Chapter 116: Final Evaluation (6)

I looked down at myself, bound so tight in spider silk that even my fingertips couldn’t move, and let out a faint chuckle. Even if our party was made up entirely of cadets whose skills far surpassed the norm, our opponent was none other than Elisha Baldwin.

Yeah, you’re not the kind of person who’d go down that easily. If you had just gone down without a fight, I would have been disappointed, I thought.

I watched as Professor Baldwin strolled toward us at an unhurried pace. Her violet irises were split through by narrow black slits. Those eyes brought to mind a reptile’s gaze; they were the telltale sign that she had invoked the Blessing of Insight.

Since she had brought out her blessing, it was time for me to reveal a little of what I had been hiding as well. I drew in a long, steady breath. From deep within my heart, I summoned the dormant power of the Primordial Flame.

“Ignite,” I said.

Ashen flame flared to life, devouring the spider silk wrapped around my body until it melted away into nothing.

Professor Baldwin’s eyes sparkled with interest as she looked at me. “Well now!”

I answered her with action, kicking off the ground hard and surging forward.

“As expected, Dale, you never fail to surprise me,” she said.

With a faint smile, she snapped her fingers. Dozens of silvery threads shot from her fingertips, tangling together midair to form sharp, spear-like projectiles aimed right at me.

I immediately activated Ashen Flame Style Second Form: Flame Fang. The ashen flame blade in my hand sliced through the incoming spears. Then I hurled myself through the falling strands, instantly closing the distance between us.

“Good!” She leaned back, creating space, and crossed her arms.

The silver threads struck deep into the ground, then erupted upward like fountains. Heaps of dirt sprayed skyward, as though explosives buried beneath had just detonated. In the blink of an eye, a wave of several tons of dirt came crashing toward me.

I drew in a sharp breath, pulling my right foot back. Focusing all my mana into a single point, I lashed out with a fierce kick and unleashed the Berald Combat Style: Thunder Kick. The earthen wave shattered with a deafening roar, and a cloud of dust billowed up, obscuring my view.

Wondering where Professor Baldwin was, I turned my head. I spotted a dark human shape through the dust. Instinctively, I lunged forward with my sword. However, the sensation felt odd. “Hm?”

Then, the shadow spread wide and instantly wrapped around me. She had bunched the threads together to mimic a human form. I grimaced at the spider silk constricting my body just as Professor Baldwin appeared from the other side, sending silver threads straight toward me.

Professor Baldwin said confidently, “It’s over.”

Just then, Albert—who had been cowering in a corner, trembling for most of the fight—threw himself between me and the oncoming threads. “Aaaaaaahhh! You said I have a role to play too!”

Professor Baldwin, who had dismissed him entirely as a non-factor, widened her eyes at the unexpected move. “Tch!”

If we had been real enemies, she would have let the threads skewer him. But we were cadets, and Albert was far weaker than the others in the party.

“Hup!”

She hurriedly withdrew the mana from her attack. The silver threads that were racing toward us like bullets went limp and drifted harmlessly to the ground.

“Nice, Albert!” Raising the ashen flame once more, I burned away the silk binding me and charged at her. “Haaah!”

I was about to reach out for Professor Baldwin, who was still recovering from the backlash of forcibly recalling her mana, when a blaring alarm cut through the air.

“Looks like time’s up.” She let out a low sigh and shook her head with a faint smile. “Never thought I would end up showing such an unseemly display at the end.”

Glancing at Albert, she stifled a chuckle. “Well done.”

With a snap of her fingers, the threads restraining Yurina, Camilla, and Iris slackened and fell away.

She took the diamond token pinned like a badge at her chest and handed it to me. “Now then, you’ve passed the trial.”

Albert bounced up and down, and his voice cracked with excitement. “W-wow! D-Dale! It’s the diamond token! The diamond token!”

Camilla, Iris, and Yurina, freed from the webs at last, smiled wearily.

“Urgh!”

“Mm, feels a bit undeserved, somehow.”

“Well, either way, that’s first place locked in for us.”

Professor Baldwin looked at us with satisfaction. “You all did well. Honestly, it never felt like I was fighting a mere cadet party.”

She then said, “Yuren.”

“Yes?”

“Your skills truly live up to the title of heir of the Knight of the Sun. However…” She crossed her arms, narrowing her eyes. “You still haven’t learned to harness your mana fully.”

Yurina gasped, perhaps because Professor Baldwin was spot on. “Ack!”

“Your mana reserves are vast, greater even than mine. If you learn to control them better, the results will be remarkable.”

Yurina bowed deeply. “Thank you for the advice.”

“Next, Camilla.”

“Yes, Professor.”

“Your swordsmanship is too straightforward. It wouldn’t hurt to learn a bit more finesse.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

After a polite bow from Camilla, Professor Baldwin turned to Iris. “Casting blessings the moment the battle began, then supporting your team with protective spells throughout, your sense for timing is excellent.”

“Yes.”

“But in a party, the support role is usually the first target. You would do well to learn how to keep yourself out of harm’s way.”

Iris bowed politely, hands clasped before her. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

“And Albert.”

