Chapter 347
Almost all the students of Seiren gathered at the training field in the Castle of Beginnings.
From the stands overlooking the field, Lunia sat with her arms crossed, watching the first-years.
“Lunia El Lunda.”
Hearing a voice behind her, Lunia uncrossed her arms and stood up.
“Senior Marven.”
The one who called her was none other than Marven, the fifth-year representative and the top student in the entire academy.
With a bright smile, Lunia said curiously, “It’s unusual to see you at an official school event.”
“I may be graduating this year, but I’m still curious about the new first-years who joined.”
Marven chuckled as he pulled up a chair and sat beside her.
“So? Any first-year who caught your eye?”
“If we’re talking about the most eye-catching one, it has to be her.”
Lunia pointed toward Lea.
“Lea Tingel. She’s definitely the best among this year’s freshmen.”
Marven rested his chin on his hand.
“She seems like the typical diligent honors student type. Boring. She’s just like Hardin.”
Seeing his slightly disinterested expression, Lunia grinned.
“You might be surprised once you actually get to know her.”
“Huh?”
“She’s not as sane as she looks.”
Remembering what happened in Leo’s room, Lunia made an awkward face.
“So she’s like Senior Rienia, then?”
“…That’s not a compliment, right?”
“Of course not.”
“You really—!”
Marven snickered.
Suppressing her irritation, Lunia sighed and asked, “Where’s Senior Evertune?”
“Our young master was summoned by the acting principal.”
Marven chuckled faintly as he thought of the second-ranked fifth-year student, Evertune.
“He’s from a noble family. The Pureblood Council has been trying to recruit him.”
“But isn’t that dangerous? Senior Evertune’s ideology leans pretty close to the Purebloods.”
At her cautious question, Marven smiled faintly.
“It’s true he takes pride in being a Seiren student, but his beliefs differ a bit from the Purebloods. He’s proud to be a Seiren student, not someone who thinks elves are inherently superior.”
‘That sounds… pretty similar, though,’ Lunia thought, tilting her head slightly.
“Oh, right. Senior Marven, is it true that the newly discovered Hero Record of Seiren really belongs to Seiren?”
“Well, the record itself did match Seiren’s writings. But who knows? There are so many fake Hero Records out there.”
During his latest mission, Marven had recovered the record himself.
“If Vice Principal Nerzia were here, we could’ve verified its authenticity quickly… but she’s away.”
Vice Principal Nerzia, who actively encouraged Seiren students to explore the world of heroes, was currently attending the Elven Council to discuss the appointment of the next principal.
Because of that, she’d been absent since the start of the semester.
“Would things be better if the vice principal were here?”
“Hard to say. She never involved herself in school administration or personnel decisions. Still, with her here, the acting principal and the Pureblood Council wouldn’t be running wild like this.”
Marven clicked his tongue as he scanned the first-years—then suddenly stopped.
“Wait a second. That first-year…”
He narrowed his eyes, looking surprised.
“Lunia! Lunia!”
Someone called out urgently.
It was the fraternal twins, Garin and Aris, rushing up to her, out of breath.
“Leo Plov is among the first-years!”
“How did he even get here? Did he sneak in to spy on Seiren’s secrets?!”
“He’s here as an exchange student.”
“Huh?”
“The Pureblood teachers decided on their own to assign him to the first-year lower class.”
At Lunia’s calm answer, Aris looked sheepish.
She had just spent the whole way over loudly telling Garin that Leo had infiltrated the academy as a spy.
“A spy? Seriously?”
Garin looked at his sister like she was hopeless.
“You were buying into it too!”
“I was not! I figured that out when you started babbling about some forbidden love story between a Seiren student and a Lumene student—”
“Die!”
Aris jabbed Garin in the temple with her elbow.
As she dragged his limp body away, Marven snorted.
“Those two are amusing.”
Then he turned his gaze toward Leo’s direction.
“So, an exchange student program, huh? Never heard of such a thing—and of all people, Leo Plov in the lower class… someone’s lost their mind.”
