Chapter 339

I aced the interview, and now the only thing left is the duel between the candidates. This is way easier than the interview.

You know, if you’ve got a good body, your brain doesn’t have to suffer; interviews that require thinking are the hardest.

Plus, I hadn’t had the chance to duel or fight lately, so my body was starting to feel a bit stiff.

I wanted to head into the woods for some hunting, but Rod was adamantly against it.

Maybe it was because I was slacking off or some other reason, but generally, entry is strictly prohibited.

‘Are they finally going to lift the ban?’

When I asked that, I got a vague nod in response. So I was told to be even more careful.

They said it might lead to weird reports if students happened to run into me while I was out hunting.

But it’s not totally banned; they just want me to be cautious so the freshmen don’t get scared.

“I wonder if this year’s freshmen will find it hard to access the forest?”

“I heard rumors they’re going to lift the ban?”

“Oh, really? So we can just go in whenever?”

It seemed like the rumor about lifting the ban had spread quite a bit since similar conversations were happening in the class.

With the rulers showing up in the woods, the balance is more or less stabilized, and there are no external issues.

Still, there’s something that worries me. That’s not about me but rather Porori’s existence.

‘If the freshmen go in, will weird rumors start circulating?’

Like, someone discovering a squirrel that fainted after getting hit by Cheolsan-go.

Or someone trying to hunt a squirrel, getting slapped by its tail, and breaking a bone or two.

Or maybe the squirrel spreading its arms to the sky and calling down lightning or something.

You can bet crazy rumors will fly around. Right now, Porori has fully recovered their life force and is active in the forest.

‘Now they’ve even built their own little force.’

Maybe it’s because of the memories of being hunted, but Porori has set up their own little faction in the woods.

More accurately, they’ve got some watchers. If they spot any signs related to demons, they’ll confront them right away.

Naturally, most of those forces are squirrels. Maybe that’s why Porori’s area has so many squirrels.

For me, it wasn’t a big deal, so I didn’t give it much thought. I bet it’ll soon be called the Squirrel Forest.

“By the way, did you see the duels happening today?”

“Of course! I think Princess Frozen is the strongest one out there!”

Additionally, the duels that happen every time new students enroll were underway.

I was too busy to watch them myself, but just as I expected, Reina was doing great.

While she might not be as strong as Kara, Reina is still quite formidable. She’s probably the strongest among the freshmen.

‘She’s also pretty experienced in real combat.’

Unlike Kara, who got into fights out of nowhere during the tribal unification era, Reina’s had her share of real-life experiences.

Frozen is rich in resources, so there’s no risk of bandits, but criminals do often enter from outside.

Given the harsh conditions, just arriving in Frozen makes it hard to track anyone.

Moreover, there are plenty of monsters that are too tough for regular soldiers, so Reina often takes matters into her own hands.

‘She even goes the distance just to catch a bear.’

Combined with her cheerful personality and passion, it’s no wonder she’s so skilled.

Although she’s only known love and is a bit clueless, that’s something we can fix over time.

For now, helping her not get hurt is the priority. That’s why I signed up to be an assistant.

“But why are those people here?”

“Those people? They’re the professors.”

While the freshmen were dueling, we were also supposed to have our own duels.

So, it’s generally customary to leave only professors as referees while we duel.

“Why are they here then?”

“Well, we don’t really know that, do we?”

Normally, that would be the case. Normally.

As I looked at the professors gathered in the regular dueling arena, I was puzzled.

Freshman duels don’t take place in the regular dueling arena; they should be happening in the special dueling arena, and of course, the professors should be there.

But for some reason, a few familiar professors were sitting in the regular arena’s stands.

I couldn’t understand why they, who should be busy monitoring the freshmen, were here instead.

“Isn’t it fine? Just think of it as scoring.”

“Hmm. Is that so?”

“Exactly.”

I nodded at Kara’s words. I seemed to have been bewildered by the situation compared to what was happening in the Soul World.

Anyway, since points are awarded based on the outcome of the duels, it isn’t a problem for professors to watch.

In fact, it might even help them get a good impression. That’s my plan too.

‘Whether I win or lose, I’ll be assigned to the class with Reina, but… I’m not sure about this.’

Above all, the presence of Karas is significant. Karas will definitely be assigned to the class with the troublesome siblings.

There’s even a rumor that Reina and the troublesome siblings are in the same class. It’s probably true.

There are three assistants per class, so I need to choose the other two. How can I get in?

‘Looks like it’s confirmed I’ll be separated from Luna and Kara. What about Erica?’

Given that Erica belongs to the Gaia Church, she’s likely heading to the most chaotic class.

The problem is that’s the same class as the troublesome siblings. If that happens, I won’t be able to meet either of them.

‘That’d be awkward.’

Karas will be focused on the troublesome siblings, while the rest will be left to me and Erica.

While I’m fine with Karas, Erica might be a bit tricky. She has some history with me.

Even though Rize has corrected her somewhat, I can’t help but feel uneasy. She tends to be a troublemaker in a different sense.

