Chapter 138: Final Evaluation (3)

The Ferdon Habitat was a vast forest with a valley running through it.

Trees tall enough to pierce the clouds existed in all directions and their numerous branches covered the sky.

The refreshing sound of the waterfall harmonized with the chirping of birds and the cliffs of the valley protected against enemy intrusion and storms.

It was truly an optimal place for the Ferdon to live.

It’s difficult to catch a Ferdon by speed.

The Academy, of course, knows this.

The reason they created the evaluation this way was to encourage students to try various methods using what they had learned so far.

But that was for the average cadet and I was different.

I had the specs to easily catch up to a Ferdon.

So I didn’t need to form a team for a driven hunt or set traps; I could just solve it with my physical abilities.

In fact, I had intended to do just that.

But I’m not stupid enough to stick to just that.

As soon as the transfer was complete, I surveyed my surroundings.

It was a place where a small stream flowed.

There was nothing else unusual, but I could see tracks imprinted in all directions.

‘Ferdon.’

Whether it was good luck or not, the place I had transferred to seemed to be a resting spot where Ferdons stopped by.

There were relatively recent footprints here too.

The first thing that came to mind was ‘setting a trap’.

If I set a trap, I thought I could catch at least one within six hours.

‘There’s no act more foolish than just leaving a good spot like this.’

I opened my subspace and took out a pre-prepared trap.

Well, it wasn’t a very impressive trap.

I fixed a tough rope to a rock or a sturdy tree branch.

And I made the other end into a snare and set it where the footprints overlapped.

That’s it.

It was simple, but it had the advantage of being quick and easy to set up.

I set up a few more of these traps in the surrounding area.

“Done.”

The goal was one.

More than that was greed.

Other kids might find it, so I guess I should come to check every hour.

Afterward, I moved.

Using the most recent footprints as a guide.

After running for about 10 minutes, I saw a Ferdon digging in the ground beyond the bushes.

In the ground was meat that seemed to have been hidden by the creature.

They had a habit of hiding their caught prey in the ground, but in any case, the important thing right now was that its attention was completely focused on the meat.

I ambushed it from behind.

Kyaaak!

The creature, who had spotted me a step too late, moved its legs with a hiss, but my swinging scabbard was much faster.

Thwack!

The creature, hit on the back of the head by my scabbard, collapsed in a spread-eagle fashion.

“Easy.”

But it certainly seemed difficult for other kids to catch.

Even though I, with my high agility, had hidden my presence as much as possible, the Ferdon had noticed my approach midway.

And that was even when its mind was on the meat.

“There will be kids who can’t even collect one.”

Muttering so, I plucked the feather from its forehead.

And I put the feather into the container I had received with the scroll before the exam.

Woong!

The container that had swallowed the feather began to glow faintly.

It was a rule.

The feathers obtained had to be put into this container received from the examiner.

That was the only way the number of feathers could be tallied.

If you didn’t follow this rule and were caught hiding them elsewhere, you would be excluded from the evaluation for cheating.

Having finished my task, I slapped Ferdon’s cheek hard.

Then, the Ferdon blinked its eyes.

Then it was startled to see me and quickly moved its legs to flee in a hurry.

“Farewell.”

It’s common sense that subduing is much more difficult than killing.

But the reason I went through such difficulty and let it go without killing it was simple.

‘To confuse them.’

The Ferdon they had struggled to catch didn’t have the feather it was supposed to have?

How disheartening would that be for the cadet who caught it?

Not only would it be a waste of effort, but their stamina and mentality would be drained and they would lose time as well.

It was a devilish plan, but in any case, this was a competition.

I had no intention of going easy.

‘And if that cadet is Ivan or Karina, even better.’

Ah, one more.

And that bastard who called me ugly.

……Did he not call me ugly?

Anyway.

Kyaooo──!

It was then.

A mournful cry echoed from not far away.

Realizing where the sound was coming from, I put aside my stray thoughts and quickly ran there.

“What. Already?”

My face, as I said that and ran, was flushed with excitement.

The place I arrived at was the stream where I had set the trap.

Indeed, a younger individual than the Ferdon I had just met was struggling with its foot caught in a snare.

Haak!

The creature hissed threateningly at me.

Bbak!

I ignored it and smacked the back of its head.

Thud, the Ferdon collapsed.

“Two already.”

I laughed.

When I checked the time, only 20 minutes had passed.

Excluding the time spent surveying the area and setting the trap, it meant that less than 10 minutes had passed since I had properly started hunting.

“I’m lucky.”

After collecting the feather, I removed the snare from the unconscious Ferdon and, just like before, woke it up by hitting it and then released it.

‘At this rate, I think I can expect one more.’

The effect of the trap was better than I thought.

Since it was a young individual, there seemed to be some luck involved, but there was no law saying that such luck wouldn’t come again.

After erasing the traces of the creature’s struggle and resetting the trap, I moved again.

And so, two hours passed.

With a rumble, as if something was collapsing, the sky flashed brightly.

I looked up.

Chaser Idna was floating in the sky.

[Now, it seems you are all concentrating hard. Shall we take a look at how well you’re doing with a mid-term tally?]

At the same time, light was shot out from behind him, and words were written.

Mid-term Tally (1st)

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.

18th (2) – Paul Larvin

19th (1) – Ganie Lanos

20th (1) – Rotang

And so, the names were listed from 20th to 6th place.

The number in the parentheses would, of course, be the number of feathers.

