Chapter 91

Sivar, with his attack privileges restricted, was conducting the exam in an utterly bizarre manner, while other students stuck to more traditional approaches.

They either dug traps in empty houses and waited, quietly followed from behind to ambush, or launched direct attacks, you name it.

Most of them acted within the professors’ expected parameters, and quite a few ended up getting eliminated. A handful even made the mistake of entering the magic barrier and got kindly knocked out.

“Ugh. Is anyone hurt?”

“I got burned on my arm, but I’m okay.”

“Good. How about you?”

“I’m fine too.”

Kara nodded as she checked on her team members’ conditions. They had just finished a fight.

They had entered a house they thought was empty, only to nearly get caught in a trap.

It was a close call, and if they hadn’t caught the smell in time, the whole team, not to mention herself, could have been in danger.

“Let’s take a quick break here. We’re safe inside the magic barrier.”

“Yeah.”

“I’ll keep an eye out for anyone approaching.”

With a brief moment of rest granted, the team members went about doing their own things. Kara observed them.

Even though it was a makeshift team, there was this strange formality that made her feel a distance. It was something she had sensed from the beginning.

Preconceptions stemming from backgrounds and reputations. And don’t forget the attitude of the senior members and those with real combat experience.

All of these combined to create an atmosphere that was hard to penetrate.

“Well, I guess that’s okay.”

Better not to have annoying people clinging on. It’s easier on the heart to have a few close friends.

This also ties into the culture of Tartar. In such a harsh land where so many die, they tend not to get too emotionally attached.

Now that monster hunts and tribe unification have reduced the death toll, that culture still lingers.

So once you become friends with someone, they stick with you through thick and thin, while betrayal is met with mercilessness.

“Looking at how the academy operates, it feels like they’re breaking every bond of loyalty.”

Fundamentally, it’s a competitive system, so there’s bound to be some unavoidable aspects; it’s just perfect for brewing conflicts.

While she herself prefers to zip through the exams and move on, she doesn’t know about others. Rumor has it even couples used to be torn apart.

In fact, this is the unavoidable fate of an advanced civilization. As civilization becomes more complex, human relationships become labyrinthine too.

There’s a reason why she likes simplicity. The simpler things are, the more likely you are to find a friend with whom to share deep bonds.

A companion to back her up in a fight. Or maybe something that goes way beyond that.

“I wonder if someday I’ll be able to fight back-to-back with Sivar? Sounds tough, right?”

Kara chuckled. Back-to-back fighting implied that your skills were at least on par with that person.

Technically lacking but physically overwhelming Sivar. Plus, if he goes berserk, he could even overpower Hector.

Of course, that’s considering Hector has his psychological issues, but still, he’s impressive.

“Should I ask the Saint for help?”

Thinking about physical capabilities, Rize came to mind. She was someone whose physical skills were either on par with or superior to Sivar’s.

If the physical difference was overwhelming, couldn’t she just boost her own abilities? That was Kara’s line of thought.

Luna was also training under Rize, so asking for help wouldn’t be too bad.

“Kara! Kara!”

“Yeah?”

While lost in thought, one of her team members shouted urgently. Kara quickly snapped back to reality.

“What’s going on? Is someone coming?”

“Y-yeah!”

“Who is it?”

“S-Sivar!”

“Sivar?”

Kara’s eyes widened. What on earth was Sivar doing here?

But those thoughts were short-lived as she hurried to arm herself. Since Sivar couldn’t attack, he must have been with other team members.

“But, he’s alone?”

“What? Alone?”

“Yep. And that on his shoulder… is that a person?”

The team member murmured in disbelief while looking out the window, as if questioning their own eyes.

Kara hastily armed herself and stood beside her team member, who quietly stepped aside.

When she finally looked out the window, she discovered why her team member was so puzzled.

“…What is that?”

“Uh, I don’t know!”

Just as the team member had stated, Sivar was boldly striding over, with two people slung over his shoulders like bags of potatoes.

Kara was dumbfounded, wondering what the heck was going on when Sivar approached exactly in their direction.

She wondered if it was yet another bout, but quickly dismissed the idea. He couldn’t attack after all.

“You guys stay put. He knows we’re here.”

“He knows we’re here? How?”

“Just trust me.”

The mere fact that he was making a beeline towards them meant it was highly probable. Kara thought this as she cautiously walked to the door.

If necessary, they could always strike first, but for someone like Sivar, she was sure he would handle it just fine. So she figured it was best to show her face first.

Squeak—

Carefully opening the door, Kara found herself face-to-face with Sivar. He still had two people on his shoulder like cargo.

“Let them go! You won’t?!”

“…”

Upon closer inspection, there was a difference. One person was flailing around, while the other just hung limply, seemingly resigned.

Neither Grace nor Lee Yeon-joo; it appeared he had brought along other team members.

Why on earth? Just as that question settled in her mind, Sivar spoke up.

“Hey.”

“Uh… hey?”

Unlike during survival training, Sivar was clearly an enemy this time. Yet he casually greeted her, and she accidentally responded reflexively.

Just as Kara was feeling a bit flustered, Sivar set down the two people he had been carrying like luggage.

She had been wondering why they were so still, and it turned out their hands were tied behind their backs.

“A gift.”

“…A gift? This?”

“Yep.”

With that, Sivar turned his back and walked away. Kara looked back and forth between him and the two beneath him, utterly bewildered.

