Ch.189188. Graduation Exam (2)

# 188. Graduation Exam (2)

Graduation.

It held so many meanings for me.

After all, the first thing I did after returning to the past was to enter this academy, so it couldn’t be helped.

‘Finally, three years…’

So many things had happened.

It was filled with experiences I could never have had in my previous life.

Even knowing the future, I couldn’t predict everything, and about half of what happened was completely new.

And the beginning of all those events was, of course, entering the Imperial Academy.

“It’s really graduation time now. Time flies so fast.”

“Weren’t you just complaining about how boring it was?”

Sometimes I thought time moved incredibly slowly.

But looking back now at the end, time had always been diligently flowing by.

It was just a matter of perception.

“It’s fast…”

“You said you were dying of boredom.”

“That was then.”

“You keep changing your mind…”

Of course, time passing quickly wasn’t entirely a good thing.

A huge mountain was waiting ahead of us.

Time passing quickly meant that the moment we had to climb that mountain was drawing near.

And I didn’t want that.

“It still feels a bit…”

“What?”

Always with that not-quite-serious tone and behavior.

Yet not overly excited either. I asked such a person:

“What do you think would happen if you get completely destroyed in the next battle?”

“Then I’d be destroyed, what else? What’s the big deal?”

Allin, showing such a calm demeanor, resembling someone I knew.

Seeing her like that made me feel a bit uncomfortable, as if I was looking at myself.

“You really do resemble each other.”

“Who? With whom? I’m asking because I’m afraid I know…”

“You and me.”

Allin’s face crumpled upon hearing those words that even I thought might be inappropriate.

She looked at me with concern and asked:

“Are you sick…? What’s wrong? Should we go to the hospital?”

“Don’t overreact.”

“If it’s not that, then this couldn’t possibly be happening…”

I turned my gaze away from the overdramatic Allin and looked at the others who were extremely tense.

They had trembling pupils and bodies.

And faces that had turned pale with anxiety.

“Don’t be too nervous, it won’t do you any good.”

I was the one who had been making a fuss about the graduation exam since the day before yesterday, but they were the ones who were actually nervous.

Especially Briton and Chris.

Reina, on the other hand, had a blank expression as if she wasn’t thinking about anything.

‘Looks like she’s… confident.’

There were quite a few students different from Reina.

Almost everyone except our party members, in fact.

Of course, it wasn’t surprising since being nervous was actually the normal reaction.

“It’s natural to be nervous, but try to stay as relaxed as possible. You’ll all pass anyway.”

“I know that… but I can’t help feeling anxious. But seriously, you and her don’t seem nervous at all?”

Chris said this while looking back and forth between me and Reina.

With eyes that seemed envious.

Reina put down her drink after receiving that gaze.

“Me?”

“Yeah, you.”

“Really? I thought I was pretty nervous.”

Yet even now, Reina’s tone was nothing but calm.

Chris stared at Allin with disbelief, as her expression contradicted her words completely.

“Well… I guess that’s how you feel.”

“I’d like to land at least one hit… but that probably won’t happen, will it?”

“That depends on you, but I think you could.”

“You might even land three hits.”

With [Stealth] and [Lightning Flash], Reina could definitely land at least one hit.

When I said that, Reina spoke with an expectant tone.

“Are you really going to win?”

“Well… I’m not sure.”

“What do you mean you’re not sure? That’s so vague.”

“It’s almost 2 o’clock, get ready to go.”

“Oh right… I’m doomed…”

Chris became even more nervous as his turn approached.

He was even scheduled to take the exam today, on the first day.

I spoke to him as he walked determinedly toward the exam hall, fully prepared:

“Do well. Don’t be too disappointed if you can’t land a single hit, that’s normal.”

“Thanks so fucking much…”

“You’re welcome.”

His back as he left looked somewhat pitiful.

Like a warrior leaving his sanctuary for what might be the final battle of his life.

***

And there was a warrior waiting for the examinees on the battlefield, arms crossed.

Though he was just standing there with his arms crossed, doing nothing, his body naturally exuded the indescribable aura unique to the powerful.

However, no one had properly sensed that aura yet.

“As expected… there’s not much to do…”

Everyone had failed, unable to clear even the second trial.

And even if they somehow managed to clear the second trial, most were either in critical condition and gave up, or couldn’t even regain their senses properly.

Because of this, participating in the trials of approximately 1,500 students wasn’t particularly tiring.

Rather, he had energy to spare.

“I’m bored… when is their turn?”

Marco was thinking about them—specifically him—who had the highest possibility of reaching the third trial in perfect condition.

A boy appeared before Marco.

Like the other students so far, his body was stained with blood.

But there was a difference.

“It’s not his own blood.”

And the fact that he showed no signs of fatigue was another difference.

The boy greeted him with a confident voice.

“It’s been a while, sir.”

“I don’t think I’m old enough to be called ‘sir’… anyway, it’s been a while, Chris.”

Chris knew very well that he was going to lose.

He had thought so from the beginning, and now that he felt Marco’s aura, that belief was even more certain.

But he wasn’t intimidated and instead stood there proudly.

“You seem quite confident? As expected of the young master.”

“So what?”

A voice impossibly calm.

But behind that voice lay great anxiety.

Of course, Marco couldn’t notice this fact, as the Chris in his memory was more than capable of such confidence.

Marco pointed his sword at him.

Chris looked at the sword and muttered.

“It looks like trash… but it doesn’t seem that way at all.”

A completely unremarkable sword, one that looked like it had been rotting in some local training ground for about five years.

But in Marco’s hands, its appearance changed.

Though not at all sharp, it looked as keen as a blade honed thousands of times, and though not at all sturdy, it appeared as hard as dragon skin.

Of course, knowing it wasn’t actually like that didn’t matter.

“Just in case, don’t go easy on me.”

“I wasn’t planning to. Just don’t cry after taking a few hits.”

“Shut up!”

With a momentary shout, Chris overcame the anxiety hidden within him.

He charged like a tiger that had spotted its prey.

Then he threw a [Reinforced] punch.

-Thud!!-

The punch was blocked too easily.

It was a fairly powerful punch, but Marco blocked it with no effort at all.

Marco smiled as if amused.

“Not bad, though.”

Considering he was a priest, it was a punch with power that could be admired.

But that wasn’t what mattered now.

What mattered was that no matter how powerful his punch was for a priest, it wouldn’t reach Marco.

Marco lightly grabbed that fist and kicked him in the abdomen.

-Thud!!-

Then he punched him in the face.

-Thud! Thwack!!-

Until now, Chris had maintained his perfect condition, perhaps due to the priest’s unique recovery ability.

But that perfect condition, achieved through so much effort, was shattered by Marco’s punches.

Marco continued throwing punches without holding back for a student or the son of a noble family.

-Thwack!! Thud!!!-

With each hit, bright red blood flowed from Chris’s nose, and red bruises formed all over his face.

Yet Chris didn’t give up and kept reaching forward even as he was being hit.

-Swish! Swoosh!-

His punches cutting through empty air looked pitifully inadequate.

He kept looking at his punches that couldn’t reach their target and cursed.

“Ah… shit…”

“Your foul mouth hasn’t changed either.”

“Does beating me up like this make you feel good?”

“Not bad.”

Even using his unique skill to maximize his combat power, he couldn’t overcome the wall before him.

He glared at the wall that was absolutely insurmountable with his current abilities.

“Why don’t you just end this?”

“If the student surrenders, we can end it right away.”

“Shut up and finish it.”

“What… stubborn pride…”

Marco approached him, who was just being needlessly stubborn.

Then he threw a final punch at his abdomen.

With all his might.

-THUD!!!!-