Chapter 6: Instructor Test(3)
by AfuhfuihgsTristan Hero Military Academy.
The pride of the Kleppe Kingdom and a renowned institution across the continent, this military academy is infamous for the exceptionally high standards of its instructor examination.
First of all, there’s a barrier in the eligibility to apply.
Typically, applicants must be heroes who have graduated from the academy, soldiers who have distinguished themselves in battle, or those who have received national honors. Only individuals with such special honors can apply. Additionally, heroes who are personally recommended by the academy dean or other high-ranking officials can apply through a special selection process.
Newly awakened heroes, with only one or two years of experience, are outright rejected from applying.
“On top of that, there are three rounds of practical exams, a comprehensive interview, an educational demonstration… It’s not an exam to be taken lightly. If you come in with a careless attitude, you’ll be eliminated for sure.”
One of the supervisors of the current Tristan Military Academy instructor exam, Instructor Jackson, banged his desk as he spoke.
The assistant beside him responded with a bored expression.
“Instructor, that’s the fifth time you’ve said that. Aren’t you tired of repeating yourself?”
“You idiot, I’m emphasizing how tough this exam is.”
Instructor Jackson took great pride in the exam he was overseeing.
Each stage was filled with challenging elements, and the difficulty was notorious, to the point of being called brutal.
This was the reason so many instructor candidates fail miserably every year.
It’s not an exam to be taken lightly, and that’s why he hoped the candidates approached it with the seriousness it deserved.
“Now, let’s take a look at the candidates.”
Instructor Jackson grabbed the pile of application forms that were stacked like a mountain on one side of his desk.
The supervisors in charge of the instructor exam don’t oversee every test.
The responsibilities vary depending on the rank and status of the instructors, and senior officers like Instructor Jackson, who holds the rank of a first-class senior instructor, do not handle the early stages of the exam.
The exam Instructor Jackson was responsible for was the third practical exam.
More specifically, his main task was overseeing the ‘practitioner interview’ conducted simultaneously with the practical exam.
Therefore, he wasn’t familiar with the candidates who had passed the document screening or the theory exams.
“Selena… She’s from the Swordsmanship Department. Perfect score in theory, decent first-round results, and by the looks of it, she seems like the type to be good at teaching cadets, judging by her face.”
“Is there such a thing as a face suited for teaching?”
“Of course. Look at how gentle her face looks.”
“Then why is it that Instructor Jackson…”
“Shut up, will you? Get back to work.”
Annoyed by his assistant’s remark, Instructor Jackson clicked his tongue and continued flipping through the applications.
The first candidate seemed promising, and as he went through the following candidates, they also appeared to be competent.
The evaluation that this year’s instructor exam had gathered more prodigies than geniuses seemed quite fitting.
However, as Instructor Jackson diligently went through the documents, a particularly strange application caught his eye.
“What the… What is this?”
<Tristan Instructor Exam Application>
- Name: Edgar Mulick
- Age: 23
- Experience
- Graduated from Tristan Hero Military Academy (Magic Department, Year 3)
- Destiny (optional)
Classified
The application was quite simple.
That wasn’t an issue in itself.
For graduates of the military academy, it’s not unusual to have a plain resume.
But the problem lay in the ‘contents’ of that simple resume.
A hero who graduated from the Magic Department in their third year at the academy.
Yet, this person applied to become an instructor in the Swordsmanship Department.
Moreover, the applicant came from a well-known noble family within the kingdom.
Instructor Jackson looked at the application with an incredulous expression.
“…Was there a mistake in the paperwork?”
At that moment, the assistant, who had been scolded earlier, quietly lifted his head.
He glanced at the application sideways before speaking.
“Oh, Edgar Mulick? He’s the second son of the Brandon Mulick , from one of the great magic houses in the kingdom. As you can see from his history, he attended our academy until last year…”
Instructor Jackson’s face immediately darkened.
“Hey, you idiot. Do you think I’m asking because I don’t know that? I’m asking why someone from the Magic Department is applying to the Swordsmanship Department.”
“…I apologize.”
The assistant quickly lowered his head in submission after being rebuked by his superior.
It was the kind of scolding that could easily result in a disciplinary action, but the two had worked together for so long that this exchange was possible only because of their close relationship.
That’s why the assistant, pretending to shrink back, once again leaned in and spoke up.
“But I was curious too, so I looked it up. There’s no specific restriction in the internal regulations of the Tristan instructor exam.”
“No restriction on Magic Department graduates applying?”
“Yes. So, every year, we get new instructors from crossover applications. Most of them, of course, are heroes with more than one destiny.”
“Does that mean the second son of the Mulick family is a Determiner of Fate?”
“Well, that I don’t know. Haha.”
“Don’t just talk nonsense.”
The assistant’s comments usually ended in such anticlimactic fashion.
Whenever he said something that seemed interesting, the conclusion was always vague.
