episode_0017

Starting with knowing where the center of the forest was was quite a big advantage.

Those who were relatively quick-witted would realize that the place they originally stood was the center, but unlike Asel, that didn’t serve as much of a gain for them.

The southern forest of the academy. This plot of land is an artificial ecosystem created solely for the entrance exam, and its size is so vast it’s beyond imagination. Finding the center without a map after being thrown into such a place haphazardly was a very difficult task. They probably wouldn’t even know where they were standing to begin with.

On the other hand, Asel started from the center. No matter where he headed, finding the way was relatively easy. Still, just in case, he cast a spell in a location close to the center.

Crackle!!

Lightning danced above his finger. Asel gently threw the blooming black-blue lightning at a tree.

[Lightning Scar (雷痕)]

The extending lightning bolt left a charred mark as soon as it touched the tree. Asel confirmed that his magic power was abundantly embedded in the mark and nodded.

By leaving his magic power like this, even if he went far, he could just return to where the magic power was felt, so there was no need to worry about getting lost. It was right to be thorough with precautions.

He moved his steps, conjuring lightning between his fingers.

The place Asel headed was the east side of the forest. Sticky mud slowed his pace, and dense leaves blocked the sun. Since it was still winter, a cool chill lay low in places where the sun didn’t reach. Feeling the severe cold for the first time since leaving Wihaim, Asel layered a barrier mixed with the secrets of fire magic over his skin.

With this, he gained a certain degree of resistance not only to physical attacks but also to magic and the surrounding environment. Asel continued to move, watching the subtle steam rising around him. About 10 minutes passed like that. Asel saw a certain shape wriggling within a pile of grass.

It wasn’t human. Then there was only one answer.

‘A Golem.’

Asel focused magic power in his eyes and confirmed the identity of the creature within the grass pile. As expected, a Golem easily exceeding 2 meters in size was shaking its body restlessly, curled up in a ball. Although the grass pile was quite wide, it wasn’t large enough for a Golem of that size to hide. It seemed to have been crouching to stay hidden.

It seemed to have higher intelligence than expected. Who could be the Golem’s creator to be able to devise such an intricate design?

Curiosity welled up. But Asel suppressed his curiosity and focused on the exam. There would be another chance to dismantle Golems. During the exam period, he had to focus on defeating Golems and collecting cores. Since his goal was to get a high score, he had to move diligently starting now.

He quickly drew up magic power and established the spell formula in his mind. He recalled a spell capable of killing the Golem, which hadn’t detected him yet, in a single blow, and manifested it. A mid-level lightning-type spell emerged into the world following his will.

Crackle.

The lightning blooming above Asel’s hand streaked at high speed. The lightning bolt, fired faster than sound, drew a square centered around the Golem and instantly formed a cube made of lightning. The Golem hurriedly got up at the overwhelming magic power surrounding it, but Asel was even faster.

[Four Directions Lightning (四方電)]

CRACKLECRACKLECRACKLE!!!

Lightning bolts raged inside the formed cube. The Golem’s limbs disintegrated. An arm extended to get out was instantly shattered into pieces as soon as it touched the wall. The Golem opened its mouth as if to scream, but a lightning bolt that struck down crushed its neck.

The head, which rolled down powerlessly, plunged into the mud. And not long after, the Golem’s movements ceased. The only remaining form was the area around the heart where the core was. Asel withdrew the magic and rummaged through the split Golem’s chest to pull out a transparent core.

The amount of magic power contained in the core wasn’t very great. The number needed to activate the device he saw earlier was probably around 50?

It was quite a lot.

The reason they didn’t tell the number of cores needed was probably to assess the participants’ judgment, inference skills, and magic sensing abilities.

“It’s not that difficult a task.”

Asel muttered as he put the core in his backpack.

He had expected the exam’s difficulty to be monstrous since they said it was the continent’s best educational institution. But it was more manageable than he thought. At this level, it seemed there was no need to form a party. If the Golems were the kind that fell after one spell, vanguards or supporters wouldn’t be very significant. He felt he could pass easily even alone.

‘I wonder if it’s the same for others.’

Asel moved his steps, recalling some of the fierce faces he had seen before the exam started.

He scattered magic power around to find the Golem’s location. He moved towards it without hesitation.

*

“Damn it.”

Lehan cursed and pulled out the core from the Golem’s chest. The transparent core, pulled out with fragments of rock, sparkled brilliantly as it caught the light. He exhaled a long breath and got down from the body of the fallen Golem, holding the core.

“Is anyone seriously injured?”

He asked, looking at the participants who had fallen around. Fortunately, no one was seriously hurt. There were some minor injuries, but nothing critically dangerous. However, it was clear that everyone was exhausted. They had just hunted their fifth Golem, but the fatigue had accumulated too much compared to the harvest. It was because the exam’s difficulty was abnormally high.

“Damn this academy. Every single Golem is comparable to a seasoned expert.”

The sharp-featured young man, Paul, said as if spitting it out. He gritted his teeth, his cracked arm trembling from having blocked a Golem’s punch once.

This was severely difficult to simply call an exam. Each Golem was comparable to a peak expert, and they didn’t even tell them how many they had to catch.

An expert isn’t just some passing son of a bitch either. They are warriors skilled enough to easily obtain decent positions. Breaking walls with fists and running at speeds exceeding limits is like breathing for them. They had released such monsters into the forest like real wild dogs.

Furthermore, some were even hiding and launching surprise attacks. It was enough to drive one mad and make them jump.

“Still, this might be a decent harvest.”

Celine, a girl with ash-gray hair and golden eyes, muttered that way while leaning against a tree.

