Chapter 56: Midterm Evaluation (1)

The lecture hall door swung open, and a large man strode in with heavy, deliberate steps. His presence, reminiscent of a wild beast, immediately commanded the room. Professor Kane, with his imposing figure and fierce features, stood at the podium and swept his gaze over the gathered cadets.

“Let’s see. Third-year Warrior Division, 253 in total. Is everyone here?” he asked.

Yuren, the representative of the Warrior Division, stood up from his seat and replied firmly, “Yes, sir. All accounted for.”

As I looked around the lecture hall, packed wall-to-wall with warrior cadets, I clicked my tongue. Seeing them all together like this put into perspective how huge the Warrior Division was.

Of the total 472 third-year cadets in the Hero Academy, more than half belonged to the Warrior Division, specializing in close-quarters combat. Among the remaining 219, half were in the Mage Division, and the rest were split between the Support Division and the Miscellaneous Division.

The Support Division mainly consisted of clerics such as Iris, who specialized in healing and blessings, while the Miscellaneous Division was a catch-all for irregular cadets who didn’t quite fit into any specific track.

Professor Kane said, “As you all know, tomorrow is the Warrior Division’s midterm evaluation.”

A visible shift occurred in the room, and tension settled across the cadets’ faces. Unlike how they formed parties regardless of divisions in the end-of-semester final exams, each division took the midterm evaluations separately.

The final and midterm evaluations were weighted seven to three in their total score for the year. Still, in a place where a cadet’s future as a hero could hinge on their ranking, midterms were not something anyone could afford to take lightly.

Professor Kane placed his hand on a magic device atop the podium. Light surged from it, and a map appeared in the air, projected as a glowing hologram. “This time, your performance will be judged based on the points you accumulate by hunting demonic monsters within designated zones.”

He continued, “There will be three zones: a forested mountain terrain, a sandy desert with rocky outcrops, and a tundra blanketed in snow and ice. You’ll earn points for each demonic monster you defeat, based on its classification.”

The zones on the holographic map were color-coded, green for the mountains, yellow for the desert, and white for the snowy fields.

One cadet raised his hand and asked, “How are the beasts ranked?”

Professor Kane nodded. “Good question.”

As he adjusted the device, the map transformed. It now showed various demonic monsters in mid-air.

“No matter the type, three-eyed demonic monsters are worth one point, four-eyed demonic monsters are worth three points, and five-eyed demonic monsters earn you ten points.”

The moment he spoke, the room buzzed with chatter, and the cadets argued over the best strategy.

“Ugh!”

“There are five-eyed demonic monsters, too?”

“I could probably manage up to a four-eyed demonic monster, but…”

“I’m going to focus on quantity. Just hunt down as many three-eyed demonic monsters as I can.”

“Think about the math, idiot. You need ten three-eyed demonic monsters to match a single five-eyed demonic monster. Going for the big ones makes more sense.”

“How the hell are we supposed to take down a five-eyed demonic monster?”

“Well, just do it?”

“Yeah, right. Only someone like Yuren could pull that off! The rest of us have to stick with the numbers game!”

As the cadets’ voices rose in volume, Professor Kane slammed his fist onto the podium and shouted, “Quiet.”

A heavy silence fell over the room.

“I’m not done explaining. Save your strategy planning for later,” he added.

He pressed another button. This time, the projection morphed into the image of a colossal horse. A dazzling blue horn jutted from its forehead. Its body was thick with muscle, covered in a coat of pristine white fur. With every breath, sparks of lightning flared into the air. But the most chilling feature was three pairs of glaring and glowing red eyes on its face.

Even though it was just a projection, the sheer pressure radiating from the image was enough to make the room go cold. The cadets stared at the image with terrified eyes.

“W-what the… It has six eyes?”

“No way! That’s a six-eyed demonic monster! Only active-duty heroes can handle something like that!”

“P-Professor Kane, you’re not actually saying we’re supposed to fight that, are you?”

Standing tall on the podium, Professor Kane responded with a crooked smile, “If I wasn’t, why would I bother preparing all this and showing it to you?”

“I, uh…” The cadets fell silent, exchanging uneasy glances.

Professor Kane looked up at the projection, his tone calm. “Of course, I’m not saying just anyone can take it down. This demonic monster is a tamed summon, trained specifically by Bianca of the Mage Division. As long as you don’t attack it first, it won’t harm you.”

“Ah!” someone exclaimed.

“The cadet who manages to break the bell hanging around its neck will automatically receive the top score for this midterm evaluation, regardless of other points,” Professor Kane added.

In other words, if one of us could destroy that bell, that person wouldn’t need to scramble around the testing zones, competing with everyone else. They would win, no matter what.

Professor Kane continued, “Also, the one who succeeds in breaking the bell will receive an additional reward.”

Intrigued, the cadets immediately questioned him about it.

“A reward? What kind?”

“What kind of reward are we talking about?”

Professor Kane chuckled mischievously. “That’s for me to know and for you to find out. But I will say this. It’s something valuable.”

The cadets’ eyes lit up with desire.

“Something valuable!” someone exclaimed.

If Professor Kane himself was calling it valuable, then it was definitely extraordinary. And when that was combined with a guaranteed first place in the midterm evaluation, it was enough to ignite anyone’s ambition.

