Academy’s Second Seat

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"Did you see that?"

I smiled and faced Astina.

"What's so great about surpassing my second year score?"

Astina spoke as if it was nothing, but she was smiling.

My score was 70,000 points.

It was a score that far exceeded Astina's when she was in her second year.

Astina, still smiling, turned her head slightly.

"It seems like it's time to manage your expression."

"Ah... Hmm."

I touched around my mouth with an awkward expression.

Below, Luna was climbing up, her face devoid of strength.

"Sniffle..."

"Why the long face when you did well!"

Next to Luna was Rie.

Rie was holding Luna's hand, helping her up.

She looked like a mother leading her daughter.

Astina smiled and looked at Luna.

"Luna, well done."

"Astina! At times like this, you shouldn't say 'well done' but rather scold for not doing better."

Rie spoke sharply.

"Luna didn't mean for it to happen, maybe we should just let it be..."

"No! When you do something wrong, you need to be scolded."

"Sniffle..."

Luna shrank under Rie's scolding.

She huddled and looked miserable.

"I'm such a fool... I'm such a fool..."

Luna had made a mistake during the assessment.

Her attack didn't hit the target properly, and the score was... disappointingly low.

The reason for this actually lay with me.

After my assessment, the ground was left in a mess.

My attack had created a pit in the ground and stones had scattered around.

The professors did their best to fix the ground, but they couldn't do it properly due to the need to proceed quickly with the assessments.

Luna, who was next, tripped over an uneven stone while trying to cast her spell.

As she fell, the spell was released and barely grazed the target.

If it hadn't hit the target at all, she might have had a chance to try again...

It was both ridiculous and regrettable.

"Anyway, individual assessments don't significantly affect your score, so don't worry."

Astina approached Luna with a warm smile and stooped down a bit.

"There are still opportunities ahead."

Luna's clothes were covered in dust and dirt from falling, and Astina began to brush it off.

"Sigh..."

Rie sighed and looked at Luna.

It seemed that even Rie had spoken out of concern for Luna, knowing how hard she had tried.

But I had a lingering question.

"Luna, about the spell you used... did you choose that spell on purpose?"

"Ah..."

The spell Luna had chosen was not particularly remarkable.

The magic was a wind attribute spell that had been enhanced several times.

It was simply a spell that created a lance of wind and hurled it swiftly.

While its power was considerable, if asked whether it was Luna's best effort, I could confidently answer 'no'.

Luna, who primarily uses magical tools, could have come up with more unique ideas...

In fact, the telekinetic magic tool she used in her first year was more impressive.

"Was it, intentional? Or, maybe it couldn't be helped..."

"...What?"

Rie glared at Luna again.

Thunk─

Rie approached Luna and gave her a knock on the head.

Luna held her head and let out a few tears.

"Rie...!"

"If you didn't give it your best, accept the results! You shouldn't just rely on luck!"

"I had my reasons though..."

Luna muttered, pouting her lips slightly.

"We'll end up really fighting if this goes on. Stop it, Rie."

"Hmph..."

Rie turned her head, clearly displeased.

"Rudy, you should go and finish the rest of your assessments. Didn't you say you're not done yet?"

"Ah, yes. I understand..."

Although I was worried about Rie and Luna's situation, I still had to complete my assessments.

"I'll be back then. Those two..."

"Yes, I'll look after them."

The way she said it felt like leaving kids with a babysitter, but with Astina there, I doubted they'd get into any trouble.

"Alright... I'm counting on you."

"Ouch..."

I fiddled with my finger from which blood had been drawn.

"Isn't there something like a needle around...?"

Here, they didn't use needles to draw blood.

Instead, a cut was made on the finger with a knife to extract a few drops of blood.

It was a crude method but efficient.

Since the blood tests weren't in-depth, a large quantity of blood wasn't necessary.

Most tests were conducted using magic, and the blood was only examined for its mana content.

Since not much blood was needed, a sterilized knife was used to make a quick cut, foregoing any special tools.

It was faster and cost-effective.

But, slicing your finger with a knife was more painful than expected.

It's like stubbing your little toe hurts more than getting hit hard elsewhere.

It was a similar concept.

