Chapter 406

As the first-years excitedly chatted in the lecture hall…

Creaaak—

The front doors opened. Instantly, the entire room fell silent.

Step. Step.

A figure entered, and for a brief moment, the tension remained. Then, recognizing who it was, the first-years exhaled and resumed their conversations.

"What do you think the assignment will be?"

"Probably something survival-related, like last year."

"Maybe it'll be an interdepartmental competition."

"Oh? That means we'd be enemies."

"Looking forward to it. I'll take you down without mercy."

"You're the one who's going down."

Excitement filled the room as students eagerly speculated about the upcoming exam. The reason they had gone silent earlier was simple—they had assumed the ones entering were the two most feared professors: Harrid and Artienne.

Harrid, the dreaded Wailing Wall, was feared by every grade. Artienne, on the other hand, ensured that any student who dared to slack off in her class would be punished—sometimes quite literally—by elementals under her command. Compared to those two, Mel was far more approachable.

To put it nicely, she was a professor the first-years found easygoing. To put it bluntly, she was one they didn't take seriously.

Mel, however, didn't mind. As the Dragon Queen, it would have been ridiculous for her to lose her temper over something so trivial.

"Attention, everyone."

At her words, the students turned to look at her—especially the magic students. No matter what anyone thought, Mel was the best magic professor in the first-year faculty. It was only natural that the magic students would listen closely to what she had to say.

The knight and summoning students, however, weren't as attentive. But that didn't last long.

"Aaah? What's with all the chatter? Are you saying Professor Mel's words aren't worth listening to?"

A savage voice rang out. Artienne had appeared out of nowhere, her body already possessed by an elemental. In other words, she had arrived in berserk mode.

Kyaaaaaaaah!

The students who had been talking screamed in terror. Faced with Artienne's bloodthirsty glare, they immediately averted their eyes.

"Professor Artienne, I don't mind," Mel said gently, trying to calm her down.

Artienne clicked her tongue. "You lot got lucky."

As silence settled over the room, another figure emerged from behind Artienne. Harrid.

"Any student who ignored Professor Mel and kept talking just lost ten points."

No one dared to complain.

"Tsk. How pathetic," Sasha muttered under her breath.

Meanwhile, Harrid stepped up onto the podium. "The reason we've gathered you here today is to announce your final exam assignment."

The previously dispirited students immediately perked up. Finally, the moment they had been waiting for. Harrid glanced at their eager expressions. "Seems like some of you are getting the wrong idea."

A cynical smirk crossed his lips. "With the World Summit coinciding with finals, some of you look like you're actually enjoying this situation."

His gaze turned cold. "Listen carefully. Under normal circumstances, nearly half of you wouldn't have even made it to finals. You would've been expelled before getting the chance."

The room went still.

"You're only here because of a change in school policy. Not because of your so-called skills. You don't seriously believe that's why you're still standing, do you?"

His merciless words made some students tremble.

"And then there are the few of you who do have some ability."

But Harrid wasn't done.

"It's true that many powerful figures will be visiting Lumene for the World Summit. And yes, they'll be observing your final exam to assess how much you've improved. However, don't misunderstand."

His sharp eyes swept over the students. "They won't be judging you in isolation. They'll be comparing you to your mentors—the second-years."

A heavy silence fell over the room.

"The second-years achieved something incredible in their first-year finals. Trapped with no way out, they faced an army of monsters and magical beasts in an all-out invasion. Despite being nothing more than fledgling students, they overcame that crisis. Not only that, they successfully defeated a Gigantes. That moment is what cemented their reputation as the Golden Generation."

Harrid scanned the room. "The world already knows that you are their mentees. And when they compare you to your second-year seniors, what do you think they'll see? Will they say, 'These first-years are impressive'? Or will they scoff, 'So this is all the first-years can manage?'"

His voice turned colder. "You're blindly dreaming about glory when, in reality, you're walking into a situation where you might become a laughingstock for the rest of your lives. And need I remind you? More than half of you will be expelled after finals. Did you forget that?"

The students paled. They had been too caught up in their own progress. Too blinded by their own confidence. They had ignored reality. But now, faced with the harsh truth, their excitement drained away.

Seeing them slump in silence, Artienne, who had returned to her usual self, looked a little flustered. "Uh… Did you really have to crush their elementals this much?"

"I think it was necessary. It's true that they've been too relaxed," Mel said serenely.

The atmosphere in the room had completely changed.

Wait, we're being compared to the second-years?

And if we screw up, we could get expelled?

