Ch.191190. Graduation Exam (4)

# 190. Graduation Exam (4)

Reina returned with a strange expression on her face, making it difficult to tell what she was thinking.

I asked Reina, who seemed to be looking past me rather than at me.

“So how did it go?”

Chris’s result was as expected.

And for a priest, just making it through the second trial was impressive enough, so not landing a single hit wasn’t an issue at all.

‘But she seems to think it’s a problem…’

Still, that attitude was good.

If you become satisfied with your current self, you can’t move on to the next level.

Hearing my question, Reina seemed to snap back to reality and stared blankly at her sword.

“Well… it wasn’t bad.”

“Really?”

Judging by her expression, it seemed quite bad, but apparently it went better than expected.

With an unreadable expression, Reina asked me a question.

“I want to ask you something… Let’s say you managed to exploit an opening and stabbed your opponent in the stomach.”

From her tone, it was clear she was talking about herself.

“And then?”

“But the opponent grabbed the sword tightly so it wouldn’t come out.”

“Ah…”

“And then they started swinging their sword at me in that state. What should I have done?”

Marco was certainly no ordinary person.

To make such a calm judgment even with a sword stuck in his stomach…

He wasn’t the Hero for nothing.

And Reina was also impressive for inflicting such a wound on Marco.

“That’s not just ‘not bad,’ that’s good. To be honest, that’s more than enough.”

“But… I feel like I could have done better.”

She must have felt disappointed.

After all, she had managed to stab him in the stomach, which was practically a winning position.

I offered one piece of advice to Reina, who had pushed him to that point.

“The correct answer in that situation is actually to abandon the sword. If you’ve already inflicted that level of injury, you could win even without a weapon, unless there’s an enormous skill gap.”

However, since there was indeed an enormous skill gap between Reina and Marco, the correct answer was slightly different.

“But in this case, there was a huge skill gap, so the right decision would have been to hold your ground and protect your sword at all costs, even if you got cut or beaten up.”

“I see… I should have done that.”

“But in a real battle, your judgment would have been correct.”

In this case, one could say that Reina’s preparation was insufficient.

There was no rule stating that you could only bring one weapon to the test, but Reina had only brought that single sword.

“Your judgment was right, but you should have brought another weapon, unlike me who can always retrieve my weapons.”

“You’re right…”

“Of course, that’s just hindsight.”

This was a hindsight-based observation that could only come after a perfect process.

“And you did well enough. That’s sufficient.”

“Really!?”

When I nodded in response to her question, Reina smiled with a flushed face, seemingly pleased.

Seeing her like this made me feel proud.

However, that expression didn’t last long.

“But even with this level, I still can’t join the Special Forces right after graduation, right?”

Her expression was a mix of anxiety and expectation.

I didn’t want to see her earlier expression disappear.

But I had no choice but to betray her current expectations and tell her the reality.

“Of course not. You probably won’t make it.”

Reina swallowed bitterly upon hearing those words.

As if she had known all along that’s what I would say.

Yet, for some reason, Reina maintained a rather bright expression.

“That’s unexpected.”

“Unlike you, I’m still lacking.”

“…”

“When I compared myself to the current Special Forces members… I seemed so insignificant. But you’re different.”

Her conclusion was different from what I had thought.

I believed I was still far behind the current Special Forces members like Marco, Amelia, and Kyle.

But from someone else’s perspective, it seemed somewhat different.

“Your current skills aren’t that lacking, and above all, your potential is outstanding.”

“The same goes for you, you know? Could you please stop talking as if that’s not the case when you’re only 19?”

Reina also had outstanding potential.

After all, she had demonstrated such skill at the young age of 19, without any special equipment or a high-performance sword.

Yet Reina showed an extremely humble attitude.

“Well… it’s a bit awkward to say this, but I do think I’m pretty good. But compared to you, I’m nowhere close.”

“So what will you do?”

“We’re in the middle of a war, right? And according to you, a major battle will happen not long after we graduate.”