I wrapped my finger with a cloth and headed towards the open field, quickening my pace.

It was Rie's turn now; her name had just been called.

I was curious about what Rie had learned from Serina and what abilities she would use.

While I could guess, seeing it firsthand was different.

Only by seeing it could I understand the principles behind her abilities.

"I might be a bit late..."

Just when I was undergoing the test, it was Rie's turn.

I couldn't just say I'd come back later for my test, so I was hurrying as fast as I could.

"What's this?"

Arriving at the open field, I looked around.

In the center of the field, flames were rising.

"An explosive magic spell?"

It was the explosive magic that Rie usually used.

I thought she would use spirits after being trained by Serina...

"Student Rie! 27,300 points!"

It was a high score.

Did she achieve that score with just her magic?

But that didn't seem quite right.

Next to Rie, a green-colored hawk, Sylph, the intermediate wind elemental, was flying.

The ground near the flames bore scars.

It looked as though it had been sliced with a blade.

"What happened here?"

"Hey! Rudy!"

While I was muttering to myself, Luna called out to me.

Her expression was better than before.

I asked Luna.

"Luna, what did Rie just do?"

Luna looked troubled.

"Ah... well..."

"…?"

I tilted my head in confusion as Luna hesitated.

Luna pointed towards the center of the field.

Rie was looking in our direction.

She had her index finger raised to her lips.

As if to say, 'be quiet'...

"Rie told me... not to tell Rudy..."

"Why?"

"She's annoyed. She said you should have come sooner if you were really curious."

Why would she need to hide it...?

Rie's expression in the field suggested she was just in a bad mood and didn't want to talk.

I sighed.

Luna seemed like she wasn't going to tell me anything, probably because Rie had persuaded her.

After being scolded by Rie, Luna probably just nodded in agreement.

I could pretty much picture the scene.

But there was another way.

"Where's Astina?"

"She said she saw enough of your test and just left. Said there wasn't much else to see..."

"Not even Rie's assessment?"

"Yeah, she said she felt like moving around after watching us perform our abilities and just left."

"..."

My plan was thwarted.

Maybe she left early, thinking Rie and Luna wouldn't fight...

"So you should have moved faster, right?"

As I was sighing, Rie walked up behind me, chiding me.

"How could I come faster when I was in the middle of a test?"

"You could have watched me and then taken your test."

"I prefer to get things over with quickly."

Rie glared at me.

"See, I told you. She's annoyed."

"…Alright, I'm sorry."

"If you're sorry, hug me. Then I'll tell you about my ability."

"…What?"

Suddenly, Luna, who had been sitting beside us, sprang up.

"No, no! Not with people around! Oh, no!"

Luna quickly stood up between us.

"If that's what it takes for her to talk, I'll tell you!"

"Ugh…"

Seeing Luna's fierce reaction, Rie clicked her tongue.

"Fine. Let's just drop it."

"Good!"

"Let's sit down. We're attracting attention."

"…Ah."

There weren't many people around, but after Luna's outburst, everyone was staring at us.

Luna's cheeks reddened with embarrassment.

"Sorry, sorry."

She muttered quietly and quickly returned to her seat.

"But is there anything else to see? Seems like we've seen everything."

As Rie walked back to her seat, she shrugged nonchalantly.

"It's still good to check out everyone's abilities. To see what they can do and how much they've grown."

Most of the people sitting around had the same thought process.

The joint assessment was about analyzing each other's capabilities and deciding how to act.

"Do we really need to? After all, you're the top and there's no one else to match you…"

Rie was about to sit down when she suddenly widened her eyes, looking at the field.

"…What's that?"

I followed her gaze, turning to look at the field.

In the field was...

"Evan?"

Evan was standing there, but that wasn't what was surprising.

"Why is the field suddenly…"

The field, which had been just dirt, was now sprouting blue flowers and grass.

And behind Evan, a large tree had appeared.

Evan held his sword.

White lights rose from the surrounding grass, flowers, and the tree.

These lights began to converge on the sword.

As they gathered, the sword was enveloped in a blue glow.

Evan charged towards the target dummy.

And then.

A massive burst of light enveloped the field.

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