough to qualify as a second-year.
He wasn’t mid-tier, of course, but he wasn’t someone examinees could handle easily.
‘None of those kids are even particularly good either.’
Chloe turned her gaze to the side.
Crash! Clink—!
A shield formed from ice crystals midair.
Magical projectiles aimed at Chloe scattered in all directions.
Chloe’s eyes narrowed.
‘A snipe spell.’
And a powerful one at that.
She scanned the area.
‘No detectable presence.’
Thud—
She closed her book and stepped off her staff.
Suspended midair, she flew in the direction the snipe spell had come from.
Boom—!
Clang—! Crackle!
Another snipe spell came from behind.
Even stronger than before, it cracked her barrier.
Chloe tilted her head.
‘I still can’t trace the mana flow.’
It was clear this mage specialized in this field.
And Chloe knew of such mages.
‘A magician killer, huh.’
A natural enemy to classic mages like herself.
If she kept getting sniped like this without finding the attacker, even she would be in trouble.
‘If it keeps up, that is.’
Thud—!
Chloe grabbed her staff.
Fwooooom—!
Icy mana surged around her.
“If I can’t find them—”
Chloe smiled.
“I’ll just freeze everything.”
Her signature spell.
[Ice World] activated.
A vast expanse around her was instantly engulfed in a freezing storm.
Crack-crack-crack-crack—!
Chloe, who had frozen the wide area in an instant, looked sharply in one direction.
‘There.’
She sensed a pulse of mana and moved quickly.
Watching from afar, Carr clicked his tongue.
“Chloe’s a full-blown monster now.”
Then he turned back to the examinees.
“Now, time to wrap this up.”
Clink—!
Carr slipped a long potion bottle around his finger and grinned.
“Let me show you what it means to be a Lumene student.”
“Eek!”
The examinees who had recklessly challenged him screamed in panic.
Carr easily secured victory against the examinees.
—
“Those Lumene kids are impressive.”
Ar watched the exam intently, eyes sparkling.
Then, when Leo appeared on screen, she clenched her fists.
“There he is! The Black Rabbit!”
Her feelings for Leo had softened, but she still called him ‘Black Rabbit.’
“Ar, I’ve been curious about something.”
“Hmm? What is it?”
“Why do you call Lord Leo the ‘Black Rabbit’? I mean, Leo does have some cute, bunny-like qualities, but judging by appearance, ‘White Rabbit’ might suit him more?”
“When I first saw him, he had bunny beastman features and black hair. It just stuck.”
“Le-Leo with bunny ears…?”
Eiran held her cheeks and twisted bashfully.
“I-I want to see…! You don’t have a picture?”
“Nope.”
At Ar’s blunt reply, Eiran collapsed in disappointment.
Then—
“Heh. That examinee’s got guts.”
Lunia propped her chin and smiled with interest.
Ar and Eiran turned to the screen.
Normally, examinees ran for their lives the moment they saw Leo.
But this one was different.
The girl stood firm before Leo, gripping her sword with determination.
“Such bravery. Who is she?”
Eiran was in awe.
Ar widened her eyes.
“Aina Beidna.”
That examinee was a girl Ar knew.
“She’s the great-granddaughter of the Sword Star.”