“Next student, please enter.”

While I was chatting with Kara, it seemed like it was my turn. I stood up and got ready.

“Well then, good luck. Just brush it off if your opponent starts trash-talking.”

“Got it.”

I didn’t grab any weapons and made my way down the passage to the dueling arena.

Just then, my opponent came out of the passage too. Since I didn’t recognize the face, it seemed they were from another class.

I planned to just mess around and knock them out, as I wasn’t into hitting people for fun.

“What? You don’t even have a weapon?”

“Yep.”

“Hah! Come on. I saw you were a bit strong last time, but you’re nothing special.”

“…”

Honestly, I was feeling a bit stressed.

*****

Most of the professors sitting in the stands were tied to the first years, but there were a few second-year professors too.

One notable figure among them was Malboro. Originally, he was supposed to be watching the freshmen duels.

But then, his supposed friend, who is actually a rival, suddenly dragged him to watch Sivar’s duel.

And that friend was sitting right next to him, a first-year professor named Dis.

“Do we really need to see this in person? You’re putting Sivar in your class anyway.”

“I need to see him with my own eyes to make adjustments. I have to put the strongest kid in my class.”

“Sigh.”

Malboro sighed at Dis’s words. The whole point of point-based assistant selection is the class itself.

Most freshmen believe classes are assigned in order of grades. It’s the simplest way.

But it’s not always that simple. The academy tends to allocate classes based on background, not grades.

In other words, it often groups the offspring of high-standing individuals together. The reason is simple.

“Doing that doesn’t make it easier to control. I’ve been there.”

“Back then, you were a complete wild animal, and now you’re not.”

“Not just that. Even with him, controlling the kids perfectly is a challenge.”

To reduce disparities and infighting based on status as much as possible.

While people have different tendencies, those from higher statuses often have a strong desire to stand out.

Also, it seems to be part of human nature to build their own factions, which can lead to all sorts of problems.

No matter how small the academy might be, once politics come into play, things get complicated.

That’s why they try to group high-status individuals into the same class to make it harder to form factions.

“Your class is great, isn’t it? You have Princess Tartar, the top student, the Matra Empire’s princess, and General Granada’s sibling. Is it that I can’t have that?”

“That’s not what I meant… Ugh, what should I even say?”

Malboro was left with no choice but to ponder over Dis’s rebuttal. He couldn’t find any flaws in Dis’s reasoning.

In fact, Malboro’s class is also pretty intense. But strangely, conflicts didn’t really arise.

Was it the incident where Sivar cut off a classmate’s tongue? It was questionable to label that as an issue with the classmate’s character.

Anyway, for some unknown reason, the usual issues of bullying or faction problems were absent. They just played together and called it a day.

“Unexpectedly, the students are nice. That’s the only explanation I have.”

“I think it’s because of that guy? Honestly, is there any easier topic than him to discuss?”

“Umm…”

That was hard to argue against too. The atmosphere in the class did change once Sivar joined.

With Sivar causing such a commotion, he became quite the topic of discussion.

Some students got closer through it, while others drifted further apart.

Isn’t it said that birds of a feather flock together? Most prefer not to care if it’s not their business.

‘They’re pretty accepting of grades too.’

Unless someone contested their grades, everything was smooth sailing. That wasn’t an issue at all.

The professors made a tremendous effort to maintain balance, and their efforts were evident all over the test papers.

The students appreciated that and only voiced light complaints, without pushing too far.

“Sure, do as you please. But if he causes any trouble, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

“Ugh, what kind of trouble are you expecting him to cause…?”

-BANG! CRASH!

Just as Dis was about to say something, a large noise erupted from the dueling arena.

Both professors turned to see what was happening. Sivar was causing some unconventional chaos.

Originally, dueling should be about matching strength against strength. But that applies only when there’s a bit of an even playing field.

“Wow…”

“Uh…”

The difference between Sivar and his opponent was incredibly stark. So, there was no concept of any technique involved.

That’s what the situation looked like now.

-Boom! Boom!

Sivar wasn’t even engaging in a match but was instead twirling his opponent by the ankle like a windmill.

Then he would slam them down a few times before lifting them again and spinning them some more.

The initial sounds were from Sivar smashing his opponent onto the ground.

“Ugh…”

The student, pinned to the ground, made a low groan. It sounded like a dying moan.

Sivar stared down at that student with a blank expression and strolled nonchalantly back inside.

It was an extremely one-sided fight. Wait, can we even call this a fight? It was more like outright violence.

“Is that even allowed?”

“…”

“I’d bet he’s stronger than us. I’m sure of it.”

Once the duel ended, Malboro chuckled and asked Dis if he could control him.

Dis rolled his eyes and looked around before quietly responding.

“…I heard a rumor that you can calm him down with just a piece of candy?”

“Where did you hear such a rumor?”

“I don’t know. It’s just something that’s been going around.”

“Sigh.”

Malboro shook his head.

He was the kind of guy who had to taste something himself before determining if it was good or bad.

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