Coming from the Aurora Magic Tower, she had a relatively high degree of influence within the party. Perhaps because of that, the others who were complaining shut their mouths tightly and turned their heads towards her.

“Nobody knows the situation in other places, do they? Maybe we are the fastest.”

“…How can you be sure of that?”

“That’s not what I was trying to say, is it? It meant let’s not lose heart and keep doing well.”

Celine replied irritably and glared at Borwel.

“Are you dense? Instead of complaining and muttering, just shut up and rest. It’s annoying.”

Celine finished speaking and closed her eyes. It meant don’t talk loudly anymore. The party, while showing dissatisfaction towards her, quietly remained silent and regulated their breathing. Considering the might of the magic Celine had shown, it was natural.

Star-ranked magic that manipulates the power of stars. Although it requires a fairly long warm-up time, once completed, even if it’s a lower-ranked spell, it can easily tear apart other magic of the same rank. If she hadn’t cast the spell properly, Paul’s arm wouldn’t just have been cracked; it would have been completely shattered.

Besides this, she had shown several achievements like crushing the Golems’ legs or smashing their heads. For the party, Celine was an indispensable talent. There were more than enough reasons to cater to her mood.

“…The sun is setting.”

Lehan muttered, watching the sky gradually dye itself with the sunset light.

They had clearly started in the morning, but before they knew it, it had reached evening. The short daylight hours in winter also played a part.

When the sun completely set, the cold they felt would probably become even more severe. They had to set up camp before it was too late. They didn’t want to spend the night shivering in the cold.

They could have continued the forced march, but walking through a forest teeming with Golems and wild animals without light was akin to suicide. Furthermore, many of the various animals they saw on the way were closer to nocturnal than diurnal. It would be difficult to react if one suddenly jumped out from the bushes in a tired state.

“Let’s spend the night here.”

Lehan said, looking at Celine. She opened her closed eyes, glanced at the sky once, then nodded.

“Yes, that would be better.”

“We’ve only found 5 cores so far? Already resting?”

“Shut your mouth, Borwel. You sat trembling as soon as you saw a Golem, and now your mouth is opening?”

Paul snarled towards Borwel. Celine agreed with his words.

“If you don’t like it, go. We won’t stop you.”

“…No. I’ll help.”

“Okay? Then go fetch some branches and leaves. Enough for all five of us here to rest.”

“…Alright.”

Borwel swallowed hard and left to gather branches. Celine only opened her mouth again around the time his back was out of sight.

“Paul’s arm is broken, so he should rest. Sevia, you go get some firewood nearby and make a fire. I’ll go lay down a boundary spell around the area.”

“I’ll level the ground.”

Celine, who had nodded towards Lehan, got up from her spot and prepared the boundary spell formula in a suitable location.

Then, the sound of thunder was heard from somewhere.

Rumble!!

Wondering if it was going to rain, she frowned and looked at the sky, but there wasn’t a single dark cloud in the sky. Just as Celine’s expression hardened at the strange phenomenon and she was about to cast a detection spell.

“AAAAAAH!”

Borwel’s scream was heard from deeper inside the forest. The party immediately stopped what they were doing, grabbed their weapons, and headed towards where the sound came from.

Not long after, they found Borwel lying on the ground. Lehan and Sevia quickly approached his side.

“Borwel! What is it, what happened!”

“A mage…! A mage…”

He foamed at the mouth and trembled uncontrollably. Both his arms were charred black, and blood was profusely leaking from his cracked skin.

Crackle, cracklecrackle!

Black-blue currents repeatedly flashed and disappeared from Borwel’s body. Celine realized that the currents were caused by a direct hit from magic and her expression hardened coldly.

“It’s an attack.”

“What?”

Before Lehan could react to her murmur, lightning flashed in the dark forest. Immediately after, a lightning bolt fired at a speed exceeding perception directly pierced Borwel’s shoulder.

[Pursuing Thunder (追雷)]

KABOOOM!!

His body jolted with a loud roar, and his bracelet activated, moving him to a safe place.

He was judged to be seriously injured.

Celine gulped, gauging the power of the lightning bolt that had just been fired.

The density of magic power she faintly felt was at least 6th tier. It was an enemy with an extreme difference in power for her, who was still 5th tier, to face. However, she reminded herself that she was not alone and waited for the owner of the lightning to appear.

There was no need to wait long. As soon as she raised her magic power, a man walked out from the darkness of the forest.

It was a familiar face.

The mage who had drawn everyone’s attention with his appearance. He revealed himself, wreathed in lightning around his body. He tilted his head, looking at the four people gathered together.

“…? A party?”

“…Everyone, prepare for battle.”

There was no need for conversation. Lehan drew his sword and spat out the words, and Paul and Sevia gripped their respective weapons tightly. Celine instinctively retreated backward and began chanting a spell. Asel let out a scoff, as if dumbfounded by the sight.

“You attacked first, and now what’s this… How absurd.”

“Attacked first…?”

Celine, who had more leeway than the others thanks to retreating, heard Asel’s murmur. Upon this, she urgently opened her mouth to stop her party, but Lehan was even faster. He charged forward and rapidly swung his sword.

Even if they were strong, they were mages. Fighting a swordsman at such close range was tantamount to suicide. They wouldn’t be able to chant or even form a spell formula. A backline without a vanguard was no different from being defeated the moment they stepped forward.

This was common sense. It was a fact everyone knew and everyone believed without doubt. Therefore, Lehan targeted Asel’s shoulder without hesitation.

A simple swing with no intention of defending or even evading. Asel watched the trajectory, then flicked one finger upwards from below.

With just that, the spell was completed.

[Ascending Thunder (上乘雷)]

KABOOOM!!