“Y-yes, ma’am!”

Professor Baldwin’s smile turned wry, as if recalling the moment he got the better of her. “That was an impressive decision at the end. I have to admit, you caught me off guard.”

“T-thank you!”

“However, if this had been a real battle, you wouldn’t have walked away alive.”

Albert paled, his body trembling. “Eeek!”

“And lastly…” Professor Baldwin’s gaze shifted to me. “Dale. May I have a word with you, alone?”

“Ah, yes. Of course.”

“Follow me.” She led me behind a collapsed rock wall, away from the others.

“What sort of feedback did you want to give me that it requires a private talk?”

“Feedback, hmm.” Professor Baldwin shook her head with a faint, crooked smile. “I don’t think I’m in any position to give you feedback.”

“Sorry?”

“Dale. Did you use your full strength in this trial?”

I hesitated, my expression awkward. “That’s…”

She nodded knowingly. “I thought so. You were still holding back.”

I had indeed not revealed everything. Not the power of my Demon Sword, not even Ignition.

“It wasn’t that I was hiding anything on purpose. I just didn’t have the opportunity to use it,” I replied.

The trial’s goal was to survive five minutes against Professor Baldwin. There was no need to win, so why would I show all my cards?

And if I really had gone all out… I thought as I gave her a strained smile.

Her eyes narrowed. “No chance to use it, hmm. Is that truly the only reason?”

She leaned closer. “Or is it because you were worried you might hurt me if you did?”

I kept quiet.

Tch. Damn that Blessing of Insight, I thought.

Professor Baldwin clutched her stomach, laughing. “Pfft!Ha!Hahaha!”

It wasn’t mockery. She knew better than anyone, with her blessing, that if I went all out, she wouldn’t be able to win.

She gripped my shoulders. “What are you, really? I’ve seen plenty of gifted cadets before. Cadets stronger than a professor? Rare, but not unheard of. But never has there been a cadet as absurdly powerful as you. Not once in the five-hundred-year-long history of the academy.”

There was a limit to what you could brush off as an irregular. If a five-year-old solved high school math, people would call them a genius. If they solved one of the world’s seven great unsolved mathematical problems, the Millennium Problems, people would call them a monster. To Professor Baldwin, I wasn’t a genius; I was a monster, one so far beyond the boundaries of understanding and common sense that the comparison hardly seemed fair.

“Well.” I took hold of the hands gripping my shoulders. “Just because something’s never happened before in history, doesn’t mean it can’t happen in the future, does it?”

“You…”

“If the opportunity ever comes…” I slowly removed her hands from my shoulders. “I’ll tell you the reason.”

Professor Baldwin stared at me, lips pressed tight, eyes trembling. “Haa!”

She exhaled deeply and shook her head. “I thought I was watering a sprout, but it turns out you’re already a full-grown tree.”

To her, I probably looked like a tree so tall its shadow reached over her head.

“But don’t forget…” With a sly smile, she pressed her index finger lightly to my lips. “Sprout or tree, I’ve still marked you all the same.”

I stifled a chuckle at her playful expression and shrug. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

“In any case, the trial is over. Let’s head back.”

“Yes.”

Professor Baldwin asked. “Heh. By the way, Dale, are you fine with ending the trial like this?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

“If you take first place here, you’ll no longer be at the bottom. Won’t that be a problem for you?”

“A problem for me? Hardly.”

“Oh? So you weren’t intentionally keeping your rank low?”

I chose not to reply.

No. I wasn’t trying to stay dead last.

“Huh. I naturally assumed you were clinging to the bottom spot on purpose.”

“Hahh! It’s nothing like that.”

“Well, if you say so. In any case, congratulations in advance on escaping last place.” She gave a faint smile and walked back toward the others.

“Oh, that reminds me. I’ve been curious about something,” I said.

“Hmm? What’s that?”

“The riddles posted at the door earlier, were those your idea, Professor?” I asked.

“Hehe. Weren’t they fun?”

I gave a dry laugh and shook my head. “What’s fun about that? And smashing the guardian golems at the entrance just to give us hints, your sense of humor is impossible to read.”

She tilted her head. “Hmm. What do you mean, smashing the golems to give hints?”

“Weren’t you the one who destroyed the dozens of guardian golems outside the entrance to this secret space?”

She frowned and shook her head. “Do you have any idea how expensive each golem is? Why would I do something that insane?”

“So it wasn’t you?”

Then who had smashed dozens of guardian golems without leaving a trace? I narrowed my eyes in thought when the underground chamber shook violently, as if an earthquake were occurring. Then a viscous red liquid spread across the floor and walls.

The rest of the party ran toward us from a distance.

“This is… A barrier?”

“Dale! Are you all right?!”

“Professor Baldwin, this… this isn’t one of your surprise events, is it?” I asked.

Her face turned grave. “No.”

Silver threads unspooled from her fingertips as she scanned the surroundings.

Suddenly, slow, deliberate footsteps echoed in the ruin. Turning toward the entrance, I saw a boy standing there.

The boy waved at me with a bright, innocent smile. “Hi! You’re Dale, right?”

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