However, that lasted only for a moment. The six glowing eyes glaring from the projection quickly brought the cadets back to reality, and the lecture hall buzzed with murmurs again.

“Hmm!”

“No matter how tempting it sounds, a six-eyed demonic monster?”

“Wait, he said it won’t attack unless we make the first move, right? What if we sneak up and just break the bell?”

“Do you think that’s as easy as it sounds? And what if you mess up and hit the demonic monster instead of the bell? You’ll be sent straight to the emergency ward.”

“Emergency ward if you’re lucky. Worst case…”

“Come on. It’s Professor Bianca’s familiar, right? Would it really kill someone?”

“Haven’t you heard? Starting from the third year, cadets die during exams every year! They say three people died during the midterms last year!”

“What the hell? Last year? That would be the current fourth-years, right? The ones said to be the strongest since the academy was founded?”

“Exactly. Even among them, there were three casualties. What do you think will happen to us?”

Hearing the murmurs, Professor Kane said in a voice low and grave, “Quiet.”

His voice, laced with magic, reverberated heavily through the room. He slowly scanned the crowd before continuing, “As some of you pointed out, starting from the third-year midterms, there is a real risk of injury or worse. Put simply, if you overestimate your abilities, you might not walk away in one piece.”

A wave of gulps echoed through the room as fearful expressions spread across the cadets’ faces.

Professor Kane clicked his tongue at the sight. “Albert.”

“Y-yes, sir!”

“Where are we right now?”

“Huh? Uh, Lecture hall 1-A, in the main building,” Albert replied.

“Not that. I’m asking what kind of place this is.”

“Ah! It’s a Hero Academy, sir!”

Professor Kane nodded solemnly. “That’s right. A Hero Academy. You’re not here just to get good grades. Not to secure a cushy future, or to bask in glory and fame. You’re here for one reason: to learn how to survive as a hero. I won’t tell you not to be afraid. I won’t tell you not to run. But if you want to live as a hero, then think.”

He struck the chalkboard sharply as he stared down the cadets. “Struggle with it. Ponder it. Wrestle with it until it hurts. Think about what you’re capable of. What you still need to learn. What it takes to survive. That is the true purpose of this exam.”

Silence fell over the lecture hall of over two hundred cadets. The only sound was the ticking of the clock.

“You’ll each be allowed to choose your starting terrain. Think carefully about which area suits you best.” With those final words, Professor Kane walked out of the classroom.

As soon as he left, the heavy silence broke, and murmuring filled the room once again.

“Phew!”

“Man, Professor Kane is always so intense.”

“Anyway, if we can pick our starting point, where are you heading?”

“The mountain terrain seems like the safest bet, right?”

“Use your brain, dude. Everyone will think the same and pick the mountain zone. That means too much competition. It’s smarter to pick the desert or snowy area, less competition there.”

“Yeah, but what if everyone thinks that and crowds those instead?”

“Well, then…”

With just one day left until the midterm evaluation, a large-scale psychological battle had already begun among the cadets, each of them angling for the best possible score.

***

After class, Yuren jogged up to me with a curious look. “Dale, which zone are you starting in?”

“I’m going with the mountain terrain,” I replied.

“Mountain terrain? Hmm, isn’t that going to be overcrowded?”

“Maybe. But it’s the easiest terrain to move around in,” I said. Of course, that wasn’t the real reason. Ease of movement wasn’t why I chose the mountain zone.

For pure ease of movement, the snowy field would be the better option. After all, in my past life, I had spent thousands of years roaming a continent buried in ice and snow. To me, navigating the snowfield would be as easy as breathing. Still, I chose the mountain terrain for one reason: I was going for first place.

In my past life, it was the mountain region where that unicorn-like demonic monster, surrounded by blue lightning, had been first spotted. Back then, I couldn’t even imagine hunting it. But things were different now, and that reward was way too tempting.

In that life, Yuren was the one who had shattered the demonic monster’s bell and taken first place. The reward he had received was a sword forged from the monster’s horn. It was a sword in which blue lightning crackled and exploded from the blade when mana was channeled through it. It wasn’t a mythical artifact capable of world-breaking power or anything like that, but compared to the standard-issue iron sword I was using now, it was a masterpiece.

Sorry, Yuren, but that sword’s mine this time, I said in my mind.

However, he wouldn’t mind that. He could afford to let this one go. After all, once he graduated, he would inherit Dawnbringer, the legendary sword passed down through the Helios family.

Yuren looked stiff as he stared at me. “Dale, don’t tell me you’re aiming for that demonic monster.”

Did he catch on? I wondered.

“Yeah. I’m planning to go for it.”

He glared at my calm response. “No!”

Biting his lip in frustration, Yuren shook his head. “I don’t care who you are. There’s no way I’m giving up first place.”

“Well, then you’d better break the bell before I do,” I replied.

“Fine! See you tomorrow, Dale.” With that, he spun on his heel and walked away.

I tilted my head as I watched him go, thinking whether Yuren was the type to get this worked up over his grades. I had always figured he would be confident in being the top cadet, so seeing him obsess over first place like this was a bit refreshing.

“Well, not that I plan on going easy on him.”

I left the classroom with the image of the one-horned, blue lightning-wreathed demonic monster burned into my mind.

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