Reina looked straight into my eyes and continued.

“So after graduation, I’m planning to join a mercenary group that’s actively working.”

“Then…”

“That doesn’t mean I’m giving up on the Special Forces. I really want to try that. So I’ll build up my skills through mercenary or party activities for a while, then apply.”

Reina confidently shared her career plans.

She looked cool, unlike her usual self—extremely cool.

“That’s a good idea.”

***

About two days after the start.

Finally, my turn was right around the corner.

I arrived at the exam venue fully prepared and was chatting with our party members.

“It’s a shame we can’t watch. This is something we really should see.”

“I know… couldn’t they at least let us watch this one?”

“I don’t want that.”

If I gave permission, I could let others watch the exam process.

But I didn’t do that.

Because I thought I might lose.

I didn’t want to show that unsightly appearance to others.

“Why?”

“Just because.”

“Albert, you may enter now.”

The staff member’s guidance.

Hearing those words, my heart suddenly started racing, even though I had been perfectly fine until just a moment ago.

But thanks to Chris’s encouragement that followed, I felt a bit better.

“That’s too bad… Anyway! Go win. You might not be the first, but you should be the second.”

“I hope I can.”

After expressing my modest wish, I immediately followed the staff member’s guidance and entered the exam venue.

“Ugh…!”

That familiar sense of dissonance.

Though I had never experienced it directly, a feeling like being swallowed by an abyss engulfed my entire body.

It was something I always felt, but showed no signs of getting used to.

When that feeling ended and my vision cleared, I finally took in the scene before me.

“A colosseum?”

A place almost identical to the colosseum I had visited before, even down to the electronic scoreboard in the middle of the stands.

I was placed right in the center of that place.

“What is this…?”

Being alone in such a vast space made me feel empty.

But that feeling suddenly disappeared when the scoreboard unexpectedly turned on and someone’s voice abruptly rang out.

-We will now begin the Imperial Academy graduation exam. The graduation exam consists of three trials, and we will determine pass or fail, as well as rankings, based on how students navigate these trials and their results.-

Rankings.

In truth, passing was a given, and the ranking was what mattered.

-Note that there is no time limit, and if we determine that a student’s life is in danger, the exam will be immediately terminated. Please keep that in mind. That is all.-

With those words, the announcement completely vanished.

And at that moment, numerous monsters rushed out from both entrances of the colosseum.

“Couldn’t they at least wish me luck? How disappointing…”

I summoned my sword while criticizing the academy broadcasting department for their complete lack of manners.

-Woong!!-

Numerous monsters.

There were approximately three hundred of them, of about 100 different species.

“They’ve prepared quite well.”

Although the monster species were almost all different, they seemed to be under some kind of hypnosis, as they didn’t even look at each other and were rushing toward me at a frightening speed.

They weren’t even intimidated by my sword.

“This is creepy…”

Those monsters ran like mad for about 10 seconds and arrived right in front of me.

I swung my sword at the goblin horde that reached me first.

-Slash!! Slash!!!-

Bodies so weak they were cut in half with just a light swing.

Red blood poured from those bodies that fell like autumn leaves.

“How annoying…”

Monsters jumping at me to die, following those goblins.

I gave those monsters a small gift.

-Gooo!!-

That gift seemed excited as if meeting prey after a long time, and like a fish in water, it stirred around the colosseum, devouring its prey.

The monsters’ flesh and organs were all torn apart, and even the blood and bones that splattered everywhere were completely swallowed.

Still, those gruesome scenes didn’t last long.

“It’s quite clean in its own way.”

The colosseum returned to its original state in less than 5 minutes.

Now the only traces of battle remaining here were at most the footprints of the monsters.

I looked at those footprints.

“Everyone… must have struggled here, huh?”

But if one struggled here, it would be impossible to pass the next trial.

After all, this was just the first trial.

-Clunk!!-

Without even giving a minute’s break, the colosseum entrance opened again.

About 20 monsters entered the colosseum arena through that entrance.

“Some rather familiar faces.”