Chapter 80

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Right before the Mage Battle exam was about to start.

Ulan stared at Parco, who was twenty steps away, recalling the warning he had heard from Stella a million times.

“Take it easy!”

Stella had insisted he use only the minimum amount of power and technique to avoid harming his opponent.

Because there was already a bad track record.

He had caused chaos at the entrance ceremony, creating a hundred victims, and had turned Himel into a bloody pulp during the selection match.

So, if there were more victims caused by Ulan this time, he could face an even harsher punishment than before.

After hearing about this, Ulan understood his predicament.

So he accepted her warning.

Let’s see.

Having finished his thoughts, he began to survey his surroundings.

It seemed as though he was looking for something.

A little while later, Ulan picked up a small pebble from the ground.

“This should do.”

It was light enough not to cause serious harm if it hit him.

Of course, his real target was just Parco’s orb. He was determined not to hit the guy too hard.

But nobody can predict what people will do.

So to be safe, he picked the smallest stone he could find.

And when I throw it…

I have to throw it with as little force as possible.

Not too much, not too little, just enough to break the orb. While trying to gauge how much force to use…

“We will begin the exam soon!”

Stella’s voice rang out from afar.

Ulan adjusted his stance with the intention of throwing the stone immediately once the exam started. And then, at that moment.

Squeak!

The whistle blew.

He threw the stone right away.

“Oh.”

At the same time, he realized he messed up.

He had thrown it with a bit more force than intended. And by the time he realized this, the stone was already flying from his hand.

Smash! Clang!

Well, at least he hit his target.

The stone pierced the orb perfectly.

But the real problem came next.

Whoosh! Smash!

The stone, still spinning fiercely, flew off after breaking the orb. Finally, it landed right on Parco’s solar plexus.

“Oh no.”

This wasn’t what he intended at all.

He genuinely didn’t mean to hurt him, and Ulan’s face lit up with confusion for a moment.

But it was too soon to be puzzled.

Even though he threw it with more force than expected, it wasn’t too much.

“So…”

He thought it might not be a serious injury.

But that was just Ulan’s assumption.

Parco, hit by the stone, stumbled around and fell to the ground.

Thud!

Like a rag doll, Parco collapsed.

A heavy silence descended on the exam site. But then, breaking the silence, Stella let out a scream as she realized what had happened.

“Professor!?”

Stella rushed into the examination area.

She supported the fallen Parco.

“Professor! Wake up, please!”

But no answer came in response.

In panic, she quickly checked his breathing and pulse.

Fortunately, there seemed to be nothing seriously wrong. He probably just fainted.

After letting out a sigh of relief, she glared at Ulan.

“Ulan! I told you to take it easy!”

“I threw it as softly as I could.”

“Then why is the professor unconscious?”

“I think it’s because I threw it with a bit more force than I intended.”

“That’s not taking it easy!”

Stella shouted in disbelief, then paused as she wondered.

“Y-you didn’t add mana to it, did you?”

“Absolutely not.”

Ulan strongly denied it.

“If I had infused it with mana, it would have pierced through his chest by now.”

“……”

Stella immediately shut her mouth at his chilling answer.

That was a line that couldn’t sound like a joke coming from someone like Ulan.

Just then, an awkward silence hung in the air.

“Cough!”

Suddenly, a harsh coughing sound erupted.

It came from Parco. He was convulsing slightly as he coughed heavily.

“Cough! Cough!”

“Professor! Are you okay?!”

“…Ah, yes. I’m fine.”

He nodded slowly, then stared around in confusion.

“But why are you here? And why am I on the floor…?”

Perhaps due to the sudden fainting, it seemed Parco didn’t remember what happened just before.

Stella explained what had transpired, and his eyes widened in disbelief.

“I fainted?”

“Yes, I’m really sorry.”

At that moment, Ulan hung his head, looking remorseful.

“I only intended to break the orb, but it seems I threw it too hard by accident.”

“……”

Parco’s expression was one of utter disbelief.

It was understandable.

He couldn’t believe that being hit by a stone from twenty steps away could knock him out cold.

“If that’s really possible…”

There would be no need for lessons on Mage Battle. He could just throw stones and take out mages.

Still wearing a dubious expression, Parco opened his mouth after a while.

“Let me check the video recording device.”

Fortunately, the video recording device in the exam room was on. Checking it could reveal the truth about Ulan’s words.

After a while, Ulan’s account was confirmed to be true.

“……!?”

The whistle announced the start of the exam.