Narrowing his eyes, he looked toward where Seiren’s teachers were gathered.
Watching him, Lunia smiled faintly.
“This exam is going to be interesting.”
She chuckled softly.
“The test is about to begin.”
Professor Geras, homeroom teacher of Advanced Class 1, bowed to Acting Principal Luhagen.
Luhagen narrowed his eyes.
“Everything’s prepared?”
“Of course.”
Geras smiled confidently.
“I noticed the class representative is paired with lower-class failures. What’s the meaning of that?”
“Eclere doesn’t deserve to be in Advanced Class 1.”
“Oh?”
“Right before the exam, she was socializing with lower-class dropouts. I deemed it behavior unbecoming of the advanced class and assigned her with them. Not that it matters—she was bound to fall from grace soon anyway.”
Geras clicked his tongue.
“She was excellent at admission, but since then, she’s barely progressed. Her mana capacity hasn’t improved, her chanting speed is still the same. She’s below the current advanced-class average.”
“I see.”
“This exam will clearly determine whether she still has what it takes to be a Seiren student—a hero candidate.”
Luhagen smiled with satisfaction.
“Good. Let’s begin.”
“Yes, sir.”
Geras stepped up onto the podium.
– We will now begin the First-Year Midterm Practical Examination. Teams, please step forward when your names are called.
The first-years stiffened with tension.
“Advanced Class 1, Yoinia’s team, please come forward.”
At the call, Yoinia, a female student leading her group of ten, walked up to the field.
– And Lower Class, Berus’s team.
Berus blinked in surprise.
“Professor Geras! Why are we being called?”
-Didn’t you read the announcement?
Geras clicked his tongue.
-This exam will be conducted as a competition between teams. The team that subjugates monsters faster will be declared the winner.
“Huh?”
Not only the lower-class students but also the middle and advanced classes looked shocked.
The entire exam format had changed.
They had trained to hunt monsters efficiently through tactics and teamwork, not direct competition.
But now that it was a race, everything changed.
They had to be faster than their opponents.
The lower-class students looked unsettled, while the middle and advanced students’ eyes gleamed with excitement.
Especially Yoinia’s team from Advanced Class 1—their smiles nearly reached their ears.
If it was about speed and numbers—
‘Obviously, the weakest team will be the easiest to crush.’
Seeing the gleam in their eyes, Berus tensed up.
“Berus, what do we do?”
“Can we really beat Advanced Class 1?”
As his teammates spoke anxiously, Berus took a deep breath.
“Let’s do our best. You all know how much stronger we’ve gotten.”
“But still… they’re Advanced Class 1.”
Berus looked at a girl whose ears drooped nervously.
“We worked hard, even risking expulsion. It’d be a waste not to show what we can really do, right?”
He clenched his jaw.
“Even if we can’t win, we’ll prove we’re not pushovers!”
At that, laughter erupted among the middle and advanced classes.
The lower-class students gritted their teeth.
“What nonsense is he spouting?”
Leo looked unimpressed.
“Don’t you get it, Lyle? He’s psyching himself up because we’re against the advanced class. He’s preparing for defeat! Damn it!”
As one boy grumbled bitterly, Leo replied flatly, “Why assume we’ll lose?”
“Huh?”
The boy blinked.
“This is perfect.”
Leo smiled faintly.
“Now we can show the seniors what it looks like when the advanced class gets crushed by the lower class.”
—
At opposite ends of the field, the two teams faced each other.
Wuuuung—!
A magic circle formed in the center.
Screeech—!
Monsters poured out.
They were beasts Seiren had prepared for the test.
“Hmph, goblins? Too easy.”
Yoinia smirked and raised her staff.
Among her team, she possessed the strongest magic power.
She began chanting.
‘A horde of goblins—one large-scale spell will wipe them out…’
But before she could finish—
Flash! KABOOOOOOM!
Brilliant light filled the arena.
Yoinia froze.
“What the—?!”
She turned sharply toward her teammates.