For kids with the same number, the rank would be divided by the hunting time.

The container was recording not only the number but also the time when the feather was put in.

[Oh. You’ve caught more than I thought.]

So it seems.

Especially 6th place.

6th place was a guy named Guillaume and the number of feathers he had was a whopping 4.

Considering that it was still the beginning, 4 was a considerable number.

The 7th place below him, Victor, also had 4, but what was surprising was that in the original work, the person who should have been in 6th place was Victor.

‘As far as I know, Guillaume wasn’t even in the top 10.’

I didn’t know what had happened, but this was also definitely a change caused by me.

I didn’t think much about it.

He must have been very motivated while watching me.

I just let it go like that.

Reality wasn’t a world programmed to be perfect like a game.

[Then shall we take a look at the long-awaited 5th to 1st place?]

I raised my gaze to the sky again.

5th place.

Surprisingly, it was Gwyn Gaiard.

“Oho.”

Honestly, I thought it would be Yuria.

“Not bad.”

The hard work of investing in him had paid off.

But when I saw 4th place, I felt a little anxious.

4th place was Karina Zain.

From this point on, I started to think, ‘Don’t tell me she’s outside the top 20……?’ but.

3rd (6) – Yuria

I let out a cry of admiration.

“Six?”

Gwyn and Karina were tied with 5.

But Yuria had 6, one more than them.

What more needs to be said?

I was proud.

‘My right hand. Ivan’s counter.’

For reference, in the 1st mid-term tally in the original work, Ivan was 1st with 6.

Although it couldn’t be compared exactly, it could be roughly seen that the current Yuria’s level was similar to that of the original Ivan.

1st and 2nd place were left, but I didn’t really care.

Because 1st and 2nd place were as good as decided.

The number of feathers I have now is 9.

No matter how much Ivan in this world is riding my bus with the cheat growth trait [Competitive Spirit], this gap is…….

2nd (9) – Ivan

Wait a minute.

My thoughts stopped.

***

Ivan has the same number of feathers as me.

But the meaning of being 2nd place is that my hunting time is faster.

That’s a relief, at least.

But I can’t be complacent.

It’s only the beginning.

‘The 2nd mid-term tally is in another 2 hours.’

I had to widen the gap in these two hours.

It was dangerous, and I could be caught up to.

Was I underestimating Ivan too much?

And even if I was, this is strange.

‘Is there some unforeseen variable?’

An unforeseen variable.

While chasing Ferdons and collecting feathers, I deeply focused on and analyzed the question of ‘how?’ that kept popping into my head.

The agility stat of the Ferdon I know is a whopping 90.

They are creatures that move like lightning, to the point where an ordinary person can’t even see them properly.

As for me, I had surpassed 100 a long time ago, so it wasn’t difficult to catch up to these creatures, and so my hunting success rate was 100 percent.

But what about Ivan?

No matter how much Ivan has grown compared to the original work, it’s hard to believe he has surpassed 100.

At best, he’s probably around that mark now.

But even so, his hunting success rate is fifty-fifty.

Because Ferdons are not creatures that can be caught just by being faster.

‘This is their habitat. In other words, their home ground.’

If they use the terrain to escape and hide, it’s even harder to hunt them.

The reason why the kids do all sorts of things like driven hunts, setting traps, and luring with bait is precisely for this reason.

‘But how is he the same as me?’

For a guy with a fifty-fifty hunting success rate to have the same number as me, there’s only one possibility.

‘Ferdons are everywhere he goes.’

In other words, he has reduced the time spent finding Ferdons.

How?

‘It must be an artifact.’

Something just came to mind.

The unique-grade artifact, the ‘Tracker’s Seal’.

And its owner was none other than Pirion Lil.

Originally, it was an item that Pirion gave to Ivan as a gift, but if that timing had been moved up.

And if he was using it, Ivan would be able to find Ferdons easily, and this situation would make sense.

While I’m busy searching for Ferdons whose locations I don’t even know.

Ivan has already identified the Ferdon’s location and has begun hunting.

“Fucking hell. This is so unfair.”

A curse naturally came out.

No, I mean, even if the use of artifacts is allowed.

What are they thinking, giving him an artifact like the Tracker’s Seal that shows such cheat-like efficiency in this situation?

And.

In the subsequent 2nd mid-term tally, I realized that Ivan had come with more determination than I had thought.

Mid-term Tally (2nd)

1st (23) – Ivan

2nd (20) – Gerard

3rd (16) – Karina Zain

4th (16) – Yuria

.

.

.

6th (12) – Victor

7th (12) – Hannes Kasa

.

.

.

20th (6) – Yuna Filler

Guillaume, who should have been there, was gone.

Guillaume, who had been 6th place just two hours ago, at the 1st mid-term tally.

This means that Guillaume had been pushed out of the top 20, which was hard to understand considering his upward trend.

Something must have happened to him.

……What kind of accident?

The situation is clear.

The Tracker’s Seal.

Thanks to it, Pirion Lil had slain many villains and magical beasts.

In other words, the targets that the Tracker’s Seal pursues do not distinguish between people and magical beasts.

And Ivan used the Tracker’s Seal on a person.

On his own classmate, no less.

“Well, I’ll be. There was a reason he was so confident, huh?”

I let out a small laugh.

Right.

This is why he spread the rumors and set the stage.

“You’re really determined, aren’t you. To beat me.”

But he underestimated me too much.

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