Chapter 86: Midterm Exams (3)

It was early evening.

Laysis stood in front of the library, waiting for someone.

When it was about time, she lifted her head and looked around, spotting Yuria walking toward her from afar.

“Yuri, ah? Are you feeling unwell? Why are you limping?”

“…Twisted my ankle during an experiment.”

Yuria feigned nonchalance and pointed toward the inside of the library.

“Let’s hurry. If we’re late, all the good seats will be taken.”

“Alright.”

A pang of pain shot through Yuria’s thigh, making her furrow her brows without realizing it.

At first, she had only wanted to see how far Carl could handle a variation in her attack.

But perhaps she had overdone it—she had struck him square in the face and made his nose bleed.

It had been enough to genuinely catch Yuria off guard.

‘I thought he would dodge.’

After all, he had shown skill before.

She thought he would easily evade her magic bullet, but he hadn’t even flinched.

Could it be he had intended to block it purely with magic?

Carl’s attitude seemed far more serious than she had expected.

The problem was, from that point on, flames had lit up in Carl’s eyes.

…What followed was an all-out exchange of blows.

At Carl’s request, they switched offense and defense, with her taking on the defensive role.

Targeting each other’s openings was, after all, part of training.

But Carl’s rate of improvement was far faster than she had anticipated.

Since she had declared she would only block at roughly his level, she couldn’t take it back.

In the end, she had allowed a blow to land on her thigh.

The injury had swollen enough to leave a dark crimson bruise.

Carl had looked at it with a deeply flustered expression, as if he had never expected Yuria to fail to block it.

He had insisted on treating it and even gave her some sort of massage, but she stopped him halfway, feeling embarrassed.

Now, though, with the pain sending tingles up her leg, she slightly regretted that decision.

Buzz.

After securing a seat in the library, Yuria slipped out, saying she was going to the restroom, and used healing magic to treat the injury.

For a wound like this—neither torn nor cut—healing magic usually worked slowly.

So, she took a potion out of her pouch and drank it.

“…Sigh, I shouldn’t have shown off.”

She wondered if she had unnecessarily provoked Carl’s competitive spirit.

For all his calm exterior, Carl was still a man.

When it came to competition, he would get just as fired up as any other guy.

Still, Yuria found hope in it.

‘His skills were better than I thought.’

What Carl lacked was experience and data on magic.

If she could help him set his aim correctly, he might achieve explosive growth.

He was already intelligent; it was certain he would rapidly climb to a certain level.

…Even so, seeing Carl’s flustered face had been amusing.

Had this been the first time he had shown such visible emotion?

The bruise on her thigh had been a small price for such a worthwhile experience.

Scratch, scratch.

After that, she returned to her seat and resumed studying for the exam.

“…”

Sitting across from Yuria, Laysis lifted her head slightly to look at her friend.

Yuria had just come from a study session with Carl, and perhaps because of that, her mood seemed very good.

The way her feet, shoulders, hair, and head all bobbed slightly—small habits that came out when Yuria was in high spirits—did not escape Laysis’s notice.

She thought Yuria might even start humming soon, so she gave a wry smile and spoke.

“Yuria, how’s exam prep going?”

“For me? I’m taking it easy now. You’re the one having a harder time, aren’t you?”

“It is tough. Too many people are aiming for my spot.”

“Well, no one can take the top spot, so they’re all aiming for second place. They’re sharpening their knives for it. Especially that Louis guy—he’s been clingy even with the other cadets.”

Yuria frowned.

Her so-called rivalry with Nerian had started back in high school.

And as someone who had consistently held the top spot in theory, Yuria had been one step involved in it.

But since her record had been broken in the entrance exam, she no longer had to obsess over grades.

She could maintain a decent rank and focus on her theme research.

Now that the future had grown uncertain, she needed to achieve rapid growth.

‘Setting up my build is such a headache. Completing the Four Seasons is the base premise, but I could fail…’

If she failed to complete the Four Seasons?

She had prepared a contingency plan for that, but it was sure to be troublesome.

So she had to push forward with her research while she still had time.

“…I’m going to call it a day here.”

“Huh? Leaving already?”

Yuria looked out the window.

It was just past evening.

Considering Laysis usually studied past midnight before heading back, this was early.

“There’s the first Understanding of Combat test tomorrow. I want to prepare for it.”

“Ah, I see.”

The Reflex System.

A newly introduced testing method from joint research between the Green Magic Tower and Bayern.

Since it was still unfamiliar, practicing to improve accuracy was necessary.

“So exams start tomorrow already. Alright, good luck.”

“How late will you be at the library?”

“I’m free tomorrow morning, so until lunch?”

“Then I’ll come early in the morning. You too, Yuria, work hard.”

“Mm.”

Laysis bid Yuria farewell and left the library.

“Ah, Miss Laysis. Good luck on the exam.”

“Want to study together tomorrow?”

“Miss Laysis, if you don’t mind…”

Cadets she passed greeted her along the way.

Most were invitations to study together or to make plans for a meal.