“What are you doing?! You’re supposed to handle defense!”
The ones who had unleashed the powerful attack spells were her own teammates.
Yoinia was a traditional mage, trained to wield high-level, large-scale spells.
She was recognized among the teachers as one of the most promising students, her mana ranking in the top three of the advanced classes.
She had even placed fourth in the entrance exams.
That’s why she was assigned the offensive role.
But now, the nine others assigned to defense were freely hurling spells without coordination.
A student casting flame magic sneered.
“This exam’s about finishing faster than the opponent, remember? What if those kids wipe out all the monsters before your chant’s done?”
“They’re lower class! There’s no way they’ll clear faster! Stick to the plan!”
Yoinia shouted furiously, but another girl giggled.
“Sorry, Yoinia. We’re not following orders.”
“What?”
“This isn’t about beating the lower class. It’s about outscoring each other.”
Sparks flared in Yoinia’s eyes.
“You’re competing with me? Know your place.”
“Sure, you’re stronger than us in raw power. But—don’t you only know advanced-level attack spells?”
“…!”
Since admission, Yoinia’s former mentor, Professor Ortren, had trained her exclusively in high-tier spells.
She’d been molded into a specialized Star Mage who focused on sheer power.
Of course, she wasn’t ignorant of basic magic—but she hadn’t practiced it once since enrollment.
“You little—!”
Her shoulders trembled.
She looked up at the scoreboard floating in the sky.
Her eyes widened.
‘What…?’
Only a few minutes had passed since the test began.
But goblins, as low-grade monsters, posed no real threat to first-years.
Over a hundred had already been slain by the advanced students.
But that wasn’t what shocked her.
The lower class’s score was rising just as fast.
‘No… even faster?’
Stunned, Yoinia turned toward the lower class.
ROOOOAAAR!
A loud roar echoed.
An ogre emerged from the summoning circle.
The advanced students hesitated.
“Yoinia! It’s an ogre!”
“And what do you expect me to do?”
Yoinia’s expression twisted with malice.
“What?”
“Handle it with your amazing spells.”
“Hey!”
“You think we can’t?”
The others shouted back, igniting another wave of internal competition.
Meanwhile, Yoinia looked back up.
Even with the ogre on the field, the lower class’s score still outpaced theirs.
‘They’re still faster!’
Panicking, Yoinia finally began chanting a spell.
She blew the ogre away with a massive blast.
“You idiots! From now on, listen to—”
“The ogre’s down!”
“Attack!”
“Don’t let Yoinia get the points!”
“I’ve hated her since day one!”
Fueled by rivalry, the advanced-class students ignored her again and charged forward.
“Listen to me!”
Yoinia clutched her head in frustration.
—
Lunia’s jaw dropped.
She wasn’t the only one.
The entire second-year class—and even the upper years—were frozen in disbelief.
Everyone watched the test in stunned silence.
Even the instructors looked grim.
“Hmph.”
A sigh broke the tension.
Evertune Revum, the fifth-year vice representative.
He was a student filled with pride and authority as a Seiren elite.
He was also the son of Evratine, head of the Elven Grand Council—one of the most powerful elves alive.
A devout follower of Luna and Seiren, he was a prized target of the Pureblood Council.
That was why he sat near Acting Principal Luhagen for the exam.
With a cold tone, he said, “Acting Principal.”
Evertune crossed his legs and rested his chin on his hand.
“You told us to expect a new and improved Seiren. I was looking forward to seeing the first-years’ potential.”
He smiled thinly.
“So tell me—are the first-years just incompetent, or is your new Seiren system the problem?”
“Evertune, that’s—”
“Not worth watching anymore.”
Evertune stood up coldly.
But before he could take a step—
“Now, now. What’s got our young master so upset?”
A hand dropped on his shoulder, forcing him back into his seat.
“Get your hand off me, Marven.”
Evertune glared at the senior who’d stopped him.
Smiling, Lunia—who had followed Marven—spoke softly.
“Senior Evertune, don’t leave yet. The real fun’s about to start.”