Ugh… My stomach hurts…

What's the assignment going to be?

The students had only been focused on the potential rewards. Now, they were aware of the risks.

Yes, some students would rise to glory. But they would be the minority. The majority would face bitter failure. And for many, failure meant expulsion.

The tension in the room thickened.

Harrid, watching them coldly, finally spoke.

"Now, I will announce your final exam assignment."

The first-years held their breath and turned their eyes toward the board.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Picking up a piece of chalk, Harrid began writing. As the words took shape, the room erupted into murmurs.

Thud.

Setting the chalk down, Harrid swept his gaze over the students.

"This year's practical final exam is a one-on-one tournament."

sep

"A one-on-one tournament? Damn, that's brutal."

Hearing the announcement in his private study space at the library, Carl clicked his tongue.

Juen, who had come to deliver the news, tilted her head. "What do you mean?"

"It means they're testing pure skill. You can't ride someone else's coattails or rely on dumb luck."

"Isn't that normal?"

"I've made it through school entirely by riding coattails," Carl scoffed. "So much for selling my know-how."

"…You were planning to sell that?"

"Of course."

Juen sighed deeply as Carl shrugged, then grinned. "Alright, let's get started."

"Started with what?"

"Data analysis."

Carl opened his subspace storage, and…

Thud!

An enormous stack of papers tumbled out.

Juen's eyes widened. "Why did you even bother renting a private study space?"

Carl smirked. "For this classified information."

Juen reached out and picked up one of the documents. It was all about Aina Beidna—detailed records, battle footage stored in magic-infused orbs—Carl had everything.

"Where did you even get all this?"

"I'm close with some of the staff," Carl chuckled.

Professors aside, Lumene employed a large number of maintenance workers and custodial staff. From his first year, Carl had gone out of his way to befriend them.

"I asked them to record the first-years' training sessions for me."

Carl's greatest strength was information gathering. And with the final exams approaching, he had used that ability to its fullest.

"Compared to knights or summoners, mages are terrible at handling unexpected situations," Carl said seriously. "Chelsea's an exception since she's specialized for that kind of thing, but even Abad and Chloe struggle with unpredictability compared to other top students."

That was an inherent weakness of mages. Magic required concentration and casting time. While mages could dramatically shift the battlefield, they were ironically the most vulnerable to sudden changes. Carl's goal was to minimize those risks for Juen by analyzing every major opponent in advance.

"When did you prepare all this? None of this would've been necessary if it weren't a tournament," Juen said, looking baffled.

Carl smirked. "Juen, you're an amazing mage. You could easily contend for the top of the class in most practical exams. But there's one scenario that puts you at a disadvantage—one-on-one duels. Compared to Aina, Haviden, and Sasha, you lack mobility. You can compensate with invisibility magic, but in a direct duel, using it will be way harder."

He crossed his arms. "So I prepared for the worst-case scenario—this tournament format."

"Did you really have to go this far?"

"I'm not much of a mentor, am I?"

Objectively speaking, Carl was behind Juen in mana control and spellcraft. Juen wasn't just talented—she was exceptional. Compared to her, Carl was… ordinary.

"But even so, you chose me as your mentor because you thought I had something to teach you." Carl met Juen's gaze, his expression unusually serious. "And since you went that far, I'll do everything I can to help you become class representative. Call it being a kingmaker."

"…Carl-senpai…" Juen's eyes shimmered.

"You're the best mentor ever!"

With a bright smile, she threw herself at Carl in a hug.

Carl patted Juen on the back and grinned. "Great. Just make sure to spread the word that 'Carl-senpai is the best mentor.' And, y'know, keep buying my stuff next semester if I manage to stay in school."

Then, he turned back to the documents. "Alright, let's go over the priority targets. First off, Fritz—Abad's mentee—and Jane—Chen Xia's mentee—are just as dangerous as Aina, Haviden, and Sasha."

Their academic records weren't as impressive as the top students, but their combat ability was a different story. On top of that, there wasn't much information available on them.

They're probably Shadows candidates.

Carl knew from Leo that some first-years were being considered for Shadows. But even to Carl, they were unknown variables.

"They're definitely troublesome, but we can put them lower on the list for now," Juen said.

"Huh? Why?"

"Because my first opponent has already been decided."

"Already?"

"Yeah. We drew lots after the announcement."

"Who's your first match?"

Carl's face stiffened slightly.

Juen took a deep breath and held up one of the documents.

The name on it made Carl's expression twist.

"Aina Beidna…?"