Instructor Jackson clicked his tongue and was about to return his attention to the applications when—
“But, Instructor Jackson, did you know something?”
“Oh, for heaven’s sake! I don’t know! What now?”
Annoyed by the assistant’s tiresome wordplay, Instructor Jackson yelled.
But this time, what the assistant had to say was different.
“That Edgar Mulick on the application? He got a perfect score on the theory test, and he’s currently the top scorer in the first practical exam.”
Unlike the trivial comments before, this was information that couldn’t be easily ignored.
It was news that would surprise any exam administrator.
If any of the exam supervisors heard this, they would all be shocked.
Instructor Jackson’s eyes naturally widened.
“Say that again. What did you just say?”
It was the moment when an unfamiliar ripple began to spread through the usually quiet instructor exam.
After promising my father that I would take the instructor exam, I completely adjusted to this world again within a week.
The continent of Hailan and its various countries.
The structure and key figures of the Kleppe Kingdom.
Various information about my family, the Mulicks.
Destiny and heroes, monsters and magical beasts, instructors and cadets…
There was a lot to study, but I managed to absorb it all somehow.
‘It’s not too difficult, is it?’
After all, this was originally my world.
It was just a matter of regaining things I had momentarily forgotten, and much of the important information, such as noble etiquette and the kingdom’s structure, was similar to the otherworld where I had spent ten years, making it easy to memorize.
Then, three days ago, the instructor exam took place.
Because it was the exam for such a large military academy, the tests were spread out over several stages. During the last exam, both the theory test and the first practical exam were conducted simultaneously.
“Edgar, there’s a letter from Tristan Hero Military Academy.”
Just then, Ray entered the room and delivered the news.
“Can you read it to me?”
“…It’s a notice of acceptance. Perfect scores in both the theory and first practical exams. They’re requesting your attendance for the next test.”
“Interesting. Does Tristan really disclose the scores to the applicants?”
“They do it to ensure transparency and fairness in the evaluation process, or so I’ve heard.”
“Hmm.”
As expected, a prestigious military academy handles things differently.
They inform the applicants of their scores and whether they passed.
But for some reason, I could feel a prickling sensation at the back of my head.
A strong gaze coming from somewhere.
When I turned my head, Ray was staring at me intently.
“…Do you have something to say?”
“How did you do it?”
“What are you talking about?”
“The perfect score. I can somewhat understand the theory… No, actually, I can’t even wrap my head around that. But how did you, a graduate of the Magic Department, manage to score a perfect in the first practical test of the Swordsmanship Department?”
There was a look of confusion all over Ray’s face.
A cadet who had spent three years in the Magic Department and graduated took the instructor exam for the Swordsmanship Department, and passed both the theory and the first practical test with perfect scores?
Even to me, it sounds like a hard-to-believe joke.
Of course, for someone like me who gained the fifth path of fate, <Swordmaster’s Insight>, this result was easier than breathing, but it’s not something I can just openly admit.
“I told you already, didn’t I? I obtained the fate of a swordsman.”
I had already given Ray a certain amount of truth.
Just like those who are called ‘Fate’s Chosen’, I, too, was reborn with the fate of a <Swordsman>, and because of that, I applied to the Swordsmanship Department for this instructor exam.
I had tried to explain this to my father as well, but he was simply in a state of ‘If you’re going to take the instructor exam, I’ll allow anything!’, so I didn’t get a chance to explain further.
In other words, Ray knows that I have newly gained the fate of a <Swordsman>.
“Is it really possible to score a perfect in the Swordsmanship Department’s instructor exam when you’ve only just acquired the fate of a swordsman?”
That doesn’t exactly explain the result, but still.
Ray stared at me with a puzzled expression.
Even though I haven’t done anything wrong, I couldn’t help but avoid her gaze and cleared my throat.
“Ahem. It seems I have a talent for swordsmanship.”
“That’s a very convenient explanation.”
“That’s how heroes are, Ray. Haven’t you heard the stories? There are plenty of heroes who didn’t realize their own talent for years, only for their fate to manifest later, and they refined it through hard work to achieve greatness.”
“The Edgar Mulick I know is far from being one of those diligent individuals.”
“That’s a misunderstanding.”
Ray, for a butler, had a frighteningly keen analytical mind.
Sometimes, I’m afraid of talking to her…
In any case, hearing the satisfying yet obvious news of my perfect score, I turned back to the history book of the continent that I had been reading.
“Ray, when is the next test?”
“Tomorrow.”
“What?”
Thud—
I closed the book again.
Then, I looked at her with a bewildered expression.
Why is the instructor exam schedule so rushed?
But Ray answered without even blinking.
“That’s why I suggested staying in the capital after the first exam. You never know when or where the official exam schedule of Tristan Academy will be set.”
“…”
At that, I hurriedly stood up.
There was no time to be leisurely reading the history of the continent right now.
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