“Haha, thank you.”

“Yes, after the exam’s over.”

“Same to you, I’ll be counting on you.”

With graceful composure, Laysis smoothly deflected them all.

As the princess of the Kingdom of Alforam and the second-ranked first-year cadet, she was a well-known figure in many ways.

Many sought out Laysis herself, while others approached for the sake of her status, so in the beginning she had gone through quite a bit of trouble.

Now, however, she was accustomed enough to respond to them with a pleasant smile.

Besides, she had a good excuse this time—it was the day before the exam.

Tap, tap.

Leaving the library, Laysis deftly opened her Archive and sent someone a message.

Carl, I’m done studying.

[Carlos]: I just finished eating as well. When shall we meet?

I’ll go first and secure the training hall. You’re with the others, right? You can take your time coming.

She had arranged to meet Carl, with whom she took the same class, to prepare for tomorrow’s Understanding of Combat test.

She felt a little bad for leaving Yuria behind, but what had to be done had to be done.

‘Carl will probably prefer it this way too.’

For some reason, Carl was keeping his true ability hidden from the public.

The only ones aware of it were likely herself and Yuria.

That was why she had suggested they prepare for the test together—since he could show his ability freely in front of her without restrictions.

Carl had seemed to hesitate for a moment, but perhaps tempted by her words, he agreed right away.

‘I’m curious about Carl’s real skills too.’

Even when they had gone to Flick together, his movements had been far from ordinary.

From his decisive strike that killed the witness, she could tell he was an extraordinary fighter.

If he hadn’t hidden his strength, there was no way he would have survived that monster in the Erendal Forest.

‘Even Senior Darius didn’t seem to notice… so does that mean he’s stronger than her brother?’

It was hard to believe he had been running from the monster all that time.

That would mean he must have fought it head-on in the time she hadn’t seen him.

Surviving until reinforcements came meant, in effect, that he had defeated it alone.

“…”

That was why Laysis was curious about Carl’s true ability.

Even the small part he had shown was certainly not inferior to her.

Creak.

Just as she was lightly stretching and loosening her body, Carl opened the door and stepped inside.

Laysis smiled and trotted over to him.

“Did the others go to study?”

“Yes. They said their scores wouldn’t change much even if they practiced, so they decided to prepare for other exams instead.”

“Sorry if I dragged you into my group for nothing.”

“Not at all. I wanted to loosen up a bit too.”

In preparation for the exam, Instructor Frahan had set up the Reflex System in the training hall so cadets could use it freely.

“Shall we start lightly?”

“Let’s do that.”

The two stepped apart slightly and activated the Reflex System.

A cubic space lit up, and within the darkness, a bright red dot appeared.

Swish, swish!

Laysis swung her sword with all her might.

Speed was more important than strength, and accuracy was more important than speed.

‘The dot appears only for a limited time. The key is to maximize accuracy within that time.’

The entire section was graded on an absolute scale.

The top ranks received additional points depending on their placement.

Even if she couldn’t take first place, she needed to secure points here to hold on to second.

ID: [Cadet] Laysis

Difficulty: Normal

Score: 10/10

Accuracy: 96.5%

“…Hoo.”

After ten strikes, Laysis let out a long breath and stopped.

Still, her score had risen by 0.3% from before.

With just a little more, she could surpass the 97% mark.

That would not only secure her second place but even allow her to aim for Nerian’s position.

“What’s your score, Carl?”

“I got 95%.”

“Weren’t you around 52% last time? That’s a jump of 43% in one go. Isn’t that too big a difference?”

Laysis laughed at the absurd change.

Carl scratched his head as if embarrassed, then glanced at her score.

“Are you aiming for 97%?”

“Yes. That should make second place safe. Catching up to Nerian will be difficult, but I still have to try.”

Just like she was training now, Nerian would also be training.

Closing that gap wouldn’t be easy.

“Hm.”

Carl studied Laysis as she focused on the Reflex System.

After thinking for a moment, he decided it wouldn’t hurt to share a few tips with her.

“I think there’s a strategy.”

“A strategy?”

“Yes.”

Beep.

Carl activated the Reflex System.

The cube’s boundaries appeared again, and a red dot lit up.

Slash!

A sharp trajectory cut it cleanly.

Normally, one would keep moving to maintain momentum, but Carl remained still, turning his gaze slightly backward.

Slash!

Another precise strike split the red dot.

After cutting the third dot, Carl slowly spoke.

“There’s no need to keep moving. You can already predict roughly where the dot will appear. Instead, stop moving, gather your focus, and strike along the shortest path.”

Slash.

The fifth one.

Its precision was beyond anything Laysis could hope to judge.

“That way, you can conserve your stamina and distribute your effort more efficiently. People get pressured by the name of the test or the system, but honestly, it’s not that difficult a drill.”

Beep.

Sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth…

…and then the tenth.

When Carl’s result appeared on the Archive, Laysis’s eyes widened.

ID: [Cadet] Carlos

Difficulty: Normal

Score: 10/10

Accuracy: 99.9%

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