She couldn’t fathom what had just happened. Why had he handed over these two to her, and where had he been and what had he done?

It was hard to grasp what was happening. First, she needed to deal with the wriggling people on the floor.

“Kara.”

“Yeah?”

“Gift.”

Whoosh—

At that moment, Sivar didn’t even turn around as he tossed something at Kara.

Not the round shape of a grenade, but a long, cylindrical object instead.

Seeing it, Kara gasped in shock and instinctively tried to close her eyes.

Bang!

But the flashbang went off much faster than she could blink. Sivar had anticipated it and had pre-primed it.

“Ah!”

Kara shrieked as the flashbang hit her, prompting her teammates to rush outside in alarm.

Desperately blinking to recover, she was relieved she’d managed to partially shield her eyes; her recovery didn’t take long.

“Are you okay?”

“I-I’m fine. But Sivar?”

“Over there…”

Kara barely opened her eyes and looked in the direction her teammate was pointing.

Just like he had completed his business, Sivar was sprinting off.

Holding on to that bomb and running away; why throw a flashbang at her and then flee?

‘…Is he messing with me?’

That had to be the case. If not, he would have thrown a real bomb instead of a flashbang.

Plus, didn’t he call it a “gift” right before throwing it? It didn’t add up unless he was just goofing around.

“What should we do? Should we chase him?”

“Forget it. Just let him go.”

Chasing him wouldn’t yield any benefits. Now, rest was critical.

Once her vision cleared, Kara looked down at the two writhing on the ground. They were all that was left.

“Let’s check these guys out first. We need to know the story.”

“Yeah.”

The “presents” that Sivar had brought—no, the other students. They needed to figure out who they were.

Kara brought the two into the house and began rummaging through their things. From their outfits, they appeared to be mages.

“So, Sivar eliminated only the warriors and brought you guys along, huh?”

“Exactly! What do you mean he can’t attack?”

“Hmm.”

She got pretty good intel out of this. Though he couldn’t directly hit, using terrain features or forcing someone to fall to their doom was still an option.

Among those, the most devious method involved using tools to attack. It was said that they had made a point of shoving grenades in people’s mouths and then running away.

Whoever taught them that kind of wickedness and application didn’t escape her mind. It was likely the reason they survived in the wilderness.

‘Did they eventually just stop using their heads because it was too much trouble?’

That seemed quite likely. If that was the case, it eliminated the rationale for not granting them attack privileges.

“We told you everything; you’re not going to let us go, right…?”

“Eh? No?”

Competitors had to be eliminated. Kara thought and promptly disqualified the two.

In the case of subduing them, she would normally just take off their bracelets, but unlike in survival training, she needed the other person’s consent to remove them.

“Just once! Can you let us go this time?”

“Would you prefer a hit or getting stripped?”

“Sorry!”

Just like that. Thus, both were promptly disqualified.

“By the way, I had no idea such methods existed.”

“Right? Oh, wait.”

As the situation calmed down, Kara glanced around at her remaining teammates. There were three of them in total.

There’d been four from the start, but one had left for reconnaissance and hadn’t returned yet.

“Where did our scout go?”

“Seeing how long they’ve been gone…”

“Really?”

Well, it couldn’t be helped. Originally, a scouting team had to undertake reconnaissance at the cost of their lives.

‘Also, how did Sivar know our location? Is his senses that keen?’

There were plenty of suspicious factors piling up.

*****

Reconnaissance was usually assigned to agile rogue classes, and naturally, they could escape quickly.

They were in situations where one could easily lose their life, so having fast legs was a given.

“Let me go! What do you think you’re doing?!”

But against someone like Sivar, who was specialized for “hunting,” it didn’t mean a thing.

No matter how hard they tried to flee, they would certainly get captured, especially having been ambushed already.

The student who was currently trapped was no exception. They had just stepped outside for reconnaissance when they got caught.

Right in front of a wildman—none other than Sivar, whose eyes were as red as blood.

“Who’s your team leader?”

“What?”

“Your team leader’s name.”

Sivar asked the captured rogue while they were inside a house. The rogue was hanging upside down.

It had been incredibly easy to subdue them after sneaking up and binding them up with a rope.

Sivar had long since grasped how far his attack privileges extended. That’s why he could trap them this way.

“Who’s the team leader? Why should I tell you that? You need to tell me your location, not the other way around!”

“Hmm.”

Sivar looked around at the uncooperative student. Just then, a suitable “answer sheet” caught his eye.

He approached the rogue, holding the answer sheet.

And from that position, the rogue could see what Sivar was holding.

“W-why water? What are you doing…!”

It was a water bottle. One of their collected items, essential for quenching thirst and boosting energy.

As soon as the student saw Sivar approaching with the water, an instinctive feeling of danger hit them. Their instincts screamed in alarm.

“Don’t you know?”

Click—

Sivar spoke as he opened the bottle cap with a satisfying sound. The student gulped nervously.

Should they lie and make a break for it? But that would clearly put their team at risk.

“Y-yeah! I don’t know! I got separated from my team!”

“I don’t believe you. Got it.”

Swoosh—

Sivar tilted the water bottle towards the upside-down student.

The direction was aimed right at their face, specifically at their nostrils.

“…W-wait! W-what are you doing?!”

As the student panicked, Sivar said,

“I’ve got the water.”

Where he learned such techniques, nobody knew.

“The answer.”

What a cunning method it was!

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