At the same time, Ulan threw the stone, and Parco collapsed on the spot. No other actions were recorded at all.

It was a ridiculously clear-cut result.

Parco’s eyes trembled wildly.

“W-what does this mean…?”

He really got knocked out by just one stone?

He wanted to deny it, but he couldn’t. The possibility of the recording being manipulated was nonexistent.

At that moment, Stella interjected.

“This is definitely going to be an S-Rank.”

“W-what do you mean?”

“You subdued your opponent at the start of the exam, and since no magic was used, there are no deductions.”

“But this is…!”

He didn’t teach him that skill.

Ulan had just thrown a stone, it was all so random.

So he didn’t want to accept it.

“Above all, I don’t want to give it to that barbarian…”

Just when he was about to refute Ulan’s result, Stella beat him to it.

“Didn’t the professor say before we began?”

With a smile on her face, she said.

“The shorter the time taken to suppress your opponent, the higher the score. Oh, and by the way, I recorded every conversation we had since you arrived.”

“……”

Seeing the voice recording device in Stella’s hand, Parco fell silent.

‘Could it be that the reason she posed as a referee was…’

Did she plan this from the start?

He bit his lip tightly.

At the same time, a thought struck him. He didn’t understand why she was going to such lengths for a mere barbarian.

“You will give me the S-Rank, right?”

“I’ll consider it for grading.”

“Please confirm that you will give it to me.”

Stella persisted relentlessly.

After a while, she seemed satisfied after receiving Parco’s assurance.

“Haha, thank you.”

“……”

“Then we’ll take our leave now.”

“I’ll be going. Take care.”

After a brief farewell, Ulan and Stella vanished quickly.

Meanwhile, Parco stood there, dumbfounded, staring at the retreating figures of the duo.

Then, suddenly, a low voice echoed.

“I can truly relate to your feelings.”

A familiar voice rang in his ears.

Parco reflexively turned his head.

Immediately in front of him stood a middle-aged man with a bushy beard, who broke into an empty smile and muttered.

“I felt the same way.”

“…Professor Harvan?”

Harvan Capitas.

A former infamous assassin from the border kingdom.

Known for all kinds of stealth techniques, he has a particular knack for Tracking Techniques. So now he taught such techniques, using his skills.

And he was also an old drinking buddy of Parco.

“You know what my exam is, right?”

Parco silently nodded in response.

The practical exam for Tracking Techniques was a kind of hide-and-seek.

In the exam room, students must find Harvan, who is hiding, within a limited time.

The average time spent on this exam is around 30 minutes.

If it takes more than an hour, it’s disqualification.

However, Ulan’s speed was beyond imagination.

“He was discovered in just ten seconds.”

“…What?”

“I thought I’d silenced my breathing, but he found me right away. So, I tried again, but the result was the same.”

In addition, during the second exam, I foolishly added the condition ‘track and subdue’ and ended up fainting, just like Parco, after getting hit by a stone.

Harvan continuously let out hopeless laughs.

At that, Parco remembered Ulan.

‘What the heck is this kid?’

He had found Harvan, a master of stealth, in ten seconds and knocked out a high-ranking mage like him with just a stone.

Could it be that he’s really an Expert?

If that were true, there would be no reason for him to enroll in the academy at all. An Expert could easily lead the knight order.

“Perhaps the rumors are true.”

“Huh? What rumors?”

“It’s a rumor going around among the kingdom alliance that the barbarian is actually a secret weapon of the empire.”

It was a rather unexpected statement.

But it had some basis to it.

“Just look at this situation.”

“This situation?”

“Yes, it’s not usual for Dean Erkazan to personally request a re-exam, especially for just one student.”

Thinking back, he realized that.

That a person of his stature showed such concern for a single student was a bit excessive.

‘Come to think of it…’

It was equally peculiar that Professor Stella volunteered to be a referee, determined to secure an S-Rank after the exam.

‘This definitely seems suspicious.’

Parco narrowed his eyes.

Something felt off.

After a moment, he flashed a sharp glare.

‘Maybe I should investigate.’

If Ulan turned out to be the secret weapon of the empire as the rumors suggested, that would be a matter worthy of report to Parco’s homeland, the Arbal Kingdom.

Especially since the Rubens Empire had long been known to covet Arbal Kingdom’s territory.

After a while, Parco turned his body around.

His gaze was steady.

It was the look of someone who had made a determination.

6.

And that evening,

as the sky turned increasingly red,

Noa, heading back after finishing her practical exam, stretched her arms with a worn-out expression.

“Ugh, it’s finally over.”

She looked so relieved.

It was understandable, as the crafting practical exam she had been nervous about since that morning had finally come to an end.

Plus, this exam had taken quite a toll on her stamina.

She had almost been disqualified, but she managed to pull through by pushing herself to run.

‘Now there’s only one exam left.’

The much-anticipated “Magic Detection” exam.

It was one of the two big events happening during the midterm exam period at Arsen Academy. Noa’s expression turned serious as she recalled the upcoming day.

‘…April 30th, Friday.’

The last day of midterms.

She thought through everything that would happen at the Source of Magic, from Professor Dirck leaving to whatever monster transformation might occur.

‘More importantly, I should probably tell him soon…’

She needed to reveal the whole situation to Ulan and ask for his cooperation. She had already planned how to explain it.

First, she would drop hints and then say that she had seen the future in a dream the day before the exam.

‘He should be in the dining hall by now.’

It happened to be dinner time after all.

Unless something especially out of the ordinary occurred, Ulan never skipped a meal. Plus, he would have likely finished whatever business he had with Stella by now.

So she headed straight to the dining hall.

To drop hints for Ulan.

However, as she approached her destination, Noa unexpectedly ran into someone.

“Finally, you’ve come.”

“…!”

A silver-haired girl blocking her path.

Noa blinked her eyes widely.

“D-Dilia?!”

The Witch of the Stars, Delia Arpen.

Noa recalled what Delia had said just a while ago and asked in surprise, “Were you waiting for me?”

“I have something to say.”

Delia nodded in affirmation.

Then she suddenly moved in closer.

At the sudden nearness, Noa flinched as Delia lowered her head.

“…Thank you.”

“U-uh?”

“Your prophecy was helpful.”

The incident surrounding the Abyss Worshippers.

Noa had managed to survive that situation thanks entirely to Ulan.

Though she benefited from Noa’s warning beforehand, which helped her stay calmed during the ambush.

“So I wanted to express my gratitude.”

But there was one more thing she wanted to say.

“Let’s forget about the previous incident.”

“The previous incident?”

“About what happened during the selection match.”

When they had faced off one-on-one during the selection match, they had both found themselves grabbing each other’s hair while completely depleted of mana.

As Noa was reminiscing, Delia suddenly took a step back.

Then placing a hand on her chest, she calmly introduced herself.

“I am Delia Arpen, a mage who wields Stellar Magic, and I share a very special connection with Ulan.”

“Special connection.”

She emphasized those words with a hint of weight.

But Noa didn’t register it.

No, she was too shocked by the very situation itself to pay attention.

‘I can’t believe it’s all clearing up this easily.’

It was entirely unexpected.

Still, she was glad about it.

Reconciling with Delia was also something Noa had wanted, so she too gathered her thoughts to introduce herself.

Finally, the awkward introductions were done.

They had properly resolved their misunderstandings.

“So, can I ask you something now?”

“Huh? What do you mean by asking all of a sudden…?”

“Your prophecy.”

At her short reply, Delia leaned in closer.

Her eyes shone with curiosity.

“I’m curious how it manifests.”

In that moment, something suddenly clicked in Noa’s mind.

It struck a chord with Delia Arpen’s characteristic, one of the penalties assigned to her: Obsession.

With anything, whether it be people, food, objects, or knowledge, she would latch onto whatever caught her interest until she was satisfied.

‘In the original work, her mission was to create new magic and close the Gate of the Abyss, and she was obsessed with Ivella.’

Her obsession with Ivella was particularly intense.

When separated from her on individual assignments, it was clear she’d stay up all night worrying and frantically attempting to join her.

‘But now it seems to be regarding…’

It looked like she had fixated on ‘foresight’ instead.

Noa couldn’t help but awkwardly smile at this realization.

Although she wanted nothing more than to answer her, it was a topic she couldn’t discuss.

‘Because I don’t possess foresight’

What Noa called foresight was just information she had acquired from the original story’s development.

In other words, she could only speak about events that had already occurred in the original game’s plot, making it impossible to answer Dilia’s question.

As she pondered over how to dodge the question,

“Oh? Noa?”

A familiar voice came from behind her.

Ivella Elea’ad, the very person Delia had obsessively fixated on in the original story.

“Why are you here and not inside?”

Just as she tilted her head in confusion, Ivella suddenly trailed off.

The reason was obvious. It was because of the silver-haired girl next to Noa, Delia.

And at that moment, her turquoise eyes turned icy cold.

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